Looking Out From the Garage

Are you a Home Buyer? Don’t Forget This…

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:02:35 -0600

If you are eligible for the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit, or the Move-Up Buyer Tax Credit? If so, time is ticking away… Properties have to by under contract BY April 30th, 2010. This means that they contract’s Binding Agreement date can’t be later than that. Offering on a property on April 30th could lead to missing the deadline. In fact, with many bank owned properties, offers should be in in March in order to make sure negotiations are completed prior to the deadline.

After the property is “Under Contract”, it has to close prior to June 30th, 2010. That means that the loan is done, the papers are signed and the keys are probably handed over…

There are still opportunities with new construction. In fact, there are some custom home builders that have partially completed homes that can be completed by the deadlines…

If you are a seller… GET ON THE STICK. If you are going on the market with a likely home that meets the criteria (under $800k…) then this is the time. Of course, the closer you get to the $800k, the less important the credit becomes, since someone that would qualify for it would likely not be able to get financing for that amount. But, under about $400k, there will be a flurry of market activity before April 30th… and a slowdown after.

Give me a call!

First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit… Extended and Expanded (lanebailey.com)

from LaneBailey.com

I'd love to hear from you...

Sugar Hill GA Market Report, January, 2010

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:26:25 -0600

Sugar Hill, GA is a suburb of Atlanta in Gwinnett County. The population is 2000 was 11,399, but that only included the area inside the city limits. The name comes from a bag of Sugar that spilled on a hill while in transit between Cumming and the railroad in Buford. And while it is actually a big market, it is in the shadows of Lawrenceville, Duluth and Suwanee...

Market stats for Sugar Hill, January, 2010 indicate that there are 199 properties on the market. Overall, there is about an 8 month supply of properties, with sales remaining steady... and fairly strong. It is one of the few markets to show more strngth in the last three months than in the last six.

In the sub-$200k arena, there are 115 listings, with under 9 1/2 months supply. This segment has been slowing longer than the last couple of months...

Between $200k and $400k, there are 77 listings for sale, and just under 10 months of supply. Sales were quite strong in December, and fair in January.

From $400k to $600k, there are 4 homes on the market. The absorption rate is around 6 months, but with only 2 sales in the last 3 months, it is tough to calculate.

Above $600k, the sales are too inconsistent to have a solid read on, but there are only 3 homes listed for sale in that price range. No sales have been recorded in the last 15 months or so.

From LaneBailey.com. I have a page dedicated to Sugar Hill Market Data.

I'd love to hear from you...

Suwanee Market Report, March, 2010

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:08:35 -0600

Suwanee, GA is a suburb of Atlanta in Gwinnett, Forsyth and (just a little bit) in Fulton Counties. The population is 2000 was 8,725, but that only included the area inside the city limits, and it had seen tremendous growth since that census. Money Magazine rated Suwanee in the "Top 10 Best Places to Live" in 2007, and it is one of the wealthiest parts of Georgia. Recently, the City of Suwanee has revamped their old town, adding a large park with a bandshell, condos, town homes and small businesses. It is also home to North Gwinnett High School, Peachtree Ridge and Collins Hill.

Market stats for Suwanee, January, 2010 indicate that there are 529 properties on the market. Overall, there is about an 9 1/2 month supply of properties, with sales matching the pattern set in most of the rest of the county, sales dropped off after November.

In the sub-$200k arena, there are 113 listings, with under 7 months supply. This is stronger than most of the rest of the county, but not as strong as it was in November (less than 4 months supply). Part of that is because of the increase in listings... and half the sales.

Between $200k and $400k, there are 254 listings for sale, and under 9 months of supply. Sales dropped off dramatically during the Holiday period. Some slowing is normal, but we'll have to keep an eye on the upcoming data to see if things change.

From $400k to $600k, there are 81 homes on the market. The absorption rate is around 12 months. Sales aren't that bad compared to December/January 2009.

