Ryan Ward's Blog: Atlanta, Georgia

Metro Atlanta ranks about 20th in the nation for its population and real estate prices rank about 50th. What this means for residents and people who are relocating from most other major metropolitan areas of the nation is that they can buy more home for their hard earned money than they can elsewhere. There are a number of reasons that real estate remains a better value in Atlanta than it does elsewhere.

Population - The population of Atlanta has grown faster than any other major city since the year 2000. Because of this, new construction continues to come out of the ground helping to keep inventories more balanced.

The Economy - What an economy it is! Atlanta has a very strong economy with low unemployment, and, with all of the population increase, new…

2475 Brookhaven Heights, Brookhaven: MLS # 3459110

What a great find for you if you are looking for Brookhaven townhomes for sale. This magnificent European townhome has so much more to offer in the way of amenities than you can find in comparable new construction that you really should consider this as an alternative. For starters, this home is wider than the construction available at this price and has 10' ceilings on the first floor and 9' ceilings upstairs. Take a look at this gourmet kitchen:

This kitchen has been masterfully updated with granite counters and a tumbled marble backsplash. The kitchen was designed for the professional chef and includes Bosch appliances and a vent hood to handle the…

Here are the 2007 statistics for the Roswell real estate market for the first quarter of 2007. I have split the statistics up into three groups; homes under $500,000, homes between $500,000 and $1,000,000 and homes above $1,000,000. The statistics are gathered from the Roswell MLS, which is part of the Atlanta First Multiple Listing Service, the FMLS.

 Homes For Sale Under $500,000

Roswell Real Estate Under $500,000 1st Quarter Active  401 Pending  124 Sold  202 LP/SP  96% DOM …

Intown Atlanta real estate comprises a number of different areas and styles of homes. The one that comes to mind for me right now is the numerous choices we have in the condo market. Take for example this condo in Art Foundry at Atlantic Station.

401 16th Street, Unit #1463 in Atlantic Station

This condo represents much of what you can expect for a condo in Midtown Atlanta and you cannot beat the location. You can walk to the shops and the Atlantic Station Mall and if you work in Midtown, it's about a 15 minute walk. Now that is thinking green!

Another of the benefits of this condo is the view. Located on the top floor, you can see midtown like many other condos, but how many have a view like this?

To your left is the the Atlanta skyline and what…

Atlanta luxury real estate still centers around the area known as Buckhead, but, now more than ever, other neighborhoods and cities are providing alternatives to Atlanta's most famous luxury home neighborhood. Here are some statistics for Buckhead and the new players in the Atlanta luxury real estate market; Sandy Springs and Alpharetta. For these statistics, luxury real estate is deemed to be properties and estates with a list price of over one million dollars and actively listed as of April 3rd, 2007.

Currently, there are 877 homes available with the majority of the most expensive estates available being located in Buckhead. Twenty eight luxury estates are available over 5 million dollars. Another 100 additional homes are currently either  under…

Consider this a warning for you if you are selling your home - Get rid of your wallpaper or many buyers will get rid of your home from this list of possibilities. This is more serious than many sellers think and it affects homes at all price points the same way. Wallpaper is unchangeable in the minds of most buyers and they will leave your house because of it.

I was showing homes to a couple this past weekend who had plenty of money to have a contractor remove the wallpaper and apply custom finishes to the rooms affected by wallpaper and they simply decided it would not be worth the hassle. Just yesterday I was showing luxury real estate to another buyer with the same result. We walked into the kitchen and the first comment was about the sellers…

An alarming trend is taking shape that threatens to shift the power of real estate marketing away from real estate brokers and place the information directly into the hands of third party vendors that will change the way real estate is advertised forever. For some time there has been a clamoring for an open, national MLS that would display listings from all around the country in one place that is easily accessible for consumers. That place has existed since 1999. It's called Realtor.com. Unfortunately, while the NAR sat back, resting on its laurels and charging the very real estate professionals who they represent for full contact information to be placed on those listings, interloping, third party vendors swooped in to fill the void that the NAR (National…

Spring is a beautiful time in Alpharetta and the city plans to make the most of it again this year with the annual Alpharetta Arts Streetfest. The event will take place in historic downtown Alpharetta on Milton Avenue and admission and parking is free so be there! If you've never taken the time to stroll down the sidewalks of downtown Alpharetta, you are really missing one of the main reasons Alpharetta real estate is so popular. The Alpharetta Art Festival will host artists and their exhibits from around Alpharetta and Atlanta as well as from around the county with all types of art on display and for sale. It's not just art you will miss if you don't make it to the festival there will be food from great local restaurants, and, of course, local fair food…