The Buice Road Connection….               

If you drive around our area you might get the impression that the real estate market has really softened up lately.  If you keep seeing some of the same houses still for sale, or the for sale signs just going away, and you can definitely get the impression that nothing is happening.  Well that’s not exactly true. After the mad dash of summer there has been a little seasonal slowing of the pace heading into the fourth quarter.  But there were still 8 closings in September and there are 5 deals pending right now, so there is still some action out there.

Something that affects our sales here in the Buice Road corridor that many don’t realize is the competition from new construction homes.  I am not necessarily referring to the $800,000 homes being built, and sold by the way, right here on Buice.  I am referring the new homes being built in South Forsyth County.  That’s where those home buyers with a $400 – $600,000 budget are going to compare homes with ours.  We have great schools here, but so does South Forsyth.  If your home is not keeping up with the competition from new homes you are really going to be up against it trying to get full value for your home when the time comes to sell.  Call me anytime and I’ll come by and give you the rundown on what the new homes have to offer and what economical steps you can take to insure that your home will be competitive when the time comes to sell. 

Buice Road Stats

2014 through Sept 30                                             2015 through Sept 30

Sales – 49                                                               Sales – 44

Low price - $318,000                                               Low price - $392,500

High Price - $2,750,000                                           High Price - $1,850,000

Other key points of interest:

 In 2014 there were several sales in the $300’s; in 2015 there has been one.

There are currently 23 active listings in the corridor, that is about a 6 month supply of houses which is a balanced inventory and reflective of a healthy housing market.

Doublegate has had 12 homes sales this year, after selling 22 through September in 2014

Oxford Mill has had 10 home sales this year, after selling 7 through September 2014

Remember that now is the time to consider what steps to take to prepare your home to give you the maximum return on your investment.  Call me anytime, I can help…                                              

Should I consider selling in 2015?

Selling Your House in 2015? Don’t Miss this Opportunity

by The KCM Crew on April 15, 2015 in For Sellers, Move-Up Buyers

Every seller wants to get the best price for their house. We learned in high school that the best price for any item will be determined by the demand for that item relative to the supply of that item.

We have reported that the inventory of houses for sale is well below normal numbers.

There is historical evidence that the demand for housing is about to increase dramatically. Each year, more homes sell in May, June, July and August than any other four months of the year. Here is a graph of home sales last year by month:

Bottom Line

You want to make sure your house is available for sale during peak selling season. If you are thinking of selling this year, contact a local real estate professional today.

Johns Creek Update/ 2014 Fourth Quarter

This is what’s really happening in 

Johns Creek Real Estate today:

Now that the fourth quarter is in the books, 2014 has turned out to be solid year in both sales and price growth in our area.  In the Eastern North Fulton area that includes some of Alpharetta, some of Roswell and all of Johns Creek unit sales of single family homes were up just over 12% compared to 2013, and the average selling price was up 6.2%.  And these numbers do not include most new home sales, which are becoming a real factor again in the area.  With the potential of rising interest rates and a persistent shortage of inventory prices should continue to rise, but at a slightly slower pace.  And since our high quality public schools and other amenities will continue to attract home-buyers to the area, unit sales may only be limited by the available inventory.

The fourth quarter of 2014 has had mixed results in our area:

•           In Eastern North Fulton there were 328 single family homes sold in Q4 which was up 10% over Q4 2013.  While the average price increased by over $20,000, or around 5%.
•         While in the Johns Creek High School area there were 66 homes sold, an increase of 10%.  And the average selling price was down slightly over 10%. 

Other school zones in Johns Creek area also showed marked improvement:

•          Chattahoochee HS area prices were down 4.6%, and unit sales were down 5.7%.  And the number of listings was down as well.
•          Northview HS area unit sales were up over 15% while the average price was down by 1.7%.

Buice Road area between Jones Bridge & Old Alabama (my neighborhood) still up!

•          The number of homes sold is up 43%
•          The average sale price is up 2.8%
•          The average days on the market to sell a house was 61 days

Contact me today at 678.206.6041 for a free, no obligation pricing analysis of your home!

#JohnsCreekHomesforSale, #AlpharettaHomesforSale, #JohnsCreekListingAgent

What About Mortgages?

Mortgage Rates are going up!                                                  

Yikes!  The experts are predicting that mortgage rates could top 5% by this time in 2015.  Some people will always find the bad news in the news.  Depending on how you spin this projection; as a 20% jump in mortgage rates! or as Mortgage rates continue at historical lows! the fact is some home buyers might be suffering a little sticker shock at the closing table next fall.