In the $600k to $800k arena, there are 34 listings, with about a 14 1/2 month supply. Sales are actually picking up here...

The range from $800k to $1m, there are 7 homes listed and approximately 10 1/2 months of inventory on the market. While it is pretty strong at this price level, the number can bounce around a lot because of the low overall volume of sales.

Above $1m, there are 40 properties listed. The current absorption rate indicated 5 years of inventory, but because of the smaller numbers of sales, this could be significantly impacted by just a couple of sales.

From LaneBailey.com. I have a page dedicated to Suwanee Market Data.

I'd love to hear from you...

Lawrenceville Market Report, March, 2010

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:47:00 -0600

Lawrenceville is in Gwinnett County, GA, just outside of Atlanta. As of the 2000 Census, there were 22,937 people in Lawrenceville, but that is only including people in the city limits, and there has been a lot of growth since 2000 in Gwinnett County (2008 estimates from the Census Bureau peg population around 29,000). It was incorporated in 1821. Lawrenceville is home to Central Gwinnett High School, and also has students that the Mountain View and Archer clusters. It is also home to Gwinnett Technical College and Georgia Gwinnett College. Another recent addition to Lawrenceville is that it is home to the Gwinnett Braves, playing at the Gwinnett Stadium on GA20 between I-85 and GA316. Possibly the most famous resident of Lawrenceville was Oliver Hardy. As a small boy he lived in Lawrenceville with his parents for a short time. LAwrenceville was also home to Junior Samples. Some of its other residents included Jeff Francouer, Brian McCann and Jennifer Ferrin.

Market stats for Lawrenceville, January, 2010, indicate that there are 1441 properties on the market. Overall, there is about an 10 month supply of properties, with a slight deceleration in sales.

In the sub-$200k arena, there are 1028 listings, with about a 7 month supply of homes. Sales accelerated through November, but then fell off as the first tax credit was slated to end... and the Holiday slowdown hit.

Between $200k and $400k, there are 358 listings for sale, and about 17 months of supply. Sales have slowed dramatically since December.

From $400k to $600k, there are 33 homes on the market. The absorption rate is around 50 months. However, with the level of sales in this segment, a couple of sales added or subtracted can have a HUGE impact.

In the $600k to $800k arena, there are 15 listings, with about 45 months of supply. As with the lower priced segment, a couple of sales makes a big difference.

Above $800k there are 7 homes listed and no sales data to give an accurate absorption rate. There hasn't been one sale in this range in the last 15 months, according to FMLS.

From LaneBailey.com. I have a page dedicated to Lawrenceville Market Data.

I'd love to hear from you...

Lilburn Market Report, March, 2010

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:15:04 -0600

Lilburn is in Gwinnett County, GA, just outside of Atlanta. As of the 2000 Census, there were 11,307 people in Lilburn, but that is only including people in the city limits, and there has been a lot of growth since 2000 in Gwinnett County. It was incorporated in 1910. Lilburn is home to Parkview High School, and also has students that the Brookwood, Berkmar and Meadowcreek clusters. It is also home to Killian Hill Christian School, Providence Chrisian Academy, St. John Neumann Catholic School and Parkview Christian School. Possibly the most famous resident of Lilburn is General Beauregard Lee, a groundhog with a better winter prediction record that Puxatawnee Phil up in PA. Dominique Wilkins, formerly of the Atlanta Hawks also lives in Lilburn.

Market stats for Lilburn, January, 2010, indicate that there are 359 (January 31st) properties on the market. Overall, there is about a 10 month supply of properties, with a slight acceleration in sales during October and November, but slowing in December and January.

In the sub-$200k arena, there are 214 listings, with about an 10 month supply. The same pattrern hold that sales accelerated through October and November and slowed after that.

Between $200k and $400k, there are 128 listings for sale, and about 10.5 months of supply. Even though the tax credit for First time Home Buyers wasn't as important to this segment, it still affected the sales distribution.

