The precipitous drop in home prices was an immediate cause of the last recession and the financial crisis. Falling home equity has cut into household consumption and has further constrained the economic recovery,” Stiff added. “However, very low prices have also started to draw in more buyers. As demand for houses ramps up, construction activity will increase and residential investment will begin to make a substantial contribution to the recovery and GDP overall.”

Due to the unprecedented price decline and record-low mortgage rates, affordability has improved dramatically. The relationship between home prices and rents has returned to 1998 levels. The ratio of median single-family home price to median family income is lower than any time since 1991. For a conventional mortgage, the payment for a median-priced home represents just 12 percent of median-family income, the lowest percentage on record (since 1971). Fiserv Case Shiller projects this record-level affordability will eventually bring more first-time and trade-up buyers back into the housing market, especially as apartment rents continue to increase and new households are formed, making buying a cheaper option than renting. Growing demand from first-time and trade-up buyers will finally put a floor under home prices, ending the nearly seven-year collapse of the housing bubble.

The Smyrna Community
In the 1990s, in an effort to bring vitality and growth back to a decaying community, Smyrna embarked on several neighborhood enrichment campaigns. Market Village, for example, was developed to give Smyrna a defined and recognizable downtown hub. Today, this area—as well as others, such as Jonquil Plaza and the Belmont Hills area—offer mixed-use spaces for shopping, living, dining, working and enjoying living in Smyrna as a whole.

Nature in Smyrna
Located only about ten miles from the City of Atlanta, Smyrna doesn’t seem like the most logical place to have green spaces…but it does. A few extensions of the Silver Comet Trail snake into Smyrna; Taylor-Brawner Park offers several acres of outdoor recreation space; and Riverview Road Trail is a community turn-to. Plus, the people and government of Smyrna have instituted several campaigns to beautify their streetscapes, the efforts of one such push is evident along Concord Road.

Golf in Smyrna
If you’re a golf lover, Smyrna may be for you—the Fox Creek golf course draws aficionados from around the city.
If golf isn’t your sport, no worries. There are public tennis courts, pools, youth sports teams and recreational opportunities for people of all ages.

Smyrna Real Estate
Because Smyrna has a history, you can find older, established neighborhoods boasting an array of real estate options. But, it also offers new construction, more modern living spaces, apartments, condominiums and luxury property—Smyrna has it all when it comes to homes for sale.

From beautiful parks to functional office complexes and real estate for everyone, the area offers something for everyone. Living in Smyrna is a luxury only moments away from downtown Atlanta.

History in Roswell
Roswell is one of the most historically rich communities around Atlanta, its origin dating back to the early years of the 1800s when Roswell King prospected the perfect site for a cotton mill along Vickery Creek. Roswell Mill became North Georgia’s largest cotton mill, and still today, you can hike around trails continuing to offer the sights and sounds of the historical mill.
Halls, churches and plantations were erected, and along with the mill, they played major roles during the Civil War, keeping the Roswell name in the history books.

Parks and Recreation in Roswell
Roswell offers an abundance of parks and green spaces. In fact, the Roswell Recreation and Parks department operates over 15 parks and nearly 1,000 acres of recreation space.

Along Vickery Creek, one of the many branches of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area sits. There are several youth sports programs, athletic clubs for all ages, pools, tennis courts and playgrounds for the kids.

Schools in Roswell
Living in Roswell is ideal for many families because of the excellent educational opportunities. There are several public options within the Fulton County school system, but children also have access to private institutions and charter schools.

Roswell Real Estate
The sense of community in Roswell is important and rooted in the area’s history. There are several well-established neighborhoods offering a mix of mature, renovated properties as well as apartment and condo options, plus new construction.
Roswell is home to a diverse population, and as such, it offers diverse housing options.
If you’re looking to move to Atlanta and living in Roswell is appealing, start by finding a real estate agent who specializes in the area.

This is an increase of 15% compared to the 2,487 total sales for the month of February 2011 and a 6.9% increase in sales compared to 2,676 in January 2012.

Atlanta home sale in the last three quarter’s are showing an upward trend.  Warren Buffet recently said, there has never been a better time to leverage the low cost of housing and rock bottom interest rates for huge financial gains.

These policies pay you directly upon the sale of your home if the equity declines below the local house price index (FHFA) from the time of purchase.  Naturally all these policies have fine print and terms.

The terms and condition’s of these polices vary, but most protect for at least fifteen years and require an arms length transaction.  There is a twenty four month waiting period before you could collect on any loss at the time of sale.  These policies also vary in cost and the how they’re paid.  Here’s a link to a “Questions and Answers” page of one such company. 

Price protection policies are new to the market and I’m going to monitor their demand and success closely.

I strongly feel if you hire a professional realtor who knows the current market and its corresponding data will do more to secure your investment than any price protection policy can ever accomplish!

Call me if you have any questions or want to discuss real estate!

