Archive for December, 2007
Merry Christmas and Happy ‘Season of Appreciation’ from Alpharetta
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Stuff I like to talk about
We are very thankful for a great 2007 and want to wish all of you, regardless of your religious faith, holiday customs or personal belief system, a joyous end of 2007 and great hope for 2008.
Not only do we appreciate that our real estate business continues to grow from last year, but even more so appreciate that we are able, by choice, happenstance or just shear luck to live in both the United States and Alpharetta.
The United States offers many fine places to live and this post is not the place to debate the merits of one locale over another. I’ll just say that Alpharetta has a lot of things going for it including relatively low property taxes compared to the rest of the country, a growing job base and good business environment and a climate where it rarely snows. You’ll appreciate that if you’re reading this in the mid-west today. But that misses the point.
During this holiday season sometimes we get wrapped up rushing around. I’m as guilty as anyone of this. In fact, December is one of my busiest months of the year for sales so I’m unusally harried. On top of that, I think that most realtors are expected to give their past clients a gift of some sort in appreciatiton. It is supposed to be "good business practice" to stay in touch with your past clients. Real estate is a referral based business after all, or so they say.
In this gift giving area, I tend to take a different path and wanted to take a moment here to reiterate how fortunate we are to live the way we are able to in Alpharetta. Any world-wide social or economic organization like the United Nations, UNICEF or World Bank can provide all sorts of statistics on the relative poverty of the rest of the world compared to how we live in the U.S. and Alpharetta. For instance, half the population of the world lives on LESS than TWO DOLLARS A DAY. That is about $700 a year compared to Alpharetta where the U.S. Census reports we live on about $40,000 a year PER CAPITA. (The U.S. per capita income is half the Alpharetta per capita income, which is one reason we are fortunate to live in Alpharetta. The median HOUSEHOLD income in Alpharetta is almost $100,000 per year almost double the US household income.)
As for literacy, a BILLION people entered the 21st century not able to read or write. In Alpharetta, 95% of us have high school educations (compared to 80% in the U.S.) and 57% have a college degree or higher (compared to 24% nationally.) The world statistic is that 1% has a university degree.
By some reports 80% of the world’s population lives in poverty and 20% of the population is in conditions not befitting a human. In Alpharetta, there are 1,785 people (260 families) below the U.S. poverty level; that is only 5% of Alpharetta’s population but still startles me as unacceptable. (The U.S. poverty rate is 24%).
All this is to say that if you are a client of ours or in any way affiliated with Warmath Real Estate, you won’t be receiving from us a box of chocolates or holiday wreath that is dead on arrival. Instead, we are 
continuing our tradition of giving to Heifer International on behalf of all our clients. Heifer is an organization that helps reduce world-wide hunger by giving livestock in the broadest definition of the term (water buffalo, llamas, chickens, honey bees, goats, pigs, sheep and of course, heifers) to needy recipients. The recipients must, in turn, pass on the gift by giving one of the offspring of their animal to someone else. Heifer’s work creates long-term, environmentally and socially sustainably solutions that I am, one, philosophically aligned with and, two, pleased to continue to support.
It is our pledge to continue to fund Heifer each year in honor of the patronage of our clients. And even if we didn’t sell a single house in a year, we would still give to Heifer!
Our slogan is: "No wreaths, more pigs!" We wish you the very best holiday season and know that you have made someone else’s stomach a little less empty - and that is the best gift to give.
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently 2 Comments »
Video Home Tours of Alpharetta and Roswell Real Estate
categories: Buyers, Roswell Real Estate, Video Tour
We’re going video, baby!
I’ve enjoyed writing this blog for the last sixteen months. I’ve learned a lot and I appreciate the nice notes from so many of you saying that you appreciate the value this blog has given you when making decisions related to real estate in Alpharetta.
Just the other day, I had a note from a reader in Texas who put it succintly: She said that real estate statistics were easy to find. Analysis, opinion and insight were things she had not been able to find.
Those commodities are what this blog aims to deliver and in that spirit, we are taking it to the next level in 2008. MORE value in 2008 is our charge.
I will continue to write this blog because I believe in the value of the written word. However, we are adding narrated online video tours. The key word being ‘Narrated.’ My opinion, based on the reception we have received from this blog is that readers want MORE opinion, not less, even if they disagree. At least we’ve then had the opportunity to explore the issues.
I’ve spent the past three days learning as much as I could about posting video to the web and a blog, and hunting for examples of how other real estate professionals are doing this. I haven’t found anyone who is actually narrating home tours as they shoot them. All I’ve found is glorified virtual tours posted to YouTube. These are nothing but a bunch of still photographs with transitions set to music. I want to give the viewed actual play by play, as if we were actually together walking through the house.
