Archive for the 'Stuff I like to talk about' Category
No Picture Available | How Not to Market a House for Sale
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Photography, Sellers, Stuff I like to talk about
No Picture Available. Like shown on the left, that is what is displayed in the MLS when, duh, the agent has not loaded any pictures.
Pictures increasingly tell the story in our visual age. That explains why home buyers who are browsing homes online are frustrated when they come across a listing with no pictures. Can the seller even be serious about selling if they don’t post a picture? Are they trying to hide something?
Would you be surprised if I told you that in February of this year, of the 65,663 Residential and Condominium properties listed in the Multiple Listing Service for the Atlanta metro area, 5,023 had no photos at all? On top of that, 11,474 only had one photo, when the MLS now allows you to post 12 photos per listing.
I’m not sure if it is malpractice or laziness, but it is unforgivable for a listing agent to not have at least half a dozen well-taken, well-lighted, well-cropped photos of the home they are marketing. And solid quality photography should not be reserved only for million-dollar homes. Digital photography is too inexpensive and easy to learn for every house for sale not to have a photo.
Additionally, the way that people and agents search for homes these days is with "saved searches." Buyers have predefined searches (if you want one, just contact me and I’ll set you up) that automatically notify them of new homes on the market that meet their criteria. If there is no photograph when that buyer gets the notification, that buyer is likely to never consider your home again. You missed your shot.
Photography is a mini-hobby of mine and I take pictures of all sorts of things besides houses, but I’m always looking for ways to take and display house pictures better. One of the coolest new tools I’ve found is piclens, and you can see an example here of some home photos I’ve taken of an awesome home for sale just north of Alpharetta in East Cherokee county.
As time permits, I’m also adding "face shots" of Alpharetta real estate to Zillow. I don’t sweat every detail of these photos, but do post them to Zillow so that people using that service from out of state and relocating to Alpharetta can get a better feel for what the properties look like. They might even call me when they are ready to move…if they like my style ;->
Lastly, I have a collection of what I call lazy realtor photos. I’m not sure if these are humorous or sad. For more on bad real estate photos, check out Athol Kay’s MLS Bad Photo of the Day. Athol has carved a name for himself in the real estate blog sphere just by cataloging other realtors’ photo atrocities.
My Collection of Atlanta Real Estate Photos by Lazy Agents
Agent is either too lazy to get out of the car or doesn’t know how to crop a photo.
This agent can get out of the car, but doesn’t know how to park on the street.
This agent was (too) short ;-> Nice roof, though.
This agent went to art school before real estate.
This agent can’t see the houses for the trees.
This agent was actually a fencing contractor!
So, which is worse, a bad picture or no picture at all? You should never have to find out.
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently 1 Comment »
Southern Lacrosse Gets Boost from Northern Schools | Alpharetta Lacrosse Ranked #2
categories: Announcements, Stuff I like to talk about
Between the tornados that battered Atlanta this weekend, the Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team battered the Big Green of Dartmouth. It was fantastic to see a Division 1 lacrosse game played in Atlanta (promoted by BreakAway Lacrosse and played at Lovett High School) and the support the northern schools are giving to the growth of lacrosse in the South by scheduling the game in Atlanta.
Kids from all over the metro area game dressed in their game jerseys giving you an idea of just how wide spread the game has become in Atlanta and how much it has grown in just the past 3-5 years. Lacrosse is now a viable extracurricular activity for your children if you live in Atlanta or are planning to relocate to Atlanta. That’s sweet news for families moving to Atlanta from El Norte, where lacrosse is more mainstream.
One of the season’s best boy’s high school teams to date is Alpharetta High School. They are ranked #2 behind Lovett and are so far unbeaten at 8-0. They dominated #7 Lassiter this past week 14-2 and will play #8 Roswell High School on March 25 and #1 Lovett on April 23rd at Lovett on the same field that Notre Dame took Dartmouth to task 19-7.
I captured a few images from the Notre Dame - Dartmouth game. This is my favorite. To see the rest, go here: http://picasaweb.google.com/kevinwarmath/NotreDameVDartmouth
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently No Comments »
Slicker Than Baby Snot: Using Piclens to Display Real Estate Photography
categories: Lots, Luxury Homes, Stuff I like to talk about
I’ve said here before that I really don’t care for virtual tours. It is so tedious to watch still photographs zoom in and out to muzak.
In an effort to find something better, I was recently introduced to PicLens. Now THIS is the way to display photos of homes for sale.
