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What is my USP?

May 21, 2012 By Lee Leave a Comment

My USP, my Ultimate Selling Proposition as a Georgia real estate agent, is that my team and I deliver exceptional marketing for our seller clients, and we help our buyer clients get fantastic deals, one detailed contract at a time. The Intown neighborhoods of Atlanta and Decatur are littered with failed sellers and with mistaken buyers. There are too many real estate agents who can’t keep their signs straight or keep flyer boxes full, or even how to position properties for internet validity. Regardless, our neighborhoods are also blessed with rich amenities, diverse and interesting cultures and subcultures, and inherent Georgia value, lot for lot, street by street. I know that most of the time, once a seller has the right information, then they will make an informed decision about pricing and staging their property to sell quickly and for the highest possible price. I have a 93 Point marketing plan that has been proven to get houses sold 6 times faster than the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Eastside, General Information, Northside, Really Great Real Estate Marketing, Southside, Westside

My BIG WHY

May 21, 2012 By Lee Leave a Comment

My BIG WHY, my purpose in life, is to be focused on complete freedom. And, with freedom comes responsibility. In order to have complete freedom, the order of my life requires me to have abundant resources, and the best way that I can obtain those resources is to do what I do everyday, to live life to the fullest everyday with those that I love and care about, and to share my positive energy, my wealth, my wisdom, my love and my compassion with the rest of the world. It just so happens that my Daughter, Kaylie gets most of the good stuff. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fun Facts, General Information

The generation ahead in housing

April 16, 2012 By Lee Leave a Comment

Why do I care who “Tyler Durden” is? Because “Tyler Durden” told the world about an article that Charles Hugh Smith wrote. Tyler operates a blogsite called Zero Hedge. Tyler is anonymous. On April 11, Charles Hugh Smith asked “What if housing is done for a generation?” He states that “declining employment, income and household formation are complex, long-term trends. If they continue trending down, so too will housing.” My daughter is 4 years old and she is the generation ahead – she has immense, positive possibilities for her future. Massive positive changes for the good of mankind are ahead. Futuristic amazement. She’s a child that will grow up Intown – some of the massive, positive changes that are coming her way are driven by a demand for sustainable Intown living, a demand for automation and efficiency, and a demand for high touch, in a world of high tech – you name it – cool stuff is ahead. So, does that mean that the average value of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General Information, Market Analysis

Intown Atlanta’s #1 crime

April 12, 2012 By Lee Leave a Comment

I moved to Euclid Avenue in Inman Park in 1998 and I have lived in Kirkwood and now Decatur. Ever since I moved Intown, the #1 property crime has always been the “auto break in.” For the first time ever, this particular crime affects me. It sounds like there is a coordinated wave happening too, according to an APD article about a recent arrest. I am the victim of a car break in in the parking lot at 27 Waddell, last night around 9pm. It’s the lot at my daughter’s pre-school. It’s the lot that Yoga Samadhi and Sauced use. I'm really angry about this, and I want this to be the last break in our lot. It sucks to have this happen. It sucks that is it probably going to happen in 30307 about once every 60 minutes almost every night of the week...it really sucks that it happened in our lot, twice in two days. This is my first "car break in." I'm 46. I know that this is the most frequent and quite frankly the easiest crime to commit in Zone 6. I know that enough to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ATL Culture and Events, Eastside, Fun Facts, General Information, Inman Park

Gary Keller thinks big about Intown Atlanta real estate

March 14, 2012 By Lee Leave a Comment

A client of mine motivated me to give my opinion on a simple valuation idea. He wants to base future value of a 2012 purchase on the recent value of the same piece of real estate back in 2007. I suggested that if 2007 is a baseline for him…not so fast. Literally - not so fast. A return to 2007 prices is likely to be decades away, and for only select US submarkets. Others are literally stagnant or dead. Unrecoverable. The US real estate market is not best measured today, or in the future by using 2007 as a baseline for quick comparison. Gary Keller’s message is North American in scope, but his mindset can help anyone see the bigger real estate picture on their Intown Atlanta or Decatur street. I wouldn't be bold enough to state that about 2007 unless I heard that from someone else - I'm no expert, but Gary Keller is. I've known Gary for 14 years. He's the best agent in the country and he built Keller Williams Realty over the past 29 years as the real estate agency … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Eastside, Fun Facts, General Information, Market Analysis, Northside, Really Great Real Estate Marketing, Southside, Westside

