Georgia's Buyer Agency Law....How Does it Affect You?

For years Georgia did not have a buyer agency law in place. As a matter of fact, the only party to have representation in the transaction was a seller. However, the state of Georgia passed a law that provides the buyer to have the representation as well, but with a few provisions.

First, the buyer needs to put his request for representation in writing by signing a contract with a real estate broker.  And, this request needs to be in writing before going to look at houses and certainly before writing a contract. Without this request in writing, Â  every agent the buyer talks to is technically representing the seller according to the way the law is written. So, why would you want everyone in the transaction representing the seller??

Well most don't. However, the way the law is written, without a buyers agreement, the agent is obligated to protect the  sellers price and interests and is NOT allowed to offer advice or opinion to the buyer.

Unfortunately, what this means is that any agent the unrepresented buyer talks to should not be given any confidential  information as it may be used to the advantage of the seller, whom legally, the agent represents.

So, let's say that a buyer, who decided not to sign a buyers agency agreement, decides to put an offer in on a home. The buyer has to tell the agent exactly what they want in the offer, without any advice or guidance being offered by the agent and the buyer may or may not understand the contract or the real estate process, can find himself in a world of hurt.

Ideally, the buyer should seek representation as soon as they are ready to look at houses. I recommend even before hand because there is a lot of education that goes into lending laws, pre approvals, etc that can save a buyer a boat load of time.  And Just a Few More Tips When Hiring a Buyers Agent:

· When you Google the Agent, What Do Their Clients Have to say about their services?

· If you are concerned about the commission, remember the commission is paid by the seller and can be negotiated with a for-sale-by-owner seller as well.

· Meet with the agent first; see if there is a comfort level with both the person’s knowledge and personality.

· ASK QUESTIONS!

Remember, it doesn’t cost you a thing to have us represent you, but it could end up saving you a fortune. 

Visit http://www.seasonsrealtygroup.com/Our-Team.html to learn more about how ourEXCLUSIVE BUYERS AGENTS can help you succeed in a world of uncertainty!

http://www.trulia.com/blog/winterbaserva/2012/02/georgia_s_buyer_agency_law_how_does_it_affect_you

Avoid Dual Agency Pitfalls

Avoid Dual Agency Pitfalls

APRIL 2007 | BY BRAD J. BOYD

Wouldn’t it be nice if life were clear-cut? Often in residential real estate it is: The most common legal arrangement in the business is for a listing agent from one company to represent the seller and a buyer’s agent from another company to represent the buyer in a transaction. The advantage to this scenario is that when negotiations arise or the parties are sending counteroffers back and forth, the two sides have a relatively balanced opportunity to obtain guidance and strategy from their own representative. But dual agency creates relationships with clients and customers that aren’t clear-cut.

For example, Rita Real Estate Broker is the listing agent holding an open house for her client, Sam Seller. Barb Buyer asks Rita details about the property during the open house, tells Rita she isn’t working with an agent, and asks Rita’s help in preparing an offer for Sam’s house. Rita has to stop, ask Barb if she’s asking for representation, and decide if she wants to enter into a dual agency relationship.

First Rita must resolve whether her state’s laws and her brokerage’s policies permit dual agency. Next, she must determine whether Sam Seller has agreed to let her act as a dual agent in the transaction and obtain his full, written consent to Rita’s new role. She must also disclose the limitations the dual agency will place on her ability to assist Barb and Sam. Only then will Rita have done everything necessary to create disclosed dual agency.

If she does enter into a disclosed dual agency relationship, Rita must observe her state’s dual agency laws, which probably require her to keep some types of information from each party confidential. In a dual agency relationship, Rita’s fiduciary duties to her clients are much more limited. She can no longer be an advocate for either party because each client has opposite goals.

Designated Dual Agency

Dual agency relationships occur not only when one agent represents two parties but also when two agents from the same company represent two parties in the transaction. If Rita’s friend Alice Agent, who works out of a different office of the same brokerage Rita is affiliated with, comes to Rita’s open house with her buyer clients, Bill and Betty Buyers, and the Buyers later make an offer, once again, a dual agency relationship may be created.

