Ryan Ward's Blog: Buying

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…

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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…

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One of the most important factors relating to the housing market is called the absorption rate. The absorption rate tells us how long it would take, based on statistics, for all homes to sell, if no new homes came on the market during that time. To find the absorption rate you must divide the number of homes available by the number of homes that have sold. Currently there are 5,400 homes for sale in the city of Atlanta and,  according to the Atlanta MLS, the FMLS, 486 homes sold during the month of January. Therefore, the absorption rate for homes in Atlanta is 11.1 months. This number does not include homes that are currently under contract. Traditionally, January is the slowest month of the year for home sales and this year is no exception. If we take a…

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The popularity of new construction is undeniable. Many buyers simply prefer to buy a new home rather than to purchase an existing home that has been owned and lived in by other people. I guess it is similar to that new car smell that makes a new car irresistible to some. There is definitely something wonderful about buying a new home you can customize exactly to the style and amenities you prefer. If you are considering buying a new home, you will want to consider some of these suggestions before you walk in to that beautifully decorated model home. In the area where I specialize, Sandy Springs and Alpharetta, new construction is very prevalent so you may find these suggestions timely.

First and most importantly you will want a REALTOR to represent you…

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A comparative market analysis (CMA) is the most important,and, should be the first skill that any real estate agent learns how to do well. A CMA should be used to determine fair market value for a home based on certain conditions. The conditions for determining fair market value are that you have a willing buyer, a willing seller and no undue pressure on either party. This is market value. Not what the seller or agent or buyer feels like the value is, but instead, what buyers and sellers have actually paid for similar homes. After all, whether the real estate agent is representing you in listing your home for sale or representing you in the purchase of a new home, what could be more important than the value of the home?

Surprisingly, most real estate…

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From time to time while negotiating a real estate contract, an agent might try to make a verbal offer on behalf of their client. This is not only bad practice, it is not enforceable. Many reasons can be given why an agent tells you that they need to make an offer verbally - none are good enough to not have it put in writing. During the course of negotiating a sale of real estate, many smaller items do arise and information exchanges can take place to help either party decide what their next course of action should be. When the time comes to make the decision about what to offer or ask for in the transaction, you must make that offer in writing or it is as if it never happened. Do not let someone tell you that it is fine to just converse verbally during the…

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Here are the Alpharetta real estate market conditions for January, 2007. The information gathered for this report is furnished by the FMLS.

 

Alpharetta Real Estate Alpharetta January Active 1760 Pending 407 Sold 130 Expired 201 Withdrawn 105 High $1,843,000 Low $152,900 Average $400,352 … Read Full Post

About 15 changes have been made to the Purchase and Sale Contracts for residential real estate in Georgia for 2007. Some of the changes are more significant to parties involved in the transaction so we will cover the important changes here.

The biggest change that was made is in the method of payment section of the contract. Under the old sales contract, a buyer had until up to the day of closing to qualify for the loan and this did not provide any protection for the seller if the buyer could not qualify at the last minute. Sellers could have moved or purchased another home and been left to clean up the mess. The new contracts have a financing contingency period. This places more responsibility on the buyer to obtain a loan in a negotiated time period. If…

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