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Lilburn, GA Real Estate News

By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
I'm beating my head on a wall...  Little did I know that I needed 100 fans in order to register a vanity page URL.  And I asked a few friends that are up on things... and they didn't seem to know that little tidbit either.  So, here is the hot tip... if you don't have 100 fans, you can't register a custom URL for your Facebook page.  And... I have two pages I would love to get registered... if you haven't already, feel free to become a fan of: Lane Bailey Lilburn Dwellings Thanks...  and feel free to post yours here... maybe we can help you get the needed number of fans if you haven't already.
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By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
Yesterday I posted about how some companies are adding junk fees to the traditional sales fees for both buyers and sellers. I think this practice is just plain wrong... especially the way it is usually presented. In order to give my clients options and help them save some money, I offer three different fee structures and two different levels of service for home sellers. Here is the quick rundown: Flat Fee - $999 listing plan. This is the plan from our discount arm, WhatIf? Realty. This puts your property on the local MLSs, and gets you a standard sign, as well as a lockbox and flyers. I have a couple of extras, as well as some available upgrades that aren't shown on the company page, for my clients through this plan, so if you are interested, please contact me directly. Traditional Lis...
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By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
I’ve seen an annoying new trend.  Buyer and Seller “Broker Fees”.  It may go by various names, but amounts to the same thing…  what Clark Howard would call a Junk Fee. These are quite different from the other fees that may be involved in a real estate transaction, and there are a LOT of fees.  The lenders have fees, the closing attorney has fees, there are state fees, county fees, insurance fees, delivery fees…  Simply put, buyers and sellers are paying plenty of fees.  Adding some BS junk fee like a paperwork fee, transaction fee, administrative fee or broker fee is just adding insult to injury. There is already a commission or sales fee that the real estate broker and agent are sharing.  There is no reason to add another official sounding fee on top of this that is after the negotiate...
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By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
This is a common question from both buyers and sellers... For Sellers... The object is to get enough that it would be painful for the buyers to walk away without cause after the contingencies are settled.  For instance, $100 is obviously too low.  Just about anyone would be willing to walk away from that without too many worries. But, what about $2,000? Well, if it is a $200,000 property, that might be a substantial amount, but for a $2,000,000 property, maybe not so much. The bottom line is that you can ask for more if the amount offered isn't realistic.  With VERY few exceptions, the buyer will need to put up a minimum of 3.5% as a down payment on the property in order to get financed.  The earnest money WILL be credited to them at closing, so 1% doesn't seem that onerous... but some ...
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By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
I can almost hear you say, "Pricing isn't about price?  Then what the heck is it about?" Here is the bottom line.  Just about every home on the market has a narrow range it WILL sell in.  Whether it is priced at $50,000 or $500,000, there is a price at which it will sell.  Below that price and we tend to see multiple offers.  Above that price and we tend to see reducred activity.  Obviously marketing and presentation come in to play... if nobody knows it is there, or when they come to see it the home lacks attraction, then the price ceases to be the major factor.  But it still comes back to price.  First, I'll give you a chance to review...  Price ≠ Value  Next, let's discuss ways to NOT price a property... What someone owes on the property has absolutely no bearing on the value of the ...
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By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
This is a simple question... I have asked it before and the answer has always been a resounding "because that is how we have always done it."  What am I talking about? Why is it that MLS entries are ALL CAPS? It doesn't make sense.  It is common knowledge that ALL CAPS is the www version of yelling.  And it isn't like this is a new thing...  Even back in the days of BBSs (Bulletin Board Systems) that we had to dial into, ALL CAPS was yelling. This isn't a new etiquette.  I have talked to agents, brokers, admin people... and none of them know why... they all type in ALL CAPS when they are putting stuff on the MLS, but they don't do it otherwise... in fact, many of them think it is rude. So, why YELL at buyers? Oh those many (less than 5) years ago that I got into real estate, my office s...