In some states, there’s another option, designated dual agency. In these cases, the broker of Alice’s and Rita’s brokerage could designate one agent to represent the buyer-client and another to represent the seller-client. The broker would screen off some transaction information so that neither agent has access to the confidential information of the other party.

Although designated dual agency can work well, it poses the same general challenges as a typical dual agency arrangement. Designated agency still places significant responsibilities on each agent and on the brokerage to follow strict management policies to avoid compromising the integrity of the transaction.

Avoiding Dual Agency Traps

In a few states — Colorado, Florida, and Kansas — dual agency is prohibited. This prohibition ensures that the real estate practitioner isn’t put in the difficult position of trying to satisfy both parties and risking that one or both parties may walk away feeling they didn’t receive the focused and thorough representation they expected. That dissatisfaction could lead to legal action, especially if there are problems with the transaction.

However, if dual agency is legal in your state and you want to make it a part of your business model, be sure to take these steps to ensure that both clients are treated fairly.

1. Review your state’s laws (consult with an attorney if necessary) to determine if dual agency is legal and what disclosures and procedures you must follow.
2. Review your brokerage company’s policy to see if dual agency is permitted and exactly what actions you as a dual agent may not perform for each party.
3. Disclose the dual agency and what it means to all clients in writing, and obtain their timely, written consent to the relationship. Be sure to explain how dual agency limits your ability to fully represent each party.
4. Review and discuss with your client any state-mandated agency disclosure forms. Some states also have statutory language that must be included in all dual agency agreements. Failing to properly disclose dual agency is illegal.
5. Recommend that both parties retain attorneys to advise them regarding the purchase agreement, contingencies, price, earnest money, or other negotiated issues. This can be a win-win for all parties involved since the client will be adequately represented and the attorneys’ participation will take pressure and liability off of the sales associate.

If you’re careful in informing all parties about the requirements of a dual agency relationship, acting as an agent for both can be a viable way to close deals. Just don’t let your desire to get the deal done lead you to inadvertently overstep the limitations dual agency imposes.

http://realtormag.realtor.org/law-and-ethics/law/article/2007/04/avoid-dual-agency-pitfalls

A HERS® Index Score Can Help Sell Your Home!

We at Capital Home Builders have always built homes to a higher standard by using quality materials and labors. Our homes are not built like standard built homes in Thomasville and South Georgia. The approach to building a minimum code home is “how much can I really cut back on laborers, materials and building code. Capital Home Builders approach to building a quality high-performance homes is how can we build it better, stronger and more energy efficient, our RESNET number do not lie. 

If you’re selling your home and a potential buyer wants to know what its HERS Index Score is, can you tell them? Because chances are, this is a question that’s going to come up more and more often. That’s because the issue of home energy efficiency is on the rise and consumers are trying to cut back costs wherever they can – and that extends to buying a home.

Fact: the highest cost of homeownership outside of the home loan is energy.

For many years, consumers have been able to buy cars and appliances based on energy performance. While cars have MPG (miles-per-gallon) stickers and appliances have Energy Guide labels, for the longest time homebuyers had no way of knowing the potential energy costs of homes they were viewing. That meant sometimes choosing a home that ended up costing more than anticipated due to poor energy performance. The HERS Index Score changes that.

• The HERS Index was developed by RESNET and is the industry standard by which a home’s energy performance is measured.
• A HERS Index Score is the result of a comprehensive HERS rating, in which a certified RESNET HERS Rater assesses a home on its energy performance.

Fact: mortgage default risks are 32% lower on homes with low HERS Index Scores.

Why Should Homeowners Get a HERS Index Score?

A HERS Index Score tells you how your house compares to other similar homes for energy performance. The lower the score, the more energy efficient the home; the more energy efficient the home, the higher the potential resale value. The Earth Advantage Institute, a nonprofit based in Portland, Oregon, “found that newly constructed homes with third-party certifications for sustainability and energy efficiency sold for 8% more on average than non-certified homes in the six-county Portland metropolitan area. Existing houses with certifications sold for 30% more.” Their report, published in May 2009, confirms that energy efficient retrofits add value to homes, resulting in generally higher resale prices for sellers.

