Alpharetta Real Estate

8Jul

Reverse Offers: When She Asks Him To The Dance

Posted in: Listings, Real Estate Industry, Sellers, Stuff I like to talk about

Reverse Offers - Seeking Buyer Love Just like everyone wants to be liked, Sellers just want some buyer love. Your home gets shown, and show, and shown, you get the idea. Everybody “likes” you but who LOVES you? We can lower the price and wait some more. That’s the traditional approach, right?

Why do we feel it necessary to do what is normal. We’re in a very different market. One that acts like nothing most of us have ever seen. What used to be “normal” isn’t any longer. It’s like when we were kids, the boys ALWAYS asked the girls to the dance, right? Why didn’t the girls ever ask the boys? Maybe some did. Those girls who refused to do what was considered normal.

That’s what a reverse offer is like. I had a unique listing that received little traffic but great feedback when we had showings. After too much time on the market I decided to do something different. We had a buyer who loved the house but wanted to keep looking. I approached the Seller’s with the idea of making an offer to the buyer.

Now, here is the important part. If you do this, it must be a meaningful offer. Meaningful enough to pull the buyer off of the fence and say “Maybe I don’t need to keep looking”. At the same time, you want to deliver the offer in a way that says “We think this is meaningful and you shouldn’t see this as an opening offer to a protracted negotiation. We’re pretty much where we think we can go”.

Well it worked. We had to give up a little more than our original reverse offer price but the important thing is we motivated the buyer to make a decision. As most Realtors out there can attest, getting buyers to pull the trigger can be difficult in this market.

If we shift our thinking with the shifted market, we will survive…or better yet, thrive!

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About the Author, Bob Strader

Bob Strader is a Realtor whose focus is merging technology and real estate. He specializes in helping buyers search for homes online and leveraging technology to maximize online exposure for home sellers. He is married and lives in Milton, GA with his wife and two daughters.

Half Price Sale for Milton Real Estate

Posted in: Alpharetta Real Estate

Half Price Home in Milton, Ga Why someone hasn’t take advantage of this opportunity is amazing to me, so I have to tell more people about it. This French Country home is in a swim tennis community in Milton, Ga and it can be your for about half of it’s last sale price.

It sold near the peak of the market for $935,000 and the bank has it currently listed for $575k. With 6 bedrooms, 5.5 baths and a view of the Lake that it sits next to - it’s what you call a no brain-er. Granted, there are some cosmetic updates it needs, like carpet, paint, wallpaper removal. But there is granite in BOTH kitchens, the rooms are ample and the structure is sound (it’s only 8 years old).

So, while I’m amazed it’s still available - move quickly while it still is. These deals won’t be around next year.

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About the Author, Bob Strader

North Fulton Buyers Running Out Of Homes?

Posted in: Alpharetta Real Estate, Foreclosures, Milton Real Estate, Roswell Real Estate

North Fulton Sold Out?

OK, we’re not exactly running out of homes. I did want to get your attention though because the inventory of single-family resales are the lowest they have been in more than 2 years. And, foreclosures seem to be selling like hotcakes in North Fulton. I pulled some quick numbers of inventory levels at the end of June for this year and the previous two years, take a look:

	June 2007	June 2008	June 2009
Active SF Resale Listings in North Fulton	2024	2279	1970

While nearly 2 thousand homes sounds like a lot, keep in mind that the area I looked at is all of North Fulton both west and east of Hwy 400. This area includes Roswell, Milton, Alpharetta and Johns Creek. Another interesting note is how low the percentage of resale listings are foreclosures in North Fulton. Take a look below:

	Total	No. of REO	% REO
Active Listings in Metro Atlanta	43412	4442	10.2%
Active SF Resale Listings in North Fulton	1970	63	3.2%

Compared to all of Metro Atlanta, North Fulton has a pretty low percentage of bank owned properties. The reason for that could be the fact that North Fulton Schools remain in high demand. Most buyers out there are looking for deals so the foreclosures get snapped up more quickly. So, if you are looking for a foreclosure in this area, don’t waste too much time thinking about it.

But on the flip-side, if you want a well maintained, move in ready resale and you are looking in a very specific area or school district - there may not be as many out there as you think. Sellers offering more for less (a home in perfect condition and priced well) should be able to move their property in a reasonable amount of time.

Case in point: I listed a home in the Highlands at Park Bridge community on June 12th (about 3 weeks ago) and put it under contract on July 3rd. They had the home in perfect condition and the sales price was exactly where I thought it would end up - so there were no surprises for anyone.

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About the Author, Bob Strader

Alpharetta Farmers Market - A Good Morning Spent

Posted in: Local Information, Stuff I like to talk about

What are you doing Saturday morning? In historic downtown Alpharetta, the Alpharetta Farmers Market offers great locally grown food and locally produced goods.

It’s open for business every Saturday through October 24th from 8am to 12:30pm. This is the 3rd year for the Farmers Market and they have put more of a focus on locally grown organic food. The further we get into the season we’ll see more produce and more vendors, so go back throughout the season for different offerings.

