It All Comes Down To Price…

so make sure your home is priced right at the beginning!

Is you home in poor condition? Fix it… or lower the price! Is your home in a bad location? Move it… or lower the price! Has you home not sold because of poor exposure and marketing? Look, there are 2 million real estate agents in the U.S.; 1 million members of the National Association of Realtors (NAR); 40,000 licensed agents in Georgia. So simply getting your home in the MLS and having a yard sign will ensure that it sells…IF it’s priced correctly!

That may sound a bit cynical – or silly, even. But it’s true that, if your home is priced correctly when you initially list it, it will sell. It all comes back to price… listing your home at fair market value

The prime marketing time occurs during the first few weeks your home is on the market. A brand new listing is exciting, it’s shown more, and generally, it sells for a higher price than older listings.

The longer your home is on the market – fair or not – agents and prospective buyers begin to wonder why it hasn’t already sold. It’s a fact! Properly priced homes sell faster and for money during the first few weeks of the listing.. So don’t miss the prime marketing period by setting a price higher than is justified by current market conditions and a Competitive Market Analysis (CMA). You risk the possibility of selling for even less later!

Experience in local markets varies widely. However, in a national study by NAR, the difference between Asking Priceand Selling Price over time varied like this: A home on the market over 1 month might sell for 3% less than the asking price; 2-3 months, 5.1% less; 4-6 months, 6.7% less; and over 6 months, 15.2% less! That’s why it all comes down to price!

Home For Sale in Covington, Georgia - GAMLS# 03020120  $89,900

For more information, call my mobile phone (770) 337-5262, or visit my website www.BlairOnTheSquare.com

Home For Sale in Covington, Georgia - 3 Bedrooms, 2 Full Baths

This lovely Home For Sale in Covington is beautifully maintained and move-in ready.  There's no repair or renovation required on this cute traditional ranch-style cottage Home For Sale.  Just bring your furniture and groceries and move in.

Located in a quiet neighborhood convenient to Covington, this cute Home For Sale sits on a large, level cul-de-sac lot.  The large, secluded backyard is perfect for kids and pets.

This single-level Home For Sale features a nice fireside Great Room adjacent to the large, open kitchen and dining area.  You'll love the loads of counter and cabinet space and the convenient breakfast bar spearating the areas.  Down the hall is the large Master Suite featuring the large, comfortable bedroom with walk-in closet and Master Bath with it's garden tub and separate shower.

Two other spacious bedrooms  and a convenient hall bath and laundry area complete the interior of this cute Home For Sale.  But don't miss the lovely deck overlooking the large, secluded backyard.  It's perfect for entertaining or just relaxing and enjoying the outdoors.

Fresh paint, new fixtures, designer colors, total electric central heat and air, dual-pane windows, storm doors, carpet, double attached garage, fireplace in the Great Room, .8 acre lot, beautifully  landscaped and maintained... this home has all that and more. 

But the best thing about this Home For Sale in Covington is the great value for the buyer.  This Home For Sale is not a foreclosure.  It's just priced like one!  Offered at only $89,900, you'll have to search long and hard to find another Home For Sale in Covington that offers so much at such a reasonable price.

View the location of this Covington Home For Sale on the map below.  And be sure to watch the virtual tour located just below the map.

For several months, since ObamaCare was approved, there has been a lot of information spinning around online about the legislation, most of which is -at least - partially wrong.  I got another such email from a friend today, so I wanted to let him and all the others who read my blog know the true information as I understand it concerning future taxation of earnings from the sale of a private residence - your home in Covington.

The email my friend was distributing said that as of January 1, 2013, if you sold your home, there would be a 3.8% tax on the amount you sold for to support Medicare.  If you sold your home for $420,000, you would owe $15,960 in taxes on the sale.  Partially true.... the date is correct, the 3.8% is correct... the rest is crap!  (Of course not many of us would have to worry because by 2013, there won't be many homes around here worth $420,000!)  But here's how the National Association of Realtors has determined that the new tax really works:

The new Medicare tax applies only to a gain you realize from the sale of your home that is more than the $250K / $500K existing primary home exclusion (known as the "taxable gain"), and only if you, as the seller, have an Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) above the $200K / $250K (single / married) AGI threshold.

For example, if you sell your home and make $30,000 on the sale, and your a married couple with an AGI (including the $30,000 taxable gain) of %180,000, the 3.8% tax would not even apply because your AGI is less than $250,000.  However, if your AGI was $290,000, then the application of the 3.8% tax would be subject to a formula that specifies that you pay on the lesser of the capital gain or the difference between your AGI and the standard exclusion.  Thus, the $30,000 capital gain on the sale is less than the $40,000 excess above $250,000 AGI, so the $30,000 gain would be subject to the 3.8% tax.

Of course all this is moot point if ObamaCare is repealed or goes unfunded.  One can only hope.....