From $400k to $600k, there are 11 homes on the market. The absorption rate is around 11 months, and it is definately slowing. Of course, there is a seasonal dip around the Holidays and the pick-up isn't until March and April.

Above $600k, there are 6 listings, but too few sales to have any sort of reliable number of months of inventory. There have been two sales in the last three months, but prior, there had only been one other sale in 2009 (February). Two of the listings are above $800k, and there is no market activity in the last 12 months for that range...

From LaneBailey.com. I have a page dedicated to Lilburn Market Data.

I'd love to hear from you...

New Toy... I mean Tool...

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:55:26 -0600

My Tablet PC is on the ropes... and as much as I wanted to get another, I couldn't... I got a "normal" laptop... It is still pretty cool.

I got another Toshiba, the last one was mostly trouble free for the last 5years, I can't really complain. I did consider a few other machines...

HP TouchSmart TM2. This is a convertible Tablet PC, like my old one, except smaller. While it was my first choice, it was also around $1000... and so I opted for being able to return home...
Toshiba Satellite T135D-S1325RD. This borders on the Ultra-Portable range. It is small, with a 13.3" screen. It was a hard one for me NOT to get. It runs about $600, but Office Depot had it on sale for $530. I might have been able to come home, but it wouldn't have been fun...
Toshiba Satellite T115S-S1120. I actually bought this one... but then found out that the processor was just a single core, unlike the previously mentioned machines. IT was on sale for $470 at Office Depot...
Toshiba Satellite L505D-LS5007. We almost had a winner, but I really wanted a smaller machine with more battery life. The price was certainly right, $550... on sale for $400 at Office Depot. The size was the only issue... and if I was dedicated to using it as my only machine, I might have gone for it...
Apple iPad... Sorry, but it really wasn't seriously in the game. Aside from not being available yesterday, the performance is sub-par for a real computer. The price wasn't bad for an Apple... but I need WAY more flexibility.
Toshiba Satellite® L515-S4010... We have a winner. A little more battery life than the big machines and a little smaller. It also has a little bigger screen and built in optical drive compared to the little ones. The price was marked down from $570 to $500.

So, that is what I looked at and what I ended up with. I'm still getting used to Windows 7 (Home Premium). I like it, but it is a big change from where I was. I have MS Office 2010, FireFox, Thunderbird, Open Office and most of the rest of the stuff I need loaded up...

The "old" Tablet PC isn't going to go away. I loved having the ability to write on my screen and a lot of the functionality of the Tablet. We aren't sure what the problem is, but we are going to play with it and hot rod it some. It doesn't HAVE to start up on Monday morning to go to work anymore, so there are some things we can try...

Anyone have a license for Windows Vista or Windows 7 laying around that they aren't using anymore? I've heard that it can be 'mostly' upgraded to run those... I've already upgraded to a 320GB Hard Drive and 4GB of RAM. The problem might be an intermittent issue with Windows (we have just completed a fresh install to test) or it could be a motherboard issue...

In with the new... ;^ )

I'd love to hear from you...

Oh Garbage! again...

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:17:47 -0600

Late in 2008, Gwinnett County, GA, announced the implementation of a new Waste Management Plan. I wrote about the announcement here... You can check out the costs and so forth there...

Just a few weeks later, the plan was killed in court. The trash haulers that weren't selected successfully sued the county to stop the plan. The plan was to take effect on January 2nd, 2009.

It's Baaack...

On March 2nd, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners approved the plan. It has been slightly modified, but is largely the same plan. Instead of two haulers dividing up the county, now there are five haulers. The plan is expected to start effective July 1st, 2010.

On the plus side, there should be curbside pick-up for more recyclable materials. Costs are projected to be almost the same as they are for most private contracts.

Will it hold? We'll see...

I'd love to hear from you...

