Atlanta Condos For Sale

5 Organizing Mistakes You Could be Making

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Organizing tipsMost of us wish to keep our homes organized. That’s a piece of cake. Yet many individuals have a hard time to maintain their home this way. This is due to the fact that there are some typical actions that can be making it tough for you to remain organized. Here are 5 Organizing Mistakes You Could be Making! 

Not Arranging by Feature

Lots of individuals like to sort by shade or group things by their physical similarities. Nevertheless, this could really be making areas such as your closets even a bigger mess. If every one of your shirts are organized by color yet you use specific t-shirts during the week and also other ones on the weekend, this will create you to have to sift with every t shirt you have to find one that is work-appropriate or laid-back enough for the weekend break.

Rather, group things by feature. Maintain all your shoes and also garments organized in a way that makes good sense for your lifestyle and also you will have a better chance of staying arranged.

Organizing Things You Do Not Need

Before you organize your kitchen area or bathroom, sort out what you have and ask yourself if each thing is still essential. For instance, if you are reorganizing cabinets in the kitchen, take every item out of the cabinet and also lay it out before you. Examine each thing and also choose if you must keep it, toss it or give it away!

Now, you only need to organize the products you have left. Organizing items you do not use is a waste of time and will just add to the clutter you are trying to get rid of.

Purchasing Too Many Storage Space Containers

Do you acquire boxes and also baskets with every purpose of getting organized by using them, but they wind up sitting in the garage or your storage unit with a wide variety of unassociated things? Before you invest in storage containers, eliminate anything you don’t really need or use anymore. After that, decide how many and what kind of containers you need, on a list. This way, you buy the right containers for the things you are keeping.

Using Bookshelves as a Storage Unit

It’s easy to transform your shelves into a disposing ground for knick-knacks and also various items you do not have a place for. Actually, the bookshelf should have a really thoughtful design of carefully curated products. Bookshelves are open and also become an eyesore when they’re jammed.

Also the books you display on your bookshelf ought to be the best of the best! Those paperbacks you need to keep…they go in one of those containers.

Furniture Overload

If you stay in a condo or a smaller house, make sure you have the right furnishings for the space you have to work with. For example, just because houses commonly have a formal dining room doesn’t mean you HAVE to have a dining room table. This could make a great home office or theater room! imply you have to. If you condo has a breakfast bar, and you don’t entertain much, consider not having ANY dining table. It just depends on your space and your lifestyle. Save room for that special piece that came from family or as some other meaning to you!

Looking for even more methods to maintain your residence clutter-free… especially if you are thinking about selling … Give us a call today! We are happy to help you with this process, or give you some resources!

Atlanta Real Estate Market Brief — February 2019

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The Atlanta REALTORS® Association has released their Atlanta Real Estate Market Brief — February 2019. 

This market brief examines sales and prices in an 11-county area consisting of Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Fayette, Henry and Paulding Counties. ( So take note…this is a really, really BROAD look at the real estate market in Metro Atlanta!)

Atlanta Real Estate Market Report

Overall residential sales were at 3,464 which is a decrease of 7.4% from the previous year. When you look at price (both average and median) you see they continue to gain traction and are ahead of 2018 numbers. The median sales price in February was $264,000, an increase of 5.6% from February, 2018. The average Sales Price was up by 5.3% to $319,000.

Atlanta Real Estate Market Report February 2019

 

What’s The Atlanta Inventory Like?

Inventory increased by 15.7% from February, 2018 with 12,806 active listings. (Remember those MetroBrokers digital signs back in the day that had 80,000, 90,000 and even 100,000 homes For Sale? Shreeeeek!) New listings were up by 15.4% from February, 2018. The month’s supply over a 12-month period decreased to 2.6 months. 

Is This A Normal Real Estate Market?

A normal real estate market has 6 months of inventory. Less than 6 months (as indicated above) is a Seller’s market, and more than 6 months is a Buyer’s market. More inventory means buyers can probably get the Seller to negotiate more on price or other concessions. In a Seller’s market, we find homes selling for list price, and even above list price. 

My word of caution in a report as broad as this…..real estate is all about location, location, location. These average sales numbers are just that… an average and what you may see in your neighborhood, city or specific condominium building may vastly differ from these numbers. This is why it’s always best to get a real estate professional to give you a market picture for your home and neighborhood/building. 

