Advantages to closing before the end of the year

When you are buying a house around the end of the year, it's logical to ask "Are there advantages to closing prior to the end of the year or is it better to wait for the new year?"

Whether or not it is advantageous depends on your situation, but the factors to consider are listed below:

- Homestead Exemption: Local governments give a discount on property taxes for homes that are owner occupied on January 1st. For buyers purchasing a home that is not currently owner occupied, this can be a savings on their property tax bill.

- Prepaid Finance Charges: These charges are a portion of the closing costs associated with buying a home. Some closing costs can be deducted on your income taxes just like mortgage interest. For a breakdown of which costs are deductible, email me or call our closing attorney, Charlie Pollard, with Partnership Title - 404-207-1620. Depending on your tax situation, it may be better to have this write off in one tax year or the other. Ask your accountant!

- New Year's Day Moving Party: You may be able to sucker a few friends into helping you move since they have a day off work! Just don't tell them I suggested it!

It's too late to close on a house in 2010, but keep these items in mind if you are in this situation in the future!

Happy New Year!

Justin Landis
Keller Williams
Justin.Landis@kw.com

Know Anyone Looking for a Deal??

If you've ever asked me, "Do you know of any good deals out there?" then I want you to see my newest listing in Grant Park - a townhome short sale that is listed at $45,000!

If you know someone that wants to be intown, in a newer construction home, that's easy walking distance to Grant Park, and likes to keep living expenses WAY down, then check out more details below.

1066 Park Row - Pics and More Info

Flying Biscuit Cafe Owner to Open New Concept in East Atlanta

If you're like me, and you are tired of looking at the abandoned Supreme Fish Delight building everytime you ride down Moreland, then I've got some good news for you! The creator of Flying Biscuit Cafe and the owner of Porter Beer Bar are teaming up to bring a brand new restaurant to East Atlanta. It will be called Delia's Chicken Sausage Stand and will serve breakfast all day plus several variations of chicken sausage on hoagie rolls, if you're not in the mood for breakfast. For more info about the restaurant, check out the AJC food blog.

Set to open in late January, I'm hopeful it will be another great addition to the EAV restaurant lineup. Let me know if you plan on going, I'd love to join you.

829 Cherokee on the Grant Park Candlelight Tour of Homes

This Saturday and Sunday evening from 6 - 10 is the 30th Anniversary Grant Park Candlelight Tour of Homes.

My home at 829 Cherokee Ave has the honor of being on the Tour! My wife, Amaris, and I are excited about sharing our home this holiday season.

For 30 years, Grant Park has celebrated the December holidays with the Grant Park Candlelight Tour of Homes providing Atlanta and surrounding communities with a unique glimpse into the historic intown neighborhood. Held in the evening with the glow of holiday lights, the Candlelight Tour is a great way to see the neighborhood and at the same time, get into the holiday spirit.

Grant Park is Atlanta’s largest historic district with homes built in the Victorian, Craftsman, Italianate and various other styles from the turn of the 20th century. The Candlelight Tour features eight to ten homes each year, usually representing historic renovations as well as new homes built to reflect the historic district’s character.

You can read more about the tour and our house at http://www.candlelighttourofhomes.com/. We hope to see you this weekend!

Jarrod Thomas is a Certified Distressed Property Expert

Jarrod Thomas is coming up on his 4 year anniversary with Team Rich Richardson. He also just completed rigorous training to become a Certified Distressed Property Expert. Real estate professionals with the Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) Designation have trained extensively to understand the options, solutions, and effective methods for dealing with homeowners facing hardships. You can read more about his training at http://www.cdpe.com/.

Over the years, we have worked with dozens and dozens of home buyers to help them buy bank owned foreclosures. Often, those properties are great values for our clients, and we have in depth experience to guide our clients through the process. As it gets more difficult for many home owners to make their mortgage payments, short sales have become a larger segment of the real estate market. We are now prepared to provide the absolute best service on these complicated transactions.

