Atlanta Real Estate | Atlanta Housing News for Real Estate

Here is the Suwanee Georgia FMLS Update for Suwanee single family detached home listings for sale as of today Saturday November 29, 2008 in both Forsyth and Gwinnett Counties GA.  This is for the current inventory activity of single family detached Suwanee GA homes for sale:

• Active - 795 Properties Found - Suwanee Georgia homes for sale
• Contingency w/Kickout - 0 Properties Found - Suwanee Georgia homes for sale
• Contingency - Due Diligence - 2 Properties Found  - Suwanee Georgia homes for sale 
• Contingency - Other - 4 Properties Found - Suwanee Georgia homes for sale
• Pending - 95 Properties Found - Suwanee Georgia homes for sale

Here is the Snellville Georgia FMLS Update for Snellville single family detached home listings for sale as of today Saturday November 29, 2008 in Gwinnett County GA.  This is for the current inventory activity of single family detached Snellville Georgia homes for sale:

• Active - 992 Properties Found - Snellville Georgia homes for sale
• Contingency w/Kickout - 0 Properties Found - Snellville Georgia homes for sale
• Contingency - Due Diligence - 2 Properties Found  - Snellville Georgia homes for sale
• Contingency - Other - 2 Properties Found - Snellville Georgia homes for sale
• Pending - 89 Properties Found - Snellville Georgia homes for sale

Here is the Lilburn Georgia FMLS Update for Lilburn single family detached home listings for sale as of today Saturday November 29, 2008 in Gwinnett County GA.  This is for the current inventory activity of single family detached Lilburn GA homes for sale:

• Active - 458 Properties Found - Lilburn Georgia homes for sale
• Contingency w/Kickout - 0 Properties Found - Lilburn Georgia homes for sale
• Contingency - Due Diligence - 3 Properties Found  - Lilburn Georgia homes for sale 
• Contingency - Other - 0 Properties Found - Lilburn Georgia homes for sale
• Pending - 47 Properties Found - Lilburn Georgia homes for sale

Here is the Alpharetta Georgia FMLS Update for Alpharetta single family detached home listings for sale as of today Saturday November 29, 2008 in Fulton County GA.  This is for the current inventory activity of single family detached Alpharetta GA homes for sale:

• Active - 1274 Properties Found - Alpharetta Georgia homes for sale
• Contingency w/Kickout - 2 Properties Found - Alpharetta Georgia homes for sale
• Contingency - Due Diligence - 14 Properties Found  - Alpharetta Georgia homes for sale
• Contingency - Other - 10 Properties Found - Alpharetta Georgia homes for sale
• Pending - 111 Properties Found - Alpharetta Georgia homes for sale

Here is the Roswell Georgia FMLS Update for Roswell single family detached home listings for sale as of today Saturday November 29, 2008 in Fulton County GA.  This is for the current inventory activity of single family detached Roswell GA homes for sale:

• Active - 708 Properties Found - Roswell Georgia homes for sale
• Contingency w/Kickout - 0 Properties Found - Roswell Georgia homes for sale
• Contingency - Due Diligence - 6 Properties Found  - Roswell Georgia homes for sale 
• Contingency - Other - 3 Properties Found - Roswell Georgia homes for sale
• Pending - 62 Properties Found - Roswell Georgia homes for sale 

Our most recent statistics for Atlanta homes sales for all areas in Atlanta metro were release last Friday November 21, 2008.  There were some interesting trends for all areas, but especially the area I work the most - North Fulton County.  First of all these are the areas that used to economically drive the city areas 13, and 14 (North Fulton - Alpharetta, Roswell, Milton and John's Creek).  Sales were off significantly in sales of sold homes single family detached homes.

What are we to be grateful for?  In tough times there is always a lot of lamentations on what we could have had, or what we should have done but didn't.  It really doesn't matter now anyway.  It is all history.  The older I get I find it is not as important to measure your efforts by the dollars we earned.  Real estate has a way of doing that.  Sometimes it is really grotesque all the useless awards that are given to those that should really be collecting food coupons.  Doctors, and lawyers do not high five one another for belonging to a ‘Million Dollar Cub!"  The sad part is than we should raise the standards, and when you really earn a million dollars you should get a pat on the back.  Instead we give awards for "Million Dollar Club" when the agent makes about 15K a year.  In real estate, sometimes it is too much about the dollar and sometimes not enough on the completion of the deal.  It is one thing to take a listing, but quite another thing to sell it for the best possible price in less than thirty days in this market.

