ULI Luncheon Speaker Series: “Retrofitting Suburbia”

April 1, 2010 · Leave a Comment

By: Judy Price

Yesterday I attended Urban Land Institute’s Monthly Luncheon Speaker Series. The speaker was Ellen Dunham-Jones, an award-winning architect and Professor at Georgia Tech. Professor Dunham-Jones explained the concept of retrofitting suburbia, presented examples where this concept has worked and then detailed ways to perform such retrofits.

 Underperforming older suburban office parks, malls and strip malls provide opportunities for adaptive re-use, creating pedestrian-friendly urban lifestyle centers with a mix of retail, residential and office space. Such places foster community interaction and establish feelings of a sense of place. One Atlanta example is that of Sembler’s Perimeter Center Place located near Perimeter Mall which allows residents to live where they shop.

 In addition to the redevelopment or re-inhabitation of existing buildings, I learned of a new concept called “re-greening.” Before protective laws were enacted, many malls were built on wetlands. Today, re-greening restores these hidden wetlands and can even strengthen adjacent property values. What a fascinating concept!

It was evident that Professor Dunham-Jones is passionate about the subject and I greatly enjoyed her talk today. If you would like to learn more about the subject, her book is Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs.

Categories: NRT Development Advisors · Real Estate

Practicing What We Preach – How to Sell Real Estate in this Economy

March 3, 2010 · Leave a Comment

By: Judy Price

In my previous post To Extend Or Not To Extend, I blogged about my belief that the government should extend the first-time homebuyer tax credit. Not only was I listened to, but Americans were also given an expanded credit for those living in a primary residence for more than 5 years. Well, just this past week, I sold my condo (a primary residence of over 5 years) to a first-time home buyer. And how did I do that in this economy, you ask? After doing a thorough analysis of active and sold listings in the market and looking to the success CBNRTDA is having at our on-site communities, I did the following:

• Energy-priced the home so that I was competitive with the market

• Offered an agent incentive (an additional 1% commission)

• Staged the condo so that it always looked like a model home; I even incorporated sound for showings

• Used the extensive internet exposure offered by Coldwell Banker and also invested in regular e-blasts with various messages for the market

• Reached out to local brokers

• Regularly followed-up with prospective buyers

What did I learn from selling my resale condominium in this market? That the tried and true methods CBNRTDA uses each day at our on-site communities are very effective. When I used these same methods, I generating qualified traffic and got the sale. These days, it is a combination of price, exposure and prospecting to go from listing to SOLD!

Categories: First-time homebuyer · NRT Development Advisors · Real Estate · Uncategorized
Tagged: ,

To Extend or Not to Extend?

October 9, 2009 · 1 Comment

By: Judy Price

Estimates place the overall number of new homes purchased with the first-time home buyer tax credit at 1.2 Million, with 400,000 homes bought by those who would have never done so in the first place. With the credit set to expire on November 30th, the debate about its extension now goes all the way to Capitol Hill.

This week, Congress did vote to extend the 8K tax credit for the next year to servicemen and women who actively served overseas for three of the last twelve months. This bill now moves on to the President. What remains to be seen if the extension will apply to all first-time buyers or beyond that to all home purchasers.

The market data continues to show signs of hope. On September 29th, the most recent Case-Shiller indices reported that the data from July showed house prices in the United States increasing for the third month in a row. And the August Pending Homes Sales Index posted its seventh consecutive monthly gain in August, the highest reading in 2-1/2 years. In my previous post,  I expressed concern over unemployment’s effect on recovery. Almost 10% of our population is more concerned about finding a job over purchasing a home. It sounds as if we’re stuck in a catch-22. Since housing is such a large part of our economy, it would make sense to continue to provide ways to stabilize it. But if the unemployed cannot qualify for a loan, they won’t have an opportunity to take advantage of the tax credit, resulting in a prolonged recovery in the housing market.

Interest rates remain low, and for those who can make the move, it remains a great time to buy. Would an extension of the tax credit result in another 400,000 new purchases that could boost the economy? I say we should give it a try. As bipartisan support for the extension gains momentum in Congress, it is possible that six-twelve more months of the tax credit may be on the horizon.

Categories: Bank Owned · FHA financing · First-time homebuyer · REO · Real Estate · Sales and Marketing
Tagged: , ,

Market Data Overload

July 1, 2009 · 1 Comment

By: Judy Price

I don’t know about you, but I find it challenging to stay on top of all the housing and economic data that comes our way each week. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? Or are we still in for a long, slow recovery?

Below are the highlights from the latest industry reports and my interpretation of what it all means for residential real estate.

Case-Shiller – April 2009

  • While home prices continue to decline, it appears that the speed of decline is slowing
  • Nine cities managed to avoid month-to-month decline in prices (which is an increase from the three cities that avoided the decline last month)
  • Home prices are back to 2003 levels
  • Stabilization may be occurring in some markets, but others still have a long way to go
  • In Atlanta, the index reported a .3% home price increase from March-April

National Association of Realtors (NAR) May Findings

  • Existing home sales for all product types rose 2.4%; this was the first back-to-back monthly gain since September 2005
  • Distressed property sales made up 33% of all transactions.
  • First-time homebuyers accounted for 29% of all transactions.
  • Pending home sales were up nationally 6.7% from April.

Commerce Department May Findings

  • New home sales declined .6% from the previous month, which is down 33% from May 2008.
  • Median sales price for new homes was up 4.2% to $221,600.
  • There’s a 10 month supply of new homes on the market, down 2% from April.
  • In the South, new home sales fell 8.5% from April.

Realty Trac/Foreclosure Data

  • Georgia ranked #7 in nation for foreclosures.
  • GA foreclosures down 1.27% from April to May 2009; nationwide foreclosures down 6%.
  • Foreclosure filings exceeded 300,000 for the third straight month in May.
  • US Foreclosure filings are forecast to hit 1.8M in the first half of 2009.

To summarize these reports, here’s what I see happening……

Glimmers of Hope: First-time buyers are out in the market (taking advantage of the $8,000 tax credit); existing and pending home sales increased month over month; months of supply is declining; in some markets, the speed of decline of house prices is slowing.

Economics to Watch: An increase in unemployment, oil prices or interest rates could negatively affect a housing recovery.

The White Elephant: A continued increase in unemployment will fuel the foreclosure market. The first wave came with sub-prime loans and in homes less than $200,000; as unemployment rises, so too does the number of foreclosures on homes more than $200,000.

Categories: Uncategorized