In Georgia, a buyer can buy a home, putting 3.5%* down, less if the buyer is a veteran. The average down payment in our state, according to Lending Tree, is 11.94%.

Also according to Lending Tree, the top 10 states with the highest down-payments US are:

1.  New Jersey –  13.71%

2.  Washington D.C. – 13.50%

3.   New York –  13.47%

4.  Hawaii –  13.33%

5.  California – 13.22%

6. Florida –  13.16%

7.  Alaska –  13.06%

8.  Connecticut – 13.03%

9. Nevada –  12.98%

10. Massachusetts –  12.98%

Click here to see what every state looks like, in terms of an average downpayment.

* Qualified buyers of an FHA loan

A “warrior” is defined as ” a person engaged or experienced in warfare; a soldier; a person who shows or has shown great vigor and courage.” In other words, a Realtor!

Who among us agents has not shown courage and vigor by simply staying in Atlanta’s local market? In 2012, our market will be constantly changing, just as it was in 2011.

If you are looking for a “warrior” agent, I’m the one! Pick up the phone or send me an email or text. Let me show you that I’m ready! Set your goals and soar with me!!!

One of the new trends in real estate is not “big” (as in the mini-mansions of 2004), but more personal space (as in Owners’ Suite or Sun Porch). Anything that gives an Atlanta homeowner more bang for their buck, is hot right now.

People are always asking me what their home is “worth”.  Atlanta’s houses may not fetch the same price as they did 5-7 years ago, but what is making them hot and sell quickly, are the features that the owners have enjoyed, while living in their homes. Do you have outdated wallpaper or a master bath that feels like a spa? Do you have a living room no one enjoys or a sunporch that the kids use or one in which you like to curl up with a book?

I can help you modify your home to show off its assets and get it ready to sell. Call me, your Atlanta Realtor: Simply Done and always at your service!

Brookhaven Ashford Park Sun Porch

Atlanta Home For Sale

I’ve been feeling, and saying, that Atlanta’s real estate market is getting better. One of the ways to gauge Atlanta’s home market, is to look at new-construction. I feel like I’ve been right all along, as here’s another signal that the market is improving.

Single-Family Housing Starts rose to a seasonally-adjusted, annualized 430,000 units in October – a 4 percent increase from September and the highest reading in 3 months (a “Housing Start” is defined as a home on which ground has been broken).

The increase surprised Wall Street analysts, although it shouldn’t have.  Earlier this week, the National Association of Homebuilders showed that Homebuilder Confidence is at its highest point since May 2010, the effect of better market conditions and more sold units. Rising housing starts, amid a lift in builder confidence, is to be expected — the two metrics have moved with loose correlation since mid-2000.

Of course, as with everything in real estate, Single-Family Housing Starts volume varied by location. The nation’s 4 regions posted wide-ranging results:

• Northeast Region :  +10.0% from September
• Midwest Region :  -4.1% from September
• South Region:  +11.3% from September
• West Region:  -10.2% from September

Buyers of new construction in Atlanta can infer two key points from last month’s data. First, with more homes being built, home supply should rise, thereby softening pressure on rising home prices. This should help keep homes affordable. However, the second point is
that with builder confidence rising, buyers are less likely to win price concessions and “free upgrades” in negotiations.

The last 6 weeks of 2011 may be the optimal time to buy new construction. Home prices remain affordable and mortgage rates are rock-bottom, the lowest they’ve been in decades. If you are a buyer and because there are typically fewer active home buyers during the holidays, you’ll be more likely to locate one of the few remaining new construction “deals” in the next several weeks.

Talk to me, your Realtor, about neighborhood trends and new construction. Simply done and always at your service!

Ashford Park Elementary School will hold its annual fall festival November 5. The festival will be at Brookhaven’s Ashford Park Elementary School from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. The cost is $15 for an armband that will provide access to the rides and games, which include jumpies, carnival games, face painting, a cake walk and shopping vendors.

“Operation Shield” is now a go in Buckhead.

The Buckhead Community Improvement District (CID)  approved a proposal from Texas-based Iron Sky, the company behind the surveillance cameras in Sandy Springs. Iron Sky will install 16 cameras around Buckhead. The program, known as Operation Shield, will include 14 pan and zoom cameras and two fixed position cameras for the foot bridge pathway of a proposed pedestrian bridge.

The cost of the cameras, $140,000,  includes hardware and software installation and a one-year service agreement. The Atlanta Police Foundation will also pay $70,000 for the cameras, the Buckhead CID reported. The surveillance network will tie into the city of Atlanta’s new Video Integration Center.

Once the agreement is signed,  the cameras will be operational in approximately 3 months.

