Open house in Bolton, Atlanta- Sunday, 3/2 from 3PM-5PM

Join us for an open house in Bolton from 3-5PM on Sunday, March 2!
See you there!

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   <td colspan=”9″ style=”padding: 2px; border-left: #99ccff 1px solid; height: 19px; font-weight: bold; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: top;”><!– Title : zipcode-City ( Neighbourhood ) –>30318-Atlanta (Bolton)</td>
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        <font style=”font-size: 11px;”><!–IsMls–></font><b><!–Status–>FOR SALE</b><br><b><!–Price–>$369,000</b><font style=”font-size: 11px;”><i><!–PriceHighlight–>Welcome Home!</i></font>
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   <td rowspan=”3″ style=”text-align: center”><b><!–Agent Name–>Christine Reeder<br></b><a style=”color: #336699; font-weight: bold;” href=”http://platform.point2.com/Report/lct.ashx?lid=1504446&aid=BP&url=http%3A%2F%2Fchristinereeder1.point2agent.com%2FUtil%2FEmailAgent.aspx%3Flistingid%3D1504446%26uid%3D536883%26fromAgent%3DFalse%26Bb%3DBP%26Cc%3D1504446″>Email Christine</a><br><br><!–Contact Info in the format “Type of contact:number” repeating for each–><br><b>Work: </b>404-552-9595<br><b>Cell: </b>404-323-3533</td>
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   <td style=”padding-right: 12px; padding-left: 12px; padding-bottom: 12px; padding-top: 12px”><!–First 10 details in the format “DetailType: Detail  ” next detail–><b>Address: </b>2142 Parkview Lane <b>Type: </b>Residential <b>Style: </b>Single Story <b>Bedrooms: </b>4 <b>Bathrooms: </b>4 <b>Suite: </b>No <b>Living Area: </b>   <b>Year Built: </b>2004 <br><a href=”http://platform.point2.com/Report/lct.ashx?lid=1504446&aid=BP&url=http%3A%2F%2Fchristinereeder1.point2agent.com%2FListing%2FViewListingDetails.aspx%3FListingID%3D1504446%26ShowCompact%3DFalse%26Preview%3DFalse%26Bb%3DBP%26Cc%3D1504446″>More Details</a></td>
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   <td style=”padding-right: 12px; padding-left: 12px; padding-bottom: 12px; padding-top: 12px”><!–First 500 words of description–>Welcome home to your oasis in the city..where neighbors walk and wave through your cu-de-sac in the evening. Perhaps they have extra time due to their short commute. Spacious gourmet kitchen features Stainless Appliances, Granite, Hardwood Flooring and Cherry Stained Cabinetry. Breakfast nook leads to your relaxing outdoor retreat- the Dining Deck. This home has virtually no yard work- the front area is just enough to “WOW” your guest with curb appeal, the back is all dining deck. Basement is perfect as guest suite or home office. Custom blinds throughout stay for you. The Master Bedroom features a large sitting area, with an expansive trey ceiling. Master Bath is a spa lover’s retreat with jacuzzi tub, two full closets and get-ready-for-the-day areas. Just a few Steps away are the Children’s Playground, Barbeque by the Gazebo, and Dog Walking Path. Old World Charm meets New World Luxury in Bolton.<br><a href=”http://platform.point2.com/Report/lct.ashx?lid=1504446&aid=BP&url=http%3A%2F%2Fchristinereeder1.point2agent.com%2FListing%2FViewListingDetails.aspx%3FListingID%3D1504446%26ShowCompact%3DFalse%26Preview%3DFalse%26Bb%3DBP%26Cc%3D1504446″>More Description</a></td>
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   <td style=”height: 13px; text-align: right”>Brokered and Advertised by Pennington Properties  LID 1504446</td>
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   <td style=”height: 13px; text-align: center;”>Information is deemed to be correct but not guaranteed.</td>
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Easy East Point~ Atlanta’s best kept secret?

I’m always learning new tidbits about Atlanta communities.
While on an appointment in East Point last week, I got to chatting (as you know I do!) with a seller about the community.
I asked, “What do you love most about living in East Point?”? He replied with, “There are so many reasons, let me just write them all down”.
Here is his open letter to you, potential East Point resident.