I’ve been working on a demo; CLICK HERE to see it and I’d really appreciate your feedback. Be sure to click on the "Start Awesome 3D Slide Show" link. You might want to download the plug in from the PicLens website, but it should work just fine if your browser already has a Flash plug-in.
Is this a better way to view photos? I think so, but it is all about you, the user, so please let me know.
These pictures are of a house in The Shoals at Arbor Hill. The house is one of those that is on the "sleeper market." The owner would like to sell it but it is not on the active market. Therefore, I just take the opportunity to introduce it to my clients who are interested in The Shoals, a great Chatham-built neighborhood in East Cherokee with multi-acre lots and horses allowed, and million dollar homes.
In my opinion, this particular home is a better value than others currently on the market; it has a better lot and it has a new $22,000 well for both water use inside and irrigation outside. But, of course, you wouldn’t know that unless you called me ;->
By the way, I also have one of the few remaining lots for sale in The Shoals. It is probably in the top three if not the best lot in the neighborhood. It is 3.5 acres with a small lake on the back. There is a gentle slope that would allow for a great terrace level and the lot is almost all hardwoods. $289,000, but make an offer if you are interested.
Back to Piclens. If you like this, please let me know. If you are interested in how I can do this for the marketing of your home, please give me a call. A listing agent’s job is to inform the market about your home for sale and that includes pictures, the more the better. I think this is a better way to inform the buyer!
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently 2 Comments »
Alpharetta is Definitely not Tiny Town
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Stuff I like to talk about
ALPHARETTA & TORONTO - A friend from Toronto recently sent me these pictures of The Smallest House for Sale in Toronto. What do you think? Could you live in this abode? There are children’s playhouses in Alpharetta backyards that have more square footage than the 300 square feet of this castle.
The entire lot for this house is only 7′4" wide! It is so small you have to go outside to change your mind.
I applaud the designer for creating a habitable space within such constraints…and I applaud the photographer who took these pictures. I sometimes struggle photographing 12×12 bedrooms; this photographer gave new meaning to the term ‘wide angle real estate photography.’
So what would up pay for this dandy? It’s clean, appears to be well constructed and has some market appeal - sort of like the midgets in the circus do. How about $179,900 CANADIAN. Last I checked, the Canadian dollar was worth more than the U.S. Dollar, so round up for sure.
What can you buy for $179,900 in Alpharetta?
I’m glad you asked. For comparison’s sake, I checked the market. There are nine houses for sale in Alpharetta and Roswell between $175,000 and $180,000. I picked the one I thought offered the most value.
Avensong Subdivision in Alpharetta: 
3 bedrooms, 2/5 bathrooms and about 1,300 square feet. Some of the best schools in Atlanta (Alpharetta High School and Hopewell Middle School) and close to all major employers in Alpharetta. This house even has a small fenced backyard. All for the low, low price of, well, what you could buy the midget house for in Toronto.
Plus, you don’t have to shovel any snow in Alpharetta, although shoveling only 7 feet of sidewalk is not a terrible inconvenience! As we wind up for Valentine’s Day tomorrow, remember: Sometimes the best things DON’T come in the smallest package.
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently No Comments »
Trash Pickup Leads to Real Estate Insights - Not Really ;->
categories: Stuff I like to talk about
MILTON: Providence Road - When you are a hammer, everything looks like a nail, so the adage goes.
The weather has warmed up here to 70 degree days; what we expect in Georgia. It was a nice reprieve from actual snow a couple of weeks ago. Of course the kids, many of whom had NEVER even seen snow, loved it.
My eldest daughter and I took the warm weather opportunity to do our January roadside clean-up for the section of Providence Road between Birmingham Highway and Freemanville Road that we maintain as part of the Milton Adopt a Road program.
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Georgia Snowman |
I want to give Clara public acknowledgement for a job well done. Thank you, honey. She stayed focused on the job and only managed to get her hair tangled in the brambles a couple of times! Plus, she came away for the day with a renewed appreciation for public service and not littering. The next time you are going to chuck that coffee cup or coke can out the window, think of the Summit Hill Elementary third grader who will be crawling in the bushes to dig it out! That’s my girl!
Back to the hammer and the nail. As we were working, I couldn’t help but relate the trash to real estate. As a realtor (hammer), even roadside trash looked like a nail.
