Steve Rider CDPE, Gwinnett County Georgia Real Estate Expert

Hebron Baptist Church has Annual Movie Night Under the Stars.

It's a summer tradition all over Atlanta for movies under the stars. People gather with lawn chairs and blankets and watch a movie, usually an animated or children's movie, outdoors. It's kind of like going to a drive-in without the car!! Last night we attended Dacula's Hebron Baptist Church annual movie night on the lawn. The movie was "The Tale of Despereax", a movie about a mouse with big ears and no fear and a very inspiring story and message.

When Hebron Baptist has an event, it's usually done all out and last night was no exception. There were food vendors selling pizza and sodas (very cheap I might add) and free popcorn and snow cones for the kids. The church orchestra was playing in the parking lot as the pre-movie entertainment and everyone was enjoying the fellowship.

Then about 9pm the movie starts on a HUGE 25' inflatable screen. I was amazed at how good the sound and video was considering it was an outdoor event. My wife, daughter and two of her friends and I sat on a blanket and had popcorn and sodas and really enjoyed ourselves. Of course the kids wanted to run around more than watch the movie but that was okay because we were all together with a couple thousand of our friends!!

Steve Rider REALTOR with Keller Williams Realty Lanier Partners Braselton Ga, selling homes in Winder, Braselton, Dacula, Lawrenceville, Buford, Grayson, Loganville, Monroe and surrounding areas of Barrow, Walton and Gwinnett County Georgia. Go to www.SteveSellsGwinnett.com to see my featured listings or search for your new home.

If you're looking for a home in Northeast Georgia contact me either by clicking on the email link or call me toll free at 800-765-0460 or 404-663-7063 direct. I have over 5 years experience selling real estate and I'm a life long resident of my coverage area.

Copyright Steve Rider All Rights Reserved Hebron Baptist Church has Annual Movie Night Under the Stars

Straight Talk About Making Low Offers

This is a tough subject to cover and not be condescending or insulting to buyers or buyer's agents but I have to vent. I received a call yesterday from an agent inquiring about one of my listings. She called just as I was about to sit down to dinner and even though it was 6pm on a Sunday and I was about to sit down to dinner, I answered it. The buyer had already called me earlier in the day just before church....yeah this pair has great timing.

The buyer had already let me know he thought the house was overpriced but the land was what he was interested in. Needless to say I wasn't getting into that argument with him because I know the house is priced correctly. So the agent calls and asks about the lot and what's included in the sale. Then she begins to tell me the house is too small and is overpriced and wants me to provide her comps for my price!!! Wha Wha What?? So you want ME to do YOUR job is that it??

It's one thing to interrupt a man's dinner with his family but to then insult his intelligence and his seller is quite another! She tells me the buyer has a large family and the house was not large enough and he would have to build on. Oh yeah, and the house has vinyl siding and he would have to replace that because he doesn't like vinyl. This among some other RIDICULOUS comments sent me over the edge. I told her that if her buyer needed a larger house then show him a larger house, and show him a brick house. She obviously didn't know or just didn't listen to her buyer's wants and needs because she was way off track.

Later in the evening she calls back to say that her buyer is interested in making an offer and wants to give me a verbal offer. She begins to tell me he is a cash buyer and can close quickly and that's when I said..."uh oh" here comes the lowball. After about a minute or two of her stressing to me that it would be a quick close I interrupted her....."I've already had low offers that have been rejected so why don't you just tell me what he's offering and I'll tell you if it's in the ballpark, that will save us some time". She then tells me he wants to offer $70k less than a list that is already $70k off the last appraisal!! This is not a bank owned or short sale property but I'm starting to think she thinks it is. I told her I would present it because I have to but there was no way it would work.

Here's where it gets funny! She tells me I should talk to my seller and explain that this cash buyer can close quickly and she would be crazy to turn away a buyer like this!!! My response was "So you're telling me I should just throw my listing contract out the window and start representing your client as a secondary agent"? Her response was to say that she knew how buyers were scarce and since the house had been on the market for a couple months the seller should consider it. That was the end of that conversation.

