Starting August 1, Georgia will launch a thirty (30) day speeding ticket frenzy!  The state  of Georgia estimates that $9 million will be generated in speeding tickets. $1 million will go to pay state troopers’ overtime pay; the balance will go to dwindling state budgets.

There will be 50 Georgia state troopers on-duty at all times patrolling the 7 main intersections and highways of:

I-20 east and west
I-75 north and south
I-85 north and south
I-675 north and south
GA-985 north and south
GA-316 east and west
GA-400 north and south

If you live and work in the Atlanta area, you will probably drive on one of these highways. It’s up to you, how fast you are going when they clock you.

• State troopers have been instructed to pull a car over and write a ticket every 10-20 minutes;
• Five (5) MPH above the limit can, and will, justify a ticket;
• The state of Georgia has issued 30 brand-new, unmarked Dodge Charger police cruisers and are bringing in all of their part-timers for full-time.

WSB (ABC affililate), WXIA (NBC affiliate) and WGCL (the CBS affiliate) have confirmed this report.

Be safe and slow down: speeding tickets are expensive and add points to your driving record. The points, in turn, add dollars to your car insurance.

Look for city and county governments to adopt similar polices in the near future.

Dekalb County prosecutors say they have uncovered a grand attempt to steal vacant houses across North Georgia.

In a month-long investigation, Dekalb and the FBI have investigated  an anti-government extremist group, calling themselves ”sovereign citizens”. The “sovereigns” refuse to answer to local or state authority. So far, the government has jailed four people and issued arrest warrants for four others. The members of the group often refuse to pay taxes or register their vehicles. Some told Channel 2 Investigative reporter, Jodie Fleischer, their homes are considered sovereign land.

Authorities say that the “sovereigns”  file fraudulent paperwork to take over a property, around the same time that a bank is forcing out the previous owners who are in foreclosure. Then, the “sovereign” signs over the property to himself for free. He changes the locks on the house and posts a sign on the property saying that he is the lawful owner. He also files paperwork declaring himself a sovereign citizen and immune to the laws of Georgia. Police have arrest warrants for those who’ve filed fraudulent deeds. Investigators say that by using the fake deeds, they have been able to establish electricity and alarm service at the properties. 

The largest problem with this scheme, is that it forces the real owners to prove that they own the property in court.  “They’re able to tie up the legal system by filing bogus paperwork and engaging in paper terrorism against anybody who dare comes after them,” said DeKalb County Assistant District Attorney John Melvin. Buyers may be delayed from closing on their homes, as the bank tries to sell the property to upscale home buyers, but cannot give clear title to the property.

Melvin said he plans to push for legislative changes. “Personally, what I’d like to see is a little more verification before a property is able to be deeded to another person. You just can’t go to a clerk of court and deed a property to yourself.” 

The deeds reach from Norcross, to Snellville, to Augusta, and even include a $13 million shopping center in Buckhead.

Dekalb police say that these “sovereigns” were caught trying to change the locks on a $1Million foreclosed home on Windsor Parkway in Brookhaven. Sandy Springs police say they caught one of the members of the group living in a $2 million unfinished home on Tara Trail in Fulton County. “I’m shocked,” said home builder Mark Phillips. “This house is certainly not finished. It’s not even a livable house.”

The gun maker, Glock, wants to open a firing range behind its headquarters in Smyrna.

Nearby residents say that the problem with Glock’s plan, is gunfire too close to their homes and backyards. They are also worried that the Smyrna firing range would be built on a large plot of vacant, undeveloped land, which sits behind Glock’s manufacturing facility on Highlands Parkway. The residents say that the previously untouched land will be replaced by concrete, a few shrubs and flying bullets.

Lawyers for Glock say that the firing range would create jobs, but a group of residents are fighting the plan. Smyrna’s City Council was scheduled to vote on the request on Tuesday, July 20, but Glock wants the vote delayed until late July/early August.

Want fresh veggies, fruits and flowers? Check out the new Chamblee Farmer’s Market every Saturday morning, from 8:30 – 11:30am. It’s located at 5435 Peachtree Road (that’s the portion of Peachtree Road, in Chamblee, that runs parallel to Peachtree Industrial Bouldvard), near the Lowes store). The market features local vendors and serves the Brookhaven and Chamblee neighborhoods.

This afternoon, Jeff Nicholson, of Wells Fargo, told me that he is offering a “no-origination-fee” for the next two loans he does for my home-buyer clients. That’s $-0-!!! An origination fee is 1% of the loan amount and, depending on the loan amount, this fee can be thousands of dollars!

If you are looking for a home, it is worth it, to call or email me and ask about this sweet deal!

(Some restrictions may apply.)

Three years ago, Georgia Power, the gorilla in our state’s electricity “room”, raised rates. Now they’re trying to raise them again. This new raise would add approximately $18 to the average consumer’s monthly bill.

Will our Public Service Commission (PSC) allow Georgia Power to raise their rates again? The PSC is scheduled to vote on their request on December 21. Do you think Georgia Power is justified in asking for this additional money, scheduled to be over $1 billion (yep, that’s spelled with a “B”!)? Contact the PSC  if you have a strong opinion about this raise.

