Gwinnett County Georgia REALTOR Steve Rider

If you’re thinking about purchasing a home and you’re on the fence then let me tell you about the deal my latest buyer got.

She was looking for something large enough for her and her son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren in the Braselton Ga area, preferably a 4 or 5 BR house. She told me she had a price range of $225k and below and in a different market this would be a tough find. We looked at several homes and kept coming back to the first listing we viewed. This home was only 1 year old, 5BR/4BA, over 3500 sqft and located within 3 miles of Braselton and I85.

Anyone that’s ever looked at a foreclosure knows these homes generally need some work. This particular home was practically move in ready. Granite countertops, stainless appliances, hardwood floors, and a fenced back yard are just a few of the features that impressed the buyer.

The list price for this home was unbelievable at $171k! We made an offer and within 4 days were under contract. Here’s where the story gets even better. The buyer applied for financing with her lender and locked in a rate of 4.85% on a 30 year fixed!! Then comes the news that the bank appraisal came in at $241k! If you do the math that’s a $70k difference.

To use the buyer’s own words, it was the “Perfect Storm” of home buying. Unlike the weather these stories are becoming more and more predictable in the current real estate market because of inventory levels and interest rates.

If you’re thinking about buying but you’re on the fence, let this story be an incentive for you to call me to discuss your options. There is expected to be twice as many foreclosures on the market in 2009 than 2008 so there is no question the deals are out there. The question is…Are you ready for your Perfect Storm?

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.SteveRider-Realtor.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'm a life long resident of this area with life long knowledge of the market.

Gwinnett Realtor Steve Rider-Buyer gets unbelievable deal in "Perfect Storm"

Unless you live under a rock you must know that foreclosed homes in Georgia are flooding the market right now. In fact, it is predicted that more homes will be in foreclosure in 2009 than in 2008 which means it will be a long time before this inventory will be depleted. Georgia, specifically the Atlanta Metro area has been hit hard by this foreclosure boom. So if you’re lucky enough to be in a position to purchase a home these days and take advantage of the lowest interest rates in years, you’re more than likely going to run across these foreclosed homes in your search. Since I’ve been listing and selling these properties for almost 5 years now I thought I would post a few things to watch out for when finding and making an offer on a foreclosed home.

Rule #1…. make sure you have a licensed Georgia Realtor that is knowledgeable about the process of selling bank owned homes. The paperwork alone on these deals can be mind numbing and you definitely want someone that knows what to look for. Most banks require their “addendums” or contract be signed along with or in addition to the original offer. These addendums override the original offer so having someone that knows how this works is very important.

Rule #2…. the stronger your offer, the better your chances of getting the home. As I said before the inventory is high but the homes that are priced the best for condition will sell very fast so you have to locate them fast and make a strong offer. Banks do not like to haggle back and forth. A lot of times there are multiple offers on the well priced homes so the best game plan is to make the strongest offer you can so the bank will put yours at the top of the list.

Rule #3…. Make sure you understand the terms. This goes back to the first rule of making sure you’re working with a knowledgeable Realtor with foreclosure experience. Every bank is different and they all handle their properties different. Be sure to read their addendums page by page and make sure the agreed to terms are included in those addendums because once you sign, it’s a contract!

Rule #4…. Remember the bank has no emotion in the sale of these homes. They are just files in the eyes of the asset manager or loss prevention agent handling it and they could care less about your situation. Sorry to be so blunt but it’s good to know this when making offers. Even more detached are the people at government agencies like Fannie Mae and HUD that have probably never even been to the town where the property is located.

Rule #5…. Be patient! There are some sellers that turn offers around fairly quickly but for the most part they take their time. When you’re dealing with an REO company, who is the “middle man” so to speak, they have to get approval from their client, the bank, on most offers. (Some can approve up to a certain amount) This takes time because then the bank has to get approval most of the time from their investor. This is just one example of how these transactions can take time. Each transaction is unique so plan accordingly. Patience my friend, patience!!

I hope this very short list of foreclosure buying tips has helped you understand the complexity of these transactions. This is just the tip of the iceberg so contact me if you want to learn more.

If you’ve ever considered purchasing one of these homes and had questions about the process or maybe you’ve heard it’s not worth the trouble let me dispel the myth. Don’t wait; this is the best Georgia Real Estate market in over 20 years so take advantage of the low interest rates and great bargains available.

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.SteveRider-Realtor.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'm a life long resident of this area with life long knowledge of the market.

Gwinnett County Realtor-Tips on Buying a Foreclosure-What you should know before making an offer.

I love the internet! Where else could you advertise something for nothing and have it exposed to literally millions of people? There are hundreds if not thousands of sites you can use to sell anything, including real estate. About a year ago I started using Craigslist and about 10 other free sites to advertise my listings but until then relied heavily on the MLS to sell these listings. I give credit to the ActiveRain community for introducing me to these sites because somehow I had never heard of them. About the same time I found out about these sites I started a Point2Homes website www.steverider-realtor.com and was introduced to "syndication" which adds another dimension of marketing your listings but I'll discuss that in another post.