Many of us who were buying houses in the 80’s at 12 to 16% interest find it interesting how potential homebuyers today anguish over the weekly .2% interest rate swings on mortgage rates.  The rates have basically been between 3.5% and 4.5% since 2011.  It has been a phenomenal opportunity to invest and begin building personal wealth for those with great credit scores.  But even the hint of rising rates should spur some action in 2015.

It’s getting easier to qualify for a mortgage.

As you can see in the chart to the right, the lenders aren’t exactly throwing money at people like they were in 2006.  But the fact is that many more potential home buyers are eligible to borrow much more money than they were just a couple of years ago.  And the FHA qualifying scores are even lower; into the high 600’s.  There is a lot more money available to lend and the lenders are feeling much more comfortable with the new regulations, and with today’s wizened borrowers.   

In addition, just last week Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt announced that mortgages requiring only a three percent down payment may soon be available:  “To increase access for creditworthy but lower-wealth borrowers, FHFA is also working with the Enterprises to develop sensible and responsible guidelines for mortgages with loan-to-value ratios between 95 and 97 percent. Through these revised guidelines, we believe that the Enterprises will be able to responsibly serve a targeted segment of creditworthy borrowers with lower-down payment mortgages by taking into account “compensating factors.”

What does this mean to potential home sellers?  

It means if you have been considering putting your home on the market but you have been concerned about whether the time was right or not…Well the time is right, or the right time is certainly just around the corner.  You don’t think all these new home builders have been pouring foundations on a whim do you?  If you’ve been on the fence, get off it.  If you’ve been waiting for that magic moment, get your wand warmed up.  Call a professional REALTOR® ASAP, preferably this guy right here, and tell them that you need to know what to do to get your house ready to sell for top dollar.  Tell them you have 90 days to get it done, and then get it done!

The combination of rising interest rates, more available capital and a huge pent up desire to purchase a home should make for a fantastic 2015.  Be sure you don’t miss it!

#Johns Creek Real Estate, #Johns Creek Listing Agent, #Alpharetta Homes for Sale, #Johns Creek Homes for Sale, # Alpharetta Listing Agent

Johns Creek Update / Third Quarter 2014

 

This is what’s happening in Johns Creek Real Estate today:

Through the third quarter of 2014 this has turned out to be solid year in both sales and price growth in our area

Through the third quarter on 2014 there has been improvement on all fronts:

·         The Johns Creek High School area has shown an increase of 10% in number of homes sold

·         The average selling price in the area has increased 5.8% or a little over $30,000

Other school zones in Johns Creek also showed marked improvement:

·         Chattahoochee HS area prices were up 3.5% and unit sales were up 10%

·         Northview HS area sales are up only 2% but prices have risen 5%

Buice Road area between Jones Bridge & Old Alabama (my neighborhood) way up!

·         The number of homes sold is up 20%

·         The average sale price is up 13%

·         The average days on the market to sell a house is 42 days

Contact me today at 678.206.6041 for a free, no obligation pricing analysis of your home!

#JohnsCreekHomesforSale, #AlpharettaHomesforSale, #JohnsCreekListingAgent

Johns Creek Update / First Half 2014

What’s happening in Johns Creek in 2014?

In the first six months of 2014 there 1264 homes sold in North Fulton County east of GA400.  This includes all of Johns Creek, a good bit of Alpharetta and a tiny bit of Roswell.  That total was about the same as the 1256 sold in the first half of 2013.  The average selling price was a slightly less than $400,000 which was about a 3-4% increase over 2013. 

If we focus on zip code 30022 the numbers are similar.  Sales totals were almost the same year over year and the average prices were up a little over 3%.  The chart below details the 30022 selling prices month to month for the past few years.  What this chart indicates is that the prices in our area have held pretty steady for the past couple of years.  

In the Johns Creek High School district you see in the chart below that total sales volume has grown steadily this year.  This is very similar to the trend in the larger area:  Stable to slightly increasing prices with slow growth in number of contracts written.  What you don't see here though are the pre-sale numbers of newly constructed homes being built in the area right now.

Using the data from the neighborhoods along Buice Rd where I live, the results differ quite a bit.  As you see in the chart below the number of sales was up about 40%, and the average price was up 10%.  That is a significant difference from the larger area. 