The Latest on Legends at Parkview…

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:01:21 -0600

I stopped into Legends at Parkview recently to find out how the new project was coming. They didn’t have a model ready to go yet, but should have one built out completely soon. And I’ll be back to visit when it is ready to go. But, in the mean time…

Image by lane.bailey via Flickr

If you haven’t been following along, DR Horton picked up the remaining lots after another local home builder went belly-up on the project. Previously, homes had been marketed for as much as $700,000 in the development, with most of the homes they sold selling in the $500K range.

DR Horton was shooting considerably lower… currently starting in the $290Ks. But there is even a little more to it than that. When they picked up the project they were advertising in the $260Ks.

It has been kind of interesting. Every few weeks, while driving by, I would notice that the prices had edged up a little. First was the $260s, then the $270s, then $280s… and now it is from the $290s. (expect to add about $35k for a basement).

On the good side, these are reasonably comparable. They are generally slightly smaller than the existing homes. But they are 4 sides brick with interesting elevations. But they aren’t a custom home builder. While buyers will have their choice of finishes and colors, they won’t be able to make major changes.

While the previous builder was primarily building with 3 car garages, the DR Horton homes are almost exclusively 2 car garages… but almost all will be side entry. One of the plans actually calls for a three car front entry garage… but it has been converted to two car side entry. But it is deep enough for a nice project space at the back of the garage…

Stay tuned, and I’ll be happy to post up when I make it into a few of their homes.

If you just can’t wait, give me a call and we can visit together. They have managed to put more than 20 homes under contract. When they start getting sales closed, they will have one of the hottest properties in the area. And who can blame the buyers… these homes seem to have built in equity…

DR Horton has started building in Legends at Parkview (gwinnettgarageguy.com)
Where in the World is Lilburn, GA? (gwinnettgarageguy.com)
New Lilburn development with a nice garage plan (lanebailey.com)
Legends of Parkview – Luxurious, New, Bank Owned… (lanebailey.com)
Looking for a Deal on a New Home around Gwinnett County, GA? (lanebailey.com)
The Latest on Legends at Parkview… (lanebailey.com)

I'd love to hear from you...

REtechSouth news and updates... again... 9 days to go!

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:51:50 -0500

Man, this thing is speeding up on us.

There are a few really cool things going on with REtechSouth right now. Probably the coolest thing... or at least the one on the top of my head... is the REtechSouth Social Networking site at Crowdvine. This thing is pretty nifty. Basically, it is like a FaceBook for the event.

As a user, you can:

add friends, fans and let people know that you'd like to meet them. It is a really cool way to keep track of who will be coming.
track your events for the day. There is a schedule, and you can block out how your time will be spent. It is a really cool way to keep track of where you will be.
watch Twitter...
See where everyone is coming from... and we are covering Massachusetts to Orlando to San Francisco.

Personally, I like the calendar (if you hover over a session, it will give you a quick idea of what will be discussed there) and the Network. I have been lucky enough to make it to a few other events like the NAR Convention (Vegas and Orlando) and Inman in San Francisco. Because of that, I have met a lot of RE.net folks, and I'm really happy to be able to catch up with a few of them when they are in town for REtechSouth.

So, if you haven't signed up yet, HURRY. The only place where you can find the $50 discount is here.

Also, sign up for the FaceBook group... and there is a Twitter group and probably LinkedIn... and just about everywhere else you could think of the event having a group. There will be pics on Flickr, FaceBook and Twitter. There will be updates on Twitter.

And I think I heard that Bob Stewart is personally renting out the Georgia Aquarium for the Active Rain Party. We'll see if that lights up his Google alert...

**I don't think Bob is going to do that... but it would be really cool.**

I'd love to hear from you...

A Financial Strategy To Help Sell Your Jumbo Loan Sized Home Or Listing

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:01:37 -0600

For both buyers and sellers, this is a great option when practical. It can help bridge the gap between easier to obtain conventional, conforming financing and higher priced luxury properties.