So, wether you are getting fresh vegetables, locally produced honey or a straight-out-of-the-lemon glass of lemonaide, come on down, grab a coffee and meander around the street and see what looks good. Take a look at the video below and see for yourself.

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About the Author, Bob Strader

Milton High School Among The Top 500 In Nation

Posted in: Local Information, Milton Real Estate, Schools

As reported in Newsweeks annual ranking of the top 1500 High Schools in the nation, Milton High School ranked number 311, an improvement over last years ranking of 333, and is the highest ranked high school in North Fulton. There are 54 Georgia high schools that made the list, with 28 of them being located in North Atlanta. I’ve highlighted those schools below among the complete list of top Georgia High Schools.

You can view all of the homes for sale in the Milton High School district. If you are interested in viewing homes for sale in any of the other North Atlanta School Districts, see the Property Search button to your right where school districts are a search option.

Rank	High School	Location	State	Index	Sub. Lunch	E & E
91	Walton	Marietta	Ga.	3.943	3	52
214	North Gwinnett **	Suwanee	Ga.	2.937	21	35
215	Campbell **	Smyrna	Ga.	2.935	50	40
217	Chamblee Charter	Chamblee	Ga.	2.926	n/a	n/a
225	Riverwood **	Atlanta	Ga.	2.891	23	38
280	Davidson Fine Arts Magnet	Augusta	Ga.	2.663	17	55
311	Milton	Alpharetta	Ga.	2.579	4	68
313	Lakeside	Evans	Ga.	2.578	16	44
315	Northview	Duluth	Ga.	2.569	4	53
316	Lakeside	Atlanta	Ga.	2.582	26	44.1
321	Norcross **	Norcross	Ga.	2.537	52	39
332	South Forsyth **	Cumming	Ga.	2.497	8	43
360	Lassiter	Marietta	Ga.	2.424	5	43
376	DeKalb School of the Arts	DeKalb	Ga.	2.39	n/a	n/a
381	Centennial	Roswell	Ga.	2.371	18	49
393	Berkmar	Lilburn	Ga.	2.348	61	24
398	Alpharetta	Alpharetta	Ga.	2.339	11	42.6
462	Roswell	Roswell	Ga.	2.216	21	50
489	Brookwood	Snellville	Ga.	2.177	17	n/a
539	Chattahoochee	Alpharetta	Ga.	2.083	7	46
552	Morgan County **	Madison	Ga.	2.063	38	6
569	North Springs	Atlanta	Ga.	2.039	39	42
577	Decatur	Decatur	Ga.	2.046	30	34.4
612	Duluth	Duluth	Ga.	1.984	33	n/a
643	Central Gwinnett	Lawrenceville	Ga.	1.941	60	26
657	Peachtree Ridge	Suwanee	Ga.	1.921	20	34
696	Columbus	Columbus	Ga.	1.87	19	43.5
698	Parkview	Lilburn	Ga.	1.869	20	28
730	North Oconee County	Bogart	Ga.	1.828	13	40
761	Wheeler	Marietta	Ga.	1.782	35	31
765	LaGrange	LaGrange	Ga.	1.779	48	21
821	Union Grove	McDonough	Ga.	1.709	18	29
831	Johnson	Savannah	Ga.	1.695	48	21
878	North Atlanta	Atlanta	Ga.	1.657	52	n/a
881	Marietta	Marietta	Ga.	1.655	60	n/a
917	Eagle’s Landing	McDonough	Ga.	1.619	28	25
961	Harrison	Kennesaw	Ga.	1.563	4	32
994	Starr’s Mill	Fayetteville	Ga.	1.53	5	37
1035	Dunwoody	Dunwoody	Ga.	1.483	32	31
1047	Pope	Marietta	Ga.	1.463	6	39
1093	Sprayberry	Marietta	Ga.	1.423	20	25
1150	Collins Hill	Suwanee	Ga.	1.371	27	29
1177	Carlton J. Kell	Marietta	Ga.	1.346	15	13
1180	Hillgrove	Powder Springs	Ga.	1.343	18	16
1226	Dacula	Dacula	Ga.	1.296	29	20
1238	Mill Creek	Hoschton	Ga.	1.28	18	27
1301	Kennesaw Mountain	Kennesaw	Ga.	1.221	18	26
1353	McIntosh	Peachtree City	Ga.	1.17	8	36
1391	Tucker **	Tucker	Ga.	1.118	52	16
1401	Grayson	Loganville	Ga.	1.111	22	n/a
1412	Morrow	Morrow	Ga.	1.097	59	8
1428	Sequoyah	Canton	Ga.	1.145	9	29
1446	North Cobb	Kennesaw	Ga.	1.066	30	19
1468	Pebblebrook	Mableton	Ga.	1.042	55	8

Public schools are ranked according to a ration devised by Jay Mathews: the number of Advanced Placement, Intl. Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school in 2008 divided by the number of graduating seniors. All of the schools on the list have an index of at least 1.000; they are in the top 6 percent of public schools measured this way.

