It's been a busy year!

2015 has been a banner year! 

Here is just a quick glimpse of what I have been up to!

Roswell Country Club

Roswell

Marietta

Smyrna

West Midtown

Old Fourth Ward

downtown Decatur

Smyrna

Sandy Springs

Woodstock

Roswell

Indian Hills Country Club (East Cobb)

West Midtown

Berkeley Hills Country Club (Duluth)

East Atlanta

Norcross

Woodstock

Burckhead

Indian Hills Country Club (East Cobb)

Marietta

Horseshoe Bend Country Club (Roswell)

Brookhaven

My listings have been selling for over 99% of list price and in less than 20 days. 

Thinking of selling? I would love to help!  

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

I recently had an issue arise when a buyer had a survey done and a fence that was thought to have belonged to one property owner actually sat partially on the property of their neighbor. This caused the sale of the home to be postponed while they tried to sort out the issue, which was stressful for all parties involved.  In light of that, I thought I would share some pertinent info on the subject.  This is also the part where I say GET THE ENHANCED TITLE POLICY when you purchase a home! It helps protect you in situations like this!

1. A neighbor builds a fence and a portion of the fence is on the owner's property.  What should the owner do?

• Request that fence owner move the fence onto their property, or

• Enter into an Easement Agreement allowing the fence to remain, but the owner retaining the right to request the fence be removed at any time the owner requests.

• Nothing.  This may result in the loss of property over time.

2. An owner wants to build a privacy fence.  How high can the fence be?

• Most all jurisdictions have limitations on the height of fences, usually six feet for back and side yards and four feet for front yards.

• In order to build higher, a "variance" would have to be applied for and approved.

 3. A neighbor has built a fence higher than allowed by the local ordinance.  What can an owner do?  

• Inform the neighbor of the fence ordinance.  The neighbor may not otherwise know the law exists.

• If the neighbor still does not conform the fence to the local ordinance, call the local zoning or planning office and they will take action to seek conformance.

 4. A neighbor's fence is unsightly. What can an owner do?

• Check the local ordinance to see if the fence is in conformity.  If not, see (3) above.  

• If in conformity, but ugly to you, there is nothing that can be done unless:

• There are restrictive covenants in the subdivision restricting fence designs, or

• The fence poses a danger because of its design or condition, or

• The fence is dilapidated.

In these cases you may have the ability to have the fence removed or redesigned. 5. An old fence used by both owners sits directly on the Property line?  Who owns the fence?  

• The fence belongs to both parties, neither can remove it without the others permission and both are responsible for maintenance.

If a conflict arises over any fence issue, the first step is to try to understand the law and then to contact the neighbor to discuss remedying any situation.  In any of these cases, a lawsuit should be your last resort.  

Staging your home

At the end of the day, there are a few key things that sell a home. First of course is price. Nothing is more critical than pricing it correctly. However, a close second is staging it correctly. A properly staged home - which highlights all your homes pluses and distracts from its negatives - will help you to sell faster and for more money. A service I provide is doing a walk-thru with clients prior to listing their home where we go room by room to assess what needs to be done to get the home ready to sell. This includes staging advice, minor repairs, and any other changes I think might help.  I want the home to look as perfect as possible before the first potential buyer ever walks through the front door. First impressions are everything! 

Click here for an excellent article which gives great tips for properly staging your home, which I encourage all homeowners to read prior to listing. 

These pictures are examples from my listings where I helped my clients to stage their home (while they were still living in it, with their own belongings) and you can see what a difference it makes!

AROUND Atlanta indeed!

People often ask me if I focus in a specific area of town, to which I always reply "Nope, I'll go anywhere!" and point out that my company is RE/MAX Around Atlanta.  The only thing I specialize in is making lasting relationships and helping people realize their real estate dreams! So while I have never consciously focused in one part of town, I was curious to see if there was any sort of pattern to my business. I decided to pull up a map of all my sales to get a quick visual, and as you can see, I truly do work AROUND Atlanta! 

My furthest sale didn't even make it onto this map - it is one I have under contract right now in Byron, GA (south of Macon)!  I don't normally travel that far, but this is a longtime friend of the family that wanted my help navigating her first home purchase and I was more than happy to oblige. As you can see, most of my sales are in the Metro area and on the northern side of town. 

