Tag Archives: National Association of Realtors

Educating First Time Home-Buyers Webinar

Posted on August 31, 2009 by | Leave a comment

It is important for all home buyers to be educated.  First time homebuyers have unprecedented buying opportunities that currently exist.  We are hosting a free Webinar on Thursday, September 17 at 10 am during which experts from Coldwell Banker NRT Develpment Advisors and Coldwell Banker Mortgage discuss the tax credit, loan options and more.

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Posted in First-time homebuyer, Real Estate, Sales and Marketing, Uncategorized

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Coldwell Banker NRT Development Advisors releases 2nd quarter report on Atlanta market

Posted on August 20, 2009 by | Leave a comment

As you may have seen in the Saturday, August 15, 2009, AJC,  small positive signs were reflected in the 2Q 2009 edition of The Development Advisor.

The NRT Development Advisors’ 2Q 2009 edition of The Development Advisor, the company’s quarterly review of the metropolitan Atlanta residential market, has just been released. The second quarter of the year is historically one of the industry’s strongest, and this year was no exception.

Although there were positive signs in many areas in comparison to the first quarter, the mixed results reflect the uncertainty of the times. Macroeconomic pressures such as high unemployment in the state of Georgia and metro Atlanta, weak consumer confidence, difficulty in obtaining a mortgage and appraisal issues continue to weigh heavily on housing.

In addition to seasonality, several factors have contributed to the absorption improvement in metro Atlanta’s housing market since 1Q 2009. The $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit, historically low interest rates and the second highest affordability index recorded have combined to encourage home buyers to move from the sidelines and take advantage of home ownership.

Highlights about the 15-county metro area from 2Q 2009 report include:
·    Total closings were down 9% compared to 2Q 2008. However, there was a 32% increase over 1Q 2009.
·    Compared to 2Q 2008, resale was down only 4% while new construction declined over 31%.
·    Both resale and new construction enjoyed a significant increase in closings when compared to the 1Q09 results.
·    Sales price declines were the most pronounced in resale transactions versus new construction, primarily due to short sales and foreclosures.
·    New construction had an 8% price decline over 2Q 2008 while resale declined 22 – 24%.
·    On a positive note, inventory levels continue to decline significantly for both resale and new construction and building permits remain at historic lows.

Much of our information is compiled from the company’s proprietary Universal Database, a system that pulls data for the entire metropolitan Atlanta market from both FMLS and GAMLS, deleting any duplication.  Click here to download the full 2Q 2009 report.

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Social media important tool in the homebuying process

Posted on April 22, 2009 by | 1 Comment

By: Jessica Weston

The internet has been climbing the ladder over the past several years as one of the most valuable tools in the homebuying process for buyers and, therefore, for realtors. In a recent study by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), “87% of recent homebuyers in the U.S. say they used the internet as an information resource during their home-buying process, and nearly 1/3 say they first leaned about their newly purchased home from an online channel.” And, with the recent craze about social media, the internet is also a powerful communication channel amongst friends, colleagues, and trusted industry experts. Given this data, it is very important that real estate professionals focus on the internet as a valuable sales tool to reach out to consumers and communicate with them.

Social media outlets are important platforms for real estate agents to share industry news, voice their opinions and promote their listings. Their words are trusted by those listening since their audience is typically friends, family, friends of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. Gone are the days when traditional media set agendas by presenting information that represented unchallenged truth. Now, consumers are more likely to trust what they have seen, read or heard about a company if someone they know has already mentioned it to them. So, for home sales, all it takes is one real estate professional to begin a blog, post something on his/her Facebook page, and/or share a video of his/her home for sale to begin a chain of communication that reaches a broader audience than ever before. It’s like the conversation at the water cooler, but with hundreds or thousands of people as your captive audience! Word of mouth about a company or association drives trust. Trust drives transactions.

To capitalize on the world of social media, Coldwell Banker NRT Development Advisors will be hosting a series of ongoing training programs, called Socially Speaking. These sessions will educate our sales and marketing teams about how to utilize these outlets to effectively market their listings and inform prospective clients about the social media forums with which their target audiences take part.

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