Cornucopia of Alpharetta Fall Real Estate News
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Announcements, Foreclosures, Local Market Conditions, Lots, Luxury Homes, Photography
ALPHARETTA - Nothing symbolizes November any better than the cornucopia and the turkey. And since I am "theme challenged" today, I thought that I’d just throw all the random thoughts that are bouncing around in my head into one big cornucopia of a post. So forgive the scatter-brainedness of this post, here’s my cornucopia of thoughts:
Wild Turkey Spotted in Windward Parking Lot
Since it is November, let’s start with the turkey. Believe it or not, I actually saw a real, live wild turkey walking across the parking lot near Windward Parkway and Northpoint Parkway the other day. Don’t believe me? I have proof!
I grabbed my camera before she pranced away. Here she is as she goes in front of my car; she was headed east towards the dining room tables of Windward!
The Price of Education
Fulton County Schools reportedly paid $318,000 per acre for the 64-acre site for a new high school site on Cogburn Road. This land was purchased from Chatham home builders who had purchased it a year or so ago for a residential development. At that time, Chatham paid a reported $204,000 per acre and since that time had done site planning and grading and installed streets and gutters, all of which will likely be torn out when a new school is built. Apparently the school board is still exploring ways to gain direct access to Highway 9 from the new site.
New Amenities Underway at Crooked Creek
Crooked Creek obtained financing for its amenity renovation. I’m told that progress is commencing on the $4M project that will include two new pools, eleven tennis courts, a playground and clubhouse. No further word on whether Crooked Creek will be able to gate the neighborhood. Would love to hear from some Crooked Creek residents on this one. Please comment to this post if you would.
Two Home Starts in Lake Haven
Two custom homes are currently in the process of being built in Lake Haven. One should be finished by the end of the year. These are the first two and are being built by Southern Home Properties , the same company who built Lochstone Manor , on Doris Road.
There are 58 one and two-acre lots remaining. Reportedly the commencement of construction has brought about a lot of renewed activity in Lake Haven, although no further purchases yet. All in good time… Lake Haven has the potential to be a very special place to live.
White Columns Foreclosure Sells
OK, not THAT foreclosure , that I’ve been talking about incessantly. The other one. 715 Scarlet Oak Trail, is the big brick house in the cul-de-sac with a finished basement that included two full baths and a second kitchen. It was listed at $515,000, reduced to $489,000 and sold for $469,000 in 133 days. That is a ton of heated square footage for the dollar and the house required only minimal repairs.
Foreclosure Sales Statistics
The National Association of Realtors has reported in August that nationally 35-40% of all homes sales are foreclosure properties. I read elsewhere that 42% of all September sales were foreclosures. NPR reported this week that we can expect 5-7 million more foreclosures ! Certainly I can’t dispute the widespread interest in foreclosures; I’m getting a ton of inquires myself regarding foreclosures in Alpharetta.
That got me to thinking: What percentage of our sales in North Fulton since January 1, 2008 have been foreclosures? A quick scrub of the data shows that 11% of sales were technically foreclosures - owned by the lender. It also means that they were properly identified in FMLS as foreclosure properties. This does not include short sales or "pre-foreclosures" as they are called.
So, if 11% of sales are foreclosures (and I would argue that this is the most competitive part of the market), what percentage of active listings are identified as foreclosures? The envelop please: 4% in North Fulton (Alpharetta, Roswell, Milton and Johns Creek). This says that a foreclosure is about three times more likely to sell than a non-foreclosure.
Good Bye Reading Tree
I’m sorry that downtown Alpharetta was not able to support the Reading Tree bookstore , which recently closed. It lasted about a year and a half. It is tough being a retail business in downtown Alpharetta; the area seems better suited for small service-based businesses that don’t require retail traffic.
The good news if you are a bibliophile, though, is that the library referendum passed so we will someday get a better library in Alpharetta, one that befits a city of our quality. Just make sure you continue to oppose the political trophy called the central downtown Atlanta library and keep the funds flowing out to the suburbs where the readers are.
One Last Salute to Fall Colors in Milton
I had posted a nice Fall photograph the other day and thought I’d publish just one more if you’ll indulge me. I’m a sucker for the Chamber of Commerce picture in the Fall. The light and color is just too good to not get out of the car and take the picture.
The last one was in a residential area of Crabapple. This one is a little further north in Milton off Benthany Bend road. The area is decidely more rural. I hope this captures the flavor a little bit. I sometimes post my pictures to Google Earth Panaramio, too, so as to not bore you too much here.
There is also a wild(?) turkey that hangs out in front of Vickery/Vickery Village. I doubt it is the same as your spotting (that would be a fairly large range).
Wow! I just drove by the same trees on this stretch of Bethany Bend today, admiring how beautiful they were and thinking it would make a great picture. Even with the gloomy weather of the day today, they are still gorgeous.
That was alot of varied info there, but that foreclosure story caught my eye. Even though the price was reduced it wasn’t reduced as drastically as I’ve seen in other places(must’ve been a really nice neighborhood)…I’m in Florida by the way.
http://www.inexpensiveinvestinginflorida.com/
Thanks
The wild turkey picture caught my eye, I had to see what it said. Great information and I look forward to heading back this way.