Tim Maitski

Last Friday I checked out the new Overlook Park at Morgan Falls just up the street from where I live.

What an incredibly beautiful park!!!

I've been wanting to do some kayaking or canoeing on the Chattahoochee and now I have no excuse, other than not owning a canoe or kayak.

They have a nice canoe dock to put in and the river there is very calm. It's just above the dam and it's an area they call Bull Sluice. I can't wait to go canoeing there.

They made a really nice pavillion and an open courtyard area.

I didn't know about the 3/4 of a mile trail they created that goes up the hill behind the pavillion. I will check that out later this week and post some more pictures.

A couple of weeks ago while checking the MLS for the new foreclosures of the day, I came across a huge price reduction for a brand new home in Stonewyck. It's a small cu-de-sac subdivision where the builder had a few finished homes that the bank foreclosed on.

These were high end homes that had beautiful finishes. This one particular home had a dramatic price reduction from $724,900 down to $499,900.

I immediately drove out there to check it out in person. I really got excited because it was even nicer than I thought it would be. At $499,900, I thought it was a steal. I had just met a buyer who was looking for such a deal and immediately called him and sent him the listing details. Unfortunately, he wasn't interested. It was a little higher than he wanted to go. Before I could find another buyer for it, it went under contract.

Here are the details:

Originally listed January 4th for $724,900.

Price reduced from $724,900 to $499,900 on June 8th.

Sells for $542,000 on June 30th with conventional financing. That's $42,100 over list price.

I wonder if the bank would have taken $500,000 for this home on June 7th? I think that the lesson here is never be afraid to place a lowball offer. You never know if the bank is ready to make a huge price reduction. Once they make that reduction, you might have to compete and overbid to beat out the competition.

So much for there being a lack of buyers out there.

So much for foreclosures selling below list price.

So much for conventional financing taking 60 days to get through. This one closed just 22 days after the price reduction.

I was looking over some foreclosure deals that closed this past week to examine the particulars. It's always good to figure out what it took to get a good foreclosure deal.

Some buyers who just started the game might think that they are in the driver's seat and banks will take whatever they offer. But the banks aren't the issue. It's other competitive buyers. What are others willing to bid on some of these foreclosures?

A beautiful foreclosed home in Sugarloaf Country club was listed:

List price June 9th: $799,900

Tax assessment value: $1,364,100

Sold in 2003 for $1,325,000

It sold and closed in 23 days for $825,700 in cash.

So much for no one having cash to buy luxury homes. So much for a cash buyer being able to name their price.

People are paying more than list price for some nice foreclosure homes. You need to be prepared to know a deal when you see it and then be able to move quickly. Otherwise you are going to be beat out by another buyer.

The S&P Case-Shiller Index just came out with their latest numbers. They are a few months back so this is for homes sold through February 2010.

Atlanta is back to its lows that we saw back in February 2009.

The good thing is that Atlanta is almost back to where it was in the year 2000. That's 10 years of no appreciation. In order to just catch up with the government stated inflation rate, home prices would have to rise by about 25%.

Of all the 20 metro areas covered by Case-Shiller, only Detroit, Cleveland and Las Vegas have lower index values. For the money, I think that Atlanta is the best value. A great metropolitan area with the potential for major job growth.

No disrespect to Cleveland, but if you had a choice between Cleveland and Atlanta, I think most people would pick Atlanta. The weather alone gives Atlanta a big plus over other areas.

NCR has called Dayton Ohio home for 125 years. This Fortune 500 company is now going to call Duluth Georgia home. It's nice to see that such a big company has seen the benefits of moving to Atlanta.

In Duluth, NCR executives will occupy a six-story building across from Gwinnett Place mall, less than a mile from a facility the company already owns where 300 employees work. NCR said the move will bring 1,250 jobs to Gwinnett. In addition, a new NCR manufacturing plant in Columbus will create 870 jobs, and another 900 jobs will be created at a service center in Peachtree City.

Jim Maran, president of the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, said the move will draw more technology-based companies to the area.

"We have a state department and a governor who are very positive about economic development, a school system and colleges that can recruit and nurture new technology," he said. "We have Georgia Tech and Gwinnett Tech to help develop the latest technologies and provide training for engineers. We've got the whole package here."

It sounds like many of the employees in Dayton won't be able to make the move though.

But others may not follow any time soon, he said, citing the nations' depressed housing market among the reasons.

Housing prices have fallen so low in some markets that employees won't move: Companies can handle a little moving-related attrition, but not a lot, Dhawan said.

Therefore there might not be a huge new demand for housing from new people moving into the area. But I guess it will be great for current Georgia residents who are unemployed. Maybe that will help keep some homeowners from foreclosure.

The Duluth area is a really attractive place to relocate. The prices of homes have dropped over the past two years but they seem to be bottoming out.

I actually have a buyer client right now who already works for NCR who will be closing on a great home next month. He got a great deal on a foreclosure home. It's amazing what you can get for $350,000 around there. I'm going to list his current home tomorrow. He bought it in 1998 for $125,000 and we will list it for $119,900. It's a 12 year old home with 3 bedrooms and a loft. I'll do a post on it later in the week.

For executives, Sugarloaf Country Club is right around the corner. There have been a lot of foreclosures in there and now would be a wonderful time for someone moving down here to be able to move into a wonderful gated golf community at very reasonable prices.

North Fulton County or South Forsyth County would also be good locations for relocating employees. These areas have great schools and a lot of beautiful neighborhoods for many different price levels.

Seeing NCR making such a big move like this gives me confidence that the Atlanta area will recover well from this economic downturn. Companies like this don't make these moves on a whim. I'm sure that others will see the same things about Atlanta and will keep Atlanta growing into the future.