Back in 2009, a fellow from California named Dennis called me and asked me to help him sell a house, a “retail flip” in the Parkview community. Parkview is just across Memorial Drive from my neighborhood, Kirkwood.

We told everyone who had an interest in the eventual $217,000 sale of a gorgeous 4/2/1 in August 2009 that a nifty new shopping center is coming soon to Parkview. Now, it’s real – Parkview Station is coming in the Fall of 2010.

I’ve been hearing about the redevelopment of Parkview Plaza, a rather dilapidated and lowly looking 1960’s built shopping center, ever since I moved Intown in 1998. The rhetoric started to pick up in 2007, and lo and behold the roof is getting a skin over, the front facade is getting a facelift and the whole place will be filled with tenants by Autumn 2010…we hope.

Here’s  a video with a quick look at the project, shot on Monday February 8th.

So, if you’ve read my blog posts before, you know that I take occasional subjective leaps. Here’s another one:

Parkview is also the name of a storied drug and alcohol treatment center that once existed in Nashville, Tennessee.

Country music legend and pioneering television star, Porter Wagoner sang a song that Johnny Cash wrote for him, “Committed to Parkview” on his final LP and here is a video that he cut with Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives that offers a haunting interpretation of the lyrics that Mr. Cash wrote – the legend is that both Johnny and Porter were once patients at Parkview and ultimately, they both kicked some demons there…

The players on this shopping center redevelopment are all veterans of nearby redevelopment projects, so with a neighborly heart I want to see them succeed with a bustling shopping center filled with nice stores, bars, restaurants and healthy local businesses.

I took my old friends at The Fresh Market and their broker on an Intown tour back in 2007, and they concluded that the opportunities on Memorial would not work for them. I think that The Fresh Market would be a perfect fit in  our Kroger / Publix / Wayfield / Aldi / Piggly Wiggly world of eastern Dekalb County, but really, I’m selfish and what do I really know about shopping center demography?

I know that the redevelopment team are committed to Parkview Station, but lets hope that they don’t get “committed” to “Parkview” in the risky process of making money in commercial redevelopment nowadays…

On Friday, January 22 I filmed this quick look at the Home of the World Famous Ghetto Burger.

I saw that the property is listed for sale in my multiple listing service, so I decided that it was time for a couple of quick videos – this snack bar is a very successful “sole proprietorship.”

I like to call it a “soul proprietorship” because Miss Ann is the heart, and soul of her little place at 1615 Memorial Drive Kirkwood, ATL, Zone 6, GA 30317.

I’ve eaten here twice and waited for over an hour in a standing room only crowd, and left the premises, unfed, three times…

The burger is everything that “they” say that it is. They starts with the Wall Street Journal, and many other media mouthpieces and food-aholic burger-eaters.

But I’m not writing about burgers, I’m writing about Intown Atlanta real estate. Read the rest of this entry »

First take about 7 minutes and you’ll see a tour that takes you from Kirkwood’s Bessie Branham Park over to the prettiest house in Kirkwood.

Along the way, you’ll see the edges of Hawthorn Park’s 6 acre greenspace and you’ll see all 47 of the houses in Hawthorn Park, an island in the middle of Kirkwood.

You’ll see one of my competitors signs, leaning and lacking erection too – I always get a kick out of that, especially when the sign has only been in the ground for 18 hours.

But I digress…check this out – it even features an MLK Day civil rights music soundtrack with Stevie Wonder singing “Heaven Help Us All.”

Now, here’s the prettiest house in Kirkwood – from my perspective. It is impeccable. It’s priced under the recent average price for a new or newer 3 bedroom 2 and 1/2 bath property in 30317. It’s loaded with extras – check this video out. I start the video in the custom Master Bedroom closet…

If you want to study some photos and contemplate this house a little longer, please click here for the virtual tour.

Just $395,000!

Thanks for watching! Call me if you want to see “The Prettiest House in Kirkwood!”

Kirkwood is one of Atlanta’s coolest and most historic neighborhoods. Kirkwood is located less than 10 minutes from downtown Atlanta and going back a few hundred years, you’ll learn that many sites in Kirkwood were part of the Battle of Atlanta, and that Kirkwood was once a separate city that Atlanta “annexed” in 1922.

Tomorrow, a few of us are hosting Open Houses between 1130am and 200pm.

I live in Hawthorn Park, and I’m showcasing one of my neighbor’s houses for sale.

Hawthorn Park is a 5 year old neighborhood featuring 47 homes built by Springdale Homes – they are an award winning builder, and the neighborhood features a lush, creekside park that is 6 acres in size.