About 500,000 Atlanta houses underwater

March 2, 2012 By Lee Leave a Comment

The headline sounds gloomy doesn’t it? The good news is that we are only talking about distressed sales being 30% of the FOR SALE market. The venerable Atlanta Business Chronicle reported on the latest CoreLogic numbers in a recent article: “In metro Atlanta, 37.4 percent, or 456,242, of all residential properties with a mortgage were in negative equity in the fourth quarter of 2011. This compares with 34.5 percent, or 420,160 properties in the third quarter. Another 6.8 percent, or 83,248 residential properties, were in near negative equity in the fourth quarter, compared with 7 percent, or 85,819, in the third quarter.” Negative equity is another term for underwater. Underwater means that a homeowner owes more to a bank or to more than one bank, than their property is worth for sale. These 456,242 homeowners are spread throuhout metro Atlanta. Some neighborhoods have a higher concentration than others. Mark Fleming, Chief Economist with CoreLogic states: “The high … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Eastside, Market Analysis, Northside, Southside, Westside

Listing to sell in Intown Atlanta

February 29, 2012 By Lee Leave a Comment

Many submarkets of Intown Atlanta and Decatur are seeing very low levels of inventory for sale. The latest numbers in many of our markets show inventory levels down 25% - 30% from last year. The mix of properties is changing as well. For the 20-county metro area, short sales & foreclosures were 60% of the total transactions last year. But remember that real estate is local and many markets are different. We are now seeing lots of markets where short sales & foreclosures were only 20-25% of the transactions. The market conditions are improving for sellers, and resales are going to drive sales in 2012. The conditions that drive sales are improving so it might be the right time to get your house ready for showing. If you want to attain the highest market value for your property, you must have exceptional marketing. Exceptional marketing - That’s where I come in. Remember, you only get one chance to make a great first impression - so curb appeal INSIDE AND OUT is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Eastside, General Information, Market Analysis, Northside, Really Great Real Estate Marketing, Southside, Westside

Fannie Mae Homepath and the new online offer system

February 28, 2012 By Lee Leave a Comment

Fannie Mae was founded in 1938 at the end of the Great Depression. The Federal National Mortgage Association plays an even greater role in the housing market today as our nation recovers from the worst housing crisis since the Great Depression. Making an offer to purchase a Fannie Mae HomePath property is now quick, easy, and entirely online! Beginning February 2, all offers on HomePath properties must be made using the HomePath Online Offer system. More good news - you can set up your own profile on their site and search all you want, nationwide - it's a feature rich site, and the bid process is way more efficient than many other methods of real estate purchase and sale today. All offers for HomePath properties must be submitted through a licensed real estate broker/agent, so that's where I come in! … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Eastside, General Information, Market Analysis, Northside, Really Great Real Estate Marketing, Southside, Westside

Free parking in downtown Decatur

February 18, 2012 By Lee Leave a Comment

Free parking for my guests. My office is located at 315 W. Ponce De Leon Avenue Suite 100 Decatur, GA 30030. That's in downtown Decatur, at the corner of Ponce De Leon Place, in a tall, white office tower called "Decatur Court." We have free parking for my guests - the spaces marked "Keller Williams Guest" are parallel spaces, along the eastern side of the building - those spaces are accessed by pulling into the driveway that leads to the Wells Fargo teller lines on the Eastern side of the building. If you have trouble finding those spaces, just park and come in - we are located on the first floor. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Architecture, Eastside, Fun Facts, General Information, Greater Decatur, Really Great Real Estate Marketing

The cavalry ain’t coming to your expired Atlanta listing

February 16, 2012 By Lee Leave a Comment

But a US Army logistics officer named Lee Taylor is. I met Chris Gardner yesterday – the guy that wrote the book, “The Pursuit of Happyness.” He’s a remarkable man. He says some things in his recently published book “Start Where You Are” that should resonate with Atlanta sellers who really, truly want to sell their houses in 2012, even if their attempts at being ON the market haven’t worked so far. Chris teaches a lesson that should resonate with you if you are among the more than 50% of all listed sellers in the past few years, that failed to sell. Chris learned this lesson from his Mother one night while they were watching an old Western TV show – “The cavalry ain’t coming!” Here’s a further look into what that means, from page 33 of his recent book: “yes, I can speak to factors outside of my control and blame them for the predicament or make excuses about why things didn’t work out like they should have…maybe it’s all true, but that doesn’t … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Eastside, Market Analysis, Northside, Really Bad Real Estate Marketing, Really Great Real Estate Marketing, Southside, Westside