Sellers are reporting great success with their open houses – yes, even in the snow of March 1.

This month’s open houses will be on Sunday, March 29 from 2 to 5.

See TipsandForms.com for info on what to do if you don’t know.

A lease purchase could be a win/win situation for a homeowner and a potential buyer. It could allow a buyer who may not be able to purchase the opportunity to move into a house and experience the pride of ownership. It could allow the seller who needs to move a way to get someone in the house to cover the mortgage until they can sell. Although with every real estate transaction, it could also have its pitfalls which will be discussed later.

When two parties enter into a Lease Purchase agreement, they will sign two different contracts; a lease and a purchase contract. The lease end date will also be the same as the close date on the purchase contract.

Most Lease Purchases are for one year, but depending on the situation, could be more or less. All the terms for the purchase will be negotiated up front and “locked in” for the duration of the lease. The lease can be written giving the tenant full responsibility of interior and exterior maintenance issues, taxes and any other fees associated with property like Homeowner’s Association fees, club dues or any assessments.

Lease Purchases tend to be a volatile contract and many do not close. To decrease the risk of this happening, the seller should strongly consider running credit, background and reference checks, both personal and rental. The seller should also consider asking for a sizable non-refundable down payment up front to protect them in case the buyer breaches the contract. The seller should not hesitate to ask for an amount of 3-5% down payment. This will help the seller for two reasons; as leverage to keep the purchasers in the contract and a way to take care of any damages the property may have sustained if the buyers do breach and move out.

Some tenant/buyers will ask if a portion of the rent could be credited towards the purchase price. This is completely in the hands of the seller. If the seller doesn’t mind the extra accounting involved with it, it can be negotiated and written into the contract. But don’t make it too complicated. The easier the terms, the easier the contract will be to maintain.

If the tenant/buyer does fulfill all the terms of the contract and closes, the non-refundable down payment paid at the beginning of the contract should be credited to them in the form of closing costs, towards the principal or wherever was negotiated at binding.

The close date and the end of the lease term should be the same date. The transaction will close just like any other purchase in the office of a closing attorney. The tenant/buyer should start obtaining their financing a month or two prior to the end of the lease.

If the tenant/buyer is working with an agent, the agent may ask for an up-front commission and will wait for the rest on the back end when the transaction closes. There is no fixed amount an agent should receive and will be negotiated before binding.

This could be a good transaction for all as long as every person involved respects the contract or a horrible experience if not.

Duffy Realty Days on Market is now 77 days, the industry average is 169 days. Duffy Sellers sell for about 97% of their list price. According to the FMLS, 1260 single family homes sold in Metro Atlanta during February 2009 at 93% of their asking price.

Many people want to know the statistics but what do they really mean to you? Let’s break it down…

Days on Market: This # does not include expired listings or withdrawn listings. How long will it take to sell your home? Who knows! You could be better than the average or longer than average. You could expire after 180 days on the market and then sell within 14 days of relisting; your Days on Market would be 14. The key is that Duffy homes sell faster than the industry average but there is no way to know how long it will take for you to sell.

When you are asking for statistics you need to know that they may not be YOUR statistics. You may do much better or much worse. It has been said your chances of getting struck by lightening are greater than your chances of winning the lottery but how many people play the lottery anyway? Why? Because you can’t win if you don’t play.

If you want to sell your home, don’t worry about statistics or the media or what your best friend’s aunt said. Focus on what you can control. Price, condition of the home, the home’s availability to be shown, staging, pictures, the lack of clutter, smells, cleanliness, landscaping, repairs, etc. Put your attention on your home. Don’t be concerned with everyone else, just be aware. Take advantage of the advice given to you by your listing agent, listen to the feedback from friends, other agents and potential buyers and react. Don’t be a passive seller…..make it happen!

Melissa Boring
Listing Expert
Duffy Realty

As an Atlanta resident and certified Home Staging Expert I’m proud to say I recently sold my house within 60 days and $5000 of my asking price. While this was admittedly not the easiest process given the uncertain market we’re currently faced with, it is certainly possible with the right packaging and elbow grease on the part of the seller. In fact, I’m 100% confident that home staging – the art of preparing a home for sale so it’s as appealing as possible to every potential buyer in the market – is the one and only reason I was able to sell my house before the 20+ other homes in the neighborhood I was competing against. And while hiring a professional home stager is the best way to ensure your home is prepared to it’s absolute fullest potential, there are many things you can do on your own to achieve big impact in the eyes of the buyer.

1. KITCHENS SELL HOUSES
Granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and travertine tile are beautiful additions to kitchens, but don’t think that sprucing up a kitchen has to be such a massive investment. A fresh coat of paint on the walls, updating of hardware and faucets and simple accessories on the counters can give the kitchen a major facelift. Before you replace the cabinets consider having them re-finished or re-painted and add some updated hardware in a brushed nickel or bronze finish to give them a like-new look for a lot less money.