A short sale is a sale of real estate in which the sale proceeds fall short of the balance owed on the property's loan. It often occurs when a borrower cannot pay the mortgage loan on their property, but the lender decides that selling the property at a moderate loss is better than pressing the borrower. Both parties consent to the short sale process, because it allows them to avoid foreclosure, which involves hefty fees for the bank and poorer credit report outcomes for the borrowers.

If you are facing a hardship or having a difficult time making your mortgage payment, give us a call to see if we can help you through this tough time.

Two Under Contract in Less Than 1 Week!

Two of our recent listings were listed, negotiated, and under contract in less than 1 week! The first is my personal house in Grant Park, and the second is a charming cottage in Kirkwood.


It was tough to take my own advice on pricing my house aggressively on the front end -and even tougher to convince my wife! But the results on both of these homes speak for themselves. The best part of these two contracts : they both sold right at or just under list price! This goes to show that if you have a good house that is well staged and priced correctly, it will sell!

These two examples coupled with the recent polls and news mark a case for cautious optimism about the housing market!


As always, feel free to contact me with any questions whatsoever, I love talking real estate!

End of Tax Credit Not Deterring Homebuyers

While April 30th marks the end of the tax credit for First Time Home Buyers, it does not appear to be slowing down those looking for a home. A recent study indicates growing consumer confidence in the real estate market, low prices, and low interest rates as reasons that 65% of respondents say the end of the tax credit will not slow down their house search. Over the next five years, 79 percent expect prices to increase, and 20 percent expect prices to increase substantially.

This means that people believe housing prices have hit the bottom. This is very positive news for our economy. The article below details the study.

Homebuyers Not Deterred by End of Tax Credit

Charming Egan Park Bungalow

Here is a charming bungalow in a great but widely undiscovered neighborhood called Egan Park. Completely Renovated in 2003, this 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home has tons of character, an easy flowing floor plan, a light filled kitchen, and a fantastic backyard complete with two outdoor living spaces.

Just on the outskirts of Historic College Park, Egan Park is within walking distance to Woodward Academy and is convenient to I-85, Hartsfield Airport, historic College Park, and a short drive to downtown Atlanta. An active neighborhood with a community feel, Egan Park is in the charter school district starting this fall.

Check out the virtual tour of the home below, and as always, contact us with any questions about the home or the neighborhood.

Virtual Tour

Home Sales Rise in February

There is optimistic news involving the housing market! Home sales rose 8.2% in February according to the National Association of Realtors. This is great news considering analysts expected home sales to stay flat. The increase in sales is at least in some way due to the First Time Home Buyer tax credit, which expires soon. Buyers have to be under contract by April 30 and close by June 30 to receive the tax credit. Economists hope this is the first sign that the housing market has begun to pull out of its rut. Read more here:

Sharp Rise in Home Sales for February

Bank of America to Reduce Mortgage Balances

Bank of America announced Wednesday that it would introduce a program to help distressed borrowers from losing their home. The program focuses on loan modification for those who have experienced a hardship, yet continue to make payments over a period of time. The article below does a great job of explaining all of the details of the program, and outlines the situation at large.

While not perfect, it's another way lenders are trying to limit the amount of foreclosures. By avoiding foreclosures, banks are taking short losses today in hopes of avoiding devastating losses down the road. Efforts like these are being encouraged by the government and community organizations alike in an effort to stabilize home prices and neighborhoods, protect homeowner's credit, and minimize losses suffered by lenders.

New York Times Article

Amazing Inman Park Townhome

Our newest listing is an unbelievable townhome in Inman Park. I say unbelievable because everything about it - from the finishes inside to the views of the skyline from the rooftop deck - is top notch. While every aspect is great, the top floor really sets this home apart. It has a media room, wet bar, and a rooftop deck which is a great place to relax and watch the city, the stars, or the flat panel tv!