Since 1966, the median price of an existing single family home in the  U.S. has varied between 150% and 251% of personal income per household.  However, roughly three-quarters of the time it has been in a relatively narrow band between 185% and 230%. In September 2011, the ratio was just 153%, implying that to get back to an average price to income ratio, home prices would have to rise by about 27%.”

During the week of October 7, Freddie Mac reported that mortgage rates  had fallen to an average annual level of 3.94%. Assuming the use of a fixed  rate mortgage with 20% down, this would make the median mortgage payment on a single family existing home just 6.9% of per household personal income, compared with an average of 14.4% since 1966.”

The numbers on housing have an important message for American families today, and particularly younger families setting out on life’s great adventure: Five years ago, at the peak of  the home-buying euphoria, it was emphatically a time to rent. Today, when home  ownership is depreciated more than ever before, the numbers tell us it is a  time to buy!

The information I used for this blog was based in part on a story J.P. Morgan published.  If you want to read the report in its entirety please click on this link.  Market Insights!

Appraisers will now follow something called UAD
– Uniform Appraisal Dataset.  Appraisers will now be required to collect a  lot more information about a home’s features and upgrades for all new appraisals.  Appraisers will also need the date of any major renovations.   They’ll need photos, a description and date of renovation underneath each
photo, and more.

Where will the appraisers get this information?   FMLS, which means it’s going to fall back on the listing agent.   It’s going to be a challenge for agents and homeowners to be pro-active in understanding the new UAD guidelines.

Another major change is the way in which an appraiser can weigh the difference in value between a remodel vs. update.  I see a lot of agents advertising “remodeled”, but in reality, many of these homes have been “updated”.  I don’t want to sell updates short.   They’re essential in today’s market; however new granite counter tops and  stainless appliances isn’t a remodel if the rest of the kitchen is 15 to 20  years old.  It’s an update!  After 15 or 20 years, counter tops and  appliances wear out.  Let’s face it, they have to be replaced. The  definition of a “remodel” is a kitchen that has new cabinets, backsplash, counter tops, appliances, fixtures and floors in some cases. It has to look  like it was totally re-done with a fresh new look top to bottom. In other  words,  it has to have a wow factor.  The same holds true for  baths, basements, decks or additions.   Things like roofs, siding and HV/AC units will also be valued by the age.  Bottom line, more individual items in your home will be weighed and valued than in the past.  Some will help your home’s value and some will not.

My message to you is that an appraiser may not give you value for “updates”, while a buyer will give you higher consideration for them,  but “remodels” will increase your home’s overall value and buyer consideration.

If you have a home for sale you need to be sure you have at least 25 professionally shot photos with descriptions underneath. As an agent who understands the market, having a professional photographer on call is a necessity. I’m surprised how many terrible photos agents post of a property.  Show me a home with poorly shot photos and I can show you an agent that doesn’t know a thing about marketing!
Years ago it used to be all about the size of a yard sign; today it’s all about the quality of photos!  With the new appraisal requirements, well shot pictures of your home may have never been more important in your home selling and appraisal process!

Contact me if you have any questions about the new UAD guidelines for appraisals!  I would be glad to discuss how the changes may relate to you and your home.

Low mortgage rates are terrific — if you can get them.

One week after posting its lowest mortgage rate in 50 years, Freddie Mac reports that the 30-year fixed rate mortgage rose by an average of 7 basis points nationwide this week to 4.22%. To get the rate, you’ll pay an average of 0.7 “points”.

This week’s rise in the 30-year fixed rate mortgage pulled rates off their all-time lows so either you locked last week’s rock-bottom rates, or you missed it.  Mortgage rates are rising.

As a refinancing homeowner or home buyer in Atlanta , rising mortgage rates are something to watch. This is because, as mortgage rates rise, so do the long-term interest costs of giving a mortgage, increasing your homeownership costs.

For example, if you failed to lock a rate last week when rates were bottomed, and then decided to lock-in only after rates had climbed 0.25 percent, at the new, higher rate, over the life of your loan, you would have responsibility for an extra $5,300 in interest costs for every $100,000 you borrowed.

Rising mortgage rates can be expensive.  For home buyers, rising mortgage rates pose a second problem — they erode your purchasing power. A home that fits your budget at today’s rates may not fit your budget at next week’s rates. And because mortgage rates change quickly, you can sometimes feel like you’re racing the clock.

The hard part about mortgage rates, though, is that we can never know what they’ll do next. On some days they rise, on some days they fall, and on some days they stay the same. Instead of trying to “time the bottom”, therefore, a good strategy can be to lock the first, low rate that fits your budget. Then, if rates are lower in the future, you can look to refinance at that time.

Mortgage rates remain at historical lows. It’s a good time to lock a rate.

In this day and time this is an awesome achievement for any city government. Max will be up for re-election soon. This will be his 8th term. I see no need to fix something that isn’t broken. Please get out and vote November 8th.

Maybe Max should run for president!