Well, after receiving the original offer in writing we countered a couple thousand less than list and after a few counters back and forth it was really becoming annoying.

What is my point with this story?Buyers make sure you or your agent does the homework when making an offer on a property. If you make ridiculous offers you more times than not put yourself in a TERRIBLE negotiating position. This is the case with bank owned properties too. The banks aren't staffed for the kind of volume they've been dealing with lately and when you send in your lowball offer they tend to put it on the back burner. Also remember they don't have to respond at all so if your offer doesn't stand out you're less likely to get a response. When making an offer on a bank owned property, your best offer should be your first offer. Make it as clean as possible, very few stipulations because more than likely the bank's addendum will override them anyway. If you're an investor and purchase several properties a month and have multiple offers in on multiple properties this doesn't apply to you.

There will always be someone that thinks you can buy a $500,000 home for $250,000 and yes those deals are out there but they are very few and far between and are usually gone before they hit the market!! If you're a buyer purchasing your first home or a move up buyer looking for more space, be sure to hire a professional Realtor to help you negotiate the best deal.

Steve Rider REALTOR with Keller Williams Realty Lanier Partners Braselton Ga, selling homes in Winder, Braselton, Dacula, Lawrenceville, Buford, Grayson, Loganville, Monroe and surrounding areas of Barrow, Walton and Gwinnett County Georgia. Go to www.SteveSellsGwinnett.com to see my featured listings or search for your new home.

If you're looking for a home in Northeast Georgia contact me either by clicking on the email link or call me toll free at 800-765-0460 or 404-663-7063 direct. I have over 5 years experience selling real estate and I'm a life long resident of my coverage area.

Copyright Steve Rider All Rights Reserved Straight Talk about Making Low Offers

I found out on Friday night why everyone is saying the Gwinnett Braves Games are lots of fun. It was guys night out, myself and three others and we had great seats....first row, first base side, right beside the dugout. If you've never seen a game from this perspective it's quite different from being too far back to hear the ball hit the catcher's mit.

We saw everything close up, including the mascots, Reggie the Purple Party Guy and Chopper. The game was obviously the main attraction but the between inning entertainment is worth the trip. It is very much a family oriented setting with inflatable bounce houses for the kids in the outfield and entertainment geared for the kids.

The outfield seating is all grass and you can bring your own blankets and food and enjoy the game while the kids play. Check out ticket pricing for the 2009 season here.

The best thing is if you live in Gwinnett or Barrow County it's right in your backyard!! You don't have to drive downtown and fight the traffic and pay $12 to park. The parking at the Gwinnett Braves Stadium is $3! The location is good for before and after game activities like dining and shopping. The Mall of Georgia is only a couple miles away and I85 and hwy 316 is very accessible too.

If you're considering moving to the Gwinnett area this is one more reason why you should. There is a lot going on in this county no matter what side you choose to make your home. Real estate values in Gwinnett have not seen the declines as in most areas of Metro Atlanta and the country and inventory is still plenty. Check out www.SteveSellsGwinnett.com and search for your new home today. You can also sign up for my weekly best buy list just by clicking on the link on the home page.

See you at the ballgame!!

Steve Rider REALTOR with Keller Williams Realty Lanier Partners Braselton Ga, selling homes in Winder, Braselton, Dacula, Lawrenceville, Buford, Grayson, Loganville, Monroe and surrounding areas of Barrow, Walton and Gwinnett County Georgia. Go to www.SteveSellsGwinnett.com to see my featured listings or search for your new home.

If you're looking for a home in Northeast Georgia contact me either by clicking on the email link or call me toll free at 800-765-0460 or 404-663-7063 direct. I have over 5 years experience selling real estate and I'm a life long resident of my coverage area.

Copyright Steve Rider All Rights Reserved Gwinnett Braves are a Hit!

In today's Gwinnett Daily Post there was an article describing what once was a booming new construction area as a ghost town for new construction. There has been a definite slowing in new homes being built in the county but I see this as a good sign for a couple of reasons. For one, the amount of inventory is affected in a positive way. According to Ga MLS currently there is 9.6 months supply of inventory on the market in Gwinnett County. This means that if not another house was listed after today it would take 9.6 months to sell the existing inventory. Although new construction provides many jobs in the community and a lot of jobs have been lost due to the decline, this decline is good for the market long term because it helps the inventory levels get back to what is considered normal (6-8 months).