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By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
I just made two updates on my other blog that I think are worth noting. Listings! The first is that I was able to re-deploy the Lane’s Listings section.  Now you will see the page tab near the top of the site.  Hovering over it will show you my current personal listings as well as a link to enter the Send Me FREE Custom Listings page. Feel free to browse the listings to see if your next home might be listed.  If it isn’t, you can go to the Send Me FREE Custom Listings page and enter your exact criteria.  From that, I can search the MLS and find the specific properties that meet your needs and send them to you.  As new properties come on the market that meet your criteria, they will be sent to you right away, too. Be Mobile! A lot of folks are cruising the web on their hot rod mobile pho...
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By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
  Image by jeremypullen via Flickr That has to be the most tired and over-used statement in real estate.  But there is a problem with it…  It kind of died as a truism. The idea behind that statement is that homes in the right area could bring more money.  And that has always been true…  But there is a big donut hole in the theory… People go to where they can get the house they want… Even Clark Howard says that.  Look at the Gwinnett County market or the Atlanta area market.  Up until a couple of years ago, buyers would drive out from the center of town until they could find the house they could afford with the amenities they wanted.  Twenty years ago that was “way out” in Lawrenceville or Duluth.  Ten years ago that was Dacula or Buford.  Just a couple of years ago it was Loganville or ...
Comments 5
By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
I am getting pretty tired of seeing... Offer will not be submitted to seller unless buyer prequalifies with ___ Mortgage. Let me give you a clue... Yes, you WILL submit the offer.  It may be rejected by your client, but you will submit the offer.  If you don't, feel free to send me a note in writing stating that you won't submit the offer per instructions from your client.  I will take that note to the Georgia Real Esate Commission and you will be in a load of hurt...  License Law requires that ALL written offers be submitted to the seller... If my buyer offers $6.50 and a moldy BLT sandwich... in writing... it HAS to be transmitted to the seller.  Again, they can choose not to accept it... but you can't choose not to submit it.  Now, if you really want to get that language in there in ...
Comments 15
By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
I have done a couple of surveys of photos on listings in Lilburn, GA.  It is pretty interesting to see how many pictures are included on local homes for sale.  It is also a bit annoying... because there are still WAY too many homes that aren't being represented well.  Here is some base data for listings in the last 30 days: 12.5% had no pictures. 7.5% had 1 picture. 8.8% had between 2 and 5 pictures.  18.8% had between 6 and 9 pictures.  52.5% had between 10 and 12 pictures.  Additionally... 16.3% had virtual tours. FMLS, one of our local Multiple Listing Services in the Atlanta, GA area, allows 12 pictures and a virtual tour.  Entirely too few agents are taking advantage of those capabilities.  Virtual tours can be had for almost nothing... those aren't the best solution, but at least ...
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By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
This ISN'T about Jeremy and Brad...  It isn't even about Rich or Mike.  It is about something that WE do as real estate agents.  We build communities.  Builders build houses.  People build homes.  Neighbors build communities.  We are the ultimate neighbor... when we are really doing our job.  I found a new toy.  I haven't rolled it out yet, but I am excited...  Really excited! BuddyPress... WordPress is a very cool tool.  It is quite flexible, and very easy to use.  It can be made to be a lot of different things, from a blog to a news site.  It can be used to write posts, create podcasts or video blog.  It can be deployed as a gallery or a portfolio.  It does a lot of really cool stuff...  But can it be a total social network... According to BuddyPress, yes it can.  Of course there is a...
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By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
There are a lot of real estate agents.  The NAR reports over 1.2 million members, and the Atlanta area alone has more than 40,000.  It is hard to NOT know a real estate agent.  Regardless of where I go and who I talk with, they know an agent.  Today at the cell phone store, the clerk helping me has an agent for a Mother-in-Law.  There are three in my small neighborhood.  There are at least two at my son's pre-school.  The fact is that is is hard to turn around without bumping into one of us.  And there are agents that make it even worse.  Mention on Twitter that you are thinking of buying or selling a home and all of sudden you are getting creamed with direct messages and reply tweets... and they aren't even just local... agents from all over the country will try to refer you to someone...
