If you get the Metro Atlanta Real Estate Update from us then you have already received a peek at the falling mortgage rates.  If you are not getting the Metro Atlanta Real Estate Update, first of all WHY?  Second of all, there’s always time to get signed up.  Email me at andy@thepeterscomany.com for the weekly email update on all things relating to our market.

The Fed was looking for a way to expand lending, and the expanded rescue has done just that.  Mortgage rates tumbled as much as a half of a percent on Tuesday and are the lowest they have been all year.  The Peters Company has been calling this for months, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.  People are swarming to refinance as the volatility leaves everyoe worried that this is a small blip and that the rates will surely jump back up.  I wouldn’t play around if you are considering refinancing.  Sure, the rates could go lower, and they probably will slowly.  However, I’m not willing to take the chance given where we are in the low 5% range.

So, what does this opportunity to refinance mean for the economy?  Well, perhaps the best thing is that it potentially frees up more money for consumer spending, which is something very much on the minds of all of us churning towards the holidays.  The auto industry could use a little bit of that money I believe, but perhaps the best thing that could come of this is to fight off continued talk of a recession.  On this eve of Thanksgiving, lets all be thankful that our government is being proactive in its attempts to navigate the financial storm.  As always, we will come out of this stronger, and hopefully wiser.  Hold on to your seat.  Don’t get too high, and don’t get too low.  Keep thinking like a buyer, and Happy Thanksgiving.

For more information on the good news, click here for more from the Wall Street Journal, and go lock some rates if you are floating!

As one real estate agent or a team of real estate agents or even as a company of real estate agents, there’s certainly things we can do to impact this market.  I think the most important thing is that we have a positive attitude and remain opportunistic, work harder and smarter to ensure that our clients are receiving the highest level of service possible in a time when there’s a lot of finger pointing and shoulder shrugging.  Perhaps one of the best things we can do as real estate agents is pool our voice and become better advocates for our industry, an industry that affects virtually every family in the nation.  One of the benefits of being a part of the National Association of REALTORS® is that as one we are rather quiet, but as a group of REALTORS®, we have a tremendous voice.  As further evidence of the NAR’s committment to furthering our industry, the organization has put forth a 4 Point Plan aimed at “tweaking” the previously passed Emergency Economic Stabilization Act.  I believe that Act was monumental at a time when we all needed stability, but as time passes, there appears to be weaknesses that might miss the mark in truly impacting in the areas originally intended.  Lesley and I support the National Association of REALTORS®’ plea for more.  NAR has urged Congress to include the following provisions in any future legislation as part of this 4 Point Plan:

1. Make the $7500 tax credit available to all purchasers and eliminate the repayment requirement.  The credit’s limited availability and required repayment terms have severely limited the credit’s appeal to potential homebuyers.  As a result, the credit has not been widely used or proven effective at stimulating sales. 
2. Make the 2008 FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limits permanent.  New rules for 2009 would significantly reduce the FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limit from their 2008 levels. Now is not the time to limit the availability of affordable mortgages. 
3. Get the Emergency Treasury bank relief program back on track by targeting more funds to mortgage relief efforts and increasing efforts to mitigate foreclosures.  Don’t just give the banks unrestricted cash. Make the program work to improve mortgage and housing markets as it was originally intended.
4. Permanently bar banks and banking conglomerates from engaging in real estate brokerage and management.  The banks have proven they have enough to do to simply properly manage their current lines of business.  Do we really want them to manage the home buying process?  Imagine what could have been the situation now if they already had the added ability to engage in real estate sales.

The economic turnaround is, of course, complicated, but there is little doubt that stabilizing the real estate market by shoring up the lending market and finding ways to get money moving in and out is a neccessity.  Stay tuned for updates on how these changes are being accepted and more importantly implemented.

