Cobb Real Estate Blog

Firefighters will join police officers, teachers and emergency medical technicians in a program aimed at revitalizing distressed urban communities by allowing them to purchase government owned property at half the appraised value. The program is called “Good Neighbor Next Door” and by allowing members of these groups to purchase foreclosure homes at this discounted rate federal housing authorities believe urban communities can be reborn and begin to thrive once more.

I’ve found a few links regarding home improvement.

• Soundproofing House Walls [RealEstateMate.com]
• Websites To Help You Track Energy Use [RealEstateJournal.com]
• Tips For Sprucing Up Your Driveway [RealEstateMate.com]
• Learn How To Measure Residential Square Footage [About]

If you have any questions about how home improvements affect the sale of your home please use the contact form to find multiple ways to get in touch with me.

• What Real Estate Bubble? [The Real Estate Blog]
• Bubble [Central VA real estate news, trends and opinions]

The talk of real estate bubbles is buzzing all over the country. The Atlanta metro area isn’t typically mentioned at the top of the list of bubble cities, but alot of home owners share the fear of a real estate bubble burst. On Monday, fed chair Alan Greenspan, said most homeowners are in good shape. Greenspan commented that, “The vast majority of homeowners have a sizable equity cushion with which to absorb a potential decline in house prices,” and based those remarks, in part, on the recent NAR (National Association of Realtors) report that sales of previously owned homes in August posted their second-highest level on record.

Here’s the latest numbers on interest rates:

• Mortgages - 5.88% (30 Year Fixed)
• Home Equity Lines - 6.76%
• Auto Loans - 8.00% (48 Month - New Car)
• CD - 3.00% (One Year Yield)
• Credit Card - 12.89% (Standard Fixed)

Bankrate.com [Source]

Each week, Bankrate.com has a panel of experts discuss where they think mortgage rates will be in the next 30-45 days. This week the consensus is; “Mortgage rates look fairly stable, but they might fall”, in the next 4-6 weeks.

Mold has become a major buzz word in the real estate community over the past few years. It’s causing arguments between buyers and sellers as to how bad a particular problem is and whether or not it should be fixed. This mold article even claims that “Some homeowners have even burned down their homes, and everything in them, because they felt it was the only way to eradicate toxic mold from their surroundings.” The main thing to remember here is to have any home tested if your are thinking about buying it. Ask your home inspector if they perform mold spore tests (Not all do). If they don’t ask them to refer someone if mold is an issue.

10 Things You Should Know About Mold [HouseHunting101.com]

If you’re getting ready to sell your home, do it yourself projects or even small renovations are probably in order. If you can’t fit a trip to a Home Depot class into your schedule, maybe you should try to find the answers online. Houseblogs.net is a hub of DIY’ers sharing information, lessons and even stories about their home projects. There are hundreds of houseblogs listed here and a number of ways to gather ideas or help with your project.

If you have been thinking about installing hardwood floors lately, think no further. According to a press release from the National Wood Flooring Association, “58% of agents surveyed agree that homes with wood floors sell for more money than homes without wood floors”. On the NWFA website they even go further to say that 90% of real estate agents feel that real wood florrs increase the marketability of a home.

If you’d like to find out how much your home could sell for, wood floors or not, please don’t hesitate to contact me via the contact page or by phone at (678) 471-7612.

Once you’ve listed your home, it may not receive any offers. There may be plenty of traffic, but nobody makes an offer or has a bad thing to say. What’s wrong? What it boils down to is price. In an article titled “Where’s My Offer?”, the author further delves into the idea of price being the only real determining factor. If you’re not getting any offers, that means your home is priced too high. It means there are other homes out there that these buyers may feel offer them better opportunities or better deals. You will eventually sell your home. But first you must evaluate your asking price. You must price your home accurately to make it the “best deal for the money” in comparison to all the other similar homes in the area.