What Does the Future Hold in Our Housing Market?

As we enter 2017, I foresee interest rates continuing to rise and inventory staying low. However, as you’ll see, it isn’t all bad news.

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Now that 2016 is at an end, what can you expect from the real estate market in 2017?

One prediction everyone can seemingly agree on is that interest rates will continue to rise. For buyers, this means you might be better off buying sooner rather than later. Buying sooner means locking in a lower interest rate and making your payments better for the entire life of your loan.

If you’re a buyer, you may want to act sooner rather than later.

This trend could cause sellers who are already locked into a really good rate in the home they currently inhabit to opt out of moving to avoid a higher interest rate and a higher payment with their next home.

Currently, inventory levels are really low. There aren’t a lot of homes available, especially in the lower and more average price ranges. These price ranges are a firm seller’s market. As you get into the higher price ranges, though, we’re still in a buyer’s market. As the economy improves, we may see more activity in these price points. Activity in this area has been slow up to this point, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that improves in 2017.

As rates rise and sellers settle in, that will probably make our low inventory problem even worse. I do believe that inventory levels will stay low in 2017, and home prices should continue to rise. If demand starts to subside, however, that may stymie the overall price increase. In the meantime, builders are acting far more conservatively.

Part of me feels like this market resembles the one we had back in 2006 and 2007, when prices were rising and everybody was getting rich buying and selling. The key difference, though, is that lenders are now asking for far more documentation from buyers than they were back then before they issue a qualification. Buyers, in turn, are far more qualified than they were a decade ago. That distinction alone might prevent us from entering the same recession as we did after that market peak.

In addition to home prices, rent prices have also been rising. If that continues, we may see more first-time home buyers entering the market who would rather own a home than deal with landlords increasing their monthly rate.

Lastly, more and more affluent buyers want to live close to town and in walkable neighborhoods. For Athens, this means the hospital area, the Five Points area, and the Boulevard neighborhood.

As you know, my team and I opened our brokerage this year, and 2016 was fantastic for us. We’re looking forward to having the same success in 2017. If you or anyone you know is interested in buying or selling, don’t hesitate to give us a call. We look forward to hearing from you!

What If You Can't Put Any Money Down?

If you want to buy a home without putting any money down, you might have to get creative with your financing options. These are some of the options you can choose from.

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Are there options to buy a home with 100% financing? Are there funding opportunities for these properties and rehab costs?

If you're considering buying a house as your primary residence to live in, there are definitely options to get 100% financing or very close to it. If you're thinking about buying a house to flip or own as an investment property, it's more difficult to get 100% financing. It's possible, but not easy.

A hard money lender may loan you up to 65% or 75% of a home's value after repair. This means you'd need to buy the home for significantly less than what it's worth, then, have an appraisal done to show the hard money lender that it's really worth more than what you paid. 

There are plenty of options for 100% home financing.

For example, if the value of a house is $100,000 after repair but needs $25,000 worth of rehab, and the hard money lender is loaning you $65,000, you would have to be able to buy that house for $40,000. As you can see, it's tough to buy a house at a priced that low with no money down. Additionally, hard money loans are much more expensive in terms of interest rate and fees.

If you have 20% to put down on a home, a lot of local banks will fund the purchase and the rehab cost since that 20% is a significant amount of skin in the game for you.

Finally, there is the option of finding a partner. If you can find a partner to provide the cash on the condition that you do the legwork, it could be a win-win.

Hopefully, that clears things up for you about 100% financing options for buying a home and some alternatives to it. If you have any questions about this topic or about Athens real estate in general, give us a call or send us an email. We're here to help!

What Are Tenants' Rights?

What does it mean when you see a house listed for sale with tenants' rights? If the home changes ownership, the lease must be honored.

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We always love answering your questions, so this week, I wanted to address a question from a viewer who asked about homes that are advertised with tenants' rights. They wanted to know what specifically the landlord owes the tenant and what the obligation is for the buyer.

