John's Blog

Christmas Shopping In Downtown Alex City

John Coley (Coley Real Estate) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:38:25 -0600

Between my cashed in kitchen passes and Thanksgiving break, it has been a while since my last post. I tried to keep the Lake Martin Voice “A” students informed with my Twitter updates, which are visible at the bottom right margin. I am enjoying using my Twitter account as a micro blog, a way to quickly update the world or link in to interesting articles or info from other bloggers.

Over Thanksgiving I mostly stayed away from the computer. I caught up on reading the WSJ. I helped my kids swing on a vine in the woods. I read a bunch of good books about Alabama and the greater Lake Martin area. It was glorious. As a side note, I have created a Lake Martin Voice Library page. Here I will post links to various books that I think the average fan of Lake Martin would like. I promise to keep it on point, refusing to indulge myself with too many books on too many topics. I will try to limit it to a.) Lake Martin history, and b.) real estate in general. If any of you have any suggestions, please leave a comment on the Library page and help us all out.

You out of towners should consider a visit to your Lake Martin home in between now and Christmas. If you have never been here when the leaves are gone, you’re missing a treat. Everything looks different (in a good way). Almost no one is here, so it is incredibly peaceful. Plus there are some things going on like opening of Catherine’s Market at Russell Crossroad, and shopping in downtown Alex City.

CLICK HERE to read the rest of the post and see pictures on my blog Lake Martin Voice

Wakeskating At Lake Martin

John Coley (Coley Real Estate) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:03:15 -0600

One of the great things about working around Lake Martin is that occasionally you bump into some really crazy folks. The other day I met Kyle Walton and a bunch of his buddies who are professional wakeskaters and /or wake boarders.

click here to watch the video on my blog Lake Martin Voice

Guerrilla Septic Tank Tactics

John Coley (Coley Real Estate) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 23:10:13 -0600

My family recently moved to a new-to-us home (fyi my “old” home sold in 2 days). The new home is on a septic tank system, whereas the old one was tied in to the sewer system of the City of Montgomery. This got me to thinking about a claim my father has long made, that is, those “flushable” wipes they sell these days may be flushable, but they are bad for septic systems as they do not properly disintegrate like toilet paper does.

I did some research, then an experiment. The results made me immediately think about homeowners on Lake Martin, as I would hazard a guess that 99% of waterfront homes on Lake Martin are on some sort of septic system.

THE EXPERIMENT: Do “flushable” wipes degrade like toilet paper?

Modus: Following the suggestion from this site, I took 3 separate Tupperware boxes, filled them halfway with water. In one I placed a ball of our walmart brand toilet paper (as a control to disintegration). In another I put 1 walmart brand flushable wipe. In the last I put 1/2 a square of our walmart brand paper towel (as a control to non-disintegration). I put the tops on, and shook all of them vigorously.

Results:

Click here for my blog Lake Martin Voice to see the results, and read my tounge in cheek recommendations to deal with life on septic......

Lake Martin Magazine Interviews a Bunch of Realtors

John Coley (Coley Real Estate) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:35:58 -0600

In the November issue of Lake Magazine - Lake Martin Edition - Nikki Reeves sent out an email to interview local real estate agents. The topic was the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Lake Martin Area Association of Realtors (LMAAR). She also interviewed the past presidents of LMAAR about the past, present, and future of the Lake Martin real estate area. You can click on the above link to read the other folks’ quotes.

Of course, I am never shy about supplying my honest thoughts. I sent an email to Nikki with the below. The part that she used is highlighted in yellow. After reading the article, I can see why she didn’t use the other parts of my quotes. They wouldn’t have fit in with the tenor and tack of the others.

Here’s the text of my email:

Nikki-

some thoughts on LMAAR’s 20th anniversary:

PAST:

“It’s a funny coincidence that 20 years ago, as LMAAR was formed, the U.S. was in the middle of a different bank bailout - the Savings and Loan Crisis. It roiled the credit industry and hammered real estate, making a lot of people panic and expect the worst and wonder if real estate would ever ‘come back.’ Well, it did. Except for a slowdown in the late 90s, real estate roared until 2005 or so.”

PRESENT:

“Hunger is a powerful motivator.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MY TAKE ON THE FUTURE - LAKE MARTIN VOICE BLOG

Another Broker Told Me “Your Price Is Too High”

John Coley (Coley Real Estate) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:20:34 -0500

One of my listings for sale is 302 Villas On The Harbor, a 1 bed 1 bath condo in Lake Martin’s Stillwaters Community. The Villas On The Harbor sits right next door to Harbor Pointe Marina, and Harbor Pointe Condos.

I got a challenging email the other day from Ron Botterbusch, Broker of RB Commercial Properties in Montgomery. He said:

Click here to read what he asked on my blog Lake Martin Voice

The Lake Martin Wind Goeth Toward The South

John Coley (Coley Real Estate) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:44:12 -0500

If I drive directly to my office from home, I never glimpse Lake Martin. So sometimes (read Mondays) when I am headed to the office, and need some inspiration or a reminder about what I am really doing, I drive to Kowaliga Bridge, take in the view, and turn around refreshed. Today it was really helpful, especially after hearing so much bad news lately about the real estate industry.

If you talk to families that have owned or rented Lake Martin homes for a long time, you will never hear them say, “boy we enjoyed the lake house, except for the late 1970s’ oil crisis” or “golly, the failure of the savings and loan banks in 1987 really screwed up my weekends at Lake Martin.” Nope.

Instead I hear comments like “that lake house has been the only place I can really relax” or “my favorite pictures of our kids were the ones we took on the dock…” Somehow, during WWII, Korean War, Bay of Pigs, Vietnam War, oil quotas, 19% rates, S&L Crisis, Tech Bubble, Y2K Crisis, 9/11, Iraq …. somehow people still like their lake homes.

Did I get a cool picture of a heron or did I settle for a yellow tree?

CLICK HERE TO GO TO MY BLOG LAKE MARTIN VOICE to find out.

2 New Charts: Lake Martin Real Estate Sales 08-2008

John Coley (Coley Real Estate) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:49:34 -0500

To respond to some readers’ comments, I thought I would publish a few more statistics from the Lake Martin MLS* waterfront home sales for August 2008.

Before I get into it, let me first caution all readers not to draw broad conclusions about the Lake Martin real estate market from the following two graphs. I still maintain that looking too deeply into monthly sales statistics may be misleading, since we have such a very small market in terms of number of sales. It just doesn’t make for a very good sampling pool when there are only 20 sales. So again I stress, this is for illustrative purposes only. Keep in mind that you are only looking at 20 sales, only in the month of August.

The chart below makes a great case study as to why I am loathe to use trend analysis on monthly sales statistics. I am trying to answer the question, what did waterfront homes sell for relative to list price in August on Lake Martin? As you can see, sale number 18 does not have a sold price listed (no blue bar). So if I were to include that in the average, it would totally mess up the average calculation. I am sure that the home wasn’t give away for free. For some reason, the seller chose not to list the sales price in the MLS. It was a home that listed for around $300,000 - so I imagine it sold for around that amount. But I don’t want to guess, so I left it out of the average calculation. It’s a rolling average, so e.g. only the first 10 sales are averaged in #10, then on #11, 11 are averaged, etc. On the last one, #20, I only average 19 since #18 was zero.

Nevertheless, here we go. The blue bar is each sale’s % of Original List Price divided into sales price. Original List Price is the list price used when a home was first entered on the Lake Martin MLS. So if a home was put on the MLS on January 1 for $450,000 - then the list price was reduced on March 1 to $400,000 - then sold on August 15 for $385,000 - the calculation is $385,000 / $450,000.

Here is another chart, attempting to describe the average Days On Market for each waterfront home sold through the Lake Martin MLS in August. My old statistics professor (RIP) would have a fit looking at this. The standard deviation is too huge to be useful. It goes from zero on the low side to a high of 456. The rolling average ends up at 159.

Click here to see the next chart and more commentary on my blog Lake Martin Voice

Lake Martin MLS Sales Results - August 2008

John Coley (Coley Real Estate) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:34:56 -0500

Lake Martin MLS* waterfront home sales did not match the sun and fun for August 2008.

July 2008 waterfront home sales turned in a winner, beating 2007’s mark and giving us hope of the start of a rally.

