Archive for the 'Johns Creek Real Estate' Category
Nine Reasons to Buy a Home in North Fulton
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Johns Creek Real Estate, Milton Real Estate, Roswell Real Estate, Schools
There are several considerations buyers take into account when moving. The right home, the commute, community, access to shopping and entertainment. But one of the biggest reasons home buyers choose a particular area is for good schools. So here are nine reasons for buyers to search for a home in North Atlanta, because nine Fulton County High Schools were named AP Honor Schools.
Of the nine schools, eight were named AP Merit Schools for having at least 20 percent of students taking AP exams and with at least half of those exams receiving a score of 3 or higher. One of the nine, TEACH Charter High School, was the only Fulton County school to be named an AP Challenge School for having fewer than 900 students and offering AP classes in core areas. Here is the list of schools:
· TEACH Charter High School
· Alpharetta High School
· Centennial High School
· Chattahoochee High School
· Milton High School
· North Springs Charter High School
· Northview High School
· Riverwood International Charter School
· Roswell High School
The eight AP Merit Schools have made the list for the third year in a row. The College Board administers AP exams each spring, with scores ranging from 1 to 5. Students who receive a 3, 4 or 5 on AP exams are eligible to receive college credit or may be exempt from some introductory college courses.
Posted by Bob Strader | Currently No Comments »
Alpharetta Real Estate Market Stats: It’s local
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Johns Creek Real Estate, Local Market Conditions, Milton Real Estate, Roswell Real Estate, Schools
I just wanted to put a few numbers together to illustrate that we have to temper what we hear on the news about the housing market. Lately a lot of people have been pointing out to me that the number of homes sold for January 2o10 has gone down, unexpectedly, from units sold in December 2009. It’s true, January wasn’t as good a month in our industry as a lot of people had anticipated. However, just like other markets, we shouldn’t pay too close attention to gyrations that happen over a short period of time, but rather look at trends year-over-year.
The local part
In all of North Fulton (which includes Alpharetta, Milton, Johns Creek and Roswell), across all price ranges there were 202 homes sold in December 2009. That number a month later in January 2010 was 109 or 54% less than the previous month. But looking at the year-over-year figures, the number for January of this year was up 25% over the January 2009 figure of 87 sales.
It doesn’t mean we’ve arrived, but the gloom and doom on the national news isn’t necessarily the case either.
Posted by Bob Strader | Currently No Comments »
Best Schools in North Fulton (Says Atlanta Magazine)
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Johns Creek Real Estate, Milton Real Estate, Schools
Atlanta Magazine came out with their Best Schools issue , listing what they have determined is the best Elementary, Middle and High School in each metro Atlanta county. The criteria they used to determine the best was based on the percentage of students who exceeded expectations in the most recently available CRCT results. High schools were selected by SAT scores.
Fulton county runs from Milton, through the city of Atlanta, to south of the airport. It is a very large school system, however it’s no surprise that the top schools were in North Fulton where a high level of parental involvement is the norm.
CRABAPPLE CROSSING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
12775 Birmingham Highway, Milton, 30004
770-740-7055
Grades K-5
Total Students: 757
Founded 1992
CRCT scores exceeding standards: Math: 71.5%, Reading 67.6%
Teachers avg. years of experience: 11
Homes for sale in this school district: Home Search
WEBB BRIDGE MIDDLE SCHOOL
4455 Webb Bridge Rd., Alpharetta, 30005
770-667-2940
Grades 6-8
Total Students: 1357
Founded 1996
CRCT scores exceeding standards: Math: 63.7%, Reading 62.3%
Teachers avg. years of experience: 12
Homes for sale in this school district: Home Search
NORTHVIEW HIGH SCHOOL
10625 Parsons Rd., Johns Creek, 30097
770-497-3828
Grades 9-12
Total Students: 2133
Founded 2002
SAT: 1722
Graduates going to college: 99%
Students scoring 3+ on AP exams: 88%
Teachers avg. years of experience: 10
Homes for sale in this school district: Home Search
Posted by Bob Strader | Currently No Comments »
It’s Homestead Exemption Time for New Homeowners
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Crabapple, Johns Creek Real Estate, Milton Real Estate, Roswell Real Estate
You’re an excited homeowner who purchased a home in 2009. You just spent your first Christmas in your home and the new year is kicking off. Now is the time for all those new homeowners in Alpharetta, Milton or the rest of Atlanta to file their one-time Homestead Exemption. And what exactly is the homestead Exemption? Simply put it is an exemption for some of the property taxes you would owe on your primary residence and it remains in effect for the entire time you live there. So, if you own the property, reside on that property, and are a legal resident of the County, all as of January 1st of the tax year, you may qualify for homestead exemption.
