Archive for the 'Roswell Real Estate' Category
The BIG Number: August
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Crabapple, Johns Creek Real Estate, Milton Real Estate, Roswell Real Estate, The Big Number
72
The number of homes in all of North Fulton that are on water (river or lake).
On the last day of each month I post a “Big Number” or interesting figure related to real estate in our area.
Posted by Bob Strader | Currently 3 Comments »
The BIG Number: July
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Local Market Conditions, Milton Real Estate, Roswell Real Estate, The Big Number
20%
The percentage increase in sales of existing homes in North Fulton County for Q2 2010 vs Q2 2009.
On the last day of each month I post a “Big Number” or interesting figure related to real estate in our area.
Posted by Bob Strader | Currently No Comments »
The BIG Number: June
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Crabapple, Local Market Conditions, Lots, Milton Real Estate, Roswell Real Estate, The Big Number
6
The number of developed lots in all of North Fulton that are under contract. That is out of a total of 205 available lots. Opportunity is knocking…
On the last day of each month I post a "Big Number" or interesting figure related to real estate in our area.
Posted by Bob Strader | Currently No Comments »
Milton City Council: Community Preservation or Self Preservation?
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Milton Real Estate, Roswell Real Estate
Back in January I wrote about the desire of three Milton property owners to have T-Mobile place a cell tower on their properties. The property locations are 13302 New Providence Rd., 2880 Mountain Rd. and 14495 Hopewell Rd. All three properties are zoned agricultural and meet the City of Milton’s zoning requirements necessary to have cell phone towers placed there. In short - there was no reason why the requests should be denied.
Subsequently T-Mobile had community meetings for questions and input regarding the towers. These meetings were opportunities for residents to ask questions about the designs of the towers, height, exact locations, etc. T-Mobile ran balloon tests so residents could actually see how high the towers would be and what would be visible above tree-tops.
NIMBY
There was an organized resistance by many residents who felt that cell towers ruined the rural charm of Milton. They also felt that cell phone towers posed a hazard to health due to radiation. And some questioned T-Mobile’s business need for additional towers in our area. Finally, the Milton City Council voted on April 26th to deny two of the property owners the right to place cell towers on their properties. The location on New Providence was approved with a 100′ restriction, rather than the original request of a 150′ tower.
The arguments & questions are obvious and understandable and have been hashed out on local Milton blogs and in the newspapers:
• If you are a property owner and meet the legal zoning requirements then why shouldn’t you be able to benefit / profit from your own land?
• Does the cell tower infringe on neighboring property owners?
• If it does, does it matter since zoning codes state towers are allowed there?
• And if an owner has the legal right to place something like a cell tower on their land - should the City Council be able to deny them the legal right to do that?
• How far can the City Council go to squash private property owner’s rights?
• Why is the council against private property owners?
It’s More Than Just Cell Towers
Now there is an additional factor that affects everyone in Milton regardless of their proximity to any potential cell tower sites. T-Mobile is planning to sue Milton to gain the rights to place towers on the other two properties AND place the tower on the approved property based on original plans. Just a few weeks ago, for similar reasons, T-Mobile sued the City of Roswell, stating that they violated the Telecommunications Act of 1996 on three counts, claiming the decision was not supported by substantial evidence, the city is prohibiting wireless service and the city is unreasonably discriminating among providers of functionally equivalent services. I don’t think T-Mobile is new to this and probably has considerably more experience in determining the viability of their lawsuit than the Milton City Council has.
Outcomes and Missed Opportunities
I understand why some people wouldn’t want to see a cell tower near their community, but it seems to me that we sacrificed quite a bit in the push to stop the towers.
1. First, we have a City Council that has shown no qualms about stepping on the private property rights of its residents - nobody should feel comfortable with that - I wonder what rights they will step on next when an angry group threatens them with their votes?
2. Second, we missed a chance to press T-Mobile to build towers that might be unobtrusive (painted brown, made to look like a tree, etc.), cutting off our nose so-to-speak. I suspect that if they win their lawsuit, they aren’t going to be inclined to satisfy any cosmetic requests we may have.
3. And finally, we all as taxpayers get to see our City Council spend our tax dollars defending a lawsuit they have no real grounds to defend - since our zoning laws allowed for cell towers on those properties.
What rights are you willing to give up for the concerns of the next group? Are the aesthetic concerns of the community more important than individual’s legal rights? When you vote for City Council Members in the future, ask yourself whose rights you want them to defend…or step on.
Posted by Bob Strader | Currently No Comments »
Milton High School Ranks in Top 500 Nationally According to Newsweek
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Milton Real Estate, Roswell Real Estate, Schools
As reported in Newsweeks annual ranking of the top High Schools in the nation, Milton High School ranked number 313, down slightly from last years ranking of 311, and is the highest ranked high school in North Fulton. Milton comes in just in front of Alpharetta High School but well behind Walton, North Gwinnett and South Forsyth High School. There are 19 Georgia high schools in the top 500, with 13 of them being located in North Atlanta. I’ve highlighted those schools below among the list of Georgia High Schools in the top 500 nationally.
