So You Want to Sell Your Home! First in a Series

So You Want to Sell Your Home -

You wake up today and decide it’s time. You need to downsize. You need to upsize. Whatever the reason, it’s time to sell your home, one you may have lived in for 30 years or one you may have just bought last year. So now you find yourself with the questions:

• Should I do it myself?
• Should I use an agent?
• Should I do something in between?

This is the first in a series of blog articles I will be writing that I hope will help you answer that question. And help you to get from “for sale” to “sold”!

Disclaimer: I confess, I am a Realtor®, but, I am going to try to be objective and open, providing pros and cons of all three options. If you feel that I am skewing one way or the other, the comments section is open. The opinions I express are my own and not necessarily those of the brokerage that I work with, nor of other Realtors®.

Getting back to the original list of questions, the answer to each is yes! But then again the answer is no! No. I am not being wishy-washy. There is no one size fits all answer to those questions.

I like doing things myself. I like to make things out of wood. I like to grow my own tomatoes. I like to cook (but I hate cleaning up). I won’t do plumbing. I won’t do electrical work. I used to like working on my own cars, but, today’s automobiles are so much more complex, I have a mechanic who has the latest tools, who has kept up with the latest technologies do that. Selling a home has gotten a little more complex, also.

Now that I have your attention (or have driven you away), let’s get the first, of many, concerns out of the way, or, at least discussed. In today’s market, the major selling point is Price! It’s not just location anymore. I will try to address price in two installments. The first, today’s installment, will cover what three things determine price. In the next installment, I will cover how we use those factors to get to price, or market value, of your home.

How much should I sell my house for? How do you go about establishing a price for your home? Before I answer that question, let me point out some of reasons that shouldn’t be used to price your home.

• I still owe $XXX,XXX on my mortgage. The market value of your home, the price people will pay, has absolutely nothing to do with what you owe on the home.
• I spent $50,000 on improvements. Many improvements, or upgrades, will not pay for themselves in the sale of a house.
• I need to net $XXX,XXX on the sale. The market value of your home, the price people will pay, has absolutely nothing to do with home much you want to make on the sale of it.
• My brother in law says it’s worth $XXX,XXX. Unless your brother in law knows how to appraise property, he is most likely wrong.

But how do I price the house: There are 3 factors that determine what the market value of your home is. They are, in no particular order:

1. location
2. condition
3. & the market itself.

Location, location, location: Most of us have heard that phrase. It was meant to say that location is the major determination of price and desirability of a home. Yes, location is important, and too some, for the right location, price is no object. However, for most of us, price is determined by our budget, so, maybe we place a little less emphasis on location.

Condition: The condition of a home, and its’ surrounding yard or amenities, are almost equally important. Most buyers want move-in condition. They want the moving van to pull to the door, their furniture to be unloaded and arranged, their boxes unpacked. They don’t want to paint, re-carpet, re-landscape, etc. If your home isn’t in move-in condition, the market value is reduced.

The market itself: The market value of a home changes all the time. It is determined by the market. In a sellers market, prices tend to go up quickly, homes sell quickly. In a buyers market, prices don’t go up much at all (and, like today, in many areas, they go down).

Here, in the Athens area, we have been fortunate enough to have a somewhat neutral market. Sales have slowed, but prices have remained somewhat stable. While values have not significantly risen, in the last year or so, they have not significantly dropped. This could change if more foreclosures come on the market, or more buyers enter the market, or, fewer homes are up for sale.

Well, there you have it, all you need to know about pricing a house. Ok, maybe not. In the next installment, I will try to make sense out of how to use these 3 factors to get to an asking, or listing, price for your home.

Agua Linda Mexican Restaurant

AGUA LINDA Mexican Restaurant

My wife's favorite food is Mexican. (Ok, I admit, I enjoy it also). That is why we were so glad to discover Agua Linda Mexican Restaurant's recent opening at the junction of Timothy Rd and Atlanta Highway

The staff is friendly, courteous and efficient. You will be greeted as you come in and quickly seated in the fair sized dining room (OK, sometimes there is a wait; it is a very popular spot, especially on Mariachi Wednesday). Or, if you prefer, you can seat yourself at the bar or one of its’ bistro tables, where, Oscar will pour you an excellent Margarita (rocks, no salt for me) or your refreshment of choice.

