You are currently browsing the monthly archive for June, 2007.
Article taken from Realtor.com 6/29/07
High-end buyers are increasingly looking for out-of-the-way destinations beyond the borders of the United Stated to purchase their vacation home. Top destinations include Nicaragua, Morocco and Uruguay.
“There’s a desire for somewhere different now,” says Nick Barnes, a partner at Knight Frank. “The luxury market, for reasons of exclusivity, is willing to travel to more exotic locations, irrespective of infrequent flights and a longer flight time.”
In Latin America, the most desirable destination is Punta del Este in Uruguay. Prices in luxury towers on the beach are $2,000 per square mete, which is about $180 per square foot.
“That number is way too high for an average Uruguayan or Argentinean investor but competitive for Europeans or Americans,” says July Shields, a general manager at Dubai-based Jumeirah Group, whose portfolio includes the Burj Al Arab hotel, New York’s Essex House and the Carlton Tower in London.
Article excerpt was taken from Realtor.com News 6/27/2007
Atlanta, Georgia
The undisputed hub of the South, Atlanta offers everything from a major league baseball team to the CNN headquarters. Four distinct seasons - though with short winters and summers - make for mild living year-round.
While the city itself has only about half a million residents, the large metro area recently surpassed 5 million residents - making this one of the fastest growing areas in the country. The median resident age is about 32, with the typical income is about $40,000.
Atlanta’s pro-business climate has attracted more than 2,000 businesses, including several Fortune 500 companies. Top employers include Delta Airlines, Publix Supermarkets, BellSouth, Turner Broadcasting and Cox Newspapers. Coca-Cola is also a well-known fixture. Services, trade and manufacturing are all well represented here. Atlanta is also making inroads as an international hub for business and trade, with more than 1,300 foreign-based businesses here.
Metropolitan Atlanta has led the nation in new housing permits since 1991, with as many as 66,550 in one recent year. Today, you can buy a new house for anywhere from $129,900 to about $1.5 million. Just four miles from downtown, you can get a two-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath, attached townhome for about $220,000. About $50,000 more will get you a 2,500 square-foot-plus, four-bedroom home in a community with a clubhouse, park and pool. The lower end of the price range nets a three-bedroom town home in a southwestern suburb.
Anyone who is planning to remodel, “stage” for sale, or furnish a new home should know, it pays to schedule purchases. Baby Boomer News offers some suggestions for saving money on various household items by waiting to purchase merchandise during certain sale times. Here are several months of the year to find bargains on specific merchandise:
- January: Radios and televisions, small appliances, blankets, quilts, fabric, linens
- February: Bedding, floor covering, furniture, house wares
- March: Washers and dryers, air conditioners, china, glassware
- April: Kitchen ranges, paint, wallpaper
- May: Radios, televisions, linens
- June: Bedding, floor covering, furniture, storm windows
- August: Lines, rugs
- September: China, glassware
- October: Rugs, fabrics
If you are thinking of selling your home, contact your Jenny Pruitt & Associates Realtor for ideas to get your property ready for market.
Senior Vice President, Managing Broker
Sandy Springs office
Daily Real Estate News | January 26, 2007
The Top 10 Luxury Markets to Watch
Unique Homes Magazine in its January issue lists what it expects to be the top 25 luxury markets in 2007. Collectively, the communities that made it on the list represent where the market is heading, according to the magazine. Here are the Top 10 and the factors that make them standout as leaders of the pack: 1. Annapolis, Md.: Great boating and affordable prices compared to Washington, D.C., or Baltimore, both of which are a reasonable commute from Annapolis, too.
2. Asheville, N.C.: Eclectic ambiance draws the upscale to an outdoorsy, low-key lifestyle.
3. Aspen, Colo.: Four-season appeal, which is kept exclusive by restrictive zoning that restrains supply.
4. Atlanta, Ga.: A big-city appeal with lots of lifestyle amenities and new upscale communities.
5. Austin, Texas: Posting record gains for most of 2006, a mix of newcomers are drawn to its great music and scenery and the cosmopolitan University of Texas.
6. Bellevue/Medina, Wash.: This city has lots of upscale neighborhoods that arent as pricey as other northwest areas.
7. Beverly Hills, Calif.: Its reputation as a Mecca for luxury remains untarnished.
8. Idaho: The state is a luxury newcomer with growing resort markets, such as Coeur dAlene, McCall, and Sandpoint.
9. Jupiter, Fla.: Tiger Woods started a trend here when he purchased a 10-acre estate for $38 million.
10. Manhattan: Wall Streeters flush with 2006 bonuses are snapping up desirable co-ops and town houses.Source: Unique Homes, Camilla McLaughlin (December 2006/January 2007)
Excerpt taken from the Summer issue of Southern Seasons magazine.
