March 2011 
There are 5 blog entries for March 2011.
"Atlanta Home Prices Lower Than 2000" - USA Today
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011 at 4:18pm. 1223 Views, 0 Comments.
A front page article in this morning's USA Today Money Section showed Atlanta home prices have dipped below where they were in the year 2000 and have actually dropped an additional 7% from January 2010.
Nationally the real estate market hit bottom in April 2009, which is near where Atlanta also hit its low. Standard & Poors uses a 20-city composite index to measure the national market and currently the average price of a home is only up about 1.1% from record breaking prices in 2009. If we drop below those 2009 numbers, then we officially have a double dip recession in real estate.
So what does this mean for you? If you are considering a purchase, then now is the time to buy a home in Atlanta! If you are looking to sell, then get ready to…
Why sign a Buyer Brokerage Agreement?
Friday, March 25th, 2011 at 6:01pm. 669 Views, 0 Comments.
The simple answer is it's FREE and it immediately permits me to provide you, my client, with a wide variety of valuable information that is not readily available to the public.
The legal answer is "State law prohibits a Broker from representing a Buyer as a client without first entering into a written agreement with the Buyer."
In fact, I am not just permitted but I am now legally required to provide you with information that I know regarding a property. This includes everything from the market value of a certain home to whether it is located in the flood plain or is infested with termites.
A brokerage agreement also permits a Broker to negotiate on your behalf and handle a variety of other tasks that must be completed during the purchase and…
How To Appeal Your Property Taxes
Monday, March 21st, 2011 at 4:59pm. 979 Views, 0 Comments.
The subject of property taxes, specifically, appealing property taxes, has been a popular topic of conversation lately among homeowners throughout Metro Atlanta. There seems to be a common misconception that the process is difficult and confusing – but this couldn’t be further from the truth!
Since the recent passage of Georgia Senate Bill 346 - a Bill which requires that every property owner in the state of Georgia gets an annual notice of assessment starting in tax year 2011 - it’s very easy.
The Assessment Notice indicates what the county determines is your home’s Fair Market Value, along with an estimated property tax amount. The notice also gives tax payers information on filing an appeal. The appeal may be based on taxability, value,…
Are We There Yet?
Tuesday, March 8th, 2011 at 6:22am. 662 Views, 0 Comments.
I live and breathe real estate on a daily basis, but the continued drop in Metro Atlanta real estate values during 2010 suprised even me. Home prices in Atlanta dropped 8 percent in 2010, sinking to new lows ,according to Standard & Poor's S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.
Are we at the bottom?
From an insiders point of view, the market now seems to be most affected by fear. People are waiting and watching, not wanting to catch what is being portrayed on the evening news as a falling knife. While fear is the current ruler of the market, I have seen many signs that the allure of opportunity has started to get buyers attention.
The median sales price of Atlanta’s single-family homes was up 1.7 percent in January, according to the National…
Atlanta Foreclosure Statistics for Luxury Neighborhoods
Tuesday, March 1st, 2011 at 4:58pm. 971 Views, 0 Comments.
After hearing that nearly 1 in 3 Atlanta homes is in foreclosure, which by the way is not correct, a concerned buyer asked me last week about the health of the Atlanta market in higher end neighborhoods. The following conversation and statistics we found showed some very encouraging numbers for neighborhoods with average sales above 500K.
In particular, this buyer was interested in the percentage of distressed sales in some of Atlanta's most popular neighborhoods like Vinings. The chart below shows these numbers and how they compare to the Atlanta market as a whole.
At the peak of the foreclosure crisis in 2009, approximately 33% of all Atlanta home sales were distressed. However, neighborhoods like Ansley Park and Chastain Park never had more…