Should You Buy New Construction?

If you’re thinking about buying a brand-new home, I’ve got some great advice for you today. Here’s what you need to know about your options.

If you’re debating whether or not you should buy a new construction home, I’ve got some advice to share with you today about the two options you’ll have to decide between.

One option is to buy your own land and hire your own builder to build the house you really want. You’ll end up with exactly what you want, but there are some things you should be cautious about. For example, the things you want now may not be the things you want in five years, and you’ll be stuck with them. Also, building a fully custom home can affect your resale value because the more unique a home is, the fewer the number of buyers who’ll be interested in it. If you build something that’s somewhat unusual, you’ll have a narrower market of buyers.

 

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Buying a home that’s already under construction will result in significant savings.

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The second option is to find a subdivision that’s already in development with a builder who’s already building and buy one of those. Buying one of these homes will result in significant savings for you. Most of the time, builders pass on their bulk building costs to the buyer. This option is less expensive per square foot. Builders have also studied the floor plans that people like and that will increase your resale value moving forward. Personally, this is the option I would go with if I wanted to buy a brand-new home.

Either one of these options is great, but you need to decide for yourself what’s important to you in a home. If you have any questions for me in the meantime, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Which Is Better: Overpricing or Underpricing?

Pricing a home is tricky, but does it make more sense to price the home for more or less than its worth? The answer may surprise you.

If you’re a home seller, you might be wondering whether it’s better to overprice or underprice your home. Of course, neither is better. The best strategy is to price it just right. However, sometimes the market isn’t very clear and we end up doing one or the other. 

I would say that it’s probably more dangerous to overprice because it will result in the house accumulating market time and no offers. You won’t get your home sold. If the market is going up, that’s not a big deal. If the market is flat or moving down, it’s a real big issue.

Underpricing is an easier mistake to deal with.

Underpricing is probably an easier mistake to live with. When we underprice, it’s likely that you’ll have multiple buyers because it’s a good deal. That will result in the market bringing the price back up to where it needs to be. 

You should definitely be more afraid of overpricing, but we always strive to price just right. If you have any questions for me about pricing or about real estate in general, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

The Value-Boosting Qualities of a Home

What are the characteristics of a home that will really increase its value? Today I’ll discuss.

There are several qualities of a home that will increase its market value when it comes time to sell:

1. Being located in a cul-de-sac.

2. Being located on or near a golf course.

3. Access to great mountain views.

4. A view of the lake.

As you can see in the video above, I’m coming to you today from a beautiful lake home with four
bedrooms, a full basement, a new kitchen, and a fantastic view. If you have any questions about what
increases a home’s value or if you would like to see the home featured in the above video, please
reach out to us at Potts Realty.

The Truth About Listing Over the Holidays

Today, we’ll highlight the three main benefits sellers can enjoy by listing this holiday season.

With the holiday season just around the corner, many are wondering whether there’s still time to sell.
Is listing over the holidays a good idea? Actually, yes, and there are three reasons why:

1. Less inventory. People assume the market takes a turn for the worse over the holidays.
However, this isn’t the case. Those who are able to look past the rumors will find that listing
over the holidays means you’ll face less competition and have a greater opportunity to make
your home stand out.

2. More serious buyers. While there aren’t as many buyers looking over the holiday season,
those that are still searching for the perfect home are much more committed. As a seller, this
grants you a high degree of leverage.

3. Interest rates are still historically low.  Though they have risen in recent months, interest rates
are still low compared to historical averages. Back in the 1980s, for example, it wasn’t uncommon to see rates above 12%. At just below 5%, rates today are still fantastic. 

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give us a call or send
us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

How to Choose the Right Real Estate Agent

If you plan on selling your home, it’s important that you hire the right real estate agent. I’ll go over three tips to help you do just that.

Last time, I went over why you should hire a real estate agent. So, how do you choose the right agent to get your home sold? I have three tips to share with you today: 

1. Check their track record. They should have one. Make sure they give you the number of homes they have sold in the last few months, as well as another other information that you may require. 

2. Ask for references. Remember, this is a job interview. You are hiring someone to sell your home. Find people they have worked with before. Past clients can provide a picture of how the real estate agent works. 

An agent who tells you a low price is just looking for a quick commission.

3. Make sure they give you a fair price. An agent doesn’t control the price of your home; the market does. If an agent tells you the price that you would really like to hear, you should be suspicious. They may just want to take your listing and then beat you up on the price week after week. If an agent tells you a low price, they are just looking for a quick commission. You want a fair price that makes sense according to the comparable properties the agent brings. 

