Athens Area Golf Course Home

2010 was a difficult year in real estate with a large rush of business in the first few months of the yeardue to federal tax credits that expired in April. It led to some increase in closings early in the year, through June, but then there was a larger than expected decrease in sales July through October. The following links connect you with information and charts of the individual residential real estate market performance in the Athens Ga are including Clarke County Ga, Watkinsville Ga, Oconee County Ga, Oglethorpe County Ga, Madison County Ga & Jackson County Ga.

All market reports are located on another of my blog sites and include charts and analysis for each of the areas. The reports include comparative data for 2009 and 2010 including sales volume,  REO or foreclosure sales, Days on Market, average and median sales prices.

The Athens Area ended the year 2010 with two consecutive months of sales volume increase.  The following link will provide the market data stats for December 2010 for Athens and the surrounding counties:

Greater Athens Area Residential Real Estate Sales Volume Rises in December for Second Month in a Row- Residential Real Estate Montly Statistics Charts, Nov 2009 – Dec 2010

In 2010 Athens – Clarke County Ga experienced about an 11% decrease in residential home sales volume from 2009. The following link provides the 2010 market data stats and a comparison to 2009 for Athens – Clarke County Ga:

Athens – Clarke County Ga 2010 Residential Real Estate Year in Review

In 2010 Watkinsville Ga experienced an increase in residential home sales volume over 2009. The following link provides the 2010 market data stats and a comparison to 2009 stats for Watkinsville, Ga.

Watkinsville Ga 2010 Residential Real Estate Year in Review

In 2010, even with the strong performance in Watkinsville, Oconee County Ga had a net decrease in sales volume from 2009. The following link provides access to the 2010 market data stats and a comparison to 2009 for Oconee County Ga.

Oconee County Ga 2010 Residential Real Estate Year in Review

In 2010, in Jackson County Ga REO (Real Estate Owned), also known as bank or lender owned homes after foreclosure, mad up almost 2/3 of home sales. The following link provides access to the 2010 market data stats and a comparison to 2009 for Jackson County Ga:

Jackson County Ga 2010 Residential Real Estate Year in Review

In 2010, Oglethorpe County Ga experienced a slight decline in average sales price but an increase in the median sales price. The following link provides access to the 2010 market data and comparison stats to 2009 for Oglethorpe County Ga.

Oglethorpe County Ga 2010 Residential Real Estate Year in Review

In 2010, Madison County Ga had a decline in the number of REO sales from 2009, although those sales were still 1/2 of the volume. The following link provides access to the 2010 market data and comparison stats to 2009 for Madison County Ga.

Madison County Ga 2010 Residential Real Estate Year in Review

Mike Saunders

Keller Williams Realty Greater Athens

For information about buying or selling property in and around Athens call me at 706-207-5290 or you can click here to email me with any questions.

Find out more about what I can do for you or search for property at The Athens Real Estate Page.

Get buying and selling pointers, as well as area information at Living In and Around Athens Blog

Please help, if you can, and place a bag of non-perishable food at your mailbox in time for your letter carrier to pick it up.

Thank You!

The biggest risk from these freezing temperatures, to your home, is from water turning to ice inside your pipes and outdoor faucets. Make sure that you remove all of your hoses from any outside hose bibs. You can also cover them with insulating hose bib covers that you can purchase at any hardware store and even from some “super stores” such as a Walmart Supercenter.

Next, make sure that your water pipes, in your crawlspace or attic, are insulated. You can purchase these insulation sleeves that just fold over your pipes at the same places that you find the hose bib covers.

Also, you may want to leave each of your indoor faucets opened to allow for a drip. This will keep a slight movement of water inside of the pipes. Do this with both the hot and cold faucets. For a single spout, just align the control in the middle.

One last step you can take is to open all doors to your interior cabinets. This will allow the room temperature air to circulate around the water pipes and help prevent freezing.

