atlanta: The $1000 Gamble to Turn on Utilities for a Foreclosure Home Inspection - 07/03/08 09:22 PM
I've been experiencing the joys of helping people try to buy foreclosure deals. Having utilities on for inspections has never been a big deal. I've never really had to bother too much about it. The sellers just took care of it and I never really got involved.
This week I learned that when … (6 comments)
|
atlanta: Princeton Square Fourth of July Parade - 07/05/07 11:31 AM
I live in a small subdivision in Sandy Springs, Princeton Square. There are about 150 families, many with kids. Every 4th of July they have a little breakfast party down by the pool club followed by a parade around the neighborhood.
The kids decorate their bikes, scooters and wagons trying to win prizes … (2 comments)
|
atlanta: Atlantic Station Sales Are Slow. Prices are Dropping. - 06/30/07 07:47 PM
Atlantic Station is the newest big development in Atlanta. It's a brand new little city, 138 acres, built on the spot of an old steel mill. They say that it will house 10,000 people. It's just north of the Georgia Tech campus and it's on the west side of the interstate across from midtown. It is a total … (4 comments)
|
atlanta: Do You Ever End Up with a Contract that No One Can Read? Counter Offer Forms Are the Way to Go. - 06/26/07 04:40 PM
I used to always make counter offers by scratching out things and making changes directly to the contract. After every change, the contract is usually faxed over to the other party and then faxed back. Before long, you ended up with a contract that no one could read. It's just one … (7 comments)
|
atlanta: Million Dollar Homes in Atlanta Still Selling Well - 06/25/07 10:15 PM
The latest sales numbers for the Atlanta FMLS recently came out. Overall, the total number of closings in May were down 28.5% vs. May of 2006. But the average sales price went up from $263,087 to $264,487.
The reason for this increase in average sales price was due to the million dollar … (1 comments)
|
atlanta: Homes Seem to be Selling in My Area of Atlanta - 06/18/07 04:57 PM
I hear a lot of doom and gloom about the real estate market. I like to be up to date on the general market conditions. I read the monthly numbers that are put out by the MLS and I read all the national updates by the NAR. The FMLS numbers for … (3 comments)
|
atlanta: Atlanta Area Property Tax Chart - 06/16/07 09:15 PM
Many buyers ask me about how properties taxesdiffer in various counties and cities around the metro Atlanta area. There is a big difference between some counties. The difference between taxes in Fulton county vs. neighboring Forsyth county is very significant. Sometimes there's a big difference depending on whether or not you reside … (0 comments)
|
atlanta: Great Reason to Have Owner's Title Insurance. Entire Subdivision Affected. - 06/14/07 02:44 PM
I often get asked whether it is worth it to purchase owner's title insurance when buying a home. I always say YES. I like to tell the story of what happened to a group of homeowners in a little subdivision, Anne Place,in Cobb County Georgia.
A man in Cobb County had inherited … (11 comments)
|
atlanta: Braves vs. Cubs. My Night at Turner Field. - 06/09/07 07:08 AM
I enjoy going to Turner Field to see the Atlanta Brave play. It's a great organization and the ballpark is magnificent. I know what I'm talking about because over the past two years, we have been to 8 different major league ballparks.
Turner Field was the former stadium where the 1996 Olympics … (4 comments)
|
atlanta: My Best Stuff All in One Place - 06/03/07 10:02 AM
You might be wondering, "Who is this Tim Maitski? Is he really nuts about Atlanta real estate or is he just plain nuts, like crazy nuts?"
"Can I trust this guy? Does he know his stuff?"
That's what this blogging is all about. Through my writing, I hope that you will get … (5 comments)
|
atlanta: My Typical Relocation Buyer Experience. Seeing 28 Homes Makes the Decision Easy. - 05/30/07 09:58 AM
This past weekend was very productive. I had an out of town buyer come in on Saturday and we negotiated a contract on Monday after we saw a total of 28 homes.
This is a very typical experience for me. It usually starts with a buyer finding me by doing a Google … (3 comments)
|
atlanta: Chasing Pigeons at the Zoo. My "Life Is Great" Series (Post #2) - 04/27/07 08:05 AM
The other week our family made a trip to the Atlanta zoo. The kids just love seeing the animals and always seem to have a good time. While we were waiting at an outdoor table outside of McDonalds, Benjamin, my three year old son, got interested in the many pigeons that were … (11 comments)
|
atlanta: Good Bloggers Are Like Good Negotiators - 04/06/07 10:41 AM
I read Herb Cohen's book "Negotiate This! By Caring, But Not T-H-A-T Much" and it hit me how similar successful negotiators are to the bloggers who I admire here at ActiveRain.
