Georgia Real Estate Voice

Woodland Gate in Smyrna, GA is a subdivision with 121 traditional homes close to the East-West Connector off of Argo Rd.  Woodland Gate is an Earthcraft Home community built by award- winning builder Monte Hewett and Highland Homes.  The subdivision consists of Duxford Drive, Harlington Road, Healey Drive, and Healey Walk.  This is a swim tennis community with 2  tennis courts and league play.

Woodland Gate homes were built between 2001 and 2003. All of the homes are 2 story containing 4 to 6 bedrooms, with square footage between 3,163 and 7,452. The homes at Woodland Gate have 2 and 3 car garages with both front and side entries.  Basements are available in select properties.  

Students at Woodland Gate attend Cobb County's Nickajack Elementary and Campbell Middle and High Schools.

Home Buyers always want to know what's close by, so the following should help:

•·         Publix grocery store is less than a mile away.

•·         The closest post office is on S. Cobb Drive in Smyrna, about 3 miles away.

•·         For recreation, there is a county park and playground across the street from the Woodland Gate Entrance.  Other parks within about 2 miles from Woodland Gate include Nickajack Park and Rhyne Park.

•·         The Silver Comet Trail is a paved 61 mile no motors allowed trail that  is close by off the East- West Connector at Fontaine Rd.

•·         There are numerous gyms within 1 mile of Woodland Gate.

•·         There's lots of banks, including Vinings Bank on Atlanta Rd, just about a mile and a half away.  I love Vinings Bank because it's a small community bank and you can use any ATM anywhere without fees. 

Homes at Woodland Gate are currently listed in the low $300,000's to upper $400,000's. See all the homes for sale at Woodland Gate.

 If you're thinking of buying or selling a home in Smyrna, GA contact Jen Bowman, Broker Associate with Keller Williams Realty Atlanta Partners at 404-456-5024.

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The Heritage at Vinings

It seems with every day there are new opportunities.   Yesterday it was announced that Zip Realty is changing things and closing 11 of their market centers including Atlanta, GA.   See the Inman News article.

I invite all Zip Realty agents and any other agent looking for a change to check out Keller Williams Realty.

Why?

On Thursday January 13 Keller Williams Realty Commercial is hosting the SE Area Commercial Conference being held at the Gwinnett Civic Center from 8:30 to 4:30 p.m.  This is a great opportunity to check out Keller Williams Commercial division.  

On Friday January 14, 2011 we have a CE Class for 3 credits.  It's called Shift and it's about adapting to the changing market.  This class is free and open to all.  (If Gwinnett County schools are closed due to the weather, then the office is closed and this will be moved to a later date.)

On Monday January 17, we are sponsoring the First Step to BOLD from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.  It's a coaching program that will dramatically change your business, for the better.  I did it last year and it was awesome. This is also free and open to all.

On Thursday January 27 Keller Williams Realty Atlanta Partners celebrates our Grand Opening in our brand new office space from 5 to 7 p.m.   One of the things I love about our new office is that it has an internet cafe and a place for agents to meet and share ideas.  Everyone's invited!

On Friday January 28 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. we have a Buyer Mastery Class. It's 3 hours of Continuing Education credit and it's free.

These are just a few of the things on our calendar.  Please contact me with any questions you may have on joining Keller Williams Realty at any of our offices or if you'd just like to register for the free classes for your Continuing Education Credits.

By the way, in addition to ongoing training and a fantastic office staff, we also have group health insurance.

Jen Bowman, Broker Associate and member of the Agent Leadership Council for Keller Williams Realty Atlanta Partners - 404-456-5024

It's freezing inside -  Here's a peek into my job as an Atlanta Realtor.  I truly love my job, but this picture shows something I could do without.  The picture is of a thermostat in a home I was in this morning.

It was 37 degrees inside and I had gone over to check to make sure the utilities were on before our Tuesday inspection.  The power is on, but no gas, so there's no heat.