Fact: energy efficient homes save money, improve home comfort and enjoy higher resale values.

As a homeowner, you want to keep your energy costs under control and your home comfort levels high. The best way to achieve this is through energy efficient improvements. By making your home more energy efficient, not only do you save money and improve your home comfort, you also add value to your home. And that means a higher resale price when you sell, because homebuyers want energy efficient homes, and HERS Index scores tell them how energy efficient a home is.

Therefore, as a homeowner who is looking at their home as not just a place to live in but also as an investment, getting a HERS Index Score is the smart thing to do. After all, you know how energy efficient your car is – don’t you want to know about your home too?

http://www.resnet.us/library/index-score-can-help-sell-home/

EFFICIENT HOMES MAY BE MORE VALUABLE THAN OTHERS

We are the first and only builder building energy smart custom home builders. All of our homes are built above minimum code with high-end materials and quality laborers. We GUARANTEE that our homes are more energy efficient than any other new or existing home built in Thomasville, GA. 

You simply can't buy a  NEW HOME and get a better RATING then "GUARANTEED".

When insurance companies offer discounts for lower risk customers, you can bet it’s based on reliable evidence. Think lower car insurance rates for drivers with no speeding tickets, and discounted life insurance for non-smokers.

Genworth, the large private mortgage insurance firm spun-off from General Electric, now offers a discount for buyer of energy efficient houses.  (OK – Genworth implemented this policy in Canada — but reports suggest it’s coming to the US market….

Genworth is validating that the risk of loss to the mortgage lender is lower when the borrower is in a more energy efficient house.

Image via Blue Sky Building Systems

The policy makes a ton of sense.  Attributes of an energy efficient house — better air sealing, more insulation, high performance appliances — are attributes of a well-built house. These measures make a house more valuable. If the borrower gets into income trouble and can’t afford the mortgage payments, a more efficient house will likely hold its value better than a house built to lower standards.

And home value is a strong predictor of lender losses — if a borrower has home equity, default is rare because the house can be sold for more than the mortgage. For more on that, see this paper by economist John Campbell.

A more efficient house also means lower energy expenses, so the borrower might not get into income trouble in the first place. And, these lower expenses are one reason an efficient house is more valuable.

A funny thing about the mortgage market is that this kind of policy can be self-fulfilling. The fact that more energy efficient houses are more valuable is a basis for the Genworth policy to give a discount, but it’s also likely to be an outcome of the policy. That is, the discount on mortgage insurance should allow some borrowers to pay more for energy efficient houses and increase demand for those houses among homebuyers. This effect should remind lenders, investors, appraisers, and others how the current, conventional policy can be self-fulfilling in the opposite direction — loan policies that make it difficult for a borrower to borrow more to pay a premium for a more energy efficient house can inhibit the very evidence needed to support policy correction.

While most U.S. mortgage borrowers don’t get private mortgage insurance, the fact that Genworth has adopted this new policy should be a strong signal to lenders, investors, appraisers, and others to continually assess how the value of energy efficiency is reflected in the property value and the loan.

http://www.earthtechling.com/2013/12/efficient-homes-may-be-more-valuable-than-others/

Attic Insulation Problems! With Blown Fiberglass

The Problem: Blown Fiberglass Over the years, many problems have surfaced about the use of blown fiberglass insulation. Builders, homeowners, and insulation contractors ocassionally hear about the research and actual performance results, but rarely is all the information brought together to present a complete picture. The next few pages summarize the current state of the blown fiberglass problem so that the readers can see all the facts and decide for themselves if this is the insulation they want to purchase for their homes.

http://infrared-energy.com/files/SpecialReportAtticInsulationProblems.pdf

Does Cost per Square Foot Matter?

