Yes it is a buyers market – but homes that are priced right and in good condtion will sell.  If you are in the market to buy a home, or sell a home, call John Foster with Remax Greater Atlanta at 770 722-7010 or visit my website at www.FosterHomeInfo.com.

If this home does not sound like what you are looking for – call me.  I view homes everyday and would like to help you find your next home.

Visit this home at the Open House this Sunday

Total Foreclosures/Shorts in Cumming  212 with total listings at 1,342 – so 16% of the listings are foreclosures or short sales in Cumming.

Total Foreclosures/Shorts in Alpharetta  125 with total listings at 1,014 – so 12% of the listings are foreclosures or short sales in Alpharetta.

If you or someone you know if facing foreclosure, have them call me at 770 722-7010.  To find out more about how to stop foreclosures in Alpharetta and Cumming visit www.MetroAtlantaForeclosureHelp.com

Get your FREE HaFa report and find out if you qualify for a short sale.

FOR RELEASE: IMMEDIATE

DATE: November 19, 2010                                    For more information, please contact: John Foster at 770 722-7010

JOHN FOSTER EARNS PRESTIGIOUS DESIGNATION TO HELP HOMEOWNERS IN DANGER OF FORECLOSURE

John Foster, REALTOR®, with ReMax Greater Atlanta has earned the prestigious Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) designation, having completed extensive training in foreclosure avoidance and short sales. This is invaluable expertise to offer at a time when the area has lots of “distressed” homes in the foreclosure process.

Short sales allow the cash-strapped seller to repay the mortgage at the price that the home sells for, even though it is lower than what is owed on the property. With decreased property values, this can save many people from foreclosure and even bankruptcy. More and more lenders are willing to consider short sales because they are much less costly than foreclosures.

The Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Suwanee and Cumming areas, have a growing number of homes are in danger of foreclosing. It happens in all price ranges – even high-priced homes are not immune. “This CDPE designation has been invaluable as I work with sellers and lenders on complicated short sales,” said Foster. “It is so rewarding to be able to help sellers save their homes from foreclosure.”

Alex Charfen, founder of the Distressed Property Institute in Boca Raton, Fla., said that Realtors® such as John Foster with the CDPE designation have valuable training in short sales that can offer the homeowner much better alternatives to foreclosure, which virtually destroys the credit rating. These experts also may better understand market conditions and can help sellers through the emotional experience, he said.

The CDPE is the premier designation for Realtors helping homeowners in distress and handling short sales and Foster is glad he put in the time and effort to obtain that designation. Shortly, John Foster will roll out a website specifically related to helping homeowners facing foreclosure. For more information about CDPE designation or to find a certified distressed Realtor in your area, please call John Foster 770 722-7010 or visit his website at www.FosterHomeInfo.com.

In October I searched the MLS to find out what Percentage of homes sold in October were short sales/foreclosures compared all the sales.  The FMLS recently just started tracking this information.  The following shows “Distressed sales” (ie. short sales & foreclosures in Alpharetta, Cumming and Suwanee) for October 2010:

1. Alpharetta Short Sales and Foreclosures:  20% of all Sales
2. Cumming Short Sales and Foreclosures:  20% of all Sales
3. Suwanee Short Sales and Foreclosures: 29% of all sale

I will begin tracking these stats – as these numbers decrease (and I think they are decreasing) the market with strengthen – but the first item required to strengthen the real estate market is consumer confidence needs to improve – which mean the job market needs to improve.

If you are considering selling your home or buy a home – please call me (John Foster) at 770 722-7010.  I help people buy foreclosures and would love to interview for the job of helping you find your next home.  Visit my website at www.Fosterhomeinfo.com to search the MLS and leave more about buying a foreclosure.

1. A home that sold for $171,500 in 2004 is listed for $99K
2. A home that sold for $173,360 in 2007 sold for 107K.
3. A home that sold for $148,900 in 2006 is listed at 109

If you are considering buying a home - CLICK HERE for homes that are for sale in Buford, Sugar Hill and Suwanee.

Visit www.FosterHomeInfo.com to search homes for Sale in Atlanta.  If you are considering buying a home – call me at 770 722-7010 – I am always looking for people that need to buy or sell real estate – I know the market.

1.  A short sale is where the market value of the home (price received) is not enough to pay for all the liens, mortgages etc on the home so the net proceeds at the closing take is “short” when it comes time to pay all the debts on the property.

2.  Is a short sale a good option for a buyer depends on the needs of the buyer.  If a buyer needs/wants to close quickly then a short sale probably is not going to be the route to go – it usually takes anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 months to get an answer back from the bank as to if the offer is accepted.

What takes so long?  Well first the seller has to apply for a short sale – which means bank statements, tax returns and pay stubs and supplied to the mortgage holders (if there are two mortgages you supply both with this information) along with a hardship letter explaining why they can not afford the monthly payment and why/how they ended up in the situation they are in.  The bank will then either deny the short sale or send out an appraiser and one or two agents to give them price opinions.  Those three opinions are then compared to the offer price to determine if the offer is accepted or countered. 

I have found many times the banks counter with what they belive is the market price – sometimes higher than the listing price.  I have seen some great deals to people that have the ability to wait.

If you are considering buying a home in Alpharetta, Cumming, Suwanee or Johns Creek – call me at 770 722-7010.  I am happy to explain the short sale process in more detail or visit my website at www.FosterHomeInfo.com to search the MLS.

• New listings = 166
• Expired listings = 48
• Withdrawn listings = 42
• Sold homes =66

In summary we still have to many sellers for the number of Buyers in the market.  Another area I look at is at the end of each month the homes under contract as a % of the ending inventory (note I track basically North Fulton and South Forsyth Real Estate (Areas 13,14,221,222)).

At the end of September the Pending homes as a percentage of Ending Inventory was 14% compared to 16% the year earlier.  That is consistent with what I am seeing as I show homes.

One positive note is there is about 12% less homes on the market than the prior year – real estate is all about supply and demand and as the supply of homes on the market drops, prices stablize.

If you want to look at homes for sale in Cumming, or homes for sale in Alpahretta – visit my website at www.FosterHomeInfo.com – to search all the listings in Atlanta is FREE.

See this Cumming home - call John at 770 722-7010

Short sale in Alpharetta

This morning I faxed an “Notice to withdraw an offer made on 10/18/10- that followed an offer we made on 10/3/10 on the same home (today is 10/25).  The last communication I received from the Listing Broker was last week and he just said he has not been able to get a hold of the seller.  After waiting almost 3 weeks my buyers found another home they like more so we are terminated the offers that were outstanding for over 3 weeks.  When I spoke w/ he listing agent he said the seller did not want to respond because my buyers asked for $5,000 in Seller contributions towards closing costs.  On a $400,000 home and $5,000 in closing costs stopped the deal from progressing and not even making a counter offer in this market is amazing to me.  Right now I wonder what that seller thinks about the listing agent.

To answer my question – yes the listing agent makes a huge difference.  Some agents are deal killers – and that is what I ran into on the last offer.

If you want to see homes for sale in Alpharetta – vist www.FosterHomeInfo.com to search all the Atlanta real estate values.  It is FREE.  If the time is right to look at homes or to interview agents – please call me at 770 722-7010 or email me at JohnFoster@remax.net

Currently, there are 12 homes for sale with an average asking price of $222K.  Throught 10/19/10 there have been 13 closings with an average sold price of $241K. 

View homes for sale at www.FosterHomeinfo.com

View Chadbourne homes for sale