Got a dingy house in need of a paint job, new roof, and a new lawn? Easy, just a few minutes in Photoshop and Presto-Chango, it’s move-in ready!

With more consumers going online to do their home searches, it is now more important for sellers and agents to be able to draw a home-buyer with just one simple, small picture of a home than ever before. So much so, in fact, that quite a few are now relying on Photoshop to give their properties the competitive edge online.

Done right, these digital make-overs can give home buyers an idea of how a house could look, influencing them to buy. But, they shouldn’t be the first images that they see and they certainly shouldn’t be presented as genuine photos of a residence. Ultimately, doing so will affect an agent’s credibility when they take an excited couple to see a house, only to discover all the flaws that were hidden in the picture.

Example

Here’s an example of one I found on FMLS. It’s a small 3/1 home in Acworth, GA. Nice lawn eh?

Most of you can probably tell the grass is fake on the above. But, it’s just one of many that are out there. I’ve seen much better ones. Here’s the same image after I’ve done my own editing on it in Photoshop:

Not as easy to notice now is it? And that only took about 15mins.

So, what are some things to look for?

• Repeating patterns – Often the clone tool is used to copy a good section of the photo over a bad section. However, sloppiness with this tool can lead to patterns that are easy to detect.
• Shading – A flat lawn is a fake lawn.
• Texture – If it doesn’t look like it has the right texture to it, it probably doesn’t.
• Straight Lines -Razor-sharp lines only exist in the digital world and Superman’s jawline. Grass leaves a fuzzy edge.
• Wrong Color – Grass is green…but not that green. Many people think they can just paint some green over a lawn and expect it to look right…wrong. Lawns have texture and they have multiple shades of green.
• Brightness – Another trick is to grab objects from other photos to correct something in an existing one. However, the new objects are often not color corrected before being used. So, they end up with some things that visually stick out of the photo.

Starting in the low $300k’s, The Reserve is an upscale neighborhood located on Mission Road.

Originally, I had my doubts about this neighborhood. However, after watching it come together and touring a couple of the homes, all doubt has been shed. The Reserve is a nice subdivision. It has all the features that today’s homebuyer desires:

• bead-board
• wainscoting
• crown moulding
• large baseboards
• wood floors
• granite counter-tops
• designer-colours
• large rooms
• landscaped yards
• finished two-car garages
• built-in cabinetry
• spacious decks
• Club House with pool & tennis courts!
• and LOTs of room.

About the only thing missing is a theater room…which you could add in the large un-finished basements.

Pictures!

Enough of me talking about them, have a look for yourself:
House 1
House 2

It’s one thing to have your real estate agent cherry pick* your comparable sales, but when you can gather the information for yourself, now that’s empowering.

Knowledge of previous sales can go a long way in helping you determine what a reasonable offer would be. Fortunately, that information is becoming more and more available online.

I’ve come up with a list of the counties surrounding Bartow that have made property records available online. Each of them vary in the amount of detail that they provide, but they are all pretty useful.

Bartow County
http://www.bartowcountymaps.com/

Cherokee County
http://www.cherokeega.com/

Cobb County
http://www.cobbassessor.org/

Floyd County (Seems a bit buggy)
http://gis.romega.us

Fulton County
http://www.fultonassessor.org/

Paulding County
http://paulding.visualgov.com/

Polk County
http://www.qpublic.net/ga/polk/

In addition to the county searches, you may also be able to gain additional information by using Zillow. It’s another one of my favorite real estate websites.

*Kidding! I know they all don’t do that. However, using the websites above can help eliminate any doubt.

I remember when my own parents were buying a house, there was always talk about 15 year mortgages vs. 30 year mortgages; but it didn’t really mean anything to me. Being as young as I was, I didn’t really have an understanding of compounding interest.

Things have changed a bit since then, but I still find that when talking about mortgages, and how much one can save you over another, it’s better to just talk turkey.

Using actual numbers puts a real face on the potential savings. Below you’ll find various types of fixed rate mortgages from 15 up to 40yrs. You’ll see I’ve also included some additional What If’s?; such as paying an extra $100 a month.

Our Constants
Original Loan Value: $145,000
APR: 6.4%

15 Year Mortgage
Total Interest Paid: $80,926.66
Monthly Payment: $1,255.15
Payoff Date: July 9, 2022

15 Year Mortgage + $100 extra monthly
Total Interest Paid: $70,409.39
Monthly Payment: $1,355.15
Payoff Date: October 9, 2020 (13 years)

30 Year Mortgage
Total Interest Paid: $181,514.08
Monthly Payment: $906.98
Payoff Date: July 9, 2037

30 Year Mortgage + $100 extra monthly
Total Interest Paid: $131,565.17
Monthly Payment: $1,006.98
Payoff Date: June 9, 2030 (23 years)

30 Year Mortgage + $200 extra monthly
Total Interest Paid: $104,590.13
Monthly Payment: 1,106.98
Payoff Date: May 9, 2026 (19 years)

30 Year Mortgage + $300 extra monthly
Total Interest Paid: $87,277.67
Monthly Payment: 1,206.98
Payoff Date: August 9, 2023 (16 years)

40 Year Mortgage
Total Interest Paid: $257,529.86
Monthly Payment: $838.60
Payoff Date: July 9, 2047

Mortgage Summary

The main things we can take home from the above is that:

• 15 year mortgages will save you the most money (even more so than demonstrated above because they typically have lower interest rates.). Compared to the 30year, the savings in interest will be about $100,500!

  Let’s assume for a moment that after you finish paying off the house at the 15 year mark, you start putting the same amount into a high-yield savings account (Such as the one’s I’ve mentioned here). At the end of the next 15 years, that’ll add up to $336,892.11 ($110,965.11 of which is just interest you will have accrued!)

• If you’re going to pay $300 extra every month over the life of a 30 year loan, you might as well switch to a 15 year loan and save yourself some money (~$7000) (Again, 15 year loans have lower interest rates, so it’ll probably be even better than that).
• 40 year mortgages suck. Sure, many 40 year mortages don’t come with 6.4% interest rates, but even still you’ll probably end up spending more than had you went with the 30year + 100 option.

Want to do your own comparisons? Try BankRate’s Mortgage Calculator.

Victoria Village has been a long time in the making, especially if you consider the lot it’s being built on was graded some years ago (assumingly for some other sub-division, anybody remember the old name?). It can be found on Old Mill Road, near Cartersville Elementary School and beside the Excel Academy. On this map, it’s the upside-down “L” in the dirt.

Before I get into the meat and bones, let me say that I have not been into any of the houses in this subdivision. Unfortunately, a red sign near the entrance requires that you sign in before entering the “construction area.”

So, if you want to browse these, you’ll have to step inside and talk with one of the real estate agents first. With as many houses on the market today, and the purported slow-down in new home sales, you’d think there wouldn’t be any road-blocks for potential buyers.

Anyways, the houses in Victoria Village continue the line of craftsman-style homes being built in the area. The major difference in these is that the exteriors are painted, IMHO, an array of colorful pastel-ish tones. It looks like an attempt to re-create the feel of Charleston, SC (or any shore town really).

When I drive by this subdivision, I’m left with a memory of houses in light sage green & pinkish red (probably not the best colors to be remembered by), but the houses truly appear to be nice houses.

If you’ve got a higher tolerance for unnecessary requirements, give them a look. Houses start in the low 200s.

You can also visit Victoria Village’s website, but as of today it still does not have any information on the subdivision (need some help with that?).

The only thing you’ll see is “THIS IS THE FUTURE WEBSITE FOR Victoria Village”…Hmmm, I wonder if I have to sign-in first to see anything online too? =)