See all of the homes for sale in this sought after Cobb County School District – Sope Creek Elementary, Dickerson Middle, Walton High: click here…

This is one of the most popular Elementary, Middle & High School combos in all of Metro Atlanta…and it’s so close to Sandy Springs & Buckhead, you’d never even feel like you’re waaaay out in Cobb County.  Get your kids into the best school district possible!

All the Active listings are right here & updated in Real Time! Enjoy & let us know once you’re ready to go see some homes and if you’d like a more tailored search (to your price range, minimum bed & bath combination, etc) just click here to shoot me an email & I’ll get it going…

Right now, the Median List Price in the area (for homes under $1mil & over $200k) is $$595,541.

The Median Sales price since 4/1/09 has been $473,217 and there are currently 18 under contract. 

There are 43 homes currently available but only 4 listed under the max FHA Loan Amount of $346,250 & only 7 that are listed under the $417,000 Jumbo Loan amount! (FHA requires only 3.5% down, Conventional Loans 5%, but Jumbo requires 20%)

Don’t hesitate much longer!  There are just over 80 days left to qualify for the $8000 Tax Credit for 1st Time Buyers.

www.KellySellsAtlanta.com for all your metro-Atlanta Real Estate needs.

The Kelly Sells Atlanta Team > your next move is our business…

1% off on your list price could be the difference between a quick sale (25 days on the market) and hybernating on the market for over 200 days!  1st quarter was 29 days on mkt for well the well priced homes – so the pace is picking up!

Statistics show that if you’re priced correctly the 1st time, you’ll sell in 25 days for 96.9% of list price – crazy, right?  I bet your neighbor didn’t tell you that the last time you talked Real Estate, and I know the news didn’t leak it…

However, if you miss on your pricing, even by a little, you could end up selling for 75% of original list price and torture yourself for months & months & months cleaning & praying, wondering what the problem is & why your home won’t sell. (more…)

Calling all jazz aficionados! Grant Park will be hosting the 2009 Atlanta Jazz Festival May 23/24, Memorial Day weekend. Every day in May, Atlanta will embrace its musical roots by bringing the nation’s
most high-profile jazz musicians to venues around the city, culminating in a festive jazz-filled weekend in Grant Park.
Artists include: Rialto All Stars, Russell Gunn & Elektrik Butterfly, Freddy Cole, Mausiki Scales and the Common Ground Collective, Cindy Blackman (drummer also with Lenny Kravitz), Hiroshima and more!
For more information on the Atlanta Jazz Festival, please call the information hotline at 404.853.4234 or visit the website at www.AtlantaFestivals.com. Bring your blanket, ice-cold drinks and a picnic to the park and get ready for a great time!

While you’re in Grant Park, please stop by one of our newest listings! The KellySellsAtlanta.com Team will be holding 431 Atlanta Avenue, 1 block from Grant Park, open both days. Stay tuned for times.

Named after its location at the intersection of Virginia and North Highland Avenues, this district still remains a popular spot for Atlanta’s young professionals. At one time this prime area was in danger of becoming part of a planned highway system, but with the efforts of community leaders and activists, the area revitalized itself to become the urban professional’s dream. Virginia-Highland is the area within the Atlanta city limits bounded on the north by Amsterdam Avenue, on the south by Ponce de Leon Avenue, on the east by Briarcliff Road, and on the west by the Southern Railroad Line.

Virginia Highland & it’s residents can remain proud of their investment, because the neighborhood seems to be bucking this current real estate shift and holding value:

In 2007 the neighborhood experienced 123 sales. Their average sales price was $639,127. On average, it took 63 days for these homes to sell.
In 2008 there were 96 sales (a 22 % decrease), but the average sales price stayed strong at $636,790 (a minimal decrease of less than 1%).  On average, it took a few days longer for the homes to sell, but still only took 66 days to sell a VH home.

The most current data we have thus far in 2009 shows that there have been only 7 home sales (for an average of $521,071) with 5 currently under contract, and we typically see higher priced home sales in the summer months (mainly June) so expect to see this Average Sales Price increase throughout the year.

When many other neighborhoods were seeing sliding home values, this Atlanta neighborhood was seeing it’s values remain solid.

Suffice to say that if you don’t have to sell, don’t BUT if you are a seller in Virginia Highland (or anywhere in this Morningside Elementary School District) don’t listen too carefully to the doom and gloom about Atlanta’s real estate market.

For you home shoppers that want to view the 72 homes currently for sale:

Click here for all Virginia-Highlands Homes for Sale!!

We have experience and the most up-to-date data and statistics regarding the economics of Atlanta, Georgia real estate, so don’t hesitate to give us a call or shoot us an email if we can help you in any way.

Kelly & Aaron Allen
404-606-2219 Kelly
404-863-8680 Aaron
Keller Williams Realty Premier Atlanta
404-969-1600 office
www.KellySellsAtlanta.com

In this market, you need the absolute assurance that we’re on YOUR team.  Our team is committed to providing the absolute best service possible, no matter what the curcumstances are or become.  We want you to know that we care about our clients as much as we care about our reputation – after all, each go hand-in-hand and the most POWERFUL advertising one can receive is “word of mouth.”