The exemption amounts differ by county. For instance, in Fulton County the exemption for 2010 is $25,000. That will go up to $30,000 in 2011. In Forsyth County the Homestead Exemption is $8000.
The appropriate forms to file can typically be found on the county website page for the Tax Assessors Office, here are phone numbers and links to a few of those:
- Cherokee County – 678-493-6120
- Cobb County – 770-528-8600
- Forsyth County – 770-781-2106
- Fulton County – 404-612-6440
- Gwinnett County - 770-822-8800
Posted by Bob Strader | Currently No Comments »
Active Adult Communites Still Have Demand
categories: Active Adult Communities, Alpharetta Real Estate, Cherokee County, Johns Creek Real Estate
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.
Contact us for a complete list of all available Active Adult homes in your area.
Posted by Bob Strader | Currently No Comments »
A View From the Top | Perspectives on the Alpharetta Luxury Home Market
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Johns Creek Real Estate, Local Market Conditions, Luxury Homes, Milton Real Estate, Roswell Real Estate
ALPHARETTA- A reader of this blog recently contacted me about the prospects of selling his home. It turns out that he lives in a custom-built home in one of Milton’s new neighborhoods. He has invested over $1,000,000 in the lot, construction, landscaping and pool.
When talking with him we were gauging the probability of selling the home in this market - and that probability is directly related to how many buyers there are in that price range.
A quick run of the numbers revealed that since January 1st of this year, only twenty-three homes over $1M have sold in the Milton High School district, which is the closest approximation of the City of Milton’s boundaries.
Compare that to 2007 when fifty-five million dollar homes sold. The market for a million dollar house is half of what it was a year ago.
Looking at the list of what has sold this year, there were some noticeable absentees: for instance, not one home in White Columns has sold for over $1M so far this yearl and currently there are ten homes listed for sale in White Columns for over $1M. Hampton Manor, Cooper Sandy and Canterbury on the Lake are all no shows for million dollar sales in 2008 so far.
The Manor Golf and Country Club leads the pack for million dollar sales this year; so far, they have seven. Last year they had sixteen according to the MLS. Crabapple Brook had three $1M+ sales and North Valley and Six Hills each chipped in a couple. In 2007, though, Six Hills had four, now they are down to two. Again, everything is basically half of what it was a year ago.
For grins, I ran the numbers for the other areas of North Fulton. Below is a chart showing a summary of million dollar sale activity broken down by high school attendance zone. The major finding: Every school zone is down roughly half in terms of number of transactions. However, the average sales price has remained relatively stable.
[Note: See my other posts regarding current Alpharetta real estate market conditions .]
This is similar to my analysis of the Alpharetta real estate market as a whole: volume is down by 40% or so but average sales price is relatively stable.
The exception is Alpharetta High School, which is comprised largely of Windward real estate.
In Windward, there have been three large transactions that have skewed the numbers, a $6.3M sale in January and two $3.6M deals this Fall. Still, those sales count; just like in golf when you get lucky and bounce it off a tree into the hole…it still counts. I just wanted you to understand the underlying basis for the increase in Windward.
The average sales price is also up in Centennial, but there have been only three sales this year over a million dollars so we don’t really have that many data points.
2007-2008 Million Dollar Sales Activity in Alpharetta and North Fulton
| High School Area | 2007 Sales | 2007 Avg Sales Price | 2007 Sales Price / List Price | 2008 Sales | 2008 Avg Sales Price | 2007 Sales Price / List Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpharetta | 7 | $1,241,429 | 85.8% | 12 | $1,997,833 | 89.9% |
| Centennial | 8 | $1,278,741 | 93.7% | 3 | $1,992,333 | 93.5% |
| Chattahoochee | 20 | $1,529,438 | 91.5% | 9 | $1,529,722 | 89.4% |
| Milton | 55 | $1,421,144 | 97.8% | 23 | $1,488,788 | 97.0% |
| Northview | 12 | $1,411,520 | 88.2% | 9 | $1,601,326 | 91.2% |
| Roswell | 25 | $1,425,943 | 93.3% | 12 | $1,360,978 | 93.0% |
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently 1 Comment »
New School Update for North Fulton | Johns Creek High School Gets Principal
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Johns Creek Real Estate, Schools
With Spring Break over, all attention is back to the classroom and CRCT testing which began this week. I’m sure our students will keep our scores in North Fulton the highest in the county and among the top in the state.