“Thanks for letting me be a spokesperson for East Point.  Let me start off by saying that my wife and I have both lived in Atlanta for the last 12 years (most of which we didn’t know each other).  Between the two of us we have lived in Buckhead, Emory, Decatur, Grant Park, Vinings, Smyrna, North Lake, Alpharetta, East Lake, and Midtown. 

Here are some great reasons to live in East Point:

1. Ft McPherson.  This is actually the reason we moved here in the first place.  The closing of Ft. McPherson will result in a massive redevelopment of 480 acres of land between downtown and the airport.  That’s 5 times the size of Atlantic Station.  I have attached two links that show the final draft of the plans for the reuse.  The first one is a very large pdf that has lots of detail.  The second is a smaller file that shows that our house will be within 1/4 mile of mixed use and high density retail area with restaurants and shopping as well as 1/4 mile from park space.  In the pictures you can see our house is right between the fort and Langford Parkway.  In a few years, this land will be easily one of the best places to live.  If we weren’t moving to Indiana to be closer to my wife’s family, we would live here for a very long time.  It actually makes me a little mad to be moving.
http://www.mcphersonredevelopment.com/documents/FINALDRAFTReusePlan.pdf
http://www.mcphersonredevelopment.com/documents/FtMc-newsletter-Oct2007-v6.pdf

2. Small town life.  The city of East Point is just plain cute.  Once you et off Langford Parkway you feel like you are miles and miles away from the city.  They have a very small town feel – you should come and see their fireworks display on the 4th of July.  It’s not as big a Lenox, but it is infinitely more intimate and family orientated.  They also have little fairs and markets right downtown throughout the year.  City Hall, the fire department, police station and the library are all within 100 feet of each other (and trust me, going to East Point city hall is so much nicer and easier than City of Atlanta’s).  There is also a park and a great recycling center.  You will often see lots of people riding their bikes along Main Street in the summer because it’s so flat too!

3. Locally owned and operated.  East Point doesn’t have many chains, other than the gas stations and a Taco Bell.  Every store and restaurant is locally owned and operated.  Taco Pete is fantastic – it looks like a little hut, but their food is great and the people are so nice (they actually remember you).  Thumbs up Diner, Q’s, El Roccio, Chick a Loes are all great places to eat.  If you drive down a little further into College Park you can also go to the Brake Pad – a favorite of local cops which is always a good sign for a great place to eat.  East Point also just opened some art store or gallery.  I haven’t been in yet, but I will.

4. Marta.  I work up in Sandy Springs in the king and queen building.  So I am able to take Marta to work every day.  It’s only a 5 minute walk which isn’t bad even when it’s cold or raining.  We were even able to sell one of our cars and live with just one very easily, which was so nice.  $53 per month vs. a car payment, gas and insurance?  I did enroll in the flex car program, so if I NEEDED a car, I would have easy access to one.

5. East Point Corner Tavern.  I was going to add this to the list of locally owned and operated places, but I feel it deserves it’s own number.  This place epitomizes why I REALLY love East Point.  Every where I have lived in Atlanta, there has seemed to be unspoken friction between groups.  That doesn’t happen in East Point.  I promise.  Go up to East Point Corner Tavern on a Saturday night to see Karaoke, or Friday for ‘Adult Trivia’.  You will see men, women, old, young, black, white, straight, gay, rich, poor, hip and square… everyone all getting along and hanging out together.  And that’s true just about everyone in East Point.  Everyone coexists in harmony.  It sounds corny, I know.  But to actually see it in action is a wonderful thing.  This is something that I never experienced in any other part of Atlanta.   I can’t tell you how much I will miss this place when I move.  On a side note, the staff is so friendly, relaxed, and attentive.  Oh, and their food is out of this world – upscale bar food, so they offer salmon burgers but no wings.

6. Utility bill.  City of East Point has you electric, water, sewer and trash on one bill.  Even in the summertime, I have never paid more that $160 in a month.  And I like air conditioning a lot.  Also, you can just put your yard waste along the road and a truck will come by and suck it up and turn it into mulch for the parks.  Obviously it’s nice to not have to bag leaves.

7. Location.  Minutes from the airport (or you can take marta).  You can take back roads to downtown and get to CNN in 10 minutes (my wife worked there, so that’s not an exaggeration).  Langford parkway can either take you to the Connector or to 285. 

If I can think of any more reasons, I’ll let you know.  I really think that East Point has something special going on that people should want to be part of. ”

Now, if THAT isn’t a testimonial for East Point, Atlanta, I don’t know what is!