Real Estate Market Report for November 2010

NEWTON COUNTY

• 145 days on market - this is 16 days longer than in October
• Sellers received, on average, 91.1% of their list price when the home sold - down from 92.3% in October
• There is 11.1 months of inventory currently on the market (6 months inventory is considered "normal")
• 83 homes sold in November 2010 - this is 27 fewer than sold in October
• The most popular price range was $0 - $100,000  (59 of the 83 sales)
  
• The average sale price was $70,513 - compared to $84,812 in October
• There were 72 new foreclosures -17 more than November 2009

ROCKDALE COUNTY

• 158 days on market - this is 28 days longer than in October
• Sellers received 92.0% of their list price when the home sold - down from 95.2% in October
• There is a 12 month inventory of homes currently on the market (6 months is considered "normal")
• 54 homes sold in October - 7 fewer than in October
• The most popular price range was $0 - $100,000  (29 of 54 sales)
  
• The average sale price was $102,611- compared to $114,950 in October
• There were 32 new foreclosures - 7 less than October 2009

If you have questions or comments about the real estate market in Newton or Rockdale Counties, please leave me a message or give me a call... 770-337-5262

Real Estate Market Report for October 2010

NEWTON COUNTY

• 129 days on market - this is 3 days longer than in September
• Sellers received, on average, 92.3% of their list price when the home sold - down from 94.0% in September
• There is 8.7 months of inventory currently on the market (6 months inventory is considered "normal")
• 110 homes sold in October 2010 - this is 1 fewer than sold in September
• The most popular price range was $0 - $100,000
• The average sale price was $84,812 - compared to $94,789 in September
• There were 46 new foreclosures - 28 fewer than October 2009

ROCKDALE COUNTY

• 130 days on market - this is 25 fewer than in September
• Sellers received 95.2% of their list price when the home sold - up from 93.5% in September
• There is a 10.7 month inventory of homes currently on the market (6 months is considered "normal")
• 61 homes sold in October - 6 more than in September
• The most popular price range was $0 - $100,000
• The average sale price was $114,950 - compared to $126,333 in September
• There were 37 new foreclosures - 23 less than October 2009

If you have questions or comments about the real estate market in Newton or Rockdale Counties, please leave me a message or give me a call... 770-337-5262

Real Estate Market Report for August, 2010

 

NEWTON COUNTY:

• 124 days on market – this is 14 days less than in August 2009
• Sellers received, on average, 95.7% of their list price when the home sold
• There is 8.8 months of inventory currently on the market (6 months inventory is considered “normal”)
• 111 homes sold in August 2010 – this is 6 less that August 2009
• The most popular price range was $0 – $100,000
• The average sales price was $102,962, compared to $108,580 in August 2009
• There were 51 foreclosures – this is 3 less than August 2009

ROCKDALE COUNTY:

• 113 days on market – this is 24 days less than in August 2009
• Sellers received, on average, 96.5% of their list price when the home sold
• There is an 11.5 months inventory on the market (6 months inventory is considered “normal”)
• 60 homes sold in August 2010 – this is 15 less than in August 2009
• The most popular price range was $0 – $100,000
• The average sales price was $106,843, compared to $142,271 in August 2009
• There were 34 foreclosures – this is 9 more than August 2009

If you have questions or comments about the real estate market in Newton or Rockdale Counties, please leave me a message or give me a call… 770-337-5262

Al Qaida... Hamas... Taliban... Hezbollah...  No, it's none of those, but there is a real estate terrorists cell operating in Newton County and several other counties in Georgia, according to the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution."

Cells of the domestic terrorist group "sovereign citizens" (listed on the FBI's domestic terrorist list) are "stealing" homes across the U.S.  Locally, investigators have tied them to at least 19 property thefts in Newton,  DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Spalding and Richmond counties.

The "sovereign citizens" group believe they are immune to state and federal laws, and assert -among other things - that banks can't own land and that any home owned by a bank - including hundreds in Newton County, and thousands across Georgia - is free for the taking.  So they simply forge a bogus quitclaim deed, have a locksmith change locks on the foreclosed home of their choice, and move in.

Banks that own the foreclosed homes being usurped by the "sovereign citizens" are unaware of the deed changes.  Generally, they have so many foreclosed properties, it's hard to keep track of all of them.

The FBI says the "sovereign citizens" is a sect of anti-government extremists involved in various criminal behavior, but whose crime of choice is paper terrorism and attempting to disrupt the U.S. economy.  They create their own drivers' licenses, have multiple identities, don't pay taxes, file lawsuits and liens against police, government officials, and anyone else who questions them.  They don't believe in the U.S. or our laws... until they're arrested.  "Then they want a lawyer," says Lt. Joe Fagan, commander of DeKalb Police's North Precinct.

According to the "AJC," the FBI says the national "sovereign citizens" movement has been around for decades, and has ties to the Nuwaubians, a black supremacist group that started near Augusta.  Nationally, "sovereign citizens," which originated as a white supremacist group, have been connected to multiple insurance fraud and tax evasions scams,  and some violent crimes, including the shooting deaths of two police officers this past May in Arkansas.

The investigation of the "sovereign citizen" terrorist group stealing homes started in May when a DeKalb County real estate agent called local police to report that someone was having the locks changed on a $1 million home he was selling on Windsor Parkway in Atlanta.

Newton County, Georgia, about 30 miles southeast of Atlanta, has more foreclosures than any other county in the State. But, after several months of the foreclosure flood subsiding in the county, the waters are on the rise again.

For the first seven months of this year, foreclosures in Covington and Newton County were down by 29.3% over the same period in 2009.  The number of pages of foreclosure notices in "The Covington News" each week were consistently running around 25 to 30 pages.  But last week, there were over 50 pages of notices, and indication that our real estate market crisis is far from over.

Other indicators of the soft market here include:

• An 8.1-month supply of homes currently on the market
• Average time to sell is 143 days on the market
• Average Sales Price down 14.8% in July, and
• Of 775 homes sold in the county during the past six months, 528 (or 68%) sold for under $100,000.

If you're in the market for a home, it's a great time to buy.  If you want to sell your present home... not so good.

Our market will improve, but it's not likely until unemployment rates go down and the national economy improves substantially.  By my latest estimation, we're likely to continue with current market conditions for the next 1.5 to 2 years.