More pics...

Grant Park Bungalow Renovation - Week 8 & 9

Sorry for the delay on this post. Now is not the time for me to fall behind because lots of work has been completed. This is the point of the renovation when things happen quickly.

Notice anything different about the front of the house? That's right! No front porch! The enclosed front porch has been torn off and will be rebuilt to its original state, an open front porch.

The original wood siding is in decent shape. Any rotten wood is being replaced with new wood. The great thing about wood siding is that it is pretty easy to match. Once everything is scrapped and painted, you won't be able to tell the difference between the old and new.

Here is a close up of an original window. This house is in a Historic Distric, so any changes to an exterior side that faces the stree must be approved by the Urban Design Commission. They want to keep the house as original as possible to maintain the character and feel of the neighborhood. In this case, that means keeping the original windows on the front and side.

On the back and one side the windows are being replaced to improve the energy efficiency. The new windows look just like original windows!

New Listing in the Heart of Buckhead

This condo is in the Heart of Buckhead - Right on Peachtree Road! It's an easy walk (by easy, I mean 2 blocks) to Phipps Plaza, Lenox Mall, and all of the shopping, dining, and entertainment options that come with them. Not only that, but Publix, Target, Borders bookstore, and more are also within short reach.

This 1 bedroom home has been updated with new floors, walls, and ceilings. It features a large kitchen, great living and dining space, and has many nice touches that make it feel warm and inviting. I could go on, but this video tour will put pictures to my words.

All this for only $100,000!

Grant Park Bungalow Renovation - Week 7

New Roof!



The beautiful blue tarps have been removed, and the house now has a new top. I once purchased a house from a retired Army colonial who loved to tell me that he "just put a new top on her 2 years ago". Ever since then, I've called a new roof a new top!




The old shingles were torn off and thrown away. Be careful if you decide to put new shingles on top of existing shingles. That method is cheaper, but it can shorten the life of your new roof. No corners cut on this one!

Property Owners Overcharged

A report to be released today commissioned by the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership will release information that supports the findings of an AJC investigation that was published in a series of articles in December. The findings confirm the report that tens of thousands of homes were overvalued last year by county tax assessors. This report aims to take an educated guess as to by how much homeowners overpaid in the 5 major metro counties. The report goes on to say that areas hit hardest by foreclosures overpaid the most on average, and it identifies those zip codes hardest hit.

A zip code where I know many of you own homes was listed as one of the 15 hardest hit in the metro area: 30315.

There is more information in the article linked below.

As I've mentioned before, if you are appealing your assessment and would like some help putting together comparable properties for your case, don't hesitate to contact me. It's something I can help you put together.

AJC Article: Property Owners Were Overcharged

Charming East Atlanta Newer Construction

Here is another listing of mine, it's a newer construction craftsmen bungalow on a quiet street in East Atlanta. This house has tons of space and finishes for the price. A newer construction home but with plenty of character. The location, lot, and quiet street really set this home apart in my mind.
Check out the virtual tour here.

Let me know if you know someone that is interested.

2nd Best Office in Metro Atlanta!

Our office just had its annual awards ceremony for all of the business done in 2009. Here are some of the highlights:

- Our office, the Keller Williams Realty Peachtree Road office, had the 2nd highest sales total of any real estate office in the Metro Atlanta area.

- Our team, Team Rich Richardson, finished 3rd in our office in closed sales for the year.

- I finished in the Top 6 in the office for individual agents.

2009 was a great year because I had the opportunity to work with so many fantastic clients, and I hope to make 2010 even better!

FHA Loan Changes

FHA has changed the amount of Up Front Mortgage Insurance. Effective April 5th all new loans will have an Increased Up Front Mortgage Insurance (UFMIP) from 1.75% to 2.25%.

So, for example, on a $200,000 loan that means the extra .5% will add $1,000 to their loan. For a $300,000 loan the increase will add $1,500 to their loan balance.

