100 Inman Park, Atlanta GA, 30309 | 3Bd. 2.5 Bath

Very special Ansley Park home! Fresh & young! Totally renovated. Gourmet kitchen open to a spacious family room with fireplace. Beautiful, private rear garden with a pool! Incredible pool house with vaulted & beamed ceilings, fireplace, kitchenette & guest suite. Main house with wonderful living & dining room perfect for entertaining. Finished 3rd floor with view to Midtown skyline. Master suite with luxurious bath & dual closets. Located in the heart of the Park!!

Quick update on what’s happening in the the 2010 East Cobb Real Estate Market – specifically in the Walton High School District.

Currently, there are currently 391 “Active” listings on the market in the First Multiple Listing Service (FMLS) in the Walton High School District (highest price is $5,800,000..whoa! and lowest price is $121k, which is pretty much a “cash only” purchase for investors).

There are 5 which are in “Contingent” contract, meaning they’re possibly in the Due Diligence Period (i.e. inspection period) or have Contingencies which could range from a Financing Contingency, Appraisal Contingency or even that the Buyers have a home to sell before they can purchase. This “Contingency” period is basically a period of time from the “Binding Contract” to the “Pending Contract” period, which means it’s cleared contingencies & it’s “pending” closing.

With that said, there are currently 43 Pending Sale with list prices ranging from $2.7M to $139,900 with an average list price of $415,110. There are 7 “pending existing lender approval” meaning these are Short Sale properties that require Bank or Lender approval for the Short Sale contract price & terms. These range from $1.4M to $185,000 at an average of $433,200.

There have been 200 Sold homes in the Walton High School District since 1/1/10. The Sales Prices range from $1,335,000 to $163,000 and the average Sales Price was $463,220 and averaged 89 days on market, selling at an average of 93% of the list price. The only caveat to that is these homes had an average ‘original’ list price of $659,857 and the average list price at time of contract was $498,310 (a 24.5% difference). So what you can take from that is, there are still quite a few homes still going on the market over-priced. However, once they get the price right, they will sell much closer to list price, so it’s much better to create a buzz by pricing it correctly from the beginning because this is a VERY desireable area and the well priced homes will sell fast and Sellers won’t need to negotiate much off of their list price.

Hope this was helpful.

CLICK HERE to see a Real Time list of Homes for Sale in the Walton High School District.

If you’d like to only see homes that are in the Sope Creek Elementary or Mount Bethel Elementary School Districts that feed into Walton, you can CLICK HERE for those homes as well.

Also, if you’re a home owner or interested in a FREE Market Analysis tool to monitor the home sales and Real Estate Trends and Market Activity in your neighborhood/area of interest, CLICK HERE for the FREE Market Snapshot Tool and start keeping an eye on the market and your home’s value and please keep us in mind when the time is right for you to buy or sell!

We live in East Cobb & REALLY love it. We’d love to help you & your family become winners in this market. Our Goal is for you to reach YOUR Real Estate Goals.

Warmest Regards,
The KellySellsAtlanta.com Team of Keller Williams Premier Atlanta
www.KellySellsAtlanta.com | 404-863-8680 | email: hometeam@kellysellsatlanta.com

Zillow.com is actually the #1 site for Home Owners to check their home’s value.

What most don’t realized is how inaccurate that Zestimate really is. Check out this chart below from Zillow.com (go to www.Zillow.com, scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page & click “Zestimate Values & Accuracy” and you’ll see this chart as well). You can also drill down by Counties for a better look at your metro Atlanta area.

Basically, Zillow’s Zestimates Home Values are not calculated by a Real Estate Market Specialist and they apparently aren’t very accurate at all. If Zillow has a 20% error rate in your area (Atlanta’s is 24% off) then that’s a potential 40% swing (20% higher & 20% lower) than what they “Zestimate” your home is worth. With that said, if we are 20% off in either direction, we wouldn’t still be in business, and our Team has been selling homes in the metro Atlanta area for 10+ years now! And as a side note: of the last 5 listings we’ve taken & sold, the Average Days on Market is ONLY 18 days and the Average List Price to Sales Price Ratio is 98%!! That’s a statistic that we’re very proud of and even get excited about!! We’re getting our sellers more money faster. That puts smiles on faces!

Based on Atlanta area market statistics, if you overprice your home (even by a little bit) it will likely take you 250+ days to sell your home & you reduce your price until you only get around 80% of your original list price. But if you price it correctly, you can sell within 30 days and even net yourself more money by pricing it properly rather than overpricing. And don’t worry so much about leaving “negotiating room” because that’s how you price yourself out of the market… the hot properties sell so close to list price that if you price it right, you won’t have to negotiate much at all. And another way to look at it: if you overprice, you’re likely not going to get an offer to negotiate anyways, so you’d be best off pricing it correctly and having a really good offer in hand in a short amount of time. The alternative can be a long, drawn out, frustrating and defeating process, without a better way of putting it.

Our job is to look at the market from a practical perspective and advise you on price based on actual comparables for your home, whether it be an Active Listing, a Pending Sale or a recently Sold home in your neighborhood or immediate area in the last 3-6 months.

