Interesting article on where people are moving within the US…
February 16th, 2010 Categories: Fun Stuff
I ran across an article that parses IRS data on which states are gaining population and which are losing population. GA is doing pretty well on the list… only a couple of states gained more population that we did here in GA. Texas and North Carolina picked up more households than the 37,000+ Georgia picked up. The big losers were Michigan and New York.
The information was assembled by the AP from IRS data points. Here is a link back to the article. Read the rest of this entry »
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Looking for a Deal on a New Home around Gwinnett County, GA?
February 11th, 2010 Categories: Lilburn
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I’m here for you. I have been getting these emails for years from builders promoting their inventory of homes. In some cases, they are offering incentives to agents to bring buyers to their communities. In other cases they are offing incentives to buyers. Sometimes, there are both… Read the rest of this entry »
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Flashback Friday and the County Assessors facing reality
February 9th, 2010 Categories: Fun Stuff
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Last year I wrote about Senate Bill 55 in the Georgia Senate. Basically, the bill required the Counties to include foreclosures in assessments. Previously, assessments for taxes excluded foreclosures, so they (falsly?) increased values and tax revenue to the counties.
While that makes it tough for the counties, it is a needed break for home owners. The counties complained that they would lose revenues… well, the people are losing revenue, too. They have to suck it up.
In the last year, the bill quietly passed and was signed into law by Governor Sonny Perdue.
Here is the link to the original post.
from Lanebailey.com
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Mortgage and Housing Volatility… Over?
February 2nd, 2010 Categories: Fun Stuff
Over on one of my other blogs, I re-blogged a post from Jeff Corbett. He is VERY involved int eh mortgage and housing industry and loves diving into the ugly underbelly of the industry.
In this post, he lays out the reasons he sees why there will be increased volitility in the mortgage and housing sectors. Basically, since the Fed is currently slated to stop buying mortgages next month…
It is worth a read…
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The 2009 Hamilton Mill Real Estate Data Will Be Released Tomorrow / Feb 1, 2010
January 31st, 2010 Categories: Fun Stuff
We’ve been hard at work on the Annual Report for Hamilton Mill that will give you all the details on the 99 homes that sold last year in Hamilton Mill Golf Club. It’s certainly less volume of sales than we’ve seen in previous years (down about 30%). It also takes much longer (on average) to sell the houses and, of course, the pricing is down substantially.
But, the good news is that 99 homes DID sell this past year — so, the world is still turning and homes are still selling!
On the other side of the coin, buyers are getting fantastic deals on all kinds of real estate. If you are moving up and buying another home, it’s very likely that you’ll be able to buy an amazing home at a rock bottom price right now. Investment properties are also a great idea right now.
Be sure to add yourself to our mailing list here for the Hamilton Mill Real Estate Annual Report.
btw, we’ll also be sending out updates on a quarterly basis in 2010.
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New FHA Changes Make NOW The Time to Close :)
January 29th, 2010 Categories: Fun Stuff
This new data came to us yesterday from our good friends over at Primary Residential Mortgage…
Waiting a few extra days or weeks to purchase a home this spring could cost buyers thousands of extra dollars as the office of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) implements several changes for loans guaranteed by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA).
Coming just weeks before the April 30 deadline for the Home Buyer Tax Credit and just days after the March 31 expiration of the Federal Reserve Board’s mortgage backed securities purchase program (which has kept home loan rates artificially low for over a year), these FHA changes make it even more important to act now to save big.
Here are a few reasons why:
On April 5th, the cost of required up-front mortgage insurance for loans guaranteed by the FHA will increase from 1.75% to 2.25%. For a borrower purchasing a $200,000 home with a $7,000 down payment, the up-front mortgage insurance will increase by $965. Up-front mortgage insurance is typically financed in the final loan amount so the impact to a monthly payment will be minimal but overall, the increase is still borne by the borrower both upfront and monthly.
Later this spring, the amount of money that a seller can return to the buyer from their sale proceeds will be reduced from 6% to 3%. The reduction in these “seller concessions” can increase the amount of cash a buyer will be required to pay at closing by $6,000 for a home purchase of $200,000.
There is only one way to avoid being affected by all of these costly changes that lie ahead – submit all FHA mortgage applications by the last week of March.
(Thanks Gabie!)
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84 Active Listings for Hamilton Mill Real Estate (as of Jan. 28, 2010)
January 28th, 2010 Categories: Fun Stuff
I just took a quick look at the FMLS system for Hamilton Mill. Right now there’s 84 homes for sale in Hamilton Mill Golf Community. That’s a pretty good level of inventory — not too high and not too low. At times in the past, we’ve had 150+ homes on the market. That puts things way out of balance and drives price down while increasing the amount of time that it takes to sell your house.
There’s a couple of things that I noticed when I looked at this data.
#1. The prices for many properties are really low (the lowest is just $169k)
#2. Some of these homes have been on the market for a year or even 2 years.
#3. There’s an obvious division between the two.
So, here’s what I’m saying…
Homes come on the market at a good price and they sell in a reasonable amount of time (like 90 to 120 days). But, other homes come on the market at “old market prices” and they just sit on the market for months and then years.
What can we do…
The bottom line for Hamilton Mill homeowners is that selling a home today is going to take some pretty aggressive pricing — probably more aggressive than you think.
The good news is that homes are, in fact, selling.
By my count, 99 homes sold in Hamilton Mill during 2009.
We’re about to publish our Hamilton Mill Real Estate Annual Report for 2009. Just fill out the form here to receive your copy.
Of course, we’re happy to provide whatever custom data you might want and customize a report for homes that are directly comparable to your own home, etc.
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Say Goodbye to the Stone Mountain Super Target…
January 21st, 2010 Categories: Lilburn
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Originally built in 1999, the Super Target located in the shadow of Stone Mountain, next to the old Olympic Tennis Venue, will be closing as of January 30th, 2010. Faced with declining profits from the store, Target is pulling the plug. Read the rest of this entry »
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My New Challenge – Junior Achievement
January 16th, 2010 Categories: Fun Stuff
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A while back, I wrote that I had volunteered with Junior Achievement. Up until now we hadn’t been able to find an assignment that was reasonably close… but that changed this week.
I am now the JA volunteer for Ms. Ferrer-Adames 4th Grade class at Nesbitt Elementary School in Gwinnett County. and I recently had our first class together. It was a lot of fun. Read the rest of this entry »
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Lilburn Market Report for December 2009
January 12th, 2010 Categories: Lilburn
This has certainly been an interesting year in real estate. And we are still staring at the tea leaves trying to see the direction of the market and figure out what the future holds.
The biggest thing in housing in the last few months has been the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit. It has had a GIANT pull on the market, and when it “expired” (it was renewed and expanded before it actually expired, but the effect seemed to expire) it altered the direction of the market… as it did when it was enacted.
Let’s get a few numbers for Lilburn out of the way… Read the rest of this entry »
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