The menu is a selection of classic Mexican dishes with influence from the various styles of Mexican cooking. Our favorite appetizers are the “Chunky Guacamole” made at time of order from fresh ingredients. If you want hot, just tell your server and you will get extra fresh sliced jalapenos. We also like the poblano cheese dip, melted Mexican cheese with sliced poblano peppers (very mild but very flavorful).

My wife’s favorite dish is their Mexican-style chicken taco: tastily seasoned chicken, onion cilantro & pico de gallo all spread over 2 heated soft corn tortillas. I prefer the burritos, beef, of course (the medium is plenty big for me). They have many additional appetizers and entrees, as well as various combinations you can choose from (including some you can customize).

You can often find the manager, David Perez, (graduate of the Florida Culinary Institute and former chef at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach) pictured with Andrea Zinno, wife of Juan Bonomi, one of the owners, to stop by your table to make sure that everything meets both your’s and his standards. He might also tell you about his Mexican artwork collection (including some Helguera prints).

Quite often you will also find the owners, Juan & Manuel Robledo helping out behind the bar or walking through the restaurant greeting customers.

There is one other Agua Linda, located on Prince Ave. that has been around for quite a few years. The menus are similar, but not identical, but the food there is also good.

If you want good Mexican food in Athens, my wife & I both highly recommend Agua Linda. We eat here often. We rate it 5 chilies.

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Athens Area Real Estate Market Picking Up?

Yep, that's so, at least according to the Athens Area Association of Realtors. The last month has shown a significant upturn in listing and buying activities. This mirrors what is happenning at the office I work out of, Keller Williams Realty of Greater Athens.

Athens has not suffered the same severe downturn in value that some of Georgia and other parts of the country have (yes, it's true, the news isn't all bad out there, no matter what you have read in the papers or seen on tv). Average home sales prices here have risen about 1%, or so, over the last year. Yes, volume has been down, average DOM (days on market) is still high, and, there have been more foreclosures than normal (for this area while not approaching the terrible problems of many areas), but, our home values have still risen.

Is this just a blip or is this an indication of better times might finally be here again? Too soon to tell for sure, but based upon the increasing levels of activity here, and some better news coming out regarding credit and the sub-prime issues, perhaps that just might be so.

Now, if we could just lower those gasoline prices somehow.

Avoiding Credit Theft - You Can Do It

Ok, I really thought that my first blog would be about Real Estate, however, I was listening to the radio today and heard that the guv has signed into law, the Credit Freeze act for Georgia. (That's my name for it, I am sure that there is some bill number official title for it). It went into effect today. What a great thing to for you, it protects you, and, doesn't raise your taxes.

You may have heard or seen ads for companies that charge you $10 (or thereabouts) to protect your credit. What they are, in effect, doing is freezing your credit. Something that you can now do yourself, because of this new law, very easily, and, for a lot less money (in the long run). The new Georgia law allows you to freeze your credit for $3.00. Ok, $3.00 to each of the major credit reporting agencies. Since there are only 3, that's a total of $9.00! Less than one month's fee to have someone else do it for you.

What is "freezing your credit"? Well, it is nothing more than not allowing anyone to access your credit files, with the 3 major credit reporting companies. When this is done, nobody can open up an account in your name using your social security number, address, etc. It denies access to your credit information. (It doesn't keep someone for using your social security number for some other reason, but, they can't ruin your credit by opening accounts in your name and charging up 10's of thousands of dollars). Your credit is safe (well, except from you).

There is on drawback. Anytime that you want to apply for something where they check you credit report (i.e. - a credit card, a job, insurance, etc) you will have to unfreeze your credit. No big deal. Just ask which of the 3 major companies is used, by whom you are applying to, and do a temporary "thaw" of your credit at that company. When you originally freeze your credit, you will get an access code that allows you to thaw it. Yes, it costs your $3.00 to thaw your credit with that company, and, $3.00 to re-freeze it (unlike hamburger or fish, credit keeps it's freshness after repeated freezing and thawing).

As a side benefit, you also end up getting fewer (almost none) unwanted offers of credit, etc. Ok, some people may like to get them). Just think of the trees you could help save by not getting all that paper in the mail.

Not to mention your credit score! (And all for a lot less than $120 a year).