So, how do you choose an agent? Very carefully! 

We would like to apply for the job. As always, we are here to answer any real estate questions that you have. Just give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!

The Best Ways to Prepare for a Winter Sale

Yards help sell homes in the wintertime. Here’s how.

In the winter, we do actually sell a lot of homes. The homes we sell the quickest are properly prepared so that when they hit the market and start being shown, offers start coming in. What tips do we have for preparing a home to sell for its very best in winter?

In the winter, the yard is going to need some work.

Of course, the inside needs to show beautifully, but in the winter, we need to keep the yard looking at its very best price as well. It’s true that yards don’t look their best in the winter, but that shouldn’t stop us from doing a few things to make sure they stand out to homebuyers. They include:

1. Keeping the bushes nice and trimmed.
2. Putting pine straw in bare spots.
3. Making sure we have winter flowers out
4. Keeping the lawn nicely edged.

Yards help homes sell in the wintertime. Assuming the inside is prepared properly, this can lead to a quick and profitable sale. If you have any questions for us about your specific property, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

There’s No Perfect Time or Bad Time to Sell a Home

Should you list your home now or wait until spring? I’ll go over both of those options today. 

It’s February, which means it has gotten colder and you may not know what you should do when it comes to selling your home. Should you list it? Should you wait? I’ll answer these questions for you today. 

First, should you list it? There really isn’t a perfect time or bad time of the year to sell your house. However, there are a few benefits to listing in February. 

There is less inventory. This means there is going to be more competition for your home. In fact, yesterday we sold a home that had three offers on it. That is less likely to happen in the spring as there will be many more homes for buyers to choose from.  

Secondly, should you wait? If it makes more sense for you personally to wait, spring is still a great time to sell. If you need to wait, wait! If you can list before spring, you have a little bit better chance of getting more money though, so keep that in mind. 

If you need to wait, wait!

Whether you decide to list now or wait, if you have any real estate questions please feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I would be more than happy to help. 

Are Appraisals Reliable?

What are appraisals? How reliable are they? Should you have one done before you list your home? These are all common questions that I wanted to clear up.

Buying an Atlanta Home? Search all homes for sale

Selling an Atlanta Home? Check out our FREE Home Value Report

Today I wanted to talk about appraisals. What are they? How reliable are they? Should you have one done before you put your home on the market?

An appraisal is just an opinion of value.

To put it bluntly, an appraisal is simply an educated opinion of value in the marketplace. The appraiser has constraints within which they have to work, so they come up with an opinion of value for a home.

How reliable is it? Not very. If you watch real estate ads, you'll see homes coming in thousands below appraisal. Why? Because appraisers missed the price!

Finally, should you have an appraisal done before you put your home on the market? You can if you’d like, but I'll say this: I wouldn't, because the only opinion that really counts is the market's opinion.

If you have any questions for me about appraisals or about the Atlanta real estate market, give me a call on my cell phone. I'm happy to help!

3 Areas to Focus on When Preparing Your Atlanta Home for Sale

Buying an Atlanta Home? Search all homes for sale

Selling an Atlanta Home? Check out our FREE Home Value Report

Once you have chosen the right agent, you are ready to prepare your home for sale in Atlanta. We’ve got three great tips for you today that will help you prepare your home to sell for the most amount of money possible and for the least cost and trouble:

1. Prepare the yard. Trim the grass nicely, cut the bushes, and make sure there are flowers. It doesn’t cost a lot, but it allows the buyer to feel good as they walk into their house. 

2. Kitchen and bathrooms. These are the most important rooms in the home. The top priority here is absolute cleanliness, because it’s the number one money-maker for you. If there is a bit of mold between some tiles or stains on the counters, make sure they are taken care of. These rooms should have pleasant, inviting aromas as well. 

3. The rest of the house. Paint, carpet, and other cosmetic details will go a long way towards getting you top dollar for little or sometimes no expense at all.

Cleanliness is the number one money-maker.

If you have any questions as to whether you should do a major kitchen or bathroom renovation, every situation is different, so give us a call and we’ll be able to come out and take a look to see if it would be a worthwhile investment for you. If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I would love to hear from you.

