Last Day of the Month

Welcome to the last day of the month and one of the busiest days for a busy Real Estate agent.  Today I have a Ardsley Park closing, which is great because I also get a new neighbor.  Many agents have been busy with closings this month and I look forward to reporting the new statistics early next week.  The market has definitely picked up and I am surprised by the number of condominiums that have gone under contract this week.  That is allowing Sellers to explore upgrade options so we should start seeing a trading up market from now until August when the market slows slightly for the hot weather before ramping back up for the Fall before the start of school.

This week I am calling all of my contacts in order to get more inventory because there will be a need for diversity in listings in the coming months as properties go under contract.  I have already had twice as many showings on my listings this week from last week and it is only Wednesday!  Hopefully this will translate into offers for my loyal Sellers. If you would like to explore my current listings please visit PeterNelsen.com.

Many real estate closings happen at the end of the month for shear economic reasons.  That is because if you have a loan for the property you are purchasing the bank will charge you up front for interest on the loan for each day until the end of the month.  So if you close on the 1st day of April you will have to pay a full months interest payment at closing, but you will not have another payment until the 1st of June.  However, if you close today, the 30th of April, you will pay one day of interest at closing and your first payment will be still be due on the 1st day of June, but you will have more money in your pocket.  Therefore, your real estate professional should book your closing time early in order to get the time slot you want.

Vacant Houses

Savannah is a tourism rich southern treasure with university and military influences.  What this means is that there are more than a few vacant houses at any given time in Savannah.  Some are vacant because the Savannah family can’t bring themselves to give up the family house even though they don’t live here.  Others are situational, deployed to Iraq or home for the summer from SCAD, but nonetheless vacant.  The overwhelming number of vacant homes are fully furnished second or third homes.

This is important to Savannah because although we have seen a boom in housing, including many condominium conversions and in-fill projects, our population has not increased at the same rate.  Second home buyers usually keep their residency in their first home, and students normally keep their home address, not their school address.  Even most military don’t become residents because they will likely be moved within months, not years.  Home ownership then, as a non-resident, means that the city and county benefit from the property taxes not subject to homestead exemption and more importantly not subject to our Stephens-Day law which holds the property taxes to small increases every year as opposed to re-assessment.  This keeps the coffers of the local government filled and the squares and parks beautiful.

Vacant houses also affect the Real Estate market, in that, homes that are vacant usually sell for less money, and that means good business for professional staging companies.  Many times I will ask my clients to stage the home after a showing goes poorly and many times they agree and that makes a big difference, even if it is just for pictures.

Lastly, I want to mention security for vacant homes.  I recently experienced a security breach at a vacant listing where an alarm was present but not activated for ease of showings.  The side door was compromised and a new stove was taken.  This is not a new occurrence, and in fact I have heard of a couple cases of this in Atlanta, GA from new homes that are vacant.  My suggestions:  1. If the home has an alarm, set it, every time;  and 2. Have someone check the home once a week if it is not being shown very often.

Vacant homes are just part of Savannah and residents keep an eye on things, so go ahead and get a second home here.  Maybe in the future, more of those second homes will become primary residences and Savannah will continue to grow.  Savannah is a gem of a city and partially vacant, but never abandoned.