If you have questions about the value of your home, give us a call, or just fill out the form below and we will be in touch with you! 

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Your Moving Check List

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Moving Check ListAwesome! We have your home Under Contract, and moving day is just around the corner! SHREEK!!!!! You need a Moving Check List to get it all in order!

What do I do with all this stuff? How are we going to move it all? Change of address cards? ALL of these things come into play, and quite frankly, it can be a bit overwhelming! I’ve moved some 17 times in my life, and 5 of those were corporate relocations, and the rest were “do-it-yourself” moves, be they between apartments or even cities. And while I have not moved in many years, I can still remember the stress like it happened yesterday. 

Your Moving Check List

It’s a big deal selling your home, and it’s no small matter to prepare to move. At Palmer House Properties and MyMidtownMojo, we know that moving takes time and energy, but there are ways to make it go as smoothly as possible. Here are some tips as you anticipate and prepare for your move. Keep in mind, if you are doing a corporate relocation, the actual packing may not be a worry as the moving company will do that for you! I know what that is like…and it’s sweet!

 

30 to 15 Days Before Moving

  • Sell or give anything away you won’t move. Maybe plan a garage sale, or donate items to charity.
  • Call several movers for estimates.
  • Consider insurance on movables.
  • Gather and store dental, medical and pet’s veterinary records.
  • Start alerting friends and companies that mail to you.
  • Contact children’s school and have transcripts forwarded to new school.
  • Go online and complete a change of address with the USPS.
  • For tax purposes (if you qualify for moving deductions), keep a record of all moving expenses and keep receipts of any items you donate to charity.
  • Arrange for disconnection of utilities and re-connection at new location.

 

Your Moving Check List14 Days Before Moving

  • Pack one room at a time and label all boxes as to what’s in them and the room in your new house they should go to. Label furniture as to the room it should go to. (Unless you are doing a corporate move or have hired a moving company. And if you are paying movers, you may have to pack, and they just load and unload, so this timetable could be changed!)
  • Make sure you return items you’ve borrowed from library and friends.
  • Resign memberships to clubs.
  • Arrange the cancellation of newspaper and other home deliveries.
  • Ask bank to release safe deposit box and transfer account to new bank.
  • Arrange for cash, traveler’s checks, or certified checks. (Movers usually require cash or certified check.)
  • Drain gas from your lawn mower, and properly dispose of flammable items and other materials that should not be put in the trash.
  • Arrange to have your phone disconnected.
  • Transfer your homeowners insurance so you will be covered at your new home.

Day Before Moving

  • Pack a suitcase you can live out of, if necessary, for the first few days at your new home.
  • Empty and defrost refrigerator and freezer and let them air dry for a day. Deodorize large appliances with baking soda or coffee.
  • Remember to leave the keys (and remote controls, such as for the garage) to your old property with your real estate agent.
  • Label your most important boxes, so you know what to open first.

Moving Day

  • Make sure mover is properly informed of your new address.
  • Make sure you have payment ready before van is unloaded at new address.
  • Confirm arrival date and time.
  • Before you leave, check every room, closets and the attic a final time.
  • Check locks on doors and windows.

Hopefully this list will help you get through all the details and stress of moving! Please know, we are here to help you with any of the “moving parts” (no pun intended!) and get you to your new home, or out of the home we helped sell for you! 

The Otis Building Castleberry Hill

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Another new condo option is on the horizon with the announcement of The Otis Building Castleberry Hill. This new boutique building is expected to break ground in January, 2019 and be ready by October. That aggressive timeline may have something to do with the developer, one Ty Pennington of ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. We suspect he will be using his star power along with the other things happening in the area (Hard Rock Hotel, Mercedes Benz Stadium and the pending redevelopment of the Gulch, which are all nearby. 

Castleberry Hill The Otis BuildingThe Otis Building, which is named for the elevator manufacturer that once occupied the building, will have a total of just eight homes. 6 one-bedrooms ranging from 1,103 to 1,390 sq. ft, and 2 two-bedrooms that will be 2,652 and 2,748 sq. ft. Prices are reported to start at $475,000 up to $1M. Pre-sales should launch next month. The building will also feature 13 parking spaces (that would count out to 1 per bedroom and a couple extra for the retail space. 

