I have seen far more activity as the credit come to an end as I did when the last credit came to an end in November 2009.  At that point last November we had 5 pending closing and as of today we have 10 pending closings.

Has the credit made a difference?  Yes.  Would those individuals have purchased anyway, most likely.  What the credit has done was created a since of urgency and lowered the inventory levels quickly.

I have had a few buyers that have not gotten under contract to qualify for the credit and the clock is ticking.  Most of them early on made the choice to find a home that they love no matter how long it takes to find it rather than rush just to get the $8,000 credit.  These are the wise buyers.

The buyers trying to get under contract have been involved in multiple offer deals where there has been intense competition.  Banks and individuals have been holding firm on their offer price.  The ones that have won the bids have offered full list price or more.

Think about it, just months ago you could get a bank or individual to negotiate, and now they are holding strong.  I think this will continue until April 30, when demand will drop off.  At that point, then they will be more agreeable to negotiate.

Is the $8,000 credit held prices artificially high? I believe that sellers felt that could get $8,000 more for their home with the credit. Those who didn’t sell will see the reduced demand equate into price reductions.

I am glad that the credit was not considered for another extension so the market can get around to self correcting.  Selfishly I want a normal market, not artificially stimulated.   Myself and many of my colleagues agree that letting the free market find its balance will be the quickest way to get back to normal.

New buyers after April 30 will be in short supply, but we will be busy getting all the homes to closing by June 30.  During this time we will have to work hard since any issues found during inspections that could kill the deal may cost the buyer $8,000. Expect sellers to be tough about making repairs or concessions since they know every issue after April 30 is a $8,000 issue.

Keep focused on keeping the relationship of protecting your clients during the next two challenging months.  Remember, our partners are getting ready to get real busy. Our inspectors, lender, appraisers and closing attorneys all need our support and patience.

Shop and Eat!
You’ll find tons of great shopping and every cuisine available in Gwinnett.

The Mall of Georgia, Discover Mills, The Avenue at Webb Gin, The Forum and Gwinnett Place Mall have just what you’re looking for:  www.simon.com, www.shoptheavenue.com , www.forumdevgroup.com

Sample the best of Gwinnett during Restaurant Week in July.  A three-course meal is only $21.21, plus tax.  Go to www.gcvb.org/restaurantweek for menus and details.

Past Participating restaurants include:

• Aqua Terra Bistro
• Carrabba’s Sugarloaf
• Dominick’s Historic Norcross
• Dominick’s Historic Lawrenceville
• Hi-Life Kitchen and Cocktails
• Kurt’s featuring Vreny’s Biergarten
• Paizanos
• Park Café
• Picasso Café and Wine Bar
• Sean’s American Bistro
• Sperata Buford
• Sperata on the Sqaure
• Stoney River
• Sugo Restaurant and Tapas
• The Melting Pot
• The Thorn Tree Restaurant

Some of our local favorites

Dine on a rooftop patio at McCray’s Tavern on the Square in Lawrenceville. www.mccraystavern.com

Tour the winery and sample fine wines at Chateau Elan.  www.chateauelanatlanta.com

Travel back to the 11^th century and feast like royalty at Medieval Times.  Dinner and Tournament.  www.medievaltimes.com

The Rexall Grill is an icon in historic Duluth.  Breakfast and Lunch only.  www.rexallgrill.com

Grown-ups can play too!  Dave and Busters.  www.daveandbusters.com

What’ll ya have?  You can eat at The Varsity in Norcross without traveling to downtown Atlanta.  www.thevarsity.com

Shop the local Farmer’s Market.  Summer markets available in Lawrenceville, Duluth and Suwanee

Want to prepare international cuisine?  Visit Assi Plaza International Food for all your ingredients.

If you are looking at Atlanta for Rental options, here is a video that shares with you some things you should consider before making your selection. Anne Lackey, Broker of Solid Source Property Management, provides helpful hints for people relocating from outside the Atlanta area.

If you are looking to relocate, you can find additional information about the Atlanta area on our website – www.AtlantaHousingSource.com – your Source for Atlanta Real Estate.