Know where your water shutoff valves are. Sometimes, no matter what you do, those pipes will freeze and burst. Shutting off the water to those burst or leaking pipes will prevent further damage to your home. Keep the phone number of your plumber handy in case you do spring a leak in your pipes.

And, finally, if you are looking to buy or sell your home or other property, give me a call at 706-207-5290. For a copy of my 99 Tips For Home Sellers please click here to email me with your request. I will not share your email address with anyone. To search for homes and real estate in the Athens area and N.E. GA, please visit my website The Athens Real Estate Page.

The Greater Athens Ga real estate market consists of Athens-Clarke County, Oglethorpe County, Jackson County, Oconee County, including Watkinsville, and Madison County. Overall, active listings for the area decreased by 1.1% from 3242 active listings to 3207 active listings while closed sales went from 16 to 26, an over 62% increase. A lower number of listings, coupled with increased closings are both positive trends signs.

However, there is one negative indicator and that is pending sales. That number dropped from 283 to 249. But, there are two mitigating factors that may reduce the negative aspect of this. The first, this time of the year there is always a reduction of sales, so a lower number of pending contracts can be expected. Second, and perhaps having the most impact, the original first time home buyers tax credit was to expire on Nov. 30, therefore, there was a rush to get pending sales closed by Nov. 30. While the credit has been extended, and also now includes repeat home buyers, that extension has not been reflected in pending sales, and probably will not until February, 2010 and beyond. I expect pending sales to continue to decline until next year.

The following links will take you to the weekly market reports for each of the sections within the greater Athens, Ga real estate market area:

Athens – Clarke County, GA Weekly Real Estate Market Report & Stats, 12/6/2009

Watkinsville, Ga Weekly Real Estate Market Report & Stats, 12/6/2009

Oconee County Ga Weekly Real Estate Market Report & Stats, 12/6/2009

Jackson County Ga Weekly Real Estate Market Report & Stats, 12/6/2009

Madison County Ga Weekly Real Estate Market Report & Stats, 12/6/2009

Oglethorpe County Ga Weekly Real Estate Market Report & Stats, 12/6/2009

For more information about real estate, or, if you are interested in buying or selling your home or property in the Greater Athens and N.E. Ga area, please call me at 706-207-5290. You can search for real estate in and around Athens and N.E. Ga by visiting my webpage, The Athens Real Estate Page.

I have been to Alaska several times and have seen many moose, but I didn’t see what whoever made the video of this saw.

Take the time to enjoy.

Thanks to everyone that made a contribution to this worthy cause. If you did not get a chanch to contibute, Donations may still be made via the team fundraising webpage at http://www.the3day.org/goto/ AAAR. If you donate online, you can spread your donation out over four monthly payments.

Kudos to the team membes who not only made that 3 day 60 mile walk but spent all that time training and getting in shape to do this.

AAAR Team Members:

• Bob Allen
• Marsha Allen
• Carol Bitner
• Dale Bogardus
• Evie Brassie, Bill Caputi
• Tammi Johnson
• Judy McDonald
• Brenda Paulk
• Julie Paulk
• Linda Carol Porterfield
• Beth Russell
• Glenda Severson
• Angela Shields
• Bo Shields
• Jennifer Westmoreland
• Pam Wiley

AAAR has set a goal of raising over $70,000 this year and we still need your support. The teams have been training for several months and are eager to go this weekend.

Please go to http://www.the3day.org/goto/AAAR to find out about the teams and how you can support this effort.

Thank you!

First, just a few comments on the methodology of the survey. In order to get a good cross reference of buyers and sellers, from those selling and buying on their own, to those using agents, the survey was conducted by a third party using tax records (as opposed to realty board MLS records) to provide the data. The complete methodology statement is included at the end of this article.

During the 12 month period included in the survey the following was found:

Home Purchases:

• Only 6 % of homes purchased we purchase directly through the seller of the For Sale By Owner (FSBO).
• 81% of homes purchased were through real estate agents
• 10% of homes purchased were directly through builders  of the builders agents
• 3% of homes purchased were through foreclosure

Home Sales:

• 84% of homes were sold through real estate agents
• 3% were sold through foreclosures
• 13% were sold through FSBO. Of that 13% almost half, 6% were sold to buyers that were previously known to the seller.

