Shawna Woodward

Buying a home is a significant life event, and it’s often said that the decision goes beyond the bricks and mortar. In fact, the psychology of home buying plays a pivotal role in shaping our choices. Let’s delve into the factors that influence your decision when purchasing a home, going beyond the tangible aspects. Emotional Attachment: Our homes are not just buildings. They become the backdrop to our life stories. Many buyers are driven by a deep emotional connection to a property. Perhaps, it reminds them of their childhood home

As a local real estate agent, I am often asked to explain some of the more complicated terms that come up during the buying and selling process. In this article, I will break down seven terms that I believe are particularly important for buyers and sellers to understand: Pending or contingent offer, Closing Costs, Equity, Certified Funds, Due Diligence, Contingencies, and Title Commitment. First, let’s talk about Pending Offers. Locally, we consider an accepted offer to purchase a property, as a “Pending Offer.” This means that the property is generally

Earlier this week, Augusta Business Daily shared an informative piece on the new hospital coming to Columbia County. This exciting news led me to consider the impact on local real estate near the hospital, which is underway in our fastest-growing city around – Grovetown, Ga. Traditionally, those who work in the medical field want to live close to work. These professionals, residents specifically, sometimes work 80 hours a week. A hospital in today’s Grovetown would be a desirable choice for medical professionals because the available housing within a 5-mile radius

Last week, I focused on what a seller could do to quickly increase the time in which it takes to sell a home. This week, I thought I’d share some helpful tips for those preparing to buy a home. Specifically, what are some quick tips to help a buyer move forward with the purchasing side of a real estate transaction? The quickest thing I can advise that you do is locate, or always have these basic documents available, in a folder on your computer, or paper copies if you hold

If you are planning to sell your real estate soon, you may be asking, did I miss the perfect time to sell? The short answer is no, you are not too late. However, unlike the previous years, preparing a home for showing will take some effort. Gone are the days of multiple offers on an ugly home. Things like curb appeal, present-day decorative features, and fresh paint matter again! Pricing correctly is always the main key to selling quickly, but you also need to make sure you present your home

There’s been a recent shortage in the number of home sales, and you might be wondering why that is. What does this mean for the future? I saw some interesting things happening in our local MLS this week. For all those real estate newbies out there, MLS stands for multiple listing service, the website licensed real estate agents use to share home details with other agents. What I saw ignited a faint wonder, is the market starting to shift? My position has been pretty stout on the current sellers’ market

Last week, I watched a segment on the local news where they interviewed representatives from the Richmond County tax assessor’s office talking about the process used to decide values for property taxes. This process is similar to a property appraisal done by realtors or appraisers and is determined by local sales values. All counties generally follow the same process and then use their local millage rate formula to decide a tax assessment figure. Here is a quick example to show you how the millage rate process works. In Georgia, the