3 Tips for North Atlanta Home Sellers Hiring an Agent

Buying an Atlanta Home? Search all homes for sale
Selling an Atlanta Home? Check out our FREE Home Value Report

How do you choose an agent to sell your house? There are three things you should consider:

1. The agent’s track record: Have they sold homes? If they have, what was the list-to-sales price ratio? How long did it take them to sell it? Check their references and look for testimonials by previous customers. Don’t hire a relative who just got their license. Would you go to a surgeon who just got their license? No. You would want an experienced surgeon, and you should work with an experienced agent.

2. The agent’s ability to sell: Have the agent do a presentation for you. See how persuasive they are. See if you can actually feel if they will be able to sell your home.

3. The agent’s ability to close the sale: Are they asking you for the business? If they are asking you, they will ask a buyer. If they’re not asking you, they will not ask the buyer.

Work with an experienced agent that has a solid marketing plan.

If you have any questions, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!

What Can You Do to Increase Your Atlanta Home's Sale Price?

Buying an Atlanta Home? Search all Homes for Sale

Selling an Atlanta Home? Check out our FREE Home Value Report

Last week we discussed what determines and who determines your home's price, and today we'll be speaking about how you can determine your sale price and increase it. I have four separate ways in which you can do this.

1. Make sure your home is in great condition. Make sure all of your landscaping is taken care of and fix any minor issues before they become problems for prospective buyers. When buyers look at a home they don't like to see broken screens, leaky faucets, or squeaky doors. Be proactive and repair these things so that you can rake in extra cash at closing.
2. Well-lit homes sell well. It's a fact. Open your windows and turn on all your lights. Buyers need to see the home that they're buying. 
3. Don't forget about potential odors. If you have pets, or if you have been cooking with more aromatic ingredients like curry or cabbage, be sure to neutralize the smells in your home. One trick is to bake cookies before a showing to fill the home with a pleasant smell. However, this can sometimes backfire, so aim to make your house scentless. Opening up all the windows in a home can help to do this.
4. Vacant versus staged homes can make a big difference. Some people like vacant homes and others like them staged a bit so that they can see what the property looks like when it's full of belongings. Statistics do show that vacant homes sell twice as well as staged homes, but it's really up to you to decide whether you want to move out all of your belongings. 

Hopefully, these pieces of advice can help you to put some extra cash in your pocket when you sell. It doesn't take a whole lot of effort to get more for your home, but if you need any assistance whatsoever, please don't hesitate to contact me.

I'm always ready to help you with your North Atlanta real estate needs!

Why Should you Consider Selling this Winter?

There are many great Atlanta area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (678) 488-8927 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

This week's topic is all about selling homes in the winter months. The winter usually gets a bad reputation for the market being less "active," but as you will see, that's not the case. Today we are going to give you 3 real reasons why selling in the winter may be something you want to consider:

1. Fewer homes. In some markets, we have as much as 50% fewer homes. We have fewer buyers as well, but not nearly 50% less. When buyers have fewer homes on the market to choose from, it's a great time to sell. 

2. Serious buyers. If the buyers out there in the winter market weren't serious, they simply wouldn't be out there looking for homes at this time of year.

3. Employee transfers. Most large corporations like to do their employee transfers at the end of the fiscal year. The end of the year is a great time to have your home on the market to appeal to these buyers, who need to buy before the end of the year.

So, if you are thinking of selling and wondering if this is a good time, maybe we have answered some of your questions. If we haven't, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We'd love to hear from you.

Is Fall a Good Time To Sell Your Home?

There are many great Atlanta area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (678) 488-8927 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

We are going to go right into today's topic: Is it worth it to put your home on the market in the fall? Maybe you thought about putting your home on the market last spring or last summer, but never got around to doing so. If you want to sell now, but are worried you will have to wait until spring to get a good value, we have some numbers you may be interested in. Hopefully these will help you make your decision.
 

• The number of homes will steadily drop soon to about 40-60% of what we had at the peak of the summer 
• The number of buyers will decrease as well, but only by about 25-30%

If you do the math, the answer of whether the fall is a good time to sell should be an obvious yes. The number of buyers drop, but not nearly as much as the number of homes for sale does. There will be a demand for homes and you can take advantage of that this fall.

When is the best time to sell your home? Really, it's when you are ready. It just so happens that if you are ready now, you can take advantage of some fantastic market trends.

If you have any questions for us, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We'd be glad to help
 

3 Common Misconceptions About Home Pricing

There are many great Atlanta area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (678) 488-8927 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

As you may know, market prices are rising for single family homes in the Atlanta area. Many sellers talk to multiple Realtors and get just as many promises for the amount of money they can get you for your home.