It’s a simple strategy: we help you price it right, stage it, a professional photographer takes GREAT photos and from this (especially the price) you’re able to draw quick attention, and that’s what you want! A feeding frenzy! That’s when you get your BEST offer(s). You want an offer within 30 days and hopefully multiple offers, and you’re not going to get that being 20% off on pricing by using Zillow Zestimates.

So don’t trust Zillow to price your home for you… go to a Real Estate Agent you trust and you’re on your way to your selling and buying goals. Go with the pros on this one… “do what you do best and let an expert do the rest.”

And if you’re still just wanting to get a glimpse of the market before calling an agent, click here use this FREE Market Snapshot tool to view market data (including home sales), analysis & trends in your area. It will send you bi-monthly updates so you can keep up w/ the market until you’re ready to speak with a Realtor (like us!).

Hope this was helpful and thanks for reading!

The KellySellsAtlanta.com Team of Keller Williams Premier Atlanta
404-863-8680 | hometeam@kellysellsatlanta.com | www.KellySellsAtlanta.com

Listed below are a few of the most common issues that can arise during the process of a Real Estate Transaction, which usually last 30 to 60 days from the Contract Date (aka Binding Agreement Date) to the Closing Date. Our Team’s job is to avoid these scenarios, along with the help of our preferred lender & closing attorney. Let me know if you need a referral to them & hope you find this info helpful:

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR REAL ESTATE CLOSINGS:

A) FHA Condo Considerations:

a. Condominiums must be covered by hazard and liability insurance and, when applicable, flood and fidelity insurance.
b. No more than 15 percent of the total units may be in arrears (defined as more than 30 days past due) of their condo association fee payments.
c. Condo associations must have a reserve account which holds an amount equivalent to at least 10% of the condo association budget.

B) Furniture Sold as Part of the Contract:

a. Be cautious when including personal property, such as furniture, in the contract. Appraisals are consistently coming in lower than the sales price, and an inflated sales price due to personal property can exacerbate that issue.

C) Seller Mail Aways/Seller Signing Early:
a. Be aware of whether the buyer has an FHA loan. If so, the lender will send documents that must be signed by the seller with the loan package. The seller must have access to a fax machine on the day of closing so that they can sign the FHA docs and fax them back to us as these docs are usually required for funding authorization.

D) Closing Costs:

a. Make sure to prepare both the buyer and seller that closings costs can change. The lender can put a cap on the amount of seller concessions allowed or a minimum on what the buyer must contribute. Therefore, the closing costs listed in the contract will not always be the closings costs allowed to be paid at closing.

Again, our Team’s job is to avoid these issues – whether we’re the Buyer’s Agent or Listing Agent. Our Preferred Lender and Closing Attorney are with you every step of the way to ensure a seemless closing & experience for our clients. I’m serious – they’re fantastic, and our business woulnd’t be where it is without them. We’re definiltey blessed to have found them & our clients have always felt the same.

Hope this was helpful! Let us know if you need us…

The KellySellsAtlanta.com Team of Keller Williams Realty
404-863-8680 | www.KellySellsAtlanta.com | HomeTeam@KellySellsAtlanta.com

If you’re looking for a GREAT East Cobb Swim & Tennis community to join, look no further! Kings Cove in East Cobb (Marietta, GA) has Swim / Tennis Memberships available for ONLY $450/year for non-residents!! This is a fantastic bargain…

Kings Cove is perfectly located just west of Johnson Ferry between Paper Mill and Lower Roswell.

Please contact Brad Williams (Membership Chair) at 770-565-8255 for more information & we’ll see you at the pool!

Hi All!

Mortgage Rates are slightly up .125% for Conventional Loans & .125% for FHA Loan Products! This means homes are basically going to “cost more” (when your rate goes up, so does your payment)!!!

Also, not only will homes begin to “cost more” when the tax credit expires and the mortgage rates creep up, but FHA Policy changes may also take a little out of your pocket at closing…(see FHA Policy Change info below).

Oh, and I’m sure you haven’t, but don’t forget that there are only 10 days left for a homebuyer to get Under Contract to meet the April 30th Deadline for the Tax Credit!!!

FHA Seller Sales Concession Policy Changes

FHA has sent the Notice soliciting public comments on lower allowable seller sales concessions (i.e. to pay for Buyer Closing Costs) from 6% of the home’s purchase price down to 3% to OMB for review. This means the Notice will probably be published for comment in 30-60 days. Accordingly, implementation will likely occur in late Summer (August or September).

TODAY’S MORTGAGE RATES:

30 Year FNMA: 4.875% with a .625% Origination Fee

15 Year FNMA: 4.250% with a .250% Origination Fee

30 Year Jumbo: 5.500% with a.875% Origination Fee

30 Year FHA: 4.750% with a .750% Origination Fee

7 Year FHA Arm: 3.750% with a .625% Origination Fee

Disclaimer: Rates are subject to change and are also based on the strength of the borrowers pre-qualification. ~source: Bank of America Home Loans

IMPORTANT DATES:

April 30, 2010: Cut-off date to be UNDER CONTRACT to qualify for the $8,000/$6,500.00 Tax Credit.

June 30th, 2010: Cut-off date to be for CLOSINGS to qualify for the $8,000/$6,500 Tax Credit.

The KellySellsAtlanta.com Team
Your 1 Stop Real Estate Shop