"Congratulations! Today is your day. You're off to Great Places! You're off and away!"

Gwinnett County
Peachtree Corners, GA

FACTS:
In the late 1960's Paul Duke, a graduate from Georgia Tech, envisioned a live, work, play community that was low-pollution and high-technology. From there, development continued and it was incorporated in July 2012. You can read more about it's history at Peachtree Corners website.

Today, Peachtree Corners is known for their Town Center with shopping, food, and a place to relax with the kids, and more. It hosts community events near their Veterans Monument, park, and splash pad. They also have access to multiuse trails for walking and biking to provide these amenities to the community.

In 2023, Peachtree Corners was voted #19 of the 50 best places to live for families. You can read more about that here.

MY EXPERIENCE:
If you love to shop and eat, this is the place to visit. The Forum hosts many well known stores as well as unique shopping experiences. They also host many family friendly events in the town center. I encourage you to check out all they have to offer.

WHAT'S NEXT:
The next city I plan to visit is Suwanee, GA. I've heard a lot of great things about this community. So far, I have not been disappointed on this journey. Every time I visit a new place to learn about it, I'm amazed at everything it has to offer and how each community desires to build a great place for their residents.

December will close out a strong month and a very good year for real estate in Martins Landing. As of December 17th, 61 homes sold and 5 more are slated to close before year-end. It will be just a few short of the number of homes sold in 2017, which is consistent with what we are seeing across Roswell and all of Metro Atlanta,

The average price of homes sold in 2018 is $337,197 with average days on market of 35 and homes selling at just over 97% of the original asking price. In 2017 there were 72 closings with an average price of $332,985 when the average days on market was 32 and right at 97% of the original price.

Most Expensive Sale of the Year

The most expensive home to sell this year was 8900 Martin Rd that sold for $500,000 and it only took 3 days to go under contract in April. The agent representing the buyer and the seller were out of 2 different Keller Williams offices. The list price was $499,000 and it sold for $500,000 with the seller contributing $10,000 toward the buyer's closing costs.

Current Martin's Landing Inventory

***Multiple Offers Received***
Below is our featured Martin's Landing home for sale and all...

It’s hard to believe, but the beginning of a new school year is just around the corner! Although I am sure your kids are still enjoying their summer vacation, it will be no time before they have picked out the perfect backpack and stuffed it with all the essential school supplies.

One of the top search criteria I hear from buyers is schools. Schools can be a primary reason for moving and a major deciding factor for the home you choose to buy. First and foremost, parents want the best schools for their kids - that is a given. But beyond that, the school district where a home resides can determine the market value of a home and it’s potential to gain value in the future. And, the sought after schools can also help you down the road when it comes time to sell your home - making it more desirable to potential buyers.

Looking for a home in a particular school district? On the Premier Atlanta Real Estate site, we have an awesome tool to help you search for available homes located near the most popular schools in the area. Check out this link:

https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/homes-for-sale-by-school-district-in-atlanta.php

Want to do some more homework? Request a copy of the Atlanta Business Chronicle annual school guide. When doing research on schools, I recommend reviewing test scores and visiting schools in person to speak with staff who can then provide you with more information about each school. A good place to start is with the annual Atlanta Business Chronicle School Guide. Send me an email at [email protected] to request a copy and I will mail you one directly.

Are you are ready...

Time and again, I come across a home listing that is well kept, with awesome features, in a great neighborhood... but it just isn't selling.

Buyers will ask, "why has is been on the market so long?" Sellers will ask, "why isn't my house selling?" 

And the answer is usually: PRICE.

My job, as your highly skilled real estate professional, is to do the research and give you the tools and information to price your home properly, or to make the appropriate offer on a property. To get that information, I look at factors such as style, size, features, geographic location, schools, etc. in comparison to comparable recently sold (in the last 3 - 6 months) properties. I don't set the price - you don't set the price - THE MARKET SETS THE PRICE.

The goal is to sell the property in the least amount of time for the most money. And your pricing strategy will have a direct effect on your success of selling for the most money in the least amount of time. Statistics show that if you price your property too high, you risk sitting on the market for months. And in the end, you will probably be selling for less than if you priced properly from the beginning, because you will need to do price reductions to offset the perception that there is something wrong with the property. Price your property too low, and you aren't maximizing the potential profit from the sale - and the bidding war you hoped to achieve may never materialize.

Take a look at the snapshot below which demonstrates the effect price has on sales vs. listing price and days on market. Getting the price right from the beginning, is your best bet for selling your home for the most amount of money in the least amount of time.

Are you ready to have a chat about selling your home? I would love to meet with...

Use the tried and true newspaper reporters tool to have a fabulous home buying experience! Answer these five Ws and one H to buy your next home with confidence and success! 

Why Do You Want A New Home?
The first, and most important question you need to ask yourself is “Why do I want to move?”. Your reason or motivation for moving will drive the rest of the process and will help you answer the rest of the questions. Maybe you are taking a new job in a new city. Maybe you want to be closer to the grandkids. Maybe your family is growing and you need more space. Or maybe you are just ready for new home. Whatever the reason you have for moving, it is the right reason, and it will play a key role in helping you make those key home buying decisions. Figure out your big “WHY” and then keep that as the focus during your house hunting.