I was talking to a seller from California yesterday who owns a property here in Atlanta that I'm listing.  She asked if it got cold enough for pipes to freeze.  Yes, it absolutely does, which is why vacant houses need to have the plumbing winterized (antifreeze in the toilets) or the heat has to be on, so it doesn't get this cold indoors.

Most of the foreclosed properties have no heat on and sometimes it feels colder inside than it does outside.  If you own a vacant home that is for sale, it's a good idea to at least keep the heat at a minimal temperature so that buyers aren't shivering when they are trying to decide how cozy that living room would be.

If you are thinking of buying or selling a home in metro Atlanta, call Jen Bowman, Broker Associate with Keller Williams Realty Atlanta Partners at 404-456-5024.

Quoted in Inman News because of my Blog -  About a year and a half ago I started using digital or electronic signatures. I wrote a blog post comparing 2 providers, mostly just sharing my thoughts and trying to figure out which worked best for me. Last month a reporter from Inman News contacted me to ask about my experience. We spoke for about 20 minutes and last week the article came out in Inman News.

E-Signatures a Real Estate Reality - Inman News

I use e-signatures on every contract and listing agreement I can. I use them for every offer I submit. If we need to go back later and do wet signatures, than I do. It's the best time saver I know. Contracts are clean, have a documented history of who received it and when it was opened and signed, and best of all I am nearly paperless. My files used to be really thick with all the paper, now the only thing in my paper file is the HUD1 settlement statement. My last closing I scanned the HUD1 and then had no paper file.

E-signatures are great because anyone who has an email address can use it. No special equipment or software is needed. Just click and sign.  Digital signatures have been legal for a decade now, hopefully as digital signatures get more exposure, we will see more of them.

Thanks to Inman News for the article! Thanks to Active Rain for the forum to post in!

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Atlanta please contact me at 404-456-5024. Jen Bowman, Keller Williams Realty Atlanta Partners.  

FMLS is making more changes and I think they're good. In metro Atlanta, GA we have 2 Multiple Listing Services, GA MLS and FMLS which stands for First Multiple Listing Service.  I am a member of both because it gives my sellers the most exposure and it gives my buyers access to the most home choices.

The changes are as follows and they are scheduled to take place on January 14th, 2010 based on member feedback. It is the hope of FMLS that these enhancements will aid in more quickly matching buyers with sellers. New fields, field changes, enhanced features, and additional pick list selections are among the updates coming.

The most notable changes are:

• The addition of Square Footage and Square Footage Source for Residential Detached properties. This means that single family homes will now be able to list square footage. If you list square footage, you must list the source where it came from. Buyers should not solely rely on what is listed. We all know that information is deemed to be correct but may not always be. By the way, the square footage rule for condos and townhomes was added last year. If you're listing a condo, please include the square footage there too. I still see lots of listings that don't add the square footage for condos when that information is so easy to obtain.
• Increase in photos allowed per listing to 20 (formerly 16)  Buyers want to see photos. If there is a listing without photos, I think the listing agent is either lazy or the house is just so horrible they are afraid to show people what it looks like. If you're an agent wanting to get a house sold, do the maximum number of photos and make sure they are clear enough, please.
• Sold Listings to be stored for 5 years (formerly 3 years)  This is huge, especially in neighborhoods that don't have high turnover. Remember that the sold homes from 5 years ago cannot be used as comparables on a current appraisal, but it's just good information to know.
• Sold Listings to include a new field "Lender Mediated- Y/N"  This means that if a home was sold as a short sale, there's a space now to identify it as such, once again giving more accurate information for comparables in a neighborhood.
• Enhancements to the Shadow Listing Program (formerly Ghost Listing).  This Ghost or Shadow listing is one I think just confuses people. I recently saw the same home listed twice, with different areas and county listed because it was near the edge of Dekalb County near Fulton County. My opinion is that if all agents just put accurate information in to begin with we wouldn't need this feature. I have been seeing a lot of listings lately that are labeled as the wrong area. When this happens, if a savvy agent is searching by area and a listing is submitted incorrectly, it just won't show up in the search. This hurts both buyers and sellers. I can't change the world though... :)

I hope this information was helpful. If you are thinking of of buying or selling real estate in or around Decatur, GA contact Realtor Jen Bowman, Broker Associate & e-PRO with Success Realty at 404-456-5024.  We are also looking for quality real estate agents to join our team.

