A potential Buyer named Penelope (named after Penelope Pitstop?) asked this question on Trulia Voices this week and she got this response from me, in addition to 11 other answers…here’s an edited version…

Yes, Atlanta is a declining market. Steve in Rohnert Park is right and better data sources than Case Schiller back up that roughly 10% decline.

My latest advisory letter from Steve Palm states – for a broad “metro Atlanta” market – the word “decline” 14 times. If he put the bottom line up front then you would read this:

“Oil prices have been falling and the government is doing their best to stabilize our financial markets. In order for a housing uptick to occur in 2009 oil has to fall and stay down and the financial markets must have the ability to finance home mortgages.”

That being said, here is Steve Palm’s September 21 letter in it’s entirety… Read the rest of this entry »

Nate Dorn over at Dornstar Productions identified a timely and topical photography opportunity at one of his B movie outings – apparently, somewhere in East Atlanta, a bunch of folks were made to look like Zombies for a few days.

Here’s a link to a taste of The Zombie Art Show, which is coming to Octane Coffee House on the Westside on October 10th. That’s a Friday night!

I’ve seen a few of the shots and Nate really nailed a cool opportunity – the photos should be hot sellers, amongst the freaky collector set.

Make sure that you check out the link, and while I have this unique opportunity to write an article about Zombies, I’ll leave you with a video from one of my favorite British Invasion bands, The Zombies – performing “She’s Not There” in 1965.

Frontdoor is the web franchise of the phenomenally successful Home and Garden Television network.

The website has been live for about 5 months or so, and it is still in Beta. Nevertheless, it’s media rich and loaded with bright insights on residential real estate. Great domain name too!

This article on real estate trends is timely and indisputable. It is a must read and it is loaded with links to many other pertinent articles that take each trend to a deeper level of understanding.

My third favorite trend is trend #10: Flipping is out, buying and holding is in.

Falling prices and a large inventory of unsold homes mean there are more potential bargains out there. Real estate investors are taking advantage of current conditions, knowing that a down market is the best time to get a good deal.

My second favorite trend is trend #6: Urban areas are making a comeback.

The U.S. experienced a mass exodus to the ‘burbs after World War II, but homebuyers are now regaining interest in downtown areas. Urban core homes are often more expensive per square foot than their suburban counterparts, but many buyers are willing to pay a premium to avoid long commutes and urban sprawl.

My favorite trend is trend #4: Bad real estate agents will get weeded out.

In the past, homes practically sold themselves, and enterprising people became part-time real estate agents. Nowadays, home sellers are looking for premium service and expertise from Realtors in exchange for the 6 percent commission. And savvy buyers want an agent who offers insight and knowledge not available on the Internet. So be selective — only the best Realtors will succeed in this market.

I told my business partner Greg the other day that I believe that we will lose at least 30% more of the “Licensed Real Estate Salesperson” headcount in metropolitan Atlanta, and that we will keep it that way for a long time.

Earlier today, I bet my friend Eric Benjamin, “The King of Decatur and Tucker too” that we would lose 30% of the headcount at the Atlanta Board of Realtors – he says that we will lose only 20%. We will complete the bet next October!

It would be a really good thing to cull the herd of boring, part-time real estate agents who purvey their mediocre talent with misspelled contracts, disorganized business practices and of course, my favorite - the poorly assembled, non-erect sign. I think that going forward, we should make the tests harder and that the bar should be raised for continuing education of licensees. Many agents have been part of the problem for a long, long time.

Otherwise, in the market of the moment many agents are doing a very poor job selling houses - if you want a serious marketing plan, a serious team of fiduciaries and multitudinous exposure on the worldwide web at over 30 unique websites, plus lots more than what is becoming very average in our business, then The Rootdown Group is one phone call away.

We are very good Listing agents and we call it like we see it.

We are very good Buyer’s agents and we are veterans at the closing table.

We have a twenty year business plan and Dana, Greg and I are the core group who will grow our practice and who will keep helping people buy and sell real estate for years to come.

Think Intown, Think Rootdown.

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