Mortgage Brokers with Higher Fees?

In an article today from the Walls Street Journal, The HUD published a study showing higher fees when dealing with mortgage brokers. This may or may not be true, but my advice is to shop around when looking for your mortgage. Get the good faith estimates from 3 - 5 mortgage companies, whether it is your local bank or an Internet broker, and compare the GFEs to each other. It is also a good idea to tell them you are shopping around, and one company might reduce fees in order to earn your business. If you do the research, you can find the best deal with the least amount of fees. Oh, and seek some advice from your real estate agent. We are very helpful when it comes to dealing with mortage companies.

Grant

Don't Miss The Taste of Chamblee May 31st

This Saturday Chamblee will host the first annual Taste of Chamblee. Being that I live in the Chamblee/Brookhaven area, I wanted to get the word out to as many people as I could. So please stop on by Saturday and enjoy the festival. The day will begin with a garden tour in the Huntley Hills neighborhood from 9am-3pm and a food festival in downtown Chamblee with live music, a beer garden and a silent auction from 4:00pm-8:00pm. The Taste of Chamblee street festival will be in front of Chamblee City Hall at 5468 Peachtree Road. There will be a variety of restaurants offering sample sizes of their food, ranging from authentic Chinese to pizza, BBQ, hand-made chocolates, ice cream, smoothies & more! You can purchase 8 tickets for $10 which can be exchanged for one food sample each (additional tickets will be $1.50). Parking will be at the lot across from the Chamblee MARTA station.

Grant

New Homes Sales Increase!

The Associated Press reported today that sales of new homes increased 3.3% through the month of April. The article explains increases were across all regions, except the lovely south. This is mostly because of the large number of new homes in the south. This number also doesn't include all the incentives that builders are willing to dish out. Take it from me, I recently negotiated $5000 worth of new appliances for my buyer, and I have recently heard of builders paying for two year leases on brand new BMW's. So anything is possible when dealing with builders these days. I believe it is better than you think out there, and it is just good to hear "market" and "increase" in the same sentence.


Grant

New Water Flow Rule in Effect June 1st for Dekalb!

In Dekalb county come June 1st, if you buy a home built prior to 1993 and plan to establish water service, you will have to replace the old sinks and toilets to new low flow options. This law will put the responsibility on buyers to replace the older toilets for every home sold that falls under to law requirements. This law is in reaction to the drought we have been experiencing. I personally don't like this law, but I do have a tip for all you buyers out there. If you are a buyer, you might want to negotiate with the seller to have the water left on after closing so as to avoid the new buyer being stuck without water service while getting a plumber to change out the required toilets and sinks. Dekalb County also has a rebate plan to help out with this financial burden buyers have to look forward to. You will have to fill out an application and you can find all the information here. If you have any questions, please just comment to me and I will get back to you.

Grant

Kenny Rogers is Selling His Buckhead Home

Kenny Rogers is selling his 6 bedroom, six and a half bathroom estate in the heart of Buckhead. The 9,000 square foot house, listed at $7.95 million with Heather Steiner of Atlanta Fine Homes, has a seven acre lake as well as 150 acres fenced in. Rogers is apparently moving back to Athens where he lived for most of the 80's. I happen to have had my graduation party at his Athens estate, and I must say it is absolutely amazing. But for a man who has been buying a selling real estate in Atlanta for sometime, this house is quite amazing as well.


Grant

Get out there and enjoy your Atlanta Braves!

I’ve started this blog to give you some information about the real estate market in Atlanta, but also show you some of the entertainment this great city provides. This morning the Today Show had a piece on the new Atlanta Braves All-You-Can-Eat tickets that they are selling this year. They range from $30 to $65 depending if you want the hotdog and Coke package or the hambuger and beer package. This is a very affordable deal and you should definately get to the ball park and try it out. If you don’t feel like paying the $30, you can still get a good seat for only $5. We are very lucky to live in a city where you don’t have to break the bank to go see a great pro baseball team who is playing some really good ball right now.








Grant

Housing Crisis Over?

Cyril Moulle-Berteaux of Traxis Partners LP wrote a great article in the Wall Street Journal a few days ago about the current housing situation we are in. He explains what caused this burst and his outlook into the future of housing in America. Like we all know, it is a buyers market, and he explains that there hasn’t been opportunity like this for buyers since the early 90’s. So check in out, it is a great read.


Article: http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB121003604494869449.html


Grant

I've Started a Blog!

Hello All! I just wanted to let everyone know that I will begin my blog this week of May 19th - 23rd. It will be short and sweet but very informative for anyone looking for information about today’s real estate market in Atlanta. I might also throw in things about the goings on in Atlanta like entertainment, sports, or changes to the city. So please keep up with this blog, and I will post something new soon.
Thanks!


Grant