Atlanta Real Estate | Atlanta Housing News for Real Estate

Windward Alpharetta GA

Windward is a planned swim tennis community located in Alpharetta Geogia.  It is a Alpharetta GA golf course community built around the acclaimed Golf Club of Georgia.   The Windward subdivision is located north of Atlanta in Alpharetta Georgia in Fulton County. I t is easy to get to Windward  just take the GA 400 north, Windward is easily accessed from Exits 10, 11, and 12...and is bordered by McGinnis Ferry and McFarland road to the north east.  Click here to view homes for sale in Windward, Windward condos and new homes

Some of the newer sections of Windward are gated communities such: Ardsley Park, Admiral Crossing, Bay Pointe, Beacon Ridge, Blackheath, Bent Creek, Clipper Bay, Creek Ridge, Fieldstone Crossing, Gleneagles, Greatwood Glen, Greatwood, Hamptons Crossing, Harbour Walk, Harbour Ridge, Lake Shore, Lighthouse Pointe, Longcreek, Mariners Ridge, Newport Bay, Northshore, Schooner Ridge, Signal Pointe, Spinnakers, The Enclave, The Fairways at Windward, The Northshore of Lake Windward, The Peninsula, Walnut Creek, Windward Cove, Windward Lakeshore Overlook, and Wynridge.

Windward Homes For Sale Alpharetta GA   Click Here!

Cobb County - Luxury Country Club Homes and Gated Estates Communities.

Looking for a luxury home in the Atlanta area?  Have you considered buying luxury homes Cobb County?  You should!  Cobb county has some lovely luxury home neighborhoods, country clubs and gated communities.   Cobb County is very close to Atlanta for commuting.  If you need assistance in purchasing a home in Cobb County, we can help!   We are REALTORS®, Accredited Buyer Agents, Broker associates, Ellen Crawford has the experience: CRS, and GRI designations. We specialize in results. 

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Cobb County Luxury Home Communities

• Atlanta Country Club - Marietta East Cobb
• Governors Towne Club - Acworth - Golf, Swim, Tennis
• Lassiter Walk - Marietta East Cobb
• Shadowlawn - Marietta
• Tanglewood Park - Marietta

In the past few months we have come across quite a few buyers of Atlanta luxury homes in the Atanta area.  Perhaps these are persons that feel their money is safer in real estate than in the banks or their investments.  They are looking for and finding some incredible deals out there, and they are closing quickly!  Why?  These are cash buyers that know exactly what they are looking for.

The North Fulton has some fo the finest Atlanta luxury homes in the Atlanta metro area.  There are many fine subdivisions and country club neighborhoods to choose from.  If you are looking for a private estate with acerage, lakefront, gated communities, new contruction with immediate delivery, or golf course communities we have those too!

• Almond Tree Farms
• Alpharetta Private Estates - No Subdivisions
• Ammersee Lake - Duluth
• Ardsley Park
• Atlanta National Country Club - Alpharetta
• Brookhaven - Atlanta
• Buckhead - Atlanta
• Cameron Crest Farms - Alpharetta Equestrian Estates
• Chastain Park - Buckhead
• Chatham Park - Roswell
• Cobblestone Farms -Alpharetta
• County Club of the South Alpharetta
• Crooked Creek - Alpharetta
• Ellard - Alpharetta
• Glenayre -Roswell
• Greystone - Alpharetta
• Horseshoe Bend - Roswell Swim, Tennis, Golf, Lakes
• Laurelbrooke
• Lake at Cooper Sandy - Alpharetta
• Lakeside at Ansley - Roswell
• Litchfield Estates - Roswell
• Meadow Gate - Dunwoody
• Montclair - Duluth
• Nettlebrook Farms -Alpharetta
• North Valley - Alpharetta
• Old Cobblestone - Dunwoody
• Sandy Creek Farm - Alpharetta
• Sentinel on the River - Roswell
• Spaulding Stables Estates - Dunwoody
• Six Hills - Alpharetta
• Sunnybrook Farms - Alpharetta
• St. Ives Golf and Country Club - Duluth
• Stonegate - Roswell
• The Falls of Autry Mill - Alpharetta
• The Manor Golf and Country Club - Alpharetta
• Thorn Hill - Duluth
• White Columns Golf and Country Club - Alpharetta
• Windward  - Alpharetta
• Winfield on the River - Duluth

This is a crazy Atlanta real estate market with so may sellers in an awkward position.   First of all a little background...there are fewer buyers, fewer home sales, and homes may have fallen in value.  Sellers are simply upside down, or have taken a major hit for what equity they assumed they had in the home.  To top that off they are not in control of the market in most instances.  The fewer buyers that are in the market are still calling the shots for the most part. 

