Posts made by author 'Jess Barron'

The real estate market continues to shift. The market is shifting from a seller's market to a more neutral market. We are seeing homes listed take much longer to sell. There are more sellers reducing their list prices. The real estate market was so strong in the spring of 2022 that you were rarely seeing price reductions. Things have changed.

We are seeing an increase in properties listed for sale. At the time I am writing this, there are 398 residential listings for sale in Coweta County. We were typically dealing with only 140 listings for sale just a few months ago. At the same time, mortgage rates have increased dramatically. Mortgage rates nearly touched seven percent during the week of September 19^th, 2022. This is the highest rates have been in years. The mortgage rates increase curbed buyer enthusiasm as we are seeing less buyers with less buying power. So, all of this should decrease property prices, right? This is not the case at all right now.

P...

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Common Real Estate Scams

The most common forms of scams I see in my real estate business are rental scams involving deposits and earnest money and wire fraud. I have had the local Sherriff's Department contact me looking to track a rental scam prospect down. 

One of our agents recently had his father in law's residential property listed for sale. He was online and saw where someone took the pictures of the house and posted that the home was available for lease when it in fact was not. The scam artist was cold calling prospects to rent the property. He just happened to contact our agent's friend, so she called our agent and made him aware of the scam. The scam artist was using the money payment application, "Zelle", and asking the prospective renters to put both a security deposit and first month's rent down. He created urgency by telling people they had to put the money down as soon as possible or someone else would lease the prope...

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As the real estate market begins to shift and cool down, it is more important than ever to have the correct approach when selling your property. An imperative part of our job as Realtors is consulting with clients and preparing them to list their home. Market value analysis, condition of the home and attention to detail all matter. There are several common mistakes that I see property owners make. I will cover some of those below.

Perhaps the most essential part of putting a property on the market is value analysis. There needs to be data behind the list price. Recent sales of similar properties in the vicinity of the subject property should be considered. Even in a great market, you cannot just throw a price out there. You need comparable sales to support the value. Many homeowners take pride in their home which is a great thing. However, when it comes to pricing, you need an objective approach. Many buyers will not see the same value in an aspect of the home that you will....

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We have also noticed that the number of buyers in the marketplace has decreased. Prices are staying strong, but the showing traffic and the volume of offers are not what they once were. As recently as this year I would receive 20-plus offers on a property but those days seem to be gone.

A significant reason for this sudden change is the increase in rates. In late June, mortgage rates rose above six percent. The Federal Reserve announced a large 3/4 percent raise of interest rates in June. The Federal Reserve has also stated that they expect to raise the rates several times this year and next to combat rising inflation in our country. All this seems to have cooled real estate buyer activity. As mortgage rates rise, a mortgage payment becomes higher and higher. An article I read recently from Lawrence Yun, from the National Association of Realtors, stated that the payment on a $300,000 mortgage went from $1,265 in...

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Finding A House To Buy in 2022