You are currently browsing the monthly archive for March, 2008.
On February 26, 2008 Dekalb County approved the Inefficient Plumbing Fixtures Replacement Plan. Any home built prior to 1993 must have low flow toilet and plumbing fixtures installed before the homeowner can obtain water from the county.
Effective June 1, 2008, sellers will be required to disclose the Dekalb County Ordinance when selling their homes. Listing agents in Dekalb should add a notice of this ordinance to the seller’s disclosure and/or sales contract. Before the new homeowner can obtain water service, they must provide written proof from a home inspector, licensed plumber, or a Department of Watershed Inspector. This certificate will be required with their application for water service.
Single family homes and condos will need to have the following:
1. Toilets can have a max of 1.6 gallons per flush
2. Shower heads can put out a max of 2.5 gallons per minute
3. Lavatory faucets can put out a max of 2 gallons per minute
4. Kitchen faucets can put out a mac of 2.2 gallons per minute
Based on average home sales statistics, Dekalb County foresees saving 360,000 gallons of water a day by enacting this ordinance and predicts it will take more than 33 years to replace all of the older water guzzling toilets and fixtures.
There are some exemptions to this ordinance and they include the following:
1. Foreclosure sales
2. Family sales > from spouse to spouse or from parents to their children
3. Homes that will be demolished after the sale
4. Circumstances where the cost of the toilet will be over $1,000.00 per toilet change out
If you violate these new laws, you are subject to the following penalties:
1. First violation will be warning
2. Second violation (within 12 months of first violation) will be $250.00
3. Third violation (within 12 months of first violation) will be $500.00
Senior Vice President, Managing Broker
Sandy Springs office
Source: AJC Homefinder By Clare Morris
Designer envisions more European, modern styles
No matter how big the house, it always seems that they crowd winds up in the kitchen. So it’s no wonder that this room gets a lot of attention when it comes to design, styling, decor and function. If you’re looking to give an existing kitchen a face lift or are designing one for a new house, take some inspiration from the Europeans.
They’re on the cutting edge of the most popular kitchen styles these days, said Becky Sue Becker, a certified kitchen designer and president of the Georgia chapter of the National Kitchen and Bath Association. “The market right no is very inspired by what the Europeans are doing,” Becker said. “They’re using clean lines, and Americans have become more accepting of that, because it suits out busy lives. We have less time to maintain the fancier elements.”
The “clean” look means less detail in the cabinetry and sleek, flat-panel door fronts. It also includes simple counter supports and trim work that’s not extremely ornate. Yet adjectives such as “clean,” “sleek” and “contemporary” don’t seem to fit with Atlanta’s penchant for traditional, detailed styling.
“It’s true, Atlanta is predominantly a traditional market, but I’d say, in the last three years, I’ve gone from a business with 10 percent modern projects to doing more than 50 percent,” Becker said. “There’s also been a strong movement toward the mission or arts and crafts designs that are much more streamlined.”
No matter how sleek they’re getting, there’s no question that kitchens are getting better, Becker said.
“Today’s kitchen is easily 30 percent bigger than it was 10 years ago,” she said. “And they’re becoming so much more than just kitchens. Desks are coming back in. We had been taking them out, but, with the kitchen being the hub of the home, a command center there is coming back. It could be a place for the main computer for the home, where the kids can do their homework - a place that can handle more tasks than just holding the phone.”
While command centers are popular, keeping rooms may be on the way out, as families shift back to great rooms.
“People have realized that the keeping room is usually too small for a large family,” Becker said. “Now it’s the space that could be turned into the command center instead.”
Source: AJC Homefinder
Dreamers, buyers can benefit from show homes
Turn a second-floor corner in a new $1.79 million Roswell home, and it’s like Alice falling down the rabbit’s hole into Wonderland.
A hallway leads you into another world, an unexpected and imaginative playroom full of whimsical decor.
Colorful bottle caps are embedded in the tile backsplash in the kitchenette. The couches are made of warehouse platform dollies on wheels with two twin mattresses. Family photos and mementos are displayed behind mesh screens. Valances made of neutral strips of burlap, cotton, linen and other fabrics are tied to such vintage household items as hinges, utensils and doorknobs to create a fringe effect. A glass table top is supported by an old child’s pedal car.
Travel past the black sculpture-like entertainment center made out of assorted objects (including chairs, a typewriter and radio), and instead of a closet, the L-shaped space turns into a playhouse that looks like it’s from a Victorian children’s novel.
