About Newton County, GA

There are 2826 Covington GA houses for sale listed in the FMLS system today. 62 of them are foreclosures and 52 of them are HUD homes. A few of these foreclosures and HUD homes have just been discounted for quick sale. These discounted Metro Atlanta houses are very good deals for savvy home buyers.

Click HERE for our list of Discounted homes for sale.

Click HERE to Search ALL Metro Atlanta Houses for sale.

26 of these Covington GA houses are being offered for lease purchase option. The prices of these lease purchase homes range from $60-313K.

11 houses in Covington are for sale by owners who have already moved out to another location. Such home sellers are usually very motivated to sell, because a lot of them cannot afford to carry two mortgages for a long time. Prices in this category range from $115-750K.

58 of the homes for sale in Covington GA listed in the FMLS system are for sale by Certified Professional Home builders. The actual number of new homes for sale in Covington may be a little bit higher than that because the builders sometimes do not list all the Atlanta GA homes for sale in a particular subdivision in the MLS system. These home builders are becoming very motivated to sell as their inventory of unsold homes has drastically increased with slowing market. 18 of these new homes have been discounted for quick sale by these motivated builders. We help our Metro Atlanta home buyers find discounted Atlanta GA homes for sale.

How many homes have you bought and sold? How many times have you sat at a closing table, signed your name about a thousand times, walked away with the key to your new home and all you understood about your mortgage was how much the monthly payments were?

I’ve done that – 10 times!

Before I became a Realtor®, mortgage lending was all a big blur to me. I knew I applied for a mortgage loan, gave the lender tax returns, bank account records, and my bosses’ contact information to verify my employment. But what happened between then and the time I walked away from the closing with my new key and a silly grin – no clue! The whole mortgage lending process was a mystery.

I know from dealing with home shoppers every day that there are a lot of people out there just like I was. They have no clue about the mortgage lending process, and most even think that in today’s real estate market it’s virtually impossible to get a mortgage loan.

So, I’m making this the first in a series of blogs that I hope will help you understand the current mortgage market in Covington, and realize that there is still plenty of mortgage money available for qualified buyers from reputable lenders at excellent interest rates.

Many of the terms in this series will be very familiar. You’ve likely heard them before, but may not fully understand what they mean. However, after reading this blog, you should be comfortable with applying for a mortgage loan. You will understand all those “foreign” mortgage lending terms. And you will understand the mortgage lending process.

Let’s begin the series with the types of mortgage loans available for the Covington real estate market. The most common is a “Conventional” loan.

The U.S. government is a major player in the residential mortgage market. About one out of five home loans is either insured or guaranteed by an agency of the federal government. These mortgages are called - guess what – government loans. The remaining 80 percent of the residential mortgages originated in the United States are referred to as “conventional loans.”

Conventional loans are secured by government-sponsored entities (GSEs) such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Conventional loans can be made to purchase or refinance homes with first and second mortgages on single family to four-family homes.

Conventional loans may be either “conforming” or “non-conforming” loans. A mortgage loan which conforms to certain guidelines and limits allowing the loan to be bought by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac is called a conforming loan. Mortgage loans which do not fall within these limits are called non-conforming, or sometimes “jumbo” loans.

When President George W. Bush signed into law a $150 billion federal economic stimulus package in mid-February, he gave Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac the ability to buy conforming loans up to 125% of an area’s median home price, capped at $729,750.

The conforming loan limit on conventional loans in Newton and Rockdale Counties is now $417,000.

Other than conventional loans, there are the government guaranteed FHA and VA loans and even a few “sub-prime” loans still available in the Covington real estate market. Sub-prime loans are high risk loans for borrowers who cannot qualify for conforming conventional, non-conforming conventional, FHA or VA programs.

I’ll explain each type of loan further in future issues of this series. However, in Part 2, we’ll talk about what “underwriting” mortgage loans means to you, and whether it’s better to be “pre-qualified” or “pre-approved” for a mortgage loan when you start the search for your new home.

I invite your questions and comments throughout this series on mortgage lending in the Covington real estate market, and hope it will make you more confident and comfortable about wanting to buy a new home or selling the one you have.