Without further ado, here is the first of our video tours (as opposed to virtual tours ;->). I pray it will be the first of many to come. Please, by all means, let me know what you think of this video and how we can modify it to make it better.
| Oak Ridge Run Roswell, GA Off Woodstock Rd. Near Roswell Park 4 Bedroom / 2.5 Bath Finished Basement List Price: $430,000 |
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently 12 Comments »
Alpharetta’s Real Estate Market Soft at the Bottom, Mediocre in the Middle and Ripe at the Top
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Local Market Conditions, Luxury Homes, New Construction
It used to be that Realtors had the bulk of information necessary to be effective when buying or selling real estate. This information included tax data, recent sales data, even lists of homes available for sale. Remember the old MLS books Realtors might let you borrow over the weekend to see what was on the market?
Realtors used to keep as much of that information close to the vest because they believed that information was power, or at least a competitive advantage in earning a living, if not an outright anti-competitive tactic to preserve an industry. The Internet pried all that information loose even as certain MLS’s tried in vein to keep it out of the public eye.
Today, information about real estate is everywhere and easy to get online. In fact, there is too much real estate information for any carbon-based being to consume. I can’t consume it all and I doubt you can either. Granted, I’m a slow reader, but if real estate is my full time job and I can’t wade my way through, how is it even slightly possible for a non-real estate professional to consume it when you have a full time job doing something else?
That leads me to my premise, which is that today, a good realtor’s value is not in providing you with information, but rather in interpreting that data in a meaningful way. I get calls at least weekly from readers of this blog saying basically, "There is some much information about schools, traffic, new communities, recreation, housing prices, etc., that I don’t even know where to start. Can you please help me sort it all out."
Absolutely. THAT is my job: to sort it all out, make sense of all the data and help guide you in an important buying or selling decision.
Let’s get right to the data.
Would you believe that in this "horrible" real estate market that the average sales price for a home in Alpharetta / Roswell / Milton / Johns Creek is UP 4% over last year at this time? Amazing isn’t it.
That’s right. The average sales price through October, 2006, in Alpharetta and surrounding cities in North Fulton was $409,000. This year through October it is over $427,000.
But what about all the sellers in the market who say that there house is not selling? They do have a beef: There have been fewer homes to sell in the Alpharetta area year to date than last year. So far this year, 2,953 homes have sold versus 3,336 last year. That is an 11% drop.
Fewer sales X a higher average sales price = about the same amount of market volume, right?. That’s almost right. To date, $1.37 billion of residential real estate has transacted so far versus $1.62 billion last year. That is a drop of 8%.
The Alpharetta / Roswell real estate market is over a billion dollars. Where exactly is the 8% drop showing up?
If we dig a little deeper, the bottom end of the market is the part getting hit the hardest. Homes sold below $200k are off over 30%; fortunately, that is not that large of a part of the market. The number of sales between $200 and $500 is off by approximately 10%. The $300-$500k price range is the heart of the market and why it matches the overall numbers closely.
Above $500k, the market looks a bit different. Between $500k and $1MM, the number of homes sold is off about 6%. And get this: more Million Dollar Homes have sold in 2007 than 2006. In fact, the absorption rate (the common measure of supply and demand) for million dollar homes has decreased from 45+ in July to This 13% increase in the high end market has also likely masked some of the market pain at lower price points by making the averages sale price higher than it otherwise would have been.
The interesting thing about the new high end home sales, particularly on the west side of GA-400, is that while, yes, there have been more sales this year than last at the top of the market, there is also much more inventory in the high end as 2007 ends. Last year there were 70 $750-$999 homes on the market west of GA-400; this year there are 99, which is 3 months more inventory than last year. There are 129 homes over one million dollars versus 99 last year. That is a formula for hungry builders and great deals for buyers at this price point.
So what are the lessons?
Houses are still selling; fewer of them yes, but still at fair prices. Buyers still complain about the market, but I’d challenge them to really evaluate the condition and value of their home. Two of my favorites sayings are that "pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered." Are you a pig or a hog in this market?
One of my other favorite saying is: "The market is always right." If you have your house on the market and it is not selling, that only means that there is a better value in the market someplace else regardless what your belief system tells you.
If you are a buyer, consider this: Atlanta, and Alpharetta in particular for reasons mentioned all over this blog, has huge upside potential for appreciation. Albert Niemi, former dean at the Terry School of Business at UGA, recently spoke at a Bank of North Georgia function and said:
- North Georgia (Greater Atlanta) is going to be one of the great growth engines in the U.S. economy.
- Atlanta is one of the cheapest places to do business in the country (and also has a relatively low cost of living and good climate - I added that part ;->).
- Atlanta is one of the four fastest growing cities in the U.S. (with Dallas, Phoenix and Las Vegas).
A blogging real estate colleague of mine in neighboring Cherokee County wrote last year that metro Atlanta is growing at about 100,000 new residents per year.
Atlanta’s and Alpharetta’s real estate market won’t be this "depressed" for long. You can buy million dollar houses for a fraction of appraised value and you can buy a $600,000 house in Alpharetta for what you’d pay hundreds of thousands more in other cities.
