Chimney Lakes

The Chimney Lakes community consists of 350 + homes which are located in East Cobb, Georgia. The community physically resides in Cobb County, but has a Roswell address. As such, residents have lower property taxes and have access to the premium rated schools in East Cobb: Shallowford Falls Elementary, Simpson Middle, and Lassiter High.

Feel free to contact us if you have any detailed questions about the Chimney Lakes homes or any of the surrounding Roswell neighborhoods.

We would love to be your Chimney Lakes listing agent. Click here to sell your home in Chimney Lakes.

Click here for current Chimney Lakes homes for sale.

Each week we're planning to provide an example of a successful short sale in metro Atlanta. They come in all shapes and sizes. For the homeowner, it means avoiding foreclosure and being able to move on with their life without the damage that foreclosure can cause.

2006 Kensington Green Drive,

Smyrna, GA 30080

For the home buyer, they were able to benefit from the current market.

The original homeowner purchased this luxury Smyrna townhome for $517,800 in 2006. Through the short sale process, the home buyer was able to purchase the townhome for $361,500. That's a savings of $156,000 or 30%.

The point that we want to show with this weekly series, is that distressed Atlanta homeowners have an option in avoiding foreclosure and that short sales are accepted everyday. What we also want to point out for Atlana home buyers, is that opportunities are available and should not be overlooked.

Contact us if you would like to talk to us more about short sales.

Foreclosure rates in metro Atlanta range from 9.9 percent in Clayton County to 3.7 percent in Cobb County, according to HUD.

By the Numbers

NSP Allocation; Local foreclosure rate; Local abandonment risk; Statewide foreclosure rate

Georgia total; $77,085,125; 5.2%; Medium; 5.2%

Atlanta; $12,316,082; 5.6%; High; 5.2%

Augusta; $2,473,064; 6.8%; High; 5.2%

Clayton County; $9,732,126; 9.9%; High; 5.2%

Cobb County; $6,889,134; 3.7%; Medium; 5.2%

Columbus-Muscogee; $3,117,039; 6.3%; High; 5.2%

DeKalb County; $18,545,013; 6.4%; High; 5.2%

Fulton County; $10,333,410; 5.4%; High; 5.2%

Gwinnett County; $10,507,827; 4.6%; Low; 5.2%

Savannah; $2,038,631; 6.0%; High; 5.2%

Visit Short Sales Central for more information about foreclosures and short sales.

Atlanta is among the nation’s hardest-hit markets for foreclosures according to a Harvard University scholar. The large numbers of subprime loans, extensive mortgage fraud, and large quantities of housing stock are the identified causes of this current increase.

Mark Duda, the Harvard researcher who is analyzing national foreclosure trends for a study sponsored by the Fannie Mae Foundation, said Thursday that the high foreclosure rates produced by failing subprime loans are costing communities millions of dollars in hidden losses.

“When there’s a foreclosure, it causes other problems,” Duda said.

Properties surrounded by foreclosures will often see their property values decrease as a result. This is largely in part due to the increase in crime in these concentrated areas where foreclosed and vacant structures seem to promote criminal activity.

In Georgia, failing subprime loans also boost the per capita rate of Chapter 13 bankruptcy filings to three times the national rate. The state’s short window between the declaration of foreclosure and seizure of the property sends many homeowners to bankruptcy court to stop the sale while they attempt to restructure their debt, Duda said.

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The home mortgage crisis is spreading across Georgia like wildfire as the state’s economic woes get worse.

One in eight Georgia mortgage holders were either behind on their payments or in foreclosure in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to a survey released Thursday by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The 223,000 Georgia homeowners delinquent or in foreclosure marked a 16 percent increase from the third quarter.

Georgia reported one of the biggest increases in loans at least 90 days late as the state’s jobless rate has surged.

The increase in foreclosures is taking a toll on entire neighborhoods, causing home values to plunge and creating a pool of vacant homes that breed crime, said John O’Callaghan, president of the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership, an affordable housing advocacy group.

The hardest-hit parts of metro Atlanta include the city of Atlanta, south Fulton County, south and central DeKalb County and Clayton County, he said.

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