How Much Do You Want To Spend?
This will be one of the most expensive purchases you will ever make so you need to begin with a discussion about financing. ALL HOME BUYERS NEED TO MEET WITH THEIR BANKER OR A LENDER BEFORE LOOKING AT ANY HOMES! Pardon my “shouting” - but having your financial ducks in a row before embarking on the home buying process is a crucial step you should take to ensure you start off the process on the right foot. If paying cash, your banker can discuss the status of your accounts, your budget, and provide you with a letter verifying you have the funds available to purchase a home. If financing with a mortgage, the lender can help determine your budget and provide information on the various loan programs available to you, as well as providing documentation of your pre-qualification. The professionals can also help you determine if it is not quite the right time, financially, to purchase...

You have searched and searched and finally found that perfect home to purchase... what is the next step? As soon as you have a property under contract the next important step in the home buying process is conducting an inspection of the property. A home inspection is a valuable tool in evaluating the condition, soundness and safety of the property. The resulting report is a fantastic source of information about the home you are buying, and can highlight items that need to be addressed prior to purchase.

A home inspection should be conducted by a professional, licensed, experienced and highly recommended home inspection contractor. As in every industry, there are good and bad home inspectors. Ask for recommendations from your real estate agent - they have worked with many inspectors and have valuable insights to help with the selection process. Your agent will know which inspectors will provide the best and most useful information and provide excellent customer service, all for a reasonable price. You can also ask trusted family and friends for inspector recommendations. Once a professional is selected, your agent will schedule the inspection, coordinating with the listing agent and home seller.

A home inspection is usually paid for by the buyer. On the day of the inspection, the buyer (along with the buyer's agent) is invited to walk through the property with the inspector so they can verbally discuss and visually point out any findings . The inspector will also provide a written report for the buyer and agent to review, documenting all the things they observed while evaluating the property.

What is usually evaluated as a part of the inspection:
...

You have probably heard lots of advice about the best time of the year to put your house on the market … “Spring! Sell in the spring, it’s the best time” they will say.  But getting a jump on the real estate market may be your best opportunity to come up a winner when selling your home. Here are just a few of the ways listing your home in January and February can benefit you in the home selling race.

Inventory is Low

The holidays did little to slow down the robust real estate market and we find ourselves still deep into a Seller’s Market. What that means is inventory is low and there are not enough homes to meet the demand of the buyers in the current market. This is the case both nationally and locally. According to realtor.com, on a national level, active listings are down a staggering 11% when compared to 2015.*  Here in Atlanta, intense demand is resulting in a 12.1% reduction of listings compared to this time last year.

So who remembers their Economics 101 class? Bueller? Bueller? When demand is high and the inventory is low, it is the BEST TIME TO SELL! As long as you follow the professional and knowledgeable advice of your carefully selected listing agent, you will likely be able to get more for your home and sell quickly.

As we head in to the spring months, inventory will inevitably increase. Your home will have more competition, you will have to work extra hard to get the attention of the buyers out shopping. That may mean pricing lower than the house for sale around the corner, making extra updates to your home, and dealing with fickle buyers. Be the star of the show by listing your house in January or February reap the rewards!

Serious Buyers

People who are house hunting in...

Have you been thinking about buying a new home, but planning to wait til spring? You might want to consider doing your home buying during the holidays... this can be a fantastic time of year for you to find that dream home and get a great deal! Who says the best presents come in small packages? How about a two story with a pool and a fireplace sized package? Let’s talk about a home shopping during the holidays.

Deals! Deals! Deals!

Let’s face it, no one really wants to put their house on the market during the holidays. Listing your home usually means the hassle of prepping the house for sale, and keeping it clean for showings, and scheduling open house events. Now try doing all that while putting up festive decorations, hosting special events, attending school programs, wrapping gifts, and still finding time for work and family. So a seller who has decided it is time to sell is probably finding that prospect a necessity, whether for a employment relocation, a family need, or any number of other reasons.

This is where you, as the buyer, can have some purchasing power. Homes on the market during this time may be ripe for offers under the list price, due to the urgency of the seller to sell. Sellers may be more willing to take care of those inspection items because they need to get moving. And if you have the ability to move quickly, sellers may be very happy to oblige a short escrow period. (one caveat - check with your lender to check for any delays the holidays pose regarding time needed for closing the transaction).

Houses that have been on the market a while will likely try to price drop before or during the holidays to get some action on the home and get it sold before the end of the year. With fewer buyers in the market, sellers are trying everything they can to get...

The number of foreclosure sales in Alpharetta in the last 60 days is down 84% from the same time last year. There have only been 6 foreclosure sales in the last 60 days of this year compared with 38 sales during the same period last year This is an amazing statistic if you think about it!

