Selling your home is trial.  With luck it won’t be a long trial but still it isn’t an easy thing to go through.   When you have a good agent they will help you with all the things you need to know to make the experience as easy as possible.   Still, home sellers always have questions and are always looking for more help to make the process go quicker.    Here is an article from the New York Times on showing your home to its best presentation.

Market Ready

By TIM McKEOUGH

A. Even if your house hasn’t been featured on “Hoarders,” making an effort to clear out clutter and to ensure that your home is as neat and tidy as possible before opening your door to buyers is common advice in real estate circles.   And for good reason, said Jeffrey Stockwell, a senior vice president with Stribling & Associates in Manhattan.

But cleaning up isn’t always easy.  “You’re parting with things that have emotional value, and that’s very difficult for people,” he said.  “They understand the need to do it.   It doesn’t cost much, if anything, and yet it’s really hard to get clients to do it.”

Packing personal belongings into boxes that remain in the apartment isn’t much of a solution. “If I go into an apartment and see a lot of boxes, even if they’re attractive boxes,” he said, “I immediately think there’s not enough storage space.”

Jeffrey Phillip, a professional organizer in New York, agreed that the boxes need to go.

“In Manhattan, you’re working with a very limited amount of space, and any space is prime real estate,” Mr. Phillip said. “Even if you shove boxes into a closet thinking you’ll make the living space look good, you’re detracting from the storage space, which is another valuable asset.”

You could move those things into a storage unit, he said, but “better yet, take that time to get organized.”

Gearing up for a move is a “perfect time to really edit yourself down,” he said.   There are a number of advantages to doing so: “You’re going to spend less money for someone to move you, and you’re also going to spend less money on storage.”

Just “don’t expect to do it all in one weekend,” Mr. Phillip said.   Give yourself a few weeks — or even months — to complete the task.

“It’s all about doing small projects, one at a time,” he said, rather than trying to tackle the entire home in one shot, which could be overwhelming.

Some areas where you can get quick results include wardrobes, kitchen pantries and drawers, and collections of CDs and DVDs.   For the latter, even adding the discs to a binder and doing away with the cases can clear a substantial amount of shelving.

As Mr. Stockwell put it: “The rule of thumb is, be ruthless.”   If you’re unsure about something, he added, “Get rid of it.”

If you are selling your home, or know someone who is, and you’re looking for a good agent, give Tom or Mary Ann Anderson a call and let them tell you what they can do for you!

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Following on the heels of news articles at the end of March talking about how owning a home is now cheaper than renting in a number of major markets, (see TAG blog from March 30th, 2012), here are two more related articles.   The first, from the Wall Street Journal, tells how the apartment rental market has taken off in recent years and how, as of 2011, the historic 10% lower cost of renting vs. owning a home has completely turned around.  By the end of 2011 the average cost of renting an apartment was 15% higher then the after tax cost of home ownership!

The second article relates the rising trend of pending home sales according to the National Association of REALTORS®.  More proof that the housing market is beginning to turn around.  Time may be running out for holdout buyers to grab their dream home at historically low prices.

As Home Rents Head Higher, Owning Regains Its Appeal

By DAWN WOTAPKA and NICK TIMIRAOS

Climbing rents for apartments are combining with a continued decline in home prices to push once-reluctant home buyers into finally taking the plunge, say economists and real-estate agents, helping what appears to be a good start to the housing industry’s all-important spring selling season.

Although increased buying activity from investors and second-home purchasers are also factors behind the recent pickup in home sales, real-estate agents say they are fielding more calls from anxious tenants complaining about rising rents.

“The rental market has been incredibly hot,” said Ronald Peltier, chief executive of HomeServices of America Inc., which owns real-estate brokerages in 21 states. He says rising rents, coupled with slumping home prices and interest rates near record lows, are boosting demand for homes at entry-level prices.

Average apartment rents rose by 2.7% last year while the national vacancy rate dropped below 5% for the first time since 2001, according to a quarterly survey to be released Wednesday by Reis Inc., REIS +1.53% a real-estate research firm.

The broad and sustained growth of the apartment market contrasts sharply with an uneven and tentative housing recovery. During the first quarter, average apartment rent  s rose and vacancy rates fell in all 82 metropolitan areas tracked by Reis, when compared with a year ago.

The largest rent increases came in San Francisco and San Jose, Calif., which saw increases of 5.9% and 4.9%, respectively. Even boom-to-bust Las Vega  s, which has struggled with falling rents in previous quarters, saw average rent rise 1.8% from a year earlier.