I've had leads from the other sites but after a year of entering listing after listing on Craigslist I finally got my first lead from it last week and it looks like a really good lead. The buyer is ready to buy but is a first time buyer and needed some guidance through the process and of course I was happy to oblige! I met with him last night and got him started on the path to home ownership.

One thing I've done to set my listings apart from all the other thousands on sites like Craigslist and Backpage is to cut and paste the html code from either Postlets.com or vflyer into the post. This makes the ad look like an online flyer and really makes buyers stop and look once they click on the ad. It looks much more professional than just adding text and pics.

On the other side of this coin, I've gotten really good response from sellers when I show them this list of websites that I use to market their homes. Everyone knows the more exposure the better the chance of selling the home and I feel really confident right now with my strategy because although it's a lot of work in the beginning it's very agressive. Of course I know I'm not the only agent out there using these sites but when you combine this and very attentive and professional service you add value that most Realtors don't bother with.

Talk about coincidence, I just had another call from Craigslist as I'm typing this post. Wow, maybe I should post about Craigslist everyday! This is typically a slow week for me but maybe this is a sign it will be busy!

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.SteveRider-Realtor.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'm a life long resident of this area with life long knowledge of the market.

Gwinnett County Realtor-Using Craigslist and other free sites to advertise real estate

After listening to many media outlets talk about how bad the real estate market is, I thought it would be helpful to post some actual statistics for Gwinnett County Real Estate and other surrounding counties. Since real estate is very localized, what's happening in some parts of the country and state for that matter may not apply here in Gwinnett County. So, on a bi-weekly basis I will be posting some useful and very telling market statistics for Gwinnett County real estate as well as surrounding Barrow County, Walton County and Jackson County.

This data is pulled straight from the local MLS and provides real time statistics for sales, active listings, change from the previous year and so on. If you're considering selling your Gwinnett County home or maybe your moving to the area, take some time to bookmark this blog or subscribe to the feed so you can stay up to date on what's going on in Gwinnett County Real Estate. If you have any questions about the data posted here, just contact me and I would be happy to speak with you about it.

The following stats compare 2007 to so far in 2008 for Gwinnett County only.

Measure	Month	2008	2007	% Change
New Listings	January	2,186	2,318	- 5.7%
	February	1,968	2,100	- 6.3%
	March	2,098	2,686	- 21.9%
	April	2,263	2,553	- 11.4%
	May	2,027	2,636	- 23.1%
	June	2,070	2,561	- 19.2%
	July	1,939	2,365	- 18.0%
	August	1,715	2,312	- 25.8%
	September	1,703	1,729	- 1.5%
	October	0	2,007	0.0%
	November	0	1,657	0.0%
	December	0	1,340	0.0%

Notice the significant decline in new listings in August when gas was at $4 per gallon and the media was warning about the collapse of major banks and financial institutions.

There has been a drastic decline in closed sales in 2008 compared to 2007 but notice things seemed to have stopped sliding so drastically since July.

Measure	Month	2008	2007	% Change
Closed Sales (units)	January	439	643	- 31.7%
	February	511	729	- 29.9%
	March	565	971	- 41.8%
	April	598	882	- 32.2%
	May	689	1,000	- 31.1%
	June	714	1,029	- 30.6%
	July	677	995	- 32.0%
	August	658	933	- 29.5%
	September	663	630	5.2%

This next chart is not surprising with all we've heard about in the news lately about foreclosure rates but the numbers are, well just plain scary!! (It's October, thought I'd throw in a Halloween reference!)

Measure	Month	2008	2007	% Change
New Foreclosures	January	336	190	76.8%
	February	277	182	52.2%
	March	338	229	47.6%
	April	327	192	70.3%
	May	328	167	96.4%
	June	365	203	79.8%
	July	340	169	101.2%
	August	356	200	78.0%
	September	405	211	91.9%

WOW! Look at July. Over a 100% increase from 2007 in foreclosures.

Currently in Gwinnett County there is an average of 13.5 months of inventory on the market. This means that if nothing else was put on the market, it would take about 13.5 months to sell the inventory currently listed. This includes foreclosures and short sales. What does all this mean? If you don't have to sell right now my advice would be to sit tight and wait until spring. Hopefully by then the banks will loosen the lending strings a little and buyers will come back with money in pocket!

You're probably thinking "Steve, why are you telling sellers not to put their house on the market, You're a Realtor". It's not good for anyone involved to have a house that sits on the market for any extended period of time due to pricing. In this market, price is most important and if you can't afford to price your home competitively, you're better off waiting.

If you would like a more specific market analysis of your home or neighborhood, contact me and I'll be happy to send one. Then when you're ready to sell, give me a call and I'll do a more in depth analysis and get your home priced correctly for the fastest sell possible.

All information and graphs in this post are courtesy of GAMLS.

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.SteveRider-Realtor.com to see my featured listings or search for your new home.

If you're looking for a home in Gwinnett County contact me either by clicking on the email link or call me toll free at 800-765-0460 or 404-663-7063 direct. I'm a life long resident of this area with life long knowledge of the market.

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