Sometimes real estate agents actually have time to look at real estate for themselves.  It’s true.  Believe it or not.  We just closed our 20th transaction of 2008 last week, and we had a day to exhale.  So what did we do with our couple hours of solace?  Lesley and I perused rental property, of course.  And why not?  Rates are pushing towards 5.5%.  Inventory is still high at over 12 months’ worth.  The winter months are upon us when everyone is expecting slower activity.  I honestly believe that lower offers will be considered during this time because the likely alternative for sellers is waiting until the spring when the wave of buyers wakes up and hops in the car with agents.  I expect the Spring to be a different market for the better in our industry, which leaves us in a deep valley through the cold winter.

Do we need a second home?  Do we need a rental property?  Of course not.  Real estate investing takes a lot more time than traditional investment paths.  However, when you consider dumping your money in the topsy turvy stock market or hiding it in a low yielding money market account, real estate investing looks more and more favorable.  Right this minute you can buy with as little as 5% down and cash flow a property on a rental.  Are we all crazy for not considering it?   The valley won’t last.

So, what does a good rental property look like?  How do you find them?  Thanks to a recent article in AJC from John Adams.  Here’s an exceprt that gives a great roadmap:

Prime candidates for a rental program would be houses that were less than 10 years old and have recently been through the foreclosure process. Because of the slow-selling market and the bad loan on the house, it now is being marketed as a “bank-owned” home. Most lenders require that buyers accept their foreclosures in “as-is” condition, and that the lender not be required to disclose any defects or problem areas. Because these preconditions are unacceptable to today’s picky retail buyers, the banks have been forced to lower their prices on many of these houses.

Today’s ideal rental house would have three bedrooms and two baths, would be purchased for well under $100,000, would require less than $10,000 in repairs, and would be located in a neighborhood of primarily owner-occupants. Proximity to a major employer would be icing on the cake. Such a house could be purchased and repaired, then placed in service with rent approaching $1,000 per month. Then the investor could recoup his total investment in a new fixed-rate loan, and still end up with a monthly profit of $200 or more.

Unfortunately, recent Fannie Mae restrictions have prevented the majority of experienced investors from participating in this activity. These restrictions have slowed the absorption of foreclosed homes in the Atlanta residential market. Specifically, no applicant for a rental property mortgage can be approved if the applicant already shows four or more home loans on his credit report.

The moral of the story?  Don’t have more than 3 rental properties.  Just kidding.  The moral of the story is make sure you purchase a home that cash flows.  There are plenty of avenues for consumers to find these opportunities.  A great place to start is our Home Page > Find a Home > Search.  For a more detailed search, Lesley or myself would be happy to set you up using one of our tools called “Client Gateway.”  Client Gateway is an automated search using criteria you determine where the lastest listings that meet the need are automatically emailed to you.  We find this tool to be incredibly helpful for clients who are specific in their search and need to drill down a little bit more than the typical web searches.

Don’t be afraid to at least look at what’s out there.  I can assure you that the real estate investor community is looking, and that includes these real estate agents.  Happy hunting, and let us know how we can help.

I read a lot of blogs.  I get a lot of new updates.  I sift through a lot of stuff to bring you what I hope to be valuable content.  I found a great update on the foreclosure situation including statistics suggesting foreclosures are up 25% from October 2007 but only up 5% from September of this year.  Is the carnage beginning to slow down?  Are the government programs starting to help?

Here’s a great video from The Wall Street Journal and Delores Conroy, a real estate economist from the University of Southern California.

http://online.wsj.com/video/programs-helping-slow-foreclosures/E822DF82-B800-4BEF-9BCD-01144D141D80.html

Lesley and I had the pleasure of working with Ravi and Satya as they sought a new home in the Sarah Smith school district in Buckhead after relocating from Chicago earlier in the year.  We closed earlier today.  Ravi and Satya were referrals from past clients, Eric and Joyce, and we loved working with them. 

We were able to find Ravi and Satya a beautiful home in the Wieuca Trace neighborhood at a great price, and I think Lesley and I are just as excited as they are about the find.  Thank you again to Ravi and Satya for giving us an opportunity to help!  We are looking forward to the house warming party!

Boy, its easy to get discouraged watching the national news or reading a national paper covering this housing market.  However, we’re still proclaiming the bottom here at least for our home base of metro Atlanta. 