1. In my part of town square footage is a big misleading problem. We have new and old homes listed with square footage that are being advertised as “per owner” this removes the liability from listing agent and these homes have sometimes 400 square foot more than what public records has it listed for and realtors try to justify the price of a home by upping the square foot of a home because a home looks better at $109/per sq.ft. than a home at $126/per sq.ft. every time a home gets listed we like to print out public record documentation and the Realtor new listing and 99% of the time there is a big discrepancy on the square footage. The clue to look out for on a listing is “PER OWNER” this would be a RED FLAG when looking at square footage.

http://www.ubh.com/blog/2014/01/does-cost-per-square-foot-matter/#comment-17045

“Green” Labeled Homes Worth More on the Real Estate Market, Study Says

Capital Home Builders are the first builders of green smart homes in South Georgia. It looks like the green building trend has not reached the South Georgia area. We think if Thomasville, Georgia can still live in the era of horse and carriage they would, but we are changing the way homes are being built in Thomasville and South Georgia by building better homes above minimum code. Green Homes are built above minimum code non-green homes are NOT.......

Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Los Angeles today released a new study on the economic value of green home labels in the California residential marketplace. “The Value of Green Labels in the California Housing Market” is the first rigorous, large-scale independent economic analysis of the value of green home labels in California. The study found that a green home label adds an average 9 percent price premium for single-family homes in California. Based on the average California home price of $400,000, homes with a green label sell for an average of $34,800 more than comparable homes without a green label.

In addition, the study yields two key insights into the effect of green labels on property values. First, the price premium associated with a green label varies considerably from region to region in California, and is highest in the areas with hotter climates. This trend may indicate that residents in these areas value green labels more due to the increased cost of keeping a home cool. Second, the premium is also positively correlated to the environmental ideology of the area, as measured by the rate of registration of hybrid vehicles. The observed correlation suggests that some homeowners attribute value to intangible qualities associated with owning a green home.

Led by researchers Nils Kok, visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and Matthew Kahn, professor at the Institute of the Environment, Department of Public Policy and Department of Economics at the University of California, Los Angeles, the study examined data on the 1.6 million single-family homes sold between 2007 and 2012 in California. Of these homes, approximately 4,300 were certified with green home labels from Energy Star, GreenPoint Rated, or LEED for Homes.

“In certain regions of the state, we observed a phenomenon we’ve termed the ‘Prius effect’ — a positive correlation between the value of green home labels and environmental ideology, as measured by the rate of hybrid registrations,” said Kok. “In communities with strong environmental values, residents may see green homes as a point of pride or status symbol.”

The estimated $34,800 price premium for green-labeled homes is significantly greater than the price increase associated with other typical home improvements made by homeowners prior to sale, such as home staging. A 2012 survey by HomeGain found that staged homes sold for an average of $2,144 more than non-staged homes, while an upgrade of the kitchen and bathroom was found to increase the sale price by $3,254.

“Environmental ideology was not as strong in some other areas, and yet we still saw a high value placed on homes with a green label,” said Kok. “It appears that a hotter local climate also provides a practical reason to value green homes. With both ideological and pragmatic reasons to go green, it’s no surprise that the popularity of these labels is rising.”

The benefits of green homes include:

• Lower operational costs than conventional homes due to greater energy and water efficiency, which can result in lower utility bills;
• High quality construction, since green label requirements for building materials and techniques often go beyond standard building codes;
• More comfortable and stable indoor temperatures;
• Healthier indoor air quality; and
• Other features that reduce environmental impact such as proximity to parks, shops and transit.

“Increasingly, homeowners who are planning to sell their home are looking for innovative ways to make their home more attractive to potential buyers,” said Robin Gaskins, a realtor who has worked for 10 years in Alameda County. “Particularly if a home already has a number of green or energy-saving features, it really does pay to go the extra mile and get a green label.”

Growing awareness about global warming and the extent of greenhouse gas emissions from the residential sector has increased attention to green building in recent years. Previous research has shown the value of green labels and certifications in the commercial real estate sector. “The Value of Green Labels in the California Housing Market” confirms that the same trend applies to single-family homes.

“The Value of Green Labels in the California Housing Market” has been submitted for presentation at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association and will be submitted to a scientific journal in fall 2012.

http://www.arounddublinblog.com/2012/07/green-label-homes-worth-more-real-estate-market/