Just a reminder that we are rolling our clocks back 1 hour this weekend. You should change your clock back 1 hour when you go to be on Saturday night. If you don’t plan on going to bed then do it at 2:00am. If you want to read a little history on Daylight Savings Time click here.

I will be posting some new articles later today about the market, current sales prices and conditions. Check back for some interesting info.

Thanks for Listening,

Jerry Robertson
678-231-1578

I got this from a friend and client (thanks, Bruce!!) and I thought it was just too good to keep a secret. Check out the chart. (If you click on it you’ll get a full size picture)

30 years of average home prices

It you look closely you’ll see a few things that I think are interesting. First is the Average Annual Increase at 6%. That is 6% over 30 YEARS. Second, you’ll see why it FEELS so bad over the last few years. Starting in 2002 we began to see a steeper climb of median sales prices and it continued until 2005 and then leveled off and withdrew through 2008. I am sure we are still withdrawing nationally and I expect an over correction in the 2009 numbers but from there we will see it fall back on that 6% curve that was our history.

This curve is exactly like the  one I posted in this article where I charted a house purchased in 1995 in Georgia. It shows we are actually coming out of this NOW locally and seeing an increase on home values returning. In fact, this trend has continued in the second quarter data that was posted after that article was written. Locally is important to remember because we did not have the HUGE increases that show on the chart above so we did not have the HUGE decreases either. Real Estate is ALWAYS a local story!!!

I wanted to share this with you because it continues to answer the No. 1 question I still get. How is the “Market”? Which I believe is really “Are we going to be OK?”. Check out The Good News Economist article that addresses that for some more data.

The most valuable thing I can share with you is HOPE. We are coming out of this and while there is unemployment to deal with it will be OK. Don’t let this get you so discouraged you fail to see the signs of the recovery that are all around us. The National Economy is not nearly as important as your Personal Economy. If you are looking for a job, keep looking. Don’t give up. Use the time to increase your skills and knowledge. Save if you can and spend less than you make.

If you know someone facing foreclosure or needing to make a change in some other way with real estate call me. I am trained and experienced and can help. It will still be tough for a while but just remember, “This too shall pass”. It always does.

Thanks for listening,
Jerry Robertson

Ok, I have been gone for a while but I’m back. This is a test of my fb updater to see if it works and presuming it does then we are on the way to getting the next article on.

This one will be about the appreciation curve over the last 30 years for houses. Stay tuned.

just checking to see if edits come up too

Thanks for listening,
Jerry Robertson

That depends on where you are I guess. I am talking about the housing price correction (read price drop) that we have been having over the last several months. About 20 months in Atlanta. It got worse than most thought it would here but I can tell you it is getting better.

There is a good website that has great data and even a home price calculator that can be enlightening. It is www.fhfa.gov and the chart below came from there.

This chart shows what a house purchased in April of 1995 is worth in the first quarter of 2009 and how the value has changed over the time it was owned. The value peaked at about $240K and is now sitting at $208K. The good news is that it is on the way back up. There is more data about to be released that will show a continuation of the increase at the end of the line and when it comes out I will post it again so you can see this.

Forbes Magazine posted this article showing where the price drops have ceased and are starting to increase. Atlanta is No. 6 on the list. That is good news (thanks for sharing that Jane ).

The whole point here is that we are going to be OK. Inventory is down about 30%. Prices have been rising over the last few months and while there are more foreclosures coming the banks seem to be holding on to them to soften the effect it has on the market.

If you are considering selling it is a good time to talk about it as the demand is up for homes that first time buyers are interested in and there is a decline of inventory in that price range. I am actively seeking listings below $250K right now so if you know someone that has been waiting to sell it might be a good situation. The values are not back to the previous level on their house but neither is it on the replacement house they might be considering. The key thing here is that inventory is moving again. Move up buyers and sellers with low debt levels can be the winners in this season. Call me if you know someone I can talk to about a move. I am here to help.

Thanks for listening,
Jerry Robertson
678-231-1578 Cell

House values. We know they have fallen but we already talked about that in my article Almost Everyday. I like data and the reason is that it tells us what has happened in the past and what we can expect in the future.

There are signs of recovery in the news (finally) and I want to share some of that with you. Check out The Good News Economist for a perspective you won’t get on the TV. There are 3 recent articles that I think are very telling. Here is an interesting prediction on what the Dow might do. Another article that says The Recession is Over and finally one reporting on a Spike in Consumer Confidence.

If you are still looking for a job or need a better job then I can’t tell you that things are OK today. They are not OK but I want to show you there is hope because you won’t find the truth of life in morbidity but only in hope.

The reality is that there is nothing new in our human existence. Solomon said it in Ecclesiastes 1:9. “History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.” Personally that gives me  hope. I have had good times in the past and I am sure you have too. You will have them again. So will I.