New construction has been hit hard.  Nationally we’ve seen homebuilders dropping like flies with decreased confidence in the market.  Housing starts for new construction single family homes are a good indicator for the housing market, and after reading a recent Atlanta Business Chronicle article, believe it or not I am encouranged.  While the national picture is a little less than desirable with national housing starts slumping again in October to the lowest level since 1959 when the United States Commerce Department started tracking the starts, the silver lining is that October housing construction starts in the South are actually up 1.5% over last month.  Don’t get me wrong, there’s still way too much new construction inventory and lot inventory has crested for quite some time, but it’s saying something that new construction is showing signs of life.  New government programs and falling lending rates will do nothing but help.

While we certainly have vast improvements to make in this market, buying into the national coverage will only frustrate and confuse.  I equate it to a weatherman telling you that it’s going to be sunny over the entire United States tomorrow.  You just can’t paint with a broad brush like that.  Make sure you stay opportunistic, think like a buyer, and stop denying this market as anything short of an unbelievable time to buy your first home, your second home, your first rental property, etc.

Lesley and I are fortunate to go on at least two listing appointments every week.  So, we must get a lot of listings, right?  Well, we certainly are successful securing listings, but we don’t want every listing.  You see, many desperate real estate agents take listings regardless of the situation because they know in their heart of hearts that even if the listing can’t and won’t be sold that they can use the listing to promote themself.  It’s a terrible reality, but it is just that, a reality.  When we all agree to agree to take a listing, Lesley and I take it because we genuinely believe we can sell it.  We aren’t desperate.  We aren’t in the business of listing homes.  We are in the business of selling homes.  If we can’t sell your home, it bothers us.  We don’t sleep well at night.  You aren’t happy.  You don’t use us again.  You don’t refer us to your friends and family.  We are sad, and eventually we become desperate.

So, what would cause us to not take a listing?

1 - Price - it’s hard to sell a home when it’s priced so high that it doesn’t attract buyers.  We are very realistic on price, and we play to the percentages, not to the possibilities.  This has helped us achieve an average days on market much lower (30.4 days) than the average Atlanta real estate agent.  We tell everyone that we meet with for a listing presentation that there will definitely be another agent that will come along and price their home higher than we would.  That will always be the case.  We completely understand when someone feels like they must “try” to sell their home at a higher price with another agent.  Unfortunately, the market stats suggest we have far more “tryers” as opposed to sellers considering 67% of listings fail due to being overpriced (ChartMaster 3rd Qtr Market Stats). 

2 - Condition - in this buyers’ market, you have to be competitively priced and you have to be the “prettiest.”  If a buyer sees a defect in your home, they don’t discount in hundreds of dollars.  They discount in thousands of dollars.  It’s hard to build value to a buyer when there are glaring defects that a seller is not willing to repair.  With high inventory, it is easy for a buyer to simply move on to the next listing without batting an eye.  It’s very unlikely that we will walk into the absolute perfect home that needs nothing done in order to get it ready for the market.  Part of our listing consultation includes a walk through of a home to make some clear cut recommendations on what exactly needs to be done in order to maximize your opportunity to sell in the least amount of time for the most amount of money.

3 - Financial - sometimes it is just not in the best interest of the seller to sell.  If someone is severely upside down on their home, we don’t want to take that listing unless the seller absolutely has to sell.  If they have to sell and it isn’t pretty, we coach people to explore short sell options with their lender to avoid foreclosure.  We tell more people not to sell than we do ask for their listing, and that’s the honest to goodness truth.  The rental market is booming right now as more and more people realize that renting their property gives them an opportunity to fulfill their obligation to their lender and hold on for a better day.  We want that better day for everyone if it’s in their best interest.

We know that selling a home can be a very stressful experience or a very enjoyable experience.  We are the difference maker.  We are not desperate.  We do not do desperate things.  We follow a time tested model that allows us to sleep at night.  We study real market statistics that give us important clues and direction when listing and buying property.  Continue to think like a buyer, and if you are looking for an agent that will give you the straight talk on selling in this market, look no further.