Read more about it in the July 2 article in The Atlanta Journal Constitution:  Raising the Rates

Eligible buyers now have until September 30 to close on a home sale, to be eligible for the much heralded tax credit.  On July 2, President Obama signed a bill to extend the $8,000 Home Buyers Tax Credit. To be eligible for this extension, buyers needed to be under contract as of April 30, 2010.

The National Association of Realtors estimated that there were approximately 180,000 home buyer families who were unable to get their new-home purchases closed by the previously-extended deadline of June 30. It has been difficult for these buyers to get their mortgages approved on time, as lenders could not work through the clogged pipeline of applications.

It’s a shame that congress won’t give working families the credit indefinitely.

Here we go: the state of Georgia has raised many of our tax fees and lowered just a few.

On May 12, the governor of Georgia signed House Bill 1055 into law. Taking effect immediately, it raises the mortgage-per-loan fee from $6.50 to $10.00. This fee is charged on every purchase and refinance HUD-1 statement, as part of borrower’s closing costs. While it is not a huge amount, it is charged on every transaction!

The state portion of the property taxes has been eliminated. Now, all property taxes collected, will go to the county and city where the property is located for their use. However, do not look for lowered taxes there. My guess is that counties and cities will continue to cut services and raise taxes.

However, the good news is that House Bill 1055 eliminated state income tax on retirement income for seniors aged 65 and older.

Many court filing fees and license fees have increased, some by over $100. Real estate recording fees did not change, but civil action fees, corporate fees and other transactional fees are affected. One fee that will affect me directly, is the cost to print information on deeds and legal documents. When I take a  new listing or research property for a buyer-client, the GA county clerks’ site is where I go to look up that information. Their printing fees have doubled because of House Bill 1055!

The bill is 107 pages long and has other provisions. How will it affect you?

Atlanta’s home sales’ numbers and statistics for March are out and they are amazing! There are currently 27,042 homes for sale in the metropolitan Atlanta area and only 6,040 are “Pending” sales. That is a ratio of 18.2%, which roughly put, says that 4 out of 5 sellers didn’t, or couldn’t, sell their homes. Price and condition sell homes and to me, these numbers say that Atlanta home sellers are still over-pricing their homes for today’s market! In this same time period, 10,872 listings expired, or failed to sell.

For today’s market, unsuccessful home sellers have three choices. Quite simply:  Reduce it, Remain in it, Rent it. It is a market of the 3 R’s.

This past Sunday, The Atlanta Journal Constitution‘s Tom Sabulis had a conversation with the King of Atlanta’s new homes, John Wieland. He talked about Atlanta’s real estate market and how he and his company, John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods, are dealing with it.

Personally, I think John Wieland is one of Atlanta’s smartest home builders and one of the best things that has happened to the Southeast’s homebuilding industry. His homes are well-built and his philosophy accurately reflects the market. All of us in the new homes market knew he was scaling back in 2006 and 2007, predicting a down market. But in this interview, he talks optimistically of his view of Atlanta’s housing market now, in 2010, and going forward.

Here are several excerpts from Mr. Wieland’s interview :

• Q:  It’s been a brutal few years for the housing industry. Is this the worst you’ve seen it? 
• A:  I predicted privately to friends that it was going to be severe. Now I have a new definition for severe. Nobody in their wildest dreams thought that anything like this could happen. And I think that’s largely why  it happened. Nobody saw the consequences of inappropriate lending, shall we say.
• Q:  Have you lost much sleep over it?
• A: No, but I do a lot of thinking about it. How do you measure when it’s turned? And I really think it has turned this spring. Where do you go from here? What does housing look like?  What’s totally amazing is how consumer preferences have changed.
• Q: How’s that?
• A: Everybody’s more conservative than they were three years ago. More conservative as to how much house they really think they need to live in. And more conservative in how much debt they’re willing to take on for that purchase. And I think that’s a good thing.
• Q: How do you react strategically to these changes?
• A: We sort of had to redial the entire company. Two of the biggest factors are developing more efficient plans; more efficient to build, and more efficient to live in. Secondly, we’re putting more emphasis on being closer to jobs, transportation, downtown Atlanta, the airport.
• Q: You’re focusing closer intown now?
• A: Along with [people saying] ‘I don’t want to pay as much for housing’ comes [people saying] ‘I don’t want to drive so far to go home’ syndrome. I think it’s all part of we’re a more conservative America than we were four years ago.
• Q: Your company built around 200 homes in Metro Atlanta in 2009. How many will you build this year?
• A: Probably 250. I know we’ll do better. Our sales in March [2010] were the best month in three years . . . we’re juiced up.

Sue and John Wieland are long-time donors to the High Museum of Art. Mr. Wieland also spoke of his optimism on the contemporary art front. But, this blog is about Atlanta real estate, so forgive me if I don’t quote that portion of the interview. I’m just thrilled about his enthusiasm for Atlanta’s 2010 housing market and that he believes that the market has turned!