atlanta area home buyer's guide

8/8/2019 Atlanta Area Home Buyer's Guide

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/atlanta-area-home-buyers-guide 1/18

BuyerInformationPacketChoosing the right agent….

THE HANK MILLER TEAM – www.hrmiller.com – 678-428-8276



In Georgia and many other states, both sellers and buyers are entitled to legal representation duringthe purchase and sale of real estate. Unlike seller representation, buyer representation is often paid for

through the seller, typically there is no fee for representation.

Listing agents have a contractual legal obligation to represent the owner of the property that they listfor sale. The role of a buyer’s agent is to do the same for the buyer; to legally represent their bestinterest during the purchase process. This only happens with a signed buyer broker agreement.

Unrepresented buyers will be in a “dual agency” situation. The listing agent MUST maintain the sellersbest interests. They will follow legal protocol but any influence they have will be in favor of their client;the seller. This includes existing homes, new homes, foreclosures, short sales, relocation….any situationwith a real estate sign on it.

Introducing a buyer’s agent after the fact often results in issues. Agents expect buyers to be candid, if no buyer agent was mentioned at the initial contact, it will be difficult to bring one in after the fact. If abuyer’s agent didn’t initiate contact, listing agents will often rely on “procuring cause” whencommissions are established. If no agent was initially involved, the contention will be that home was

discovered through the listing agent’s efforts.

A buyer’s agent is expected to keep your best interests first and foremost during all aspects of yourhouse hunt, negotiation period and through closing. You as a buyer are expected to reciprocate withexclusive loyalty to this agent, complete honesty with matters related to the process and cooperationthroughout the process.

Buyer Brokerage

Hank Miller Team 678-428-8276 www.hrmiller.com



What Makes Us Different


No one views this as real estate “sales”, you won’t be sold anything; you will buy the right house at theright time. We are consultants, not salesmen. We will have a buyer brief to get to know each other and a

road map for success will be laid out.

We have access to more data than most offices, know how to use it all, know how to interpret it and mostimportant – know how to explain it. You will understand the data and the process; when the right homehits, you will act with confidence.

We are not “yes men”. There will be times when a deal doesn’t make sense or we see potential issues, wewill offer our supported opinions. Ultimately, decisions belong to the client but we will always offer candidassessments as needed.

We are methodical, systematic and efficient. No one has time to waste and our approach to finding yournext home places a premium on technology, communication and decisiveness. Everyone will define successbefore we begin.

This is all we do. We know the potential issues with writing contracts, negotiations, mortgages, appraisals,

inspections….there’s not much we haven’t seen because we are working in this business every day. Ourgoal is a boring, dull transaction and we work hard to achieve that boredom.

Your success in this market mandates a full time commitment by your agent.Anything less and you pay the penalty.



7 Questions to Find a Quality Agent


Are you a full time real estate agent? – A full time real estate agent lives off their earnings. Manyagents have other full time jobs and do real estate on the side. In my opinion, this market is far too

complex and fluid to be a part time agent; the requirements are just too demanding.

How long have you been actively selling real estate and for whom? – An agent that only knowsthe market when it was bubbling up is not likely to know how to deal in the current combativeenvironment. You’re best option is an agent that’s experienced both up and down markets.

What are your personal production levels over the last three years? – It’s commonly acceptedthat to earn a living, an agent should be closing a minimum of $2M in transaction volume annually. Thereshould be consistency in volume over each year, not spikes. You want THEIR production, not office, teamor some other nonsensical entity – THEIR personal numbers.

Can you verify your personal production? – Agents in this market can access this in seconds from theFMLS, there is no reason for an agent not to be able to provide this in minutes.

Is your managing broker on site and responsible for your office? – If issues arise, they can

ultimately end up on the desk of the managing broker. Many discount firms use rotating brokers that areon call, not what you want.

Can you provide at least four references that I can call? – Check the agent production sheet toverify that the reference was actually a client. “Phantom references” are not unheard of.

Can I see your complete resume? – Verify everything and ask many questions.



