Keller Williams Named Most Recognizable Brand of 2009

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Exciting news for the Atlanta real estate market. The 2010 Swanepoel TRENDS Report details the Top 20 largest real estate brands based on agent count as of December 2009.

In addition, RealSure, the publishers of the Swanepoel TRENDS Report and the Swanepoel SOCIAL MEDIA Report launched a nationwide online survey on December 3rd to determine the “Most Recognizable Franchise Brand in Real Estate.”

According to this survey, the Top 10 real estate franchises, most recognized by the real estate industry as quality national brands are:

1. Keller Williams Realty
2. Coldwell Banker Real Estate
3. RE/MAX International
4. Century 21 Real Estate
5. Prudential Real Estate
6. Sotheby’s International Realty
7. EXIT Realty
8. ERA Real Estate
9. Weichert Real Estate Affiliates
10. Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate

The brands that made it to the Top 5 were to be expected and are also the five largest real estate franchises in the country. The Top 5 also comfortably attracted more votes than the second five on the list, strongly pointing to the industry’s own internal belief that these are the top five brands that agents would like to work for.

Keller Williams Realty’s surprising #1 ranking was most likely due to the strong, above average online and social media presence of their agents and the fact that during 2009 KW surpassed RE/MAX in agent count according to a widely published REAL Trends survey. Click here to read the article in it’s entirety.

Contact us today to learn about the benefits of working with Keller Williams Realty for all of your Atlanta real estate needs.

Atlanta Top City to Retire in 2009

Forbes magazine recently did a study to determine the best cities to retire in 2009. To form the list, Forbes looked at the country’s 40 largest metropolitan statistical areas and applied seven metrics. The Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta metropolitan area came in at #1. Atlanta is the financial and industrial center of the South and is home to more and more international businesses, such as Delta, Home Depot and Coca-Cola.

1 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA

2 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX

3 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL

4 Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX

5 St. Louis, MO-IL

5 Austin-Round Rock, TX

7 Las Vegas-Paradise, NV

8 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ

9 Kansas City, MO-KS

10 San Antonio, TX

Which to Buy – Short Sale or Foreclosure?

Whether this will be your first home, you’re a move-up homebuyer looking to take advantage of the market or an investor wanting to profit from the current Atlanta real estate market, you will likely come across numerous short sales and foreclosures. Which is the best option for you and which one should you target?

Before we jump into that, let’s quickly explain the difference. Short sales are also commonly referred to as pre-foreclosure homes. These are homes where the current homeowner is behind on the mortgage payments and is attempting to sell the property for less than they owe on it in an attempt to avoid foreclosure. A short sale is considered an alternative to foreclosure and is generally considered less harmful to the seller’s credit, job security, etc. At a certain point, if the bank is not getting paid, they will foreclose on the property. These then go to auction at the county courthouse steps, but most of them don’t sell at auction. Rather the bank pulls them back and re-markets them as foreclosures or REO properties.

So now the question is as a buyer, what is better? Foreclosures or short sales?

And the answer of course it that it depends upon you and the specific property.

In a short sale scenario, the bank is not party to the agreement, but the agreement is contingent upon the bank agreeing that they’re not getting all of their money.  A short sale can often take 2-3 months for the bank to respond as many homes have  a couple banks involved, not to mentione mortgage insurance companies and private investors. Whereas with foreclosures, the bank owns them outright and generally wants to sell them quickly and get them off their books.

So I’m sure you’ve gathered from above, if you’re looking to purchase in a short timeframe, foreclosures would be a better fit. The flip side to that is that foreclosures tend to attract more attention as buyers feel they’re getting a good deal and will wrap it up quickly. With a short sale, you can often get just as good of a deal, but you will need to be patient. Often being willing to out wait a buyer who is ahead of you initially.

In short, both short sale and foreclosure properties present good opportunities. Whether you are a move-up homebuyer, an investor or a first-time homeowner, keep your options open. You never know what you will find or how good of a deal you will get until you look.

If you would like assistance in finding great deals in Atlanta foreclosures and short sales, be sure to contact our team. We have area specialists throughout metro Atlanta that can help identify the best deals for you.

FHA to tighten lending requirements

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is set to increase the borrowing requirements for home buyers. While not entirely unexpected, this is clearly a move that could have serious implications for the fragile housing market’s recovery.

Steps that are being considered include greater down payment requirements and higher credit scores for consumers looking to finance their home purchase with an FHA-backed mortgages.

Specific details have not been released, but the steps are expected as a means of limiting risks to the FHA’s loan portfolio. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan wants FHA borrowers to have more ’skin in the game’ and a stronger equity position in their loans.

FHA borrowers currently are only required to have 3.5% cash for a down payment. HUD has the authority to increase the minimum down payments. They don’t have the authority to raise the annual mortgage insurance premiums, but may see permission from Congress.

Additionally, it is expected that sellers will only be able to help buyers with 3% of their closing costs, rather than the current 6% allowed.

The moves affecting home buyers are part of a three-tier plan by the FHA to lessen risks to its portfolio. The agency also plans to take steps to increase FHA capital and to hold lenders more accountable for the quality of loans they write.

These changes are needed as FHA has become a popular direction for first-time homebuyers in particular. FHA loans ahve accounted for almost 30% of home purchases—more than 75% of which are to first-time home buyers. Just three years ago, the FHA’s share of the mortgage market was 3%.

With FHA loans having become so popular, tighter lending requirements will have a significant impact on the housing recovery.

Looking for a deal on an Atlanta Home?

In today’s market, everyone wants a deal and there is no better place to look for a deal in Atlanta today than the many foreclosures that are available. And I’ve noticed some really nice foreclosures recently coming on the market.

Many of my clients have listing alerts set up for homes that meet their search criteria and I think it is one of the best ways to keep on top of the market.

So it should come as no surprise to you that I have several listing alerts set up for searches that I’m specifically interested in including all real estate activity in my neighborhood, searches for several clients who want more filtered results that I would review first before sending to them and of course, Atlanta foreclosures.

Distressed properties tend to get a lot of attention as soon as they come on the market, so it’s definitely critical if you’re an Atlanta home buyer to be working with an experienced agent who has  a solid knowledge of the market and knows when a deal is a deal and it’s time to make a move.

One important thing to understand is that when lender owned homes come on the market, there is usually lots of competition for the good ones. You’re not likely to have your offer accepted in the first week or two if it’s less than the list price. If a home sits unsold for over a month, there will be a price reduction (and there will generally be a price reduction every 30 days thereafter until someone makes an offer) and at that point, all bets are off, make your best offer but you can feel a little more comfortable offering a discount to list.

If you would like your own Atlanta foreclosure listing alert set up, contact us and we’ll be glad to customize one for you.

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