Want To Buy A House In Metro Atlanta? Go Hard Or Go Home!

My inspiration for this blog post is my excitement over my most recent contract that I'm negotiating for one of my home buyer clients.

For the 1st time in a year and a half I've been able to counter with the seller. This is not due to my negotiating skills because I'm an awesome negotiator, ask any of my previous clients.

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  Melkeya Mcduffie Client, Seller

  Priscilla is a gem! Extremely attentive and professional. She epitomizes what excellent customer service should look like. Priscilla made us feel as if we were her #1 priority. If you are looking for an agent in Georgia, Priscilla is the one to call!
  

  Tue, Sep 18, 2012

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  norman915 Client, Seller

  Priscilla was a great to me in dealing with selling of my home. She was very professional and showed a rare penchant for caring about her clients. Priscilla is very professional. and will everything in her power to bring her clients the best possible outcome to their buying or selling experience.
  

  Tue, Sep 11, 2012

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  Tonyfannin30 Client, Buyer

  She is a great agent to work with she wouldn't let me quit when I had my heart set on a house I really wanted. So she had find me a diamond in the rough it actually was better than the house I tried to get so thank you Ms. Hammond anybody looking for a house I will send them your way. Because I know you going to take care of them.
  

  Mon, May 7, 2012

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  Devaughn Woods Real Estate Pro

  Looking for Real Estate in the ATL? Priscilla gets is done! Look her up!
  

  Tue, Oct 4, 2011

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  Lisa Carlton Friend

  Priscilla has been one of my closest friends for 28 years. Honest, diligent and intelligent! Such a loyal friend and a true gift to anyone she comes in contact with!

The reason for the lack of being able to counter offer on my other recent home sales is because of multiple offers from other buyers.

That's right, don't believe what you hear on the news because it doesn't apply to every housing market. Metro Atlanta is rapidly turning into a seller's market and if you want to buy a home you have to be willing to compete with other buyers, particularly in the $200,000 and under price range.

If your Agent tells you the seller has received multiple offers on the home, don't ask if you can win with an offer price below list price because most likely you can't. You're also going to have to consider asking for less from the seller because you have competition and they'll most likely choose the buyer who gives them the highest net purchase price. For example my most recent listing 5302 Autumn Run Dr Powder Springs GA was listed at $85k, we received multiple offers and the highest offer was $115k, it's a short sale and a great bargain.

If you're considering selling your home and you'd like to go over all the options available to you, give me a call or send me an email, I get them sold fast.

If you're a serious home buyer and ready to utilize my services to help you find a great home, call me now and I can get you closed before Christmas.

Priscilla Hammond
Maximum One Realty Greater Atlanta
404.503.6562

How To Save To Buy A House

If you're thinking about buying a home and you'd like to start saving for your home buying expenses early I'm going to give you a general rule of thumb. This will not apply to everyone because there are several significant factors that will come into play when purchasing a home that can change these figures.

Example: Your household's gross monthly income is $3,000, your credit score is 640 and you have little to no other debt.

Let's say your purchase price is $100,000 and you're using an FHA 3.5% down loan with no repair escrows (203b) (203k) and no down payment assistance (Georgia Dream, Neighborhood Lift, NSP, etc) or other grant programs.

With $100,000 for your purchase price you'd pay $3,500 for a down payment (NOT the same as earnest money deposit) making your loan amount $96,500 for 30 years at 4.5% interest; $1,500 a year for property taxes $500 a year for HOA fees & $1,000 a year for homeowner's insurance. Your PMI (NOT the same as homeowner's insurance) is 1.25% giving you a monthly mortgage payment of $839.47 until your PMI drops off (in 2021) then your payment will go down to $738.95.

The first item you'll pay for is the lender's credit report about $75 for a married couple.

The next thing you'll pay is the earnest money deposit which is typically 1% of your purchase price if it's a regular seller and $500-$2,000 if it's a foreclosure seller dependent upon the purchase price and their individual requirements. So we'll say $1,000 for this example. It's deducted from the closing costs at closing.

Then you have your home inspection $350 (estimate) termite inspection $45 (estimate if the seller doesn't provide it) appraisal $600 (estimate)-if you'll want any other tests/inspections (lead, soil, survey, etc.) you'll have to add those on too.

The house checked out wonderfully and about 1-2 months later you're ready to close, your total closing costs including the lender's fees, hoa fees, property taxes, title insurance, recording fees, $3,500 down payment, title check & closing attorney fees came to a total of  $6,000 (6% of your purchase price) from that we'll subtract the -$1,000 earnest money deposit that you've already paid & 2% that the seller is paying towards your closing costs -$2,000= $3,000 that you'd need to bring on closing day.

We don't want you to go broke at closing so the lender may require you to have 3-6 months of your mortgage payment in an account(s) (reserves) on the day of closing, so for this example we'll say 3 months of mortgage payments=$2,518.41

Your total savings to purchase this $100,000 home should be about $7,588.41 which is a little on the high side but it will keep you from being surprised and caught off guard, the sample is a different amount but you should get the general idea.

Let's say you need to work on raising your credit score (click here for help with that) and want to move in the next 6 months, so if you have no money already saved up you would need to save $1,264.74 monthly for the next 6 months. If your move is in a year you need to save $632.37 monthly.

If you like to be prepared in advance and want to pre-plan your move or you're a big spender and need a little prodding to save for your home purchase, call me and I'll remind you every payday how much you need to put in your savings account before you go shopping!

Priscilla Hammond

Licensed Real Estate Agent
1st Choice Premier Realty Group "If we're not your 1st choice, we should be!"
Maximum One Realty Greater Atlanta

Independent Credit Consultant
FES 

404.503.6562

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