For sellers, this means their homes have been sitting for quite a while; there have been few or no showings.  So when they get an offer, many sellers are acting as if they are in charge.  When it comes to addressing a major issue they simply will not budge.  To the seller, it does not matter even if the item is not a costly one.  That behavior is very foolish.  I can understand being firm on negotiations, but what I am referring to is the condition of their home.  A faulty heating system, a low appraisal, a leaky roof, an encroachment of their fence on a neighbor's property is their problem; after all it is their home.  I am hearing from many agents that sellers when they finally get a contract and are heading towards closing are killing the deal.  Sellers are grandstanding and refusing to address issues that are basically their problem, and the items they are saying 'No' to are certainly 'Deal killers' if not addressed.  This is a meltdown that can easily be avoided.  The home  seller's need to remove their emotions before it clouds their better judgment.  Their financial woes are not the buyer's problem.  The end result of this unchecked behavior could be total disaster for the sellers in the long run, and they will have no one to blame but themselves.

A lot of life is all about personal responsibility.  First of all, the home buyers did not cause this economic collapse.  They cannot help it that values have fallen in your neighborhood.  They are cautious about moving forward, their job, and unforeseen expenses.  When a system in the home is determined to be defective, or there is an identified major litigious item (i.e. fences encroaching a neighbors property) it needs to be corrected.  It isn't the buyer's problem, it is the seller's home! 

In the Atlanta real estatemarket, cooperation is imperative.  The Atlanta real estate contract that we are using here for the last few years is an 'options contract!'  Both the seller and the buyer have agreed to allow the buyer to basically 'kick the tires' on the home for a specified period of time.  During that due diligence period, buyers or their representatives, can perform a myriad of inspections, check zoning, insurance claims, and then either decide to buy, or fly!  Basically, buyers can do their research, but are allowed to walk and get their earnest money back during the due diligence period.  They do not even have to give the seller a reason for the termination or provide the seller with a copy of the inspection report.  If buyers deem there is something major wrong with a property they do not have to proceed further, especially if the seller has drawn a line in the sand that they will not move forward.  The last thing the buyer needs is 'Tude' from the seller!

"The Icecaps are melting!"  Does this make you very nervous?  What if the icecaps were not only melting on earth, but on Mars at the same time?  But wait a minute, there are no humans on mars, no factories, no airplanes, no autos, no polluters, and no EPA to stop the pollution!  What's really happening? (National Geographic)

Do you believe in global warming?  Well before you answer this, a lot of major fraud that has been uncovered in the last few weeks have exposed quite a bit of manipulation of the data.  Before they pass all these new carbon credits and taxes on citizens in the USA, perhaps it is time to review some of the new.  Maybe it is a good idea to have a major Senate investigation.  It seems as though a lot of the data supporting global warming was be tampered with. Scientists and journals that has real data that exposed this were routinely discredited and literally frozen out of the scientific community.  It sounds as if there was a global agenda in selling the public that the climate is actually warming.  It isn't!  The story was exposed initially in the Wall Street Journal!  Read the story, this is really ground breaking and yes controversial news.

Global warming fraud uncovered

I know a lot of persons are struggling with the economy these days.  Shorter hours, work sharing, high unemployment, and dim prospects for finding a new job are twofold - slim and none.  Thanksgiving was never a day about giving thanks for stuff, but rather a great day to reflect and count our real blessings.  It is a day that we could pause and reflect on what life is really about.   We can give thanks for those around us those that have enriched and blessed our lives, and those that are no longer here.  I am a firm believer that nothing ever happens in life by chance.  There is purpose in everything.  There are lessons, and values to be learned each and everyday of our lives from everyone we meet.   Some lessons are positive and some are negative.  They all have a lesson, and the lesson has the be learned if we are to grow. 

