Sellers Archives -

3 Must-Do’s Before Listing Your House for Sale

October 26, 2019 by Thom Abbott

AWESOME! You’ve decided that it’s time to find that new home or condo you have been looking for! Ahhhhh….but first we have to SELL the one you have now!What are 3 Must-Do’s Before Listing Your Home For Sale?

3 Must-Do’s Before Listing Your House for Sale

Before you list your home or condominium for sale, it’s time to do a little work around the house – to prepare and make sure your home is seen in the best possible light. These “must-do” items are about showing your home to buyers as one which is cared for and ready for them to add their own brand of home to the space. Taking a little time up front can mean thousands of dollars as buyers start writing their offers.

3 Must-Do’s Before Listing Your House for Sale

1. Declutter, Depersonalize and Clean – This is the time to take spring cleaning seriously, in any season. Clear out all unnecessary items from the home; closets, drawers, extra clothes, old unwanted furniture. If you have added extra furniture to your condo, now would be a good time to move it to a temporary storage unit, or even sell it if you don’t think you will use/need it in your next home. Donate to charity, hire a dumpster or rent a storage space; buyers will look in every space and open all drawers and cabinets, make sure your home seems spacious. Closet and storage space, no matter a condominium, single family home or a condominium is always a premium. If you have limited storage, then try to have it as open as possible…it gives the look of there being a lot of space. Spend some time to depersonalize by removing excessive pictures and hide heirlooms. Finally, deep clean every space top to bottom.

2. Address Deferred Maintenance – Make small repairs or hire a handyman to take care of problems which could appear during the home inspection. I simply cannot stress this enough!!! I even recommend you have a pre-inspection done on your home. FIND all these things and then you can address most of them, or at least be prepared with our pricing to allow for a concession for something. It will make the Due Diligence/Inspection period on your home a lot less stressful! Replace caulking, fix broken windows and screens, replace light bulbs and freshen up and clean grout; buyers want to see a home that is cared for with “good bones.”

3. Go for Curb Appeal – Spend some time in the yard. Trim bushes and trees, clean and repair hardscape and make sure there is adequate lighting. Welcome your buyers with seasonal flowers or décor and place a fresh mat by the front door. Before you put that sign in the front yard, spend a little time and elbow grease to make sure you welcome your potential buyers with the best version of your home. If you live in a condominium, there is not much you can do with the curb appeal. If you are not in a high rise, listing when the trees are in full bloom vs. when the leaves are all over the ground could be a good consideration! As for a high rise, your curb appeal starts in the lobby with your Concierge. Take time to visit with them and let then know your home is going on the market. They often talk with other residents in the building who may be looking to make a change, or could be renting and now want to purchase in the same building. Also make sure your REALTOR is familiar with the listing policies and procedures in your building. Some of this information can be added to the listing to help buyers agents as they show your home.

3 Must-Do’s Before Listing Your House for Sale

These are great tips to help you and your REALTOR quickly sell your home or condominium so you can head to your next new home!

Where Are The Photos On My Listing?

May 30, 2019 by Thom Abbott

The main reason you hired me (or any real estate agent if you happened to find this article) is to Sell. Your. Home. Right? So you look on a major website and your first question is ….. Where Are The Photos On My Listing?

In marketing your home, it is my job, is to get as many people as I can to “see” your home, certainly by an actual showing on your home with a Buyers’ Agent to see your home in person. But, there is another critical part of marketing your home…..know what that is?

It’s the photos!

When we enter your listing into the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) within 15 minutes, (sometimes less, and sometimes longer), your listing will be seen virtually around the world! Technology….absolutely fabulous, right? Imagine that a home buyer in Seattle, Washington, looking to relocate to Atlanta, can be on any number of websites, and ..BAM! There is your listing.

And before they even begin to read the description, they see ……THIS!

And THAT is the only photo on your listing for not ONE, not TWO, not THREE but FOUR days! Imagine your home is being marketed…..sort of? How is that Seattle buyer going to know if your home is “the one” when they can see nothing!!!!

FOUR DAYS of critical marketing time, that is sort of lost! Sure, a Buyer might remember to come back and look at this…. Or they may find “the one” on the next listing. And with homes going Under Contract in many parts of the Atlanta area in 24-48 HOURS, you are not going to be one of those.

Even as an AGENT, I rely on the photos to determine if a particular home may meet my Buyers wants and needs. And I try to preview much of the homes and condos that I show. But if there are no listing photos for ME to look at, should I spend extra time going to see this home/condo, since I really don’t know what it looks like? Or, did you, Mr/Mrs. Seller just lose a potential showing on your home?

One of my key marketing strategies I review with all my Sellers is that, “You don’t get 50% marketing with me!” We advise our clients, that until we have your photography back from our photographer, your listing will not be entered. When your listing goes live, the photos are immediately entered after that. We want those photos on your listing before that 15 minutes mentioned above ever even passes. Now, it can take us longer as we do all the descriptions to each photo. And if there are 25-40 photos, that can take some extra time. And you want us to spend that extra time to get that description right. Again, that’s what that buyer in Seattle will be looking at, and reading!

