Whether your television news source is a local news station or one of the 24 hour cable news channels, every business and market reporter has a “source” for housing market news that throws out a “headline snapshot” about the status of the housing market today.  On one channel you may hear that “new home construction starts are up,” while on another you may hear “home sales remain at their lowest point in years.”  Then you may hear how “interest rates on home loans are at their lowest point in 50 years” yet, “buyers are having an increasingly difficult time securing home loans.”  The confusion is enough to make you never want to sell a home again.

The truth about the East Cobb housing market is that because this area of Cobb County is both vast and diverse, the most important market condition factor in deciding when to sell your home remains: All real estate sales and conditions are local and national statistics and trends often do not apply.  Your best source for the most current real estate trends and data is a highly trained real estate agent with a research and marketing team to back them up.  Their access to market activity can be as specific as knowing what homes on your street have sold for, going back days, weeks, months and even years.

For example, if you are considering selling your home this fall or winter, wouldn’t it be important to know that the average sale price for your home in the Pope High School District could be up as much as 12% over the same time last year?  Or that your home in the Walton High School District has maintained its value through 2012?  When to sell your home and what your home’s value is in this current market should not be based on national, state or even Atlanta housing trends.

Don’t worry; it’s easy to be confused about when the best time is to sell a home in East Cobb because there is so much conflicting information streaming out daily, with relatively few “experts” who really are experts in the unique and desirable East Cobb housing market.  Just listening to the news wouldn’t tell you that East Cobb schools rank among the top schools in the state, a fact that helps elevate the desirability of homes in this community.  You wouldn’t know that convenience to shopping, and main thoroughfares and highways contributes substantially to the accessibility of this community.  You wouldn’t know that there is a wonderful mix of home styles and communities here which offer a broad appeal of charm and practicality to living in East Cobb.  These are local factors that often defy the broader Atlanta or national negative home sales and pricing trends.

No TV report is going to help you get your home sold quickly and for top price in this or any housing market.  Every home is different; every community in East Cobb is unique.  The key is working with a local real estate expert with a team that has their finger on the pulse of the market, knows the area, and has the creative marketing systems and approaches necessary to use their research to customize a marketing plan that accentuates the benefits of your home in your community in East Cobb.