Real Estate Tips Archives

Midtown Atlanta Real Estate Market Report October 2017

November 19, 2017 by Thom Abbott

In our Midtown Atlanta Real Estate Market Report October 2017, we want to make a disclaimer as to how we did the numbers this month.

Midtown Atlanta is located within Area 23, a designated listing area by the First Multiple Listing Service. (FMLS) When we pulled the numbers for this report we used Area 23, and did not try to define it by just Midtown Atlanta. There is no classification with in the MLS for just Midtown Atlanta. So, this market report covers a broad area, as show in the map on the right.

If you have specific questions about your neighborhood, or condominium building, we’d be happy to do a market report specifically for you. Just CONTACT US!

Midtown Atlanta Real Estate Market Report October 2017

Single Family Homes

Properties Active on the Market: 170

(High was $3.195M in Ansley Park to Low of $275,000 in Reynoldstown)

Properties Pending/Contingent: 75

(High was $1.249M for a home on Charles Allen to a Low of $315,000 in Reynoldstown)

Properties Sold: 29

(High was $1.74M in Morningside to the Low of $393,000 in Reynoldstown)

Condominiums and Townhomes

Properties Active on the Market: 232

(High was $4.336M for Opus Place and the low was $100k at City Heights and $105,000 at 1280 West)

Properties Pending/Contingent: 159

(High was $899,900 for a 7th Street townhome to a Low at $105,000 at 1280 West)

Properties Sold: 102

(High was $746,000 at Square @ Glen Iris to a low of $120,000 at 12th Street Commons)

As we pulled these numbers at the end of October, we completely forgot to do Average Days on the Market..Whoops!

If you’d rather hear this report in a video format, just click on the video below.

If you have any questions about the Midtown Atlanta Real Estate Market, feel free to EMAIL ME, or you can call me at 770.713.1505

How Do You Handle Showing Requests?

October 7, 2017 by Thom Abbott

This post should fall under a “Frequently Asked Questions” column, but it’s a question that a SELLER should be asking their agent during the listing presentation.

How Do You Handle Showing Requests?

When you hire a real estate “professional” you base your decision on any number of varying criteria. But after you have selected your agent, do you ever wonder just HOW they do their job? You’ve hired this real estate professional to market, and sell your home. But… what happens behind the scenes? And a question you should be asking your agent is, “How Do You Handle Showing Requests?”

See, once your home is on the market, it has to be SHOWN by a Buyer’s agent. And that Buyer’s agent makes a showing request a number of ways:

via an automated showing service
texting the Listing Agent
Calling the Listing Agent

But HOW does your Listing Agent respond to these requests? Let me give you a real life example that happened last night and again this morning. I was out showing property yesterday, and was not able to sit down and schedule today’s showings until 7-8:30pm last night (Last night was a Friday night for a point of reference) The quickest way for me to do this is via text messages to the agent. I have short cuts programmed into my phone and can send a message in about a minute. Now, if the agent requests phone calls, or that I use a showing scheduling service, of course I follow those instructions. Repeat. I follow those instructions. So last night, I sent out 12 of these texts to schedule showings for my buyer for Saturday morning, starting at 10am.

I’m contacting the Listing Agent because I have a qualified buyer, ready to buy and wants to see your home. A no-brainer that I’d get a text message, or phone call back right?

I actually ended up showing THREE homes where the listing agent never bothered to call or text me back! Seriously!!! And just because a listing says the home (or condo) is vacant, I still call. Maybe somebody has not moved out, or has moved back in! (GASP…it has happened!!!) Maybe there is an offer in..or even an accepted offer but the listing status just has not been changed yet. I just want to confirm things before I show.

Imagine my concern if my Buyer LIKES one of these listings?? How will the REST of the home buying process be? Will the agent be more responsive then? Will they even respond to our offer? Yikes!