Once you have completed preparing your home/condo for sale by decluttering, or if vacant, staging the home, we then have the photography done. Depending on scheduling, we hire a photographer or if there are scheduling issues, we do it ourselves. (Hey, I’m a marketing professional…I’m good at what I do!) When I have those photos available, your listing is entered into the MLS. And not a moment before. Maybe another real estate professional says you need to be on the MLS immediately….I’ll agree to disagree strongly with that!

So when you are talking with any real estate professional, you should ask/know how they do critical parts of their business (managing your listing) that will have a direct impact on your sale!

For More Information about marketing your Atlanta home or Condo, please contact us! We’d be happy to discuss our Marketing Plans and how we will do the best for you!

5 Organizing Mistakes You Could be Making

April 5, 2019 by Thom Abbott

Most 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!

Midtown Atlanta 2018 Year End Real Estate Market Report

March 23, 2019 by Thom Abbott

Midtown Atlanta is most often referred to as the most walkable neighborhood in all of the Metro Atlanta area. And that certainly is true. Step out the door of your home or condominium, and lots and lots of restaurants, some shopping, two MARTA transit stations, theater and art museums are all within walking distance. Not to mention the numerous festivals that happen each year in Midtown Atlanta’s “backyard” …. Piedmont Park.

A majority of the living options in Midtown Atlanta consist of condominiums and apartments. The area known as Historic Midtown is the only area with single family homes.

For the purpose of this report, we tried to outline what is considered Midtown in the MLS, as indicate in the photo on the right.

Midtown Atlanta 2018 Year End Real Estate Market Report

Disclaimer: As we do this “15,000 ft overview” of the Midtown Atlanta market, we attempted to keep the search as indicate in the map above. So places like Ansley Park or Atlantic Station are NOT represented in this report.

Single Family Homes

Single family homes in Midtown Atlanta, are found in what is referred to as Historic Midtown, and area primarily defined by 10th Street, Monroe Drive, North Avenue and Piedmont Avenue.

There were 25 homes that sold in 2018, ranging in price from $500,000 to $1,680,000. CLICK HERE to see the report.

Condominiums/Townhomes

Midtown Atlanta is best known for condominium living. And the choices range for converted homes with only 4 units to major high-rise buildings with 400 homes! And as you can see in this 2018 Year End Report, there is a range of prices! There were a total of 667 sales in the area for 2018!

86 condominiums sold between $500,000 and above. This accounted for about 13 percent of the market

78 homes sold between $400,000 and $500,000 or about 12 percent of the market.

160 homes sold between $300,000 and $400,000, about 24 percent of the market.

343 homes, or 51% of the Midtown Atlanta condo market sold for less than $300,000.

82 condos sold for less than $200,000 or about 12 percent of the total sales.

CLICK HERE to see the Complete 2018 Market Report — $500,000 Plus

CLICK HERE to see the Complete 2018 Market Report — $400,000 — $500,000

$300,000 — $400,000 CLICK HERE

$300,000 or less CLICK HERE

What’s The Real Estate Market Like In Midtown Atlanta?

Midtown Atlanta’s real estate market is still moving strong in 2019. However, we are starting to see some homes remain on the market longer and not the past frenzy of offers (and sometimes multiple offers) within a day of going on the market. 2019 will also see the values moderate. This is a GOOD THING, AND NOT A SIGN OF ANY TROUBLE! A real estate market cannot continue at 6% or more appreciation each year. If that were to happen, Midtown Atlanta, or ANY area of Atlanta could quickly become unaffordable to many people. So we look forward to continued price and value appreciation, but just not as dramatic as we have seen in the past few years.

If you are looking to Buy or Sell a home in Midtown Atlanta, MyMidtownMojo.com can help!

Selling? Do you want to sell your Midtown Atlanta single family home or condominium? Call us today at 770.713.1505 to schedule a free market analysis of your home. Or, complete our Seller Information Form and we will be in touch with you!

Buying? Are you looking to buy a Midtown Atlanta home, condo or townhome? We can set up specific searches for you based on price, community or other specifics you may be looking for. In a competitive Seller’s Market, we can alert you of new listings within minutes of them hitting the market! Just complete out Buyer Information Form, or let’s schedule a time to talk about what you are looking for!

Contact MyMidtownMojo and Thomas Ramon Realty@Palmer House Properties at 770.713.1505 or Info@MyMidtownMojo.com for all your Midtown Atlanta real estate needs!