Around the first of this month, I wrote a short blog called "The Time Is Now!" about when is a good time to buy a house. This morning, an article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution reinforced my idea that there's no better time to buy real estate than now.

Julie Hairston wrote in the AJC this morning that Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank has just put his seven-bedroom Buckhead mansion on the market for $10.9 million. Well, most of us couldn't even afford one bay of the three-car garage or a couple of the seven full baths in that home! But, that's not the point.

The article says that the Blanks will be moving to another Buckhead home the are renovating, and are joining a trend among their moneyed peers of investing in new homes.

Julie writes that a recent American Express/Harrison Group survey of 1,800 wealthy individuals indicates that as many as 40 percent of the nation's wealthiest household intend to buy real estate this year. They view real estate in today's market as a real bargain.

Real estate is a real bargain in today's market... not just in multi-million dollar properties, but across the board. You have your choice of large numbers of homes available in all price ranges. Mortgage money is available, and mortgage interest rates are the lowest in years. "Prices are down and that's when the smart people buy," the AJC article says.

So if the "smart money" is buying real estate right now, shouldn't you? How do you think those guys made all those millions anyway?

The Time Is Now!

At the end of this year's first quarter, here's what's happening in the Covington and Newton County Georgia real estate market.

According to the Georgia Multiple Listing Service (GAMLS), there are currently 1964 single family homes actively listed for sale in Covington and Newton County. The average list price of these 1964 homes is $207,125., and they have been on the market for an average of 133 days.

Most of the homes listed are three (3) bedroom homes - 864 of them, at an average list price of $152,962. Four (4) bedroom homes comprised the next largest number on the market - 691 homes with an average list price of $228,314. There are also 349 homes with five (5) or more bedrooms (average list $308,779.), and 60 homes with two (2) or fewer bedrooms (average list $151,753.).

How does today's real estate market in Covington and Newton County compare to last year's? Here's the scoop:

During the first quarter of this year, according to GAMLS, a total of 313 homes in Covington and the county (only 25% of those available) sold for an average sale price of $167,735 after an average of 110 days on the market. The average sale price is 96% of what the homes were listed for (the sales price to list price ratio).

A total of 442 single family homes (46% of those available) sold during the same period last year (2007) for an average sale price of $175,429. That was 98% of what the homes were listed for (sales price to list price ration). The average "days on market" was, again, 110 days.

These statistics indicate that our real estate market in Covington remains softer than normal considering the number of homes available and the number sold. However, they also indicate that the value of homes in this market and the average time required to sell a home both remain stable. Most importantly, they indicate that now is a great time to buy.

The prices of homes currently listed represent good value for the amount of home you get in Covington. Our stable market, coupled with the large number of homes to choose from and the best mortgage rates in years make now a perfect time to buy.

Interest rates today for a conventional 30-year fixed rate mortgage or an FHA loan is 5.625%. And the FHA just raised their maximum loan limit in Newton and Rockdale Counties to $346,250.

One of the issues keeping the market rather soft in Covington is a belief by both sellers and buyers that there it is nearly impossible to obtain a mortgage in today's market. This is simply not true, friends! There is plenty of mortgage money available from reputable lenders at excellent rates!

If you're confused about the current real estate and mortgage market, watch this space. For the next couple of weeks, I'll be posting information to help you understand the fundamentals of mortgage lending. And, I welcome your questions or comments!

Want to buy one of the Discounted Forelcosures in Covington GA?

Click HERE for YOUR FREE list of discounted homes.

We get calls from many home buyers daily, who want to buy a home and want to save a lot of money. There are many foreclosures out there now. Some of them are good deals, but the majority of them are not very good deals. you really need to know which of them have been discounted by the banks, to pick up a good deal and save tens of thousands of Dollars.

Are foreclosures the only good deals out there? Absolutely not! I know a lot of home builders in Covington and the rest of the Metro Atlanta area, who have drastically reduced the prices of their new homes, because of the current market conditions. Their loss is your gain. There are also many regulr home sellers, who have already moved out of their homes and they really need to sell, as they cannot maintain two mortgages. This poses a great opportunity for a savvy home buyer to pick up some really good deals.

We compile a list of these discounted homes regularly.

You can get a free copy of our list of discounted Metro Atlanta homes HERE.