The room, created by interior designer LaWayne Johnsen, fills Carol Harrison and other visitors to the 12th Annual Roswell Woman’s Club Showcase Home Tour at Ivey Mill with ideas to consider using in their own homes.
Often, it’s possible to buy the one you’re touring. Agents are on hand at the Roswell tour and others throughout the year in metro Atlanta to raise money for a cause and showcase design and building talent.
As Harrison walked through the three homes on the tour, which runs through March 30 and features three builders (Moncler Homes, Rosen Custom Homes and Tyson Homes), she noticed such details as beadboard doors in addition to the work of local designers.
“Even if you’re not going to have a $2 million home, you could say, ‘This is a really cool door. I could do this,’” Harrison said. “There are details of either the decor or the actual detail in the house that you might be able to incorporate in your own humble dwelling.”
Show homes help sell homes because they offer house hunters an opportunity to see what it could be like to live there, agents say.
“The one [response] we love to hear obviously is, ‘When can I move in?’ ” said Betsy Franks, senior vice president and managing broker of Jenny Pruitt and Associates’ North Fulton office, which is marketing the homes on the Roswell Woman’s Club tour.
To get the most out of a visit to one of this spring’s events (others include the Atlanta Symphony Associates’ 38th Annual 2008 Decorators’ Show House and Gardens, from April 19-May 11), Franks and show home attendees have five recommendations.
1. Select a style.
Metro home showcases spotlight all types of architecture. Touring them will help you determine what type of architecture and details you will appreciate in your home, from farmhouse to Tudor. “There are a lot of pretty houses out there; it may not fit what you like,” said show home visitor Robert Hunter, who lives in east Cobb County.
2. Find a floor plan.
Think about how the home will work for you. Another visitor, Cindy Latimer, who lives in Roswell, said she likes how the kitchen and other areas in the home built by Rosen Custom Homes were open, allowing ample space for entertaining.
3. Look at the details.
The quality of the granite, ceiling details and other aspects will help you determine if the builder is someone who fits your design ideas, Franks said.
4. Note the specifics.
Paint information, price lists for furniture and accessories and other details are often provided in the rooms. If you have questions, the designers are typically on site, ready to talk about their inspiration.
5. Ask your questions.
Builders often are available - or can be contacted - if you want to ask about their design philosophy, materials used and ways to finish out the home after the tour season ends, Franks said.
$45 million, 90-acre estate features private 18-hole golf course
By JULIE B. HAIRSTON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/19/08
The most expensive real estate listing in Georgia has hit the market. Le Reve, a 90-acre estate on Trammel Road near Cumming, is for sale for a cool $45 million. James Simons, a Realtor with Jenny Pruitt & Associates’s Buckhead office, is handling the sale of Le Reve. He said he will use the brokerage’s affiliation with Christie’s to market the property globally. “We’re going to throw a wide net to see if we can capture someone from around the world,” Simons said.
He also plans to showcase the property locally with a series of events later in the year.Owners Hubert and Norma Humphrey — who are not related to the late vice president — are looking to downsize from the 82-room, 47,000-square-foot home on the property. The couple started building the complex in 2004 after the city of Atlanta denied them a permit to expand their former home on Garman Road. Construction took three years.
Hubert Humphrey is the founder of World Leadership Group, a marketing and mortgage brokerage company.
Designed by Atlanta architect Norman Askins, the four-floor mansion features a 28-foot foyer, two elevators, a 12-car garage, stables, a home theater modeled after the Fabulous Fox in downtown Atlanta, 17 bathrooms, 62 televisions, 300 miles of high-tech wiring and a collection of antiques, furnishings and custom paintings assembled by Norma Humphrey with her three-decorator team. Le Reve’s 18-hole private golf course was added in 2005.
Targeting elite clients
Finding buyers with deep enough pockets to plunk down $19 million for a house requires far more than a For Sale sign and a run of traditional advertising. Establishing a distinctive personality for the house is an essential goal of the ultra-luxury marketing campaign, agents say.
Most multimillion-dollar houses have names as well as addresses. And their marketing always includes an individual Web site like the one now showcasing Le Reve, www.humphreyestate.com. Pictures of the home for the Web site and fat, slick real estate marketing magazines are crucial, which means big bucks for the highest-quality photos.
Barbara Malm, another luxury agent with Jenny Pruitt & Associates, said for the earlier story every part of the marketing campaign has to promote the right mood in the buyer’s mind. “You have to sell the charm, the elegance,” Malm said. “You have to take someone to the place it was created for.” And then you spread the word among the select network.
