Atlanta Real Estate Investing 
Atlanta real estate investing advice, market insights, economic evaluation and Atlanta Real Estate for short term speculators and long term "buy and hold" strategies for Atlanta investment Property.
There are currently 40 blog entries related to this category.
Is Now the Time to Sell?
Monday, July 28th, 2008 at 3:20pm. 374 Views, 0 Comments.
Is now a good time to sell your home?
Only if you NEED to.
**note - "need" for the purpose of this post means you are in a situation for which selling your home is the only option available to you.
Timing the Market
Saturday, July 26th, 2008 at 4:41pm. 327 Views, 0 Comments.
"How long will it take to sell my house?"
It's one of the most common questions I'm asked today. And the answer is quite simple: as a Seller, you decide how long your home will be on the market by what price you put on it.
Price and time are directly related.
I talk with a lot of folks who are concerned about "negotiating room". They think if they price their home too low they're going to get a "low ball" offer and they won't have any room to negotiate with the buyer. Here's the truth...if you price your home out of the marketplace so that you have room for negotiating, you might miss the Buyer that's willing to pay the price you're willing to accept.
So wouldn't it be better to price it right and hold tight, as opposed to building too…
Mortgaging Hope
Thursday, July 24th, 2008 at 5:15pm. 316 Views, 0 Comments.
As a kid, I collected baseball cards. I would literally spend hours reviewing, organizing and "pricing" my cards. And if you've ever collected baseball cards then you're probably aware of Beckett's Price Guide. For those of you that don't...Beckett's Price Guide is a monthly magazine that publishes the "going rate" for individual sports cards. Now, here's a simple truth of baseball cards (and all collectibles): a baseball card is only worth what a ready buyer is willing to pay for it when you want to sell it. Meaning my baseball card was only worth the cardboard it was printed on UNLESS there was a buyer willing to pay me more. Sure...I could say it was worth $5 (or $5000 for that matter) but, at the end of the day, until I someone offers to pay…
You Can Lead a Horse to Water...
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 at 12:13pm. 311 Views, 0 Comments.
If you're a "motivated seller" and your home has been on the market for more than 4 months without an offer - it's your agent's fault.
If you're a "motivated buyer" and you've been looking for a home to purchase for longer than 8 weeks - it's your agent's fault.
I meet a lot of Buyers and Sellers who would agree with me here. But simply agreeing who's to blame doesn't solve the problem does it?
Here's the truth: You need an agent who is bold enough to tell you why your home is not selling and what to do about it. And you need to follow their lead. You need an agent who is honest enough to tell you why you're not finding what you're looking for in the market. And you need to listen to them.
And, for you agents out there, if you're bold…
Ready, Aim, Fire
Monday, July 21st, 2008 at 8:54am. 311 Views, 0 Comments.
I talk with a lot of Sellers who are under the impression they'll sell faster by adding to their price to create "negotiating room". It seems logical enough. It's what I call the "shoot for the stars, you might hit the moon" philosophy of pricing. Unfortunately, it doesn't work.
In today's Atlanta real estate market, if you want to hit the moon it's far better to take purposeful aim at the moon before shooting. You want very little negotiating room. A thousand or two is fine. You want buyers to make an offer.
The pricing of property is critical in this market because buyers are very, very educated in what they're looking at.
Almost every buyer in today's market is working with a buyer agent, so they're going to be doing their market…
I'm a Realtor, not a Magician
Thursday, July 17th, 2008 at 7:22pm. 307 Views, 0 Comments.
I don't set the market and neither do you. Unless, of course, you're a buyer. Buyers set the market because they determine how much they'll pay.
What I do for my clients is interpret the market so they have a good understanding of what's going on. I help them maximize value through sound market research and so they can make an intelligent decision about how to price their home to sell in today's market.
In short, I help people face the reality of their situation so they can get on with their life.
Sometimes, I think pulling rabbits out of a hat would be a lot easier. Not to mention a lot more fun.
My Dad can beat up your Dad
Tuesday, July 15th, 2008 at 2:06pm. 317 Views, 0 Comments.
Buyers buy by comparison. When they enter your home, chances are they've seen 3 or 4 others with similar features and amenities. They are practically experts on market value in your price range. They will make offers on or buy the home that offers the most for the money. If you want to sell before the competition then you must be the most aggressive Seller in the market. You must have the best home in the market for the best price.
Remember...selling real estate is simple. Simple but not easy.
RealSource Brokers - IndyMac Bank REO's, Foreclosures & Bank Owned Property
Monday, June 30th, 2008 at 1:12pm. 332 Views, 0 Comments.
Atlanta Foreclosures & Bank Owned Property
I was recently approved by Indymac Bank as an REO ("real estate owned") agent. Meaning I now work directly with one of the largest banks in the nation to help them market and sell their bank owned foreclosures here in the Metro Atlanta real estate market.I'm excited about the opportunity to learn and master this new realm of the real estate business. And given the current state of the market, I'm sure it will prove useful skill.
If your currently in market to buy (or sell) Atlanta foreclosures please give me a call at 404 270 9374. I'd be happy to help.
Fantasy Land or Reality?
Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 10:27pm. 270 Views, 0 Comments.
I talk to Seller's every day who just can't seem to separate their feelings about the market from the reality of the market. A lot of folks feel their home is worth more than what a qualified Buyer in today's market is willing to pay for it. A lot of folks like to spend more time in Fantasy Land than in Reality.
The harsh reality is that the market just doesn't care about your feelings. Let me explain what I mean. Say you'd purchased IBM stock for $100 per share, and you wanted to sell it for $140 per share because you felt it was worth the money, but the market for IBM stock at that time was only $110 per share. Do you think someone would pay you $140 because you feel they should, or do you think they'd offer you the $110 that the market's…
Apples to Apples
Tuesday, June 10th, 2008 at 7:36am. 271 Views, 0 Comments.
We work with a lot of folks who are relocating from other areas of the country. And what we've found is one of the hardest concepts for people to grasp when relocating to Atlanta is this:
Atlanta real estate is different.
It's not that's it's different in any specific way. It's just that real estate is a highly localized phenomenon. What this means is that no two markets are alike.
So if you're coming in from the land of oranges and it's important to know your oranges are different than our apples. The first day you go out our apples are not going to look right. The second day we're going to be comparing apples to apples, and probably by the end of the day we'll pick the best apple out of the whole bunch for you.
Real Source Blog
That's me (Joshua) on the left. Ok ... a little about me in an extremely limited series of words: Thinker of thoughts. Writer of words. Consulant of Real Estate. Seller of homes. Obsessed with systems and marketing. One-fourth of "TeamRSB". This is our blog (aka "web log"). You can check us out here too:
