Grant Park
{ Thursday, March 8th, 2012 }
Atlanta Real Estate Reality Check
I recently took a quick snapshot of this real estate “sign topper” in Grant Park:
The sign belongs to fellow Keller Williams Realtor Tony Raffalovich. The day Tony put his sign up, he received an offer. Within 48 hours, he received three more offers. The home is, understandably, now under contract to close.
It’s just one piece of anectdotal evidence, but it is indicative of what I’ve been seeing in the market. It is not, however, reflected in what I’m reading about the market.
Last week, we were treated to our monthly “10,000 foot perspective” of the Atlanta housing market: The Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Indices. Case-Shiller is the leading national measurement tool of the U.S. housing economy, a much-watched report by economists, pundits and politicians. With regards to Atlanta, Case-Shiller basically takes everything it can find in Atlanta- single family homes, condominiums, foreclosures, south of the city, north of the city, you name it- and wraps it all into one (not so) pretty picture. This month, a sampling of what we learned (courtesy of the AJC):
1. Metro Atlanta home prices fell to the lowest point since 1998 as a mass of foreclosures and short sales continued to batter the market
2. Home prices in Atlanta fell for the fourth straight month in November, with a 2.5 percent decline that followed a 5 percent drop in October
3. “Atlanta continues to stand out in terms of recent relative weakness,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Indices
For me- and most Realtors that I know- the strange irony is that these headlines have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the market that we’re experiencing right now. Barely two months into 2012 and I’ve already been in six multiple-offer situations. Together the relatively low inventory levels intown (in areas with “better” public schools specifically), and increasing home buyer confidence has really started to heat things up. This might not provide a lot of comfort to the underwater home seller, but it’s becoming an emerging, highly underrported trend that’s hard to miss for those of us working in the industry.
Atlanta simply can’t be viewed as one single housing market. In reality, it’s hundreds of sub-markets.
{ Monday, August 15th, 2011 }
Amy Handler, The Kids Are Alright
The Kids Are Alright is one of my favorite programs on my favorite radio station in Atlanta, 1690 The Voice of The Arts. Host Amy Handler’s weekly show is a cornucopia of all things fun, nostalgic, brainy, artsy and good. I was listening to it pre-baby, and still set my clock by it every Saturday morning at 9 (replays on Sunday at noon). I’ve always wondered where the inspiration came from, so I was thrilled that Amy shared a peak behind the curtain…
Q. Where do you find inspiration to put together such an original, wonderful radio program?
A. Aw, shucks- an thanks! I have always worked in the field of children’s entertainment – television, theatre, radio, dance, and education. When I teach I do the same thing that I do with my show – integrate every single facet into a shiny neat little package of info and fun for the kids. Because I like everything to relate and interconnect, I use what’s around me for show ideas. Examples: For Mother’s Day I played all mummy songs. When our best pals had their sweet baby Adelaide, all baby songs. And for April Fool’s day, all banana songs because don’t you know how hilariously funny bananas are? (the next week we did all monkey songs becuase the monkeys supposedly heard last week’s show and took over the radio station to get all those bananas they heard about). So, yeah, I come by it all very honestly – it’s how I live, what I do, what I love, and, suddenly most importantly, what I want my actual kids to be exposed to. Once I asked one of my student’s parents how they kept their kids from liking Barney and Brittany. They told me “we all listen to the same music together”. That really stuck with me. And that’s what I do with my family. You gotta expose your kids and lead by example. If not, they will turn into mindless zombies swaying and singing along to Justin Bieber. If I can inspire some kids to reach past that, I have done my job.
Q. You’re in charge of creating the ultimate ‘The Kids Are Alright Weekend” in Atlanta. What’s on the agenda?
A. First of all, you would wake up and listen to my show that has an appropriate theme for the weekend – places to go. Then we would get on our tandem bike tour (I am imagining a huge long Dr. Seussish bike that spans the whole block) and have coffee and breakfast at Parkgrounds in Reynoldstown. It has a dog park so we can watch the dogs play while we play battleship. Then off to the new BeltLine park with the spraying water and 3 people swings and a trampoline enveloped by ropes. Now we are tired and hot so we head to Lotta Frutta for fruit cups and smoothies. We grab some extra bags of chulpe (ecuadorian corn. a total obsession of mine) to fuel us for our hike at the Fernbank Forest. Did you know you can go to the forest in the middle of the city? Its behind the science center, not museum, and you feel like you’ve driven far, far away. Last we stop by Antico Pizza (all other pizza is dead to me) and pick up a pie and some cannoli to take to the Starlight Drive-In.