Cohen says there are certain style characteristics of successful persuaders, whether they be politicians, managers, salespeople and, I'd like to add to … (34 comments)
|
atlanta: Leasing Back Home for Two Months Messes Up Financing. How Do You Get Around It? - 04/03/07 03:20 PM
I have a buyer whose new home won't be complete until July. With a three month window, we thought it would be good to get his current home on the market. We priced it a little high since we thought that we had time to adjust if necessary. So what happens? We … (9 comments)
|
atlanta: Are You Spewing Pollen or Creating a Buzz? - 03/30/07 09:05 PM
It's that time of year down here in Atlanta where everything gets covered with a layer of green pine pollen. It's really incredible. I couldn't believe it the first year that I moved down here. There's a greenish yellow haze on the horizon and everything gets covered with a layer of … (6 comments)
|
atlanta: The Housing Bubble. It Could Get a Lot Worse. - 02/23/07 02:53 PM
Do you think the housing slump has hit bottom and things are picking up? The worse might be yet to come. It's sometimes hard to get a really good analysis from general newspaper or magazine stories. They usually have an agenda and they need to write what sells. I never put … (6 comments)
|
atlanta: Sign Ordinances, Many are Really Strict and Expensive - 02/14/07 09:06 AM
Honestly, how many agents take the time to look up the sign ordinances for the various communities where they stick up real estate signs? I usually look around and see what other agents are doing and figure that I'll just do the same.
Our Atlanta Board of REALTORS® has put together some … (0 comments)
|
atlanta: How Low Will They Go? If You Don't Ask, You'll Never Know - 01/17/07 09:16 AM
I've heard many agents spout off that your house is the biggest investment you'll ever make. It's a reason they give for why one should use a professional real estate agent. I've also heard many seasoned investors state that you make your money when you buy, not when you sell. Meaning that the key … (7 comments)
|
atlanta: My 8'X4' Map Makes a Big Impression - 01/12/07 09:13 AM
In my office I have a huge 8 foot by 4 foot map of Atlanta hanging on my wall. I copied and cut and pasted together 90 pages from my MLS map book.
It's amazing how much clarity a good map can give when figuring out areas to target in a home … (8 comments)
|
atlanta: "Full Service" or Getting the Job Done? I Chose the Latter. - 01/05/07 09:28 AM
Have you ever had a person that is really good at what they do but every interaction with them takes much longer than necessary? A simple one minute telephone call turns into a half hour conversation because they just go on and on. I'm all for being friendly and polite but … (30 comments)
|
atlanta: Beware of the Agent with All of the Signs! It can be Dangerous to Your Wallet! - 12/13/06 04:00 PM
Have you ever driven through a neighborhood and seen one agent with most of the homes for sale? Your first thought might be that they must know a lot about the neighborhood. You might think it would be a good thing to deal directly with that agent if you decide to … (3 comments)
|
atlanta: Not Much of a Rush to Get Listings on Zillow - 12/11/06 12:02 PM
It's been almost a week now since Zillow has been offering free listings on their website but I don't see too many listings being posted. In the huge metro Atlanta area only 59 are showing up which includes 5 of mine own. A good number of them don't have pictures.
If Zillow … (2 comments)
|
atlanta: Is the Market Turning? I Have a Good Feeling. - 12/11/06 11:42 AM
The last month or two have been exceptionally slow. I have had the time to find Active Rain and spend some time messing around here. I was really beginning to get nervous.
But all of a sudden we have negotiated 3 contracts in the last seven days. 2 for buyers and one … (1 comments)
|
atlanta: Duffy Realty, Full Service for $500? Coming to Your City Next - 12/10/06 07:26 PM
In Atlanta, Rhonda Duffy has become the number one listing agent by giving the discount model a new twist. She's a marketing genius and is franchising the concept to dozens of other cities. In Atlanta, she has already sold over 700 single family homes in 2006 and has over 600 active listings. That is … (6 comments)
|
atlanta: How Many Homes Does a Buyer Need to See? - 12/04/06 09:08 AM
I saw someone mention in the comments of another post that if they had to show a buyer 20 homes, they felt that they weren't doing their clients a good service because obviously they hadn't been listening to what they wanted. They felt that they were wasteing their client's time. They didn't mention … (4 comments)
|
atlanta: Digitized Realtor Map Book - 11/30/06 11:19 AM
Does anyone know of any place that has digitized Realtor map books?
What I'd like is to be able to select an area on a map and have it print out a large map at the same resolution as if I had copied and pasted together map pages from a map book. … (2 comments)
|
atlanta: Atlanta Real Estate Conditions - 11/29/06 01:55 PM
I keep hearing about all of the gloom and doom on the TV and radio. I hear many agents in my office complaining about their listings not being shown. But in the last month, we've had 3 buyers get beat out of homes by competing offers. All of them were in … (0 comments)
|
atlanta: No Closing Cost Loans, Deal or No Deal? - 11/27/06 08:29 AM
The late Milton Friedman popularized the expression "There's no such thing as a free lunch". By listening to some very popular radio ads by an Atlanta mortgage company you would think that anyone who willingly pays closing costs for a mortgage is either an idoit or is being ripped off. This guy … (1 comments)
|
atlanta: Atlanta's a Great Place to Retire - 11/24/06 03:48 PM
I never thought of Atlanta as a place that someone would want to retire to. But in the last two years I've been working with more and more people coming from California, Arizona and Florida who are finding Atlanta as a great place to retire. Most are impressed with the type … (0 comments)
|
;)
Links;)
Tags (Tag Cloud);)
Archives
