Atlanta Real Estate

Today we’re going to look at places within the Perimeter.  Beazer Homes is one place that supplies housing in Atlanta.  One of the communities currently in development is selling prior to building.  The homes are in the ‘upper $300s’, mostly at around $380,000.  What is so special about these is that at Dresden Place you can select from amongst three basic designs and have one of those built.  This gives you unprecedented flexibility regarding placement within a developing subdivision.

While Dresden Creek is located in the ‘far northern suburbs’ of Atlanta, Bismark Place is the other Beazer Home development and it is located tighter into the City of Atlanta at the junction of Route 23.

This another option for people who want the simplicity of a pre-built home along with greater control.  This also works well for those who would prefer to go to a realtor knowing what they want.

 For more information visit atlanta-homes-guide.com a Atlanta Homes real estate agent

Today we’ll have another overview of the Atlanta, Georgia housing market.  There are people running tallies on these things.  This very day, in real time, there are over 50,000 units for sale in the Greater Atlanta area.

Of these: what are the main types of homes available for purchase? We have the master planned communities.  These are organized to include shopping and recreation possibilities along with a genuine hope that the people living in the neighborhood will choose to behave like a community.  Some of the master planned communities even have specific intentions regarding the connection between the housing and the work location.  You can choose the age that you wish your home to be.  For example: you can go to a real estate agent and tell him or her, “Look, I want a thirty year old home in a master planned community inside the Perimeter.”  That kind of information will tell them a lot. 

There are planned communities that were not master planned: this means there is a neighborhood and the builders relied upon other business people to see the opportunity to create the rest of the community.

You can tell your real estate agent, “We want a loft within 5 miles of downtown that is under $300,000 that used to be a warehouse, near MARTA.”

There are apartments, loft units, brand new condos, brand new homes, homes ranging in age from 1 year to 100 years in age, lot sizes vary a great deal, townhomes, and fully detached houses in addition to the fully detached mobile home.  Manufactured homes are often small and in groups, but unlike an apartment you all have your own walls.

Are you looking for homes in Buckhead Visit us at atlanta-homes-guide.com a Atlanta real estate.

Okay, those luxury homes were beautiful but you’d like a place to live and a $5Mil home either makes you laugh or cry into your Friday night beer.

It’s okay…You’ve seen more middle ground lately, but its starting to depress you…

Don’t worry.  Today, I’m going to drop you a good line.  There’s a site called TurnHome.com that deals in HUD homes.  Don’t let pride get in your way; most of these houses are a steal in that for some reason they’ve been recently reduced in price. 

Right at this minute the main type of place that is on offer through this organization on the Southern side of Atlanta are ranch and split level homes.  These are really decent residential places with a norm of three bedrooms.  Several of them have a layer of brick on the outside providing solidity and stability.  The prices range from $50K to $250K giving many a great bargain.  Of course this is a relief for all of you who want a nice home and wish the ‘fantasy stuff with the mansions’ would just stop.

 For more information visit atlanta-homes-guide.com a Atlanta Homes real estate agent

Where are the homes in the Greater Atlanta area?  With a sweeping hand we can say, ‘around’, but much of the development during the 1990’s concentrated in the North. 

As mentioned, many entries ago now, there has also been and still is significant urban revitalization going on within Atlanta itself. 

The racial differences are noticeably associated with location.  Admittedly this can be viewed both as good and as bad depending upon one’s preferences, beliefs, and values.  The city suffered from ‘white flight’ for  a decade or so.  One good side effect of this has been that it became easier for Atlanta to nurture the local African-American leadership who are now steering the ship so to speak. 

Regardless of whether you choose to live in town, in a revitalized neighborhood, or a classical neighborhood or suburb rest assured that Atlanta has drawn in tens of thousands of new residents yearly for the past two decades fueling that growth.

If you are looking for new homes in Buford , visit us at atlanta-homes-guide.com a Atlanta homes.

Of course when you look to buy a home in the Atlanta area you need to take into account whether or not you are going to have children there.  Home saftey for children is probably one of the most important issues that any family faces.  Here are a few tips.

 The design of the home will either enhance or inhibit the ability to keep the children safe.  Naturally, some features are conducive to this.  Places to avoid: the loft style apartment is a definite ‘no no’ to anyone under age ten.  The main reason for this is the open second story.  Although reasonably safe for agile felines and generally charming for adults, the ‘open loft’ is a source of raw sheer terror for the parent of anyone uner the age of three.

To take care of child safety in a house is less problematic.  Fortunately we live in an era where there are many gadgets to make your home ‘child proof’.  Gates are the number one item required for any multi-level home.  These are always worth the cost.  Often, you can prevent hundreds of premature grey hairs by simply gating any and every staircase.  These can be set at a height that you can easily step over as an adult, but those little people who think it is okay to eat out of the pet’s food dish cannot transgress that ‘gate’ boundary and dozens of tumbles down the stairs are prevented.

Nowadays, all you need to do regarding the electricity is to buy plugs for the outlets and another wonderful new device for older children prevents ‘door jammed fingers’.

You don’t have to buy a ranch house just because you have children, but a bedroom door that leads directly to a staircase had best be gated!

If you are looking for homes in Decatur , visit us at atlanta-homes-guide.com a Atlanta homes real estate agent.

Hm, so there you are furtively wanting a home but silently intimidated by the whole process.  Not only that you are not Mr. or Ms. Casholoa and not even Mr. or Ms. Great Salary.  So, what do you do other than feel meek?  Brave you, you have found a way to begin to look for information about homes, and even about buying.