How We Work with Buyers

Understand yourrequirements & educateyou about the process

Review the mortgageprocess & get preapproved

Create MLS searches & start the listing research

Analyze the homesthat you like

Visit the homesthat are sensible

Negotiate

CLOSE




PreApproved

ClosingDate

Price

3 Keys to Exploit this Market

Success in this market o You must be prepared & ready toexecute when opportunity arises.Preparation is the key to success.o You have to understand theprocess & trust your agent. It iscritical that the proper agentselection process be used.o While homes can be had atsubstantial savings – do not expectto buy anything worthwhile forpennies on the dollar!o Short sales, foreclosures & other

“distressed” listings are MUCH

MORE complex than advertised & have a very LOW success rate. Setreasonable expectations in thisarena.o If it looks to good to be true, itprobably is.




The sales agent on site WORKS FOR THE DEVELOPER !Representation means havingleverage if/when issues arisebefore closing and duringownership – builders NEED outsideagents. There is no discount fornot being represented.

The Market for Buyers

MillerTeam

For Saleby Owner

ShortSales

4closures& REOs

NewHomes

Homes by owner can result indelayed closings, contract issues,inspection issues & pricingproblems. With both partiesunrepresented trouble should beexpected. The “Buy Owner” operation is in bankruptcy andindicative of this process.

Short sales are not short, nor easy. About 7% actually close and thereis no standard procedure followed.Lenders are combative andincompetent with little concern forthe deal. There is ample evidencesuggesting lenders make moreprofit with foreclosures. This istruly the “Wild West”.

Foreclosures & REOs soundattractive but are a challenge.Many are priced to triggerbidding wars – often you bidagainst yourself. They are alsosold “as is – where is”. Most usecustom addenda that is heavilyskewed to protect the seller in allsituations.




Clients Have a Private FMLS Listing SiteOur buyers have a private web site that displays listings meeting their criteria. It provides:

o Any search criteria that you wanto Email updates the moment listings meeting that criteria hit the marketo The ability to organize & save favorite listingso We can tweak the searches effortlesslyo Links for more information on any listing

** CLIENTS WILL GET LISTINGS AT THE SAME TIME THAT AGENTS DO !




Saving Favorite Listings

o When you see a home that you like, save it. You can make comments, email them to friends & family, or

send them to us for further analysis.o Once we receive a home that you like, we’ll do a “desktop” analysis of it and provide feedback to you.This greatly reduces time wasted looking at homes that don’t fit your requirements.

Save and Organize Favorite Listings




Data Sources and Analysis


We are confident that there are few if any agents that have access to and utilize more data sources thanwe do. A “CMA” (comparative market analysis) is what typical agents offer, it’s also ridiculously insufficient.

You will have an analysis consistent with that seen in a demonstration appraisal report.

How many agents turn RoboAgent when asked “how’s the market”? Usually the answer is something alongthe lines of “It’s a great time to buy!” followed by the pitch. Not everyone should buy, not every area isgreat to currently buy in, not every home is perfect, not every deal obtainable……the answer to the “How’sthe Market?” question is “depends on your personal circumstances”.

There is a systematic approach to evaluating the market value of any home and another systematic

approach to writing and negotiating an offer. We rely on the data and explain it thoroughly, you will buywith confidence or you will not buy.

The major components of our research centers on these main data sources:

Altos ResearchChart Master Services

Smart DataReal Valuator

Redlink Appraisal DataFMLS, MLS and public records

Using those along with other ancillary sources, we will prepare a thorough brief on any property that youdecide to make an offer on. Sample buyer briefs can be seen on the web site or provide at your request.



Altos Research providesunique real time statisticsthat allow for best decisionsto be made. Statistics likePercentage of Properties on the Market with Price Reductions, Inventory

Levels, and Days on Market Trends . These are just a fewexamples of the hundreds of powerful, insightful marketstatistics that give ourclients an edge on themarket. While other datasources rely on months' olddata, reporting the state of the market 'after the fact,'

Altos provides a clearwindow to what ishappening in the marketright now, even as wespeak.