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By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
Showers flirted with the event, with a few passing through, but there were some pretty cool rides that dodged the drops to make the event. Smoke Rise Baptist Church holds this event on the first Saturday in May each year.  Here is the event website. Below is a slide show with all of the cars that showed up for the event.  The Pastor’s Choice went to the ‘65 Mustang Convertible, while the Best In Show went to the Red Alfa Romeo Convertible. From LaneBailey.com
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By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
Real estate listings need a sign.  They all have one, right... or at least most...  But there is one problem with the ubiquitous real estate sign... it is boring! I don't like "normal" I like EXCEPTIONAL... Real estate signs aren't an exception.  I have long been tired of the same ol' signs...  so I decided to do something about it. I needed an EXCEPTIONAL sign. So... I looked for a solution.  A sign that would stand out.  I wanted something that would give an interested buyer a reason to stop and actually take a look. < 1033 Constitution Way Sign 590 Baltimore Ave Sign > I think this is a pretty good solution.  The idea is to get a buyer out of the car... maybe even to take a picture of the sign.  Of course, as with all marketing, it will be tweaked as time goes by to be even more effe...
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By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
Bailey Services/GarageHomesUSA.com has brought onboard a new staffer.  This is the first that we have gone outside of the immediate family to find help.  Maggie looks to be a great worker.  We are confident that she will sniff out the best deals for buyers, scratch out the competition and hunt down the best new technologies for the company.  Maggie is relocating from the Athens area to Lilburn.  We have already helped her find a suitable home. And she already feel like part of the family.  Even the kids have taken to her... and she seems to be quite fond of them as well. We have already talked with her about appearing here on Active|Rain, and she is looking forward to her debut.  We are holding off a little on that until she is a little more settled.  However, we'd love for everyone to ...
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By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
Ok, it really doesn't have anything to do with concrete (rebar).  It actually doesn't have anything to do with drinking, either (bar camp).  Instead, it is about peer-to-peer technology education.  Blogging, social networking, video, listing search technologies and better utilization of market data were some of the covered subjects. Why does this matter to consumers? (I'm secretly glad you asked...) According to the National Association of Realtors®, about 4% of Realtors® have a blog.  I know that most blogs are abandoned after a few posts... According to my less than formal surveys, less than 10% use virtual tours. I don't have it documented, but I think that property videos are only utilized by about 1% of real estate agents. What does this all mean? (again, I'm happy to expound...) W...
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By Jamie Parker Gwinnett, Realtor, Snellville Homes
(Exp Realty)
My church, the Atlanta Church of Christ Gwinnett, will be having an international Sunday next week.  Service is at 10 with food to follow. Services are at Meadowcreek High School in the theater. There will be food from all over the globe. It is quite a spread.  This is one of my favorite events of the year. Go to www.centralgwinnett.org to get more information.
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By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
I know... most sellers at some point take a look at the 'Zestimate' that Zillow produces for their property.  And there is almost always one of two reactions... "Those people are on crack, my house is worth way more than that" (if the Zestimate is lower than expected) "Wow, I didn't know it was worth THAT much... Cool" (if the Zestimate comes in higher than expected) The bottom line is that if it is low, it must be wrong, and if it is high, then it must be right.  It is pretty rare for someone to see a low valuation and think it could be right, or see a high valuation and think it could be wrong... But let me tell you a truism... the Zestimate is wrong.  Blanket statement.  It could be high.  It could be low.  It isn't dead on. Here are the current levels of accuracy for the Atlanta Sta...
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By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
I can't think of a question that I am asked more... What is my home worth? And there as many answers as there are times the question is asked.  There are a lot of sources for the information... Appraisers Real Estate Agents Automated Valuation Models And the results come in many flavors... Appraisal Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) Broker Price Opinion (BPO) Zestimates There is one thing that they all share in common.  They are all opinions.  And they are all flawed.  That's right... all flawed. They might hit the right value... but if they do, it purely a fortuitous accident. Keep in mind, I work very hard on the accuracy of my CMAs.  I go over the data and try to stake out the trends as well as the differences between the subject and the comparable properties. I know agents that do B...
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By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
The Smoke Rise Baptist Church Car Show, scheduled for today was delayed by weather.  Overnight rains forced the organizers to alter the date, fearing more poor weather. A few cars showed up this morning, but apparently the website and email list was pretty effective at getting out the word. One of the cars that was there this morning was this beautiful Shelby GT500 clone.  Gotta love a 428 Cobra Jet.  
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