So what does this mean? If you're looking online, you'll often see listings with tenants' rights. When you see this, it means there is a tenant renting the house. Most of the time it's under a lease, but occasionally it may be on a month-to-month term without an actual lease. Regardless, it means that there is a tenant currently in the home.

When you buy a house that has a tenant, the lease stays with the house.

If you buy a house that has a tenant, the lease stays with the house. If their lease runs until December and you buy the home in September, you assume that lease. In this case, the tenant would start making their payments to you through the end of December. If you're buying as an investor, it's a great thing because you're buying a house that is already providing income. If you're buying the house with the intention to move into it, however, you have to wait until after December when the tenants' lease ends unless you're able to work out a mutual agreement for them to terminate their lease or leave early.

Simply put, tenants' rights mean that you have to abide by the terms of the current lease when you buy a tenant-occupied home. If the tenant is on a month-to-month basis, Georgia law says that the landlord must give the tenant 60 days notice to vacate.

This is really important information to keep in mind if you're buying an investment property or you're just buying a house with a tenant in it. If you have any more questions about this topic or you have any questions at all about real estate, give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you!

Why Don’t Online Home Valuation Tools Work?

Why are the estimates on Zillow and Trulia inaccurate? How do you know what your home is actually worth in the current market? We’ll go over everything today.

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Recently, we asked you to send in your questions, and today I would like to answer one that we got from Diane. Diane asks, “I would like to know why the estimates on Zillow and Trulia are so low. How can you get a real sense of what your house is currently worth?”

Zillow, Trulia, and other online home valuation tools use an algorithm to estimate your home’s value. The algorithm relies on other homes that have sold in your area, the age of your house, and the size of your house. The computer then takes all of that information and spits out a value.

Your local real estate agent or appraiser can help you figure out what your home is worth.

Keep in mind that because those values are computer-generated, there are many variables that those estimates do not take into account. Location is an important factor, too. For instance, a house on a busy street might not be worth as much as a house on a quiet cul de sac. A lot of those nuances are things that your local agent will be able to take into account.

Even if you look on Zillow’s website, you will see that they say the Zestimate is accurate within 7% of your home’s value about 50% of the time. That means that the other half of the time, the Zestimate is off by more than 7%. If your home is worth $200,000, that means Zillow is probably off by at least $14,000.

So, how do you know what your home is currently worth? As real estate agents, we can compare your home to similar properties in your neighborhood and give you a rough idea of your home’s value. We will look at the condition of your home, the upgrades and updates you have made, and figure out what your home is worth.

Another way to find your home’s value is to order an appraisal, which costs about $400. The appraiser will do a very scientific breakdown of the homes near yours that are similar in age and size. They will find the property most similar to yours and compare the two. For instance, if you have an extra bathroom or bigger lot, your value will be a little higher. On the flip side, if the other house is in better condition than yours, your value will be a little lower.

The reality is that your house is worth a combination of what you are willing to sell it for and what a buyer is willing to pay for it in the current market. If you have any questions about what your home is worth, just give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!

Where Have All the Short Sales Gone?

A few years ago, short sales were everywhere. You couldn’t mention real estate without talking about short sales. Now, short sales are scarce. What happened? 

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If you remember, just a few years ago, short sales were everywhere. These days, you don’t hear about short sales very often. What happened? Where did all of the short sales go?

In short, the market has changed. Home values have risen, the market has improved, and sellers are no longer being forced into short sale situations. 

A short sale is when the owner of the home owes more money than what the home will sell for in the current market. Since the market has improved and home values have risen, those sellers are no longer underwater. They’ve become solvent, so if they need to sell their house, they are able to sell it for more than what they owe rather than being forced to sell for less than what they owe.

Now is the best time to sell a home since 2007.

What does that mean for buyers? Since values are rising, you could’ve gotten a better deal last year than you will this year. However, you could’ve gotten a better deal in 2014 than you could’ve in 2015. The good news is that if this trend continues, you will get a better deal this year than you would if you wait until next year to buy a home.