Finding that right buyer can take a long time. Experts estimate that seven-figure properties require a year or more on the market. And the sale can result from an unexpected encounter. “Sometimes, it’s just sheer luck, ” Malm said.
Fitting up the fence sitters.
With the economy weakening, we’re unlikely to see today’s slow home sales pace pick up in the near future, but the picture isn’t uniformly bleak; sales have appeared to stabilize around a 5 million annualized sales pace, suggesting we might be seeing the formation of a bottom.
What’s more, there continues to be considerable pent-up demand for homes. Although job growth is slowing, with the pace of new jobs sinking to about 83,000 a month in the second half of last year, down from 189m000 a month in 2006, job growth has been vastly outperforming housing, with more than 4 million jobs created since the housing market peak in 2005. Aggregate household wealth is also up during that period, by some $1.4 trillion.
Historically, the housing market sees one new buyer for every two new jobs created, but this time around that hasn’t been the case.
So, although consumers have the wherewithal to buy - particularly since home prices nationally are down and interest rates remain low thanks to the Federal Reserve’s dramatic rate cut in January - many are sitting on the fence. It’s a fair guess that consumers are waiting for home prices and even interest rates to fall even further.
Clearly, housing continues to under perform. But as long as demand keeps growing, it’s just a matter of time before the housing market turns around and becomes an engine for, rather than a drag on, the economy.
Jeanne Linden
Senior Vice President, Managing Broker
Cobb office
Source: Forbes.com
Atlanta recently placed number three in Forbes’ list of America’s Fastest-Growing Large and Small Metros
Projected total GMP growth, 2007-2012: 22.81%
The Atlanta metro area is a job magnet that epitomizes the economic boom of the Southeast. Companies with headquarters there include Coca-Cola, CNN and UPS. It’s also got the country’s busiest airport for passenger traffic. Atlanta’s population has doubled in the last 20 years; by 2012. it’s expected to grow another 11%. Personal income for Atlanta residents is forecast to grow by 6.3% annually during that time, according to Global Insight.
By LORI JOHNSTON
For the Journal-Constitution
With doom and gloom stories about home sales dominating the front pages, it’s easy to believe that nobody is buying these days. Turns out, though, that just isn’t so.
But what is selling? “Homes priced correctly” is the answer you’ll typically hear from agents.
We sought to look behind that answer into what specific prices and areas are selling best. Sure, homes in all price ranges are eventually finding buyers, although it may take more work and more time to put up the sold sign for some.
“It’s just sluggish,” said Van Johnson, broker/owner of Re/Max Executives and president of the Georgia Association of Realtors.
There are hot spots, though. And we uncovered them.
FIVE TRENDS REALTORS ARE SEEING
1. Intown is easier.
Properties inside the Perimeter that are updated are more likely to sell than those in the suburbs, said Muchugia Machua, an agent with Harry Norman, Realtors. He represented Laura Mwirigi in her purchase at Windsor Over Peachtree. He says some buyers are also thinking of the future. “I’ve run into a lot of investment properties where there’s multiple offers in town,” he said. “Investors are taking money and putting it in a very safe investment with equity.”
2. Giving options draws traffic.
One tactic Judy Crawford with Dream Street Properties is taking: listing homes for rent, lease purchase or lease option. One of those was a 2006 townhome in Cumming’s Pinnacle Glen subdivision. It sold last month for $168,350.
3. The $100,000s have been a magic number.
Dianne Stump, an agent with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, has seen that, especially with condos. She sold two units in the $190,000s in the active adult Villas at Stone Mountain in the past year. Another condo property, within walking distance of downtown Decatur, sold for $166,000. “We marked it way down, and it flew off the market,” she said. “What I’m seeing is that the younger people are buying. Maybe they’re planning on getting their bonuses and using the money as a down payment because the interest rate is so low right now.”
4. But high-end homes are finding buyers, too.
Even though they represent a small percentage of total home sales, new homes and resales in the $1 million-plus range are moving, Johnson said. But the prices are being negotiated - instead of fetching $1.3 million, a home might sell for $1.1 million. “A lot of people who buy and sell in that price range save their money,” he said, “and then they wait for the appropriate time when their money will buy them more. They live for markets like this. Basically the property is on sale.”
5. The middle market is struggling … but could get better.
Johnson said one problem last year was the maximum amount - $417,000 - that government-sponsored mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae would back. People were having a “dickens of a time” putting $250,000 down, for example, on a home in the $600,000s-$700,000s. But those programs are increasing their limits under the economic stimulus bill, which Johnson said could help “break that logjam.”
