What To Do This Weekend In Atlanta

It’s almost Friday! It is time to make plans for the weekend. We have some wonderful restaurants in North Fulton and Cobb counties. such as Village Tavern, Aqua Blue, Table on Main, Aspens Signature Steaks, Elevation Chophouse and Skybar and many, many more. I love how much the neighborhoods and communities have grown over the past 10 years. We can have dinner at a favorite neighborhood hangout or an upscale restaurant any night of the week because there are now so many choices. More often than not we choose to do just that!

Sometimes, though I want to go to Midtown or Buckhead and try one of the new restaurants there, but I don’t want to drive back home

Try out a car service on your next night out downtown!

at the end of the night! Well, and if I am perfectly honest I don’t always want to take a cab either. Enter Uber. It is a company that connects you with a black car service  with a few clicks on your phone. You can also set-up payment on the website so no need to worry about having cash on hand.

When I discovered Uber it made me want to plan a night out with some friends! The car seats 4 and the SUV option seats 6, so it would be the perfect opportunity to get together, split the cost and plan a relaxing night out on the town! No worries about a time limit on a car service for the night, nor do you worry about finding a cab when you are ready to go home.  Just pull up the app on your phone and request a car! That simple!

Technology is a wonderful thing! So start planning your night out, maybe this Saturday and let me know what you think of the service. We haven’t used it yet, but am hoping to soon! I wanted to share it with you in case you haven’t heard about it! We know people in D.C. that have used it before and think it is great there!

Come Out Tonight To Avalon in Alpharetta

Come find out more about Avalon in Alpharetta

Tonight an exciting event is happening regarding Avalon! It is your opportunity to get a sneak peek of The Avalon Residences and find out more about what is planned for the development. Monte Hewitt of Monte Hewitt Builders (single-family homes) and Lew Oliver the single-family town planner will both be on hand to discuss what to expect from single-family living at Avalon residences.

Taking place at our North Atlanta office, agents from Atlanta Fine Homes will be there to answer questions. Debra Dent is organizing the event and if you think you can make it, RSVP to her at 404-974-4464.

Hard Hit Atlanta Real Estate Market Is Poised For Big Gains

We all know that real estate hit an all time high around 2006. We all also unfortunately know that home prices and values plummeted,

Great things are happening in the Atlanta real estate market and more growth is on the horizon.

in the few years following the high. It went down as quickly as it went up. It was a difficult time for home owners, real estate professionals and America in general.  A lot of agents needed to find second jobs to feel secure in earning a regular income for their families.  That also meant some rising real estate stars didn’t enter the profession. People that would be excellent service providers to buyers and sellers were afraid to jump in with both feet.  All indicators show a changing tide for the real estate market in general. 2012 had significant growth in home sales and in avg home prices and the gains have continued into 2013.

According to the ajc.com

One of the industries hit hardest by the recession was metro Atlanta’s housing market. But after years of stagnation, experts say the business is back on track.

Low interest rates and low prices have spurred home sales, and builders are putting up new developments. That bodes well for the area’s real estate agents and brokers, as well as those who are looking to the market as a viable career option.

“In the next 10 years, Atlanta will probably be one of the fastest-growing markets in the country,” said Bob Hart, director of education for the MLS Training Institute, an arm of the Georgia Metro Listing Service in Tucker. “The 2010 numbers indicate that Georgia’s population has increased as we’re getting more people from Florida and the Northeast moving here, and that’s also getting people interested in the real estate business.”

I enjoy coming to work everyday. It is a exciting time for me as a Realtor. I love seeing buyers and sellers both excited about the possibilities. I love seeing the other members of my team energized by the area’s growth and their potential.

I’ve said it before, but if you have been holding off on buying or selling or even entering the real estate profession, now is a great time.

Take a minute to see what is available in your ideal community, then give The Cueny Team a call at 404=695-7040, we are ready to serve you!

Have You Heard Of Pocket Listings in North Fulton?

Sometimes I read articles that make me a little bit upset. I read one of those last week and I spent a couple of days thinking about this

Do you know what pocket listings are?

post before publishing it. Maybe your saw the article, “Secret Pocket Listings in Hot Markets are Back” on cnnmoney.com.  Sotheby’s International Corporate also saw it and they posted a link to it on their weekly wrap-up. I was contemplating writing about it when I saw they had linked to it.

From cnnmoney.com

The housing rebound has given new life to an old, but little-known sales practice called “pocket listings,” where agents reserve homes for serious buyers only.

Most homes that are put up for sale are posted on databases called multiple listing services (MLS), on which agents share information with one another in order to find buyers. There are open houses on Sunday afternoons and listings posted on real estate websites.

But with pocket listings, properties are kept under wraps and brokers only show them to people they expect will put money down if the property and the price are right, said Richard Smith, CEO of Realogy, the parent company of Coldwell Banker, Century 21, Better Homes & Gardens and other real estate brokerages. Ideally, the buyer has deep pockets and is willing to pay in cash, fast.