Pricing: The median pricing of existing homes sold FSBO and through a real estate agent is as follows:

The above chart indicates that, in general, agent assisted sales result in 35% higher sales price in the 12 months ending 2008. Part of this is attributable to the probability that those selling to previously known buyers do not negotiate as high a price as they could, especially with family. Also, many FSBO’s are in rural areas and mobile homes and may tend to be priced lower. However, that does not account for the full difference in median prices. FSBO’s do get 1% higher median price vs asking price, but, still result in a lower net.

So what does it all mean?

OK, this might sound a bit self promoting, but, what it means is that FSBO’s that are not sold to previously known buyers are 7% of the number of existing homes sold, or less (in 2007 they were 6%). Also, FSBO sold homes average significantly less sales price than agent assisted sales. There are several reasons for this, which may include the following:

• FSBO sellers may not have, or know, or use the resources that gets their home the most visibility and therefore generate the most interest
• FSBO may not understand the complexities and subtleties of pricing
• FSBO sellers may not understand the negotiation process nor have the experience to conduct negotiations
• FSBO sellers are often (26%) in rural areas where prices may be lower

Using an agent, while providing no guarantee, can often result in a higher selling price providing a larger net to the seller, even taking commissions into consideration. For instance, using the median sales prices above, a sale’s price of $211,000 less a 6% commission of $12660 will still net 198340, well above the median of $153,000. Most FSBO sellers end up listing with a Realtor anyway, so, after trying for yourself, after a month or so, it might be a good idea for you to consider it.

For information about selling your home, please call me at 706-207-5290, or, you can click here to email me with any questions or to request a copy of my 99 Tips for Selling Your Home. To search for homes in the Athens area and surrounding counties and communities, as well N.E. Georgia, please visit my website, The Athens Real Estate Page.

Survey Methodology:

In August 2008, the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® mailed an eight-page questionnaire to 133,000 consumers who purchased a home between July 2007 and June 2008. The survey yielded 10,053 usable responses with a response rate, after adjusting for undeliverable addresses, of 7.9 percent. Consumer names and addresses were obtained from Experian, a firm that maintains an extensive database of recent home buyers derived from county records. Information about sellers comes from those buyers who also sold a home.
All information in this Profile is characteristic of the 12-month period ending June 2008, with the exception of income data, which are reported for 2007. In some sections comparisons are also given for results obtained in previous surveys. Not all results are directly comparable due to changes in questionnaire design and sample size. Some results are presented for the four U.S. Census regions: Northeast, Midwest, South and West. The median is the primary statistical measure used throughout this report. Due to rounding and omissions for space, percentage distributions may not add to 100 percent.

To help reach that goal, some Athens area restaurants have agreed to donate part of their proceeds from specific days and meals. If you are considering dining out on those days, please consider these restaurants:

The Daily Neighborhood Deli – Friday, July 31st, dinner only – reservations suggested

The Hilltop Grille – August 3 – 9, all meals

The Daily Neighborhood Deli – August 14 – dinner only

The Daily Neighborhood Deli is located at 2791 Monroe Highway, Watkinsville.

The menu for Fri, Jul 31 will be::

Option 1: Traditional spinach salad: bacon, red onion, hard boiled egg, creamy housemade dressing.

Seared scallops, lemon risotto, asparagus, pine nuts, balsamic gastrique. $16.95

Option 2: Antipasti, pesto ciabatta

Orecchieete, sausage, broccoli rabe, parmesan, arrabbiata sauce $15.95

Dinner is served from 5:30 – 8:30 PM

They would appreciate it if you would call and let them know that you are coming, but not absolutely necessary. Their phone number is 678-661-0303.

So, go out and have a great meal while helping a great cause!