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Buckhead Luxury Single Family Home Rental Market Report March 2012

03-11-12

Michelle Francis Realtor Buckhead Atlanta Homes for Sale & Lease

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Office: (404) 219-9760

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Buckhead Luxury Home Rental Market Report – March 2012

Every year as the Bradford Pears, Azaleas and other blooms spring to life, so too does the Atlanta Real Estate Sales and Rental Market. This year, 2012, is no exception and might prove to be even more of a shift than in years past. For sales, Atlanta as a whole and Buckhead, specifically has reached the lowest inventory level in a DECADE! Yes a decade. Sales demand is stronger.

Garden Hills Neighborhood Rental and Property Management Specialist - Michelle Francis, Buckhead Realtor

Garden Hills Neighborhood Rental and Property Management Specialist - Michelle Francis, Buckhead Realtor - Home for Lease

What does that mean for the Buckhead Luxury Single Family Home Rental Market? Well, we are again at our lowest inventory levels with homes rapidly getting rented or leased with qualified tenants. Folks are surprised at how strong the luxury rental market is. We aren’t. The Buckhead Luxury Home Rental Market has only had momentary weaknesses in 10 years where there was more inventory than prospective tenants. This occurred in 2007/8 as the market was struggling with a huge oversupply of homes.

Buckhead Luxury Rental Home Market Report - Spring 2012 by Michelle Francis, Buckhead Rental and Property Management specialist In a typical year for Buckhead, there are not enough luxury rental homes for the demand. Tim Francis Realty has been offering Luxury Rental Homes and Property Management for a decade. Our company AVERAGE luxury home rental rate in Buckhead is $4,000 a month. We were just analyzing the latest market inventory for 4 bedroom homes in Buckhead. Today, there are 16 homes available from $2,000 to $7,000. (There are a few higher than $7,000, but that’s a pretty unique market.) There are 4 pending homes in this price point AND in the last 6 months, there have been 46 homes leased. This means there is about a 3 month’s supply of homes.

In Tim Francis Realty’s experience, it will be a crazy spring. As we say many times a day to folks that call, “if you see something you like that fits your budget in the Buckhead Luxury Rental Home Market, TAKE IT IMMEDIATELY”.

Are you looking for a Buckhead Luxury Rental Home in Garden Hills, Chastain Park, Peachtree Park, Buckhead Forest, or Sarah Smith area? Please contact the experts who handle more rentals in this Buckhead Luxury Rental Market of single family homes than any other agent, Tim Francis Realty LLC

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How Do You Screen Tenants for My Atlanta Home or Condo For Rent?

03-11-12

Thom Abbott-Search Midtown Atlanta Intown Atlanta Real Estate

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Office: (404) 876-4901

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Screening Tenants for AtlantaGAHomesForRent.com Being a Landlord, whether by choice and you have bought investment property, or by circumstance and you have to rent your home, has many challenges. One of them is How Do You Screen Tenants for My Atlanta Home or Condo For Rent? Great question! Screening tenants is one of the most critical parts of getting your Atlanta home or condominium rented.

If anyone tells you otherwise, they are wrong, but not everyone can screen tenants. What do we mean? Credit Bureaus do not just release information to anyone that asks for it. Meaning, you have to have had your business reviewed before you can obtain such information. Thomas Ramon Realty @Palmer House Properties works with a national company, National Tenant Network-Atlanta to do all of our tenant screenings.

For more than 25 years, National Tenant Network has been focused on a single goal: to help property owners and managers make the best leasing decisions possible. As the nation’s oldest and largest national resident screening service, NTN has successfully screened more than 15 million applicants. Our in-depth knowledge of resident screening and landlord/tenant challenges helps us deliver exceptional end-to-end resident screening solutions.

What does NTN screen for on your behalf?

eviction, landlord, dispossessory actions
Sex Offender registry
Credit Bureau Report
Criminal Background
Employment Verification

As part of the application process, the tenant pays for this screening process. Legally, we cannot share these background results, but we do review them with you and advise if the prospective tenant’s application should be denied.

Learn more about How we Screen Tenants for your Atlanta Home or Condominium and if you have an Atlanta home or condominium y0u need to get rented, call us TODAY or complete our Landlord Evaluation.

We look forward to helping you find the right tenants for your property.

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The Foreigner a Play by Larry Shue in Roswell GA Sunday March 11 2012

03-10-12

Lynn B.Friedman ATL 404.939.2727CDPE Adv Atlanta Metro ODATRealty SeHabla Español

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Office: (404) 355-4466

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Secondary: (404) 939-2727

The Foreigner a Play by Larry Shue in Roswell GA Sunday March 11 2012

Don't miss the final performance of "The Foreigner" by renowned playwright Larry Shue.

The Foreigner is a farce that touches on deep themes, loyalty and deep friendships, love and betrayal, prejudice and redemption and then the good guys win in the end. One may see this play over and over - in fact this was my fifth time seeing The Foreigner - each in a different venue.

The current production is being staged by the Georgia Ensemble Theater at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center on Forrest Street. A professional troupe, the GET offers a complete season each year and the 2011-2012 season is no exception.

