The Atlanta Report

As-is, No Termite Letter Isn’t Really That Bad

I get many people email me about a property that states in the remarks section that the property is being sold as-is with no termite letter.  Many first time home buyers seem to get really nervous when they see these statements.  They are expecting the home to be in total disrepair.

 Most of the time these statements are in listings that are bank foreclosures or corporate relocations.  All that it means is that the bank or relo company is making no claims about the condition of the home because they don’t have any actual knowledge of past events.  They took over the home in the condition thta it is in and they are just saying that they don’t make any guarantees.

It really doesn’t change a thing.  You negotiate a contract with the right to inspect.  Usually you use the inspection clause that allows you to terminate during the inspection period for whatever reason you want.  You do your inspection and if you find anything that is significant, you just renegotiate the contract taking those things into account.

The risk you take is that if there is something that is not able to be found by doing an inspection, there’s no possibility to be able to possibly sue the seller for failure to disclose a hidden defect. 

Bank foreclosures usually never make any repairs on anything.  Corporate relo companies many times will do an initial inspection of the home before they put it on the market to allow them the possibility of fixing problems ahead of time.  Sometimes they will agree to pay closing costs in lieu of any repairs that are needed.

So don’t automatically fret over buying something as-is.  It good turn out to be a great opportunity.

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Don’t Overlook Listings Without Pictures. It Could be a Good Opportunity

What do most people do when they see a listing without a picture.  Most of the time they move on to the homes that have pictures.  That’s what most real estate agents also do.

Guess what?  That home isn’t going to get many showings.  It’s not going to have many people interested in it.  Is a light bulb going on in your head?  Isn’t this going to mean that there’s going to be less competition and maybe the seller will be a little more motivated?

No pictures might also indicate that the listing agent doesn’t take their profession seriously.  They might not be very good at negotiating or looking out for the best interests of the seller.  You can use this to your advantage. 

So it’s not good to judge a book by it’s cover and it’s also not good to judge a home by it’s lack of pictures. 

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CLUE Reports, Get One Before You Buy

Not much is heard about C.L.U.E. reports but a bad one could really mess up a transaction.  Imagine this.  A week before closing, your buyer tries to get home owner’s insurance.  The seller has only lived there for 2 years and nothing was mentioned to him when he bought it about some water damage claims the previous owner had 5 years ago.  Just like points get posted to your driving record, insurance companies have a shared database where they make notes of all the claims filed on a property address.   With all of the black mold hysteria going around, some insurance companies will not even sell you a policy if there has been any sort of water related claims on a property.  The standard contract in Georgia doesn’t have any contingency in it about getting insurance at a certain price or getting insurance at all. 

 A home seller can obtain a free report every year or buy one for $19.95.  Choice Point is the company that has this database.  But only the home owner can order one.  So as a buyer, you need to write in a special stipulation requesting that the seller provide you with one.  If they refuse, that should be a red flag that something isn’t right.  Or I guess one could make it contingent on the buyer being able to get insurance at standard rates. I would coach the buyer to look into getting the insurance set up as quickly as possible before too many other things start moving along.

Here’s an extensive article with everything you ever wanted to know about CLUE Reports. 

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Atlanta Traffic Times

People moving to the Atlanta area are always asking about how long it takes to get to downtown from areas outside the perimeter.  I always have to answer with “it depends on what time you are driving.  A 20 minute trip on a Sunday morning could be a 60 minute trip on Monday morning.”

There is a very good site that gives you a graph of average travel times during the rushhours for various stretches of roads around Atlanta.  Go to Georgia Navigator where they have historical trip times.  Click on one of the arrows and you’ll get a nice looking gragh.  For example, a 6am it takes 14 minutes to go from Old Milton to 285 coming in on 400.  At 8am it takes 28 minutes for that same trip.  These are average times so you’ll have to figure some days it will even take longer than 28 minutes at the peak times.

 I always advise people to take the time and test those possible commuting routes at the times they will be on the road.  You have to experience it in person to really know if it will be acceptable or not.  Many times a person will say they are willing to deal with the traffic until we get stuck in it.  When they experience it first hand they usually think long and hard whether or not they will be able to handle it every business day.

Also, it’s always good to have a detailed map of the area in order to map out possible alternative routes.  I’m a big map person and always create a custom map for my clients that we use to chart out the tours of homes that we go on.  It’s always nice to be able to show a client exactly where a home is located in relationship to their office and other points of interest.

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