Out of the 130 homes I have sold in the past 8 years, 75 of them have been ITP and 55 of them have been OTP, so a fairly even split.  They have ranged in price from under $10,000 (yes, you read that right - 2009 was a really rough year for housing values in Atlanta and a lot of my investors took advantage!) to over $1M, and have been every type from an authentic loft conversion in the heart of the city to a working horse farm out in the country. I truly will go anywhere for my clients, because my goal is always to find them their dream home, wherever it may be!

If you are thinking about buying or selling, contact me - I'm happy to come to you, wherever that may be! 

8 Avoidable Mistakes 1st Time Buyers Make

Some good tips in this HousingWire article! In particular, I see first time buyers make mistake #5 quite a bit, which is why I always stress Location, Location, Location! It is a cliche for a reason: location is the ONLY thing you cannot change about a home after your purchase it, and it has the longest and most significant impact on both value AND consumer happiness down the road.

The last thing a first-time homebuyer wants to do is mess up the entire homebuying process by doing one of these common mistakes. 

Yet, they continue to make them.   

Listen, buying a home is one of the biggest financial decisions a person will make,  and all it takes is one bad or misinformed decision to mess up the entire process. 

So, stop. 

Movoto complied a list of 10 common mistakes first-time homebuyers make.
After perusing the list, HousingWire condensed the mistakes into 8 things that could ruin the homebuying process: 

1. They don’t watch their finances before buying a home
This would include watching your credit, taking on too much debt right beforehand or making a big purchase right before closing. 

Debt-to-income ratio is a huge deciding factor on credit scores and it’s one of the first things that lenders look at when putting your mortgage together. Lenders want to know how much debt borrowers have already accumulated against their income. The more debt the borrower has, the less of a loan they will be able to get. 

Many people don’t realize that lenders look at all financial information again before closing occurs to make sure that nothing has changed. And that debt-to-income ratio that they used to create your mortgage in the first place is one of the first things they’re going back to check. So, hold off on any plans to buy a new car to park in that new driveway or furniture to fill the house. 

2. They don’t take the time to get pre-approved before house hunting
It’s easy for homebuyers to assume what they can afford and to just start looking without taking the steps through the lender first, but it’s not the smart move. Most real estate agents won’t show potential homes without a prequalification letter to in hand. And some won’t do anything without the pre-approval. 

3. They take on more than they can handle financially
Many first-time homebuyers make the mistake of assuming that just because they can afford the house that means that they can afford to live there. That’s not always the case. There are many extra costs associated with homeownership that often get overlooked by someone who is new to the game. 

4. They get into a fixer upper they don’t have time or money to fix
Fixer uppers can often seem like a great savings. Home renovation shows can do that to anyone. The problem is, though, that most people don’t have a production company budget and a huge crew behind them working around the clock to get the jobs done. Without money and time, fixer uppers stay fixer uppers. Not only can the novelty wear off fast, but what seemed like a huge savings quickly starts to look like a giant money pit. 

5. They prioritize the home over the neighborhood
When people start looking for that dream home in their dream neighborhood, many realize just how far outside their budgets dream homes can be, especially in big cities and affluent suburbs. It’s tempting to continue to look for that same dream home, just in a neighborhood that might not be as good. 

6. They put all their eggs in the online basket
The Internet has become an invaluable tool for home buyers. Searching through homes, researching neighborhoods, getting your credit score, and finding out what lenders are prepared to give has never been so easy. However, it’s still not as good as getting a reputable team of professionals who can physically meet with or at least speak with you in your corner. 

7. They spend all their money on the down payment
Putting down a 20% down payment on a home is often mandatory these days unless you’re interested in paying mortgage insurance. Many people save and scrape every last dollar they can get together for years in order to meet that 20 percent down payment figure and then as soon as they reach it, they go through the home buying process. Many people empty out their savings in order to meet the down payment, leaving themselves with nothing left over. 

8. They skip the home inspection
Skipping the home inspection might seem like a quick and easy way to save money for some people. The novelty and excitement of a new home make some people feel like there’s nothing that would possibly change their minds about wanting to buy it. That is until you’re moved in and realize that there are major and very costly maintenance issues such as mold, termites, a leaking roof, electrical issues or foundation problems