Earlier this week, we were delighted to know that Atlanta Housing Source was selected as one of the top 50 Gwinnett County businesses out of more than 20,000 other businesses. We are looking forward to seeing if we actually made the Top 25, but we are thrilled we made it to the Top 50!

Here is the criteria for the award.

Every year Small Business Week honors the estimated 30 million small businesses in America that employ more than half the country’s private work force, create three out of every four jobs, and generate a majority of American innovations. In support of National Small Business Week, the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce will honor Gwinnett’s top small businesses of the year at the Pinnacle Small Business Awards on Friday, April 23.

The Gwinnett Chamber’s 2010 Pinnacle Small Business Awards will select Gwinnett’s top entrepreneur as its Small Business Person of the Year as well as the top businesses in three categories (1-9; 10-99; and 100+ employees). The overall Small Business of the Year winner will be eligible to participate in Georgia’s Small Business of the Year competition. With the challenges facing small businesses today, this year’s process will focus more on the company’s response to adversity and service to the community

CRITERIA

Nominee businesses must:

• Be a Gwinnett Chamber member and be headquartered in Gwinnett
• Demonstrate an increase in sales and/or unit volume
• Demonstrate growth in number of employees
• Have been in business at least three years
• Show evidence of contributions to community-oriented projects
• Be the primary owner or major shareholder of the business
• Demonstrate original entrepreneurship
• Not be a bank or a financial institution
• Comply with the U.S. Small Business Administration’s size standards in defining a small business
• Not be a previous finalist for consecutive years

Top 50 Pinnacle Small Business Award Finalists:

Thank you to all our loyal clients and dedicated employees for making this possible!

Mark & Anne Lackey

I stumbled upon an interesting news release by FICO – the company that establishes credit scores and evaluates risk for borrowers that they released in late February.

In short, they are finding that people who have high credit scores are still paying their credit card debt, but defaulting on their mortgages. Calling these defaults – Strategic Defaults, it is making the ability to establish risk more difficult in years past.

More interesting was the difference in default in the various regions of the country. Read the full article.

Yesterday Mark Lackey, Team Leader of Atlanta Housing Source @ Solid Source Realty, Inc. shaved his head to support St. Baldrick’s event – Shaving the Way to Conquer Kids Cancer.

The event took place in Roswell at the Harp Irish Pub and Mark’s shave was performed by Emily Ludolph, owner of Salon Gemini II located in Norcross. Emily and other salon members donated several hours and materials to help the cause.

Mark heard about the event and quickly thought it was a great idea to help raise money and awareness. He was touched by the story that the son of the owner of Harp Irish Pub was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma when he was born. He is now cancer free. He was the last to get his head shaved.

There were people there who wait all year to get their head shaved for this event. One guy in particular had a huge mass of hair. He was the most dramatic transformation. It was really great to watch. There were hundreds of people who came out for the event. There was a fire truck and face painting for the kids and motorcycles and beer for the adults. It was a great event.

Below are some pictures of Mark getting his hair cut. When you see him – congratulate him on caring for others.

To learn more about the charity – you can visit – http://www.stbaldricks.org/

Spring Arbor in Lawrenceville, Georgia is conveniently located in Gwinnett County near Webb Ginn Road & Hwy 20. The neighborhood is only minutes from The Avenues at Webb Ginn, Fine Dining and Gwinnett Parks and Recreation.

Spring Arbor is home to outstanding amenities like Swimming Pool, Tennis Courts and Clubhouse Facility.

The outstanding local schools that serve Spring Arbor are Sterling Elementary, Couch Middle, & Grayson High school. Gwinnett County schools are among some of the finest in the state.

Home in Spring Arbor are typically priced from the mid $ 200’s to the high $ 300’s, so there are homes in a choice of price ranges for any Lawrenceville or Gwinnett home buyer.

Click here to see homes for sale in Spring Arbor.