Three Candidates- Three proposed “solutions” to current housing and mortgage issues

Housing and mortgage issues have become a strong topic of discussion during the Presidential primary campaign.  Though McCain, Obama and Clinton all support efforts to help defaulting subprime borrowers by refinancing into less costly replacement mortgages, such as FHA, the candidates’ similarities end there.  Three different solutions are sketched out below:

John McCain supports the Bush administration’s private-sector hypothetical cure to the foreclosure problem — efforts like the Hope Now Alliance and the recent Project Lifeline concept that offers distressed borrowers an extra 30 days to work things out with lenders before they lose their homes to foreclosure.

Hilary Clinton wants to clamp a 90 day moratorium on all foreclosures, in addition to a freeze of subprime adjustable mortgage rates for a minimum five years. Obama proposes the creation of a new $10 billion federal “Foreclosure Prevention Fund”. The Fund would be designed to help people renegotiate loans with their current lenders or to short-sell their homes.  Not to be outdone, Clinton says that $10 billion won’t be eonugh, and promises that her version of this fund would be three times the size of Obama’s.

Barack Obama also would promote a change to federal bankruptcy laws that lenders say would force them to raise rates.  In addition, Barack wants to empower bankruptcy judges to reduce borrowers’ mortgage debts to lenders — something the banking industry is now fighting desperately on Capitol Hill.  Obama also wants to create a new write off program for lower and middle-income homeowners who don’t currently itemize on their federal taxes. This plan would include a “universal tax credit” for 10 million borrowers that may save them an estimated average of $500 a year.  I’m not trying to advocate for any one candidate, I like parts of each candidate’s proposed plan of action. Just want to present a simple boiled down view…

Realtor.com vs. Trulia vs. Zillow

An interesting article today posted by The Future in Real Estate Marketing entitled, “Zillow Plateaus While Trulia Grows”.
The posting discusses Real Estate traffic posted by all three sites over the past year. Realtor.com far surpasses both Zillow and Trulia from a # of hits standpoint. I happen to like Trulia most, the layout is simply more fun- but I use all three in marketing properties for clients. If you are interested in the article, it is HERE.

Open house in Atlanta- Sunday, 1/13 from 11AM-1PM

Join me at 2230 Cheshire Bridge Road, Unit 403 for an open house this Sunday.
This 2 bedroom condo has gorgeous light, wood floors, garden tub- ready for you to move in!
The home is also featured on my website under “featured listings”. See you there!

Intown Condo’s with plush hotel amenities

Hotel construction in downtown Atlanta is booming. Just drive down Peachtree for construction-induced traffic jams, detours, and supersized skyscraper metal shells.
The last time we experienced a spike in this type of intown construction was just before the Olympics in 1986.
So, I guess it was only a matter of time. With the World of Coke relocation, the new Aquarium and increasing conventions, downtown Atlanta is welcoming more and more visitors. Most of the construction is slated for completion before 2010.

The exciting thing from a Real Estate perspective is the development of luxury hotel topped by swanky condos. About half of the new intown projects are of that type. The Four Seasons is an older example of a combo Condo/Hotel residence. How nice to have access to housecleaning, a 24-hour concierge, and endless guest rooms for those frequent vistors!

To read the entire article in today’s AJC, please click here.

Solid and encouraging Real Estate Outlook

From the pages of today’s Realty Times, a great article giving a current, broad stroke picture of the American economy. In early December, the federal government reported retail sales up by 1.2 percent in the past month, AND strong growth in new jobs, exports and household incomes.
Mortgage rates continue to be some of the lowest we’ve experienced in the last 20 years. Low home prices combined with very low mortgage rates results in excellent buying opportunities!
To view the article in entirety, click here

More American Cities are going green- including Atlanta!

