Atlanta Home Selling Advice  – Pricing & Selling your Atlanta home for top dollar

If you are thinking of selling your Atlanta or Decatur home this Spring, it is more important that ever to do your homework PRIOR to pricing and listing your home.

Pricing your home correctly the FIRST time can not only get your home sold faster, it can save you thousands.  As of 3Q09, homes that price their home correctly (and didn’t have to reduce), sold their home in 27 days.

Yes,  even in this crazy real estate market, you CAN sell your home in 30 days or less!

As you’ll see in the first chart below, those Atlanta home sellers that had to reduce the price one or more times, they were on the market for 256 days… that’s almost 10 times longer.

If you think you have the patience to wait 256 days to sell your home, consider your pocketbook.  

The  sellers that priced the home correctly the first time, sold their home for 96.8% of the their listing price. 

For those sellers that wanted to “test the market” and start with a higher listing price, they ended up selling their home for 75.7% of the original list price.  

On a $300,000 home, that is a difference of more than $60,000.

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So how do you make sure that you price it correctly the FIRST time?  I would recommend the following:

1)  Interview three local Atlanta real estate agents

2)  Ask them to walk you through the neighborhood sales from the last 3 MONTHS.  The market is constantly changing, so a home that sold a year ago in your neighborhood is no longer a true comparable

3)  Understand your current competition – ask the real estate agent(s) to show you the other homes that are for sale in your neighborhood so you have a clear understanding of how your home stacks up 

4)  Get the agents honest feedback on your home’s value.  If you receive three separate opinions, you should be able to determine the fair market value for your home… and GET IT SOLD!

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 Thank you for visiting our Atlanta Real Estate Blog

Posted by:  Kerry Lucasse – Atlanta GA Real Estate Agent – Atlanta Home Search Team
The ATL Home Search Team is part of Keller Williams Realty,
specializing in Intown Atlanta and Decatur Real Estate, Foreclosures and Bungalows & Historic Homes

CALL US ANYTIME AT 404.432.1844

SEE MY CLIENT FEEDBACK AT:  http://www.KUDZU.com/merchant/1106107.html

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The National Association of REALTORS  just announced that in July home sales are UP 7.2% – the largest monthly increase in at least 10 years.  Experts say this is primarily due to all of the first time home buyers rushing out to purchase their first home and take advantage of the $8000 tax credit that expires on November 30, 2009.

>>  Read the article from Yahoo Finance – “July Home Sales Surge”

>>  Read the article from MSNBC –”Home Sales Soar 7.2 percent”

 If you are a potential first time home buyer in Atlanta and are still on the fence, please do not miss this fantastic opportunity.  In addtion to the Federal Tax Credit of $8000, the interest rates are still fantastic. 

PLEASE NOTE:  If you want to take advantage of the tax credit, there are only 97 days left!  Typically it takes 30 to 40 days to purchase the home once you are under contract, so you really only have about 60 days to find your dream home.

If you have ANY questions about the home buying process in Atlanta or Decatur, call the Atlanta Home Search Team anytime at 404.432.1844.  About 70% of the buyers we are working with are “first-timers” and we would love to help you find your first place.

Thank you for visiting our Atlanta Real Estate Blog! 

Kerry Lucasse – Atlanta GA Real Estate Agent – Atlanta Home Search Team
The ATL Home Search Team is part of Keller Williams Realty,
specializing in Intown Atlanta Real Estate, Condos, Lofts and Historic Homes

If you are thinking of Buying a Home, Condo or Loft, call us anytime at 404.432.1844.

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Atlanta Real Estate Market – Search for Homes by Intown Atlanta Neighborhood

If you are thinking of buying or selling a home in Atlanta, there are quite a few fantastic (and not-so-fantastic) sources out there that will allow you to view the  home values in your area.  To follow is a no-nonsense list of ALL the homes that have sold in 2009 (as of July 31, 2009).  You can see photos of each home, the listing price, final sales price and even how much the sellers paid in buyer closing costs.

Please click on the links below to view the Atlanta and Decatur homes that sold and see how your home stacks up!

OAKHURST Decatur – Zip code 30030

>>  See ALL the Oakhurst home sales in 2009

>>  View ALL the current Oakhurst homes for sale

KIRKWOOD Atlanta – Zip code 30317

>>  See ALL the Kirkwood home sales in 2009

>>  View ALL the Kirkwood homes currently for sale

EAST ATLANTA – Zip code 30030 

>>  See ALL the East Atlanta home sales in 2009

>>  View ALL the East Atlanta Village homes for sale

GRANT PARK Atlanta - Zip code 30312

>>  See ALL the Grant Park home sales in 2009

>>  View ALL the Grant Park homes currently for sale

ORMEWOOD PARK Atlanta – Zip code 30316

>>  See ALL the Ormewood Park homes that sold in 2009

>>  View ALL the current homes for sale in Ormewood Park

CANDLER PARK / LAKE CLAIRE Atlanta – Zip code 30306

>>  See ALL the Candler Park and Lake Claire home sales in 2009

>>  View ALL the current homes for sale in Lake Claire

>>  View ALL the current homes for sale in Candler Park

 *** IF THERE IS A NEIGHBORHOOD WE DIDN”T COVER HERE, WE’LL SEND YOU A COMPLIMENTARY REPORT — JUST EMAIL KERRY LUCASSE @  KerryLucasse@kw.com. 

 
Thank you for visiting our Atlanta Real Estate Blog! 

Posted by:  Kerry Lucasse – Atlanta GA Real Estate Agent – Atlanta Home Search Team
The ATL Home Search Team is part of Keller Williams Realty,
specializing in Intown Atlanta Real Estate and Historic Homes

Call us anytime at 404.432.1844

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Atlanta Real Estate – Atlanta Homes Search

Multiple offers seems to be the BEST indicator that the market is picking up.  With Atlanta first-time home

 buyers coming out of the woodwork to claim their $8000 tax credit, homes that are priced under $350K seem to be selling in less than 30 days, often with MULTIPLE OFFERS!

In the last three months, I have been involved in more than a dozen multiple offer situations in the “Intown Atlanta” neighborhoods….including Kirkwood (FOUR different homes!), East Atlanta (two different homes), Candler Park, Ormewood Park, Oakhurst (two different homes), Downtown Decatur, and the Oak Grove / Briarlake area.

If you are buying your first home (or even your 2nd or 3rd), it is SO important to have a Buyer’s Agent by your side.  Not only will they help you negotiate the best price on the home, they will know how to help you write the best offer when / if you get into a mutiple offer situation.

If you find your dream home and think there could be other interested buyers, there are a few things you can do to make YOUR offer more appealing to the sellers:

• Be flexible with the terms
• Keep the contingencies to a minimum
• Allow seller to say in the home for an extra 48 hours or even a week after closing so they can get their affairs in order
• Avoid “special requests” or keep them to the bare minimum – you can always negotiate them later in the transaction… once the seller has selected YOUR OFFER!
• Add a special stipulation that you will not request any repairs that exceed $250 or $1000
• Add a personal touch and include a letter to the seller with your offer – sellers often want to know a bit about he buyer and  also some reassurance that they are passing their home along to another family who loves it as much as they do
• And of course, offer them the most you are willing to pay for the home.  It is so important to put your best foot forward, as you may only have one chance

If you are thinking of selling your Intown Atlanta home this year, I would love to talk with you about my sales strategy that often generates multiple offers!

KERRY LUCASSE  ::  KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY  ::  404.432.1844  :: KerryLucasse@yahoo.com

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