Special offer

Lilburn, GA Real Estate News

By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
Don't drag your feet.  If you are planning on taking advantage of the Home Buyer Tax Credits (either the $8,000 First Time or $6,500 Existing Home Buyer Tax Credit), time is running short.  The credit expires for buyer not under contract as of Saturday, 30 April, 2010.  That means that you HAVE to be UNDER CONTRACT... not just have an offer... I have had a couple of buyers think that they could put in an offer and then negotiate it in May...  No.  There has to be a Binding Agreement on or before 30 April, 2010 (unless you are Active Duty Military... you then have an extra year).  And then comes the next hurdle... The sale HAS to close by 30 June, 2010.  In effect, this puts the vast majority of Short Sales out of reach.  The average time for a Short Sale to go from Binding Agreement to ...
Comments 5
By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
Market stats for Lilburn, January, 2010, indicate that there are 390 properties on the market (as of February 28th). Overall, there is about a 15 month supply of properties, with a slight acceleration in sales during October and November, but slowing in December and January, flat in February. In the sub-$200k arena, there are 226 listings, with about an 11.5 month supply. The same pattern holds, that sales accelerated through October and November and slowed after that, but bumped slightly in February. Between $200k and $400k, there are 147 listings for sale, and about 26 months of supply. This segment has been getting weaker each month since November.. From $400k to $600k, there are 12 homes on the market. The absorption rate is around 3 years, and it is definately slowing.  Of course, ...
Comments 0
By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
Greg Nino had a fun post I saw earlier this evening.  He is a real estate agent in Houston, and he was sharing some of the crazy things he's seen while showing homes.  Most agents have stories like those... and I was reminded of a few of mine.  Here are some of mine... Dead Guy House We called for an appointment, and showed up at the alloted time...  After spending about 15 minutes upstairs, we decided to take a look at the basement.  The dogs were loud, but they were supposed to be friendly.  The gang leader was a beagle...  I took the lead and met three very happy dogs.  As we came down the stairs and turned into the basement, to the cheers and wagging tails of the three loud dogs, we were greeted with a guy laying on the couch... remote in hand... in his boxers... golf game on... and...
Comments 17
By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
It is time again for the Smokerise Baptist Church Car Show.  This will be the 12th annual show; it started in 1999.  Last year, despite weather that was challenging (causing the show to be delayed a week, and still raining at various times through the day), some very cool vehicles came out for the show.  In addition to cars and trucks, there were some cool vintage motorcycles.  Here is a little taste of the action from 2009.    Registration is from 9am until noon.  Judging runs from noon until 3pm.  The awards ceremony is at 3pm.  The vehicles are available for viewing from 9am until 3pm.  Perhaps best of all... its FREE.  It is free to attend as a spectator, and free to enter the show.  Brings the kids, or parents.  Check out the classics, antiques, rods and customs.  Smokerise Baptist...
Comments 2
By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
A couple of years ago this week, I wrote about a (then) new marketing move I had been seeing.  Both new home developers and owners of existing homes were offering free cars to buyers.  Image via  Wikipedia From that time to this, I have seen this offer in a variety of ways…  I’ve seen builders offer leases on expensive cars, like BMWs and Jaguars (both to agents and to buyers), or inclusion of less expensive cars, like Hondas and Toyotas.  I have seen private sellers offer up new Fords, Toyotas and others… and even include used cars. But… there is a serious danger.  Especially in a market that may have more to fall… or might just skip along the bottom for a while.  Here is the original post. Pop in and give it a read.  I’d love to hear from you.
Comments 1
By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
I recently subscribed to the Video Connector.  It is a cool new service from MY video provider. Tara Jones and TJ Hedges, the folks behind the Video Connector, are friends of mine.  they are also the folks I turn to in order to provide video for my listings.  Reel Productions has grown to be one of the best real estate video companies in the country.  They have travelled coast to coast for big national brokerages.  They have had agents fly them all over and charter helicopters for them to do property or neighborhood profiles.  They have presented at major conferances ranging from the Inman News Connect to REtechSouth, here in Atlanta.  In short, they are experts at real estate video...  They also have access to experts in many other areas of real estate.  They recently had a segment wit...
Comments 0
By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
The garages in most homes are less than spectacular.  In fact, a lot of them (including mine... excuse soon) won't even hold a car.  They seem to collect all sorts of things, from Christmas decorations to sports equipment.  All of that is in addition to tools, lawn equipment and the bulky stuff that won't go elsewhere.  But, most garages are pretty close to being back into 'show shape'.  Here is a good place to start...  Let's get started.    Step 1.  Clean out the 'Not-Garage-Stuff'.  Get the Christmas decorations up to the attic or down to the basement.  Find a closet for the sports equipment.  A shed for the lawn tools would help too, but not mandatory.  The main thing is to find places for the stuff that really doesn't belong in the garage.  Stop using it as a giant junk drawer. Pri...