As a seller, if you tried to sell your house a few years ago but were unsuccessful, it’s very likely that your home value has gone up. You can sell today for more than what you owe. It’s also very possible that you can sell for more than what you were asking a few years ago because the market has improved so much.

If you have been renting that house out and waiting to sell it, now may be the time to put it on the market. In fact, now is the best time to sell since 2007. We don’t know what the future holds; we’re hearing that some markets are slowing down, but the market here in Athens is still wide open.

I will keep you updated on the latest market trends as we move forward. If you have any questions in the meantime, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

Using Real Estate to Fund Your Retirement

I recently discussed funding your kids' college through real estate, and today I wanted to talk about funding your retirement through real estate investing. 

Think about your current plan - are you putting money in stocks and your 401K, are you banking on social security, or are you just saving money? If you don't have a good savings interest rate, you're going to have to save a lot of money to prepare for retirement.

Consider the possibility of purchasing a few single-family rental homes or condos and financing them on a 15 or 30-year mortgage. You would have tenants who pay rent that's more than the mortgage for monthly cash flow, and in 15 or 30 years, that property would be paid for. If you have five houses paid for when you retire, that's a pretty good income.

Rental properties can generate monthly cash flow as well as equity.

Five houses renting at $1,000 a month is $60,000 a year in income, and if you have houses with $2,000 rent, you're looking at six figures in income from rental property alone. 

Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki is a good book to read to change the way you're thinking about money. He talks about acquiring assets and allowing them to produce income to fund other areas of your life. I encourage you to think along those lines. 

For this reason, I want to see how much interest there would be in an investment workshop. If you're interested in attending a three-hour workshop about the ins and outs, the good, the bad, and the ugly of residential real estate investing, email me at Justin@WoodallRealtyGroup.com. We’ll get you on a list to keep you updated about a potential event. 

I hope this topic has been informative and has challenged your thinking today. If I can ever do anything for you, give me a call or send me an email.

Jackie Ruined Her Life Going to College?

A recent headline on Consumer Reports' August edition really caught my eye: "I Kind of Ruined My Life Going to College."

What are they talking about? Well, 42 million people owe a total of $1.3 trillion in student debt. What’s even more scary is that 45% of the people with student loan debt said college was not worth the cost. Additionally, 47% of these people said given the chance, they'd go to a lower cost school if they could do it over.

This bears the question: What is your plan to send your kids to college? 

If you can begin planning now, you want to start saving. Savings accounts don't have great interest rates now, so you have to save a lot. You could invest in stocks, but who knows what the market is going to do?

What if you used residential real estate as college funding for your kids? If you purchase a property that you can rent out when your kids are young, it can be paid for in 15 to 20 years, giving you options when the time comes for them to go to college. 

"What is your plan to fund your kids' college?"

You can sell the home and use that equity to fund their college. You could also continue leasing the home and use the monthly cash flow to pay for college.

A third option would be buying a house here in Athens if your kids are going to UGA, for example. You could rent the house to them to eliminate room and board costs, and charge their roommates rent to pay for college expenses. 

Remember, this strategy is not for everyone, but it's an option that I wanted you to be aware of. I think it's tragic for students to leave college with so much debt. It's hindering them from buying their first homes and saving for retirement, among other things. 

If you have any questions about buying a rental or income-producing property, I'd love to help you out. Give me a call or send me an email and let's talk about whether this is a good option for you and for your kids' future. 

An Update on the Greater Athens Real Estate Market

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The word on the street is that homes are selling like crazy in Athens and while that’s true, the pace at which homes are selling is also dependent on both price and location.

"We’ve got ourselves a hot market."

We are starting to see more activity in the lower price ranges and in certain areas of town that are hotter than others. Homes are moving in the higher price points, but not at the same pace. Inventory levels in the lower price ranges are extremely low, below a two-month supply. In the upper price ranges, however, there is still an eight to 10 month supply.

Here are some of the most recent statistics for both Clarke and Oconee Counties to give you a better picture.

In Clarke County, home sales have risen a little over 1% in the last year. However, the average sales price for homes has risen an incredible 9% in the past year. That’s a pretty significant increase. The average days on market has also sped up. Homes are selling in an average of 30 days faster, a 19% increased.

