Hot Off the Press – Top North Atlanta Real Estate Teams Merge!

June 15th, 2012

It is with great excitement and enthusiasm that we announce the merger of our real estate teams, “The Brittany Loan Team” and “The Realty Spot” both are premeir real estate teams in the North Atlanta area of Cobb County and Cherokee County. The new partnership will be known as The Realty Spot.

This merger has created a powerhouse of dedicated professionals with over 50 years of combined experience in the Real Estate Industry.  Brittany Loan is the team’s Lead Agent, with new partner, Allen Nielsen, responsible for Business Development and Operations, Lead Buyer Specialist, Donna Justice and Dianne Stemmerman coordinating all the teams Listing & Closing administration. 

http://youtu.be/EeCYX4Vhs-s

This merger will allow each team member to excel in their respective areas at the highest level while delivering an unparalleled level of customer service that you have come to expect and deserve from us.

 

And, we now have two offices to better serve you in Woodstock and Canton.  We thank you for your support and your business.

With Excellence…On The SPOT.

Cherokee County Real Estate a Possibility for some Movie Stars

February 24th, 2013

With the Oscars now over, keep your eyes peeled, because If you see someone that looks like a movie star, look again, you may be right.  Disney’s The Odd Life of Timothy Green, was filmed on location in Canton, GA and was released late summer 2012.  Cherokee County has been recently designated as one of the states camera ready communities for movie production and shooting.  17 other inquires for film locations within Cherokee County have been submitted by the likes of MTV, Lifetime and AMC in addition to Disney. 

The Real Estate Market is also better than my may think. The inventory is shrinking which has caused an increase in demand resulting in a seller’s market for all homes under the $500,000 price point.  Almost 25% of homes sold in Cherokee county last quarter at $100,000 and below, sold for more than list price and multiple offers are becoming a common event.  Please see the figure below for your specific price point and don’t hesitate to contact us for more specific information on your neighborhood. You can search all home just like an agent at CherokeeHomeSearch.com

 

Cherokee county home values

The Market may be BETTER Than you Think!

Movie Star Homes

Hot Bed for new business Increases Demand for Cherokee County Homes

February 24th, 2013

I recently attended a Cherokee Association of REALTORS monthly membership meeting at which the President of Cherokee Office of Economic Development, Misty Martin, presented. She did a fabulous job of presenting the new data on our counties development and I couldn’t wait to share the uplifting information. Despite a tough economic climate, Cherokee county businesses are succeeding. More than $32 million Dollars was invested in 2011 alone for new equipment and/or facility expansion.

“57.14 percent of the 21 industries surveyed plan to expand within the next three years” reported Misty, along with “69 percent increase in new business prospect activity.” And, 135 new jobs have been created from new business coming to our county including, but not limited to American Merchant, Gin Mill Productions, Interface Services, Orr Protection Services, Restoration Dry Cleaning, Roller Bearing Company of America, Sjbibsvcsd, Inc., Southgate Process, Thinkgate, and The Stirling Group.

The Real Estate Market is also better than my may think. Our inventory is shrinking which has caused an increase in demand resulting in a seller’s market for all homes under $500,000. Almost 25% of homes sold in Cherokee county last quarter at $100,000 and below, sold for more than list price and multiple offers are becoming a common event. Please see the figure below for your specific price point and don’t hesitate to contact us for more specific information on your neighborhood.

In the “Did You Know” corner, the research and development for the spice in Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Sandwich was created in Cherokee county.

Chase rolls out new Short Sale Initiative in GA

July 19th, 2012

Chase rolls out new Short Sale Initiative in GA  July 2012

I attended a seminar today conducted by JP Morgan Chase to learn more about their efforts to assistance homeowners who are “upside down.”  Here are some of the highlights:

  •          Chase is devoting significant resources to improve the short sale process

The seminar was an invitation only for Real Estate Agents to become a Priority Partner with Chase.  Meaning if you have a Chase Mortgage and need a real estate agent, they will recommend a few of their Priority Partners who had to meet certain qualifications (have 1 of 4 short sale certifications) and  the homeowner may select from the agents recommended.   This should be a good thing for the homeowner but like anything, it is not fool proof.  Many of the agents there handle Chase REO’s (that relationship got them the invitation) and while they may hold a short sale certification, it was apparent by some of the questions, they have no real life experience with short sales.  Chase says they will evaluate agent’s results after 6 months, but didn’t get into specifics as to how they will proceed from there.   Hopefully they will establish good quality control measures that go beyond holding a “certification.”

  •          Chase is actively soliciting homeowners to do short sales and offering them financial incentives.   They were not real specific on the selection process but I would venture to guess as borrowers start falling behind on payments, that would trigger the letter campaign designed to educate the homeowner of their options and offer a financial incentive that causes them to take action.  I have been doing short sales for years and I see the emotional roller coaster people go through trying to reconcile their situation.  Sometimes the humility they feel is so strong they are paralyzed to take action.  Sometimes they are in “denial” and keep telling themselves they can find another way.  For most folks it is an extremely tough situation to deal with and the financial incentive won’t cure all the pain, but it does have its place to help.  Many skeptics wonder, “Why?”  “Why would the bank pay me to short sale my house?”  When it becomes apparent that a property is going to have to be “liquidated” they already know they are going to lose money.  They also know that when they foreclose on a property it’s a lose-lose.  The homeowner loses, the community loses, and yes the big banks lose.  The executive stated that “on a foreclosure their loss is 57% of the unpaid balance, on a short sale their loss is 43% of the unpaid balance.”  That’s why it’s called Loss Mitigation- there is going to be a loss, let’s just keep it as minimal as possible.
  •          Chase has over 3,000 private investors that they service loans for.  That means over 3,000 different guidelines that have to be followed.  That was a HUGE “a-ha” as to why the process takes an extended period of time.
  •          Chase estimates they will do 80,000 short sales in 2012.  They have closed 39,000 through June 30, 2012.  Another “a-ha” as to why I can’t get my files processed as quickly as I’d like.  That’s 219/day, every day of the year!!!

Some other interesting statistics the executive shared:

  •          Chase currently has 1700 short sales in GA in their pipeline
  •          Chase is averaging 135 days from house listed to closing
  •          Chase is averaging 85 days from contract to close, on their portfolio loans.  If you back out 30 days for buyer’s financing to be         completed, that is roughly a 55 day contract to approval turn- around time.
  •          60% of their portfolio is private investors
  •          JP Morgan Chase currently holds $1.1 Trillion in first mortgages (nationwide)
  •          JP Morgan Chase funded $155 Billion in mortgages in 2011
  •          More information is available at www.Chase.com/ShortSale

I believe GA is the 3rd market they are rolling this program out to with CA and FL being the first and second .  All in all, it is a step in the right direction and I was impressed with Chase’s commitment to improve their Short Sale processes.  .  We will see how it goes and meanwhile we will continue devoting ourselves to helping people navigate the short sale process.

Over 55 Active Adult community in Canton GA

February 23rd, 2012

Welcome to our new Blog! We hope that you’ll enjoy our new blogging platform!

Here is video of one of our homes for sale in canton, Cherokee county.  This unit is in the Villages at River Pointe, one of Canton Georgia’s few over 55 communities. We look forward to hearing your feedback and assisting you any way we can.