Chart Master Services literally dismembers the MLS data for the Metro Atlanta area. Individual areas areanalyzed and compared to others as well as their past previous performance and conclusions are drawn.The level of detail and analysis completed cannot be overstated; this is without question, one of thesingle most important data assets available to us. THIS DATA IS EXCLUSIVE TO KELLER WILLIAMS

ATLANTA NORTH. Hank Miller Team 678-428-8276 www.hrmiller.com



SMART Data is aresearch programdesigned forappraisers. Data ispulled from the MLSand can be isolated todetail any situation.

How are values for3BR/2B ranch homeson basements withcarports in Pope HS?What is the value trend

for golf communityhomes in Milton HS?

You will see the dataexactly as appraisersdo.




Real Valuator is a great tool to visuallyrepresent activity in and around a particularhome. See active, pending and sold homes as well asthose in pre-foreclosure, foreclosure and REO homes.Details below the maps provide additional informationabout each flagged property. See the activity directlyaffecting neighborhood prices - updated daily fromcourt house records, FMLS, GAMLS and tax records.

This is a fantastic component of our research.





Pre-Offer Review PacketSurfing WEB MD does not make you a doctor any more thansurfing real estate sites make you an agent. The best data isuseless if not properly applied and explained.

Before any offer is written on any home, a detailed evaluation iscompleted utilizing the previously mentioned data sources. Thisreviews the home, community, area in general and any otherfactors influencing value. Once complete, it is reviewed with ourclient to ensure a complete understanding of the data on thehome, the comps and the area in general.

Included in this packet is our suggestedoffer price, ideas on what to include inthe contract and strategy for movingforward. Everything is reviewed anddiscussed so that there is full disclosureand the client sees everything that isdiscovered about the property.

The typical “CMA” that most agents dopales in comparison to the detail here.




Counter-Offer Reviews

Thorough preparationtypically pays dividendsduring negotiation. Thedata is routinelyinserted into theprocess and used toinfluence thenegotiation; whilemuch is debatable,

solid data is not. Thefact that the data is thesame as an appraiserwill see is explained tothe opposing agent.

Counters are madewith confidence and inkeeping with the data.If the seller refuses toacknowledge the data,the buyer moves on.



In Summary…


The current real estate market is upon us because of a perfect storm of fiscal

irresponsibility, economic turmoil, poor oversight, greed and professionalincompetence. Buyers and sellers can only control a small part of this process – asmall but exceptional important part…agent selection.

This business isn’t rocket science and it’s largely ridiculed as “getting paid to donothing”. To make that perception stick takes a lot of planning and work – when itappears that agents “do nothing” it means they’re doing their jobs correctly.

It’s clear what happens when agents don’t do their jobs correctly – and it’s alsoclear that until subpar agents are out of business, issues will remain. The onlyones to effect change in this industry are the clients buying and selling. Hold youragent to high performance standards, it’s one of the few but critical things you control.

Experience Matters!



HANK MILLER, SRA, ABR - CREDENTIALS

Professional Affiliations: Licensed Real Estate Broker – GA

Appraisal Institute – SRA Real Estate Buyers Agent Council – ABR Certified Real Estate Appraiser – GA Employee Relocation Council – MemberCobb Association of Realtors – MemberNational Association of Realtors - Member

Fields of Expertise: Buyer & Seller RepresentationLuxury Home CertifiedRelocation CertifiedFannie Mae/Freddie Mac AppraiserHUD AppraiserProperty Disposition for LendersInvestor ConsultationResidential Appraisal & ReviewFraud/Foreclosure Expert Witness

Experience: Keller Williams Atlanta North – Associate BrokerPrudential GA Realty – Associate BrokerREMAX Greater Atlanta – Associate BrokerCertified Residential Appraiser - GA Miller Appraisal Group (GA & NY) – PresidentSenior Review Appraiser – (GA, NC, & NY)Residential Home Inspector – (NY)US Army Corps of Engineers Officer

Achievements: Top 5 Producing agent 2008, 2009 – Cobb Board of Realtors

Active Life Member Million Dollar Club – Cobb BoardTop Individual Agent 2008, 2009 Prudential East CobbPrudential GA “Masters’ Club” agentREMAX 100% Club – Member 2005, 2006, 2007Top Volume Appraisal Company NYS Capital Dist- ’90-’93

www.hrmiller.com – 678-428-8276 - [email protected]

atlanta area home buyer's guide

Documents