In Oconee County, we have seen a 13% uptick in sales, which is great news. The average sale price has gone up by an average of 5% as well. Homes are selling an average of 13 days faster in Oconee County than they did at the same time last year.

I hope this gives you a good idea of what our market is like right now. If you have any additional questions or are looking to buy or sell in the area, give us a call or send us an email. We would love to hear from you.

Announcing Woodall Realty Group

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We have an exciting announcement to share with you. The Justin Woodall Team at Keller Williams is now Woodall Realty Group. We have brought our entire team over to our brand new independent brokerage, but what does that mean for our current or potential clients?

Basically, nothing is going to change. We will continue to run our business in the same way we did at Keller Williams, but we will now have more resources and more autonomy to be able to serve our clients and customers at a higher level.

We are not looking to fill our office with as many agents as possible. Our business model will remain the same. We are a team of rockstars. Every agent on our team is expected to know their stuff and be experts in the business. If they can’t do that, they won’t stay on the team.

"Our business model will remain the same."

We will continue to have buyer specialists, listing specialists, and transaction managers. Each person will be able to do what they are really good at, which will make us more productive as a team.

Most brokers in town just have a bunch of different agents running around trying to do all the tasks in a real estate transaction. Some do well, but a lot don’t. On our team, we have individuals doing what they’re really good at, so all of our clients get the highest level of service. I believe it’s the best model in the industry. When people specialize, they can do a much better job than one person trying to be a generalist and wear 100 hats.

We are located on Atlanta Highway near Regis Bank, Panera, and the new Walmart Market Store. Stop in and say hello sometime!

If you have any questions for us or if you’re looking to buy or sell, give us a call or send us an email. We are excited to hear from you.

Avoid This Real Estate Money Wiring Scam

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I wanted to give you a heads up on a scam that's going on throughout town. Luckily, it hasn't affected any of our clients, and I want to make sure you can be prepared, so it doesn't affect you. 

If you're nearing a real estate closing or any situation where you may need to wire funds to a closing attorney, you cannot afford to miss this alert. 

Basically, a fraudulent third party crook is posing as the attorney's office, sending emails to buyers as they near their closing date. They will send an email saying that the buyer needs to wire a certain amount of money for their down payment or a certain amount of money if they're making a cash payment in order to be ready to close on the right day.

Somehow, they're gaining access to this information, and sending out these emails just a few days before close. These emails have the name of someone from the attorney's office and look like they came from the attorney's office. They look very legitimate from what I'm told.

I heard a story that a buyer mistakenly sent $77,000 to the wrong person as a result of one of these scams, and that money is likely going offshore or overseas somewhere. It's a big scam, and it needs to be stopped.

I wanted to let you know so that you can protect and guard yourself against this scam. We're also telling our clients who do need to wire money to call the recipient first, to make sure you have the correct instructions and that any emails did come from them, and not a crook who is impersonating them.

As always, if there's anything I can do for you, a friend, family member, or coworkers, please feel free to give me a call.

Athens Real Estate Market Update

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What is going on in the Greater Athens real estate market right now?

Is it a good time to buy, or a good time to sell?

If you’ve been thinking about selling, right now is the best time to sell in the last eight years. The market has risen, supply is low, and buyers are looking, which means prices are going up. In Oconee County, homes priced $350,000 and below are in a strong seller’s market. In Clarke County, homes priced $200K and below are also in a strong selling market. Buyers don’t have a lot to choose from.

If it’s a seller’s market, is now still a good time to buy? Yes! If prices continue to increase throughout the year as expected, now is the time to purchase a home before prices rise further. Of course, we don’t know what will happen next year. All we know is that right now, prices are rising. 

While average-priced homes are in a seller’s market, homes that are priced $400,000 or above are in a buyer’s market. There are plenty of homes for sale and not as many buyers because buyers are being a bit more conservative with their spending. 

