Donna Walters, GRI, CRS, ABR, Broker/Owner

"Sellers" -- Are you Listening?? Listen to your real estate agent!! Surely, your home is listed with a full-time career oriented REALTOR! If so, you should trust their advice when it comes to the market value of your home.

Just today in Macon, Georgia--one of my buyer clients made an offer on a home that is over-priced for our current market. If you can't justify your price as a seller in black and white (in other words, comparable homes that have sold in the last 6 months)--then--it more than likely will not appraise, therefore, the buyer cannot get a loan. Underwriters for loans have very strict guidelines--lenders have gone back to the old way (thank goodness) of doing business!

Price your home to sell now--not 6 months to a year down the road when you become a stimatized seller!! REALTORS pull comparables to price your home as their client and REALTORS pull comparables for their buyer-clients also. Homes that are priced right, smell good, and show well are the first ones to sell in any market! LISTEN TO YOUR REALTOR!! Have faith in them to do a good job!!

If you need help finding a professional real estate agent in your market, feel free to call me or visit my web site: www.maconhomes.com

We are here to serve and "We CARE". You can search GAMLS and the Middle Georgia MLS from our web site.

A rainy day in GEORGIA sitting in front of the computer working on "PAPER WORK". So--to break up the monotony of emails, phone calls, up-dates on showings; I decided to write a little something while brewing a nice pot of caramel coffee.

It's about that time of the afternoon when the day in front of the computer gets boring. Paper work has always been my down fall! Years ago (and years and years)- I worked for Norfolk Southern Railway in the overcharge claims department as an "Overcharge Claims Investigator". Sounds impressive and maybe a little more exciting than it was! Staring at a file to determine where a rail car started and the course it took to it's ultimate destination and whether that customer had a legitimate claim for overcharges was NOT THAT EXCITING. It was all paper work. Now--if they would have allowed us to visit the rail yard on beautiful days--that would have been better. I guess that's one reason selling real estate is a much better fit for TRIPLE "A" PERSONALITY!

Business has picked up in Macon, Georgia! Our team has been very busy for the past two to three weeks! I know--so why complain about paper work? Because, I can?? It has changed though--getting that home under contract can be more challenging than in recent years past! We all got used to the loan process being much simpler than many years ago and now the cycle has come full circle!! This is when those years of experience and education in real estate can mean closing a deal!

Homes in Macon, Georgia have never sky rocketed in value like some areas of the country, in fact; Macon, GA was even mentioned in Reader's Digest about 2 years ago as one of the most affordable places in the country when it came to home values! Well, that pot of caramel coffee is beckoning me! Please call us if you have anyone wanting to sell or buy in Macon, Georgia or any of the surrounding areas! We are here to serve!! www.maconhomes.com

My husband and I recently bought and sold a home after 24 years at the same residence in Macon, GA. We bought our first home in Macon over 33 years ago which happened to be a foreclosure. It is quite ironic that the last home purchased was also a foreclosure. Twenty-four years in our previous home has many memories!

The past 24 years as a successful REALTOR did not prepare me for the level of stress in moving a residence. Education has been important in my career--but certainly did not prepare me for the level of stress experienced by a SELLER and BUYER! Would it not be expected of a full-time, career-oriented real estate agent to remain calm during negotiations, inspections, the lending process, attorneys, surveys, home-owner's associations (just to mention a few) process???

Thank goodness for TWO wonderful business partners to guide me through the process since my years of experience and knowledge disappeared when it came to handling my own deals!! Of course, making an offer, negotiating, and purchasing a home prior to even putting your current home on the market was not exactly the chain of events we had envisioned. It all just seemed to happen and closed the purchase on Christmas eve!!

THEN---after telling a fellow REALTOR we would be putting our home on the market--he called and ask to show our home to a potential buyer!! AAAGH!! My two business partners (which happens to include my son who was raised in the home) rushed to the house in-between appointments to---STAGE---my house!!

To end this tale of stress--buyer liked--low offer--negotiations--second guessing--emotions--questions--final result--PENDING!! Twenty-four years of packing to do, movers, repairs, crying, memories, leaving neighbors, remembering that now 28 year old son riding his big wheel in the basement, busting his lip playing ball in the front yard, disappearing one evening with the next-door little girl at age 5 selling scuppernongs door-to-door, family gatherings, pets buried in the back yard of the home we were leaving behind for a new family to build memories and moving to a new home to hopefully live out the rest of our years and form new memories, new neighbors, new sounds, new smells!

WOW!! This is the best education, better understanding of "BUYER'S REMORSE"--"SELLER's REGRETS". Oh, almost forgot--the purchaser of our home wanted to close and take possession in "TWO WEEKS??"

Yes--new respect, empathy, patience for all the PAST , PRESENT AND FUTURE home sellers and buyers!! I do love this business!! Check out those business partners that were there for me when I really needed them!! "The Perfect Partners for You" and "ME".

www.maconhomes.com