Sure, it was a Friday night. But I’m trying to schedule a showing to show YOUR home!!! How does your agent respond to a request like this? Do you miss a showing because they never called back? Hmmm. There’s some food for thought!

When you are talking to a real estate professional, on your check list, you might just want to ask….

How Do You Handle Showing Requests?

I Cleared My Rental Wait List

September 5, 2017 by Thom Abbott

If you have lived in a Midtown Atlanta condo for any length of time, you know it takes….time…to clear the rental waiting list. In fact, about 5 years in most buildings. (Almost every client we have sold a condo to, in various buildings, has cleared the wait list at 4+ years!)

I’ve Cleared My Rental Wait List — Now What?

Great you have permission to lease your Midtown Atlanta condo!

Once you have cleared the waiting list in your condo building, you have a specific amount of time in which to obtain a tenant for your condo. (This too will vary from building to building.) Now you need to find a tenant….that is if you in fact decide to rent your condo. You may decided it’s not the time for you to lease, and then your name will fall off the list and you will have to start back at the bottom. Depending on your personal situation, this can be the perfect time to start your real estate portfolio. You can look at purchasing another condo, or home, and lease this one. So you will need to be looking for that new home, and probably rather quickly based on the time you have to find your tenant.

How Do I Find My Tenant?

Many homeowners will choose to “go it alone” and try to lease their condo on their own. Not my advice for sure. There are services such as Craigslist and other websites, but do you really want to meet a total stranger, off the Internet in your condo? Ahhhh, I thought not.

Working with a real estate agent can make this process easier. Not only do we assist you with the marketing of your condo, we give you advice on the best things to do to make your condo more rentalable..and hopefully rent quicker. And an agent may be able to do property management for you, or just help you secure a tenant. Not all agents can, or do, property management. There are pros and cons to using a property management and we can discuss those with you in person.

Screening Your New Tenant

So who is this person that has expressed an interest in living in YOUR condo? (We understand that you still think of this as your home, but it’s really a real estate investment that we now need to manage. And part of THAT process is finding a good tenant for your home. Most likely, another agent will bring a prospective tenant. Once they complete an application, we will have a credit check as well as a criminal background check completed by a national screening company that we work with. They check past rental references as well. If there are any unusual items on any of the reports, we can ask for further clarification and explanation. Ultimately, it is up to you to make a final decision on the prospective tenant. Of course, you must follow fair housing guidelines.

Fair Housing Act
Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act), as amended, prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of dwellings, and in other housing-related transactions, based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status (including children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women, and people securing custody of children under the age of 18), and disability.

As part of your leasing process, you can limit the number of occupants (this too may be dictated by condominium rules and regulations), pets, smoking and other things. Like a waterbed. Does anybody even HAVE one anymore?

Move In and Walk Through

Whether you work with a property management company or a real estate agent that offers tenant placement services (which is what I do) you will want to conduct a thorough walk thru at the time the tenant takes possession of the condo. During this walk thru, the condition of everything is noted and documented on the walk through form! We will also take pictures if we feel it will help for clarification at the end of the lease.

Renting out your Midtown Atlanta condo might seem scary, but we can certainly help it be a much easier and smoother process!

How Can I Lease My Midtown Atlanta Condo?

August 4, 2017 by Thom Abbott

You’re a real estate investor. The Midtown market is hot, hot. You want to cash in and get an investment property.

You’re already a Midtown condo owner. You just met the guy (or girl) of your dreams and they want a house in the new real estate hot spot of Chamblee. But you want to keep the condo.

How Can I Lease My Midtown Atlanta Condo?

All of the above are scenarios I encounter on a weekly or monthly basis. Another is that dreaded, ” I got a job in _______ (Fill in the blank) but I want to come back to Atlanta and I still want my condo here. Unfortunately, you may have a problem with what to DO with your condo….be it in Midtown or anywhere in Atlanta.

And this is nothing new, just because of the hot real estate market and limited inventory! I wrote about this very subject in 2012!

