4 Questions Metro Atlanta Buyers and Sellers Asked Me

Rates, whether we're in a buyer's market, why Zillow and Redfin disagree about your home's value, and what to do about your tax assessment.

Over the past 30 days, I've had some really good questions come my way, and a few of them came up often enough that I figured I should share them. If you're in the market right now, or you know someone who is, at least one of these is probably on your mind.

1. Should I wait for rates to drop before I buy? Honestly, what I'm telling people right now is this: if you find a great house, buy the house.

Here's what's great about this market. Interest rates are around the low to mid sixes, and they're probably not going anywhere this year, maybe even next year. A lot of buyers are waiting for rates to drop, because that's the easy thing to do. You don't want to be like a lot of buyers. You want to come out and shop when the buyers aren't there.

That means more inventory to choose from. Yes, you've got a higher interest rate, but with fewer buyers competing for the same house, you're in a position to negotiate closing costs, negotiate off the price, and really get the deal that you want. So don't wait. Go ahead and start shopping now, and if you find the right house, make an offer on it.

2. Are we in a buyer's market? Somebody asked me this the other day, and I'll say it's trending that way, but we're more in a balanced market right now. A buyer's market is when we have six or more months of inventory. I can't even imagine a market where we get to that. We haven't been there in our area since around 2010. 

But a balanced market can feel like a buyer's market, because we've got more inventory on the market and fewer sales are happening. So technically, no, we're not in a buyer's market. But yes, it kind of feels like one, and that feeling is the reason buyers have more room to negotiate than they've had in a while.

"You want to come out and shop when the buyers aren't there."

3. What's up with all the algorithm home value estimates? You can go on Redfin, Zillow, Homes.com, and Realtor.com, and they're all going to tell you a different estimate of your home's value. They're pretty much all looking at the same data; they're just weighing it differently.

But here's what we all know. None of these websites is going inside your home. They're not going inside your neighbor's home either. They don't really understand how being in a great school district or a really convenient location can affect your value. They don't know that your home is more renovated than your neighbor's, or the other way around.

So the algorithms are a decent way to get a very broad range. But I think everyone knows by now that if you want a dialed-in value, you need to call me, and I can put together a very narrow range for what your home should actually sell for.

4. What's going on with the tax assessment hikes? This is the one I'm getting the most right now, and it's coming from all over Metro Atlanta.

Here's the deal. We all know our home values have gone up, and in Cobb County, we had a huge hike about two or three years ago. So here's what I'm telling people. I've actually met with people whose job it is to go out and fight for lower tax assessment values, and here's what I learned from them.

If your tax assessment value is within the range your home could sell for, you really don't have a case. But if you think it's higher than what you could sell it for, give me a call. If we're still inside the window where you can appeal it, I'll help you do that.

What I'll say is that most of the people I've talked to are in the first category. Their assessed values are considerably higher than they were last year, but they're still below what we could actually sell their house for. Frustrating to open that envelope, but not a case you'd win.

Those are the questions I've been getting the most this month. If you have one, please let me know. Call or text me at (404) 800-7111, or email me at kelly@kellysellsatlanta.com. You can also find more at www.kellycohomes.com/blog. I hope you're having a great summer.