This is how the Kelly Sells Atlanta Team’s “No Brainer” Variable Commission Structure works for you:

We will ALWAYS provide you with a tailored marketing plan for YOUR home as well as a comparative market analysis (CMA) which will show you what your competition is and what you need to do to stay “ahead ”of or “in” the market and not “on” the market.  (click for a FREE market valuation on your home) 

As 4th quarter 2008 statistics have shown us, a well priced home will sell for an average of 96% of list price and in 31 days, we can get you the best possible price for your home while mimizing the carrying costs of sitting on the market for months.  Stats also show us that if you require a price reduction, it will take you 2-3 times longer to sell your home than if you get it right the 1st time.  Powerful stuff.

We’ll always work to provide you with the highest level of service possible, but just know that if you’re not satisfied, you can cancel your listing at any time with no hassle from our team.

Here’s how our “No Brainer” Variable Commission Structure works for you & how you benefit from our system:

6%: this is what we charge if another agent is representing the Buyer for your home.  Our marketing fee is a flat 3% and the Buyer’s Agent will receive the other 3%.

4.5%: This is where it gets interesting…if we find your Buyer and there’s no other agent involved, we’re not going to charge you the full 6%.  We’ll cut that to 4.5%, but still remain your Full Service Realtor.  We’ll write the purchase agreement and handle the inspection negotiations, etc, all the way to closing.  However, you receive the benefit of saving that 1.5%.  Not bad…right?

3%: If you happen to find a Buyer while out cutting the lawn or maybe at a neighborhood hang-out, chatting it up about how your house is on the market and you’ve got your eye on that bigger, better, newer dream house in the best school district around…then we’ll write the purchase and sale agreement, coordinate inspections and carry the contract all the way to the closing table – just as we would in the other 2 scenarios above…

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us anytime to see how The Kelly Sells Atlanta Team can help YOU sell your home.

>The KellySellsAtlanta.com Team
>Your Neighbors.  Your Real Estate Experts.

>> There are Lies, Damn Lies…then there are Statistics.

Here is what we’re seeing. If you’d like to skip the hard data, scroll to the bottom of this article where I’ve outlined what this means to a Buyer or a Seller right now….Further below you’ll find graphs and additional “case specific” data.

AND IF YOU’RE CURIOUS ABOUT THE “INTOWN” ATLANTA STATS, EMAIL US - WE HAVE THOSE AS WELL…

On to Metro Stats:

• 2008 home sales are down 22% compared to 2007 (but this is a slight increase from the final 3rd quarter numbers).
• 33,000 metro Atlanta homes sold in 2008
• The <$200k price range is down only -2.2%.  31.7% of Home Sales in this price range were Foreclosures
• The Median Sales Price is down 11.7% compared to year-end 2007, however, pockets of the metro Atlanta market are showing an increase while others are showing only a 2% decline.
• On average, 2008 Sellers got 92.5% of their asking price
• It took Sellers 84 Days, on average, to sell their home.  However, if the home was priced properly, it took only 27 days to sell!  It’s ALWAYS a Seller’s Market for a great house at a great price!!
• If you were a Seller and had to reduce your price in 2008, you were on the market 3x longer than if you’d have gotten the price right when 1st listed. 
• 8 out of 10 Listings in 2008 were over-priced.
• Supply reached a high at 10.8 months of supply in December, 2008 – but the Supply has been declining steadiliy since July 2008 and there is greater supply at higher price ranges (great news for move-up buyers!)

thanks for visiting KellySellsAtlanta.com – your metro and intown Atlanta Real Estate Resource…

The Kelly Sells Atlanta Team >> Your Neighbors.  Your Real Estate Experts.

The percentage of Sellers that needed to reduce their list price reached a new high at 53% of all transactions in 4th Qtr 2008, indicating a continuing high level of Buyer price resistance in the current market.  However, if a home is priced correctly when originally listed, 2008 statistics show that the home will sell in 31 days for 96.5% of the original list price. 

A good thing to know is that only 27 out of 100 homes will sell…period.  The other 83 just won’t sell…at least not anytime soon – this is the standing inventory you see day-in and day-out which is crowding the market.  Only 7 of those 100 homes will sell in less than 31 days and for 96% of the list price.  This shows that clearly it’s a tale of 2 markets:  It’s always a Seller’s Market when it’s a great home at a great price and the reality is that there’s a lot of junk on the market, which creates a slighly inflated perception that it’s a full-on Buyer’s Market out there.

This is great news for the Seller who’s willing and able to get aggressive with pricing and be “in” the market, not “on” the market.  If you can get that price right coming out of the gate, you should be under contract and finally having the opportunity to find a fantastic bargain on your next home.  Since the Sales Price to List Price ratio reduces as Price Points increase, the math will work in your favor to sell and “move-up” into your next home, basically getting more on the Buy than you’re giving on the Sell…

If there’s anything we can do to help you or someone you know navigate the turbulence, please feel free to call or email us anytime…and visit us at KellySellsAtlanta.com for ALL your Metro Atlanta Real Estate needs.

The rate of decline in # of homes sold had begun to slow during the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2008 (vs. the same quarters of 2007), then sales slowed again in the 4th quarter of 2008…which is normal, but with the Real Estate market under a magnifying glass of late, don’t read too much into that particular stat because this happens every year. 

What you should come away knowing is that 2nd and 3rd quarters were showing an increase in sales #s and this is an indication that we’re bouncing around at the bottom of the market.  So if you’re looking to “time the bottom” be watching the clock closely.

 Basically…if you’re waiting for a deal…I think there’s one out there for you

Let us know how we can help - or visit us at KellySellsAtlanta.com…we’re ready when you are.