Joshua Jarvis - Georgia Realtor's Blog

In the world of Short Sales not everything is as it seems.  You might have an agent that has no idea what they are doing or you might have a pro that is keeping things from you, you could have a bank change their policy, fire someone or completely do a 180 on you at any time, and you might even have prices that go up and down for no apparent reason.

On average, our short sale process in Georgia is taking 5 months.  The fastes we've seen one move from meet (sit down with the seller) to closing has been 90 days.  That one we had help from the seller who had an early start.

If it takes us just 5 months to negotiate for a potential successful closing then the days on market are going to be at least 150 days!  

So the next time you call me and say, "Gee, this short sale has been on the market for a while..."  you should change that to... "how many offers do you have by now?"

See, it's not the days on market that is important to a short sale.  It's the number of offers and the progress I make with the bank.  I usually need 5 offers to sell one short sale, since the process takes so long.

My homes may sit there for 6 months, but we always have mutliple offers!

This video does an outstanding job of explaining the "HOWS" and "WHYS" of where we are in this credit crisis.  It becomes easy to see why there are so many short sales in atlanta.

Sure the Real Estate contract defines part of a Buyer's Agent Job as finding the home.  I just don't think that's it all.  I'm sorry Real Estate Commission, but we all know that most buyers can find most of the homes on their own and need very little help from agents other than...

1. Getting Pertinent Market Information
2. Getting into the home
3. Getting Localized information

Of course, only getting into the home is part of the battle but most buyers and the Commission (big C) have the wrong idea. 

So what is a Buyer's Agent Good For?

It can all be summed up in Fiduciary Responsibility.   In Georgia, Realtors have a Fiduciary responsbility to their clients.

What does that mean?

• It means that my job isn't to find you the home... NO, it's to get you the best deal on a home that matches the criteria based on your needs that you gave me.
• It means that I'm a consultant and will COUNSEL you on the decision. 
• It means, GOOD OR BAD, I'm going to tell you the outcome of your decisions. 

Bottomline it means I'm going to look out for your best interest or as some people say, "I've got your back."

Oh and by the way...  Anyone who thinks that I have my own interest at heart... is dead right!

I see the value in a long relationship, because that equals more referrals.  Pushing your price range up, showing homes with higher commission, and other tactics are a big no-no.  It's just silly business practice to go after a few hundred extra dollars when having a happy client could be several closings a year!

In preparing for a listing appointment in Lawrenceville, GA, I discovered some good news and some realistic facts about our market.  Given the latest news, I felt like sharing.

The Bad

• Since 2000, this year has statistically beat out every other year in terms of length (not good) with between 90 and 100 days on market being average. 
• Expired Listings (the homes that failed to sale) are at all time highs in every month, going back 8 years.
• Average Sale Prices are mirroring 2005, but there was a nice increase in average sales price in the early summer.
• August 2008 was the worst month in this decade for sales, but previous months followed the 2005 pattern.