The chairman of the Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods and the president of the Brookwood Civic Association both liked the idea of the cameras, one adding that it is “a great aid to law enforcement.”  The president of the Loring Heights Neighborhood Association said he is in talks with Iron Sky about setting up the cameras in Loring Heights and plans to bring a formal proposal to the neighborhood of Loring Heights in the spring.

Turn on a TV or the internet for the news and all you’ll hear about, is the new iPhone 4S. What’s the big deal about it?

Okay, all my friends and clients have been wondering where the “geek” in me has come from. I suddenly found myself debating iPhone vs. Android. I knew what the online gossip was, what Apple might be announcing and when; if Sprint would have an exclusive to the “maybe-released” 5-version; what the expected benefits were going to be for the new phone. But most important, I knew how long it was going to take before I’d get that phone in my hands. It has been an excruciating 4 weeks!

Yesterday, as I anxiously awaited the UPS delivery, I realized why I was so nutzoid about this new iPhone. It isn’t that it has better resolution or that it is lighter or faster than my old 3G. It is because my ENTIRE life is on that phone! In short, I am now connected to my life and to my business with a 4S iPhone!

• All of my contacts, with names, telephone numbers and email addresses, are in my phone;
• My calendar: all of my client- and personal-appointments are on my iPhone;
• Throughout the day, I check for emails. I need to know if an inspector or a lender is having trouble with a client’s transaction or if the closing attorney has rec’d the loan package. I need to know what buyers and sellers are thinking or working on;
• My motivational music is on my phone. I use songs to help me swim in the morning and make lead-generation calls for my business. I use music to get me up or calm me down;
• Reminders and lists are on my phone. Do I need to drop off a key to an appraiser? When I go past a Publix, do I need to pick up air freshener for the seller with 3 large dogs? What time will those dogs be out of the house for my Open House?;
• My GPS is on my iPhone. How do I get where I need to go?
• Traffic reports are on my iPhone – is Buckhead traffic snarled at one street or throughout the entire area, from Vinings to Brookhaven?
• The ‘net is on my phone: what if I need quick access to who, what or why?

My “old” iPhone was murdered. I had taken it into a large retail outlet, wanting a docking station to add music to my open houses. I started sampling the different docks and after a few tests, saw smoke coming out of my phone. I pulled it up and away from the dock, but it was too late: it was fried. The store management was really nice about it, but I wanted to replace it with the new version, not an old one. Technology is moving too fast to use old systems. The problem was, that I had to wait until Apple intoduced its new phone and that was 4-5 weeks away. The store gave me a phone to use during that time, but it wasn’t an iPhone. I have been going crazy looking for, thinking and obsessing about my new phone.

Yes, I have been absolutely insane. But wouldn’t you want your Realtor to be focused on the tasks needed to be done? And seamlessly doing them with organized systems? Yesterday afternoon, I finally got my 4s iPhone and I am no longer hyper-ventilating. I am back and ready: how can I help you buy, sell or invest in Atlanta real estate?

I am taking a social media class today to learn more about how it will help escalate my business to a higher level. Watch out Atlanta homes and real estate: here I come!

According to Realtor.com, the median price for homes viewed on its website in August, was $214,990. Washington, D.C., topped the list with the highest median list price of homes viewed, at $459,000. Michigan had the lowest median list price of homes viewed in August, at $134,900.Georgia was 33rd on the list at $274,900.

The top 10 median places of homes, listed by the priciest, are:

1. Washington DC   $459,000
2. Hawaii   $450,000
3. New Jersey  $349,500
4. California   $339,900
5. Massachussetts   $339,900
6. Connecticut    $299,900
7. Maryland  $289,900
8. Rhode Island   $279,900
9. New York   $275,000
10. Virginia    $275,000

Many sellers think that agents have a secret listing strategy. However, the truth is, without a seller’s help, our strategies go out the window. Here are 6 easy steps to sell a house fast:

1. Price it right; price it competitively.
2. Interior and exterior condition is key. Make the repairs that your agent tells you to do; at a minimum, paint the outside trim and pressure wash the outside of the home.
3. Stage the house. Make sure it is clutter-free and clean at all times. When you have a showing, leave the lights on.
4. Make it easy on the agent. Allow the listing agent to put up a sign, a lockbox and please forget “Appointment Only”. If we can’t see it, we can’t sell it!
5. Internet and pictures will sell it. When the listing agent, or his/her photographer, is coming to take pictures, make sure that the house is sparkling. If the pictures are bad, or non-existant, buyers will skip over the house.
6. When in doubt, go back to items 1-5. If you are still in doubt, refer to #1.