You can’t just up and decide to lease your condo. All condominium buildings (well actually the Homeowner’s Association a.k.a. the HOA) have requirements as to the number of condos that can be rented at any given time. And that number in most buildings is around 25%. But why? It’s MY condo! I’ll do what I want with it!

NOT SO FAST!

When you purchased that condo, you agreed to abide by a set of rules and regulations, also called the Declaration of Condominium. They can also be called the CC & R’s ( Covenants, Conditions and Regulations). When you move into a condo building, you agree to these rules, and there will always be a provision regarding leasing your condo. And in that provision, you must have a leasing permit, issued by the HOA, to lease your condominium.

And in most communities, certainly Midtown Atlanta, there is a waiting list to get such a permit. A long, long list.

Why Do I Have to Have a Leasing Permit?

One primary reason is because of financing. Most lenders require a certain number of the homes in any community be owner-occupied. To get financing for a buyer, the lender will ask for a condo questionnaire to be completed, and the HOA must disclose how many homes are currently leased. If there is too high of a percentage, the lender may feel that a loan in that building is not a sound investment. There is also the un-founded truth that renters are less desirable neighbors, and don’t take care of a home like a homeowner would. (Not true..I’ve seen some pretty scary condos that were owner occupied…and I’ve seen many a owner bang into a wall, or scuff the paint with a suitcase of moving cart!)

Some HOA’s will allow a hardship leasing permit. Like the job example above? Let’s say you DO have to move out-of-state for a job, but want to move back as soon as you find a new job here in Atlanta! These situations are handled on a case-by-case basis, and differently from building to building.

I’ll Just Rent It “Under The Table” They Will Never Know

Ah, that would be a big….NO!

Have the HOA (remember that neighbor you never met…but now knows someone ELSE is living in your condo) find out you are renting and your tenant could face eviction. You will most certainly get a fine…as little as $25 per day to as much as $500 per day. The HOA can turn off access to common areas like the garage where you park, the club room and any other amenities. It can get pretty messy. Probably NOT worth the risk.

So if you are looking to buy a Midtown Atlanta condo, or a condo anywhere in the Atlanta area, make sure you place your name on the lease waiting list as soon as you close. Some HOA’s have a grace period of 90-120 days before you can, but get it on there when you can. It may take 4-5 years to clear the list, but when you do, it may be perfect timing to THEN turn it into an investment property and rent it! (And I can help you with that process!)

Or you may have no choice but to sell. I can help you through that process as well. Here are some tips about selling your Midtown Atlanta condo!

Just know that you need to be living in that condo, and don’t think you will be renting it out!

Beware of CyberFraud in Real Estate

July 31, 2017 by Thom Abbott

It’s a strange, and sometimes kinda sad world we live in these days. Seems like everyone is out to get you, or your stuff, or your identity anyway they can. And now you have to beware of CyberFraud.

You have to be careful in keeping your home and car locked. Watch where you sign on to the Internet and what personal info you do while in the unprotected environment. (I can’t imagine using some city-wide wi-fi and doing some banking transactions…..shreek!)

Well, the fraud gig has found its way to a part of the real estate transaction. The MOST important part of it…and that would be the money part! In Georgia, our closings are coordinated through a closing attorney. They complete all the necessary paperwork, but they represent the LENDER that requires all those documents to be signed. And part of this process, is the wiring of funds for the closing. This is mostly on the Buyer side of the closing, but there can be times when the Seller would have to wire funds as well. Well, now, there seems to be a chance that your funds for closing could end up in the wrong hands!

When you are getting ready for the closing, you will get communication from the closing attorney regarding the wiring of your funds to their account. You will never get that request from myself, or my real estate brokerage. This will always come from the attorney’s office.

That said, we offer up this caution regarding Cyber Fraud:

Beware of Cyber Fraud.

