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Managing Editor of HomeLight, Caroline Feeney, is in the studio today along with Andy Peters of The Peters Company for today’s episode of Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio. Joined by host Todd Schnick, the group discusses HomeLight’s most recent Realtor survey, as well as the real estate market as a result of COVID-19.
Andy Peters, an Atlanta real estate broker and team owner of The Peters Company, started the production group with his wife back in 2008 through Keller Williams. Wearing many hats, Andy is also a qualifying broker for three Keller Williams offices throughout North Atlanta. Over the course of the past few months, he has seen the resilience of the real estate market and has taken note of the new market trends on both the agent and buyer side.
As a real estate technology platform, HomeLight works to make the process of buying and selling a home a more frictionless process for everyone involved. Through a variety of services including their proprietary agent matching and simple sales platforms, the company is able to successfully achieve that goal. HomeLight regularly performs a Top Agent Insights Survey to take polls of industry trends and to keep up with what is happening in the market. In their most recent survey, agents were surveyed on a bi-weekly basis for three months during the moths of April through June to determine the state of the real estate.
During peak pandemic in March and April, agent optimism took a huge plunge dropping from 76% to 56%. However, come May, optimism rebounded above pre-pandemic levels to 82%. Both Caroline and Andy agree that this is likely due to the combination of low-interest rates encouraging homebuyers to buy, as well as the industry’s ability to adapt to change. Agents have had to become creative in these times in order to create an environment all consumers feel comfortable in. Through communicating plans with clients and adopting new methods such as virtual tours and meetings, agent have been able to find much more success than expected.
The survey also revealed that the top two motivators for people wanting to move during this time include a need for more space and the desire to buy versus rent. People are using their homes in new ways and realizing they need more space for life, while others simply want more privacy and control. Andy has seen these moving motivators with his own clients, adding that the new remote working environment has also provided many with the opportunity to move out of the city center and reevaluate where they want to live.
According to the survey, the biggest home preferences shaped by COVID-19 include home office spaces. As long-term remote working becomes more prominent, homebuyers are wanting more ergonomic setups. Along with a rising need for home office spaces, there has also been a desire for other lifestyle features such as media room, pools and covered outdoor porches. For homebuyers looking to sell their homes, some home features offering the highest return on investments include home offices (87% ROI), walk-in pantries (77% ROI) and double ovens (71% ROI).
For more information on The Peters Company, visit www.ThePetersCompany.com. To learn more about HomeLight, or to read the complete survey results, visit their blog at www.homelight.com/blog.
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Georgia Residential Mortgage Licensee, License #22564. NMLS ID #6606. Subject to borrower and property qualifications. Not all applicants will qualify. New American Funding and HomeLight are not associated. Click here to view the terms and conditions of products mentioned during the show. Corporate office 14511 Myford Rd., Suite 100, Tustin, CA 92780. Phone: (800) 450-2010. (August/2020)
New American Funding is a family-owned mortgage lender with a servicing portfolio of over 123,000 loans for $30.4 billion, 198 branches, and about 3,100 employees. The company offers several niche loan products and has made Inc. 5000’s list of Fastest-Growing Companies in America six times. It has a state-of-the-art career training facility and develops innovative technology, including the GoGo LO mobile application. For more information, visit www.branch.newamericanfunding.com/Atlanta.
The Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio “All About Real Estate” segment, presented by Denim Marketing, highlights the movers and shakers in the Atlanta real estate industry – the home builders, developers, Realtors and suppliers working to provide the American dream for Atlantans. For more information on how you can be featured as a guest, contact Denim Marketing at 770-383-3360 or fill out the Atlanta Real Estate Forum contact form. Subscribe to the Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio podcast on iTunes, and if you like this week’s show, be sure to rate it.
