School's In Session: It's Time to Brush Up on Your Homework Skills
[ATLANTA, GA]
By Michele Kent
If you have been perusing the real estate market lately, you have probably been inundated with terms like foreclosures, bankruptcies, higher interest loan rates, buyer's market, or a stale seller's market.
Yes, the market has been slow to climb out of its doldrums and onto the happier times sellers were experiencing a few years ago. Historically though, this correction in the state of real estate should not be all that surprising. Investments all tend to bounce back and forth over the years, lending credence to the old adage that what goes up, must come down. But real estate is still a sound investment, the one that serves us first and foremost in our daily lives. Even in lean times, real estate is a smart place to invest money if buyers do their homework.
The main difference between Atlanta's real estate market today versus a few short years ago is the amount of care buyers and sellers are exercising with their decisions. Now there are so many choices available it might be hard to know where to begin. Once a buyer narrows down their location based on workplace, desired lifestyle, economics, and school district, a whole new set of questions come into play.
How much bang can the buyer get for their buck, and where are they willing to compromise? With an eye-opening market, a lot of buyers are looking to satisfy their basic needs, moving away from the "McMansion" era and onto reasonable and justifiable living spaces. This means smaller spaces with less upkeep. It means truly identifying which amenities are important, and not paying to have ones included in their living system that will be seldom, if ever, used. It equates to buyers putting themselves on a spending diet instead of succumbing to the nation's mindset of "super-size me" and then paying for it two-fold down the road. Many buyers have learned through this real estate conundrum not to bite off more than they can chew.
Sellers can still command top dollar for their Atlanta condominiums, just as there are many sweet deals to still be had by area buyers. The difference from yesterday to today is that both sides need to truly perform the due diligence in every aspect of the condo buying and selling process to be sure they are avoiding potential future pitfalls. These can include anything from understanding the direction of an area's future development, to being trapped in a mortgage whose rate climbs from year to year quicker than the buyer's salary.
With loan conditions tightening up, and the nation's foreclosure rate head over heels, buyers are taking a hard look at their needs versus wildest wants and desires. Many are finding the 24-hour concierge services or building-recognition systems (where a building's electronic system acknowledges condo owners' presence by calling them by name of tuning the common area televisions to the owners' personal preferences) are above and beyond what their typical lifestyle requires.
Atlanta is unique because it is unofficially divided into two markets, inside the Interstate 285 perimeter, and outside of it. Inside of the perimeter, housing sales have not been as heavily hit as real estate has been nationally because there are still wide spectrums of choice at every price point, and its location is high on the list of desirable places to live.
Those who have tired of suburban living are throwing in their aggravating commutes and hours of lawn work for a more generous downtown lifestyle. Atlanta Real Estate agent David Perry, who specializes in high rise communities, notes that the downtown area remains attractive to a plethora of buyers. The real estate correction we are experiencing, he says, "hurts in the short term, but is good in the long term."
"It's helping people step back and analyze their purchasing decisions. Selecting and buying a home has a huge impact, financially, emotionally, and personally," Perry says. Not everyone is ready for that commitment, which is what is bearing out in the market now with high foreclosures and stricter loan requirements.
Perry also says that most buyers today are looking at the big picture, and that is the lifestyle and location that will be afforded them in their new location. Interiors are not always the deciding factor, "as long as a condo is in a good location, priced right, and offers that maintenance-free lifestyle, the interior is secondary to a lot of people," he says. Interiors are primarily cosmetic and can be changed easily. You can't change the view when looking out your kitchen window, but you can change the view of your kitchen.
Today, Atlanta's housing market has a lot of people changing their views about real estate. Even more, it has people doing a heavy load of homework to secure their perfect condo with just the right space and amenities to live a lifestyle that is practical to their means.
Atlanta Condos
By Michele Kent
If you have been perusing the real estate market lately, you have probably been inundated with terms like foreclosures, bankruptcies, higher interest loan rates, buyer's market, or a stale seller's market.
Yes, the market has been slow to climb out of its doldrums and onto the happier times sellers were experiencing a few years ago. Historically though, this correction in the state of real estate should not be all that surprising. Investments all tend to bounce back and forth over the years, lending credence to the old adage that what goes up, must come down. But real estate is still a sound investment, the one that serves us first and foremost in our daily lives. Even in lean times, real estate is a smart place to invest money if buyers do their homework.
The main difference between Atlanta's real estate market today versus a few short years ago is the amount of care buyers and sellers are exercising with their decisions. Now there are so many choices available it might be hard to know where to begin. Once a buyer narrows down their location based on workplace, desired lifestyle, economics, and school district, a whole new set of questions come into play.
How much bang can the buyer get for their buck, and where are they willing to compromise? With an eye-opening market, a lot of buyers are looking to satisfy their basic needs, moving away from the "McMansion" era and onto reasonable and justifiable living spaces. This means smaller spaces with less upkeep. It means truly identifying which amenities are important, and not paying to have ones included in their living system that will be seldom, if ever, used. It equates to buyers putting themselves on a spending diet instead of succumbing to the nation's mindset of "super-size me" and then paying for it two-fold down the road. Many buyers have learned through this real estate conundrum not to bite off more than they can chew.
Sellers can still command top dollar for their Atlanta condominiums, just as there are many sweet deals to still be had by area buyers. The difference from yesterday to today is that both sides need to truly perform the due diligence in every aspect of the condo buying and selling process to be sure they are avoiding potential future pitfalls. These can include anything from understanding the direction of an area's future development, to being trapped in a mortgage whose rate climbs from year to year quicker than the buyer's salary.
With loan conditions tightening up, and the nation's foreclosure rate head over heels, buyers are taking a hard look at their needs versus wildest wants and desires. Many are finding the 24-hour concierge services or building-recognition systems (where a building's electronic system acknowledges condo owners' presence by calling them by name of tuning the common area televisions to the owners' personal preferences) are above and beyond what their typical lifestyle requires.
Atlanta is unique because it is unofficially divided into two markets, inside the Interstate 285 perimeter, and outside of it. Inside of the perimeter, housing sales have not been as heavily hit as real estate has been nationally because there are still wide spectrums of choice at every price point, and its location is high on the list of desirable places to live.
Those who have tired of suburban living are throwing in their aggravating commutes and hours of lawn work for a more generous downtown lifestyle. Atlanta Real Estate agent David Perry, who specializes in high rise communities, notes that the downtown area remains attractive to a plethora of buyers. The real estate correction we are experiencing, he says, "hurts in the short term, but is good in the long term."
"It's helping people step back and analyze their purchasing decisions. Selecting and buying a home has a huge impact, financially, emotionally, and personally," Perry says. Not everyone is ready for that commitment, which is what is bearing out in the market now with high foreclosures and stricter loan requirements.
Perry also says that most buyers today are looking at the big picture, and that is the lifestyle and location that will be afforded them in their new location. Interiors are not always the deciding factor, "as long as a condo is in a good location, priced right, and offers that maintenance-free lifestyle, the interior is secondary to a lot of people," he says. Interiors are primarily cosmetic and can be changed easily. You can't change the view when looking out your kitchen window, but you can change the view of your kitchen.
Today, Atlanta's housing market has a lot of people changing their views about real estate. Even more, it has people doing a heavy load of homework to secure their perfect condo with just the right space and amenities to live a lifestyle that is practical to their means.
Atlanta Condos
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