Such increases are one reason why analysts at Zelman & Associates believe 2012 will be the first year since 2005 when the share of apartment renters that moves out to buy a house increases from the previous year. “The equation of renting versus owning is becoming much more favorable for owning,” said Ivy Zelman, the firm’s chief executive.

Unless the economy worsens, there is little sign that rent growth will slow until hundreds of thousands of new apartment units currently under construction hit the market over the next few years.

Nishu Sood, a housing analyst with Deutsche Bank DBK.XE -0.56% who tracks housing costs, says that, historically, the cost to rent an apartment has been about 10% lower than the after-tax cost of owning a home. That rental discount began to fall in 2010 and disappeared entirely last year. By the end of 2011, Mr. Sood’s research found that the cost to rent an apartment was about 15% higher than the cost to own a home. Conditions are “overwhelming in the favor of buying now. It is unequivocal,” he said.

In San Jose and the Silicon Valley, where home prices have tumbled 36% from the mid-2007 peak, home affordability has more than doubled in the last five years, Mr. Sood said. Affordability has also improved in Long Island and northern New Jersey, where during the boom, renting was half as expensive as buying. Now, it is almost equal.

To be sure, not all markets have seen the same development. In Orange County, Calif., and New York City, where home prices are extremely high, renting is still cheaper. But even in New York, real-estate agents say sales of small studio and one-bedroom apartments are brisk because renters don’t want to pay such high amounts to rent.

“The entry-level market is back,” said Dottie Herman, president of Prudential Douglas Elliman.

Jennifer Regan and her husband went under contract to buy a three-bedroom home in Martinez, Calif., last month. With a 4.25% rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage, their monthly payments, including taxes and insurance, will be around $600 less than what it costs to rent a comparable house. “I couldn’t believe it had gotten so expensive” to rent, said Ms. Regan, 36 years old, who is moving before her oldest son starts school this fall.

It isn’t always easy for individual home buyers to make it to the closing table, however. Lending and appraisal standards remain tight, keeping many would-be buyers out of the market. And aspiring buyers are competing with savvy investors who have turned buying and reselling foreclosed homes into a business. Last week, the National Association of Realtors trade group said the number of homes purchased by investors rose 65% during 2011 to 1.2 million, representing 27% of all sales.

And for some renters, the housing crisis has shaken their desire to become owners. “If I was going to buy, I feel like I would be just in the same problem that other homeowners are having with the market,” said Laurel Slutsky, 24, who just renewed the one-year lease on her Chicago two-bedroom.

“Right now, all my friends and I are hopping around neighborhoods, and I don’t see the benefit in buying and staying in one place.”

—Josh Barbanel contributed to this article.

 Housing Bright Spot: Pending Home Sales Rise, Market on Uptrend

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Recent real estate news coming from DSnews.com and Housingwire.com is finally bringing some good news to both buyers and sellers.  One of the most frustrating aspects of the current housing crisis has been the fact that although mortgage rates had dropped drastically and stayed low, which normally would spur home buying, during the same time, banks had tighten up their credits requirements beyond all reason.   Even home buyers with good credit have been refused with banks doyling out credit only to those with tip top credit ratings.   Buyers couldn’t get a break and sellers, whose house prices continued to drop, lost offer after offer when interested buyers couldn’t get a bank to give them credit.  Well, to both sides, the following stories should offer some hope.

Housing Crisis to End in 2012 as Banks Loosen Credit Standards

Capital Economics expects the housing crisis to end this year, according to a report released Tuesday. One of the reasons: loosening credit.

Buying is more affordable than renting in 98 out of the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas — even in New York, Los Angeles and Boston, according to real estate company Trulia‘s rent vs. buy index.   The index is based on asking prices for rental units and homes for sale on the company’s website between Dec. 1, 2011, and Feb. 29.

“As rents rise and prices stagnate, homeownership is becoming even more affordable, but rising rents create a dilemma for people who can’t afford to buy yet,” says Jed Kolko, Trulia’s chief economist.  “Rising rents make it harder for people to save for a down payment, which is the biggest barrier to buying a home that aspiring homeowners face.”

