Lee Davenport

You can sell your home in this market! I cannot stress enough how vital it is that your home shows well, especially in this market so that you can sell it - this market is a price war but also a beauty contest so make your home the most appealing. I have had buyers again and again see homes that are similar in design and they choose the more expensive of the bunch simply because it showed the best - and yes, that is in this current market.

Here are some inexpensive ways to make your home a great show:

1. Add a touch of color. Use fresh or silk flowers to breathe life and color into the main rooms. A colored afghan or throw on the couch will jazz up a dull room.

2. Make the bathrooms feel luxurious. Put away those old towels and toothbrushes. When buyers enter your bathroom, they should feel pampered. Add a new shower curtain, fresh towels, and fancy guest soaps.

3. Does it smell fresh? Set out potpourri or fresh baked goods for a homey smell. Make sure that there are no lingering scents from cigarettes or pets.

4. Help them envision living there. Set the table with pretty dishes and candles, and create other vignettes throughout the home to help buyers picture themselves there. For example, in the basement lay out a chess game.

5. Beautify the entrance. Buy a fresh doormat with a pretty pattern or a clever saying.

6. Make the rooms feel bigger. Take one or two major pieces of furniture out of every room to create a sense of spaciousness.

7. Accentuate counter space. Put away kitchen appliances and personal bathroom items to give the illusion of more counter space.

8. Lay logs in the fireplace. Or put a basket of flowers there if it's not in use.

9. Depersonalize the rooms. Put away family photos, mementos, and distinctive artwork. Potential buyers have to be able to imagine themselves in your home, and it helps them imagine fitting in if they have a depersonalized canvas before them.

10. The lawn should sparkle. Turn on the sprinklers for 30 minutes to make the lawn sparkle.

Source: August 2009 FMLS Newsletter, Tips for Your Sellers: Making a Home Irresistible
for an Open House

Now that there are so many great deals abounding in Metro Atlanta and many other urban areas, you may have an "itch" to invest in real estate. Well, here are the foundational essentials you must make sure you have before taking the plunge into real estate investing:

Location. "A" real estate locations are in areas where there is little land left to build on and the neighborhood has a certain prestige.

No-frills design with quality construction. Look for three or four parking spaces per 1,000 square feet, no more than 15 percent of space devoted to common areas, and simple but visually pleasing design.

Few or no vacancies. Buildings with lots of small offices are easier to keep full than those that rely on renting out entire floors to one tenant - do not put all your eggs in one basket/tenant.

Potential for appreciation. Older buildings with lower rents have the most upside potential. As leases expire, the new owner can raise the rent.

Available financing. Find a financial pro to help negotiate the right provisions.

Sale price based on existing income. Avoid buying based on projected income because that may never materialize.

Want more advice on investing in real estate or need help finding a financial pro? Contact places2love@gmail.com or 404.444.5777 for more information. Happy Investing!

Source: Miami Herald, Matthew Haggman (08/03/2009)

Looking for an effective way to advertise your business? How about putting your business in front of 30,000 potential customers without having to spend a ton of money?

The Sandy Springs/Perimeter Guidebook 2009-2010might just be the advertising vehicle you are looking for! The 2009-2010 Guide will be released in September and will be displayed at various retail locations, restaurants and hotels. For information about advertising in the Guide contact Brian Botkin with Publication Management Inc. at 404.255.5603 ext. 19 or by email, bbotkin@pubman.net.

Source: Sandy Springs Community News, July 24, 2009

I absolutely love the condos at Sandy Springs' Granville Court and I believe you will too! This upscale, gated real estate community is situated perfectly on Barfield, near Johnson Ferry Rd., Abernathy, GA 400, I-285 and just minutes from Perimeter Mall. Granville Court is also close to MARTA, which means you can get to Buckhead, Alpharetta, etc. in just minutes.

Within Sandy Springs' Granville Court, you will love the home features and the real estate community amenities. From the private patios, to the lush courtyards, to the sparkling swimming pool, to the clubhouse, fitness center, you will feel like Granville Court is your own private oasis from the congestion of Atlanta. Some homes have various customizations including hardwoods, stainless steel appliances, over-sized bedrooms, etc.