Next morning the Grant Park Farmer’s Market, where we will and always do have the King of Pops for breakfast. Then off to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Star Provisions for lunch (fluffernutter sandwiches- they’re are all you’ve dreamed of and more), then to the Oakhurst Community Garden to play with their chickens, hang out in their cob house, catch frogs in their pond, and wade in their stream. And then for dinner, how about a drive out to Marietta for amazing chinese food – Tasty China. Driveling messes falling asleep in car on way home if you are lucky but at least you squeezed it all in. Well, not all, but it’s enough for now.
{ Monday, July 11th, 2011 }
Charter Schools and Home Buying: What You Should Know
There’s a ton of buzz- both local and national- surrounding charter schools these days. There also happens to be a good deal of misinformation and misunderstanding. Unfortunately, when it comes to buying a home, this confusion can potentially lead to regret.
One prime example is Grant Park’s much loved and respected Neighborhood Charter School. Neighborhood Charter is a gem, the product of an active community of parents and educators who’ve worked tirelessly since opening the school’s doors in 2000 to create a phenomenally successful school. Only one slight problem- the school is now flooded with applications. There are simply fewer available slots than there are applicants.
According to a recent post on Great Schools (it’s like Yelp, for schools… so take the source with a grain of salt), Neighborhood Charter accepted 18 of 50 non-employee applicants- an acceptance rate of 36%. Putting that into a “collegiate context”, it’s a little easier to get in to Georgia Tech (49% acceptance rate), and a little harder to get into Emory (30% acceptance rate). Not exactly great odds.
Putting the acceptance rates to the side for a moment, let’s focus on the home buying side of the equation. According to the FMLS, there are 43 homes currently for sale in the Neighborhood Charter School District. At this point, you’re probably wondering “if only 36% of applicants are accepted, how are there 43 homes on the market that are being marketed as ‘in district?’”. It’s complicated, but the marketing rationale likely falls in to one or two categories: ignorance (it’s quite possible that the listing agent has no idea that Neighborhood Charter does not admit all applicants) or branding (Neighborhood Charter is a great school with a strong brand). Regardless of motivation, the reality of the situation is that there’s a strong possibility that someone will end up buying a home under the false assumption that there is a complete certainty that they’re zoned for a school that there’s only a 1/3 chance they’re really zoned for.
Not all charter schools are set up this way. If you live within the boundaries of Riverwood International Charter School in Sandy Springs, you’re virtually guaranteed admission. It’s not just a charter school- it is the neighborhood high school. Knowing the difference in admission processes between schools like Riverwood and Neighborhood Charter is absolutely critical in evaluating whether or not to buy a home within each district.
The moral of the story is that it is incumbent on home buyers to do some home work. Ask questions, and most importantly, work with a Realtor. The interweb has made fantastic strides in organizing information, but is still a few years away from providing the human expertise needed to help make a complex real estate decision.
{ Friday, May 27th, 2011 }
Historic Atlanta Walking Tours
What am I? Where am I? Why am I important? Take the Sweet Auburn tour...
There is no better way to learn about a neighborhood than to walk it with an expert. While the internet may be full of snazzy resources… there is no substitute for learning about the history of a neighborhood in person.
The Atlanta Preservation Center’s Guided Walking Tours provide phenomenal perspective into the soul of some Atlanta’s most popular neighborhoods, including Grant Park, Ansley Park, Inman Park and Frederick Law Olmsted’s Druid Hills. The tours are led by trained volunteers who are passionate about preservation, and they last for about an hour and a half.
Tours are offered throughout the Summer- just check the Atlanta Preservation Center’s website for more information. $10 per person ($5 for students and seniors).
{ Friday, May 20th, 2011 }
BestofGrantPark.com Needs A Home
I recently registered the domain name www.BestofGrantPark.com, and purchased the accompanying sign “topper”, below:
My intention was to use the url/sign topper to help market my listing at 576 Park Avenue in Grant Park. Fantastic house, and the web address was fitting: After just ten days on the market, it went under contract. A couple weeks later, and it closed for 96% of asking price.
If you know anyone thinking about selling a house in Grant Park, have them give me a call. I’d love to use www.BestofGrantPark.com to exclusively market their home.