Fake e-mails attempting to get you to wire money to criminal computer hackers are increasingly common in real estate transactions. Under this scam, computer hackers fraudulently assume the online identity of the actual mortgage lender, closing attorney and/or real estate broker with whom you are working in the real estate transaction. Posing as a legitimate company, they then direct you to wire money to them. In many cases, the fake e-mail is sent from what appears to be the authentic web page of the legitimate company responsible for sending the wiring instructions.

You should use great caution in wiring funds based solely on wiring instructions sent to you by e-mail. Independently verifying the wiring instructions with someone from the company sending them is the best way to prevent fraud. In particular, you should treat as highly suspect any follow up e-mails you receive from a mortgage lender, closing attorney and/or real estate broker directing you to wire funds to a revised account number. Never verify wiring instructions by calling a telephone number provided along with a second set of wiring instructions since you may end up receiving a fake verification from the computer hackers trying to steal your money. Independently look up the telephone number of the company who is supposed to be sending you the wiring instructions to make sure you have the right one.

So, as the info suggests, when you get a request to wire funds, search out the firm separate from the info provided in the email. Then call, and confirm the wiring information.

You just have to watch out for the bad guys. They can be anywhere!

The Millennial’s Guide to Buying a Home

May 20, 2017 by Thom Abbott

I bought my first home when I was 32 years old. The term “millennial” didn’t exist back then. And nothing like The Millennial’s Guide to Buying a Home existed either. Let me be honest….”www” was not around either! So buying a home was a much different process than it is today.

But if you are buying your FIRST home, then it’s a NEW process for you, and there can be lots and lots of questions! Thankfully, with the help of “www” it is much easier to get or find information online about the home buying process. I mean, we even created the Intown Atlanta Real Estate Buyer’s Guide as a great resource!

But for the Millennial generation, many things in life are different. Starting with…how many of you there are! Like a whole 83.1 Million of you!!!! Then there is the often used phrase of “failed to launch” as many of you have delayed moving our of your family’s home…or maybe even moved BACK there after college because of employment or student debt issues. Experts have looked at your generation and wondered, “Do they even WANT to own a home?” Well in 2016, the buyers in the age group of 25-34 years accounted from some 56 percent of first time home buyers…so I’d say you do!

Now, I understand that Young Millennials (aged 17-25) are different than Older Millennials in the age group of 26-36. Like I mentioned, I was 32 when I bought MY first house. (Should I tell you I got transferred just 3 months AFTER I bought it? Nah…save that for another time! Like when we meet in person!)

So, what might be holding YOU back from making that first home purchase?

The Top 6 Reasons young Renters Delay Buying

Any of these sound or feel familiar to you?

Don’t Get Caught in the Rental Trap

As you will see in our Full Report, The Millennials’ Guide to Home Ownership, rents have been rising consistently over the past 20 years or more! In homeownership, you can protect yourself from rising rents, by locking in your housing costs for the life of your mortgage! (Provided you do not have an adjustable-rate mortgage….and I’d highly advise against this!) Each month, your housing payments go towards owning your own home instead of renting it, and paying someone else’s mortgage.

Now, I completely understand that buying is not always the right option for you. I’m happy to discuss your plans and what you see in your future…and maybe now is the time to buy….and maybe it is not.

You can request your FREE COPY of our Millennials’ Guide to Home Ownership below! We look forward to helping you and if you have any questions, we are always available at 770.713.1505 or email me HERE

Midtown Atlanta Real Estate Market Report October 2017

Single Family Homes

Condominiums and Townhomes

How Do You Handle Showing Requests?

How Do You Handle Showing Requests?

I’ve Cleared My Rental Wait List — Now What?

How Do I Find My Tenant?

Screening Your New Tenant

Move In and Walk Through

How Can I Lease My Midtown Atlanta Condo?

Why Do I Have to Have a Leasing Permit?

I’ll Just Rent It “Under The Table” They Will Never Know

Beware of Cyber Fraud.

The Top 6 Reasons young Renters Delay Buying

Don’t Get Caught in the Rental Trap

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