Homeowners are choosing, or being forced, to rent rather than buy even though the latter is cheaper in key markets Trulia reviewed.  But as they turn to renting, the influx of demand squeezes the nation’s rental supply, pushing monthly rents higher.  The nation’s median rent stands at $712 per month — well above the average monthly mortgage cost of $647, Paul Dales, senior economist at Capital Economics,recently found.  He estimated decreased vacancies in the home-rental market will push average rental rates up as much as 5% by early 2013, compared to 2.4% in January.

As a consequence of less willingness and ability to buy a home, households in rentals will rise by at least 850,000 a year over the next few years, Dales said.   He expects rents to rise at an annual rate of 3% this year and remain at that level in 2013.  “Assuming that the economic recovery gains firmer footing, in future years there is scope for rents to rise by around 4% a year,” Dales said.

Only in Honolulu and San Francisco is renting often a better deal than buying.  However, Trulia points out that buying a home in these markets might make sense for people who plan to stay in their next home for at least five years and can benefit from the mortgage-interest tax deduction.

“Metros where homeownership is expensive tend to have stronger long-term economic growth and little room to build new homes, like Boston and the San Francisco Bay Area, where people expect home prices to increase over time,” Kolko says.  “Buying is much cheaper than renting in slow-growing places with high vacancy rates and land to spare, like Detroit and Cleveland, where prices are unlikely to improve much in the future,” he says.

Top 10 metros in which to buy versus renting, according to Trulia:

housingwire.com

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So your house has been on the market for months with no results and your contract with your current agent is about to or has, expired.  What do you do?  Is it your agent’s fault that your home hasn’t sold?  Do you think your agent tried hard enough?  Even if you think your current agent put forth a good effort, if you’ve gone a few contract cycles with the same agent without results it may be time to make switch.

We get it.  Truly we do.  It’s a hard decision to make especially if you like your agent and you believe they really did work hard for you.   Still, if the end result is that your home is still on the market and buyer interest now seems non-existent, you need to make a change!

A  new agent opens doors to new market avenues.  Every agent has their own niches and marketing strategies and while they may seem the same things, i.e. caravans, open houses, etc., the reach of each agent is different.   Once you make the decision to switch put some effort into finding your new agent.  Does the agent do real estate full time or are they a ‘dabbler’ just looking to make some extra money and fill time?  There’s nothing saying part-time agents are not good at what they do but do you really want someone who isn’t as completely dedicated to getting your home sold as you are?  What’s the experience level of the agent?  Brand new agents may be determined but may not have the resources and knowledge needed.  Are they familiar with expired listings?  Do they have a good record of getting them closed?

The Anderson Group meets all of qualifications you should have in looking for your next agent!  Tom and Mary Ann have many years experience in the business and have a solid reputation for getting homes sold.  Tom Anderson has made expired listings a specialty and has been know to take an expired property from listing agreement to under contract in 12 DAYS!!  There are no guarantees but maybe he can do the same for your expired listing.

Contact Tom Anderson at 404-277-9581 and talk to him about what he can do you!

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There have been a rash of good news stories regarding the real estate market in the last few weeks but here are 3 that we think everyone should be aware of.   Buyers and sellers, these affect you both!

First, there was a local Atlanta news story the other night that spoke of 12 Metro Atlanta neighborhoods whose sales have just taken off since the beginning of 2012!  In almost every case these neighborhoods are spread across the top end perimeter including Johns Creek, Roswell, Dunwoody, Sandy Springs and East Cobb but touching inside the perimeter, Buckhead and Brookhaven are included as well.  A local realtor mentioned that sales were higher than anything seen in the last decade!!  That’s saying something.  If this holds for another few weeks you can be assured that housing prices in these sought after neighborhoods will begin rising as the competition heats up and the results of the following news stories hit the market.

Housing Crisis to End in 2012

as Banks Loosen Credit Standards

Capital Economics expects the housing crisis to end this year, according to a report released Tuesday. One of the reasons: loosening credit.

 The analytics firm notes the average credit score required to attain a mortgage loan is 700. While this is higher than scores required prior to the crisis, it is constant with requirements one year ago.  Additionally, a Fed Senior Loan Officer Survey found credit requirements in the fourth quarter were consistent with the past three quarters.

 However, other market indicators point not just to a stabilization of mortgage lending standards, but also a loosening of credit availability.  Banks are now lending amounts up to 3.5 times borrower earnings. This is up from a low during the crisis of 3.2 times borrower earnings.

 Banks are also loosening loan-to-value ratios (LTV), which Capital Economics denotes “the clearest sign yet of an improvement in mortgage credit conditions.”