“High-end sellers often don’t want to have the world coming to their property,” said Michael Izquierdo, a Los Angeles-based real estate agent and acquisitions manager for LAPocketListings.com. “When it’s put on the MLS, sometimes the next morning you see people standing outside the property, hoping to talk to the sellers.”

Continue reading here.

Did you read all of that? Sometimes things come across pretty poorly in a news article.  The reality is that through our agent relationships and contacts and our database (friends, family, network) often successful agents and established brands such as Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International are promoting a property prior to putting in the FMLS service. There is something intriguing to all buyers about seeing a property “before it is listed”…just like in the height of the market everyone loved to see a “Just Listed” property…

I don’t think it means you necessarily get a higher price or that you will only get a serious buyer, but that you have a unique opportunity if it makes sense and you and your agent are in agreement.

It means to a seller that they will have the opportunity to promote their house to a more exclusive audience of agents, build a little bit of a marketing buzz, and hopefully get a solid and strong offer they can agree on with a buyer. If you don’t sell as a quiet listing, you and your agent can together do some revision on condition of the property, marketing, and price and list officially after gaining some market insight.

That said, the old saying of you “can’t sell a secret” still applies and often the best way to sell and deliver the highest possible price is to list with an agent that incorporates FMLS so that you gain the exposure of a large buying audience.

 

Take A Break And Enjoy This Home In Providence Oaks

Are you looking for an ideal home and ideal location? Look no further than 375 Providence Oaks Circle. A gorgeous neighborhood with swim/tennis and favorite Alpharetta restaurants such as Pure Tacqueria, Village Tavern and more all under five miles away. And of course top rated schools including Summit Hill Elementary.

Beautiful traditional home in Providence Oaks has been completely updated.

The approximately 3,000 square foot house has four bedrooms and two and half baths and has been completely remodeled. The main floor has new hardwoods throughout which are noticeable from the minute you stand inside the foyer.  There is an open living room or office space that flows into a gorgeous professionally decorated formal dining room.  A stenciled tray ceiling, wainscoting and amazing color combinations are all showcased.

The dining room is breathtaking and captures your attention as you enter the home.

The kitchen and family room are open to each other also. The kitchen has granite countertops,  stainless appliances, updated fixtures and contrasting island.  Both rooms are wonderfully light filled from the wall of windows in the family room and bay window in the breakfast nook.

Family room and kitchen combo is bright and welcoming at 375 Providence Oaks

The master suite has stunning custom finishes everywhere from paint to cabinet colors. The room is open and will feel dreamy to the new owner. You will want to spend a relaxing evening in the larger corner jetted tub. One of the additional bedrooms upstairs has beadboard work surrounding  the room.

Beadboard bedroom, a great guest room or child’s room.

The property’s landscape is well laid out and has a brick firepit, and paver patio. It is a beautiful place that everyone will enjoy.

Enjoy the brick firepit when you are relaxing outside.

These pictures are only a glimpse of all the wonderful assets this home offers, click here to view a full slide show of the property.

Payoff Your Mortgage In Less Than 30 Years

When buying a home you consider many factors, size, number of bedrooms, location, possible schools, and in Atlanta certainly commute time! It seems all of those items get lumped into one set of decision factors that get equally weighed against securing a mortgage and how much you are prepared to pay monthly. 30-year mortgage, 15-year mortgage, Adjustable Rate, etc.

I read an article last night on MSN entitled “8 Ways to Pay Off Your Mortgage Early” by Jeffrey Trull.  I enjoyed the article because it gave several suggestions on ways to go forward with a traditional 30-year mortgage yet, pay it off in much less time. I also like the article because it gives examples of the difference each of these methods can change the term of your loan.

Read the full article on money.msn.com here.

Are you ready to start your local search. Visit atlantafinehomes.com to see what is available then give us a call at the North Fulton office 770.442.7300, we will be happy to help you!

Walkability at Avalon in Alpharetta

Back in January and February we talked about the ground breaking and new website for the mixed use development, Avalon in

Lew Oliver, town urbanist, at Avalon, ensures walkability is a key component of the development. Photo from experienceavalon.com

Alpharetta. I have been following the blog and the development’s YouTube channel to see how things are moving along and what exciting things they are talking about.

The blog posted a video this week about the walkability of the community and retail shops. It is interesting for more than one reason, not just because of how it will make Avalon a success and a place everyone will want to go, but also because studies are showing walkability of areas is going be a growing key factor of economic success for communities, developments and cities.

A quick Google search of walkability returned a plethora of websites and blogs dedicated to the topic of walkability. You can go to wikipedia and get the definition, visit walkscore.com and get your current walkability score or find available rentals and what its walk score is, or even peruse a multitude of websites on various projects, studies and more about walkability. It certainly is a very relevant topic.

Avalon was developed with the walkability concept in mind and Lew Oliver is the on-site town urbanist for Avalon.  He has put a lot of thought and planning into making Avalon meet all the criteria for a successful walkable mixed-use development. Visit the Avalon blog and watch the video of Mr. Oliver and hear what he has to say. You will also be treated to a virtual tour of the Avalon concept!