To read the results and see my 3 charts,

CLICK HERE TO GO TO MY BLOG LAKE MARTIN VOICE

Video Tour: Amenities Of The Preserve At Stoney Ridge, Lake Martin

John Coley (Coley Real Estate) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:39:54 -0500

If you’re wanting to find out more about The Preserve at Stoney Ridge on Lake Martin, please see the below video I shot to show the amenities, just click the play arrow below:

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO ON MY BLOG LAKE MARTIN VOICE

Discover The Old Cemetery In The Pleasure Point Area

John Coley (Coley Real Estate) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:30:55 -0500

I was over in the Pleasure Point area the other day, going by two homes for sale that I have listed over there. One is on Claytons Lane and the other in on Captains Road.

If you are ever riding around in that section of Blue Creek, off of Tallapoosa County Road 34, you might find it interesting that there is an old cemetery off of, you guessed it, Old Cemetery Road.

I snapped these pics:

Click here for the pictures on my blog LAKE MARTIN VOICE.

Lake Martin Voice Announces Map Based MLS Search

John Coley (Coley Real Estate) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 23:11:14 -0500

Lake Martin Voice readers have noticed this for a while now, but we have recently undergone a redesign. I did this to try and keep my blog on the positive tip of usability and reader friendliness, without indulging myself in a bunch of geeky add ons that distract.

That being said, by far the most popular element of the redesign as been the new way to search the Lake Martin MLS.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE POST ON MY BLOG LAKE MARTIN VOICE

Cherokee Ridge Trail - Lake Martin

John Coley (Coley Real Estate) — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:35:50 -0500

To continue the post I did yesterday on Lake Martin’s Deadening Alpine Trail, I wanted to include these photos of the Cherokee Ridge Trail.

The Cherokee Ridge Trail is also maintained by the (duh) Cherokee Ridge Alpine Trail Association. Its trailhead is on the Scenic Overlook, on Overlook Drive off of Highway 50, just east of Martin Dam. It’s kind of near Ghost Hollow and Whiskey Ridge if you know where they are.

The Scenic Overlook offers stupendous views of Lake Martin, looking west, all the way to Kowaliga Bridge, with a little bit of a vision to the south (Martin Dam) and the northeast towards Chimney Rock. If you ever want to get a sense of the VASTness of Lake Martin, head here. Take a picnic, there are lots of little tables and lots of paved parking. From there you can drive down to Martin Dam (if the road is open) and check out the Dam close up.

TO SEE ALL OF THE PICS, PLEASE CLICK HERE TO GO TO MY BLOG LAKE MARTIN VOICE

Deadening Alpine Trail - Lake Martin

John Coley (Coley Real Estate) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:58:40 -0500

Yesterday I was showing homes for sale in a Lake Martin neighborhood called The Harbor. It is a development that is about eight or nine years old. It is located off of Overlook Drive, just east of the Martin Dam, off of Highway 50.

I was through around 6 PM, and the sun was starting to set. The air was cool, not very humid, basically it was perfect weather.

As I was leaving, I decided to stop by the trailhead of the Deadening Alpine Trail. It is a 3.6 mile loop trail and part of the Cherokee Ridge trail system of Lake Martin. This system is maintained by the Cherokee Ridge Trail Association. The trail runs over land owned by Alabama Power. The trailhead itself is accessed by going into the neighborhood of The Harbor, then taking a left on Long Branch. The drive to the parking lot is accessed off of Long Branch Drive:

CLICK HERE TO GO TO MY BLOG, LAKE MARTIN VOICE, and SEE ALL OF THE PICS

Construction Photos of Russell Crossroads

John Coley (Coley Real Estate) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 01:05:26 -0500

Russell Lands is building Russell Crossroads - that will be, as they put it, “a ‘town center’ in the heart of the Russell Lands family of developments on 44,000 acre Lake Martin.”

It is being built on Highway 63, just north of Windermere Road. The town center will serve as resource for the neighborhoods of The Ridge, Windermere, Windover, Trillium, Willow Point, and for that matter, anywhere else on Lake Martin. Judging from their plans, and the players that they have committed, my candid take is that this will be very good for the Lake Martin community. There will be a high end grocery called Catherine’s Market, which will also have a deli. The first phase will also include The Springhouse Restaurant - “fine dining in a casual atmosphere.” Future plans call for a Hot and Hot Restaurant.