Buckhead 2018 Year End Real Estate Market Report

March 22, 2019 by Thom Abbott

The Buckhead area of Atlanta is usually associated with the “mega-mansions” of places like Tuxedo Park or West Paces Ferry Road, where you find the Governor’s Mansion. For the purpose of this overall Buckhead 2018 Year End Real Estate Market Report, we will just focus on the primary zip code of 30305. Yes, there are parts of 30309, also referred to as Brookwood that could be considered Buckhead as well. But this “snapshot” will give you an idea of the home sales in 2018. You can find more information about Buckhead here.

Buckhead 2018 Year End Real Estate Market Report

Disclaimer: As we do this “15,000 ft overview” of the Buckhead market, there are certainly other homes/neighborhoods that could qualify to be part of Buckhead. But these numbers are from FMLS and Zip Code 30305.

Single Family Homes

Buckhead 2018 Year End Real Estate Market Report — Photo Courtesy of Harry Norman Realtors

We had to break down the single family homes into three categories, just like we did with our Brookhaven, GA Real Estate Market Report. So we will look at homes sold over $1m, homes sold $500,000 – $999,000 and finally homes sold for less than $500,000.

Over $1 Million — There were 104 homes sold, ranging from a high of $4.975M in Tuxedo Park to $1M in Haynes Manor on Peachtree Battle Avenue.

$500,000 – $999,000 — This price range had the highest number of home sales, at 160 homes sold. They ranged from a high of $985,000 in Peachtree Park to $500,000 in Peachtree Hills.

$500,000 or less — As you might expect for Buckhead, there were not many homes sales less than $500,000! Lucky Number 13 to be exact…ranging from a high of $490,000 to a low of $429,900 in Peachtree Hills.

Buckhead, as we mentioned earlier, is known for the mega-mansions along West Paces Ferry, as well as being home to Lenox Mall, Phipps Plaza, the former Ritz Carlton Buckhead and the Buckhead Atlanta shopping area on Pharr Road.

To see the Complete 2018 Market Report CLICK HERE — $1 Million Plus

To see the Complete 2018 Market Report CLICK HERE — $500,000 – $999,000

To see the Complete 2018 Market Report CLICK HERE — $500,000 or less

Condominiums/Townhomes

Buckhead is also known for its pricey condominiums and townhomes! There were 471 sales in 2018, ranging from $3,700,000 at The St. Regis down to a low of $81,000 at Slaton Manor. How’s THAT for a price range of homes….Wow! Of those 471, an amazing number of 365 homes sold under $500,000.

CLICK HERE to see the Complete 2018 Market Report — $500,000 Plus

CLICK HERE to see the Complete 2018 Market Report — $500,000 or less (it’s a big one!)

What’s The Real Estate Market Like In Buckhead?

Buckhead is somewhat of a unique part of the real estate landscape of Atlanta. It’s the place where the mansions are….the shopping and some pretty awesome restaurants. The area is seeing its share of new apartment buildings (think Icon Buckhead next to the Waldorf-Astoria) and upcoming changes to Phipps Plaza as they add a hotel and other amenities. The fact that there were 365 condo sales under $500,000, and there were many that were in the $200-300,000 range make it still affordable for many.

If you are looking to Buy or Sell a home in Buckhead, MyMidtownMojo.com can help!

Selling? Do you want to sell your Buckhead single family home or condominium? Call us today at 770.713.1505 to schedule a free market analysis of your home. Or, complete our Seller Information Form and we will be in touch with you!

Buying? Are you looking to buy a Buckhead home, condo or townhome? We can set up specific searches for you based on price, community or other specifics you may be looking for. In a competitive Seller’s Market, we can alert you of new listings within minutes of them hitting the market! Just complete out Buyer Information Form, or let’s schedule a time to talk about what you are looking for!

Contact MyMidtownMojo and Thomas Ramon Realty@Palmer House Properties at 770.713.1505 or Info@MyMidtownMojo.com for all your Buckhead real estate needs!

Atlanta Real Estate Market Brief — February 2019

March 19, 2019 by Thom Abbott

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!)

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.

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!

3 Must-Do’s Before Listing Your House for Sale

3 Must-Do’s Before Listing Your House for Sale

Not Arranging by Feature

Organizing Things You Do Not Need

Purchasing Too Many Storage Space Containers

Using Bookshelves as a Storage Unit

Furniture Overload

Midtown Atlanta 2018 Year End Real Estate Market Report

Single Family Homes

Condominiums/Townhomes

Contact MyMidtownMojo and Thomas Ramon Realty@Palmer House Properties at 770.713.1505 or Info@MyMidtownMojo.com for all your Midtown Atlanta real estate needs!

Buckhead 2018 Year End Real Estate Market Report

Single Family Homes

Condominiums/Townhomes

Contact MyMidtownMojo and Thomas Ramon Realty@Palmer House Properties at 770.713.1505 or Info@MyMidtownMojo.com for all your Buckhead real estate needs!

What’s The Atlanta Inventory Like?

Is This A Normal Real Estate Market?

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