If you need assistance, please call 678-894-9744

The Miskin Team - Your Home Sold Guaranteed!* Blog

Wednesday, September 7, 2011   /   by Ira Miskin

Do We Need A Home Inspection?

Having a property inspected by a professional home inspector is a necessary and important part of the home buying process. Even if you are buying new construction, hiring a qualified professional to inspect the home can provide you with valuable information about key aspects of the property that can, if left unattended sometimes cost you thousands in after-the-sale repairs.

In various Metro Atlanta communities like Roswell, Marietta, Kennesaw, Woodstock, Canton or Alpharetta, homes range in age from new home construction to thirty to fifty years old. Many older homes have been updated but the original construction features like foundations, the roofing structure, insulation, duct work for heat and air systems, electrical wiring and plumbing are original to the home and may not only be in need of repair but may need updating or even replacement.

In many homes in Georgia and especially in many of the foreclosed properties for sale that have been empty for months and sometimes years ...

Tuesday, September 6, 2011   /   by Ira Miskin

The Importance of an Accurate CMA

The CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) is a very important tool for determining what a homes value is, relative to other homes similar to the home you are considering purchasing or selling. There are a number of facts and factors that are considered, compared and contrasted within a CMA. But essentially, a CMA  when properly prepared and evaluated  can add significantly to understanding a propertys true fair market value (FMV).

A thorough CMA is information drawn from a variety of sources, selected for specific criteria and carefully focused to provide a detailed cost-value-benefits assessment. It is not enough to simply look at recent activity in one neighborhood or sub division and calculate the average price for a home sold in recent months. The neighborhoods current, recent and historical activity, the areas history  going back not just months but years, activity in a number of categories including homes for sale that both expired and were withdrawn from the market, and ...

Monday, September 5, 2011   /   by Ira Miskin

Establishing Trust

Working with a Real Estate Team when you are buying a home  whether its your first or the next - your relationship with your realty team leader should not be an adversarial relationship. Trust between you, the Client, and your service team leader  your Realtor  should be the first aspect of the relationship to be established. Yet that often seems to be the most difficult and elusive part of the relationship to establish.

For the Client, this as an unusual, often daunting process, fraught with shifting emotions and financial ambiguities. Since most Clients only buy or sell one or two homes in their lifetime, and usually years apart becoming comfortable, no less schooled in the current market conditions, financial and credit requirements, home valuations, location concerns and so many more items on an ever-growing and increasingly complex check-list of dos, donts musts and must nots, means you must find a professional to educate and guide you. .. a professional you can rely ...

Saturday, September 3, 2011   /   by Ira Miskin

Sometimes The Last Is the Best

Experienced Buyers Agents hear this one all the time from their Clients: Weve looked at so many houses today, this is the last one, and its not very pretty, lets just call it a day and start again tomorrow. Any Realtor who is an advocate for their Client, especially those who have shown thousands of homes and sold many hundreds of homes knows that you should never judge a book by its cover. A property that you may not think, from the outside is cute, or pretty or elegant, may have all the attributes you are seeking on the inside; and because it may not be the prettiest home on the block, may be far more negotiable in price. And if you dont like the homes color, or the porch is uglytheres rarely anything about a home that cannot be changed to suit your individual tastes.

As is often the case, when you open the books cover and peer inside at the pictures and words you discover a story well worth reading. For example, one of our in-town Clients had very definite ...

Friday, September 2, 2011   /   by Ira Miskin

I'm Dreaming of an Urban Christmas

For years they dreamed of leaving the suburbs and finding the perfect cottage in one of the Atlanta In-Town neighborhoods. Where walking was not just a form of exercise but an opportunity to stroll over to a great bistro, an iconic neighborhood art gallery or just shop a supermarket without having to get in their car, drive several miles and then hunt up a parking spot somewhere vaguely in proximity to the stores entrance. This year, as their last child was leaving for college, the chance to embrace that dream became real.

Now, facing the reality that the time to move into town was at hand, they needed a plan. Step 1, find a Realtor who could help them organize a search for their dream home, and help them prepare and then sell their current home in the burbs. Step 2, working with their Realtor: develop a plan for narrowing their searches  which neighborhoods in-town best fit both their wish-list and needs. Step 3, begin working with a Lender to determine just how much th ...