Lesley and I both are  proud members of the Atlanta Board of REALTORS®  I had the pleasure of attending a recent Atlanta Board event.  One of the topics was “What is a REALTOR®?”  Before I became a real estate agent, I just assumed that everyone was considered a REALTOR® if they were in the business.  I would also sometimes refer to these people as Real-a-tors.  It wasn’t until I became a REALTOR® that I really realized what this designation means to me and to the people who utilize my services.  I quickly learned that real-tor is the correct pronunciation, that it is spelled in all caps, always had that circled “R” symbol, and that actually being a REALTOR® was different than being just a real estate agent. 

All real estate brokerage houses don’t require the membership of its agents in a Board of REALTORS®.  Our Keller Williams offices require it with no questions asked.  Now, why would they be so insistant on its affiliates joining? 

1 - Code of Ethics - the REALTOR® Code of Ethics is at the forefront of the REALTOR® designation, and it provides an important difference to consumers.  All real estate agents are required to understand and operate under state mandated licensing laws, but only REALTORS® are held to a higher standard.

2 - Accountability - The Atlanta Board of REALTORS® mitigates disagreements and conflict between its members.  A violation of the code of ethics and a member finds themselves facing harsh consequences such as fines, suspension of Board membership, suspension of MLS access, etc.  This sort of accountability amongst the members creates a self policing that makes all of its members better.

3 - Community - the Board has a long-standing history of supporting the local community. In the past several years, the Atlanta Board of REALTORS® has sponsored building several Habitat for Humanity homes through the Atlanta Chapter.

4 - Awareness - membership in the Atlanta Board of REALTORS® places an agent in one of the most powerful and influential grassroots lobbying efforts in the country related to real estate issues affecting the industry.

5 - Networking and Exposure - by being a member, your listings appear on one of the heaviest searched site for homebuyers in the nation, www.realtor.com.  In addition, through various networking and educational opportunities members are able to promote their business and listings to their colleagues in a professional manner.

These are the top 5 benefits of being a REALTOR® as I see it, and why every agent should seek this designation.  It kind of makes you wonder about those who aren’t members, doesn’t it?  The more pressing question is always, “What’s in it for ME?”  I understand that everything I do and say should probably be followed with a “So what?” 

Here’s what’s in it for you and why you should use a REALTOR®:

Educated students of real estate law who understand the law and work to ensure you have the safest transaction possible.

Ethical leaders who understand and are willing to do the right thing even though it may mean more work on their part.

Community minded people who understand that a home is more than a place to live.

Politically active advocates for the real estate industry, helping to protect all of our investments.

Well connected professionals always searching to expose you to more than the average agent.

Lesley and I would love to show you the benefits of having a REALTOR® on your side first hand.  We want to be the difference maker in your real estate transaction.

The Peters Company’s latest listing is a beautiful, like new townhome in Norcross.  Many thanks to Emily for giving us an opportunity.  Emily found us online, as so many of our clients do.

 Best value in neighborhood • Move-in ready • Neutral paint colors throughout • Kitchen features stained cabinets, island, like new black appliances,  & pantry • Open floor plan with large family room/dining room combination • Gleaming hardwood floors on main level •  Sturdy, neutral berber carpet on 2nd floor • Expansive master with vaulted ceiling • Large 2nd bedroom perfect for roommate  floor plan  • Great exterior storage closet • Private patio •  Come home to this quiet community conveniently located to I-85, I-285, and Hwy 78 • Seller will pay 6 months HOA fees

Keller Williams produces and distributes very useful information.  The video included below is a nice review of the national market for the month of October including statistics and in depth analysis.  I encourage you to take a look if you are interested in the macro view of the real estate market.  Keep in mind that our goal is to ALWAYS keep you up to date with the micro view in the metro Atlanta area.  You will see local statistics scattered between here, our mailings, our email updates, our Facebook update group, and our Active Rain blog.

Perhaps one of the greatest statistics:  If interest rates go up 1% that represents a 10% increase in the purchase price.  Interest rates are incredibly low and fell again last week.  Don’t wait too long to take advantage of this prime opportunity to buy your first home, your first investment property, or move up.