Atchley Team Returns from Atlanta!

Representatives from the Atchley Group at Keller Williams Realty recently returned from Atlanta where they attended the 2008 Keller Williams Realty Family Reunion. With 12,000 plus Realtors from across the U.S. and Canada, Gary Atchley, Heidi Rose and Deb Atchley enjoyed three full days of advanced education and information on real estate industry.

"In visiting with Realtors from around the country and hearing stats from other regions, our belief that Oklahoma is the best place to live was confirmed over and over," said Gary Atchley. "Our home selling market is much different than what we are hearing on the evening news and what we heard from areas of the country that are faced with home price depreciation, poor sales performance and a surplus of homes to sell."

The team returns from Atlanta with a renewed vision for making the home buying and selling experience as enjoyable, profitable and stress-free as possible.

The Atchley Group markets and sells homes in the Edmond, Deer Creek, Piedmont, Yukon and Northwest Oklahoma City metro area.

5 Reasons Houses Beat Stocks

The following is taken from the Atchley Group E-Newsletter to view or subscribe go to http://www.atchleygroup.com/ext_real-estate_latest-news.asp?link=realtytimes.com/c/DebAtchley

Despite what Wall Street wants you to believe, owning a home isn't the same kind of investment as stocks or bonds. What you get is a USE asset that depreciates over time, while it grows in market value. All you have to do is keep the home in good repair to max out your take.
Here are five reasons why you get more for your money with a house than a worthless sock puppet.

· Leverage: with stocks, you put in all your money for a little piece of a company. With a house, you put in a little money to get all of the house.
· Tax benefits: Uncle Sam knows that owning a home is a pain in the neck, that's why you get subsidies. These are basically government bribes to get you to buy. What other investment can you put in 5 percent of the cost of the asset, reap all the appreciation and pay no capital gains?

That's right: live in your home two years, rent it for three, sell it, and pay no tax on capital gains up to 250,000 for singles, $500,000 for married couples. And you're worried about paying too much?
And that's not all - think about the benefits of fixed-rate mortgages, property tax write-offs, interest rate deductions, depreciation. Is this a great country or what?

· Control: When you buy stocks, you're paying some CEO 500 times the average worker's salary for results you'd lose your job for. With a home, you have control - what you buy, how much you pay, and where you live. You can improve the value with repairs and updates. Compare that to getting heard at the next shareholders' meeting.
· Lifestyle: Do you want to look at a dumpsite or your children playing in their own back yard? With a home, you're purchasing a vantage point for yourself and your family. The neighborhood you want to be in, the size and style home that fits your needs. And the more wisely you choose, the better off you are.
· Value: Unlike our little sock puppet friend, your house will seldom become worthless. Barring a catastrophe, your home will retain a major portion of its value, even in the worst of times. So don't freak out about a losing a few percent this year. You'll make it up. Housing has lost value only one year out of the last 35. It's more normal to beat inflation by one to two percent.
Let's get a little perspective here. You lost a greater percentage on the stock market this year than if you owned a house. You lost more on your SUV. And you sure lost more on your iPhone.
And keep this in mind -- when it rains, which would you rather have over your head, a roof or a stock certificate?

9 questions to ask about 2007

1. What is the greatest lesson you learned this year that you never want your kids to forget?

2. How might you have behaved or acted differently in 2007 if you had to do it over again?


3. Looking back over the year, what did you set out to do that you didn’t do and why?


4. What key discipline did you live out this past year that had a significant impact on your life? What was the impact?


5. What are you most proud of this year?


6. What were the key surprises (good or bad) that happened this year?


7. Which relationships in your life grew this year and which regressed?


8. If you could go back to the beginning of this year, what piece of advice would you give yourself? Why?

9. Looking back, what was the overarching theme for the year?

New Year's Resolutions

The beginning of a new year brings a lot of resolutions. You may want to get on that treadmill and lose those extra pounds, make a budget for your family or just want to be a better person all around. One of my resolutions this year is to get more organized around the house. I just can't seem to get rid of anything and it's starting to drive me crazy! Just think of how much easier it would be to move if your home was totally organized. Maybe once you get organized, you may just want to make a move. I know that I couldn't even think about moving right now because my closets are so cluttered and packing up all of the things to move would just be a nightmare. Maybe your home just doesn't have enough storage and moving into another home could help you stay more organized. That's one of the good things about Turner and Son Homes, the massive amount of storage and closet space. If you want to take a look at how big the closets are just give Darcy Oviatt a call at 274-5667 and he can give you a tour. You don't have to make resolutions, but making a move is a fresh start and a good way to get more organized. Happy New Year and good luck with your resolutions!

Mandy Stansberry

Atchley Group Marketing Manager

Oklahoma Bucks National Trend, Home Prices Rise!

The Atchley Group wanted to share the GOOD NEWS for the Oklahoma housing market that doesn't seem to get the media it deserves.

Government reports are showing Oklahoma's residential real estate market is NOT reflective of what is going on in the national scene where there is declining home prices in much of the country. According to reports from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight released last week, home prices increased 2.12 percent in Oklahoma in the July/September period compared with the previous quarter and were up 5.54 percent for the year.

Yes, nationwide home prices have dipped which is the first quarterly decline in 13 years. The same report states that Oklahoma showed a relatively low number of foreclosure filings, amounting to about 1 percent of total households over the last five quarters. Economist Andrew Leventis from the agency said it best, "Some of the price correction we are seeing is an unraveling of excessive price growth that occured earlier. Many of the areas we are seeing the decline are the same areas that had posted the largest increases a couple of years ago during the housing boom."

What do you want to learn from the Atchley Group? Real estate is a local market!

Call us to get details that are about your home, your neighborhood, your school district -- research about how your home stacks up to the market that exist locally is the only way to determine if this IS the BEST time to make a move. Call 330-2626 and ask for a member of the Gary Atchley team at Keller Williams Realty to discuss your options.