If I understand their overall plan correctly, in the future all of their area developments mentioned above (except Trillium) will be connected by a trail system so that one could jog, bike, or ride a golf cart to Russell Crossroads, and also go back and forth in between each neighborhood.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO MY BLOG - LAKE MARTIN VOICE - AND SEE THE PICTURES

Winner Chicken Dinner - July 2008 Beats July 2007

John Coley (Coley Real Estate) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 21:54:48 -0500

Lake Martin waterfront sales surged in July.The Lake Martin MLS* shows 15 closed sales in July, up from 7 in June, and 36% greater than July 2007 sales of 11.

Is this the rally point Lake Martin sellers have been praying for? Will this surge carry into August and the fall? Only time will tell.

Buyers of Lake Martin real estate don't need to worry, there are plenty of properties still for sale. Even though the number of waterfront homes sold rose, so did the "active listings" aka homes that are "For Sale" rose also. The active listings in July 2008 was 527 as compared to 510 in June 2008.

FOR MORE GRAPHS AND INFO, please go to my blog LAKE MARTIN VOICE

Lake Martin MLS Sales - Second Quarter 2008 Results

John Coley (Coley Real Estate) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:18:00 -0500

The numbers confirm what we all felt in our guts - according to the Lake Martin Multiple Listing Service - in the second quarter of 2008, sales were down compared to 2007. Also, just as importantly, the number of active listings was up, therefore keeping a lot of pressure on sellers.

If you recall, in 2007 by June we really had a pretty good idea that we were in for a miserable drought. I would have thought that meant June 07 waterfront sales would be a lot lower than 2008 (drought tempered). But I was wrong. The year to date numbers get even uglier......

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST ON MY BLOG'S HOME - Lake Martin Voice.com

Guess What? Nothing Happened At Lake Martin Auctions

John Coley (Coley Real Estate) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:37:33 -0500

Recently two auctions were held at waterfront property on Lake Martin. A quick check with each of the auction companies revealed that neither homes sold for the reserved prices. Both remain unsold at post time.

Here's the lowdown:

1. 284 Lakeview Drive - The "Waterfall House" at Willow Point - This auction was held on July 20, 2008. I wrote this post before the auction to spread the word. I haven't talked to anyone that attended, but I spoke to a representative at Albert Burney Auction Company. He said that neither the lot nor the home met the reserved price that day and therefore did not sell at auction. He did say that..

Click HERE to read the entire post at my blogsite, Lake Martin Voice

4 Ways Lake Martin Realtors Are Like Power Steering

John Coley (Coley Real Estate) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:59:07 -0500

Is driving all about the steering? No.

Then why should Lake Martin real estate agents think that a transaction is all about him or her? It always puzzles me when real estate agents let their egos become part of the buying and selling process.

It happens all of the time at Lake Martin, as I am sure it happens everywhere. Now, I am not talking about good ole competitive spirit or clean hustle. I am talking about the instances where the agents seem to think that if wasn't for them, the whole transaction wouldn't happen at all.

Here are 4 ways Lake Martin realtors are like power steering:

1. Not essential - people have been selling each other land since the beginning of the deed. I am sure that the first horseless carriage was hard to steer, but possible.

2. But helpful

CLICK HERE to read the other 3 on the home page of my blogsite - LAKE MARTIN VOICE

Take The Road Less Travelled

John Coley (Coley Real Estate) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:30:44 -0500

Recently around Lake Martin (online and offline) I have heard a lot of talk about eating at the lake. Some were bemoaning a lack of restaurants, others were extolling the virtues of cooking at home.

Still others admitted wanting someone else to do the cooking, but when they get down to their Lake Martin home on Friday night, they're too tired to go out.

One solution is eating some of the great cooking from a local

Click here to read the entire post on my blog, Lake Martin Voice

An Ode In Praise of the Window Unit Air Conditioner

John Coley (Coley Real Estate) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:41:13 -0500

Lake Magazine - Lake Martin Edition - has a section called "My Lake Martin" where (apparently) they allow just about anybody to submit an article about the lake. They were kind enough to print one I submitted.