Regardless of whether you are a buyer or seller, though, remember: The market doesn’t lie.
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently 6 Comments »
Alpharetta is Clearly on the Move | Encore Park Update
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Stuff I like to talk about
Alpharetta is definitely the "big dog" in North Fulton in terms of economic activity. I don’t even have to check the data to know that Alpharetta has the highest tax base, largest number of jobs and a government mentality to build a diverse city. However, today when driving through Alpharetta, it dawned on me that the city is moving from a stage of significance to what I’ll term distinction.
I don’t mean distinction like Boston or Philadelphia - or even Charleston or Savannah - have significance. After all, Alpharetta is just a suburb of a major city. My point, though, is that Alpharetta is moving from boring suburb to metro focal point.
The evidence starts on Old Milton Parkway where visible progress has finally started on Prospect Park, which will ultimately be the highest end shopping in the entire Atlanta metro area and anchored by The Stanbury Hotel, reported to be the first six star hotel in the country.
More evidence is found at North Point Mall, where American Girl recently opened its fourth store after Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. American Girl calls the store its "Atlanta store," but for the record, the store is not in Atlanta. It is in Alpharetta. Again, my point: American Girl did not choose to put the store in Buckhead or in Dunwoody. They chose Alpharetta because like other retailers they did their homework and know that the economic center of Atlanta has moved north of "the perimeter" (I-285) and north of the Chattahoochee River.
Having an American Girl store puts you in rarefied retail company, but it hardly makes you a city of distinction. That takes educational institutions (other than primary level education, something that North Fulton is clearly missing), superior recreational facilities (Roswell has the best parks and rec, but Alpharetta is good and improving), top notch libraries, religious congregations of all types, low crime rates and cultural amenities.
Distinction is not just about jobs, retailing, dining out and the almighty dollar, although that certainly helps. Distinction is also about quality of life. That is, how well you and your family can live for the dollar. I don’t believe that there are many places in the U.S. that offer as much value in real estate and quality of life as Alpharetta (and the other North Fulton cities of Roswell, Johns Creek and Milton).
In the vein of uncovering distinction, this intrepid Realtor ventured over muddy hill and dale to bring you this picture of the progress on Encore Park, the new amphitheater that is being built off of Westside Parkway in Alpharetta. The facility will become the northern home of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as well as host to other musical acts that today have to be seen "inside the perimeter." The opening is scheduled for this coming summer.
Click image for larger view (1.5MB)
Visualize yourself sitting on the closely mown, green bermuda lawn, quilt spread, sharing potato salad and fried chicken waiting for the main event to start. In these parts, Alpharetta is increasingly becoming the main event. See you on the lawn this summer.
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently 4 Comments »
Save $1,000,000 on Home in Echelon
categories: Buyers, Golf Communities, Listings
I’ve written before of $100,000 price reductions for homes in Alpharetta, well, how about $1,000,000. It is the season of giving, afterall.
This home in Echelon at 230 Traditions Drive is on the auction block starting at a price of $1,675,000. The home is appraised at three million dollars and has been on the market for the last 14 months at $2,750,000. With a lot of pressure on local builders who have been holding large inventories of "spec houses," it is time for this one to move.
This house built by I.Q. Homes is phenomenal inside and out. It has everything and more you could want: huge living spaces, four-car gargage, top of the line cabinets and fixtures, four fireplace, heavy trim and floorplan built for living as well as entertaining. When you walk into this house you definitely say, "Awesome."
The basement is completly finished with top of the line entertainment area, theatre, exercise room, etc. The exterior of the house has a pool with waterfall and broad walk out patio. It is definitely impressive.
So, why has this house not sold to date? First of all, there are twenty-six other homes in the 30004 zip code on the market for over $2,000,000, so there is some market competition. Second, this house is in Echelon. Echelon has been slow gathering development momentum: the golf course is built and open (and it is a terrific track), but none of the other amenities have been constructed (although they are now starting) and some people think that marketing Echelon as The Georgia Tech club backfired. Prospective buyers thought that if they hadn’t gone to Georgia Tech that they somehow wouldn’t be welcome. They were worried that Echelon would be clickish, which isn’t the case. None the less, market conditions and marketing strategy have left Echelon underachieving as a community, although I think that in years to come Echelon will be one of the more exclusive addresses in the area becuase it has larger lots and an outstanding golf course.
A couple of other factors working against the sale of this particular house are that it is not on the golf course. The 1.1 acre lot is pretty steep and there is really no back yard to speak of; the pool and waterfall are cut into the slope behind the house and it is a great solution to a sub-optimal lot, but there is still no place to play soccer with the kids.
Finally, there are some high wire, low voltage power lines that run close by and some people may not like that although you never see them from inside the house.
The auction for this house started this past week and has been extended through December 3rd, maybe because they have not received an acceptable bid, but I can only guess.
No doubt about it, this is absolutely the most and best house you will find at this price within 100 miles. Feel free to contact me with questions.
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently 3 Comments »
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