As students sharpen their No. 2 pencils, new classrooms are under construction to house the continued influx of children into North Fulton school districts. The growth that we experienced in 2004-5, when 2,236 new students enrolled in North Fulton schools, has subsided somewhat. However, we still have over 1,000 new student each year.
By the 2011-12 school year, projections show that there will be almost 50,000 students in North Fulton public schools, up from about 45,000 today. Growth pains, as they say, are a good problem to have, but we have to find a way to have classroom space for these students. Currently we have some elementary schools that were designed for 850 student packed with over 1,000 students.
The most construction progress has been shown at the new North Fulton High School, which has creatively been named Johns Creek High School. It takes about two years to build a high school, so Johns Creek High School is not
scheduled to open until August, 2009. None the less, discussions between the School Board and community started this week to define the school’s attendance zone. Two more community meetings are scheduled for May.
As one insider at Alpharetta HS told me: "Johns Creek High is going to be an academic powerhouse. It is going to get the best of Northview and Chattahoochee High Schools."
Johns Creek High School Principal Appointed
Johns Creek is also getting Buck Greene as its first principal. Greene is transferring from Alpharetta High Schools, where he has served as principal since opening in 2004 and which won the Governor’s Cup this year for most improvement in SAT scores. Alpharetta HS was ninth in the state last year for SAT scores with an average score of 1647.
Birmingham Elementary School Planned to Open August 2009
In contrast to the visible progress on Johns Creek HS, is Birmingham Elementary School. You can’t tell by looking at the land - because no disturbance has been done at all - that in a little over a year there will be a new elementary school at Wood Road and Birmingham Highway, in Milton. The School Board is completely committed to this school, the plans are selected and the Board says construction should start soon. It takes about nine months to build an elementary school, they say. Looks like they are going to take it down to the wire.
Planning sessions with the community will begin this fall to discuss the new attendance zone. I’ve received a number of inquires from people about my opinion of who will go where. My OPINION - and it is only that - is that all neighborhoods north of Providence Road and west of Freemanville Road will attend the new school. Some scattered other neighborhoods like Fieldstone Farms, Wood Valley, The Oaks at White Columns and Highland Manor will also likely be zoned to Birmingham ES, but again, this is only a guess.
Just as Johns Creek HS stands to be very good academically because it is drawing from a good base, Birmingham ES will be a quality school academically no doubt because it is drawing from the same population as Summit Hill, Crabapple Crossing and Cogburn Woods, all excellent schools.
Freemanville Road High School
The Board of Education maintains that it is still committed to building a new high school on Freemanville Road, dispite the community opposition. The only thing that has changed recently is that they have pushed back the scheduled opening date a year to the 2012-13 school year.
The Board of Education also has mentioned building a Middle School adjacent to the Freemanville HS that wouldn’t open until 2014. Some private individuals who are opposed to any school development on Freemanville have paid to have an environmental impact study done which has revealed that, due to septic system demands, at best only one school could (or should?) be built on the proposed site just south of White Columns.
It remains to be seen how this will play out. I still maintain the the best solution is to redevelop the "old Milton High School" site with a multi-story design that work on the smaller land parcel while still providing all the amenities of a modern school. Obviously, many well designed high schools are built around the country in urban settings on far fewer acres. We shouldn’t rule out redeveloping the old site just because we have a templated model of how we build high schools in Fulton County.
This case calls for breaking the model because the alternative is to build a (sprawling?) high school on a piece of land that (1) is not well suited for it and (2) will definitely impact the character of the area. Will it "ruin" the area? No. Is there a better option in my humble opinion? Definitely.
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently 1 Comment »
Buyers Throwing Cash at Builder in Johns Creek | Alpharetta
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Johns Creek Real Estate, New Construction
JOHNS CREEK - You won’t see this reported in the mainstream media: Over the weekend, buyers were literally throwing deposit checks at the onsite sales agent at Jaden Woods.
The agent put TEN lots under contract and had to ask buyers to leave and come back for scheduled appointments.
It seems that not all builders are hurting for home sales.
Jaden Woods is a new home community by Ashton Woods of 66 homesites. The price for a four bedroom, three and a half bath home starts at a little over $400,000. Over the weekend, Ashton Woods opened phase two at Jaden Woods.
The community is located off McGinnis Ferry Road east of Hwy 141. Being in the Northview High School district and close to the new Emory Hospital are two of the main selling points of the location.
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently 5 Comments »
