Posts with tag 'getting your home ready to sell'

You may have noticed that the real estate market has changed dramatically recently. We saw the strong seller's market peak earlier this year. Homes were selling at all-time high prices with record demand from buyers. We were regularly seeing multiple offers over list price with cash buyers typically wining these competitive bidding wars. I received 23 offers on one listing and 21 on another. This has all changed.

With mortgage rates up from three percent and four percent to seven and eight percent, the market has really changed. The number of homes available for sale, which was a huge problem earlier this year, is slowly increasing but demand has cooled off. Many buyers have decided to wait to purchase until interest rates go down. These two developments, along with a historic inflation increase, have slowed down the real estate market considerably. Listings are taking much longer to sell, weeks and months instead of days. The number of showings has decreased considerably as...

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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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Growing up in Newnan if it was your time to take the midnight train to glory, not Georgia (sorry Glady's and pass my apology along to the Pip's, won't you) your choice was clear. Hillcrest or Mckoon's funeral home. Both establishments were known for their high quality of service and were housed in some of the most iconic homes the region had to offer. In fact, some would say, at night if the moon was full, you could see on their porches Rhett, Scarlett, and even Miss Daisy if Hoke had not picked her up yet for a drive, rocking in their chairs, drinking sweet tea, and talking about the recent unpleasantries.

Well, at 13 years of age, for a summer job, I was hired on at Hillcrest to do a little of this, that, and the other. During that summer I also played on a little league baseball team sponsored by Lindsey Realty. I played catcher because I was short, chubby, and not the quickest of humans. All you have to do as a catcher, my coach said, was stop the pitch with your open gl...

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