Donald J. Trump has discovered Atlanta. With Trump Towers Atlanta - a major addition to the city’s Midtown neighborhood, Trump is bringing his signature “uptown” style to a city known for its Southern hospitality.
Conveniently situated at the intersection of 15th and West Peachtree Streets near the Woodruff Arts Center and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s proposed hall, Trump Towers Atlanta will consist of two dramatic high-rise residential condominium towers, complemented by upscale boutique retailers and exciting destination restaurants.
The first phase will be a 48-story tower with 363 spacious condominiums priced from the $400,000s to more than $1 million. After completion in early 2010, the second phase will be a smaller 37-story tower with 200 residential units. The luxury condominium project is a development from Wood Partners and Dezer Properties, in partnership with Trump.
Excerpt taken from the Summer issue of Southern Seasons magazine
Atlanta art patrons saluted the 20th anniversary of the Georgia Committee of the 
National Museum of Women in the Arts at an elaborate, al fresco buffett supper at the home of Jean and Bill Astrop. Chaired by Anna Henson, the champagne evening toasted musuem founder Wilhelmina Holladay, who traveled from Washington, D.C. for the occassion. Guests at the event, sponsored by Jenny Pruitt & Associates Buckhead office, views a series of paintings by the late Atlanta artist Genevieve Arnold which have been dontated to the National Musuem.
Excerpt taken from the Atlanta Real Estate Forum
Jenny Pruitt New Homes Services announces the opening of Idlewilde in East Cobb county. This prestigious community will have 15 homes priced from the $900,000s to more than $1 million.
These custom homes are built by Tobun Properties and Lone State Custom Homes. They will feature 10-foot ceilings, designer kitchens with granite countertops and custom cabintery, mudrooms and home theaters. Three car garages and finished terrace levels are also available here.
To reserve your space now, visit www.idlewildehomes.com to register.
Senior Vice President
New Homes Division
So, did you ever get around to the Spring cleaning and fixing up at your home? Well, it’s not too late to complete these projects before summer starts and the in-laws come for a visit. Here are four simple suggestions to get your home ready for the summer!
- Make the kitchen shine. The kitchen is still the gathering place for friends and family. For far less than a thousand dollars, you can replace the kitchen faucet, update your old kitchen light fixtures, and even add new cabinet door handles. These few items will give your kitchen a new look. If you have a little more in your budget, you may want to look into re-facing or painting your existing cabinets for a great look!
- Spiff-up your bath. Are you tired of the way your bath looks? Would you like a new look in the second most popular room in the house? Like the kitchen, you can also spiff-up your bath without breaking the bank! Little things like changing out the toilet seat and adding a pedestal sink can make a big difference. Again, if you have a little more in your budget, changing the flooring and adding new cabinets and mirrors, can really make your bath into something you will enjoy for years. Check with your local supplier because it may not be as expensive as you think.
- Paint…paint…paint! Nothing will change the look of your home more than a fresh coat of paint. It makes everything look bright and clean again. This is a project that most homeowners can handle, one room at a time.
- You never get another chance to make a good first impression! So when you pull-up in front of your home, does it say, “Come on in or stay out?” A nicely mowed lawn, a well swept sidewalk and even simple plantings make a huge difference. You may need to paint or replace the front door. You want your guests to feel they are coming into your home and that it reflects on your own personal style.
You really don’t have to be that handy to make these simple adjustments that will make your home feel a castle!
Senior Vice President, Managing Broker
Sandy Springs office
Excerpt taken from Luxury Trends e-newsletter
Luxury Laundry Center
Although the kitchen has evolved from a primitive cooking room into a high-tech gourmet family room, it is the laundry room that should receive the “Most Improved” award. The days of dingy cement laundry rooms are over; these murky prototypes have made way for luxury laundry centers. High-end homeowners have turned the laundry room into command centers of efficiency, with top appliances, computer and office stations, islands for folding or completing other chores, plasma TVs, and even playroom space for children. A renovation such as this is not easy, however, so it is important to find a great interior designer who will work with you to personalize the space to meet your needs.
Intelligent Machines
The first step in a laundry room makeover is selecting a washer and dryer. The primary characteristic luxury homeowners look for in these appliances is a sleek design to complement the rest of the room; however, it is also extremely important that the machines are quiet, efficient, and high-tech.