Wheatfields Reserve, Grayson, Georgia is conveniently located in Gwinnett near Grayson New Hope Rd & Hwy 20. The neighborhood is only minutes from The Gwinnett Fairgrounds, Vines Botanical Gardens and The Avenue at Webb Ginn.

Wheatfields Reserve is home to outstanding amenities like 2 Olympic Size Swimming Pools with Huge Water Slide, 2 Fully Furnished Clubhouses, 8 Lighted Tennis Courts and a Large Recreational Area with Playground and Sports Fields. Wheatfields Reserves is a gorgeous planned unit development and has a warm community feel. Once development is complete there will be more than 600 homes. Heavy Community involvement makes Wheatfields Reserves a great place to call home.

The outstanding local schools that serve Wheatfields Reserve are Sterling Elementary, Couch Middle, & Grayson High school.

Home in Wheatfields Reserve are typically priced from the high $ 200’s to $ 600’s, so there are homes in a choice of price ranges for any Grayson or Gwinnett home buyer.

Click To view homes for Sale in Wheatfield Reserves

We just got the banks acceptance of a short sale offer, which had been at the bank awaiting approval for four months.  My buyer is ecstatic. Think about it, four months to get approval and then we spend another 30 days with financing, appraisals and getting to the closing table.  Five months total.

Its almost the first of March and if you write an offer on a short sale home tomorrow, March 1 and it takes the four to five months to get  closed as we just experienced, if you are lucky, you are closing on the last allowable day, June 30, to get the $8,000 first time homebuyer credit from the federal government.  Miss that by one day and you miss the $8,000.

Now I’m not a gambling man and don’t know if you are, but, I wouldn’t risk the chance of losing $8,000 waiting on the bank.  There are thousands of homes out there for sale that only need the owner, Mr. and Mrs. Homeowner to sign and then you can close in less than 45 days from offer to move-in.

I am advising my first time home buyer clients to beware of short sales if they want to get to the finish line and collect $8,000.  While I know this news disturbs all the agents with short sale listings, the main reason is many agents don’t understand the short sale process and have not done the work to get the front end work done to speed up the process.

Likewise I have a couple of buyers looking to secure the $6,500 second home buyers credit and I am advising them likewise to beware of writing a contract for a new home that has not been started, up out of the ground.  With all the rain we have been experiencing there is a good chance of delays when digging a foundation, pouring concrete slabs and framing up a home.

Bottom line, there are risks with short sales where you can’t control the banks and new construction where you can’t control the weather.  To be sure to qualify for the first time homebuyer $8,000 and second home $6,500 write a contract that has a great chance of closing in time and don’t ride a deal down to the end only to run past June 30.

When I meet with a homeowner that is considering selling, what real estate agents call a listing appointment, it is important to understand any challenges that there may be to selling their home.  Some you can plan for, Inherited and some you have to react to, Developed.

The Inherited challenges are like what has been so common lately, falling behind in payments and headed for foreclosure as well as needing to sell as the result of a divorce.  This situation is brought about by job loss, illness or other negative event in their life.  They didn’t choose the situation but are affected by the events.

Everyday I speak to a homeowner that needs to sell because they are behind in payments and they owe more that the home will sell for. These folks are ideal candidates for a short sale, and preparing them for the process is something I am trained for and can do quite effectively.

Developed challenges are like what happened just recently where the appraisal came in slightly below the offer price.  In this case you react by getting the parties to agree on the lower sale price.  Sometimes easier said than done, but with preplanning and writing the proper contract upfront I develop a scenario to deal with the chance of that happening.

Proper planning helps eliminate or lessen the impact of the types of challenges that develop as the sales transaction is in process.  I see numerous questions posted on the public real estate sites where a buyer or seller has had an issue develop and don’t know how to deal with it.

That is where hiring a great agent would have eliminated a lot of the questions and the grief that come along with it.  Proper contracts, negotiating and planning out of the transaction came make the sale or purchase a dream, not the nightmare some folks encounter.  If I can help guide you through the confusion of selling a home please contact me at mark@AtlantaHousingSource.com