Of course, it all needs to be disclosed to the first mortgage lender.

Via Phil Caulfield Jumbo Loan California DRE #01030082 (RMC Real Estate Loans - Jumbo, Construction, Private Money):

  Are you aware how difficult it is to get a jumbo loan these days? If you are selling your jumbo loan sized home or listing one, what are you doing to make it easier for a long line of qualified buyers able to buy your home?

One strategy you may want to consider is a seller carryback. A seller carryback is financing by the seller, usually in the form of a second mortgage.

The easiest way to understand how a seller carryback works is to look at an example. Suppose you own a home worth $1 million. You owe $300,000. You plan to buy a new home for $1,500,000, and make a 25% down payment of $375,000.

Assuming a sale price of $1 million minus 7% selling costs, you net $930,000. If you pay off your $300,000 loan, you can net $630,000. You only need $375,000 for the down payment, plus $25,000 for closing costs, moving expenses, and a little vacation after all this stress! Now you have $230,000 left over. What are you going to do with these funds?

Suppose you offer a $230,000 seller carryback second mortgage. How does that benefit a buyer:

A smaller down payment may be needed

It takes the financing out of the jumbo category and puts it in the conforming category, which is easier to obtain

It gets rid of the need for private mortgage insurance, which is an additional monthly cost to the buyer

The buyer does not have to qualify for private mortgage insurance, which is very difficult these days

OK, you say, that is great for the buyer, but how does a seller carryback benefit me? Here's how:

You get a higher yield than if you put the $230,000 in a low yielding account

You have opened the door to a larger pool of qualified buyers to purchase your home, therefore

You may be able to sell your home for a higher price because you have reduced the toughest barrier to purchase a home today, financing

Now that we have the benefits of a seller carryback, let's talk about implementation. First, let's talk about what the first mortgage lenders usually require with a seller carryback:

The term must be at least for 5 years

There must be monthly payments (no deferral of payments)

The payments must at least cover the interest

The interest rate charged must be a "market" rate (I interpret this to mean not way lower or way higher than the current market rates)

How do I make myself comfortable, you ask, that this buyer can make the payments? Well, the first mortgage lender will only approve the buyer if they are comfortable with the borrower's ability to pay. There is comfort in knowing that, especially today when almost all of the loans being approved are with full documentation.

To make yourself more comfortable, you can write into your contract that you reserve the right to have a mortgage originator of your choice review the buyer's loan application and package. Be specific - ask to review current paystubs, two years of tax returns and w-2s, the most recent two months of bank statements, and a credit report.

Staging your home, marketing it with massive exposure, and making it accessible are all important factors in getting your home sold. Equally as important, and I think even more important in these days of difficult to obtain mortgage financing, is to have a financing strategy in place to make it easier to buy for a larger number of people. The seller carryback is one tool, the seller buydown is another.

Implement these strategies and sell your home fast for top dollar!

Do you need help structuring a loan, or getting a rate quote? Call me at (650) 222-0386, or e-mail me

Look! Sitting at his desk! It's an accountant! No,it's a telemarketer! No, it's Your Buddy The Mortgage Broker!

Jumbo Loans

Local Real Estate And Mortgage Information

I'd love to hear from you...

Congrats Team USA...

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 23:18:01 -0600

The Gold Medal match was a great game. Like many, I would have preferred to see Team USA come away with a victory and a Gold instead of a Silver...

But I don't think anyone can say that they didn't deliver a great game. The game tying goal with under 25 seconds left in regulation was amazing! After I got done yelling, I think I could hear shouts from around the neighborhood.

Until that very last game, Team USA was undefeated. They had beaten Team Canada earlier in the Games. I know that the Canadians came into the game with something to prove... but it still took Sudden Death Overtime to do the deed...

Congrats to Team USA

The Silver Medal is nothing to be ashamed of... with the level of play in that last game... I think that you managed to make a lot of new hockey fans!

