Grant Park Victorian Renovation wins Atlanta Home Improvement Magazine Best Renovation

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Every year, Atlanta Home Improvement Magazine does a Best Before and After Contest for Atlanta Renovations. We are proud to announce that one of our Partners, Round Here Renovations was selected as the 1st Place winner in the Best Complete House Renovation. With all the renovation going on in Atlanta, it's quite an honor for Round Here Renovations. The winning house was a Victorian home in Grant Park for Team Member, Justin Landis and his wife, Amaris.

The house is believed to be built in 1903, and in 2009, it was frozen in time. The home hadn't even been lived in for thirty years, as the previous owner -- who'd actually lived next door -- used it for storage. The last updates were made in the 40's,and almost all of the original details were still in place - floors, doors, hardware, mantles, fireplace tile, moldings, etc.

After purchasing it in December 2009, the structure endured a six-month overhaul. After gutting the home down to the framing, all the original doors, hardware and molding were re-installed throughout the house. The mantles were stripped to the original wood. The original heart-pine floors downstairs were refinished, while heart-pines from another 100-year-old house were used for the floors upstairs. They even maintained the history of the front porch by using the original floor, posts and railings after rebuilding the foundation.

Today, this centenarian has a new lease on life. With a second story addition, the home now has a total of four bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms, plus a new screened-in porch on the back. To try to maintain some of the “look” from when the house was built, the lighting is all hand-crafted replicas of actual, early 1900s fixtures, and the original style push-button light switches were reincorporated into the renovation. Just above the entry to the house is a stained glass, traditional “Grant Park Sunburst” created by local artist Charlie Gebus.

Congrats to Dan Souther, Ben Foltz, Todd Clear, and everyone at Round Here Renovations!

A few before and after pics are below, but you can see more on the Round Here Renovations Facebook Page.

Short Sale Success in Glenwood Green

Short sales are a big part of today's real estate market. Unfortunately, many sellers are upside down or in a tough financial situation. A short sale is often their best or only option. You can read more about how they work on our Short Sale Page.

From a buyer's standpoint, short sales have the reputation of being long, drawn out, and difficult. They got this reputation when sellers first started attempting them with regularity a few years ago. The banks were ill equipped to handle them, and it often took many months to find out the sale was not approved. Times have changed and some banks and some agents are better prepared to get the transaction to the closing table.

A few months ago, one of my clients who was a first time home buyer, saw a great townhouse at a great price in the Glenwood Green Community between East Atlanta and Grant Park. However, it was a short sale. If buying your first place isn't difficult enough, try adding the complexity of a short sale (we covered this complexity in a blog post on our First Time Home Buyer Series). After talking through the situation, he decided to go for it. We knew the listing agent was well versed in short sale, that the seller's lender has a decent short sale process, and that the seller was on board to get the transaction done. We also knew that if he could get it, it would be a great deal!

I am happy to report that the property closed last Friday, less than 100 days from when we first saw the it. The buyer got a great deal, the seller moved the property, and the bank didn't have to put another property on their books. It sounds like a win-win-win to me! It helps to have experienced people working on all sides of the transaction, and the listing agent Michael Neville deserves a thanks for his hard work with on the seller's side.

This goes to show that with some patience in your moving schedule and with experienced agents guiding the process, you can get a short sale to the closing table in a timely manner. So don't be scared! We can help navigate through the short sale process!

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

http://www.richhomesatlanta.com/neighborhoods/grant-park/

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

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!

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!

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!

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

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

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.

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!

Grant Park Bungalow Renovation - Week 3

This week was Christmas, so nothing substantial was completed on the renovation. I thought I would throw in a few pics of the fireplaces in the house. They look great!







Justin Landis
Keller Williams Peachtree Road
404-803-0471 cell
justin.landis@kw.com
http://www.justinatlantahomes.com/

Grant Park Bungalow Renovation - Week 2

This week was clean out week! The house has finally been cleaned out, and it took seven dumpsters. Check out the picture below of ONLY two of those dumpsters.

Now that the house is empty, you can finally see the house and not what was in it. Good news - the original moldings are in great shape! Bad news - the floors in a few rooms will not be able to be saved. That's the risk of buying a house that is full of junk!






Justin Landis
Keller Williams Peachtree Road
404-803-0471 cell
http://www.justinatlantahomes.com/

Grant Park Bungalow Renovation - Week 1

This week, work is going to begin on a pre-1920 bungalow in Grant Park that needs a major overhaul. Over the next few months, we will follow this process.

I've been in hundreds of "ugly houses", but I've never seen one with more "stuff" in it. We literally had to walk on trash to move from one room to another. However, the home has lots of original features, and I know it can be restored.

Exterior of the Home:

A glimpse of how much clean out work has to be done!

Justin Landis

Keller Williams Realty Peachtree Road

404-803-0471 cell

justin.landis@kw.com

http://www.justinatlantahomes.com/