View more of the Georgia Real Estate Voice.   Search Decatur GA homes for Sale 

Yesterday I was showing homes in Atlanta GA and we pulled up to this one that was for sale. At first glance it looked odd to me, something was off.

This is the front of the house. Notice anything missing? That's right, no front door.

The "front door" is on the side of the house, facing the side of the neighbor's house. By the way, none of the other homes in the neighborhood had this design flaw. This wasn't a corner house either. The inside was choppy. I was thinking I really hope my buyer doesn't like this one because it will be a tough resale for me in the future.  When he said he didn't like it, I said Oh good, I wasn't going to be able to let you buy this one! It's too quirky. :)  As Realtors we see alot of homes. Sometimes we go to houses and we wonder what was this builder thinking?  What's the craziest design flaw you have seen?

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in or around Decatur, GA contact local expert and Realtor Jen Bowman, Broker Associate & e-PRO with Success Realty  at  404-456-5024.

View more of the Georgia Real Estate Voice.  Search Decatur GA homes for Sale 

This should be the outrage of the day - The City of Atlanta, GA has decided that Real Estate Agents should be fined for not maintaining properties if they cannot locate the Owner. That is ridiculous.  As Real Estate Agents, we are marketing the property, not the owners or operators of it. Thankfully, the Georgia Association of Realtors is backing their members. They advise Realtors to not pay any fines or penalties for code enforcement violations, as this could be setting a dangerous legal precedent for the real estate industry.

If you are a GA Realtor and are fined by Code Enforcement for the condition of a listed property, contact Georgia Association of Realtors Senior Director of Public Policy Keith Hatcher at 678-491-6585 to discuss your options.

See the letter from the Georgia Association of Realtors.

  If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in or around Atlanta, GA contact local expert and Realtor Jen Bowman, Broker Associate & e-PRO with Success Realty at 404-456-5024.

View more of the Georgia Real Estate Voice.  Search Atlanta GA homes for Sale

Pulte Homes and Centex Merge  - The following is an excerpt of an email I just received from Pulte Homes:

"...We are taking this opportunity to let you know that on Tuesday, August 18, the merger between Pulte Homes and Centex was completed. This merger has brought together two industry leaders with a combined 100+ years of experience and long-standing reputations for construction quality. With the merger completed, our company now includes many of the top brands in the industry -- Pulte Homes, Centex, Del Webb and DiVosta Homes -- offering a wide range of choices for you and your clients. ..." end of quote

Pulte is building the Overlook at Clairmont on Clairmont Rd in Decatur, GA next the to V.A. Hospital. The Overlook at Clairmont is a townhome community that is selling fast, even in this market. I was there a few weeks ago and am very impressed with their quality construction and attention to detail. They are brick townhomes with 2 car garages currently listed at $280K.

Centex Homes built Ivey Crest Townhomes in Tucker, GAnext to the Wal-Mart Shopping Center.  They are 1 car garage homes with 3 and 4 bedrooms. They were built around 2005 and resales usually sell around $175K.  (I'll have a new listing there again in March 2010, when the current tenants' lease is up for one of my clients.)

Del Webb is well known for their master planned Active Adult neighborhoods, for ages 55+.  Sun City Peachtree is just south of Atlanta GA.

I'm not familiar with DiVosta homes because they don't build homes in GA. They are primarily a home builder in FL.

I think the merger of these quality home builders is a good thing.  I've worked on site in new construction home sales at several different communities and am very familiar with the process and what to look for as a home buyer.

