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Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp.'s exit from lending deals a fresh blow to mortgage brokers marginalized in the wake of the subprime crisis.

The failure of privately held Taylor Bean, based in Ocala, Fla., and one of the largest independent home-loan providers, means that mortgage brokers - and, in turn, consumers - will have fewer options.

Traditionally, mortgage brokers have been important for borrowers because they typically offer a wider array of mortgage products from a number of lenders than a bank's loan officer. But stiffer underwriting standards fueled by buckets of red ink on the books of mortgage lenders have led some of the largest lenders to pull back from financing loans brought to the table by mortgage brokers.

For Further Questions or a free personal property Review feel free to contact us.

If you have a Real Estate need in Atlanta Contact the Full time Local professionals at Team Renton Keller Williams First Atlanta.

For Free Home Search for Douglasville or Metro Atlanta go to Free Home Search

For Free Market Snapshot to know the value of Homes in your area or area of choice or to see what the market trend is go to Free Market Snapshot

The Atlanta real estate market is in a very interesting place. "Things" are generally improving, numerically. Although there's no guarantee that they will continue to do so, these improvements should be a real wake-up call for buyers who continue to wait for prices to continue to decline. As we move forward, the very best deals of the economic downturn are probably going to be seen through the rear view mirror. The "fact of the market" is that inventory is decreasing, prices are rising and the good properties that come on the market at the right price are selling faster than we've seen in a long, long time. In fact, the statistics show that in 39 FMLS Areas in Metro Atlanta, there is less than 11 months of inventory on the market, the median sales price is $162,000 and the median Days On Market ("DOM") for properties that sell without a price reduction is 24 days (Compared to 252 days on market for properties that have to reduce their price before they sell!). For quite some time now, buyers have had the luxury of not having to fight for, or compete for, homes for sale. Those days are gone, or at least they are fading fast. It's almost as if there is a "Seller's Market" for great homes at a great price while there is a "Buyer's Market" for average to below average homes on the market.

For Sellers, it's critical that they realize that these improvements in the market in no way give them a green light to be cocky or overly confident. There is a fine line between a good listing and a great one, and a tremendous difference in the results that are realized for each. One of the "Aha's" that I have had for sellers is this: Seller's that "don't have to sell" are disadvantaged in this market. The HUD-1's are going to the sellers that have to sell, not to the sellers who don't. In fact, if a seller doesn't "have to sell," then they should know that they have an immediate and obvious handicap in the selling process. Those sellers that do have to sell can and will do whatever it takes to sell their homes, and thus have an "advantage" over most other sellers. In this market, Sellers that DO have to sell DO sell, and sellers that DON'T have to sell DON'T.

One of the most important things that I see going wrong for listings in this market is that sellers and agents are spending too much time focusing on determining what a home is worth, rather than determining the listing price that will most certainly generate offers from buyers in the market place. Appraisers determine the value of a home. Real estate professionals determine what the sticker price needs to be in order attract offers that can begin a dialogue of successful negotiations that will result in a successful closing. Price is king in this market. Remember: "The right price overcomes any objection." If you're not the best listing at the best price in the market, then you won't get offers. I've never shown property to a buyer who said, "Let's make an offer on the third best house that we saw today." Never.

The other issue that is plaguing our market is ineffective price reductions. Simply put, if you reduce the price of a home to a price that doesn't put the home in front of a new pool of buyers, then such a reduction is typically a waste of time. We have to remember what price ranges we put into the computer when we search for homes, and when we need to make a reduction to re-position the home on the market we must introduce it to the buyers who are searching for homes in the next lowest price point.

Sage Words of Advice From Shaun Rawls.

This Month in Real Estate see the latest news on the rise in Home prices and top tips to sell your home in todays market.

For Further Questions or a free personal property Review feel free to contact us.

If you have a Real Estate need in Atlanta Contact the Full time Local professionals at Team Renton Keller Williams First Atlanta

For Free Home Search for Douglasville or Metro Atlanta go to Free Home Search

For Free Market Snapshot to know the value of Homes in your area or area of choice or to see what the market trend is go to Free Market Snapshot

Summary

•Very difficult economic conditions have continued into 1Q 2009 resulting in lower overall sales levels and sharply lower prices. The glut of foreclosures has hampered the ability of Sellers to properly price their properties to sell in expected time periods and at expected prices. The greater availability of foreclosed properties which are acceptable to Buyers, at lower prices, has caused a sharp downturn in overall median sales prices. •Foreclosures are becoming more frequent in ever-higher price ranges, forcing Sellers at all levels to price competitively with them in order to attract Buyers, or risk not selling. Failure to adjust to this market reality has caused the rate of failed listings to remain very high, lengthening the time until a property eventually sells and reducing the final sales price relative to the original listing price. •Sellers of foreclosed properties are also having trouble adjusting their listing prices to current market values. Large price reductions are therefore being required, further reducing the percentage of their original listing price at sale and lengthening the time required to sell. •As we head into the Spring and Summer market, more properties are being offered for sale, which may add to the already very high level of inventory. Sales in March appeared to be trending a bit higher however, possibly pointing toward an increased sales level. •Buyers are still firmly in control in this market and will have unprecedented buying opportunities until the supply of houses falls back to a level more in line with demand.

Relevance to Sellers:

•Sellers of both foreclosed and non-foreclosed properties must price their properties in line with current values. Listing prices and property condition must be superior to their competition in order to sell within reasonable time periods and at high S/L ratios. The risk of missing that balance can be very great in both time to sell and in eventual selling price. •Sellers of higher-priced properties should not assume that foreclosed properties are not a problem. The more than one in five Sellers who properly priced their property were able to sell at a median of 96.2% of their asking price in a median of 29 days.

Relevance to Buyers:

•Builders are offering more attractive pricing and Buyer incentives to work off their new home inventory. •New home median sales prices have fallen less (-6.1%) than resales (-23.7%), which may make resales a better value. •Properties that have been listed multiple times may indicate more highly motivated Sellers. •Foreclosure properties and those that have been price-reduced may set up a more favorable negotiating environment for Buyers, causing anxious Sellers to negotiate away more of their listing price. •Buyers should ask their Sellers to pay some, or all, of their closing costs.