In contrast to a low of 74 percent reached in mid-2010, banks are now lending at 82 percent LTV.

 While credit conditions may have loosened slightly, some potential home buyers are still struggling with credit requirements. In fact, Capital Economics points out that in November 8 percent of contract cancellations were the result of a potential buyer not qualifying for a loan.

 Additionally, Capital Economics says “any improvement in credit conditions won’t be significant enough to generation actual house price gains,” and potential ramifications from the euro-zone pose a threat to future credit availability.  (DSnews.com)

Mortgage Rates Cling to

Record Lows This Week

 The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage stayed at a record low this week, providing some added incentive for those looking to buy a home or refinance.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the rate on the 30-year loan was unchanged at 3.87 percent.

The average on the 15-year fixed mortgage rose to 3.16 percent, up from last week’s record low of 3.14 percent. Records for mortgage rates date back to the 1950s.

Still, low rates have done little to boost the struggling housing market. Rates have been below 5 percent for all but two weeks in the past year. Yet few people can qualify to buy a home or refinance. Many of those who can have already done so.  (msnbc.com)

So, take all this news together and what have you got?  The Real Estate Market is on its way back!!

Buyers, it’s still your market but that won’t be lasting too much longer.  If you’ve been holding out, find your house now now.  Mortgage rates are sure to begin to rebound and if you’ve been wanting a home in one of those 12 Atlanta neighborhoods where sales are soaring, rock bottom prices won’t last much longer.

Sellers, your misery should be coming to end – albeit slowly, but things should steadily improve as 2012 continues.  If you’ve been waiting for the market to improve before listing your home, now may be an excellent time, especially if you live in a top-end perimeter neighborhood.

Buyer or seller – let The Anderson Group assist you!

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Congratulations, you purchased a home last year!!  If you’re a first time home owner you’ve learned a lot this past year – and likely spent a lot of money beyond the purchase price.  Time to make that house purchase work you and save yourself some serious money!  How you say?  If you live in Georgia and purchased a home in 2011 (that you still have) you can file for a Homestead Exemption.  Below are the web sites and phone numbers for the Metro Atlanta Counties where you can get more information and the forms needed.  We suggest you file early because the deadline is April 1st, 2012 in all the counties listed.   Contact your real estate agent for documents you will need from your closing.

Legal Tip:  FILING FOR HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION IN 2012

Homeowners may need to provide the Warranty Deed, proof of residence, social security numbers, driver’s license and car tag info

Fulton County – deadline is April 1, 2012                  404-612-6440

http://www.fultonassessor.org/Forms/HtmlFrame.aspx?mode=content/TaxReliefInfo.htm

DeKalb County – deadline is March 1, 2012               404-298-4000

http://web.co.dekalb.ga.us/taxcommissioner/homesteadgen.html#applications

Gwinnett County – deadline is March 1, 2012           770-822-8800

http://gwinnetttaxcommissioner.manatron.com/Tabs/Property/HomesteadExemption.aspx

Cobb County – deadline is April 1, 2012                   770-528-8600

http://www.cobbtax.org/Forms/HtmlFrame.aspx?mode=content/Exemptions.htm&LMparent=189

Clayton County – deadline is April 1, 2012                 770-477-3311

http://www.claytoncountyga.gov/departments/tax-assessor/residential-property.aspx

Cherokee County – deadline is April 1, 2012              678-493-6122

http://www.cherokeega.com/departments/department.cfm?displaySection=HomesteadExemptions.txt&departmentid=30

Henry County – deadline is April 1, 2012                   770-288-8180

http://www.co.henry.ga.us/taxcommissioner/PropertyTaxExemptions.shtml

Forsyth County – deadline is April 1, 2012                770-781-2106

http://www.qpublic.net/ga/forsyth/homestead.html

Douglas County – deadline is April 1, 2012               770-920-7272

http://www.douglastaxcommissioner.com/

Fayette County – deadline is April 1, 2012              770-461-3652

http://www.fayettecountytaxcomm.com/subpages/HOMESTEAd.asp

Paulding County – deadline is April 1, 2012               770-443-7606

http://www.paulding.gov/index.aspx?NID=210

Anderson Group Sellers, if you have any questions, call Tom Anderson at 404-277-9581.

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If you’ve been thinking of buying a home but waiting for when prices hit the bottom, you may want to start your search now!  More and more the real estate market is showing signs that the absolute worst may be over.  As more of these signals begin to hit home with sellers, prices have been stabilizing.