The top of the building will feature a roof top terrace with seating, trees and all. 

This will be an exciting addition to the Castleberry Hill community as the building has long been vacant. There will also be a small retail part (about 1,200 sq. ft) for some hopeful small shops! 

If you’d like more information about The Otis Building, just let us know, and we’ll get together with you! 

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Floor Plans The Otis Building

 

5 Reasons You Should Never Sell a Vacant Home

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We are starting to see the very beginning of some changes to the real estate market. No, it’s not a crash or a bubble bursting….it’s called a “normal” real estate market. And as part of this change we want to share 5 Reasons You Should Never Sell a Vacant Home!

5 Reasons You Should Never Sell a Vacant Home

Home Staging to SellJust this other day, I did a walk-through with my Buyers that are about to close on their first new home….Yippie! By now, the Seller has moved out of the townhome, and boy oh boy, did it ever look different without the furniture in the home. So let me take this real life example and let’s talk about these reasons…..

People Don’t Buy Houses, They Buy Homes

One of the main reasons a buyer buys a home, is well, it “felt like home.” In our case, the home felt warm and inviting! When we did our inspection, we sat on the couch for a good 90 minutes! Talk about getting a “feel” for living there! If that living room had just been empty space, it would have not felt like home, and my Buyers may not have been able to “see” themselves living there. (I remember how they wanted to know where they bought the couch….and wanted one just like it!) A room with no furniture is cold and uninviting….

Without Furniture, There is No Frame of Reference

It can be hard to really tell just how big a room is. And this is especially true in condos! “Will my king-sized bed fit in here?” is a question I’m asked all the time. Now, if there was one there, we would know. In a single family home, you may have a hard time even figuring out what the room is for. Is this a living room, dining room, what? But when that dining room or breakfast nook has a table, chairs and some other decor, it’s much easier to see the space and how it will work for the buyer. 

An Empty Room Changes the Focus

5 Reasons Not To Sell a Vacant HOmeImagine looking at a new BMW that has no paint on it! Would you notice the BMW (model, features) or would you notice it has no paint? Ahhhh…so you are focusing on the wrong thing! 

When the room is empty, a buyer will focus on anything else there is to look at. Maybe it’s the paint color, or wallpaper, or a chip/crack in the tile floor. When your home is furnished, or professionally staged, this brings the focus to the positive aspects of your home, not the negatives! This can even be true of outdoor space. Maybe the deck of a townhome overlooks something less desirable…but if it’s furnished, you will be thinking out enjoying using the space more so than the fact the view is not so awesome. (and yes, sometimes even staging will not overcome these kinds of issues!)

Only Ten Percent of Home Buyers Can Actually Visualize the Potential of a Home

Home Staging to sell your homeEver heard someone say, “You have no imagination!” Well, the same can go for an empty home or condo. Some people can’t visualize how the couch would fit in the living room. Or how sitting on the balcony, taking in the sunset or city lights view would feel…if the balcony is empty. Even a bathroom….candles and some accessories around the bath can make one imagine relaxing there after a long day….

Two Mortgages Are More Expensive Than One!

Take into consideration that a vacant home can take much longer to sell….and the longer it “sits”on the market, we end up making price adjustments to get it sold! And if you have moved and bought another home, you are now making two mortgage payments. Would you not rather have this one sold, and only be making the one? 

Professional staging does cost you, the Seller, money…yes. But what’s the cost of those extra mortgage payments? Or that $10-15,000 price reduction to get the home sold? The cost of staging will probably be less.

So at the beginning, we mentioned a “normal” real estate market. That is where you may put your home on the market, and instead of it being Under Contract in a day or a week, it actually could take 30, 60, even 90 days to sell! Now, keep in mind, this will depend on the amount of inventory in the neighborhood or building where you live, the price, etc. But, if and when we see this change, it will be critical for us, as your Listing Agent to help you get your home or condo sold as quickly as we can. And we need to look at all the steps necessary…including your home not being vacant! 

Contact us today and let’s talk about our Marketing Plan and getting your home SOLD!

Should I Use One of Those On-line Companies to Sell My Home?