AIA Research Shows Cities Increasingly Have “Green Thumb” by Peter L. Mosca“Green is Good” and the results from a recent survey shows that cities across the nation are increasingly seeing the light. According to an American Institute of Architects (AIA) study of communities with populations of greater than 50,000, since 2003 the number of cities with green building programs has risen from 22 to 92, for an increase of 418 percent. In an effort to examine the eco-friendly initiatives of U.S. cities, the report, Local Leaders in Sustainability, analyzed 661 communities’ best practices, strategies and trends, as well as provides recommendations for cities that are looking to implement green building programs. “Sustainable design practices have the potential to transform the built environment from an energy intensive past towards a more energy efficient, green future,” said Paul Mendelsohn, AIA vice president, Government and Community Relations. “Technological advances now allow for the design of buildings that are efficient, modern, possess great aesthetics and are financially viable. High premiums for green buildings are no longer the case as costs are coming more in line with traditional building practices.” Key findings of Local Leaders in Sustainability include:

• One in seven cities surveyed currently have green building programs; the number improves to one in five by next year with current projections.
• Scottsdale was first city to mandate LEED Gold for municipal buildings. In 2007 1,123 green single-family and 20 multi-family homes having been completed.
• Chicago has more LEED registered projects than any other U.S. city or approximately three million square feet. Their Green Roof Program offers $5,000 grants to help with the planning and installation of green roofs,
• 39 percent of citizens live in cities with green building programs.
• Portland offers income tax credit for green building and projects for energy conservation, recycling, renewable energy and cleaner fuels. The Oregon Dept. of Energy has awarded 13,000 tax credits of 35 percent of eligible project costs.
• San Francisco established Generation Solar program to amend the code and streamline the process for solar permitting in residential applications. Program provides assistance with design and installation and has resulted in nearly 600 solar installations city wide.
• 36 cities are in an advanced stage of developing a green building program.
• Austin established the first green building program in the country. A climate protection plan will have city buildings running on 100 percent renewable energy by 2012 and completely carbon neutral by 2020.
• Atlanta had the most LEED buildings per capita in the country in 2006. Their EarthCraft Communities program is a community guideline that emphasizes walkability, environmental site plan development, and an overall integrated planning approach.

Mendelsohn added, “When we spoke with local officials that have not undertaken a green building program, the prevailing notion was that they considered themselves behind — even backwards — in their approach to addressing environmental challenges. To help spur adoption of green building programs across the country, the AIA has partnered with both the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National Association of Counties to offer our resources for their members. “American cities are going green and local leaders are charging ahead with innovative sustainability policies. Buildings currently accounts for close to one-half of all greenhouse gas emissions, and the design and construction of green buildings offers the opportunity to create a more sustainable future.” At this pace, one day in the near future, the lead of articles on building and development will not have to begin by stating, “Green is Good.” That fact, will already be understood by all parties involved.  

Atlanta’s housing market looks ripe for home buyers

By C.W. CAMERON
From the Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/11/07 This week we talked with Charlotte Sears, president/chief operating officer, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage.

Q: We’re hearing so much about tough times in the housing industry. Is this the right time to buy a home?A: This is a great time to buy a home. For example, if you are a first-time home buyer with good credit and money saved for a down payment, now is a fantastic time to buy: interest rates are low, financing is available for those who qualify, selection is high and prices are in your favor. Homeownership is still one of the very best long-term investments you can make – plus you get the added advantage of living in your investment!

Q: What is the outlook for the Atlanta housing market?A: We are very fortunate to live and work in Atlanta. Our unemployment rate is low, our quality of life is superb, our housing choices are unlimited and our prices are stable. During the past few months, Atlanta has been the recipient of several accolades that speak to the long-term health of the area, including Forbes magazine ranking Atlanta as the No. 3 city in the nation for young professionals.

Q: What are your tips for home buying or selling ?A: Take a look at your individual situation and with advice of a good real estate professional, determine if now is the right time for you to enter the market. If you are selling, make sure the price is right and your home is in top condition. If you are a buyer, be sure to get pre-approved by a reputable mortgage company; this will give you negotiating strength and peace of mind. Successful people seize opportunities … it’s an opportune time to buy real estate!

Atlanta region ranks 10th in employment growth

More Great news for Atlanta posted in today’s AJC.com~

In a study of the top 100 US metropolitan areas, Atlanta ranks as the area with the tenth highest employment growth in the past decade. Employment growth generally translates to growth in the local real estate market.
The ranking, released Tuesday in a report by the Metropolitan Policy Programs at Brookings, was part of a comprehensive study on the nation’s top financial areas. The report also highlights the significance of metropolitan areas to the prosperity of the U.S. economy.
Other metropolitan areas in the top 10 include Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston and Washington. The city that topped the list was New York, accounting for almost 9 million jobs in 2005.

For the complete article, click the link below:
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2007/11/06/atlantajobs_1107.html