I was inspired to write an ode about a window unit air conditioner that we used to have in our cabin. Judging by its girth and sound, it had to have been made in the 1940s. Its brand name was "Kelvinator." That's what we called it, as in "it's hot in here, turn on the Kelvinator." When things are around that long, they deserve individual respect.

It's kind of like how we refer to one of the couches as "The Herculon" as in q: "where is mainsail?" a: "stuffed behind The Herculon" or q: "why are you sweating so bad?" a:"it's The Herculon - laying on it makes me sweat."

Anyway,I digress.

Lake Martin cabins and window units are inseparable in my mind.

Here is the ode in full, with the pic they used:

and here's the text of the ode:

An Ode In Praise of the Window Unit

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ODE ON MY BLOGSITE - Lake Martin Voice

Video Tour of the Amenities of The Ridge, Lake Martin

John Coley (Coley Real Estate) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 10:59:46 -0500

I am working with a couple of buyers in The Ridge, a Russell Lands development in Lake Martin. I always get asked lots of questions about the amenities at the Ridge, so I thought I would shoot a video to show some of them.

Click here to go to my blog and view the video...

Register Now For Waterfront Home And Lot Auction - Willow Point, Lake Martin

John Coley (Coley Real Estate) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 10:56:47 -0500

A waterfront home and lot will be auctioned off at Willow Point on July 20, 2008.

No, it is not an auction by Russell Lands. Even though Willow Point is a Russell Lands development, this auction is by a private landowner.

Click here to go to my blog and learn more..

Interested In Building A RV Park On Lake Martin?

John Coley (Coley Real Estate) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:40:37 -0500

Lots of people enjoy Lake Martin by taking their RV to or camping in Wind Creek State Park. It has lots of sites on the waterfront, and is really a pretty park. As you can imagine, it can get crowded on the summer weekends with camping spots in high demand.

Recently this was a topic of discussion on the Lakes Online forum that is dedicated to Lake Martin. You can read the posts' thread here. The general consensus was one of wishing for more options to RV or camp on the water, and why there aren't more places like that around Lake Martin.

I chimed in on the thread, saying:

click here to read the whole post on my blog's home page, Lake Martin Voice

5 Questions and Answers: Leased Lot Homes on Lake Martin

John Coley (Coley Real Estate) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 14:38:41 -0500

These questions were submitted to me from a Lake Martin Voice reader needing more info on Alabama Power leased lots on Lake Martin. If you have more questions on this or another subject, please email me or call me (info at top of page) and let me know. Who knows, maybe your questions will inspire a post like this.

1. Are Lake Martin lot leases standardized? If so, where can I get a copy of the lease to preview?

Yes in that most all leases on Lake Martin are with Alabama Power. A lease they did 15 years ago might differ very slightly from one they did 2 years ago, but for the most part are the same. Copies - I doubt they would send you an example but as a practical matter I can send you copies - 4 of my listings (see each linked here) are leased lots right now. I can email them to you.

2. Are the expiration terms on all properties the same or do they vary from lot to lot?

The lease expiration and all other terms vary from lot to lot. Most of them are for 25 years or 30 years total.

Read the rest of the Q&Aa by clicking here to go to my main blog

Lake Martin And The New F Word

John Coley (Coley Real Estate) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:00:37 -0500

You may have heard the new F word that is seeping through the real estate industry and trickling down to Lake Martin – Foreclosures! A lot of folks ask me if Lake Martin has as high a foreclosure rate as the rest of the nation.

First of all, I must give a huge hat tip to Kevin Warmath on his blog LiveInAlpharetta. I read this post on Alpharetta Foreclosures of his a few weeks ago and I loved his “new F word” phrase I had to use it:

“While a lot of sellers want to use the real ‘F’ word for this real estate market, my ‘F’ word in this market is Foreclosure. Everyone is fixated on Foreclosures. Last week alone, I had three people contact me out of the blue looking for Foreclosures…looking for a deal.”

Back to the local question:

Are there many Lake Martin waterfront homes in foreclosure sale right now?

Short answer: no.

Long answer: Click here