The fee increase doesn't take place until April 5th, so there is still time to avoid the fee.

Grant Park Bungalow Renovation - Week 6 - Under Contract!

The big news this week is that the home in now under contract! I've been helping a couple look for a house in Grant Park, and they haven't been able to find exactly what they wanted. They saw every home in their price point, but none were the perfect home. Well, they feel like this renovated bungalow will be the one!

It's a unique situation that I've written about before in - Thankful for a Renovated House. At this point, the demo and framing are completed, but the rest of the work is just beginning. The new buyers can't change the floorplan, but they do get to pick 100% of their finishes! They also got a great deal because it is advantagous for the seller to have a buyer as soon as the house is finished. The seller doesn't have to pay to stage the home, market the home, or pay additional carrying costs. This is truly the infamous "win-win" situation.

I know other investors working on houses, so if this situation sounds appealing, give me a call. Maybe you'll find your perfect home - once the renovation is complete!

Justin Landis
Keller Williams Realty Peachtree Road
cell 404.803.0471 fax 404.704.0686
justin.landis@kw.com

www.justinatlantahomes.com
justinatlantahomes.blogspot.com

Some Positive Signs in the Atlanta Housing Market

Real estate stats for the 4th quarter of 2009 are in, and there are some positive signs for the first time in what seems like quite a while! The year finished on a strong note as the number of homes that sold in the 4th quarter of 2009 were up 14% from the 4th quarter of 2008. While all but the two highest price ranges experienced improvement from 4th quarter 2008, the biggest improvements were seen under $299 - with an increase in solds of 22%.

A positive outcome that is the result of increased sales is the decrease in standing inventory. Inventory is still around 10 months, which means that it is still a buyer's market. However, inventory is come down drastically from the high point of 18 months in October of 2008.

The last thing to point out is that the median price in the last quarter of 2009 was higher than the median price for the last quarter of 2008. However, the median sales price for the full year of 2009 was down 12.5% than the previous year.

It seems that there have been some positive developments in the Atlanta real estate market over the past few months. I will continue to monitor the local markets and will keep you up to date on all the pertinent information. Please feel free to contact me if you want some more detailed statistics.

Justin Landis
Keller Williams Realty Peachtree Road
cell 404.803.0471 fax 404.704.0686
justin.landis@kw.com
www.justinatlantahomes.com
justinatlantahomes.blogspot.com

Newer Construction in East Atlanta

Here is a listing of mine in the East Atlanta neighborhood Boulder Walk. Boulder Walk is a neighorhood of newer construction homes with quiet streets, a great HOA, and is completely built out.

The home has 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. It has a lot of the great features of a newer home - bigger rooms, more spacious closets, higher ceilings,etc. -but is still intown and convenient to East Atlanta Village.

Here are a few pics below, but if you want to see all of them check out the virtual tour. Let me know if you have someone in mind that might want to check it out.

Grant Park Bungalow Renovation - Week 5

This is the 5th week of renovation on Broyles. The home is now completely gutted out and the framework has been configured to the new layout of the house. As you can see in the picture, it is easier to start to envision how the floorplan is going to look.

East Atlanta Renovation -- Backs up to Brownwood Park!

Here is one of my newest listings, an awesome renovated bungalow that is steps to East Atlanta Village! It has been completely renovated and has tons of character and great finishes throughout. The dual sided fireplace in the living room and dining room is definitely worth checking out. The house not only has 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths in the main house, but it has a really cool carriage house in the back with another bedroom, full bathroom, kitchen, and a 1 car garage. It could be an office, studio, or even a rental - either way it adds a lot of space.

I put a few pics below, but if you want to see more you can check out the virtual tour.

Also, there is going to be an Open House here on Sunday from 2-4p, so if you're out and about or in the neighborhood, stop by and say hey!