Out of Sight
Many garments have specific instructions not to be tumble dried - and these articles inevitably wind up draped around the laundry room for hours to dry naturally. But not the laundry room has become a family living space, this method will not suffice. Instead, luxury homeowners are purchasing drying cabinets, which quickly dry their delicate clothing while keeping them out of sight. The ASKO drying cabinet features three rows of folding pull-out hangers, a rack for hats and gloves and a show rack, allowing for a variety of items to be dried all at once. The cabinet provides differing drying options, including heat and time choices so clothes are dry when you want them to be. So never fear - the decor of your luxurious laundry center will not be marred by wet clothes!
Senior Vice President, Managing Broker
Cobb office
On Sunday, June 10th, the Jenny Pruitt associates of the Johns Creek office will welcome hundreds of clients to their annual Client Appreciation Event. Being held at the Duluth Towne Festival, this year’s event is sure to be a success! Duluth Towne Festival is reminiscent of days gone by with charming shops sitting along the town green that includes a beautiful ampitheater. Kids of all ages will enjoy frolicking inteh fountain at the heart of the green.
Guests will also enjoy the sounds of one of the best bands in Atlanta, the American Flyers, who play tunes from across the decades setting the mood for fun in the sun! After building up a southern style appetite, there will be lots of Low Country Barbecue on hand to refuel.
Senior Vice President, Managing Broker
Johns Creek office
Excerpt taken from the Georgia Real Estate Report
Choosing the Wrong Location
Location is still the most powerful factor in the value of any property, and some areas are more popular than others. That’s why its pays to take an appropriate amount of time to familiarize yourself with alternative neighborhoods and communities.
One of the principal benefits of owning a home is your personal satisfaction and happiness. And if you select the wrong location, you will eventually end up disappointed in your new home. Always visit a home location at different times during the day to see what living there will be like. If you only see the home at lunchtime, you may not know that there is heavy traffic in the morning and afternoon. At the very least, you should talk to neighbors and ask what issues affect their community.
Even within a specific community, there are better lots and less desirable lots, ones that are secluded and others that have very little privacy. Your home should reflect your lifestyle, and if you compromise too heavily in this area you may regret your purchase.
Senior Vice President
Corporate Services
Excerpt taken from the Atlanta Journal Constitution, June 1, 2007
The new Rose residence blooms in Buckhead.
Eileen and Damon Rose spent several years setting the Italianate villa of their dreams in stone: hand-placed Tuscan Coronado stone. Now a casually chic 12,000-square-foot reality, the Rose house is a tribute to their love for the rustic charms of Italy’s distinctive motifs.
Handsome wrought ironwork from Downey Metal Works greets visitors at the front door and adds subtle adornment to stairwells, windows and patios. Overhead, iron pot rings characteristic of the central Italian town of Assissi add a dash of simple elan. 
A real estate agent for 14 years with Jenny Pruitt & Associates, Eileen, 41, said she gleaned a lot of ideas from the upscale houses she handled for buyers and sellers. Both Eileen and Damon, 40, a plastering contractor, focused on assembling an environment more inviting than imposing. And what better place to turn for insight than their perennial leisure destination: Italy.
The couple first took up residence on their property in 2000, after paying $680,000 for a two-acre lot on the nearly hidden, seven-acre Swim Lake. The original house was poorly positioned for water views, and the lake was filling with construction silt from nearby building sites. So, Eileen and Damon pooled resources with their neighbors to dredge the lake and set to designing a house that would take full advantage of the result.
“We turned the house [orientation], and it make all the difference in the world,” Eileen said.
The Roses spent more than a year in consultation with their architect, Mary Tracy of Cape Haze, Fla., and their decorator, Kim Oleson of Periwinkle Studios in Washington, D.C., getting all the details of the new house right. Construction took about 12 months from its inception in January 2005.
Damon’s talents are evident throughout the house, from the warm, earthy Venetian plaster walls to the antique oil paintings whoe frames he painstakingly restores by hand.
Eileen’s inclinations added graceful archways and eye-catching niches echoed by the fluid arc of the family room’s groin ceiling. Nearly every aspect of the house, from the al fresco nook just off the main-level patio to the foyer’s hand-etched limestone panels, contains an inviting old-world flourish.
But the piece de resistance comes from nature and a horizon that seamlessly blends the picturesque lake with the infinity-edge pool at terrace level. Gazing across water framed by a sloping green expanse and old hardwood trees, the eye catches a scene more suggestive of a Lake Comovilla than an urban residence 10 minutes from the nearest shopping mall.
“You don’t feel like you’re in the city,” said Damon. “It’s like you’re in the country.”
Excerpt taken from the Atlanta Business Chronicle
From relaxation rooms to hand-painted wall panels, Atlanta-area designers told Living in Atlanta editor Wendy Bowman-Littler “10 Things” - and more - they think will be hot for the home in 2007
- Hand-Painted Wall Panels - Hand-painted wall panels add a breath of life to any setting. They are especially great in dining rooms, where the mood for the party is established by the atmosphere.