Here’s something that I found to be simple yet astoundingly helpful.  You can actually look at how much you pay in rent and use that to calculate the price of a home that you might well be able to afford.  In the example I found, it turned out that $750/month could indicate possibilities for a $150,000 home: I never would have ‘guessed’ that one.  Would you have?  Of course, most half trained real estate agents would have trouble pretending they did not know that.

This blog is for the whole economic spectrum, so today, we are going to look at home buying services offered to help lower income people and folks who ’just don’t know’.  HUD offers services that include step by step instructions to take you through the home buying process at their web site.  The online access portal will also connect you to the office nearest to you.  Federal and state levels of government have helpful services.  Each and every state has a web-link.  Did you know that there are even such things as ‘home buying vouchers’- sounds wild doesn’t it.

So there you have it, some helpful hints for hopeful first timers on tight budgets. 

 For more information visit atlanta-homes-guide.com a Atlanta real estate agent

Hm, so you’re looking to move into or within Atlanta.  You have many considerations that go into this ranging from pricing, location and space.  There are some reasons why you may seek out a duplex.  They are semi-detached and so have more of a house feeling than a loft apartment or townhome quality, which can be very nice.  If you prefer the residential urban type of atmosphere then you may have another good reason to go for a duplex.  These are also frequently relatively inexpensive to live in which may improve the quality of the neighborhood along with both spaciousness and privacy that you can afford.

Another reason for choosing a duplex is to do so as an investment.  In these cases you can buy one to have as a rental, or you can live in one side and rent out the other.

Yet another good reason can be to keep your family close.  This also works for people who divorce but want to help one another and want to help their children to be happy but just need a bit more privacy and distance from their former spouse.  Imagine how much easier it is to share custody when your kids’ other parent is literally the neighbor!  This is undoubtedly the next best thing to finding a way to live together or to stay together as a couple.  If it isn’t ‘that type of family situation’ then you can also keep good friends, or intergenerational familial relationships close yet separate using a duplex allowing for enhanced privacy yet the opportunity for a great deal of togetherness is equally well preserved.

The duplex: a surprisingly great option for your home needs!

If you are looking for new homes in Downtown , visit us at atlanta-homes-guide.com a Atlanta homes real estate agent.

The big city has a large Botanical Garden.  Membership is not too steep, and of course this gem is located near MARTA making it accessible even to those prone to ‘road rage’.  Leave the car at home!

Currently, up until October there is an event called Niki in the Garden.  What is great is that this exhibit is not just work by a twentieth century progressive woman, but that you can get all over many of her scultpures.  The hands on, play around feeling to the exhibit makes is uniquely appealing to children and for all those touchy and playful souls.  The art itself is part of the Realism movement, and is bright and colorful.  There is something about the shape and color of her sculptures for the Niki in the Garden exhibit that is reminiscent of a woman’s clothed bosom and coloring books somehow combined.  This exhibit has a great deal of ‘woman who is with the children in the garden and they do play’ feeling to it from the first instant you set eyes on it.  The creatrix of the art, a French born LaPhalle, passed away in 2002 but created several exhibits that are used outdoors at various locations around the world.  Her work was large scale.

This is just a reminder that if you visit or relocate to Atlanta, joining the local Botanical Garden can be a great source of cultural enhancement whether you move into a metropolitan loft or a house, and with or without offspring.

For more details visit us at atlanta-homes-guide.com a Atlanta downtown real estate agent

The city of Atlanta has won a grant to increase the amount of greenways in the urban area.  The idea is to create a Belt Line of foliage and areas for walking and bicycling.  The way of doing this in this case is to transform the areas of old railroad pathways through town, as has already been done in Indianapolis, Indiana for example.

This is just one of the many ways that the city of Atlanta is seeking to improve itself, making it the ‘dreamland’ of the New South.  The energy is one of progression and of healthy growth. 

This new change is made possible by a grant from the federal level of the government, and is a proud win for the people and the governing bodies of the municipality of Atlanta.

For more information visit atlanta-homes-guide.com a Atlanta real estate agent.

Yes, everyone matters on this blog.  Did you know that the annual income level for people to be eligible to get help in creating their own home with Habitat for Humanity is about $16,000?  So far this international group, founded in 1976, has built 150,000 in various nations around the world.

If you have an income of this level, it may be possible for you to get a home other than a ‘trailor’ also known as a pre-manufactured home, or a ‘mobile home’.  However, act fast, because conditions are changing.

Habitat has been most active near Atlanta in Douglas County, which is to the West.  Right now, however there is a danger.  The trouble may not be what you thought.  It’s zoning regulations!  Many of you know these are political hot spots, but so many others of you have been ignorant of this up until today.  New zoning laws are demanding larger homes, of at least 1500 square feet instead of 1300 and in some locations are requiring garages.  This all seems fine and dandy until you think of ‘the little guy’.  The folks at Habitat have calculated the cost: these new restrictions force them to build homes that are $8000-$10,000 more according to the Associated Press.  Much of the cost revolves around the increase in footage and garages. 

Be alert to this, as Habitat has said that this will force them to only help people who are earning at least $18,000/year despite their desire to not be biased against the poor.

Also be aware that you could contact Habitat, especially if your annual budget is running in the “$20sK” to help you build your very own home within commuting distance of Atlanta, Georgia.

If you are looking for homes in Druid Hills , visit us at atlanta-homes-guide.com a Atlanta homes real estate agent