Not that it was a huge "ah ha," but rather a renewed realization of how much thru-traffic there is in Milton. Traffic is always a hot topic as it relates to real estate, but you have to realize that a lot of Milton traffic originates from East Cherokee county. These are people who are trying to get to Alpharetta and must travel through Milton.
The evidence is on the roadside, of course, (tongue in cheek): Bud Lite, Pall Mall, White Castle. Yes, there were some Amber Bocks and India Pale Ales, but these were littered by the locals and far fewer in number! And when your rear end is bent over inches from the white line, you realize how many trucks (with oversized tires) versus sedans travel our local roads.
The evidence is also in the traffic statistics. The Crabapple (just down the road my our adopted stretch of Providence Road) Planning Study just reviewed showed that there are 9,000 trips per day on Birmingham Highway and 18-20,000 trips per day on Arnold Mill Road. A lot of this it thru traffic in Milton. Yes, there has been a lot of growth in Milton and it is responsible for traffic increases, but there also has been a lot of growth north and west of Milton and these people have to get to Alpharetta and GA-400.
My other real estate related observation while picking up trash was how much litter is left behind by our utility companies. There was a fair amount of local outcry last year with the institution of the local franchise fees on utilities and how they were passed along on our bills. I say: fine, charge the utilities to use the right of way, but also make them clean up after themselves. Recently they have been laying a lot of fiber along Birmingham Highway. The utilities trench and dig and leave all kids of orange pipe and other construction waste behind. They, too, can thank Clara. ;->
Mostly, though, I just wanted to thank my daughter for doing a great job and that I’m glad we were able to spend such a beautiful day together even if it was picking up trash. The father-daughter ball it wasn’t, but it may have been time better spent.
Love, Dad.
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently 3 Comments »
How Far Are You Willing To Go To Sell Your House?
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Luxury Homes, Stuff I like to talk about
ALPHARETTA - Would you be willing to allow a prospective buyer - or the buyer’s entire family - to spend the night or even the weekend in your house.
This would give the term "open house" a whole new meaning, wouldn’t it? An article in last Sunday’s Parade Magazine called it a "test drive sleepover."
Sure there are logistical problems with everything, but assuming you could work out the details, would you be in favor of this if you were a seller? What if you were a buyer?
In a "Buyer Beware" state like Georgia, why shouldn’t the buyer have the chance to actually live in the house for a weekend? Heck, we allow it with a lease-purchase: We allow someone to actually live in the house (with a deposit) for up to a year before actually buying it. Why not let someone spend one weekend … imaging the possibilities.
When on a sleepover, you can actually experience:
- how quiet it is at night and how dark the sky is;
- the way the sun comes in the kitchen window in the morning;
- how good the water pressure is in the shower;
- where the floor squeaks when you get up in the middle of the night (men);
- how functional the kitchen is to cook a meal in;
- how quickly the house warms up in the morning or keeps cool at night;
- what the commute home is like on Friday after work;
I could go on and on with both positive and negative things that could result from allowing a prospect to spend the night. However, when marketing properties in Alpharetta, particularly million-dollar and above property, I would not rule it out. I always try to put myself in the shoes of the people I’m dealing with: If you were thinking about spending A MILLION DOLLARS, wouldn’t you want to have a thorough test drive?
If you were selling a property that was worth more than a million dollars, wouldn’t you want the opportunity to showcase it and allow a buyer to experience why it is such a worthy home?
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently 3 Comments »
Lacrosse Becoming More Popular in Alpharetta, Milton, Johns Creek and Roswell
categories: Stuff I like to talk about
When relocating to Alpharetta, clients ask me all the time about recreation programs for their children. Needless to say, this is suburbia and children’s sports opportunities abound. Baseball is probably still the most popular, but soccer, gymnastics, martial arts, tennis and increasingly lacrosse are becoming recreational staples.
Lacrosse is not hurt by the fact that many families have relocated to Alpharetta from other places where lacrosse established. Interestingly, lacrosse and the local area have a long history. The City of Ball Ground, in Cherokee County just north of Alpharetta and Milton, is said to be so named because there were large fields there where Cherokee and Creek Indians settled territorial disputes by playing "stick ball games." That game is broadly believed to have evolved into modern day lacrosse. It is only fitting that lacrosse become a fixture on the local athletic scene.
Non-existent before 1996, the first lacrosse programs were started at some of the area private schools; in 1999 the first club high school programs were started at Roswell, Chattahoochee and Centennial High Schools in North Fulton County and Pope High School in East Cobb County.