Homestead Exemption

Homestead Exemptions are available if you owned and occupied your primary residence by January 1st of this year and can result in substantial property tax savings. The filing deadlines vary by county with the earliest being March 1st. We have included the applicable county websites below where you can find instructions to apply.

Fulton County - deadline is April 1, 2010

DeKalb County - deadline is March 1, 2010

Cobb County - deadline is April 1, 2010

Gwinnett County - deadline is March 1, 2010


Tax Appeal Information

The Atlanta Journal & Constitution ran an excellent series of articles on property tax valuations in the various counties of the Atlanta metro area. The AJC's analysis shows that most residential properties in the Atlanta area have experienced declines in value with many areas posting double digit losses. However, the county tax commissioners have been unwilling or unable to adequately reassess the values of these properties, and as a result most of us are paying tax bills that are based on unrealistically high values.

Very few people are aware that if a property tax valuation remains the same as the previous year's bill the owner must file a "Property Tax Return" with their tax assessor's office after January 1, 2010 (deadlines vary) in order the have the right to appeal their 2010 property tax assessment. These forms can be obtained from each of the metro county tax assessor's offices, the links to these offices are above.

If you need help determining your property's fair market value, I would be more than happy to help. I can prepare a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) report that will aid in getting your tax bill adjusted. Give me a call and maybe we can save you a few dollars.

Grant Park Bungalow Renovation - Week 4

The rotten subfloor and supports in the back of the house were removed and replaced this week. Looks like one of the strongest construction crews I've ever seen!

Cold Weather in Atlanta! Don't Let your Pipes Freeze!

Here are a few tips from State Farm's website that could be extra helpful during our current cold weather.

Before the cold hits

Insulate pipes in your home's crawl spaces and attic. These exposed pipes are most susceptible to freezing. Remember - the more insulation you use, the better protected your pipes will be.

Heat tape or thermostatically-controlled heat cables can be used to wrap pipes. Be sure to use products approved by an independent testing organization, such as Underwriters Laboratories Inc., and only for the use intended (exterior or interior). Closely follow all manufacturers' installation and operation instructions.

Seal leaks that allow cold air inside near where pipes are located. Look for air leaks around electrical wiring, dryer vents and pipes. Use caulk or insulation to keep the cold out and the heat in. With severe cold, even a tiny opening can let in enough cold air to cause a pipe to freeze.

Disconnect garden hoses and, if practical, use an indoor valve to shut off and drain water from pipes leading to outside faucets. This reduces the chance of freezing in the short span of pipe just inside the house.


When the mercury drops

A trickle of hot and cold water might be all it takes to keep your pipes from freezing. Let warm water drip overnight, preferably from a faucet on an outside wall.

Open cabinet doors to allow heat to get to uninsulated pipes under sinks and appliances near exterior walls.


Before you go away

Set the thermostat in your house no lower than 55°F (12°C).

Ask a friend or neighbor to check your house daily to make sure it's warm enough to prevent freezing or

Shut off and drain the water system. Be aware that if you have a fire protection sprinkler system in your house, it will be deactivated when you shut off the water.


If your pipes freeze

Don't take chances. If you turn on your faucets and nothing comes out, leave the faucets turned on and call a plumber. If you detect that your water pipes have frozen and burst, turn off the water at the main shut-off valve in the house; leave the water faucets turned on. (Make sure everyone in your family knows where the water shut-off valve is and how to open and close it.)

Never try to thaw a pipe with a torch or other open flame. Water damage is preferable to burning down your house. You may be able to thaw a frozen pipe with the warm air from a hair dryer. Start by warming the pipe as close to the faucet as possible, working toward the coldest section of pipe. Do not use electrical appliances in areas of standing water because you could be electrocuted.


Give me a call if you are reading this too late and need a good plumber!

Justin Landis
Keller Williams Realty
404-803-0471
justin.landis@kw.com
www.JustinAtlantaHomes.com