Selling your home is important business because your home is probably your most important asset. How amazing it is that often homeowners treat their home sale casually and proceed to place it on the market without planning the process through carefully! Don’t take a chance of missing the greatest return on your property. Avoid the following common mistakes:

1. Pricing the property too high is the number one mistake. Three things are not factors in determining your home’s value– what you paid for it, what it would cost to build it today, and what you need to get to buy your next home. Careful analysis of sales data of similar homes in similar condition is the best way to determine your home’s value. If the property is priced too high in the beginning, buyers may not even look at it, and probably will have moved on to other properties by the time the price is reduced.

2. Over-improving the property is also a big mistake. Your home needs to be well prepared for the market with fresh paint inside and out, but putting in expensive improvements that make your home pricier than neighboring properties is not a good idea. A seller rarely gets a 100% return on home improvements and being on the top of the market in your neighborhood will make it harder to get your price.

Comercio, a Spanish-language magazine focused on Georgia business, recently named Bowen Family Homes Atlanta’s Most Recognized Home Builder.  The Atlanta hometown builder led the Top 10 list. 

Bowen Family Homes is reaching out to Spanish speaking buyers through Spanish language publications and through Spanish speaking agents. 

Bowen Family Homes is ranked 4th among metro Atlanta new home builders by the Atlanta Business Chronicle for 2006.

Posted by Renita Davis

Preparation is the most important step in a home sale—especially in a buyer’s market where buyers have a lot of homes to compare. Making your home stand out from the competition will bring a quicker sale at a better price.
Some preparations can be costly but not necessary. The most important things to consider are those that will give your home a fresh look. Here are some tips to help you get results!

1. Be objective when you look at your home. You have loved it, but a buyer might not think that custom orange powder room is quite so charming. Turn on all the lights and do a walk-through while pretending to be a buyer.
2. Start with the entry. Is the front door a little scuffed up and are the planters looking scruffy? Your entry is the first impression. Be sure it is clean, freshly painted and appealing. Add flowers in the planters, and be sure the porch light fixture is clean and has all the bulbs working.
3. Stand in front of your home at the street. Does it have the all important “curb appeal?” Does the roof have stains that need professional removal? A streaked roof will detract. The driveway, walk and perhaps the exterior will need power washing to bring them up to snuff.
4. The lawn needs to be edged, the shrubbery trimmed and the planting beds cleaned up and freshly mulched. Trees need to be trimmed back from the house and roof.
5. Is your garage the “catch-all” for everything that needs another home—the trash or Goodwill? Take it all away and be sure the garage is painted. If the floor is stained, you might consider putting down an opaque plastic covering. This material is rather thick plastic, comes in rolls and is readily available at home supply stores.
6. Repair and tighten all the things in your home that wiggle when you use them, such as door knobs, hinges, plugs, faucets, switches etc. Be sure that the door bell rings.
7. If there is room in the budget for painting, this will be money well spent. Just be sure that you use neutral colors that are warm and inviting. If in doubt, ask the paint store what colors builders are buying for new homes.
8. Clean up the closets. Get rid of everything you don’t need or have not used for a year. Organize what you must have in plastic boxes and hang clothes about an inch apart on the rods. The shelving should be firmly attached, and the clothing and linens neatly stacked.
9. Your home needs to look spacious and uncluttered. Rent a storage place and take all the unnecessary furniture there. Take all the small accessories off the tables and shelves. Use only a few necessary pieces of furniture in each room and accessorize with large pottery, pictures and books. Use only a couple of major colors in each room and one accent color in pillows and pictures. Remove all family photos.
10. Wash all the windows and chandeliers. Take down all window treatments that are dated or would not go with any type of décor. Raise or open the blinds to allow maximum light to enter the home. Remember that you are competing, in many cases, with new homes. They have no windows coverings making them light and bright.
11. Give the kitchen a thorough cleaning. Organize the shelves in the cabinets, refrigerator and pantry. The kitchen needs to sparkle and smell clean. Remember that old oil smells, so clean up each time you cook with a degreaser. Be sure to clean the filter in the exhaust fan frequently.
12. Listen to your toilets to be sure they are flushing properly and not continuing to run or re-flushing periodically. If the toilet rocks, tighten it carefully. Clean all fixtures daily. Be sure the ventilator is working and not excessively loud.
13. Wash all the baseboards and door facings. If needed, repaint or touch up.
14. Have an expert clean the carpets and remove stains. Periodically use carpet freshener to remove odors.
15. You love your pets, but everybody won’t! Be sure to have a private place for them when you are showing the home. They and their quarters need to be cleaned frequently. Pets, as loving as they are, create unpleasant pet odors.
16. Get rid of the plastic plants around your house. They are dust collectors. Get real plants to replace them, but be sure to protect your floors from possible leakage. Use large plants in corners or hallways.
17. Replace all the bulbs in your light fixtures and lamps with the maximum wattage bulbs allowed. Turn on all the lights when showing your home.
18. Call a good REALTOR. We probably know one!

From: The Atlanta Real Estate Blog 

David Clough has been named President of the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association.  Founder of Waterford Homes, Clough has been in the residential construction business for 32 years.