This slow in new construction has also caused a surplus in vacant lots and subdivisions. Everywhere you drive in Gwinnett and surrounding counties for that matter you see paved streets with white PVC pipes sticking out of the ground marking the lots. Most of these empty lots will eventually be sold and the homes will be built but it could be years from now. If you're an investor and can afford to sit on these lots for a while now would be a good time to snag a few of these. Many of them are bank owned which means you could buy them for pennies on the dollar.

Secondly, this slowing will help prevent some of those subdivisions from being built where they probably shouldn't be. In 2004 which was the peak of the boom, Gwinnett County Planning issued 10,463 permits to build new homes. I don't think anyone would disagree that Gwinnett is a large county but that's a lot of new homes in addition to the thousands already built in the previous 2-3 years leading up to that peak. I don't believe any area of the country could support that kind of growth for an extended period and it had to end at some point. Who wants to live with a highway in your backyard or a strip mall in view from your kitchen window??

So all that being said is the economy still bad? Yes. Are there still too many homes on the market? Yes. Is the end of this housing crisis in sight? Maybe but we have to flush the market of the current inventory of foreclosures and short sales to see a definite increase in values. New construction has taken itself out of the game for a while for sure.

I met someone this weekend that hiked the entire Appalachian trail last year. I've always heard about people doing this but never met anyone that had done it. Can you imagine walking from North Georgia to Maine in one trip carrying all your gear and camping overnight in the woods with snakes and bears and bobcats in weather sometimes too cold for even the bears. I love to camp and love the outdoors but I don't think I could spend 5 ½ months hiking in the wilderness.

I was thinking about how this is similar to selling a house and believe it or not there are some similarities. Wanna hear them? Good, here they are.

Imagine walking for 5 ½ months and finally reaching your goal....the end of the trail. You've accomplished something that only about 10,000 or so people have done. You walked 2178 miles, took approximately 5 million footsteps, and traveled up to elevations of 6625 ft and down to only 124 feet above sea level. But you reached your goal. Success.......and a shower and shave.

Now imagine trying to sell your home in a buyer's market like we have today. You're on the market for 5 months and have shown your home a handful of times and then the listing expires.........no payoff, no reward, no goal reached. Homeowners are seeing this happen more often than not lately mainly due to overpricing. If you want to sell your home in this market you can't chase it, you have to stay ahead of it...simple as that.

Like the hiker, your goal is clear, to sell your home for the most money in the quickest time possible. This takes some sacrifice in today's market and it's hard to swallow when your Realtor tells you what your home will probably sell for and it's much less than what you think. And if your Realtor isn't providing you with a detailed market analysis and explaining exactly how the suggested value was comprised that Realtor is not helping you and is part of the problem. As a Realtor, we have an obligation to give you the facts and show you the data, not sugarcoat and tell you what you want to hear just to put a sign in a yard. Overpricing a home is like a car with no wheels......you can push the gas until it runs out but it's never going to go anywhere.

Sellers, keep this in mind when you're hiring a Realtor to market your home. Be honest with them and demand they be honest with you even if it hurts and if you do this you will reach the end of the trail.......hopefully in a lot less than five months!!!

Steve Rider REALTOR with Keller Williams Realty Lanier Partners Braselton Ga, selling homes in Winder, Braselton, Dacula, Lawrenceville, Buford, Grayson, Loganville, Monroe and surrounding areas of Barrow, Walton and Gwinnett County Georgia. Go to www.SteveSellsGwinnett.com to see my featured listings or search for your new home.

If you're looking for a home in Northeast Georgia contact me either by clicking on the email link or call me toll free at 800-765-0460 or 404-663-7063 direct. I have over 5 years experience selling real estate and I'm a life long resident of my coverage area.

Copyright Steve Rider All Rights Reserved Hiking and Selling a Home are Strangely Similar!