The problem is that some real estate agents will promise you a higher price than the market actually indicates.

There are three reasons an agent might do this:

1. They don't know the market: It is important to know that many real estate agents sell only 2 or 3 homes a year. This lack of market experience makes them less knowledgeable about realistic pricing. 
2. They are afraid of offending you: Some agents want to try to satisfy your expectations rather than be realistic about pricing potential. Remember, the point of selling real estate is to get the highest price possible, which is not always as high as the seller wishes.
3. They have a selling model that allows them to price property erratically: Agents will sometimes set a price too low in an effort to lure buyers and sell them something else. Your home may just be used as bait to bring business to the agency.

We have the experience and expertise to help you price your home accurately. If you have any doubts about the price of your home, we would be happy to get an appraisal for you.

If you need help navigating the Atlanta real estate market and avoiding potentially misleading pricing information, email us at Melida@PottsRealtyInc.com or call us at (770) 396-6100.

How to Avoid these 6 Home Seller Pitfalls

There are many great Atlanta area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (678) 488-8927 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Today I wanted to speak with you about the 6 most common mistakes people make when selling their homes, and how they can be easily avoided.

1. Overpricing: Pricing your home correctly is the most important thing you can do to sell it. When pricing your home, you have to look at comparable properties, get a professional appraisal, and listen to the buyer's response. The best thing that you can do is talk to a professional real estate agent such as myself. Contact me if you would like to know about my pricing strategy. 
2. Inability to Show: If you want to sell your home for a good price, you're going to have to make some sacrifices. This will include being able to show your home whenever it is necessary. 
3. De-clutter: Nobody wants to see a cluttered home. Your clutter will only distract potential buyers, and they will not notice the features that you have in your home. Get rid of unnecessary clutter and allow the buyers to imagine themselves inside your home. The small things can make all the difference in the world. You'd be surprised how much larger your home feels after getting rid of unnecessary clutter. 
4. Odors: You can get used to the odor of your own home. If you have pets you may want to consider a deep cleaning. If you cook with a lot of spices you may want to refrain from cooking on days that you have showings. Smokers may also want to step outside if they are trying to sell a property. Odors can drive away buyers very quickly, so make sure your home smells neutral.
5. Unwillingness to Negotiate: Depending on how strong the market is in your particular area in Atlanta, you may not have to negotiate very much. If you live in a neighborhood in Atlanta where the market is not so strong, you will have to negotiate. Luckily, you can refer to a professional like myself to fight for your best interests.
6. Unwillingness to make repairs:  I have seen many of my clients in North Atlanta that are unwilling to make repairs, and it has caused turbulence in some cases. When you sign a contract with a buyer you will have to disclose any material defects in your property, so it only makes sense to repair them ahead of time. It also helps to know which things are worth repairing, because you don't want to spend a fortune fixing your home right before you sell it.

Hopefully this information has been helpful to you. If you have any further questions about this topic, then feel free to contact me. These tips should help to sell your property.

As always, if you're searching for real estate in North Atlanta, please contact me for any and all of your needs.

Invest Wisely in Renovations to Add Value to Your Property

There are many great Atlanta area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (678) 488-8927 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Today I will be discussing three types of renovations you can make to your property that will actually increase the value of your home. 

1. Cosmetics: This is the best way to increase the value to your home. This includes carpeting, painting, and landscaping. On average, investments made into these aspects see double the return.
2. Kitchen: This area of the home has an intangible value to it. A kitchen is where the family often finds itself together, and installing updated hardware like granite counter-tops and stainless steel appliances can really boost value to such a priceless area.
3. Bathrooms: Much like the kitchen, buyers like to see a clean and updated bathroom. Whatever you invest into updating these areas of your home you will likely see most of your investment return, but not always the full value. Either way, bathrooms are an important aspect to any home, and should be updated if you wish to add value.

Beware of costly renovations to homes such as updated HVAC installments, roofing, or windows. While these structural elements are very important, the buyer will not immediately notice them. People tend to see the most value in cosmetic enhancements but not typically in cooling/heating systems or new roofing. Buyers love new hardware like updated windows, but they won't necessarily pay you more money for them. Focus on areas where they can actually see the renovations.

If you have any questions about how to renovate your own home: call me at (770) 396-6100 or email at Melida@PottsRealtyInc.com

We'd love to hear from you!