What is your measure of success?  Is it all about you?  Is it the new luxury car, the second home, or was it selling the home for the elderly couple whose husband has just had a stroke?  Can we measure the stress that we relieved of completing a deal and selling a home just before it went into foreclosure?  Sometimes it is not about the sale, but it is about the lives behind the sale.  Perhaps our efforts kept a family together, and out of bankruptcy.  Perhaps by our efforts we prevented a divorce or a suicide.  Over the years I have Thanked God for all the opportunities of growth that was place in out lives.  Yes sometimes it is easy to not want to bother when there seems like there is no way to turn things around.  Sometimes it is good to be grateful that you were there just to do God's will.  There is a satisfaction that no money could buy in helping others achieve their dreams. It is a great feeling to have been part of the winning side when before all there was was dispair.  Real estate is one of those fields we have loads of opportunities to assist others in their time of need.  We should all be grateful that we can be of service to others. Over the years we've all assisted widows, and widowers, clients that were dying, divorces, families with financial upheavals, young families that are moving up, and older couples downsizing.  We must all be grateful for our real estate careers that allowed us to serve others in their time of need both good and dire.   Let's all give thanks we were there to assist and aid them!

Everyday I get calls from part time agents that are getting ready to out and show their clients homes that they found on my website Atlanta Best Homes.  They usually call before 8 AM, around lunch time, and at dinner time.  They are working another job full time, and expect someone else to help them in real estate.  They need to hold that thought and discuss that with their broker.  More often than not, they cannot figure out basic information about the home the buyer is looking at on someone else's website, and want the agent to just give them what they need. God forbid they ever put 2 + 2 together and realize the Internet is not the MLS.  Broker reciprocity is not a new concept.  It is real estate 101 for those that are not learning challenged. 

With the MLS systems we all have access to real live time data that is real. Perhaps we do not belong to the systems, or were just too lazy to attend the free training seminars that would take up a couple of hours of your time.   Sorry losers!  Do eveyone a favor and tell your would be clients you cannot help them.  YOu do not even know where to begin.   If you had real character you would stop wasting your buyer's time.  Let's face it, you aren't even smart enough to talk to your broker. You must understand that the Internet is not the MLS!  In Atlanta there are over 84,000 listings.  We have 2 MLS systems.  We have about 40000 agents and about 3000 single family home sales a month. 

I cannot help it if your clients are on my website that I have built over 10 years.  My main website which ranks pretty high in web placement receives anywhere from 700 to 900 unique visitors everyday.  So when you add in broker reciprocity to a great website I have a lot of viewers looking at listings that aren't mine.  Their part time agents that do not know how to look anything up in our 2 multiple listing services want us to do the work for them.  I won't do it. Even if I am looking directly at the data, I will not tell you if it is active or expired.  You will need to sit down and log into the MLS and look it up yourself.  You need to earn your own keep.   First of all real estate is a profession, you need to earn your way.  Long hours of research, web design, and sales experience does not mean I will just hand over all I know to an agent that calls me on their lunch hour or after 6 PM when they are in a fix and cannot answer their clients' questions.  Do you really think I can answer questions of part time agents all day without compensation?  Do you really think all 88,000 listings are mine?  Visit Atlanta Best Homes and let me know.

Atlanta Georgia Metro Home Prices Decline. The Price of the Average Atlanta Home Sold Falls 9% YTD in October 2008.

To most "No news is Good News!" Perhaps they are right! This is not good news that Atlanta is seeing a continued drop in  Atlanta homes sales, and as a result home prices are dropping also.  Our most recent statistics were just released by our Atlanta MLS (FMLS) this past Friday Nov. 21, 2008 and it is interesting to see the trends that are taking place.  The price of the average sold single family detached  Atlanta home in October 2008 has fallen 9% since October 2007.  The average sale price for an Atlanta home - single family detached sold in October was $214,823.  If you pay attention to the years 2005-2007 there is very little fluctuation in price.  This year it is very different.  It is a very price sensitive market that is driven by a few buyers that are most selective in what they are buying. 14% drop in sales price may not sound like a lot but in comparison to October 2005 that is a loss in equity of $36,645 dollars.  When you combine this to the fact that over 52% of Georgia home buyers used 100% loans in the last few years is not good.  Many Atlanta homeowners have not accepted the fact they are upside down in price.

The Atlanta MLS statistics were just released Friday November 21, 2008 for closed Atlanta real estate sale sold in October 2008.  The number of single family detached Atlanta homes sold - has fallen 38% from the peak in October 2006 and a decline of 26.9% from the same time last year.  What is more interesting to note is that this is the lowest sales amount for any October this decade.  When you consider the amount of Atlanta homes that are currently on the market and literally 28000 more agents than we had back in the late 1990's this is a disaster that has unfolded.   Most of the Atlanta homes being sold are distressed properties, and they are dragging neighborhood prices down around them.    High numbers of Atlanta homes that are distressed properties are adding to the time it is taking to sell a home, the selling price, the seller's concessions etc.  List Price / Sales Price Ratio has widened incredibly and the average LP/OP (Current List Price to the Actual Original List Price) is 89.7%.