I'd love to hear from you...

I'll be happy in 86.97%...

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:31:51 -0600

"What is he talking about now?"

That is likely the question after seeing the confusing title...

Over the last couple of years, I have done sporadic surveys of how many listings have the maximum number of pictures allowed by our local MLS... Currently the maximum is 20. It has been as low as 8, just a few years ago.

The opposite of 86.97% is 13.03%...

And 13.03% is how many of the listings that have come on the market in the last 7 days that have the maximum number of pictures. There are a few things to keep in mind...

Placing these pictures is FREE... There is no "per picture" charge for the MLS. No pictures, 7 or 20, doesn't make a difference.
The average listing gets MOST of the buyer traffic in the first week after being put on the MLS.
Most of the traffic in ht e first week is in the first couple of days...
Buyers have their initial contact with a home on the internet about 7 times more often than all other media combined...

So that means that 86.97% of the listings that have come on the market in Gwinnett County, GA, over the last 7 days have room for improvement in the number of pictures they have. In fact, only about 1 in 4 listings has more than 15 pictures.

The REALLY sad part is that almost 17% have no pictures at all. In fact, more than 1 in 4 listings have 1 or fewer pictures. The median is only 10 pictures. Half of the listings have 10 or more pictures, and half have 9 or less pictures.

Honestly, I'm actually MUCH more annoyed by the listings with 1-10 pictures than I am with the listings with no pictures. The listings where the agent has uploaded pictures are unlikely to get more... At least some of the ones without pictures WILL have pictures later in the week. Not all, but some. And homes that only have a few pictures are less likely to draw interest from buyers.

Just a few years ago...

I had a conversation with an agent that doesn't like to use pictures not that long ago. Her rationalization was that the listings without pictures made buyers curious. That might have been the case when homes were flying off the market and buyers weren't in control. But now, there are several times more listings. Buyers ARE in control. If they aren't grabbed by the listing, they move on. They want to know what the house is like BEFORE they take the time to visit.

Pictures, videos and virtual tours are tools that buyers use to filter the homes they are going to look at... There are some listings that WILL draw buyers in for a look without pictures. Those are listings that are pricve WAY under market.

Just to get statistical for a moment, this represents a sample of the 353 most recent listings.

If...

If you are looking to sell YOUR home, you NEED pictures in order to properly market it to its fullest potential. You NEED and agent that doesn't test the market to see how little she can do to sell your home... you need an agent that puts together a marketing campaign at the outset.

Call me.

I'd love to hear from you...

"Attention Drivers Statewide" and other Cheesy Pick-Up Lines...

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 22:51:53 -0600

Marketers and other businesses know that the world has become smaller... but that we stilllike to do business locally...

There is a national insurance company that has an ad running in at least several states that begins...

Attention Drivers Statewide...

They want to tap into that "local" feeling by inferring that they are only talking to people in one state. At the same time, they weren't so interested in talking to drivers in just one state that they limited the ad to one state...

It plays on Satellite TV, on national channels. If it were on cable, there would be a chance that they could have bought local time, but on satellite, not so much... That would be why they can't say "Attention Drivers all over Georgia..." Too many people from Florida, California and 47 other states would ignore the message...

But they know that we want to deal with someone local when we can...

It doesn't matter if it is insurance, real estate or cars... or anything else. We would rather have someone that knows the area, understands our needs and lives in the community they service. We don't want a call center in Fiji... although we might want to VISIT Fiji...

Attention Home Buyers and Sellers around Lilburn...

We live in Mountain Park... My kids are in school here in Lilburn. One of them ice skates at the Duluth Ice Forum. We swim at the Mountian Park Aquatic Center... My wife was raised in Sugar Hill. I have spent most of the last 21 years living in Gwinnett County. We understand Gwinnett County. It is where we have chosen to raise our family.