If you are thinking of buying or selling a home in or around Atlanta, GA contact local expert and Realtor Jen Bowman, Broker Associate & e-PRO with Success Realty at 404-456-5024. 

View more of the Georgia Real Estate Voice.  Search Atlanta GA homes for Sale 

Showcase 2009 is here! Showcase is the Southeast's Residential Real Estate Tradeshow in Atlanta GA. If you’re in the real estate industry and you haven’t attended a Showcase yet, now is the time. It's on Wednesday August 19th from 10 a.m. to 5 pm. I look forward to the Showcase each year because there is so much to learn. There are 3 different theatres set up and nearly 200 exhibitors. Tickets are available for $10 online until Monday 8/17/2009 and after that they will be $15 at the door. Showcase 2009 will be at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta, GA.  Below are the scheduled presentations:

Professional Development Theatre

• 10:30 am - 11:45 am Blogging
• 12:00 pm – 1:15 pm Social Networking Panel
• 1:30 pm – 2:45 pm U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson
• 3:00 pm - 4:15 pm Foreclosures

FMLS Theatre

• 10:30 am 1stTransAction: Wrangling Your Documents New Product
• 11:30 am Sneak Peek! New CMA Coming in 1st Connection New Product
• 12:30 pm 1stTransAction: Wrangling Your Documents New Product
• 1:30 pm Realist: Blazing Trails to New Business
• 2:30 pm 1stTransAction: Wrangling Your Documents New Product
• 3:30 pm Sneak Peek! New CMA Coming in 1st Connection New Product

Technology Theatre Sponsored by AJC Media Solutions and Verizon Wireless

• 11:00 am Real Estate specific Blackberry Applications, E-key & FMLSmobile
• 12:00 pm Advanced Blackberry Usage, Tethering, VZ Navigator & Multimedia
• 1:00 pm Behavioral Targeting on Websites & Search Engine Marketing
• 2:15 pm Real Estate specific Blackberry Applications, E-key & FMLSmobile
• 3:15 pm Advanced Blackberry Usage, Tethering, VZ Navigator & Multimedia
• 4:15 pm The Current Market and How Real Estate Consumers Have Changed Hosted by REALTOR.com

Attending the presentations and applying the knowledge is just one of the ways to stay on top of this rapidly changing real estate market. I hope to see you there!

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If you are thinking of buying or selling a home in or around Atlanta, GA contact local expert and Realtor Jen Bowman, Broker Associate & e-PRO with Success Realty at 404-456-5024.  I'm also looking for agents to join my team. If you're interested, give me a call.

View more of the Georgia Real Estate Voice.  Search Atlanta GA homes for Sale

As I was driving back from a new listing appointment this afternoon, I witnessed a terrible accident. It was on Ponce de Leon Ave in Atlanta.  A motorcycle went down and its driver went down too.  I immediately pulled over and ran to the man on the ground.  Another person called 911.  I knelt down next to the man and talked to him. His name was Joseph and he was 72.  I asked if he had anybody he wanted to call.  I held his hand and told him he was going to be fine. He just needed to stay still until the paramedics got there. Somebody grabbed a towel from their car and we put it under his head. Thank God he was wearing a helmet.  He asked about his cell phone. I found it in his vest pocket and I put it inside a zippered one so he wouldn't lose it as he was transported to the hospital. 

I haven't stopped thinking about him all day.  Which brings up the question, do you have ICE on your cell phone? ICE stands for In Case of Emergency. You put the contact number that should be called if you are unable to speak.

I've had ICE programmed in my phone for several years now.  Go ahead and add ICE in your contacts on your cell phone and the phones of your spouse and your children and your elderly parents.

Do it now, it takes just a second.

Here's more info from Snopes.com ,  WebMD, USA Today and the Washington Post on ICE.

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Jen Bowman, Realtor, Broker Associate & e-PRO with Success Realty 404-456-5024.

View more of the Georgia Real Estate Voice.