 One of the key signals that have been closely watched is the availability of homes on the market and across the country January was the 19th consecutive month that inventory levels dropped.  The number of homes for sale last month was 24.1% lower than the number seen in January 2011.  Although this is likely due in part to falling foreclosure numbers the result is still a ‘Months Supply’ being down to 7.3 months, which is a drop from the 7.8 ‘Months Supply’ in December 2011.  More significantly, this is a 2.8 months drop from January 2011. (‘Months Supply’ is the number of months it would take to clear a market’s active inventory at the current rate of sales.  A six-month supply is considered a balanced market between buyers and sellers. )

Need more proof?  January sales were the 7th straight month of increased sales compared to sales in the previous year.  Averaging the 53 major metro areas, January 2012 sales were 3.4% greater than January 2011 sales.   Twenty of these metro areas saw double-digit jumps from last year and that included Atlanta with an increase of 26.3%.

We here at The Anderson Group have had our own proof that the market is definitely improving – since the beginning of February we have put 4 of our properties under contract!!!  One of those properties went from listing to contract in under 3 weeks.

So if you’ve been holding out, Buyer or Seller, wait no longer!   The Anderson Group is waiting help you!

Looking for a new house or townhome?  Check out these listings from The Anderson Group:

210 Grogans Lake Point

1541 Briarwood Rd, # 63

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If you’ve got a home to sell and you’re living in the Metro Atlanta area, you’ve gotten some good news as of today!  The National Association of Realtors released a report on Wednesday showing that home sales rose dramatically in August 2011 compared to August 2010.  Across the country the over increase was 18.6%.  In the Metro Atlanta area the rise was even more dramatic with the increase at 26.2 %.  There are 9 counties that constitute the Atlanta Metro area.

Fulton County Homes:

North Fulton Homes for Sale

South Fulton Homes for Sale

Cobb County Homes for Sale

DeKalb County Homes for Sale

Cherokee County Homes for Sale

While home sellers have reason to celebrate (and many have after selling homes that have been listed for months), not all the news was good.  With the economy still acting like a roller coaster, the report also tells of home prices continuing to fall.  Digging into the details of the report, the Atlanta Journal Constitution found that home prices in the metro area fell by 7 %.  In August of 2010 the median house price was $111,100 and dropped to $103,300 in August 2011.

Forsyth County Homes for Sale

Gwinnett County Homes for Sale

Clayton County Homes for Sale

Henry County Homes for Sale

Fayette County Homes for Sale

Continuing in the more positive vein of the news, it looks as though the sales trend could continue into September.   Home buyers once again have fabulous mortgage rates to work with.  The average fixed rate, 30-year mortgage fell to a record low of 4.09 percent last week, according to Freddie Mac.

If you’re looking to buy a home in the Metro Atlanta area (or really anywhere in the country!), the combination of low mortgage rates and historic lows in home pricing means NOW is the time to do so!  Whether you are looking to buy or sell, you need a great agent to help you and The Anderson Group stands ready to assist you in all your efforts.

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Do you want to know what homes are selling for in your community? Do you want to know how long it takes for the average listing in your community to sell?

Go to www.georgiahomeprice.com and get all the answers you need. www.georgiahomeprice.com is a new tool offered by Tom Anderson and Mary Ann Anderson of The Anderson Group that lets you see all of the active real estate for sale and recent sold real estate in your Atlanta community. Popular searches include Dunwoody, Roswell, Candler Park, Duluth, Springlake, Lake Claire, Druid Hills, Oak Grove, and many more.

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It is a common misconception in real estate that money is made on the sale of a transaction. The value in owning real estate as an investment, beyond is intrinsic value to the property owner or tenants, is most often realized during the acquisition, or “buy side” of the transaction. Whether you are an investor or a homeowner, the best way to ensure your property increases in value is to purchase the property for the right price.

In Atlanta’s current real estate market, this means a potential buyer needs to do their due diligence to determine current property values in the immediate and surrounding area of the potential property. Unlike the stock market, the real estate market is inefficient because detailed information regarding property values is not readily available. This, however, is also the reason why buyer’s of real estate are able to “play the market” and acquire properties at a discount compared with comparable properties.  

Understanding property value as a function of the current market and location is a fundamental component to purchasing property at the right price. If you would like more information about how The Anderson Group can help you find the right property at the right price, please click here.

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