Note: Subs. Lunch % is the percentage of students receiving federally subsidized meals. E and E % stands for equity and excellence percentage: the portion of all graduating seniors at a school that had at least one passing grade on one AP or IB test.

** Includes IB. Nearly all other schools use just AP tests.

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About the Author, Bob Strader

Active Adult Communites Still Have Demand

Posted in: Active Adult Communities, Alpharetta Real Estate, Cherokee County, Johns Creek Real Estate

Active Adult Homes in North Atlanta We have been hearing it for years, the large boomer population is nearing retirement. Although this economy is effecting what, when and where they retire to, the need is apparently still there. Throughout the North Atlanta area there are several Active Adult Communities that are selling homes briskly and their builders are getting positive reviews.

Jim Chapman Communities recently received a Gold and Silver award at the National Association of Home Builders Best of 50+ Housing Awards. Their development in East Cobb County, Brookhaven of East Cobb is an award winning Gated Active Adult community with a Clubhouse, heated pool and outdoor fireplace as part of their amenities. In order to win, the community and its entries were recognized by an elite panel of 13 judges that included builders, developers, architects, marketing experts and other respected industry professionals. Additionally, Brookhaven at Johns Creek was awarded the Best Detached Home over 2,000 square feet.

Windsong Properties, who recently just celebrated their 5-year mark in Atlanta, sold out thier Somerset Communityin Woodstock earlier this year, proving that well built and affordable homes in the Active Adult category have a strong market here in Atlanta.

A few other Active Adult communities in the area are, Beragio At Crabapple, North Farm, Seasons at Creekside, Greystone Village, Watercrest Commons, Orchards of East Cherokee and Cottages of Woodstock.

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About the Author, Bob Strader

Bank Foreclosure Gets It Right

Posted in: Buyers, Foreclosures

Homes Priced Right Or maybe the title of this post should be “Creating demand in a tough market”.

I have an investor client that has been looking at everything that hits the market in his price range, waiting for that great deal, like almost every other buyer seems to be. Occasionally a listing will hit the market at a great price and this one did. A nearly new foreclosure home in Canton that was priced at 88k, 12k below the most recent sale.

Now, $12,000 doesn’t sound like much but in that price range it is significant. Within hours multiple offers were submitted and that bank asked for “highest and best” from everyone. We raised our already-over-the-asking-price offer even higher. While I don’t yet know what the final accepted price was, we do know it was far in excess of the lowest comparable in the community.

So, what is the take-away here? Well first off, if you are a buyer looking for a deal and didn’t realize this already - EVERYONE is looking for the same deal you are. So be ready for it when it shows up, and when it does-move on it.

But the other take-away is that there are buyers out there and they will move when motivated. For sellers, it’s all about price and condition. It’s not always true to say “if I price it that low then the offers will come in even lower”. They may come in lower but if you are priced attractively against your competition, there will be demand and there will be offers. I would rather say no to 4 low offers than get no offers, what about you? What you have to ask yourself as a seller is “Can I sell at an attractive price?”.

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About the Author, Bob Strader

Fulton County Presses Location for New Alpharetta Library

Posted in: Local Information, Stuff I like to talk about

Alpharetta Library At the May 27th meeting in downtown Atlanta the Fulton County Library Board of Trustees pressed for the new 25,000 sq. ft. library site to be located at 495 N. Main Street, at the intersection of Hwy 9 and Winthrope Park Drive. You can see the site plan here: Alpharetta Library.

The Friends of the Alpharetta Library (FOTAL) has released a position paper detailing what the potential site needs to achieve if the new library is to meet the community needs, you can read these characteristics here: Alpharetta Library. I have to say that while the 6-acre site will easily support the building and necessary parking, the location being pushed by Fulton County misses the target one very important detail. It isn’t a pedestrian friendly location within the Downtown Alpharetta Business District.

There are 2 other potential locations that have been proposed, one being the old Milton High School, or what is now called Independence High School. I’m all for that location becoming something that will draw people to downtown Alpharetta but I’m not sure the Library is the best option for that site. A mixed-use development would be great-once we get back to an economic climate that will allow a development like that to happen.

The other potential location is the new Alpharetta City Center. That will be located where City Hall is currently but will also include residential condo’s, retail shops, office condos, and approximately 50,000 – 80,000 sf government building, along with 2 double deck parking structures for parking; all on 9 acres of land. It is the perfect location for the library in my mind, offering easy walking access from the parking structures and another magnet to pull people into the downtown area. Your can check out the current site and all three proposed locations here: Alpharetta City Map.

In the end, the good news is that Alpharetta has long needed a larger, newer facility to support the surrounding communities. We all just need to make sure what Fulton County delivers is what will achieve that goal. Tell us what you think about the locations, or what location you think would meet our needs best.

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About the Author, Bob Strader

Warmath

Reverse Offers: When She Asks Him To The Dance

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Half Price Sale for Milton Real Estate

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Milton High School Among The Top 500 In Nation

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