I think we get what we look for. If you look for trouble you will find it. If you look for good news you will find that too. My pastor and teacher Kevin Myers from 12Stone church taught a lesson on the 12 men that went as spies into the promised land. They were supposed to spy out what this new land was like. God had promised them that they would live in the land and that He would give them the ability to take it from the current occupants. God had done many great things for them on the trip but they still did not believe, except for Joshua and Caleb.

All 12 men went in and when they came back they had very different stories. The 10 said they could not possibly take this land. Joshua and Caleb said they could. Numbers 13 and 14 in the Bible tells the story if you want to read it but my point is that they were both right. It took a while but after the people rebelled and listened to the 10 who said it could not be done, it was not done. At least not by them. The two, Joshua and Caleb were later able to go and take the land.

Here is the point of all that. Be careful who you listen to and who you hang out with. Seek the positive and I believe you will find it. It is not all doom and gloom for everyone. Will there be trouble? Of course. Will there be good times? Of course. It is not about our experiences that make up life. It is how we approach them. Focus on the positive and be selective about who you hang with and what you listen to. It will change your life.

Thanks for listening,
Jerry Robertson
678-231-1578

No, this is not a Pink Floyd song. Well, actually that is the title of one but I want to talk about money, not music.

I heard the other day that Visa has launched a new Fantasy Football game that is designed to teach children about money. That is a little like asking Timothy Leary to teach children about drugs.

I have added a new Item of Value to help understand money. This provides information about saving money, budgeting money and even spending money. Check it out.

I also have another resource for you if you would like to take the next step and get a coach to help with finances. Parkey Thompson provides a coaching experience to help you with money. He is a Dave Ramsey certified financial advisor and provides individual and group experiences. Check him out at Financial Focus for more info. His blog is right here if you want to check that out.

Thanks for checking in.

Jerry Robertson
678-231-1578 Cell

This is my first video tour. It could use a little polish but I wanted to get it for all to see. I’ll update it when we have a little better equipment. For now, check out this 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath townhouse with a full basement and ready for a 3rd bedroom and bath. Located in Suwanee behind the shops and amphitheater.

This does not come naturally for me but I have been encouraged to do this by several people and since I don’t believe in coincidence, here goes.

I am going to share the success we have as a company, as an office and personally as a broker working for my clients. There is a new page over to the right called Success Stories that you can check out if you like. I plan to chronicle some of the stories about my clients that have bought, sold or traded a property and to show you the new listings I have. I count getting a listing a big success because that means someone trusted me to sell their house and I will always do everything I can to get that done.

Selling and buying property is what I do to earn a living but it is much more than that to me. It is about helping people. First time buyers to empty nesters downsizing and everything in between.

The very first success I want to share is about my company, Keller Williams. We are No. 3 (just passing ReMax this year) and now voted “Highest Overall Satisfaction” for buyers in 2009. That is the second year in a row.

Check out the video.

I am really pleased to be a part of a company that can do that!!

Live a Good Life!!
Jerry Robertson

Here are a few new tech tips that I have found. Check out the ones that you can use!!

Choosing The Right Hospital: Hospitals differ in their skill treating certain conditions and making sure you find the best hospital in your area, requires some research. One thing you shouldn’t do is use the phone book. At USHospitalFinder you can start by searching for hospitals in your area. Clicking on a hospital name brings up more information about it. You can see what types of services it provides. More importantly, you can see quality and rating information. See how its treatment differs in quality from the national  average. http://www.ushospitalfinder.com/

Email Address Online: A real invitation to spam. But maybe you could want customers to contact you via your site. Consider using a contact form where your e-mail address is never revealed. But anyone can contact you easily using the form. Just sign up at Contactify. Contactify will create and host a contact form for you. You can place a link to it on your site. Or, Contactify will help you embed the form in your site. Responses will be sent to your e-mail address. You can evem log in and change the e-mail address. Or, delete the contact form! http://www.contactify.com/

Gauge Your Password Strength: These days, you need to make sure that you use strong passwords. Crooks not only want your banking password, but also e-mail and Facebook passwords. Microsoft has a tool that will help you gauge password strength. Just enter your password to see how strong it is. http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/password/checker.mspx

Reading Books Online: E-books offer a certain amount of convenience. They won’t take up any space in your house. They’re also easy to transport. You’ll find plenty of free e-books online. Feedbooks is a great place to start looking for free e-books. There are also plenty of contemporary titles. You probably won’t find any big names. But the authors are giving the books away for free. The books will work on popular e-book readers. You can read them on your Sony Reader or Amazon Kindle. And many smartphones can read the files, too. iPhone owners will probably want to bookmark the  mobile site to read books directly in iPhone’s Safari Web browser! http://feedbooks.com/

Live a Good Life!!
Jerry Robertson