This creates a perfect opportunity for the move-up buyer. If you want a home in the $400,000 to $500,000 price range, you can sell your $200,000 home in a seller’s market and purchase your new home in a buyer’s market. If you’ve been waiting to purchase that bigger dream home, now is the time!

If you have specific questions about your property or area, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

How to Get Your Offer Accepted

Looking to buy or sell a home in Athens, Georgia? 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 us at (706) 621-6085 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Today I just wanted to talk with you for a moment about a trend we are seeing with Athens home buyers. As the days go by, we are seeing more and more of our buyers involved in multiple offer situations.

The reason for that is pretty simple, supply and demand. We are finding that in many price ranges and areas, there are simply not very many good homes for sale. This creates buyer interest and buyer activity. When a home does come on the market, there are multiple buyers waiting and diving in after it.

Multiple offers are a great thing if you’re a seller, but not so much if you’re buying. So, what can you do as a buyer in order to win out against other offers? Here are our best tips.

First things first, make the best offer you can. At least this way, you know you gave it your best shot. Price is the most important thing for most sellers, but terms are also very important as well. For example, if you can pay cash, that allows the seller to know you’re serious about buying and your offer isn’t contingent on any financing. Other terms you could manipulate in the seller’s favor include having a shorter inspection period and closing as quickly as possible. If the house is occupied, it makes sense to work with the seller on when they would like to close.

At the end of the day, it’s about the money, but it can be about more. There are a lot of different things you can do with terms and contingencies in a contract in order to make your offer strong. If you’re working with a professional agent, they will be able to tell you how to structure your deal so that your offer is its strongest.

If you have any questions for us, please give me a call or send me an email. I’d be glad to answer them for you.

What Can You Expect from Athens Real Estate in 2016?

Looking to buy or sell a home in Athens, Georgia? 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 us at (706) 621-6085 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

What did we see in the Athens real estate market in 2015? And what can we expect in 2016? We're going to find out today.

Our number of sales only rose by about 2% in 2015, but our average sales price rose over 7.5%. This includes all areas surrounding Athens, so this is great news for homeowners in the area!

However, when we look at just Clarke County, the number of transactions went way up and now sits around 1,500. The average sales price is just over $184,000.

In Oconee County, sales increased almost 21% and the average sales price rose 5.25% and now sits at $312,500.

So, what's going to happen in 2016? We're going to see prices continue to rise and more homes will be selling. Rising interest rates will push a lot of buyers onto the market, so it's going to be a great time to sell, but also a great time to buy. It looks like this year may be the best time to buy or sell in the last eight years.

Homes are getting more expensive, so if you're buying, it may be best to do so before May. If you lock in a low rate now, you can save thousands of dollars over the lifetime of your loan.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me!

Should You Sell Occupied or Vacant in Athens?

Looking to buy or sell a home in Athens, Georgia? 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 us at (706) 621-6085 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Often, I’m asked, “Is it better to sell my house as occupied or vacant?” My answer is: it depends. In my opinion, the best way to sell is with a professionally staged home.

Research reveals staged homes sell for more money. It will show better. It will appeal to buyers. Clearly, it’s worth the investment in the long run. If you’re not in the position to invest in staging, or you’re not yet convinced, you should at least reduce the amount of furniture in your home. You’re moving out anyway! I often tell my clients less is more when you’re preparing to sell your home. Reduce clutter and make the rooms look and flow better.

If you can, sell your home vacant. This is the best alternative out there. With this type of staging, buyers will pick up that the home is a clean slate. They will see how big the rooms are and they could easily picture their items and belongings inside of it. This is especially a good option if your decorations or fixtures are unique to a particular style.

There’s a last resort here. Sell your home full of furniture and clutter. I wouldn’t identify this as the best or even an efficient way, but instead the worst way. Yet, it’s something you might have to work with. The home will sell, but not quickly and for top dollar. It won’t sell well or be as appealing to the buyers. It will ultimately sell for a lower price.

If you’re selling soon and need some tips to sell your home quickly and for top dollar, give me a call. I’m eager to serve you today!