If you are looking to buy or sell property in Gwinnett County, GA, you deserve a real estate agent that knows Gwinnett County. Check out the three images just below this paragraph... Find your Dream Home, Find out what YOUR Home is Worth or Find out about the Market in Gwinnett County.

I'd love to hear from you...

Volunteer!

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:38:19 -0600

Image via Wikipedia

During the month of February, as well as the end of January, I spent each Friday afternoon volunteering to talk about business and economics with a bunch of 4th Graders. This was in connection with Junior Achievement.

It might sound like pulling teeth, but it was really a blast. The kids were great. They were engaged and interested. In fact, by the end of the course, they were greeting my by name as I entered the room… I was late on the last day, and one of the kids commented that she “was afraid I wasn’t going to be there.”

The whole experience was immensely rewarding.

Just to be clear, these weren’t hand picked students or a special class of high achievers. These were average kids in an average class…

While the details of the classes aren’t important, there is something else that IS very important. The important part is that these kids WANT to learn and WANT to have adult come in and talk with them about the larger world. It helps to be entertaining and to speak to issues and examples to which they can relate.

And there is something else that is important…

As people that are involved in business on a daily basis, we can help these ids understand how business works and how the economic system can benefit them and society as a whole.

It doesn’t matter if you choose to invest your time with Junior Achievement or some other worthy organization, giving to the kids is very rewarding and the payback is exceptional.

My New Challenge – Junior Achievement (lilburndwellings.com)
Junior Achievement Financial Literacy Programs Save a ‘Lost Generation’ of Youth (newswire.ca)
Junior Achievement Launches Steps to Success Initiative with $225,000 Grant from OneWest Foundation (eon.businesswire.com)

I'd love to hear from you...

Gwinnett Market Reports from January

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 09:49:07 -0600

The real estate market for Gwinnett County is in a state of flux. There are wide variations between different location throughout the county, as well as different price strata. There are a few themes that are readily apparent, but some locations and price ranges are standouts (good or bad)...

Some quick county-wide numbers...

January, 2010 sales were 352 homes. This is down 11.1% from the 396 homes in January, 2009, That was down 14.7% from the 464 homes in January,2008. (There might still be some stragglers that haven't been entered yet... but there shouldn't be many. These numbers are as of 2/23/10)
New listings were 1526 homes for January, 2010. This is down 21.9% (1953 new listings) from January, 2009. That was down 17.3% (2363 new listings) from January 2008.
Days on Market were down by 19 days to 87. This is good news, but I honestly don't put much faith in the DoM number.

Overall Absorption Rates...

Take a look at this post for a quick explanation of Absorption Rates. Listings increased for January, compared to December, 2009. There were 5612 listings in January, 5219 listings in December. The "Months of Inventory" numbers for the 12 month, 6 month and 3 month averages are 10.12, 8.80 and 8.68, respectively.

What this means is that sales seem to be slowing. However, January is generally a tough month. In December, contracts usually slow, although closings remain fairly high (November contracts). So, January always looks a little weaker in the 6 month and 3 month averages. But, January also showed more months of inventory in the 12 month average, compared to December (8.03 months of inventory).

It seems like I say it every month, but next month will be interesting... One of the reasons we have to "kick the can down the road" is that we are only really able to look in a rear view mirror at sales data. Imagine trying to drive around a track only looking out the back window. Whenever there is a sharp turn, you won't know until you are in the ditch...

Under $200,000...

This range continues to be the strongest, but it is weaker than it was last month. However, the sales season doesn't really pick up until March (February contracts). There were 251 sales in this price range, with just under 3100 listings (3089). In the last year, sales peaked at around 540 in both June and July, and then came back up to 532 for October. They slid to 414 in December. In January of 2009, there were 270 single family homes sold.

$200,000 to $400,000...

