Mother passed, may be selling home (Atlanta, East Point: for sale, real estate market, eviction)

[Ealah]

Hey all,

My mom recently passed away, after living in East Point for 40 years. I live in Colorado, but my sibs all live in/around Atlanta. Anyone have any idea what the real estate market is like in East Point? There's work to be done on the house, so it won't go up for sale for a while, but I'm trying to do long distance research. Any input or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!!

Ealah

P.S. Left Atlanta in 1993 for points west, and while I enjoy visiting now, no way would I live there, and I lived there for 25 years!!

[Mike from back east]

See my posting in Other Topics on how to reseach what is for sale right now in almost any zip code in the nation. The link is:
https://www.city-data.com/forum/other...here-move.html This is my method.

It will give you some idea of the market in your Mom's area. Strength of any real estate market is found in a few key stats: how many units currently on the market; what is the current number of days it takes to sell a house; and are comparable prices up or down from last year. Among these, "days on the market until sold" is the best indicator. A hot sellers market has a very low number-of-days-to-sell. We sold our house in Northern Virginia in 4 days, had 4 offers, all above listing price. That was in May 2005, an incredible sellers market. By August of 2005 that had changed. Now, average days to sell in NoVA is 75+ days with many thousands of homes being listed, and the astronomical prices are falling. Realtors can tell you best the strength of their market area, although you may be able find the data by googling. If the average selling/listing prices are up from a year ago, that's a good market for sellers.

Any realtor will tell you to fix up the house to where it is clean, bright and not heavily decorated or stuffed full of furniture. What this means primarily is white walls, no dirt, everything works fine, looks open and uncluttered. In fact, totally vacant is even better, as people are turned off by someone's old furniture, it's style, etc, and can easily visualize what their belongings will look like in a vacant room. Vacant rooms look BIGGER. Same for yard - no weeds, no ugly rusting metal lawn sheds, no huge bushes blocking the view from the curb, no trees hanging over the gutters (clogs them with leaves, etc). I'm not a realtor, but I can surely tell you that most of them are excellent and they are there to help you.

Sorry about your Mom, lost my own Mom in late 2003, been there. I'd say to shoot for the selling season next spring, but it does take time.

We're in Colorado too and will never go back east to the heat, humidty, high housing costs and impossible traffic.

s/Mike

[Ealah]

Thanks, Mike for the website. The other stuff you mentioned is already on my list--trouble is, I've got 2 sibs living in the house who are not real "DIY" types, if you know what I mean. I will probably have to take a leave of absence and go back there myself to get stuff done. Ah well, that's life, eh?

Thanks again!

Where in Colorado are you? I'm in Pueblo.

[Mike from back east]

We're in Colorado Springs, love it. The whole story of our move and how we decided on this city is at:
https://www.city-data.com/forum/color...o-springs.html

I hope your two siblings are decent types who will do what's right and work with you as needed. I hate to think of the awful job of eviction proceedings against my siblings and the long-term baggage that could carry.

Then again, it may be possible to have the two live-in siblings buy the home from the estate. No one has to move, no one has to fix up anything. The mortgage company pays off the non-resident siblings their fair share, with fair market price probably being established by an appraiser. It should save the estate from paying MLS fees. I'm sure there are many possibilities. If they are willing to go for this, it may prove a viable option.

s/mike

[Ealah]

Hey, Neighbor!!

No, I don't think having my sibs buy the house is a viable option. My sister has already decided to move within a few months (there is enough money to pay mortgage, etc. for that long), and my brother is mentally not capable. He is the big problem, as he has lived at home for 45 years, and has not worked in the last 15. It's going to be a tough situation, but we are all talking, so I hope that we can resolve everything as amicably as possible, benefiting everyone.

Communication is the key, and we are doing that.

Here's to Colorado living!

Linda (aka Ealah)