Sovereign to Host Urban Land Institute (ULI) Atlanta Panel July 21

Panel to discuss the future of the real estate capital markets

Is the real estate market on its way to making a recovery? What are the obstacles that stand in the way of market’s revival and where are the opportunities in such a trying time? Join ULI Senior Resident Fellow Steve Blank at 3344 Peachtree/Sovereign on July 21 as he discusses these topics as well as his outlook for the U.S. Capital Markets.

In addition, Blank, will moderate a panel that will provide insight on regional and local real estate markets. Panelists include: Michael McDonald, managing director of Eastdil Secured, Thad Ellis, vice-president of Cousins Properties and Thomas L. Coakley, regional director of MetLife.
“We are delighted to have Steve Blank joined by an esteemed local panel to explore trends and opportunities in the capital markets, including sources and flows of equity and debt capital” said Jeff DuFresne, Executive Director of ULI Atlanta.

The program will take place from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on the 24th floor of 3344 Peachtree/Sovereign, Atlanta’s award winning luxury-high rise office and condominium, which has been recognized nationally for its innovative design and first class residences and office space.

Pre-registration fees for the conference are as follows:

• Private - $50 for members, $65 for non-members
• Public/Nonprofit and Young Leaders - $45 for members, $60 for non-members
• Students - $40 for members, $35 for non-members

For more information or to register online visit www.uliatlanta.org.
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HGTV’s FrontDoor.com Offers the Top 10 Tips for Selling Your Home During the Holidays

(BUSINESS WIRE)--The holiday season from November through January is often considered the worst time to put a home on the market. While the thought of selling your home during the winter months may dampen your holiday spirit, the season does have its advantages: holiday buyers tend to be more serious, and competition is less fierce with fewer homes being actively marketed. First, decide if you really need to sell. Once you've committed to the challenge, don your gay apparel and follow these tips from FrontDoor.com. (http://www.frontdoor.com/top10)

1. Deck the halls, but don't go overboard. Homes often look their best during the holidays, but sellers should be careful not to overdo it on the decor. Adornments that are too large or too many can crowd your home and distract buyers. Also, avoid offending buyers by opting for general fall and winter decorations rather than items with religious themes.

2. Hire a reliable real estate agent. That means someone who will work hard for you and won't disappear during Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year's. Ask your friends and family if they can recommend a listing agent who will go above and beyond to get your home sold. This will ease your stress and give you more time to enjoy the season.

3. Seek out motivated buyers. Anyone house hunting during the holidays must have a good reason for doing so. Work with your agent to target buyers on a deadline, including people relocating for jobs in your area, investors on tax deadlines, college students and staff, and military personnel, if you live near a military base.

4. Price to sell. No matter what time of year, a home that's priced low for the market will make buyers feel merry. Rather than gradually making small price reductions, many real estate agents advise sellers to slash their prices before putting a home on the market.

5. Make curb appeal a top priority. When autumn rolls around and the trees start to lose their leaves, maintaining the exterior of your home becomes even more important. Bare trees equal a more exposed home, so touch up the paint, clean the gutters and spruce up the yard. Keep buyers' safety in mind as well by making sure stairs and walkways are free of snow, ice and leaves.

6. Take top-notch real estate photos. When the weather outside is frightful, homebuyers are likely to start their house hunt from the comfort of their homes by browsing listings on the Internet. Make a good first impression by offering lots of flattering, high-quality photos of your home. If possible, have a summer or spring photo of your home available so buyers can see how it looks year-round.

7. Create a video tour for the Web. You'll get less foot traffic during the holidays, thanks to inclement weather and vacation plans. But shooting a video tour and posting it on the Web may attract house hunters who don't have time to physically visit your home or would rather not drive in a snowstorm.

8. Give house hunters a place to escape from the cold. Make your home feel cozy and inviting during showings by cranking up the heat, playing soft classical music and offering homemade holiday treats like cookies and eggnog. When you encourage buyers to spend more time in your home, you also give them more time to admire its best features.

9. Offer holiday cheer in the form of financing. Bah, humbug! Lenders are scrooges these days, but if you've got the means, then why not offer a home loan to a serious buyer? You could get a good rate of return on your money.

10. Relax -- the new year is just around the corner. Thanksgiving and Christmas are stressful enough, with gifts to buy, dinners to prepare and relatives to entertain. Take a moment to remind yourself that if you don't sell now, there's always next year, which luckily is only a few days away.

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Speed Up the Sale of Your Home in a Slow Market

By Bill Daprano
President,
Home Builders Association of Midwest Georgia

Trying to sell a house during the winter months in a down market can be difficult, but there are several things you can do to improve its marketability. By expending a bit of effort before it goes on the market, you can ensure that your home presents well, stands out from the crowd and doesn’t turn off potential buyers so that you can sell quickly…and at the best price.

Tone Down Personality

Your bookshelves may be filled with Pulitzer-Prize winners and your collection of Americana figurines may reflect your personal interests, but to home buyers, it looks busy and cluttered, and may distract them from truly seeing your home’s unique architectural features and spacious rooms. Also consider whether family pictures help or hinder a sale; future homeowners may not be able to look past your kids’ smiling faces plastered all over the walls and see themselves building their own future in your home.

Since you hope to move soon anyway, go ahead and box them up and put them in storage in advance of the open house or showing.

While that red accent wall opposite the lime green fireplace perfectly ties in with your ultra modern furniture, a potential buyer at your open house may be turned off immediately and decide that the entire house doesn’t reflect their style. Consider painting walls a neutral color such as beige or taupe.

Don’t Burden the Buyer with Repairs

If there are problem areas in your home, get them fixed before the showing. When prospective buyers tour the house and see leak stains on the ceiling or peeling paint, they will also see future work and assume that bigger maintenance and repair issues are lurking behind those small problems.

This is particularly true in kitchens and bathrooms, which are often the two rooms that make or break a sale. The expenses you incur on the front end sprucing up your home will be cheaper than the profits you could lose by having to lower the price to meet buyer demand.

Maximize Exposure

Lastly, take advantage of new technology to find unique ways to market your house. Use YouTube.com, a video sharing Web site, to introduce yourself and your house for free. Take home shoppers on a virtual tour and tell them about its uniqueness and strengths from a first-person point of view.

Use Internet social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace to create a Web link with a profile of your home. Include pictures and a description of your home’s features. E-mail the link to your friends and ask them to forward it on to their network of contacts.

Be sure that you are using traditional marketing techniques to your best advantage. When photographing your home for promotional purposes, invest in a wide-angel lens for your camera so that rooms appear bigger and in proportion when they are displayed on Internet home listing sites or in marketing flyers. If you decide to create a virtual tour, look for professionals who will be able to film and upload your video using the best techniques and technology.

For more helpful hints, contact The Home Builders Association of Midwest Georgia at (770) 716-7109. The HBA of Midwest Georgia serves over 700 businesses in the building industry in Fayette, Coweta, Spalding, Meriwether, Heard, Pike, Upson, Lamar, Butts and Jasper Counties.