Many sellers think that agents have a secret listing strategy. However, the truth is, without a seller’s help, our strategies go out the window. Here are 6 easy steps to sell a house fast:

1. Price it right; price it competitively.
2. Interior and exterior condition is key. Make the repairs that your agent tells you to do; at a minimum, paint the outside trim and pressure wash the outside of the home.
3. Stage the house. Make sure it is clutter-free and clean at all times. When you have a showing, leave the lights on.
4. Make it easy on the agent. Allow the listing agent to put up a sign, a lockbox and please forget “Appointment Only”. If we can’t see it, we can’t sell it!
5. Internet and pictures will sell it. When the listing agent, or his/her photographer, is coming to take pictures, make sure that the house is sparkling. If the pictures are bad, or non-existant, buyers will skip over the house.
6. When in doubt, go back to items 1-5. If you are still in doubt, refer to #1.

Isn’t it time that our elected officials actually listen to the voters?

Georgia legislators heard residents at a public hearing held at Georgia Tech on June 30, preparing for the upcoming special session of the Georgia General Assembly. This session will be held to redraw the state’s legislative and congressional districts, to better reflect changes in Georgia’s population.

Many of the speakers expressed hope that “communities of interest” – areas which share common beliefs and lifestyles – would be kept in tact during the process. Sen. Fran Millar, a Republican from Dunwoody, said he would like to see the 6th Congressional District redrawn so that it takes in more of DeKalb, including areas now to its south such as Brookhaven and the Smoke Rise community (in Stone Mountain? – that’s not really to the “south” of Dunwoody, Mr. Miller). Dunwoody, is part of the 6th District, and is represented by Republican Rep. Tom Price of Roswell. Brookhaven, Ashford Park and Drew Valley are represented by Rep. Henry Johnson, a Democrat from Lithonia, in the 4th District.

The meeting was the last of 12 public hearings held around the state. On Aug. 15, The state legislature will hold a special session to redraw legislative and Congressional lines, based on the 2010 Census.

I’ve been saying for years, that I wanted to run against Rep. Johnson. Or, rather that someone, anyone, should run against him. If the citizens of Ashford Park, Drew Valley, Murphey Candler and Brookhaven don’t get better representation from Hank, maybe 2012 will be “the” year that I actually do run. Nancy for The House, or Nancy4TheHouse.com – I kind of like the sound of it!

There’s a new bill in Congress, The Housing Recovery Act of 2011, or H.R. 1526, which is aiming at getting the backlog of foreclosures sold, by allowing buyers to use retirement funds for purchases.

The new bill aims to clear the growing foreclosured properties’ backlog by allowing buyers to dip without penalty. The bill would amend the IRS tax code, so that qualified individuals could use distributions as a down payment to purchase residences that have been in foreclosure status for one year or more.

Typically, pulling funds out of an IRA, 401k, or similar retirement accounts prematurely would call for early distribution penalties, but Florida Congressman (and real estate agent) Bill Posey is hoping the IRS will waive it for the greater good. US Rep. Posey introduced the bill in the US House last week, and it was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

If it is passed, it will come with a few requirements:

1. The subject property must have been in foreclosure for one or more years;
2. The retirement funds must be used within 120 days of the close of purchase;
3. The foreclosed property must be held be the buyer for a minimum of two years to avoid any early distribution penalties. It will not allow investors to “flip” properties.

The bill is aimed at promoting sustainable homeownership, while giving homeowners a tax break. Let’s hope the Congress can move on this!

Plenty of houses are old but how can a Sellers make his/her/their home look rejuvenated and not old and tired? The difference can be what makes a house sit or sell. Here are some tips to homeowners, even if they are not putting their homes on the market:

1. Green is good, but not if it is growing on the siding, bricks or roof. Many times, Sellers are focused on sprucing up the flowers and front landscaping, when what they should  be focusing on, is renting a pressure-washer and ridding themselves of that green, fuzzy stuff. 
2. Ivy growing up a home’s exterior walls may give it a charming cottage effect, but it speeds decay and should be removed. English ivy damages mortar and screens. Once removed, it may still be difficult to rid a home of the tracks and roots left behind.
3. Heavy, layered window treatments drag down a home into old-lady category. If a Seller can’t replace the window treatments, cut back on the layers of sheers or remove the valances.
4. A split storm door (glass or a screen at the top and aluminum at the bottom) dates a home. Either remove or replace the door.
5. Skinny moulding: nothing says the 1960′s like skimpy, skinny moulding. Replace it with larger, heavy crown and base mouldings.
6. Wallpaper: take it down, take it down, take it down! Unless it is subtle, rarely will a Buyer like the wallpaper and it dates the home.
7. Hollywood-style light strips in bathrooms: see #6 and take them down and replace them with more modern light fixtures.
8. Replace skimpy street numbers and door hardware with bolder, heavier hardware with a brushed nickel or black wrought-iron, 3-dimensional look. Replace that worn -out mailbox, too.
9. Worn carpet and flooring can make the whole house look tired. Consider replacing old carpet or laminate floors with tile, fresh carpet/pad or better yet, hardwood flooring, which can be sanded and rejuvenated often.
10. Gray, splintering decks should be maintained every two years with a clear sealant, to prevent swelling and shrinking.
11. Painted-over light switches are easy and inexpensive to change. Keep them bold, but plain.
12. Peeling paint looks bad and can damage a home’s exterior quickly, especially if the painted surface is on the exterior of the home. Dirty or thinly painted interior walls can damage a Buyer’s impression, often leading to a reduced offer.