- OM Glass Range Hood - The new, clean, sleek OM Glass Range Hood is the newest trend for anyone looking for a little pizazz in the kitchen, as well as superior ventilation performance. It’s not the average stove hood; it’s a swanky asset to kitchen decor that’s also environmentally friendly.
- Warming Ovens and the Ultimate Shower - One of the top trends is the indoor-outdoor warming oven for bath towels, robes, pajamas, and more. In lieu of using a bar towel warmer, which only partially works and can cost up to $1,000, this is the item to purchase for around $800. Another trend is the DTV Custom Showering Experience, with a digital control for multiple water flow patterns.
- Hiding Places - Home offices are hotter than ever because more Atlantans are working out of their homes and staying out of traffic. Because of today’s threats with identity theft, it’s necessary to have a shredder in your office. Nobody wants to see a shredder, so take advantage of a full-extension heavy-duty glide
- Honed Granite for Countertops - People are choosing honed - or brushed - granite, which has a matte look, and is very “softening” and in more muted colors. Honing granite takes some of the color out and doesn’t change the inherent value of the granite.
- Relaxation Rooms - There rooms are incredible - they might tantalize your body with a massage chair, refresh your senses with aromatherapy scents, relax your mind with customized music and lighting, or take you away to the most relaxing destinations aboard your LCD screen. Each room is custom-designed to fit what your mind and body find to be the ultimate stress-free characteristics.
- Organic/Green Furnishings and Interiors - Organic/green furnishings and interiors are hot. Besides creating healthier surroundings and conserving energy, considering the development of one’s environment, personally, locally, nationally, and globally, creates an opportunity for expression of one’s creativity with style, expression of one’s compassion and expression of one’s passion for making the world a better place.
- Green Products and Natural Fibers - Green products are going to explode liken ever before in the residential market. Natural fibers are conventionally grown and herded, and are always ahead of the game. Wool and cotton are renewable and fossil fuels are not required to make the fabrics. Wool is one of the most durable products and has great insulating properties.
- The Favela Chair - Fernando and Humberto Campana’s Favela Chair, manufactured by Erda, looks great anywhere. “Favela” refers to the ad-hoc shelters, built out of mud, sand, scraps of wood, bricks and stones in the hills and on the fringes of urban expansion around Rio de Janeiro. The name refers to the location of the first of such settlements, the hill “Morro da Favela,” built in the late 1800s by African-Brazilian veterans from the Canudos war who had nowhere else to go. The Favela Chair is constructed piece-by-piece from the same wood used to build the favelas, and every piece is hand-glued and nailed.
- Unique Lighting Options - Grouping and combining unique objects that emit light creates more interest and appeal when used over a dining table, bar, corner of a room or patio, rather than the typical single fixture. By blending different pendants, wall hangings and fixtures, the element of light becomes something unconventional.
Excerpt taken from ClickPress - Global News Distribution, May 31, 2007
Jenny Pruitt & Associates New Homes Services recently donated more than 200 new teddy bears to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Scottish Rite campus in home of Fernwood Creek homeowners George and Nancey Enell.
Jenny Pruitt & Associates New Homes Services recently donated more than 200 new teddy bears to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Scottish Rite campus in honor of Fernwood Creek homeowners George and Nancey Enell. The Enells, who live in the Cherokee County community, are very passionate about volunteering with terminally ill and sick children. For the past 20 years, Nancey Enell has volunteered with the Make a Wish Foundation in both California and Florida and has worked with neonatal patients at hospitals in California. When Enell approached Jenny Pruitt New Homes Services about donating to CHOA, they were honored to help, said Ada Love, Senior Vice President - New Homes Director for Jenny Pruitt & Associates.
“Teddy bears really make a difference to children going through some really scary times while they’re in the hospital,” Enell said. Often times, children can only take brand new stuffed animals into the operating rooms, so these will be really special for children here at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. I think it’s wonderful that Jenny Pruitt New Homes Services donated the teddy bears. These young children here will really love them.”
The Enells purchased a home in Fernwood Creek last year. Then stunning homes of Fernwood Creek range in size from 3,000 to 5,000 square feet and incorporate state-of-the-art amenities with well-designed floorplans. Homes feature four or five bedrooms, two and three car garages, and basement lots are available. Special details run throughout, making each home unique. Conserving an abundance of greenspace within the community, Fernwood Creek has more than eight acres of wooded area. Select lots back up to the conserved space, which has a creek winding throughout. Home sites range in size from one-fourth to half an acre. Residents will enjoy the community’s walking trails, and all of the greenspace within Fernwood Creek professionally landscaped.