Lacrosse has been growing quickly ever sense and became an officially sanctioned high school sport in Georgia in 2002 for both boys and girls. In fact, the Milton High School girls lacrosse team has won the state championship the last three years running. Along with the growth at the high school level, lacrosse has also expanded to the youth ranks where kids can start to develop skills earlier. These days, high school teams have enough players that they now must conduct tryouts and it is as competitive as baseball.
The reason I mention all this is because spring sports season is about to begin and for the second year, I’m going to be involved coaching lacrosse at Stars Lacrosse in Milton. I’m one of the parents who relocated here (14 years ago now) from a lacrosse-playing state (Colorado) and I’m fortunate that my career as a local realtor in Alpharetta allows me the flexibility in my schedule to coach.
Stars in predominantly a soccer facility, but last year started a lacrosse program to fill a need in the market. Whereas Roswell, Alpharetta and Johns Creek all offer lacrosse - and other youth programs - through their parks and recreation departments, Milton offers no such youth sports programs. Milton essentially has only one functioning park, Bell Memorial Park, near the intersection of Thompson Road and Hopewell Road, and it is completely dedicated to baseball. There are four lighted fields there, and a new playground, and the baseball program is run by the Hopewell Youth Association. Until Milton develops Birmingham Park, a dedicated 200-acre track at the northeast quadrant of Birmingham Road and Birmingham Highway, there are no other ball fields (soccer, lacrosse, football) in the Milton area.
It is a bit ironic that the lease densely populated portion of Fulton County, the area now incorporated as the City of Milton, has the largest dearth of athletic fields. Lots of horse pastures, but not many athletic fields. Hopefully that will change soon. In the meantime, Stars (and Hopewell) offer great alternatives. You can also register your children in
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Stars Lacrosse is located on Birmingham Highway between the Triple Crown and Richmond Glen Neighborhoods, about 4 miles north of Crabapple. |
Roswell, Johns Creek or Alpharetta’s programs, but preference (and a small price break) go to city residents. Also, an advantage Stars has over Alpharetta is that due to field availability (Alpharetta practices at North Park), Stars is able to practice twice a week and have one game on the weekend, whereas Alpharetta is only able to practice once a week.
Additionally, Stars Lacrosse has formed a fantastic partnership with XPE Sports this season to conduct weekly speed and agility training for the players. After all, unlike other sports, all shapes and sizes of kids can excel at lacrosse everyone has to run ;->. Speed is the name of the game.
The long, warm springtime is one of the greatest things about living in Alpharetta. As a boy, I remember playing lacrosse in Colorado and we played with an orange ball for obvious reasons: we could find the ball in the snow!. The combination of Georgia’s spring weather and a great game where everyone gets a workout is unbeatable. Let’s hope the Star teams are unbeatable, too! I promise we’ll be running ;->.
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently 3 Comments »
2007 Real Estate Market Review for Alpharetta and Atlanta
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Local Market Conditions, Roswell Real Estate, Stuff I like to talk about
Hello, 2008…we’re back! And we have the Atlanta and Alpharetta housing data with us!
We had a great year in 2007, doubling our business from 2006; and we are looking forward to an even better 2008. Why then does everyone seem so bleak about the real estate market in Atlanta and Alpharetta?
In fact, last week, the Atlanta Journal Constitution ran an article entitled "Drop in Housing Prices Hits Metro Atlanta." What they reported was that Atlanta had a .07% drop in home values from October 2006 to October 2007. When housing prices are down 5%, 10%, 15% or more in some cities, is a less than one percent drop in Atlanta really news?
So, I went to the real estate sales data and crunched it seven ways to Sunday for both the Atlanta Metro Area and for Alpharetta and the surrounding cities of Roswell and Milton. The Bottom Line for Atlanta and Alpharetta is - and this is consistent with what I’ve posted here before - that the number of sales is down, the average sales prices is up and the average days on market is longer.
But first, some historical perspective on Atlanta and Alpharetta…
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Atlanta Metro Residential Real Estate Sales History |
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| # of Sales | Avg. Sales Price | Days on Mkt | Sales Volume | |
| 2002 | 47,826 | 225,022 | 98.0 | $10.76B |
| 2003 | 51,743 | 231,846 | 104.9 | $12.00B |
| 2004 | 57,726 | 240,312 | 103.6 | $13.87B |
| 2005 | 65,803 | 255,168 | 102.4 | $16.79B |
| 2006 | 68,256 | 260,723 | 100.2 | $17.80B |
| 2007 | 55,650 | 266,874 | 115.0 | $14.85B |
2006 was the BEST YEAR in Atlanta Real Estate…EVER. Almost $18 Billion of real estate transacted in Atlanta in 2006. Almost $15 Billion transacted in 2007. Yes, that is down from 2006, but still the THIRD BEST year in Atlanta Real Estate history. Is that something to get upset with if you are a buyer?
