Alpharetta Real Estate » I Can Relate: Carnival of Real Estate Visits Alpharetta, GA

29May

I Can Relate: Carnival of Real Estate Visits Alpharetta, GA

Carnival of Real Estate hosted by North Fulton Georgia Real Estate Blog I have been blogging as a REALTOR in North Fulton County Georgia for about six months now and have made many new clients and friends this way. Frankly, the impact of blogging on my business has been nothing short of staggering. What I’ve found is that the people who pick up the phone and call me (or email me) do so because they can relate to me. Usually they have read through a number of my posts and believe that we see things in a similar way.

I use this preamble as a means of introducing the 44th Edition of the Carnival of Real Estate. [Note: for those readers unfamiliar with a blog carnival, it is an "event" where real estate bloggers submit posts to be "judged" by a weekly host. The idea is that by having a "traveling" carnival bloggers can gain exposure for their blogs. This week, my North Fulton Blog is the humble host of the Carnival.]

As I have attributed my success with blogging to my readers being able to relate to me, I thought that in judging this week’s 21 carnival submissions that I would highlight the ones that I could relate to. Finally, the shoe is on the other foot. In no particular order:

Ki Gray presents A new 1.5 billion dollar "creative neighborhood" to alter east Austin Real Estate posted at Austin Real Estate Blog. I can relate to this post because in North Fulton and surrounding areas, themed neighborhoods and ones with mega amenities are becoming more and more prevalent. While we don’t have one with the movie studio angle, which kind of reminds me of the movie The Truman Show, we do have a new community just north of Alpharetta called Carmichael Farms with is being developed with major equestrian facilities.

Rory Siems presents How To Remove Cigarette Smell From Your Home posted at Laguna Niguel Real Estate. I can relate to this because not only do we have to get cigarette odors out of homes in order to sell them, but we also have to get pet (particularly cat) odors out and cooking odors (particularly heavy curry eaters. Plus, in Georgia, many homes have basements and we have relatively high humidity here which results in mildew smells in basements. My trick is to use a Fresh Aire purifier from EcoQuest. It is orders of magnitude better than the ionizers that you can buy at the mall.

Doug Willis touched a nerve with Divine Intervention. In the Housing Market? posted at Up2Date. Georgia is in the Bible Belt so perhaps more people here rely on divine intervention to sell their homes, but I’ve certainly wondered recently what people have been thinking when pricing their homes. Thanks, Doug, now I know. And you’re right: You shouldn’t mix religion and business and you can’t convert them all. You might wonder why a guy from Georgia can relate to a guy from Washington State,

David J Edwards, who presents a post about moss growing on your roof at the Renton Real Estate Info Source. Well, while our climate in Georgia won’t allow moss to grow on our roofs, mildew and algae absolutely does. I wish I had a good picture to show, but on roofs that are pre-AR (Algae Resistant) black streaks develop on the north facing sides. Besides looking ugly, the algae will reduce the life span of the shingles. There are also companies that will come out and spray the roof with a detergent of sorts that will remove all the streaking. This is a good option for people looking to sell and improve their home’s curb appeal.

Rich Barton presents My House is Pending! posted at Zillow Blog. I related to this post by the Zillow CEO because after he documents all the great marketing that he did to promote his house, it was a family friend who put a contract on the house and only after the second price reduction. You can market until the cows come home but what sells houses is price and condition. What REALTOR can’t relate to that?

I certainly can’t relate to Peter Comitini and his post Buying in a new development: the closing costs posted at Peter Comitini. He says that a 1BR apartment with an office in the New York City area costs $1,000,000. To that I say: "Buyers, bring your million dollars to Alpharetta or Milton and let’s go on a shopping spree!" However, what I can relate to Peter on is that his post is what I aspire to offer on my blog. The post is thorough, analytical and in the end, useful to people actually looking to buy or sell real estate. A tip of the keyboard goes to fellow Georgia REALTOR

Lydia Taylor and her post Real Estate Relationships 101: Customer, or Client? posted at Elegant Augusta GA Real Estate Blog. Although she is in Augusta and I am in the northern suburbs of Atlanta, we are governed by the same Georgia real estate laws. In Georgia, in order to act as the legal advocate for a buyer, you must have an executed Buyer Broker Agreement. The broker is going to require it for the file in case the real estate commission ever audits. Admittedly, I’m slack and don’t get the agreement executed until we actually make an offer on a property because the agreement sometimes spooks buyers into thinking they are locked into using you. None the less, it has to be executed at some point and I can relate to Lydia’s pointing out the difference between a customer and a client, because there is a big difference in Georgia.

Kris Berg presents SparkNotes - Mutiple Offers (the Ghost of Christmas Past) posted at BloodhoundBlog. I can relate to Kris’s post because I’ve been the listing agent recently when we have had multiple offers and it is amazing the behavior you see from the buying side…who said people rationally act in their own best interest? Anyway, the best phone call to make in real estate is the one as listing agent to the buyer’s agent saying, "I have multiple offers and I need your best offer by 5PM today." It is still possible in this housing market to get into multiple offer situations if you do your job right, particularly in the $300-$450k price range in the Northview High School and Milton High School districts. Finally,

Maureen Francis presents I am a Realtor - I Sell Homes posted at MiOaklandCounty.com. I can relate to this post because I am a REALTOR and I blog. I wouldn’t have it any other way. That wraps up the Carnival’s stop in Georgia. Thanks for all the submissions and letting me relate to your posts.