Foreclosures depress home prices because many buyers prefer them and appraisers use them as comparable sales to arrive at valuations for other homes. This is inline with what RealtyTrac reports nationally showing a 29% decline in Q3 of 2013 compared to Q3 of 2012 of foreclosure sales. Of course, foreclosures have always been below the national averages in Alpharetta, but with only 6 selling in the last 60 days, I believe we can make a few observations:

• With this few foreclosure sales, prices will not be pressured downward any longer. We've seen this trend happening for about 1 year and half, but these numbers really put the end to any further speculation.
• For buyers seeking a "deal", they are gone. It's time we now assess this market from the point of view of value again. Of course, you can still get a deal, but it's based on value, not price.
• For sellers, this is great news because buyers no longer have the low priced options they had in previous years so you will see more real buyers and few low ball offers. This should mean prices wil continue to rise (see Alpharetta home prices if you would like to know what your home is worth) provided the economy does not fall out from under us because of what is happening in Washington (I don't see tha happening).

Overall sales don't seem to be trending up from last year, but with supply so low due to fewer foreclosures and the lack of equity for traditional sellers, we remain in a sellers market. The caveat...

This is something that we (and I think many other agents) struggle with in the market today. We meet with a client and go over what we believe should be the list price of a home and it's seldom a pleasant conversation. Typically, sellers know it's worth less than it was a few years ago, but getting the price right today really is more important than it used to be.

A home gets it's most activity from potential buyers in the early part of a listing period - the first 2 weeks. If it isn't priced for the market, it won't get an offer. Still, seller's feel they need to leave room to negotiate because they feel they need to squeeze every penny they can out of their sale. It's a fair enough idea, but it isn't grounded in what the data says they should do.

First, I'd like to discuss an important concept that regularly gets overlooked by both seller's and agents: It's impossible to underprice a home. Let me reiterate - you can't underprice your home. In a free market, it doesn't matter if you underprice by $1,000 or $50,000. It will sell for as much as the market will pay. Not more, not less.

So let's try to do a better job of recognizing the understandable objection about pricing and do a better job of explaining how the market works. If you list your home for the correct price, it will sell and it will happen fast regardless of your price point. It's not like homes aren't selling (see chart).

As you can see from this chart which shows home sales during this declined market, home sales are actually quite consistent. It's just that only the ones that represent exceptional value sell. If you price it at the right number, it's impossible for it not to sell. So the obvious question is that if you list it low and it sells fast,...

Summer of 2009 is coming to a close quickly and some of the best deals in a generation are leaving with it. Were you able to capitalize on those deals or are you still waiting for prices to drop? If you're waiting, here is a recap of what you missed and why you may reconsider your position of waiting...and oh yeah...it looks like prices aren't really dropping any more - at least for good properties and especially in the more sought after areas of Atlanta

The average price for a home has dropped 8% in North Fulton since the summer of 2008, but, prices are trending up, sales volume is trending up and inventory is trending down.  We are still down in price from the summer of 2008 because pricing continued to decline until February of 2009 (they have been rising since). It seems as though market forces are correcting the market even without the inducements provided by the government and we are really expecting a surge of closings as the $8,000 tax credit expires at the end of November. Whether it gets extended or renewed is up for debate. I hope they renew rather than extend. I think it will induce more sales that way.

Nevertheless, deals are going fast. Unfortunately there are still far too many know-it-alls that think prices in Atlanta are going to be dropping another 15%-20%. I feel bad for these people because they fall into the "clueless" group and will miss the deals. Too bad, but, I suppose I can't convince everyone - nor should I try to, I suppose.

Here are some statistics that indicate real changes for the better in the market:

• Positive year over year closings (more this year than last, sales volume is up).
• Total price declines are continuing to decrease and would almost disappear by precluding condos and townhomes.
...

Crooked Creek is a fantastic golf and country club community located in Milton undergoing something of an unusual change for a neighborhood in the real estate market today. A robust $4,000,000 renovation to the facilities is being undertaken in a real estate market that has just taken a beating over the past few years.  With homes dating to the mid nineties, many people believed that these updates may do the community well and freshen up the general appearance. This may still happen, but, construction is behind schedule and we'll really have to wait another year to see if that plays out. Until then, here is an update on market statistics. Faced with lots of competition in the zip code for similarly priced homes, staging, marketing and price ring true as the most important factors to get  home sold in the neighborhood and not listing your home for sale with an agent who "knows" or "lives in" the neighborhood. Those old myths never actually helped sell houses and do even less in a compressed real estate market.

There are currently 44 homes for sale in Crooked Creek as well as at least one additional home for sale by owner. Four of these are under contract. One of the under contract homes is in The Enclave. Four more of the active homes are in The Enclave. That leaves Crooked Creek proper with 36 active listings and 3 under contract or 1 in 12. A strong market (one that is good for sellers) would have 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 homes under contract at the high point of the selling season. In the last 3 months there have been 7 sales for an average sales rate of 2.33 per month. This makes the absorption rate in Crooked Creek 15.5 which means that there is 15.5 months of inventory if homes continue...