Posted by The Keen Team on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 6:29 PMBy The Keen Team / June 30, 20093 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 other condo developers in our city that...
Posted by The Keen Team on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 5:41 PMBy The Keen Team / June 30, 2009Comment
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).
How Was It Done?
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 square fluctuations to determine which markets maintained consistent "market value". The higher and more consistent the market value (month over month) the...
Posted by The Keen Team on Thursday, June 11, 2009 at 9:06 PMBy The Keen Team / June 11, 2009Comment
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?
Posted by The Keen Team on Thursday, June 11, 2009 at 8:01:59 PMBy The Keen Team / June 11, 20092 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.
Atlanta 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.
Atlanta Mortgage Brokers
Much like real estate agents, mortgage brokers act a "freelance" agents who are paid an origination fee to broker loans between hundreds of lenders across the nation.
One way to think about a mortgage broker is as a "scout". They seek...