All real estate is local-

If you read the newspaper and watch the news, you might think that real estate prices are up 15% and sales are through the roof, or are they?  Or you might think that new home construction is way down, or is it up?  It really depends on what day you read the paper.  If you look at the Case-Shiller Atlanta Home Price Index we are at November 2008 prices.  But does that mean that prices in Johns Creek are at 2008 levels? 

Real estate prices are really based on small areas like high school attendance zones and neighborhoods, and even subdivisions.  So watching the big trends is great but you really need someone with some local knowledge about your house and your neighborhood to get the answers you need.  Get in touch with me any time and I can access the information you need about your home. 

Please visit me at www.DeeSellsHouses.com for an update on Johns Creek real estate and other areas in the North Atlanta metro area. 

Thanks to the FMLS and the ReData Center for the information used in this update.

 #johnscreekrealestate, #johnscreekhomesforsale, #johnscreeklistingagent, #johnscreekhomebuyer, #alpharettarealestate, #alpharettalistingagent

Do You Really Need Some Help?

Can I get in trouble for that?

A few weeks ago a friend of mine from Texas called me and told me about a problem he was having with a recently consummated real estate transaction.  He had inherited a townhome in a very nice part of town.  He had been pretty much managing the property for his mother for a couple of years before he inherited it.  He had it rented and that had been going along pretty well. One of the neighbors, who was a friend of his mom’s and also a real estate agent, had found him a couple of tenants.  After he inherited the property he no longer wanted to be a landlord, so he decided to sell.

Who’s working for whom here?

Once he decided to sell he discussed his options with the helpful neighbor/real estate agent.  She told him she was aware of a gentleman who had been waiting to buy into that community for a while.  She suggested that maybe she could work something out between the two of them and save the trouble of listing the property.  You know what a pain listing a property is; cleaning, showing, open houses, and phone calls.  This would be easy.  She would just simply introduce the two and let them negotiate the deal.  Money and property would then be exchanged; no muss, no fuss.  And that’s pretty much how it went. 

The buyer checked out the house, he and my friend agreed on a price.  There were some repairs that he wanted done, not the least of which was a new roof.  They got an estimate to repair the roof and my friend agreed to reduce the price to cover that cost.  He also agreed to accept a sales contract that was contingent on the buyer selling his property.  It was all very casual and not a lot of excess paperwork was done.  

I guess that was pretty easy, right?

In my opinion there were a couple of problems with this situation, and I believe they all stem from a lack of well-defined representation of either party in the transaction.  First of all, without the home being listed and presented to the larger marketplace there is no way of knowing if the price agreed upon was the best price for either party; much less the best price for the seller.  It could have been a very fair price, but we will never really know.  Secondly, because of the somewhat casual approach to the deal there was no property disclosure from the seller to the buyer. And thirdly, in today’s market of multiple offers and bidding wars when prices can change dramatically in weeks if not days, to accept a contingency contract from the one and only potential buyer for the property seems like a bad idea all the way around.

Wow, that was close!

Well, the buyer’s house finally sold after several months and a number of extensions of the contingency deadline.  So the sale of the townhouse did ultimately close.  Of course we don’t know if the seller received his best possible price for the property.  But it is highly unlikely, both because of the time lag and the lack of market exposure.  What we do know is that he paid additional taxes, insurance and other costs while waiting for the buyer’s house to sell. 

We also now know that because of the lack of a property disclosure document the buyer was not made aware of a pre-existing water problem.  My friend says he really had not thought about the breach of the neighbor’s retaining wall that had caused a pretty serious leak into the townhouse several months prior while a tenant was living there.  After all, the neighbor had made repairs by adding a french drain and it was assumed that he had corrected the problem.  I do believe though that a disclosure form that specifically asks about such situations would most likely have reminded him of the water event, and he would have disclosed it.

So what’s the big deal?

What’s the big deal you ask?  So they had to wait a little longer to close.  And the seller spent a little extra money.  Maybe the seller didn’t get the max price, but then maybe he did!  Well, I said my friend the seller didn’t think much about the original flood and water problem.  I should go on to say that he didn’t think much about it until after he received the letter from the buyer’s attorney.  That was the letter threatening legal action over the flood in his newly purchased and newly remodeled townhouse.  Turns out it might have been a good idea to disclose the water situation after all. 

The jury is still out on this one, so we will have to wait and see the outcome.  I do know one thing though; both parties would have been much better off if they had been professionally represented by a full time, well trained and licensed REALTOR®. 

  

#JohnsCreekRealtor, #JohnsCreekHomesforSale