2. CURB APPEAL IS CRUCIAL
Your house should excite the buyer from the moment they arrive – hedges should be trimmed, grass mowed and pine islands manicured. Replace tarnished exterior sconces, doors and hardware, place eye-catching potted plants on the steps leading to your door and put a fresh welcome mat out to greet guests as they arrive. With over 80% of people searching the internet before ever stepping foot in a house, that first exterior photo that pops up on the MLS is crucial to encouraging buyers to explore further.

3. PAINT, PAINT, PAINT
Busy wallpaper, nicked walls and ultra dark or bright colors should always be painted over. Nothing gives an easier, less expensive facelift than a fresh coat of paint in a nice neutral color, and it can help curb odors at the same time. But don’t let the word neutral lead you to painting your entire house taupe – variety of color in a natural palette will give your house a memorable warmth and charm. Use colors you see in nature such as beige, sage, soft yellow and gray-blue.

4. LIGHTEN AND BRIGHTEN
Lightening and brightening is the cheapest thing you can do with the biggest return on investment. Pull open your blinds and curtains and turn on every overhead light and lamp in the house before all showings. Still have those heavy window treatments you put up in the 70s or 80s? Pull them down and let the light pour in – you’re selling your windows and the view, not the dressings surrounding them.

5. AVOID LINING THE WALLS WITH FURNITURE
This is one of the most consistent mistakes I see when staging for clients. Not only do most rooms have 1-2 pieces that are simply not needed, everything that’s in the room has been pushed to the walls so there is a big, empty, unusable space in the middle! Pull sofas off walls, remove extra furniture that isn’t serving a necessary purpose and allow buyers to see the peripheral of the room. This will add instant visual square footage.

6. DE-PERSONALIZE
When searching for a home, the goal is to find the one you can best envision yourself living in. That being said, buyers need non-personal style and décor in order to feel “at home” as they are walking through. Pull down the personal photos, deer heads or plate collections and replace them with a beautiful framed mirror or landscape artwork. Flip through Pottery Barn and West Elm catalogs, then do your best to implement that style in your own home.

7. BUYERS NO LONGER WANT BATHROOMS, THEY WANT SPAS
Ensure your bathroom has a soothing color on the walls and place a stack of fluffy towels by the tub and a basket of soaps and lotions by the sink. Again, updates don’t have to cost top dollar – consider painting or re-finishing the vanity, hanging a new framed mirror and updating the faucets and light fixtures.

8. FRESH BEDDING = MAJOR BEDROOM MAKEOVER
In the bedrooms, and especially the master, the bed should be an inviting, beautiful focal point that beckons buyers to come in and take a load off. An updated bed-in-a-bag can be purchased for $40 – $100 at TJ Maxx, Linens-N-Things, Marshalls or Target. Purchase bedding that ties in with the feeling and color of your room in updated patterns such as jacquard or damask. Or play it safe with an elegant white duvet with a few throw pillows that bring in the color of your walls!

9. KNOW YOUR BUYER
Are you trying to sell a two bedroom townhome in Buckhead, or a five bedroom house on an acre in East Cobb? The location, size and layout of your home are good indicators of who will most likely be looking at and eventually purchasing your home. Once you’ve identified your buyer, cater to them with the style of furnishings, colors and overall lifestyle you present in the house.

10. DECIDE YOU’RE GOING TO SELL
While staging your home is necessary to ensure you get top dollar as quickly as possible, you should not simply stage your home, put it on the market and then sit back and wait. You can never be sure what action will actually secure a contract – so do it all. Print your flyers in color, not black and white, and keep the box full. Ensure every inch of your house sparkles for every showing and that there is a fresh scent when buyers walk in. Open your doors for an open house when you’re available on Saturdays and Sundays. Send out an email to friends and family in the area with photos and specs on the house letting them know you’re on the market. Decide you’re going to sell and then do everything in your power to do so.

Good Luck!

Written by:

Tasha Moody, HSE
President, Simply Staged
Atlanta Area Home Staging
www.TheSimplyStagedHome.com

Add Your Home Video To The Duffy Website and Many More Places

This document will give you instructions on how to:

? Add the video to the DuffyRealtyofAtlanta.com website
? Use the link to advertise in brochures
? Use the link to advertise on Craigslist and any other website you can think of
? Use the link to advertise on your yard sign
? We will add the link anywhere else we can and that we think of

This is very easy – should take you less than thirty minutes and you don’t have to worry about the quality or what you say as much as just showing folks your home.

1. Add the video to the DuffyRealtyofAtlanta.com website

Use any video camera and it’s instructions to make a video and add it to www.YouTube.com.

