Buying a home can be a pretty stressful process. Many buyers falsely assume that once they’ve found the right home and negotiated a contract, the rest is a walk in the park. That couldn’t be further from the truth. In my experience, getting the home under contract is usually the easiest part; something most buyers enjoy. After all, going out and looking at homes is fun, and hearing back from the seller that your offer has been accepted, is exciting.
Once you’re under contract, the work begins… and so does the stress. In Georgia, homebuyers are customarily given an opportunity to thoroughly inspect the property, research the neighborhood, and decide whether they want to move forward with the purchase. This opportunity is known as due diligence, and it gives the buyer the option to terminate the agreement within a designated timeframe, usually without any repercussions (such as loss of earnest money).
In this article, I’m going to cover some of the most important things you’ll want to do during your due diligence period to help ensure your next home purchase is a success.
How To Dominate Due Diligence (Video)
Overall, Atlanta’s real estate market continues to show mostly positive signs as we head into the fall and winter months. High buyer demand and limited inventory of homes for sale has continued to push sale prices higher. The number of pending sales has continued to climb, bringing the number of closed sales up with it. We’re still adding more new listings than we did last year, but with more and more homes selling, the available inventory is down compared to last year.
Mortgage rates remained low throughout the entire summer, helping fuel buyer demand. Despite some occasional fluctuations, the national average for conventional loans hovered around 3.4% from June through most of August. We have seen mortgage rates climb this month, but they still haven’t surpassed 3.6%. It’s hard to say where rates will go from here, but I anticipate some volatility due to the upcoming presidential election and the economic uncertainty it creates.
Metro Atlanta Real Estate Trends
The following market trends come from FMLS single family attached and detached listing activity. This month’s market report includes active, pending and sold data through August 31st, 2016.
Closed Transactions Up 2.3% Year Over Year
Last month, the overall number of closed sales in Atlanta increased 2.3%, to 7,381. This includes 6,226 detached homes (up 0.8% YOY), 657 townhomes (up 13.7% YOY), and 497 condos (up 9% YOY). After a sharp decline in July, the number of closed transactions in August remained consistent with historical trends for this time of year....
