Introduction to St. Mary's GA Real Estate Information
Gathering real estate information, researching prices, and gaining understanding of sales techniques are worthy topics to educate yourself with as you research St Marys, Georgia Real Estate. Spending some time on these items will ensure you get the best deal in your Georgia Real Estate transaction and while you are at our site we encourage you to view our St. Marys, GA Homes For Sale or to view our entire collection of Georgia homes for sale. We will expound on some of that information on this page and encourage you to read the details on the entire page, but if you are ready to start searching for St. Marys GA Real Estate or find a St. Marys Home For Sale, click here to jump to our MLS Access Page and start looking for Georgia homes and land for sale.
There are some basic details on St Marys, Georgia below, (i.e. St. Marys is often misspelled Saint Mary's, or St. Mary's) but first we would like to explain a little about the sales techniques and concepts. Spending 10 minutes reading the next few paragraphs could literally save you thousands of dollars in your home purchase or sale.
Buying in St. Mary's GA Real Estate Market
Even if you are an experienced buyer, using an agent can save you thousands of dollars. In our society we are taught the "do-it-yourself" mentality and in many cases that's an important philosophy to live by. This is not one of those cases (unless you have bought and sold a dozen homes and are truly an experienced investor in the St Marys GA Real Estate market). If you are not an investor with dozens of deals under your belt, you should almost always use a real estate agent (preferably a Realtor) to purchase your home or property. There are many reasons why this is the case, but here are the most important points and/or arguments:
Pure Experience in St. Mary's, Georgia Real Estate:
Even a brand new agent with only a single sale under their belt will have been working in a real estate for about 90 days (it often takes that long to get their first client and take the sale to the closing). During this time they are spending 8-10 hours per day, dedicated to learning the market, trends, techniques, and values of the area. That invested time is about 640 hours more experience than the typical home buyer. Now imagine if you are using an agent that has been in real estate for 2 years, 5 years, even 10 years - they will go through the list of items involved in the process (negotiations, obstacles, inspections, peaceful closings, hostile closings, etc.) more times in a typical summer than you will in your entire life! And to top it off - 97% of the time you can use their services for Free! The seller’s agent or the builder will pay your agent for you. That brings me to my next points:
Buying New Construction in the St. Mary's, Georgia Real Estate Market:
In our area, most of the builders that build-out a subdivision (i.e. Soncel, Baytown, Regency, Seaire, Osprey Cove, LaurelIsland, etc.) have added the cost of an agent into the price of the home in order to attract agents. The local Board of Realtors currently has around 300 agents and if each agent has one buyer looking for a home, that's 300 potential buyers the builder wants walking through their office door. By targeting the agents, the builder has an extended sales staff in the St Marys GA Real Estate market and the builder only pays that extended sales staff if the agent sells one of their homes. So what happens if you don't use an agent? Then the builder charges you the exact same price for the home and pockets the extra 3-7%. You are actually paying the same price for the home, dealing directly with a builder more experienced than you, and the builder is actually making more money while doing it! Now the question becomes - Why would you want to put yourself in a disadvantaged position when you can use an agent with the experience comparable to the builders...especially since your agent will get paid by the builder?
Buying a Resale Home in St. Mary's, Georgia Real Estate Market:
Most homes listed through a reputable agency have also built-in the cost of your agent. The agency actually charges a set percentage of the sales price (i.e. 6%) and then states on the MLS how much they are willing to share with the buyer's agent. Like builders, the seller's agent can create an extended sales staff of 300 agents simply by sharing the money. If the seller is paying them 6% for marketing the home, the agent often splits that in half and is willing to pay the buyer's agent 3% (common scenario in the St. Marys GA Real Estate market). So what happens if you go directly to the seller's agent? The seller's agent works for the seller and is going to work to get the highest price and best terms for the seller - not the buyer! For you to get the best price and best terms you need to work with a buyer's representative. That way they contractually work for you just as the seller's agent works for the seller. This doesn't mean you can't buy a house that is listed by the same agency, but you do not want to buy a house listed by the exact same agent.
Buying a St. Mary's, Georgia Home For Sale By Owner (FSBO):
This is where you may find a steal. You may or may not want to use an agent on this purchase. If the home for sale by owner (FSBO) seller is willing to pay 3% to your agent (called FSBO - Agent Protected) then you might as well bring an agent and let the seller pay for your representation. In this instance your agent will probably be much, much more experienced than the seller...advantage - you! In the event that the home "For Sale By Owner" seller does not want to deal with an agent (called FSBO - Agent Unprotected) then you simply have to deal with the seller direct. Either way, a home being marketed FSBO is going to have one of two outcomes based on national statistics:
If you can find a FSBO that is frustrated and ready to call an agent (see Outcome 1) then you can buy the home at a discount (see Outcome 2) before it goes on the market with representation. Once the home goes on the market with an agent, the seller has a decent chance that their agent will negotiate properly.
Please realize, we didn't design any of these systems, we simply educate people about it and have learned to function within the structure. Good luck on your home purchase; feel free to visit our MLS Access Page to search for St. Marys, GA Homes For Sale or other St. Mary's, GA Real Estate.
Living in St. Mary's, Georgia
St. Marys, Georgia is located in the southeast corner of Georgia about 12 miles from the Florida border. The city just is just east of Kingsland, Georgia. From downtown St. Mary's you can see Florida across the marshland of the St. Mary's River, but in order to get to Florida you must use I-95 (this is the quickest) which, for the most part, runs through neighboring Kingsland. St. Mary's and its neighboring city of Kingsland, Georgia make up the majority of Camden County’s population. Camden's current population is roughly 50,000 people and projected to grow at a fairly aggressive rate. The growth for the area is mostly realized within the St. Marys and Kingsland cities and is due largely from targeted marketing by large developers.
St. Marys has the benefit of the County’s largest employer sitting on the edge of the city limits. The employer is the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base which directly, and indirectly through contractors, employees a few thousand people. Much of the housing attention in the area is related to large developers targeting retirees from areas in Atlanta, much of Florida, New York, New Jersey, etc.
Although there is still a significant, average earning population, the county is nicely positioned for retirees that want warmer weather without the high property taxes of some of our surrounding states. For example: an affluent retiree can afford an expensive home in either Florida or Georgia, but Florida boasts “no state income tax,” compensating with a higher property tax. Common sense would tell you that a retiree (no earned income) would not benefit as much from the “no state income tax” claim, but would pay significantly more in Florida’s higher property tax. In contrast, Georgia has an income tax for people that are working, but the property tax is commonly lower.
For those that are buying an average home, have no fear, homes are still affordable in St. Marys and Kingsland when compared with areas like Jacksonville. The average home price for Camden County is around $145,000 to $175,000. In addition to affordability and a nice climate, the area has an excellent school system that is very proud of its teachers, level of education, and their sports programs (especially football). There is minor shopping throughout the two cities and major shopping is only a matter of 15-20 minutes away via I-95. |