Want more information on Granville Court Condoniums? Feel free to contact places2love@gmail.com or 404.444.5777. Happy House Hunting!

Summer is finally here, and for the first time in more than two years, economic indicators suggest that the housing industry has finally bottomed out both locally and nationally. But with this bit of good news comes a bad news, which is that the metro Atlanta area continues to be saddled with a high number of vacant homes, many of them foreclosures on pace to surpass 2008 record year of foreclosures.

In April, Gov. Sonny Perdue signed SB55 into law, requiring county tax assessors to incorporate the value of foreclosed homes into property assessments. The legislation will likely provide some relief for properties located in zip codes with high foreclosures in the metro area. This is particularly important, as illustrated in a recent report commissioned by the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership that shows how properties in neighborhoods impacted by a high number of foreclosures typically have inflated appraised home values.

The report further illustrates that taxes for properties appraised in metro Atlanta 's five-county core area will have an overpayment of property taxes of an estimated $367.2 million, which includes an estimated $118 million in overpayment from owners of homes and businesses in areas with high foreclosures. Since the passage of SB55, several metro counties plagued by high foreclosures have reappraised properties, which also provided property owners an opportunity to appeal inflated assessments.

Requiring county tax assessors to reappraise homes shows that state officials are aware of the discrepancy between actual market value and assessed value, but the problem of getting a fair appraisal still exists, thus creating more problems for builders continuing to hold housing inventory.

To challenge an unfair property assessment, the owner first has to file a property tax return, which can be done in one of two ways:

1. By paying taxes in the prior year on the property, the value that was the basis for the tax becomes the declaration of value for the current tax year (O.C.G.A. 48-5-20).

2. By filing a PT-50R return of value between Jan. 1 and April 1 (or Jan. 1 and March 1 in counties that have installment billings). Depending on the county, property tax returns are filed with the county tax commissioner or with the county board of tax assessors. Click here for more information on when and where to file a return in the county.

The process to challenge unfair assessments requires the property owner to appeal to the county board of equalization or to an arbitrator within 30 days (or 45 days in some counties) from the date of the change of assessment notice that is mailed to you by the board of tax assessors. You can file a Taxpayers Appeal of Real Property with your local tax assessor office. For specific steps to file an appeal, contact the board of tax assessors in the county in which the property is located. The process is not a complicated one, but appeals must be filed after receiving the property assessment, which is conducted every two years.

It's difficult to determine how successful property reassessments have been for the building industry. Real estate-owned properties are regularly sold at deep discounts, thus making fair market value difficult to determine.

The challenges are obvious for both government tax assessors and builders but also for individual home owners. If a county reassess values at a reduction from prior assessments, they will likely increase the millage rate to recoup some of the lost tax revenue. County governments typically operate from three revenue sources: tax revenue, regulatory fees and fines. At least two of these categories, taxes and regulatory fees, have plummeted by as much as 25 and 50 percent respectively.

Taxes are a necessary function of government that nobody likes to see increase, especially on the back of real property that continues to decline in value. It's important that property owners challenge unfair assessments to ensure that tax dollars are being applied usefully and correctly. Government at all levels has long been accused of inefficiency; however, in today's economic climate, the public sector will be forced to adopt business practices similar to that of the private sector for survival. With this in mind, it's important that property owners are keenly aware of where their tax dollars are going and for what use.

Note: The basic formula to figure the tax on a home using Georgia 's standard $2,000 homestead exemption is: [(assessed value) - $2,000] x millage rate = tax due. The formula is straightforward, but again the challenge is "the amount a knowledgeable buyer would pay for the property and a willing seller would accept for the property at an arm's length, bona fide sale." In Georgia , a home's assessed value generally is 40 percent of its fair market value.

Source: Over-Taxed and Under-Valued: Appealing a Property Tax Assessment by Christopher Burke