Fun blog for Midtown

One of my friends, who never fails to amaze me with her ability to locate things on the web, came across this new blog called AroundMidtown.com. A husband and wife team share some of the goings-on regarding new restaurants, buildings, etc. in the Midtown neighborhood. Since that area is constantly changing, it helps to have a variety of resources to scan to see who knows what, and if you get the same info twice (in order to give rumors some credence!) Check it out!

Good Advice

Here is an brief article from my daily on-line magazine. I have seen this continue to play out in our Atlanta market as well this winter, with homes going under contract in less than 1 week even with all the inventory. A good realtor will help Sellers to understand these three principles. They are basic to my success, I can tell you that!


Daily Real Estate News January 11, 2008How to Get a Quick Sale in a Slower Market An analysis of the real estate market in the Baltimore area shows that even in a slow market some houses sell quickly — for the same reasons they do in a booming market.In November, when the average time on the market was 105 days, 13 percent of the 1,892 homes that sold in Baltimore and five surrounding counties had contracts in two weeks or less, according to data from Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc. Those 251 homes went from listing to selling in an average of seven days. They were typically older, three-bedroom, two-bath houses that sold at an average of $304,355 — about $4,000 under the overall average sale price.An analysis shows that fast sellers in a slow market have three common denominators:

They're priced better than comparable listings.

They show like model homes.

They have a full force of marketing, including enticing Internet photos, behind them.

Great Company!

I like to share news about people and services which make the life of a homeowner easier! With the changes in my life right now, I've discovered a wonderful source to help me pack up my stuff. It's called Used Cardboard Boxes (http://www.usedcardboardboxes.com/index.php) They locate misprints or overstock of cardboard boxes which would otherwise go to the landfill or to be recycled and pack up the sizes commonly used in moving household contents into easy kits which you can buy on-line! They check by your zip code to locate the boxes nearest to you. When they say shipping is quick--do they mean quick. I ordered in the morning; they shipped that afternoon; the boxes arrived the next afternoon! Sure, it looks like I drink a lot of wine (half my boxes were previously going to be used to ship wine) but these are CLEAN, NEW boxes. The kit I ordered included the packing tape, a packing tape dispenser, Sharpie markers and box cutters as well as all the clean packing paper I will need for the number of boxes I purchased. I love that this is an environmentally friendly option to help in a situaion we all find ourselves in at some point or another! Keep this info handy for when you need it, and pass it along to people you know who will be moving. Along those lines, have you told those people who are moving that you know the best Realtor in all of Atlanta? I value your referrals--they bring me great Clients like you!

Happy New Year!!

Well, it's been far too long since I've been in touch with my loyal readers! What with the holidays and the fact that there has been some last minute action in my Real Estate world, the time has flown by.

Yes, business has picked up some. One of my Buyers has purchased a house as an investment. Look for me to have the fixed-up version of this house listed in the Spring! Another of my Buyers, who has been looking for just the right place, finally found one with my help. Unfortunately, so did another smart Buyer who beat my Buyer to it! So here's the lesson--despite the downturn in the market and the thousands of properties on the market in the Atlanta area, when a house is priced right, has been "staged" properly, and is in a desirable neighborhood (remember "location, location, location"?) this market is still moving along pretty fast.

I do expect to see the market improve some over the course of 2008. This could be a great time to up-size or to purchase investment property. Let's get together to talk about the possibilities!

Also exciting for 2008 is the upcoming opening of Avenue Realty Inman Park. The office is being built out currently and we hope to be open by March 1. Did you catch that "we"? Yes, I've moved to a new brokerage, and I'm really looking forward to this next chapter in my Real Estate career. We'll keep you posted on the Grand Opening!

The Animals Win!

Last night I was among the honorees at the First Annual Wag Awards, sponsored by Craig Koch founder of Wag-A-Lot doggie daycare and boarding. The winner of the grand prize is a 10 year old girl who for several years has requested that all her holiday and birthday gifts be in the form of cash which she has donated to help animals. Her goal is to start a website where people can learn about the need to spay and neuter their pets, and hopefully also act as a clearing house for people interested in getting involved in helping animals. Congratulations to all the winners! The real winners are the animals we are all helping through our efforts.

In January of this year as I reviewed my business "pipeline" it looked as if I could more than double my goal of $6000 donated to help animals. At this point, with the market as hesitant as it has been I will pushing it to make my goal. I know people can't buy and sell real estate through me just so I can send money to help animals--but when you speak with people who need an outstanding Realtor you can tell them about me! I enjoy helping people through transitions--housing change is usually a part of life transitions--and I REALLY get a charge out of writing those $500 checks to the animal charities I support.

Also, if you have knowledge of an outstanding animal charity that could use some help, please pass on their info to me and maybe some day I'll be able to help them out, too!

And Now For The Rest of the Story

With apologies to Paul Harvey....

I did have "so much to say" but so little time before we went off on a wonderful vacation to Maui. Now we're back and the jet lag has just about worn off. The photo at left is the view from the condo where we stayed looking across the ocean at the island of Lanai. I'm used to the mainland coasts where people usually build with a good sized buffer between them and the water. However, on the island the water line must be more consistent, and storms less severe as we were very close to the beach, and the beach is not very deep, either! Amazing!!

One of the other things I wanted to share before we left town was my finally discovering what several friends have talked about for years--Richard's Variety Store in Buckhead! http://local.yahoo.com/details?id=13690369 What a throwback to my childhood--they even have the same shopping baskets (metal fold up with red and blue canvas sides) that the local five and dime had in my home town. Richard's doesn't have quite the variety old Switzes had in North Syracuse back in the 70's, but you'll find things there which you'll be hard pressed to find at Target or WalMart for sure. I got an old fashioned glass food storage container (no leaching plastics in leftovers, and oven safe, too,) a real Duncan yo-yo, a mini spirograph kit to take on vacation, and a couple of cute kid's book to read to our best little friends. From housewares, to classic toys, to gift ware you can find it there! Definitely worth a side trip next time you're going up or down Peachtree Street!!!

Buying Locally, Eating Grandly!

We've got our vegetables growing in the backyard containers, with herbs on the roof-top terrace loving the heat. Add to that local produce which we've been buying at the Morningside Market on Saturdays and from the market at Star Provisions (Th-Sat) and we've been eating mighty fine! Paul and Sarah came over for dinner Saturday and I served pasture raised chicken which I roasted over a bed of herbs from the terrace. With it were fresh beans--I would normally say "green" beans, but these were three different beans in purple, green and yellow. They were so good we didn't need salt or butter on them! Some fresh Italian parsley dressed the new red-skinned potatoes from the market. The backyard containers contributed our first Roma tomato and 6 beautiful red okra which were included in a stew with some purple peppers (these are new to me--thin skinned, shaped like bell pepper, with just a little warmth) and torpedo onions. For dessert I cooked up some of the sweetest black berries I've ever had with a bit of sugar, a dash of vanilla extract and some finely chopped Lavender leaves. After that cooled it was served over vanilla ice cream--Heavenly!!! Invite us to dinner sometime and you might get a similar treat!!