| Rank | Scool | City | State | Index | Subsidised Lunches | E&E |
|
79
|
Walton | Marietta | GA | 4.36 | 5 | 57 |
| 148 | Riverwood ** | Atlanta | GA | 3.54 | 24 | 49.8 |
| 186 | North Gwinnett | Suwanee | GA | 3.32 | 21 | 46 |
| 199 | South Forsyth ** | Cumming | GA | 3.24 | 14 | 43.3 |
| 240 | Berkmar | Lilburn | GA | 3.04 | 71 | 18 |
| 242 | Davidson Fine Arts Magnet | Augusta | GA | 3.03 | 15 | 71.9 |
| 248 | DeKalb School of the Arts | DeKalb | GA | 3.00 | 29 | 74 |
| 295 | Chamblee Charter | Chamblee | GA | 2.81 | 40 | 48.6 |
| 313 | Milton | Alpharetta | GA | 2.75 | 6 | 29.2 |
| 345 | Alpharetta | Alpharetta | GA | 2.66 | 11 | 53.9 |
| 347 | Wheeler | Marietta | GA | 2.66 | 40 | 37.2 |
| 391 | Osborne | Marietta | GA | 2.51 | 81 | 13.6 |
| 399 | Roswell | Roswell | GA | 2.48 | 18 | 55.4 |
| 410 | Northview | Johns Creek | GA | 2.46 | 5.3 | 56.3 |
| 413 | Norcross ** | Norcross | GA | 2.45 | 60 | 34.3 |
| 429 | Morgan County ** | Madison | GA | 2.43 | 40 | 18 |
| 438 | Brookwood | Snellville | GA | 2.41 | 16 | 43.9 |
| 452 | Duluth | Duluth | GA | 2.39 | 40 | 36.7 |
| 467 | Lassiter | Marietta | GA | 2.36 | 10 | 49.5 |
Public schools are ranked according to the number of Advanced Placement, Intl. Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school and 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.
Posted by Bob Strader | Currently No Comments »
Real Estate Sales Data in North Fulton - It’s Like the Weather
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Local Market Conditions, Metro Atlanta Statistics, Milton Real Estate, Roswell Real Estate, Schools
Just wait a while and it will change….The question is "What does it mean?"
I’m just trying to stay as away of the trends in our area as I possible can. I wrote a post last month about the average sales price for homes in North Fulton West going up. I compared the sales for March 2009 to March 2010. Subsequently I reported on an AJC article regarding 4 zip codes in metro Atlanta that have had year-over-year increases in Sales Prices - 30004 was one of those zip codes.
I wasn’t ready to declare "mission accomplished", we have a long road out. But…there was a nice trend shaping up. Little things point to larger things. The tax credit increased sales numbers and, despite our school systems financial woes, our schools and quality of life continue to help demand for housing in North Atlanta. All the dots are forming a nice picture. Then I pull the year-over year numbers for North Fulton in May:
The Good News
We are selling more properties than a year ago. Considerably more in North Fulton East of 400 - thank you tax credit. The tax credit put buyers in the market that not only freed up sellers to move-up locally, but relo traffic into North Atlanta has increased as well. Also, homes are selling faster on average than last year.
The not-so-good news
Needless to say I wasn’t expecting to see a decrease in the average sales price year-over-year. So, I took a look at a chart showing the average sales price for residential detached homes in Metro Atlanta for the past 10 years. 2010 is only current in this chart to April. What I noticed is a dip in the average sales price every April or May. Usually in April but it occurred in May of 01′ and 05′.
Why? To be honest, I have no idea. It’s a strange fluctuation that happens fairly consistently each April or May, but I don’t know why. In three of the past 10 years there was no dip (03′, 06′ and 09′). So does that mean we aren’t on track? Are we still improving? I think the the answer is that the the little things still point to bigger things. The direction is positive but the trip will take a while. It’s too soon to ask "Are we there yet".
Posted by Bob Strader | Currently No Comments »
The BIG Number: April
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Johns Creek Real Estate, Local Market Conditions, Milton Real Estate, Roswell Real Estate, The Big Number
2.8
Months worth of inventory of Bank Owned properties in North Fulton. 91 currently active, 385 sold over the past 12 months. People sitting on the fence, can you hear your train pulling away from the station?
On the last day of each month I post a “Big Number” or interesting figure related to real estate in our area.
Posted by Bob Strader | Currently No Comments »
North Fulton West of 400: Sales Prices Push Higher
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Johns Creek Real Estate, Milton Real Estate, Roswell Real Estate
Pulling market statistics together for North Fulton County is always a little strange, there is really an odd mix to that part of the county. North Fulton County is physically split just about down the middle by Hwy 400. The east side is made up of a portion of Alpharetta, Roswell, Johns Creek and Duluth. The west side consists of a portion of Alpharetta, Milton, Roswell and Mountain Park. What is interesting is that it’s more than a physical or geographical divide. There are other differences between to two sides.
The east side has a higher density, due to access to sewer, and more commercial / shopping. The west side in turn has more horse properties, more communities with a requirement of 1 acre or more and a population that is more adverse to getting sewer and higher density. They both have a great selection of schools in common, which is why both areas are sought-after and have done a little better at surviving the recession than some other parts of Atlanta. But there is another new difference that is happening. It appears that North Fulton West of 400 may be recovering sooner, as noted in the following chart:
As you can see, both areas show a significant increase in units sold year-over-year but what is most noteworthy is that sellers on the west side of Hwy 400 have pushed the envelope on average list prices and are even showing a small increase for average sales price. On the east side of Hwy 400 sellers have been able to maintain prices and I think it’s safe to say that North Fulton as a whole is fairly stable despite the past troublesome two years.
So, why does it seem like one side of North Fulton may be recovering faster than the other? Is it demand for a specific school? Is it a higher demand for lower density development? Could it be congestion? Honestly, I’m not sure myself but I’m interested to hear your ideas.
Posted by Bob Strader | Currently 8 Comments »