If you don’t have a camera, there are plenty of cameras now that range from $90 to $150 that will allow you to edit your work and will upload directly to You Tube. My favorite is the 30 or 60 minute FLIP camera sold online and at Wal-mart. The software is on the camera and will allow you to add a front intro to your home. There is also music that you can add to the video inside the FLIP camera software.

The You Tube channel you upload to is Duffy Listings
Go to Tips and Forms.com for the user name and password.

Once you have uploaded your video, please write us at help@duffyrealtyofatlanta.com and let us know so that we can add it to the website. Please add your address and city so we can get your video in the right place.

2. Make a smaller website link so that you can add a simple link to your brochures and websites and yard sign.

Copy the website link of your You Tube video from the internet address bar.

Go to www.tinyurl.com

Put the website link in:
The space of enter a long URL to make tiny.
THEN
Add your address as the custom alias

Example:

www.tinyurl.com/15275-Highgrove -Road

you can’t have spaces, so use dashes.

You can get a sign rider for your sign for your video with your tiny url.

By now everyone has changed their clocks forward. Finally, we’re enjoying the beautiful spring weather although just last week mother nature gave us all a big surprise.

During this big surprise, I was visiting my 89 year old Dad in Connecticut and heard the unexpected news that the Atlanta airport had 900 cancellations just last Sunday. Not a big surprise was the Westchester airport experiencing cancellations the following day.

My Dad’s the epitome of what we all exhibit in our own daily lives. He has all his routines. Actually, in over 50 years, he never missed a weekly Rotary Club dinner meeting. Going out to the pancake house, the waitress knew all too well his “usual”. But even with Dad, this spring season does usher in a sense of new & fresh. He was anticipating soon opening up the windows and mentioning what a perfect time soon to get the floors refinished. If he was a seller of ours, he would be our poster child.

However, my cousin, Jean does have her townhome on the market. Knowing I’m in real estate, she wanted me to swing by and take a look. She was concerned because she hasn’t received an offer. It certainly was a plus that she was in a beautiful quiet neighborhood. Coming up the front steps, I noticed her railing was in need of paint. Of course, she enters thru the garage and had no clue. It was a terrific open floor plan, however, she kept all the blinds shut, which prevented me from enjoying the wooded view. Her kitchen still had wallpaper all over. Although somewhat attractive, it really dated the look buyers want today. I suggested she get rid of it. Her response was that she liked it. The wallpaper continued into the master bath. Again, her response was that she likes it. Apparently, she reduced the price and still no offers. The light fixtures in the baths also looked dated. Guess what? She also likes them.

Her kitchen was beautiful. However, all big appliances were on display on the countertop which took away from the spaciousness. When I suggested she put them all away, her response was that she uses them every day. I guess her buyers don’t agree.

Routines are great. They kept my Dad and cousin Jean going all these years. However, when selling a home one needs to add another routine. It’s called “Staging” which allows a home for sale to “appeal to the broadest range of buyers”. Unless Jean wants to buy her home again, she must step up her routine.

At Duffy, you have at your disposal at a discounted fee, our professional on-staff stager.
It’s Spring!
Energize your Home!
Excite your Buyer!
Get Serious! Get it Sold!

Okay everyone, we have noticed that we NEED to talk to buyers in this market. We have to tell them all the reasons to buy and not sit on the fence.

$8,000 stimulus package is not only for first time buyers and the income levels are huge
Great interest rates
Predictions are that we are at the bottom of pricing
Housing is not only an investment, it is a place to live
It is okay to buy
Atlanta is not struggling like other national markets
Only 1 out of 300 homes are in foreclosure – that is 97% of the houses have mortgages paid on time
Real estate is still a great investment

Please let us talk to your buyers – PLEASE, PLEASE take your audio tour sign off.

I would prefer if you get a sign rider with your phone number on the sign so that you can talk about this with the buyers or lets us talk to them.

Buyers are scared but you and I can talk them off the fence.

We also are transferring buyers now to 3 different lenders so that someone can get these folks a loan!

- Rhonda Duffy

Forbes Magazine predicts good news is around the bend for the Atlanta real estate market in 2009. Forbes expects new home starts to be up 32.5% for single family homes in the metro area, and job growth to continue at 2% for 2009. While the job growth number might seem modest, it beats most areas of the country, and has been consistent with Atlanta for a number of years.

Forbes named ten US cities expected to begin a long term recovery in 2009: Albuquerque, NM; Charlotte, NC; San Antonio, TX; Portland, ME; Austin, TX; Salt Lake City, UT; Colorado Springs, CO; Minneapolis, MN; Atlanta, GA; and Oklahoma City, OK. With good news from an established source, the continued dedication of Georgia’s real estate professionals, and a public still in need of housing things could be looking up soon.