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Pretty much like any industry or business you can think of, times are changing in real estate. With the wonders of technology, it’s amazing what you can do, that you maybe could not do some 10 years ago…maybe even 5. But, in real estate, Should I Use One of Those On-line Companies to Sell My Home?

Should I Use One of Those On-line Companies to Sell My Home?

Selling Your Home with an on line companyThere are probably countless professions where you will always need “a real person” to make it happen. A plumber? Fix your A/C? A Dentist? A Doctor? A real estate agent?

There is a new “disruption” in the real estate world with several on-line companies that are offering to help you buy or sell real estate. I’m sure you’ve seen the ads for OpenDoor and OfferPad, and now even Zillow is launching a home buying service. The question is, can you “automate” the biggest financial transaction of your life? Hmmmm.

In the article I’ve shown below that just appeared in REALTOR Magazine, it’s not all peaches and cream when you choose one of these options. In the article below, these companies are referred to as iBuyers. They business model is promising to streamline the real estate transaction with quick, all cash offers. This way, you (as a Seller) bypass the longer process of listing your home, going through showings, negotiations (maybe more than once if a contract falls out) and such. But, an all cash offer will often have a catch. And with an iBuyer, the catch can be quite a challenge. 

The iBuyer, Opendoor, after their offer was accepted, came in with a TEAM of contractors, and when all was said and done, wanted new bathtubs, new toilets and a host of other things. In a nutshell, they wanted a remodeled house and they wanted the Seller to pay for it. (Not that I’ve not had the same thing happen in a real estate transaction, but it was not as dramatic.) The agent ……ah….note I said real estate agent spent weeks negotiation with Opendoor. They had requested some $16,000 worth of repairs on a $300,000 home. Shreeeek! Those weeks spent negotiating with Opendoor…..in an agent-driven transaction, that process would have been resolved in a matter of a couple days, during the Due Diligence period. The parties would have agreed on a price, or the contract would have been terminated. In DAYS….NOT WEEKS! 

What kind of valuable marketing time was lost in looking for another buyer that would have purchased the home with perhaps minimal repair requests…not new bathrooms?

Should I Use One of Those On-line Companies to Sell My Home?The article quotes an agent from right here in Atlanta that helped clients sell their home to Knock. (NOTE….”agent helped clients sell their home to Knock.”) And in this instance, there were multiple people involved from the Knock-side of the sale. As they sale moved along, there were “a lot of missed loops and extra follow-up needed to make sure everything was going smoothly for our Sellers.” 

Having not worked with any of these iBuyers, I’ll make the assumption that these agents did not work for free, and were paid a commission, either by the iBuyer or by the Seller. 

The priceless mention is an agent in Phoenix who had an iBuyer make an offer of of $750,000 on a home that the agent later sold to a traditional buyer for $900,000. Imagine leaving a $150,000 on the table they would have moved on the iBuyer offer? Of course, there can be any number of circumstances behind any of these sales that we are not aware of. 

Should I Use One of Those On-line Companies to Sell My Home?

I think it is a decision that cannot be made lightly. In the article below, and as I’ve highlighted, there were agents still involved to help the Seller SELL to the iBuyer. And it seems like there were a lot of added steps and ‘i’s to dot and t’s to cross’ to make it all happen. And unless you have bought and sold numerous properties on your own already, there could be a land mine someplace you’ll miss. 

But if you can sell your home for more money, working with a real estate agent, than you can selling it to an iBuyer, you’ll probably see, or do the math and agree. 

There is a lot of things that go on during the sale (or purchase) of a house that the agent is involved with, or handle. As agents, we may be bad in not letting you know every little thing we do. We just do it to keep it as stress-free for you as possible. We are kind of a stress ball in the process and keep as much of it from you as possible. 

It’s not because I AM a real estate agent, but I think when you are working with the largest part of your financial portfolio, your home, you’ll want someone right there with you helping you through the process, and being your advocate to make sure you are protected and have the best possible outcome you can. 

The link below will give you the entire article. 

Should I use an On Line Company to Sell my House

Thom Abbott

Associate Broker, REALTOR(R)
905 Juniper Street, NE Suite 110
Atlanta, Georgia 30309
770.713.1505 Direct
404.876.4901 Office

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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