December 31, 2007
Everyone knows that we are in a Buyer’s market. You hear about it on the network news and read about it in the Atlanta paper…. in the Atlanta area we are in a Buyer’s Market!
One of the big brokerages has billboards around Atlanta which show how many homes are on the market today. It was up to 109,000 about a month ago and now it is down to 101,000. You will normally see it refresh and have the numbers change as you drive by. It catches my attention every time I drive by! The company is attempting to advertise the web search tool that they offer, but in my opinion, the only message it is really sending is that there are a boatload of houses for sale today in Atlanta Georgia!
I think the billboard undermines any feelings of optimism that may be brewing out there and they may be turning more Buyers off than they are turning on!
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December 20, 2007
I saw something interesting while looking at the sales for the last 12 months (12/20/2006-12/20/2007) in the Candler Park neighborhood. We have exactly the same number of sales that we did in the period from 12/20/2005-12/20/2006. There were 51 sales listed in the FMLS during both 12 month periods. That kind of disproves the theory that the market has softened this year!
Right now there are 22 properties on the market and 4 of them are under contract. They range from $299,000 to $949,000 and the average price is $526,888! This is the first time in a few years that we have seen some homes sell around $300K or less, but there are more homes selling at the top of the range than ever (mostly new construction) so the averages have been going up.
If you are interested in living in this neighborhood you can see what’s for sale on my Candler Park page and I would be happy to show you any that look interesting. I have been living in this great area since 1991 and think it’s Atlanta’s best neighborhood!
December 3, 2007
HUD homes continue to be a bargain for owner occupants with the $100 down payment option available on all properties beginning with the extended listings on October 5 2007. Then the properties listed on the General List (Owner Occupant preference) after October 10, 2007 are also eligible. This applies to the insured properties and the uninsured IF the buyer is using the FHA 203K loan to purchase! This is a program available to Georgia residents, and they must be owner occupants. One restriction on the program is that if the homeowner bids over the appraised value, then they must bring the "overbid" amount to the closing.
If you want to see what HUD homes are on the market look at my Atlanta Foreclosure page and you will see a link to HUD homes near the bottom of the page. While HUD homes are listed by Realtors and are in the lists of foreclosures that you can search by neighborhood, the only way to get an up to the minute accurate look at what is available is to go to the HUD site. Properties will still show active on the MLS when they are actually under contract. If it is on the HUD list, they are available!
If you find a home you want to see or bid on call me. You must have a registered HUD broker to make a bid and if you forget my phone number just call 770-HUD-HOME and you will find me!
November 30, 2007
This Sunday (December 2, 2007) a group of Realtors with listings in Colonial Hills, a subdivision in East Point Georgia, have decided to see if we can shake up the lagging showings by offering a flat screen TV to one lucky winner. To qualify for the drawing you have to preview all of the listings participating. Right now there are 8 Realtors participating and everyone is running their own ads and we are running some group ads. If you want to come to my listing first, I will have maps to the others and the address of mine is 2295 Newnan St. East Point, Georgia 30344.
This is the first time I have participated in this type of incentives, we are seeing more of this as the market cools. Builders are offering incentives on new homes and you see a lot of agents in the Caravan (Tuesday agents preview each other’s listing) giving away bottles of wine or "cash grab bags" to lure their fellow agents into the open house.
November 3, 2007
Decatur Commercial Opportunity
This house is zoned C1 and has been totally rebuilt from the foundation up. It is offered with some customization included to the needs of the Purchaser. The Seller is a builder and will provide handicapped access (ramp) and will rebuild one of the bathrooms for handicaped access. There are approximately 1990 square feet and the floorplan would lend itself to many applications.
The house has a large kitchen and the character and floor plan that would make a great restaurant or coffee shop. It would also be a good office for attorneys,CPA or Real Estate professionals. C1 is a flexible zoning that allows for many uses. The house has frontage currently on South Columbia but it also has rear access on Commerce which is also commercial. There is more traffic on Commerce and better visibility a 6′ privacy fence could be removed and there is a large yard for additional parking.
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Posted by danconnolly | Filed Under Decatur
November 1, 2007
This year we went out with our daughter, her husband and our granddaughter to trick or treat in Avondale Estates. Avondale Estates is a small city/neighborhood located just east of Decatur, inside the perimeter. It has its own mayor and police force and the police were directing traffic.
I have never seen anything like it. Virtually every house was decorated, and the main roads were closed to traffic. There were literally thousands of kids and parents wandering the neighborhood. It looked like kids were coming by the busload from other areas. Most houses with big decor had 30-50 kids on the porch and some were even decorated on the inside like haunted houses. The haunted houses had lines of people going through and must have given away hundreds of pounds of candy. We were completely amazed, we had heard it was big but really had no idea!
October 24, 2007
For years it has been difficult for landlords in Atlanta Georgia to buy properties in affluent areas and make a profit renting them out.
The reason for this is that the rents have not kept pace with the housing prices. Prices have been steadily rising in the sought after neighborhoods and school districts, and it is now difficult to find a home inside the perimeter in a good school district under $300,000. Most neighborhoods are priced considerably higher. Yet the rents are still fairly low. There are clean well maintained homes in good Buckhead neighborhoods that take several months to rent at $1800.00. Yet the same house may sell from $450,000 to $500,000 and even with 20% down the payment will be $700-$1000 higher than that!
If an investor were to put 20% down on a $400,000 house your principal and interest at 7% (which is normal for investment property), the payment would be $2,129.00 and that doesn’t include taxes and insurance which would easily add $600.00 more! Yet the house that will sell in a normal market for $400,000 will rent for $1,800 to $2,000 at the most! The payment would be $2,729.00 per month and they would be lucky to rent it for $2,000.00 per month! Doesn’t sound like a great investment!!!
But the Times they are a changing!
Why are the rents so low? There are literally thousands of apartments,lofts, condos and multi use high rises under construction right now inAtlanta. The builders apparently have no shortage of optimism.
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October 11, 2007
EMAIL ALERTS! Now you can be notified when the type of property you want comes on the market in the Atlanta Georgia metro area. The system will notify you daily when a Property is listed or modified in the FMLS or the GA MLS with your particular requirements. Get an email when a new fixer-upper listing comes on the market in Decatur under $100,000….or when a New Home comes on the market in Candler Park,…or when the price drops on a home in a certain area! You can arrange to be notified when homes come on the market both in a certain school district and in a certain price range…. the possibilities are endless!
June 2, 2007
The most exciting thing I did recently was went by a friend’s house yesterday who just had Vern Yip and his crew do over a couple of rooms in her house. They were wrapping up the shooting and I got some face time on national TV (HGTV) admiring her new diggs. They shot us in her new dining room snacking on sushi and toasting her success. We were like deer in the headlights and the producer had to remind us that we are supposed to take a sip after we toast, and reshot it! They are doing a new show (he used to be on Trading Spaces) called Deserving Designs. Really did a nice job on her old Victorian Home in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood of Atlanta Georgia.
This is my first post on my first blog. Kind of overwhelming and exciting! I am hoping to fill this with information that is helpful to folks using my website in there search for a home or investment property in Atlanta Georgia USA. The style and format will change as I learn more about the Wordpress platform. The title will probably change and hopefully there will be some interesting comments.
Posted by danconnolly | Filed Under Personal
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