Shue graduated cum laude from college and served in the Viet Nam war. He was the Playwright-in-Residence at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater in the early 80's. His play The Nerds premiered there in 1981, went on to play in London's West End and reached Broadway in 1987. Shue's play, The Foreigner, premiered in 1983 and transferred to off-Broadway. Both plays are enjoyed throughout the US by audiences of all ages. Unfortunately, Shue did not live to see the continued success of his work nor to provide us with more of his excellent plays. He died at age 39 in a plane crash in Virginia.

Celebrate the life and wit of Larry Shue - see his play, The Foreigner.

Have a happy day -
Lynn

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What is the Relationship Between Floor and Price in a Midtown Atlanta Highrise Condo?

03-10-12

Thom Abbott-Search Midtown Atlanta Intown Atlanta Real Estate

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Office: (404) 876-4901

Mobile: (770) 713-1505
Secondary: (404) 247-6696

Midtown Atlanta Condos For Sale I was asked by a Buyer I am working with What is the Relationship Between Floor and Price in a Midtown Atlanta Highrise condo? All the rules have kind of been broken, but here’s how it worked in the beginning. (And still does in a newer building that is still being sold by the developer.)

Condo high rises are built in “stacks.” So the “16” stack is the same floor plan all the way up the building. The exception to that in our market would be Viewpoint Midtown Atlanta where on the 31^st floor, the plans do change somewhat to the 36^th floor) When originally sold, most buildings had a $3-5,000 premium as you went up a floor. Buyers would buy on a lower floor either because that was the price they could afford, or, did not want the higher floor for personal reasons. Those reasons range from being scared of heights, to wanting to see the activity on the street from a lower floor vs. the long distance or skyline view from a higher floor.

So back to our stack pricing…..(using round numbers to make it easy) if 816 was listed for $150,000, then 916 was $153, 1016 was $156, and so on up the building to the top. Top floors can command a premium, often called the “penthouse floor” because the homes will have higher ceilings and have no one living above you.

Fast forward to today and the rules are totally different when it comes to the relationship between floor and price in a Midtown Atlanta Highrise condo. With foreclosures and short sales, the prices in a building are all over the place. You could now foreseeably buy on a higher floor for less than you could on a lower floor. What now happens is these prices affect the appraisal value of ALL the homes in a building (comparing 1 bedrooms to 1 bedrooms). That is why now I make sure all of my Midtown Atlanta Condo Buyers have Financing Contingencies and Appraisal Contingencies in their contracts. Financing protects you if something happens and your lender will not loan you your money. I had a case in one building where Wells Fargo would not approve the loan because they did not feel the HOA was stable. (PERFECT example of why when buying a condo it’s best to work with a LOCAL lender, like Justin Herring with Southeast Mortgage who knows the market and the decisions (loan underwriting) is done locally. In this example, the loan was being done in Minneapolis and you could not get the Underwriting department to understand the dynamics of the Midtown Atlanta Condo market. The Appraisal contingency protects you in case the lender comes back with a value less than you and the Seller have agreed to. If the Seller is not willing to lower the price, you have the option to terminate your contract and walk away.

So, in the stack example above, if 816 was sold in a foreclosure at $125,000 and the owner of 1016 is trying to sell his for $140,000, there most likely will be an appraisal issue with his home. Most condos were built pretty much the same, and owners have not done any kind of massive changes to a home that will keep the value higher. This is where we negotiate with the Seller, but protect you the Buyer if the home does on appraise. This is also where a “short sale” come into play. The owner cannot sell for what they owe on their Midtown Atlanta Condo, and are asking the lender to take less to pay off their mortgage.

ALL of that said, I’ve always counseled my Buyers, “buy as high as you can afford” unless you are afraid of heights. The primary reason is the “protection of your view.” Other reasons for higher floors could be less street noise, restaurant aromas and restricted views. I will in the same sentence tell you, “you can NEVER guarantee your view, but a higher floor may offer you more protection.” I can easily demonstrate this to you when we are standing on any balcony and I share my knowledge with you about the Midtown Atlanta market and what is going on.

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iPad3 the POSTER CHILD OF THE POST PC WORLD says Tim Cook from Apple iPad3 BORN March 16, 2012

03-10-12

Lynn B.Friedman ATL 404.939.2727CDPE Adv Atlanta Metro ODATRealty SeHabla Español

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Office: (404) 355-4466

Mobile: (404) 939-2727
Secondary: (404) 939-2727

iPad3 the POSTER CHILD OF THE POST PC WORLD says Tim Cook from Apple iPad3 BORN March 16, 2012

So what is it that makes us pay for a new toy device every so often - or in Apple's case every so frequently? In the case of Apple's "Poster Child of the PC World" - the iPad3 - it is the long list of amazing features. To name only two aspects of the "Poster Child of the PC World" - the new iPad3 has a retinal display screen. The images are very crisp. The screen is 2048 x 1536 - about 1,000,000 more pixels than an HD TV. And to take those videos - the 5 megapixel iSight camera. Get ready for the BIRTHDAY of the "Poster Child of the PC World" on March 16, 2012. Check out the video from MASHABLE - with news of more features.

Have a happy day -
Lynn