Intown Atlanta Real Estate Blog

In Atlanta, Developers Destroy Hopes of Recovery by Joshua Keen

Joshua Keen

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 5:29pm. 17 Views, 2 Comments.

The Wall Street journal recently reported the Atlanta Real Estate market is suffering from that oft-repeated term that has come to define our current ecnonomy: "irrational excuberance".

They site a 1 mile section of Buckhead Real Estate as a prime example of an emerging trend in the United States commercial real estate sector.  A trend that stands as an obstacle to economic recovery.

According to the article, several prominent Atlanta developers are in the process of constructing 4 new office buildings in Buckhead.  Now, that alone is not a speculative act, but add to this scenario that there is currently little demand for office space and you've got a recipe for disaster.   It's this same reckless builder activity perpetuated by the likes of Novaire and…

Atlanta Real Estate Makes Forbes "Best Buy" List by Joshua Keen

Joshua Keen

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 4:41pm. 14 Views, 0 Comments.

Forbes recently did a market study of the "Best Cities to Buy A Home" and Atlanta ranked #13 on the list. 

To determine which cities showcase the best real estate deals, Forbes examined three relevant sets of data from the March 2009 RPX Monthly Housing Market Report.  The Housing Report examines key market data in 25 of the countries most populous metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). 

The first step was done by looking at the number of ZIP codes where a quarter (25%) of the areas sales occured.  This helped to determine whether sales are evenly distributed across the Metro area or simply confined to a dense geographic area.  The more even the distribution of sales across the market, the better.

What they did next was examine price per…

As Seen on TV by Joshua Keen

Joshua Keen

Thursday, June 11th, 2009 at 8:06pm. 43 Views, 0 Comments.

When the number of factors coming into play in a phenomenological complex is too large scientific method in most cases fails. One need only think of the weather, in which case the prediction even for a few days ahead is impossible.
- Albert Einstein

Predictions, Predictions, Predictions.  Isn't that what got us into this mess in the first place?

How to Find the Best Atlanta Mortgage by Joshua Keen

Joshua Keen

Thursday, June 11th, 2009 at 7:01pm. 39 Views, 2 Comments.

Banks vs. Mortgage Brokers

If you're in the market to buy a home...likely, you're also in the market to find the right mortgage to finance that home.  It's important to know there are huge variations between mortgage brokers and bank loan officers.

Loan officers at a credit union, bank or large lending houses (ie. Wells Fargo, Bank of America) are employed by those institutions and, hence, work to sell the loan and mortgage products offered by their employer.  Many of these institutions have a large selection of loan types to select from but it's important to note that all of those loans "originate" from one source.

Much like real estate agents, mortgage brokers act a "freelance" agents who are paid an…

Atlanta Real Estate Prices Down 15.7% by Joshua Keen

Joshua Keen

Thursday, May 28th, 2009 at 8:36pm. 151 Views, 0 Comments.

The most recent S&P/Case-Shiller Index (April) indicates a 19.1 percent decline in the average homes prices nationwide versus the same time last year.  Statistics led Standard and Poor's to report:

We see no evidence that a recovery in home prices has begun.

The Case-Shiller report included a survey of the 20 major metropolitan areas and show that Phoenix, Las Vegas and San Francisco suffered the most significant declines in housing prices over the past year —all posting losses over 30 percent in the last 12 months.

Well...there's good news and there's bad news. Bad news first: Atlanta experienced a 15.7% decline in average real estate prices since April 2008. The good news? On Tuesday I had the pleasure of doing an…

Home Prices Decline by 12% (VIDEO) by Joshua Keen

Joshua Keen

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 at 12:06pm. 54 Views, 1 Comments.

Though year over year national home prices show a 12% decline - the month to month report shows a more promising outlook of the current market.

DeKalb Real Estate Losses Total $1B by Joshua Keen

Joshua Keen

Friday, May 15th, 2009 at 8:55am. 56 Views, 0 Comments.

DeKalb County homes and real estate have lost $1,000,000,000 in value (yes...that's a lot of zeros) since April 2009.  A Thursday meeting of county assessors revealed the taxable value of land and buildings in unincorporated DeKalb currently stands at $16.7 billion.  That number represents a 5% decline since the last report released just a month ago.

The reason for such dramatic changes?  The AJC reports the falling values are the result of consideration given to the impact of foreclosures on the current real estate market.

First Time Buyer $8000 Credit by Joshua Keen

Joshua Keen

Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 at 9:22am. 63 Views, 0 Comments.

Buying Your First Atlanta Home?

Well...if you're not...maybe you should be. Not only are mortgage rates at an all time low...homes are, in many cases, being sold for 2002/2003 prices.  Oh...and let's not forget about FREE MONEY....up to $8,000 from the Federal Government and up to an additional $1,800 from the recently signed Georgia House Bill 261.

That's a tax credit up to $9,800 if you're an Atlanta first time buyer.  Just might be the smartest move you make this year...or any year for that matter.

Generation Gap by Joshua Keen

Joshua Keen

Thursday, May 7th, 2009 at 4:08pm. 65 Views, 0 Comments.

We might be looking at a lost generation for U.S. home values.

There's been a lot of speculation about when the housing sector will recover from what has proven to be one largest year over year value declines in the history of the U.S. economy.  A recent article from Bloomberg.com suggests that many analysists are suffering from misguided optimism about the housing market.

Going Once - Going Twice - Gone! by Joshua Keen

Joshua Keen

Thursday, April 30th, 2009 at 3:56pm. 79 Views, 0 Comments.

You've no doubt seen the TV ads or heard the radio commericals promoting Atlanta real estate auctions.  There's no shortage of media coverage surrounding these events.  But the question you should be asking yourself is whether real estate auctions are pushing hype?  Or is there really hope for the average person come out on top as the result of using an auction to buyer and sell real estate?

Selling any piece of property is essentially an auction.  When you list your house for sale, that’s an auction of a sort, it’s simply a one-on-one event.  Meaning you hire an agent to advertise and expose your home to potential buyers on a showing-by-showing basis. 

But what a mass auction does is changes the timing and emotion of a sale.  It creates a…