Wednesday, April 10, 2013
AOL Real Estate says it's in Flowery Branch. Here's how much it costs.
The most expensive home in Georgia, according to AOL Real Estate, is listed for just short of $20 million. It has nearly 18,000 square feet. And 12 people can go to the bathroom at the same time, without violating anyone's privacy. The home, in Flowery Branch, has amentities such as "arched gallery hallways, high wood-beamed ceilings, grand fireplaces, gourmet kitchen, stone-floored outdoor porch, marble master bath, palatial powder room." The house is listed in a slide show of the most expensive homes in each state and D.C. There are some whoppers. If you're looking for something more affordable, try these Snellville options.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Patch's real estate columnist discusses how someone trashed a home as it was in the process of foreclosure.
I have been in the real estate business since 2007. I have seen a great many things as I have shown homes and had many laughable experiences as well as few that make you scratch your head. Today I had one of those experiences that make you go, hmmm... A client of mine wanted to view a home in order to purchase it. It looked like a perfectly normal home from the outside and was in the process of foreclosure. Nothing that would raise any alarm. When we entered the home, all we could do was say, "I can't believe this." The home has been trashed. When I say trashed, I mean it literally and figuratively. There was stuff everywhere. You could barely walk and couldn't really even make out the layout of the home due to the amount of stuff …
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Investors are buying up big chunks of homes; if you want to invest in property, you better do it now.
As foretold earlier this year from research I had been doing, CNN recently ran a story about how big business is getting into the housing market. Investors are buying up mutual funds and stocks of builders, housing companies, etc... and Wall Street is getting into the action, with even some builders raising capitol through IPOs. Pulte, Lennar and KB Homes have hit 52 week highs recently. Land has even become a target. While it drops the fastest in a downturn, it can increase the fastest in an upturn. Funding groups are also buying up blocks of hundreds of homes from banks. It will not become uncommon to see an entire block or part of the city owned by one company and collecting rent from those who want to live there. A word to the wise…
Monday, January 21, 2013
Snellville Patch's real estate columnist examines what the robo-signing settlement means to homeowners.
On February 9th, 2012, the United States Justice Department released the details of a $25 billion dollar settlement they reached with five major banks. The settlement occurred because the banks were accused of widespread use of robo-signing. The settlement was the largest government industry settlement since the $250 billion Big Tobacco settlement in 1998 and the largest settlement in consumer real estate history. Robo-signing was a practice employed by banks to automate the processing and approval of foreclosure proceedings against homeowners. In many cases, the banks were discovered to have processed thousands of foreclosures in a single day, all signed by one person. Now, almost nine months since the settlement date, over 80 …
Monday, November 19, 2012
With a shortage of homes on the market, home prices are steadily going up.
This seems to be a common theme. Prices are up again. The median price of homes, that is the price where nearly half of the homes sold for, is up 7.6% over 2011's third quarter. The average median price is up to $186,100. Many areas are seeing housing shortages, including right here in our backyard. The shortage may lead to inflated prices, given that total home sales are up 10.3% when compared to the third quarter last year. Where does Snellville compare? Let's see: Inside the Numbers of 2012 Average price for a home in Snellville: $107, 792 for 2012 (so far) Average days on the market: 80 Most expensive home sold: $530,000 Featured Home: Brookwood Schools: on an 8.83 acre lot in Brookwood Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest …
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Homes are not staying on the market long, especially if they are listed at the right price.
It is well known that a good many homeowners are under-water in their house. They owe more than it is worth. That is the truth of the economic situation we are in. At the same time, there are still people that find themselves in a situation where they need to move. It could because of a family situation or even their job situation. Many homeowners despair because they do not see any options. Buying a home was supposed to be a great investment. Now, they can't even get what they paid for it. Life is still happening and they feel stuck. The good news is that there are alternatives. A short sale is a great alternative to being foreclosed on. In fact, many of the big lenders are offering cash incentives to homeowners if they opt for the …
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
In this week's real estate column, we talk about extra incentives offered in home buying and what that could mean for you.
Sometimes a buyer is looking at a home and there are extra incentives offered. These could include decorating bonus, flat screen televisions, etc. Although all of this may sound like a good idea, there are some things to think about before offering. If you do use to make up for flaws, please heed this warning: You will spend less money in most cases doing the work ahead of time rather than paying the incentive. As an example, in a medium-sized kitchen with adequate counter space, putting granite in may cost just a couple of thousand dollars. Instead, the seller offer a $3000 allowance. Those two thousand could possibly net you much more than that in the overall sales price. By the Numbers: Did you ever wonder what percentage of listing …
Monday, October 8, 2012
Brookwood had the most homes sold this month, while the Shiloh district remains the most affordable.
Local Area Snapshots Today I will focus on what is happening in our area by high school district. This will give us a big picture look of how the September numbers ended up. Brookwood Brookwood had 39 homes that sold with an average days on the market of 90. The average price was just north of $150,000. The high sale for September was $530,000. There are still 153 listings left from September that have an average days on the market of 123. South Gwinnett South Gwinnett had 59 homes that sold with an average days on the market of 81. The average price was just north of $106,000. The high sale for September was $220,000. There are still 205 listings left from September that have an average days on the market of 92. Shiloh Shiloh had …
Monday, September 17, 2012
Columnist and Realtor Jamie Parker discusses rising prices and "shadow inventory" in this week's Eye on the Market.
Good News Nationally, we have continuously received good news about the housing market. Prices have been steadily going up and a third of the homes sold nationwide in July were on the market for less than a month. We also saw the first dips in interest rates this past week after five straight weeks of increases. This is all pointing to a healthy housing recovery. Shadow Inventory While all of this sounds awesome, there are many out there who have heard this term: "shadow inventory." What is it? It's the inventory of foreclosed homes that the bank is holding off from putting on the market. During a recent seminar, a panel of higher ups from many of the major mortgage lenders discussed the shadow inventory. At least one major lender, …
Monday, June 27, 2011
While buying a home for the first time has its own set of challenges, there are many incentive programs out there. Selling, on the other hand, remains as difficult as ever.
As everyone knows, the housing market took a sharp dive in 2007 and crashed in ‘08. We may not have hit bottom yet. While that means bad news for sellers, things are much more optimistic for buyers. The cheapest home on the market in Snellville is currently $22,500, in the Norris Lake area. All in all, there are 94 houses under $50,000, and 96 more in the $50-75K price range. (Numbers include unincorporated areas of Snellville.) One home in the Countryside Manor subdivision has a sale price of $74,900, while others sell in the same neighborhood for around $125,000. That’s great news for buyers and investors, but a depressing fact for sellers trying to sell their home in the higher price brackets. Monthly payments on a house that …
Darla Dixon
11:30 pm on Friday, March 1, 2013
I'm surprised you've never seen anything like this. I expected to see much worse than what is in the photos. This is typical when a home has been foreclosed. Often, people are angry and tear up the property. In bad break-up situations, sometimes there's the cases of "It's not MY mess, it's YOURS!" and each party refuses to do any cleaning up. My parents sold real estate in the 1970s and saw … more ›