“Service will be the theme of my year at the helm of the HBA — service to our members, to our industry and to our customers, today’s home owners,” Clough said.  “I’m excited about the opportunity to lead and serve the nation’s top builders and my goal is to continue to build on the power, influence and professionalism of our industry that has flourished under (2006 President) Doug Cotter’s leadership last year.”

by Carol M. Flammer on January 22nd, 2007

Sure, the projected price gain is only a third that of top-ranked Panama City. But it’s dramatic for a metro region with a population of more than 5 million people. Andrew Schiller, founder of NeighborhoodScout, notes Atlanta’s strategic importance as the primary “growth pole” for the entire Southeast, and Bruce Katz, head of the urban development program at the Brookings Institution, says Atlanta is “sprawl on steroids.”

While the city itself is home to only 400,000 people, the greater region includes 110 municipal governments, each determined to beat its neighbors in growth. With the greatest job growth expected near Atlanta’s heart, commuters from far-flung suburbs are fighting harder each day to get back inside the I-285 “perimeter” that encircles the city. That has already pumped up prices in the more desirable north Atlanta neighborhoods, including swank Buckhead, forcing less well-heeled newcomers to look outside the perimeter for a price break. Expect to see the greatest appreciation along Atlanta’s southern perimeter fringes, particularly in and around Peachtree City.

Brookhaven schools have recently been acknowledged for their high test scores and high satisfaction ratings from parents, students, and teachers. For statistics and an overview of the school’s rating, please visit: 

http://ms.localschooldirectory.com/schools.php/cPath/8999

Ashford Park, located just northeast of the Atlanta city limits in northwest DeKalb County, has everything a young family could want. The homes, though not large, are sturdy and still affordable, and the location provides excellent access to Buckhead, I-85 and Ga. 400. Most of the houses in the neighborhood were built in the 1950s and are the typical “rambling ranches,” perfect for raising children. The ranches are also well suited for home additions/renovations, which many owners have done in recent years.

A native Atlantan, Leann Goins had not given the often overlooked neighborhood much thought before she moved in. “We wanted an affordable place inside 285,” she explains. After seven years in the neighborhood and a whole-house renovation, she is hesitant to ever leave. She loves the neighborhood’s convenience and the family atmosphere. Plus, she says she has made a number of friends all within walking distance from her home.

Mary and her husband Jeff Smith bought their first house in Ashford Park four years ago. They felt such a strong attachment to the Ashford Park neighborhood that when they needed a bigger house to accommodate their growing family, they didn’t think about leaving the neighborhood or even changing streets. They simply bought a larger house about 10 houses down the street from their first home. Such a short move may have been pointless to some but made perfect sense to the Smiths. “We can’t think of another neighborhood where we would rather live,” explains Mary Smith.

One of the real perks of the neighborhood is the number of young couples and families who have recently relocated to this intown area. Many of them meet at the neighborhood’s recently renovated J. Kilpatrick Park. With its brand-new safe equipment, the park “is great for kids” says Smith. Other neighborhood activities keep the social life of both young and old hopping. “We have a neighborhood play group and a dinner club,” she says. “We also have a group of mothers that meets on Fridays at 4 p.m. for margaritas.” To most living in Ashford Park, the community represents an intown, yet suburban-like paradise with all the amenities of the city.

BY EMILY KLEINE

Atlanta’s weather has been nice to us this year, but there are still those cold days that make us start a fire or turn up the heat. Here are some ways to beat the cold and save some money:

1. Change your air filters. This should be done every month to help your unit run more efficiently. Dirty filters can increase your system’s operating costs.

2. Check weather stripping around doors, windows, and between heated and unheated areas (garages, basements, attics, etc.). Change stripping if you can see light coming through.

3. Keep the thermostat on the lowest comfortable setting. (68 degrees is recommended)

4. Keep vents clear. Make sure they are free of dust and not blocked by furniture or draperies.

5. Let the sunshine do it’s thing! On sunny days, open drapes or blinds to allow natural solar heat to warm the house.

The Sembler Co. plans two major regional power centers in metro Atlanta, including a massive project near Oglethorpe University.

The St. Petersburg, Fla.-based developer will build a mixed-use center on Peachtree Road near Cross Keys Drive. To be called Brookhaven Place, the $400 million project will have 1,200 residential units, in a mix of apartments, mid-rise condominiums and townhouses. In addition, it will have 600,000 square feet of retail space, 15 restaurants, and a five-story, 150,000-square-foot class A office tower, said Jeff Fuqua, Sembler’s president of development in Atlanta.

“This is the largest piece of land that existed on Peachtree [Road] since they built the [Phipps Plaza and Lenox Square] malls,” he said. “It’s a true, mixed-use project on this site.”

Brookhaven Place should be complete in 30 months, Fuqua said.

Sembler, which has also built Perimeter Place, Lindbergh Plaza, and Edgewood Retail District, wants to use many of the elements from each of those projects in Brookhaven, Fuqua said. “It will be twice the size of Lindbergh, but will have the feel of Perimeter.”

“This section of Peachtree is really great, but the commercial along that corridor is really ratty,” he said. “This is going to change the dynamics of that whole corridor. This is going to do what Edgewood and Lindbergh do, spur a lot of other quality investment in the corridor.”

Atlanta Business Chronicle - June 2, 2006 by Lisa R. Schoolcraft