Next, let’s look at the real estate market data for North Fulton and the Alpharetta / Roswell over the last six years.
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Alpharetta / Roswell Metro Residential Real Estate Sales History |
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| # of Sales | Avg. Sales Price | Days on Mkt | Sales Volume | |
| 2002 | 4,224 | 318,503 | 99.7 | $1.35B |
| 2003 | 4,416 | 337,164 | 102.7 | $1.49B |
| 2004 | 4,317 | 362,225 | 94.4 | $1.56B |
| 2005 | 4,364 | 386,398 | 84.9 | $1.69B |
| 2006 | 3,896 | 409,473 | 80.3 | $1.60B |
| 2007 | 3,266 | 425,490 | 100.9 | $1.39B |
Alpharetta and Roswell’s real estate market actually peaked before Metro Atlanta’s, with 2005 being this highest gross volume year on record. If you maintain that there is a slide in the Alpharetta market - and that it is attributable to the sub-prime falling out or other national factors - you can’t say that it started in the Summer of 2007. The housing trends in Alpharetta started down as early as late 2005, although I’d have to do an analysis of month to month data to pinpoint it more closely.
If the 2007 housing market wasn’t so bad, why did it feel so horrible?
On the one hand you have realtors trying to give the market a positive spin and on the other hand you have media outlets trying to sell death and destruction in the housing sector. Who’s right? If 2007 was indeed the third highest sales year in Atlanta history, why were sellers complaining so much about a horrible housing market?
Simply put, the answer is because over 1,000 homes fewer homes sold in Alpharetta and Roswell last year compared to previous peak years. That means there are 1,000 disgruntled sellers out there complaining about the housing market at the water cooler, at the bus stop and at the check-out line.
For those sellers who have been able to sell, it has taken on average 20 days longer than just last year. In 2006, while not as many people sold as in 2005, at least it was a relatively quick sales process. Now sellers have to endure longer in a slower market.
The good news is that prices are still going up. This is a pretty amazing phenomenon, actually. It means that the better houses (the ones in the 3,266 that were good enough to sell in 2007) are still selling at a decent price. The less good houses are either stagnating on the market without reducing their price enough to sell or are expiring or being withdrawn without sale. It would be an interesting experiment to see what the average sales price would be if we sold the other 1,000 homes in the Alpharetta area. What price would they sell at as a whole to "clear" the market of the excess inventory and where would that leave the average? The lesson in this is that people with "good houses" are actually benefiting from a slower market: they are able to sell at the higher average sales price while the less desirable homes (or over priced homes) languish.
All the while, new listings continue to come onto the market. In fact, as the graph to the right shows, more new listings came onto to the market at the end of 2007 than compared to the end of 2006. The red line for 2007 is significantly above the blue line for 2006 listings and the aqua line (2007 sales) didn’t have its typical end of year up tick, although, anecdotally, we were very busy.
Couple that with fewer sales at the end of 2007 and you have a lot of inventory on the market. As of the end of November, 2007, the latest data available, there are 7.3 months of resale inventory in the Alpharetta / Roswell market across all price ranges. (There is some significant variance depending on the price range, with a lot more inventory at the high end, of course.) Compare that to November, 2006, when there was 4.8 months of resale inventory on the market. Hello, buyers…it is time to step forward!
Even with all this seemly negative news regarding the housing market in Alpharetta, I’m still bullish on 2008. You might think that I’m one of those, unrealistic, always optimistic people. To know me is to know better.
But what I do know is that Alpharetta, and particularly Milton, has a housing product that is unique and still in demand. People want to live here: the schools are good, there are lots of corporate offices here and the quality of life is very high. You get a lot of house, space and privacy for the money, as I’m sure some of my relocating clients will attest. Plus, I believe that we offer professional services that people value and appreciate.
I don’t have an insightful predictions are even resolutions for 2008. I only know what I know and that is that business continues to grow - the reception to this blog has been great - and we will sell more houses in 2008 than in any previous year.
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently 2 Comments »
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