Comments 16
By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
Spring is busting out all over Lilburn, GA.  The usual signs are plain to see, and if you are missing them, the pine pollen will be here soon to make sure you see spring everywhere...  Of course, there are a few things that you need to do in order to prepare for spring.  Change the Smoke Detector batteries if you didn't do it with the time change.  Change the air filter on your HVAC.  Depending on your filter media, it usually needs to be changed at an interval between 30 days and 30 months.  The 1" thick (often blue) filters need to be changed after about 30 days.  The 4" thick filters usually go about 3-4 months.  As they get loaded with dust, they stop flowing as well... and can lead to the lines freezing up when it gets hot out.  Tune that lawnmower.  In addition to the oil change, ...
Comments 3
By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
Still working on the details, but there are changes coming.  The end goal is to create more of a hyper-local news site.  As we build towards that goal, we are inviting local businesses to post specials and information for Lilburn area residents.  The real estate content is going to be ratcheted down as the other content is built up.  There will also be a few surprises coming...  In the mean time, if you are a Lilburn, GA, area business owner, and you would like to promote special offers... for free... We'd love for you to use the Lilburn, GA Fan Page on FaceBook to do that.  Restaurant Menus and daily specials Home Service offers Landscaping Spring Specials There are a lot more interesting possibilities.  When the site is finished coming together, it will have a stream of news local to ...
Comments 1
By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
I love to cruise around eBay.  There are SO many cool things to see.  eBay Motors might be the coolest place ever.  Between the military vehicles, race cars and RVs, I am in heaven.  And then there is the opportunity to dream in the Boat section or while looking at aircraft...  There is something that many of the listings have in common, though...  Pictures... In fact, lots of pictures.  I pulled up a pop-up camper that had 48 pictures.  Real estate listings locally don't have the capability to have that many pictures... the MLSs here top out at 20 pictures.  But what I find amazing is that the last time I surveyed recent Gwinnett County, GA, listings... only 13% had 20 pictures.  Over 16% had NO pictures.  Meanwhile, over on eBay, there are listings for cars and campers and kids' toys ...
Comments 7
By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
Lilburn is already kind of home to part of the Evermore CID running along US78 between Stone Mountain and Snellville.  As an area resident, some of the improvements that are directly and indirectly a result of the CID are quite obvious. Image by mjp* via Flickr The updating of the bridge over the Yellow River between Lake Lucerne and the Yellow River Game Ranch. Roadway improvements including new medians from East Park Place out to around Highpoint Road. There is also another direct project that hasn’t been visible yet… the rehabilitation of the old Olympic Tennis venue on West Park Place near the (now closed) Super Target. But another group is trying to  bring a new Community Improvement District to Lilburn. This one would run along US29 from Jimmy Carter Blvd out to Ronald Reagan Par...
Comments 0
By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
If you are eligible for the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit, or the Move-Up Buyer Tax Credit? If so, time is ticking away…  Properties have to by under contract BY April 30th, 2010.  This means that they contract’s Binding Agreement date can’t be later than that.  Offering on a property on April 30th could lead to missing the deadline.  In fact, with many bank owned properties, offers should be in in March in order to make sure negotiations are completed prior to the deadline. After the property is “Under Contract”, it has to close prior to June 30th, 2010.  That means that the loan is done, the papers are signed and the keys are probably handed over… There are still opportunities with new construction.  In fact, there are some custom home builders that have partially completed homes t...
Comments 0
By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
Lilburn is in Gwinnett County, GA, just outside of Atlanta.  As of the 2000 Census, there were 11,307 people in Lilburn, but that is only including people in the city limits, and there has been a lot of growth since 2000 in Gwinnett County.  It was incorporated in 1910.  Lilburn is home to Parkview High School, and also has students that the Brookwood, Berkmar and Meadowcreek clusters. It is also home to Killian Hill Christian School, Providence Chrisian Academy, St. John Neumann Catholic School and Parkview Christian School.  Possibly the most famous resident of Lilburn is General Beauregard Lee, a groundhog with a better winter prediction record that Puxatawnee Phil up in PA. Dominique Wilkins, formerly of the Atlanta Hawks also lives in Lilburn. Market stats for Lilburn, January, 20...