I call it an island in the middle of Kirkwood…

If you want to see a remarkable house priced at $400,000 – then come check out my listing at 195 Hawthorn Circle…I’ll also have Six Feet Under catering and $5 gift certificates for every attendee.

Here are three tantalizing photos of my property listing:

Here’s a link to the virtual flyer for this gorgeous property at Showing247.com.

There are 4 other houses on tour tomorrow – each of them are substantially renovated, “Kirkwood Classics” priced between $327,500 and $369,000. Come see them all!

I’ll have a flyer printed for you to pick up that will help you navigate the tour!

Please come check out the 5 houses on tour tomorrow, Tuesday October 13!

This is another post adapted from one of my “Trulia Voices” answers – I certainly write enough online, and I write enough meaningful content in my email communications with clients, everyday, so the discipline of choosing one good post a day isn’t that difficult. The proof will be in my consistency.

So, someone asked – is Kirkwood, my neighborhood, a safe neighborhood?

Well, I live on an island in the middle of Kirkwood… I’ve lived here for 5 years. My wife and I are raising our young daughter here, and we join hundreds of other families in Kirkwood who are here doing the same thing.

In addition, hundreds of people have lived in Kirkwood for decades and crime is always a concern-check out some other Trulia Voices Q&A on crime, and you’ll see that this subject arises about Kirkwood and other Intown Atlanta neighborhoods, frequently.

Yeah, so my island is called Hawthorn Park-a 47 home community of recently built houses with a lovely 6 acre park next to it.

Before I lived in Kirkwood, I lived in APD Police Zone 6, in Inman Park. Zone 6 HQ is in Kirkwood, so I began visiting the neighborhood back in 1998. Kirkwood has way less crime than we did back then, and for 2 years we have had a terrific citizen run Security Patrol that adds about 25 hours of uniformed patrolling a week, in addition to the 2 police beat officers that patrol the area, 24×7.

That being said, we have our share of crime. If you live in the city limits, you are 4x more likely to be a crime victim than if you do not.

Start there.

Is Kirkwood safe? Well, let’s look at it like I do when I’m advising my clients-qualifying a Kirkwood purchase starts with understanding that your Kirkwood purchase requires a street by street, immediate neighbor by immediate neighbor evaluation. Choose the right house. Once you purchase, choose to be practical with basic, smart security.

Simple.

Is Kirkwood “safe?”

Well, we had a storm 3 weeks ago that ripped down some old growth trees and if you were standing underneath one of those trees, then you were certainly in an “unsafe” part of Kirkwood that night.

We barely had one crime on my island in 5 years and it happened back in September.

Barely-some dudes tried to break in to what they thought was a vacant house, but my neighbor was inside. He screamed like a girl, and they scrammed.

Safety is relative.

For those who are concerned, well, there is always the suburbs, featuring a united nations of gangs, drunken yuppies on golf carts, Whitney Houston behind the wheel of an Escalade, steroid fueled rednecks, and murder/suicides on a much grander scale than us boring old Intowners can possibly create.

This chart is a big eye opener.

Take into account the following facts:

1. The <$200K price range had a more severe impact (-24.9 percentage points) on the percentage of listing price realized after a price reduction, but all price ranges are affected heavily when a reduction is necessary

2. The lower price range impact was likely amplified by the number of foreclosed properties in that price range

3. Between $200K and $999,999, Sellers who don’t price their property right the first time are losing anywhere from 5-8% on the sale … that doesn’t even account for the lost capital – time is money, and monthly debts must be paid, month after overpriced month

In the past 2 weeks, we’ve concluded the following, in addition to this bold statement about the effect of price reductions:

A. Sellers are paying some or all closing costs in about 71% of Intown transactions

B. Most Listing Agents and Sellers, most of the time are off by about 7% List vs. SOLD on Intown sales

C. The Median Sales Price is down 10.1% through the first half for the Intown neighborhoods we surveyed

Here are the submarkets that we studied…

1. Ansley Park and Morningside southward to Inman Park and Reynoldstown – that includes Midtown and VAHI

2. Eastside Atlanta Dekalb – the neighborhoods East of Moreland and Briarcliff, plus Johnson Estates and southward to Edgewood and Kirkwood – all North of I20

3. Southside Atlanta Fulton – Grant Park, Summerhill, Boulevard Heights, Ormewood Park, EAV

4. Greater Decatur – South of Mercer U, down to I20 at South Dekalb Mall

If you seek a detailed, street by street market analysis of your neighborhood, or if you are tired of hearing the same old thing from real estate agents and so-called property marketers, then call The Rootdown Group. You will be glad that you did…