Lately, I’ve noticed signs that Atlanta’s new-home construction is starting up again, and it seems to be starting in a big way. Hammers are pounding and saws are buzzing again, a sign that the home-building industry is slowly coming back to life.

In Georgia, we look to the West Coast and California for trends. How’s this one for a bell-ringer:

The Irvine Company, a Southern California development company, recently announced plans to built up to 2,600 homes in two new developments; workers have already begun to frame the new homes. This same company footed the bill 13+ months ago and financed its own foray into new construction. About 10,000 people showed up for the developments’ grand opening and the projects were sold-out in less than half the estimated build-time. By the end of 2010, more than 1,200 homes were sold.

300 Georgia companies are helping sponsor the 7th annual Construction Education Foundation of Georgia Career Expo (CEFGCE), March 17-18. It will showcase different career paths for architecture, construction, energy and facilitiies mangement to more than 6000 attendees.

I used to sell new-homes exclusively. Then 2007 hit and I reinvented myself. I don’t think that we’ll ever see the go-go days of new-home construction we saw in the early 2000′s, but I believe that we are about to see a resurgence in construction. Isn’t that a wonderful thing?

I am looking forward to this report. On Sunday, December 19, the Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC) will launch its “Property Tax Meltdown” series – an investigative report that reveals flaws in home property value assessments and their impact on metro Atlanta homeowners left with unreasonably high tax bills. The obvious question is: “What took you so long?” and why haven’t our towns, counties, town councils and elected officials realized this?

I believe 2011 will be the ‘Year of the Short Sale’. If you aren’t ready to handle this type of sale, you should be getting ready or finding someone who is! And make sure you know the tax implications of the sale for the buyer.

The weather gets cold in Atlanta, but many homeowners do not adequately prepare for it. Homes in mild-weather climates are especially vulnerable to frozen pipes and those frozen pipes equal disaster. Why? Because these homes tend to have plumbing in exterior walls, attics, crawl spaces and other unheated or unprotected areas.

A pipe freezing in a cold snap, where outside temperatures drop below 20-degrees, can not only be expensive to repair, but also messy. When water freezes inside a pipe, it creates a blockage that causes pressure to rise. That pressure builds up and the pipe blows. Play it safe and follow these tips from The Institute for Business and Home Safety:

1. Wrap pipes with foam or fiberglas insulation.
2. Seal openings in exterior walls where cold air can get to unprotected pipes.
3. Disconnect garden hoses and place insulated covers over outdoor faucets. Better yet, install inside shut-off valves for outdoor faucets and drain water from the pipes.
4. Consider wrapping pipes with heat tapes or cable that use a small amount of electricity to warm pipes. Some come with built-in thermostats.
5. Leave cabinets doors open to let warmer room air get to the pipes under the kitchen and bathroom sinks.
6. Turn on faucets to a very slow drip to relieve pressure in the pipe. Make sure both the hot-and cold-water lines are open.
7. If you are away from your home during the cold-weather months, et your thermostat above 55-degrees.

If you or someone you know are thinking of buying, selling or investing in real estate, email or call me. I get the job done!

Sandy Springs is launching a smart phone application to allow residents to submit photos of potholes, broken sidewalks, downed trees and other problems that need to be fixed by city workers.

The app, called CoSSpotter, is free and allows residents to photograph and report problems they feel the city should address. Once a problem is reported, a resident may monitor the city’s response through the city website or by using the application, the city said in a press release.

The application uses a smart phone’s global positioning system to provide the location of the problem, the city said.

The application launches Dec. 1. It will be made available through the city’s website at www.sandyspringsga.org/cosspotter.

Chamblee Charter High School now has the funds to rebuild its aging facility, after the DeKalb County Board of Education agreed to use federal funding to replace it, rather than renovate it.

The board unanimously voted to accept $58 million in federal bonds to be sold and then added to the $11 million-plus, Chamblee High has already banked from an ongoing Special Local Option Sales Tax. The facility’s problems led the school to bank more than an $11-million chunk of an ongoing local option sales tax instead of spending the money on repairs. The rationale was that the sales tax revenue would not provide enough to renovate a facility that needed to be replaced.

The aging, high-performing school was established in 1917 and has been rebuilt before. Chamblee Charter High School serves a mix of resident students from the Brookhaven and Chamblee areas, as well as transfer students and high-performing students from across the district who attend the school’s high-achiever magnet program.

The financing will come from a federal bond program designed to make capital improvements at schools. The financing can be either no-interest or low-interest. An interest rate is established based on the rate the bonds are sold. Once the school district sells the bonds, the district will be reimbursed by the federal government for the interest owed on the bonds – up to a certain point – or a tax credit could be issued to investors.

  Dean Gardens, billed as the “highest priced home in metro Atlanta” finally sold on August 3.

The main house is 32,000 square feet, not including the two carriage houses; the home sits on 58 acres. The property has been on and off the market for 15 years, from $20Million to $40Million. The latest offering was for $13,900,000; it closed last week for $7.6M, or 55% of the list price.

I help both sellers and buyers. Year-to-date, none of my buyer-clients have bought a $13M home, but they have found incredible bargains! My stats show that I can help both sides: buyer-clients, on average, have bought their dream homes for 81.3% of the original list prices; seller-clients, on average, have sold their homes for 96.4% of their list prices.  On which side would you like to be?!!!

If you need true representation, call me! Whether you are looking for your dream home or want/need to sell your existing home, allow me to be your Realtor of choice. Experience True Experience!