Comments 0
By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
I stopped into Legends at Parkview recently to find out how the new project was coming.  They didn’t have a model ready to go yet, but should have one built out completely soon.  And I’ll be back to visit when it is ready to go.  But, in the mean time… Image by lane.bailey via Flickr If you haven’t been following along, DR Horton picked up the remaining lots after another local home builder went belly-up on the project.  Previously, homes had been marketed for as much as $700,000 in the development, with most of the homes they sold selling in the $500K range. DR Horton was shooting considerably lower… currently starting in the $290Ks.  But there is even a little more to it than that.  When they picked up the project they were advertising in the $260Ks. It has been kind of interesting.  ...
Comments 2
By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
Image via Wikipedia During the month of February, as well as the end of January, I spent each Friday afternoon volunteering to talk about business and economics with a bunch of 4th Graders.  This was in connection with Junior Achievement. It might sound like pulling teeth, but it was really a blast.  The kids were great.  They were engaged and interested.  In fact, by the end of the course, they were greeting my by name as I entered the room…  I was late on the last day, and one of the kids commented that she “was afraid I wasn’t going to be there.” The whole experience was immensely rewarding. Just to be clear, these weren’t hand picked students or a special class of high achievers.  These were average kids in an average class… While the details of the classes aren’t important, there ...
Comments 5
By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
While speaking with a prospective client, we touched on home marketing.  As we were discussing it, I was asked about venues and their importance...  "Should we be on Craigslist, MLS, Trulia, Zillow, etc?"  My reply was "Of course... we want to be as many places as we can keep track of... but most of the activity will likely be generated by the MLS."  But the question went deeper... into the best marketing tool...  And I replied that it was the list price.  The list price is the most important marketing tool in the agent's arsenal.  I love having a box full of tools.  In my garage I have several boxes of tools.  I always want to make sure I have the tool that is going to get the job done.  In home marketing, it is no different.  But what I see many agents missing is the importance of hav...
Comments 7
By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
  It is pretty common knowledge that kitchens and master bathrooms make or break the appeal for a home on the market.  Get those two areas right can land a buyer that might otherwise pick another home. Image by lane.bailey via Flickr But doing those rooms right isn't cheap.  Back around Christmas I wrote a post about how the front door was the most bang for the buck in the improvement arena.  In the same post, I mentioned that a "Minor Kitchen Remodel" averaged over $20k in cost (while only delivering about $15k in value).  That isn't cheap... So, what are some improvements that can make a big impact on the appeal of the home, without making that big of an impact on your bank balance? Add appropriate crown mouldings. If you are handy, this can be a great improvement.  Depending on the p...
Comments 5
By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
Ken Cook, from America Home Key Mortgage, is an FHA expert and extremely knowledgeable about the Mortgage Industry in general.  And of course he is on top of the recent and pending changes HUD announced for the FHA.  The Federal Housing Administration, the division of the Department of Housing and Urban Development which insures home mortgages for qualified borrowers, has recently announced pending changes which will affect all borrowers and specific borrowers. Reports show FHA defaults and foreclosures to be at 18% of the total number of loans where the average number of defaults and foreclosures on other loans is 14%. In an effort to avert the need for a taxpayer bailout there have been several changes initiated and proposed. The rest of the article is here.  It examines the changes t...
Comments 0
By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
This has certainly been an interesting year in real estate.  And we are still staring at the tea leaves trying to see the direction of the market and figure out what the future holds. The biggest thing in housing in the last few months has been the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit.  It has had a GIANT pull on the market, and when it "expired" (it was renewed and expanded before it actually expired, but the effect seemed to expire) it altered the direction of the market... as it did when it was enacted. Let's get a few numbers for Lilburn out of the way... There were 384 listings as of 12/31/2009 In November, there were 36 sales The Absorption Rates for Lilburn break down as follows: 12 month average - 10.04 months of inventory 6 month average - 8.35 months of inventory 3 month average -...
Comments 0
By Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy
(Century 21 Results Realty)
I've written a couple of posts about the Legends at Parkview.  Mayfield Homes was the original building in the community, but they ended up getting foreclosed.  DR Horton picked up the remaining lots and have recently started construction.  When Mayfield was building, the pricing went from the $500Ks to $700Ks.  Even when the unsold homes were being sold by the bank that foreclosed, they were selling from the low $400Ks to the low $500Ks.  DR Horton is building homes priced from $270K to $310K.  I would expect that there are some options that could push that price up a bit, and while I haven't seen the final product (they don't have any completed or nearly completed homes up yet), the homes Mayfield was building were a bit bigger and featured mostly 3 car garages.  The owners of the old...
Comments 2