We certainly don't have the strength here of the lower range, but it isn't terrible. Looking at the 3 month average, there is about 13 1/2 months of inventory. There were 93 sales with 1861 listings. Last year there were 103 sales in this price range. The same pattern held for sales (strongest in July, then June and October). As with the under $200k range, the tax credits seemed to push sales in the fall. As with the under $200k, I expect that some sales were cannabalized from this spring by the first tax credit.

$400,000 to $600,000...

Here is where we see the car drive off the cliff. The 3 month average points to having almost 29 months of inventory on the market. There were only 4 sales in this range for January 2010 (20 sales in January 2009) and 359 homes on the market. May and November were the strongest months for sales. I think we are seeing nervousness about jobs and taxes here. There are few first time home buyers that would meet the criteria for the tax credit here, and the $6500 credit wouldn't figure prominently in the plans of buyers at this level.

$600,000 to $800,000...

Things are actually slightly better in this range than in the $400k-$600k range. There is still 27 months of inventory, but there were 3 sales this year compared to just 1 for the same month last year. There were 127 properties on the market. In this range, just a few extra sales one way or the other can have a dramatic effect on the statistics. I also don't believe the tax credits have had much affect here.

$800,000 to $1,000,000...

The three month average points to just over 3 years of inventory at this price range. With 51 homes on the market, there was only 1 sale in this range in January... none in January 2009. In fact, there have only been around 25 sales in the last year, county-wide. And, while 6-7 months of inventory is considered balanced in the lower price ranges, because of the smaller pool here, we usually see higher numbers... but 3 years is still obviously slow.

Over $1,000,000...

Nothing to see here... There are 125 listings and there were no sales last month at this price. There were 2 for the same month the previous year. The three month average yield a little over 6 years of inventory. There were only 42 sales in this range in the last 12 months. And I don't think I've seen the Absorption Rate go much below 4-5 years of inventory...

Hot and Not...

Norcross is hot. Just 5.1 months of inventory in the under $200k range... And only 9 months of inventory in the $1M+ range!
Duluth has just 6.3 months of inventory for the $400k-$600k range...
Lilburn is lagging right now, with 10 months of inventory for the under $200k level... and while there have just 6 months of inventory for the $600k-$800k range, there have onyl been two sales in that range in the last 3 months (only 4 listings).
Duluth isn't doing so hot for the other price ranges.
Lawrenceville, Buford and Lilburn are the big laggards in the $200k-$400k range at 17, 19 and 19 months of inventory, respectively.
Overall, Buford is the weakest of the markets I track, at just under 13 months of inventory.

The markets I closely track are Buford, Duluth, Lawrenceville, Lilburn, Norcross, Sugar Hill and Suwanee. for these areas, I am tracking them by mailing address, not city limits. Buford, Duluth and Suwanee also include sales from counties other than Gwinnett. I also track the overall numbers for Gwinnett County.

I am excited about the growth prospects for Gwinnett County, GA. In the last few weeks we have had another announcement of a company moving their headquarters to Gwinnett. We have a wonderful quality of life, and there are abundant recreation opportunities... The Gwinnett Braves and Gladiators, Lake Lanier, one of the best parks departments in the country and proximity to all that metro Atlanta has to offer make this a GREAT place to live and work. I've been proud to call Gwinnett County home for most of the last 21 years.

I'd love to hear from you...

Looking Out From the Garage

Are you a Home Buyer? Don’t Forget This…

Related articles

Sugar Hill GA Market Report, January, 2010

Suwanee Market Report, March, 2010

Lawrenceville Market Report, March, 2010

Lilburn Market Report, March, 2010

New Toy... I mean Tool...

Oh Garbage! again...

The Latest on Legends at Parkview…

Related articles by Zemanta

REtechSouth news and updates... again... 9 days to go!

A Financial Strategy To Help Sell Your Jumbo Loan Sized Home Or Listing

Congrats Team USA...

I'll be happy in 86.97%...

"Attention Drivers Statewide" and other Cheesy Pick-Up Lines...

Volunteer!

Related articles by Zemanta

Gwinnett Market Reports from January