Atlanta Real Estate Blog - Jarvis

Foreclosures in Barrow & Jackson Counties rose in September. Barrow County topped 205 for the month of September making it the third highest month ever.  Year to date in Barrow County, there's been 1,595 foreclosure actions.  Cities like Winder are noticing the inventory increase. 

In Jackson County, the new monthly record is now set at 150 for September.  Total foreclosures for the year in Jackson is up to 1,053, already more than all of last year. 

I've been working internet leads for over 7 Years.  I can remember starting with HomeGain when sitting in front of computer was about all it took to talk to a live body. Who can forget Advance Access?  Their templates are still the same!  Whatever works for you, I guess. 

A few months back there was a particular agent that came out and said that the "back to basics" message was dead.  The "List to Last" mantra was tired.  The Millionaire Real Estate Agent Model, Leads, Listings and Leverage... old hat.   I wonder what that agent is doing now?  Probably doing well ... as a speaker or trainer but I doubt they are selling much real estate.

Let me get back to the topic.  Doing internet leads for 7 years gives me a certain degree of comfort on the subject.  See you get to talk to eager clients and help them find a home.  This is really an awesome concept.  Most of the internet buyers I have helped (well over 100) I've had great experiences walking them through the process.

Unfortunately, there's this little thing called conversion ration.  See, I had to call and TALK TO about 25 folks for that to pan out into a closing.  My numbers may be bad, I'm really a better rambler than I am a salesperson.  In any case, out of 100 leads, I might talk to 25 with one closing.  Those are loose numbers.   What about the closings, on average the internet buyer is 8 months out.  

I love these, because my nature is to nurture, but in the industry, these type of leads, while pure gold is called C or D leads (8 to 12 months, will by sometime leads).

I know, I hooked you with the goofy title, but here's the punchline.  Internet leads are GRAVY!  You can generate a ton of interenet leads for free you just need one thing!  LISTINGS!   Funny how that works.  What are buyers looking for on the internet.... one guess ... LISTINGS.  Do you think they care about how many followers you have on Twitter? So are you better off working C and D leads or are you better working the leads that call or email off of specific listings?  My stats say the latter.

Oh, and the Biscuit is the Listing!  If you price it right, you get one sale.  In this market I can generate 5 qualified buyers. If I want internet leads, I just need to market the listings... Funny how that works.

I now have over 30 short sale listings and more buyers than I can handle vs the previous 7 years with 1 to 5 listings and having to call 100 people a day.

I've been doing this so long, in my opinion the wrong way.  I can't believe all this time I've been working the gravy when THERE WAS A BISCUIT UNDER THERE THE WHOLE TIME!

If you're in Real Estate at all, then you know that the Residential market has nearly bottomed.  Don't get me wrong, it'll be there for a few years.  Short Sales and foreclosures are here to stay.  If you are in Gwinnett County then you know there's been a fun ride of highs and lows in every neighborhood.

Commercial Real Estate is expected to see the same roller coaster, but even more intense in the next few quarters.

Despite a pick up in sales, commercial real estate prices posted a record drop in the second quarter, according to an index developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Real Estate.

With an 18.1 percent drop, the index, which tracks commercial property sold by major institutional investors, is now down 22 percent year-to-date, 32 percent from a year ago and down 39 percent from its mid-2007 peak, according to the report released on Monday.

"The big news this quarter is not just the magnitude of the drop, but the fact that transaction volume actually increased in the presence of this decline, the first volume increase since last summer," David Geltner, director of research at MIT/CRE, said in a statement.

"Perhaps most important, the supply-side index of the prices property owners are willing to sell at plunged a record 18.5 percent, suggesting a degree of 'capitulation' that may help to finally bring market prices to a bottom. The decline in nominal terms is far greater than the 27 percent drop the in the previous major commercial property downturn in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Adjusting for inflation, both periods are now tied at a 41 percent decline. The downturn in commercial real estate, as marked by the index, also is greater than the collapse in U.S. housing prices, which are off 30 percent, the report said. The 18.1 percent decline was the steepest in the index's 25 year history, far greater than the former record -- a 10.6 percent decline in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Gwinnett Daily Post wrote a small article today about the Squillance family and how more and more people are deciding to make the move to a "active" adult community.  While these are popular in Florida there are very few communities like this in the Metro Atlanta area.  The most popular community, Village At Deaton Creek, is not only the most popular Active Adult Community, but it's the most popular, best selling community in Georgia, period.

"It was very, very easy for me (to leave)," Squillace said. "It was more difficult for my wife."

So he and his wife Elayne sold their home in the Connemara subdivision in Snellville and moved to Hoschton. There, they settled in The Village At Deaton Creek, a subdivision for senior lifestyles, leaving behind the home in which they resided for more than 20 years and put three kids through Brookwood High School.

Their friends at Connemara threw them a going away party and joked about how far away they were moving. But it's a trek more and more people their age are making. As the population ages - the Atlanta Regional Commission's Lifelong Communities Study says that by 2030, 20 to 23 percent of the metro area's population will be over age 60 - those people are also becoming more active. And moving to places where others are active as well.

Squillace is 66 and says, "I've never been as busy as I am since I retired. It's actually not a joke. People have asked me to do things and I haven't had time."

This is not your father's retirement. Squillace stays busy with projects, trips, children and grandchildren. But he also stays active with bocce, senior tennis, bowling and trivia. Then there's softball. A self-professed softball fanatic, Squillace is not just a player in his league (a pitcher, of course) - he's the commissioner. And the league isn't just some pick-up deal. The teams are sponsored - just like you'd see in little league. "It's great," Squillace said of the softball. "It's people the same age getting out and still having fun. It's done socially as much as competitively. But it is competitive."