I find it is important is never good to lament the "loss of the good old days", but rather it is very important to make the best of each day as it unfolds.  Today is the best day of our lives.   There will always be new opportunities, new acquaintances, friends that we have not met yet, and new lessons make life all so worthwhile.  Let us all give thanks for this day.  We are truly blessed! 

Think about it.  We live in a technologically advanced time and age where there is no excuse to contact a loved one 24-7.  We can call them on a cell phone, we can send them an an email, they can see a picture of us on Facebook, they can receive a text message, they can even see us on the Internet on a CAM.  We live in an age where medicine has increased life expectancy and prolonged the age we can live to. I am tankful for the times in which we live. 

I am also grateful for my friends, family, for illnesses, for loved ones no longer here, for the tough times in life, for growing up poor, for values learned, for my teachers, for mentors, for my beliefs, for role models, for those that sacrificed before me, for the country I live in, for freedoms, for financial losses, and for blessings bestowed.  I feel truly blessed and rich when I count my blessings and give thanks!

The most recent Atlanta real estate sales statistics were just released this evening, and it is a mixed bag of good.  Yes sales are up and inventory is down.  We are selling more Atlanta homes, but at much lower prices.  To make sense of the numbers I have created an October Average Atlanta home sales price chart that compares only sales of single family detached Atlanta homes for October!  The results are pretty much self explanatory. The Average sale price trends is moving lower here.  Despite historic lows in 30 year fixed rate financing, our Atlanta homes average sales price numbers should have gone up if it was a healthy market.  Lower mortgage interest rates in normal times = higher prices.  That does not appear to be the case here.  I am seeing a trend that out average sales price is off 21.4% from the peak of the market in October of 2006. The average sales price for single family detached Atlanta home in October was $201,038 or a decline of 6.9% from October 2008.

For More Atlanta real estate statistics- Click here!

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The most recent Atlanta home sales statistics were just released this evening from our primary MLS - First Multiple Listing Service (FMLS)!  Yes sales are up from October of last year 7.9%.  That is a great thing, but in the big picture there are many components.  If we compare October Atlanta homes sales in 2009 to the previous sets of detached single family October sales records for Atlanta homes sales there is a 19% drop from October of 2006.  We must also look at other trends.  One of them is the average sales price of a single family detached Atlanta homes which I will address in my next post.

For more Atlanta real estate statistics  - click here!

Interested in Atlanta real estate trends?  The most recent Atlanta metro area statistics were just released today  from our primary MLs system First Multiple Listing service.  In October  2009 there were 4,532 closings for all single family.  This is good news for Atlanta homes sales to have a 10.3% increase over October 2008.  There were also 741 attached units (Condos and town homes) sold in October 2009 a full 24.3% over October 2008 and the strongest year-to-year percentage increase since March 2006.  October should be the strongest closing month in 2009 for single family attached.  In single family deteached homes in Atlanta, we closed 3,791 Atlanta homes in October 2009. This was an increase of 7.9% over October 2008.

In the coming days I will try to break down these numbers more to give you the full impact of the numbers and statistics.  They were just released this evening.

Signs real estate is in trouble: 

1. You won't take a listing unless it is a minimum 2 year period.
2. You're finding that 2 years is not long enough listing period to sell a home.
3. Carry price reduction forms in your car for your listings has become a normal part of your routine.
4. You've run out of "Reduced" signs for your listings again!
5. The banks want you to renegotiate your commission on their foreclosure!
6. You find yourself listing homes where there is no way the seller can pay you.
7. Your broker won't return your calls.
8. They let the receptionist in your real estate office go.
9. Your commission check bounced!
10. They moved your real estate office but forgot to tell you.
11. They've closed your real estate office and didn't tell you.
12. Your office is padlocked, and has 'police tape' the says "Do Not Cross!"
13. They're raising your office fees.
14. Your broker tries to invite you to a Amway or Acai Berry Juice Party at his home.
15. Your broker tells you they're thinking of getting a full time job.
16. You're listing homes for nothing, with the understanding if the buyer buys, they'll buy with you!
17. You refuse to stock new color listing fliers with a new price on it.
18. Your real estate sign has faded from being in the sun too long.
19. They're holding a "Back to Basics" course at your office for the 5^th time.
20. Your broker takes a job with the competition!