The Buford Highway is home to International Village at Chamblee, a 30 acre/500,000 square foot, mixed-use development. Designed to be a place where residents can work and play, shop and dine, all within a short walking distance, it features a variety of restaurants, cafés, shops and specialty boutiques. There is even an amphitheatre for musical, theatrical, and cultural events.
Don’t look for it in one neat location, however; the village stretches from Clairmont to Chamblee-Dunwoody Road. Among its many unique offerings is an Asian Square, purported to be the first shopping mall of its kind in Georgia; an 111,000 square foot public market and arcade, housing primarily eateries and pubs from a variety of cultures; an outdoor amphitheatre; a 120-room hotel; an international trade center; and a Mediterranean Village for Italian and Greek cuisines.
William G. Holt, III, a PhD Candidate in the Department of Sociology at Yale University, has researched the impact of such international investments in the Atlanta area. “People from places such as Mexico, China, Vietnam, Nigeria, and Bosnia are now calling the Atlanta metropolitan area home,” Holt said. “These new immigrants range from venture capitalists to small business owners to service workers, all looking for opportunities in Atlanta’s booming economy. Local officials believe that the International Village location represents the ideal of what may be achieved through global trade and immigration.”
While many cities would love to copy Atlanta’s model, Holt says ” it remains to be seen whether the success of the DeKalb County suburbs can be repeated elsewhere.” However, he maintains his optimism that Atlanta’s successes in international marketing and development demonstrate that increased international attention can bring investment, revenue and revitalization to an entire region.
- Beth Rice

Take the family or have a date night at Oglethorpe’s performance of Robin Hood. Show times are Tuesday-Saturday 10:00 am and Saturday 1:00 pm until July 28th. Tickets are priced at $12/adult and $10/child. Order your tickets and get more information at this site:

http://www.accessatlanta.com/event/events2/etc/userEventDisplay.jspd?eventStatus=Approved&eventid=120958

Save the date! The Pool Hall in Buckhead is celebrating it’s 61st Anniversary Saturday, July 14th by throwing a block party and we’re all invited. Show up at 3:00pm for live music, food, and a great time. Free admission before 5:00pm, $10 cover after 5:00pm. See you there!

On Irby Ave. behind the Roxy Theatre

Are you ready for an area in Brookhavan where everything is at your fingertips? Brookhaven Village (which includes restaurants, shops and retail, offices, and living areas) is expected to be completed in the next couple of years and will dramatically renovate the Brookhaven area. Get ready for a change! Tenants already include Atkins Park Tavern, J. Christopher’s, Cork and Fork, and the gorgeous Park at Village Place. Please visit their website for more information:

www.villageplacebrookhaven.com

If your seller is not a Georgia resident and is not selling their principal residence, they may be subject to Georgia withholding tax. Georgia withholding tax equals 3% of either the seller’s net proceeds or the sales price of the property. Closing attorneys are required to collect this tax at closing if the net proceeds/sales price is greater than $20,000.00. In order to avoid having to withhold tax based on the full sales price, all sellers who may be subject to Georgia withholding tax are asked to fill out an affidavit stating their net proceeds from the sale. Net proceeds are calculated by subtracting the seller’s cost basis (amount seller paid) and “costs of sale” from the sales price.

Net Proceeds = sales price – cost basis (amount seller paid) – costs of sale

A tax advisor can best help your seller determine what constitutes their “costs of sale” and we are always happy to provide your seller with the affidavit in advance of closing so that they may accurate determine their net proceeds. Please be aware – if the seller does not complete this affidavit, tax will be withheld on the full sales price of the property. Bottom line: make sure that your out of state sellers are aware of this requirement in advance so that may better prepare for the tax consequences at closing!

Renee Dillon
Neel & Robinson Attorneys at Law, LLC

As the Brookhaven area grows with new construction homes, so do the water and sewer lines. The city of Atlanta will be reconstructing these lines over the next few weeks. This construction has already caused awful traffic along North Druid Hills Road, near Ashford Park, Drew Valley, and Georgian Hills subdivisions. Try to use alternate routes: Roxboro Road is a good route to connect Peachtree and North Druid.

Atlanta’s famously high levels of in-migration are propping up the regional housing market, even as other metro areas experience declines – or collapses – of their residential sectors.

“Metro Atlanta’s relatively dynamic housing market makes the city a mecca for home builders, even in the midst of a worrisome national slump in home sales. New first-time home buyers arrive in the city every day, generating a lucrative pool of potential new home sales. This and factors such as inexpensive land and affordable homes make Atlanta’s housing market something of a national anomaly.”

Even though Metro Atlanta has been suffering higher foreclosure rates, longer sales times and slighly dropping home prices, Atlanta’s growing economy makes it a consistently popular destination for new residents.

“Prices in places such as San Diego have put homes beyond the reach of ordinary home buyers, while Atlanta is still viewed as affordable…Atlanta’s hip, youthful image among young professionals is also helping to drive its growth with potential homeowners.”

Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Apr 01, 2007

It’s important to note that raising your score is a bit like losing weight: It takes time and there is no quick fix. In fact, quick-fix efforts can backfire. The best advice is to manage credit responsibly over time. See how much money you can save by just following these tips and raising your score.

Payment History Tips

• Pay your bills on time.
  Delinquent payments and collections can have a major negative impact on your score.
• If you have missed payments, get current and stay current.
  The longer you pay your bills on time, the better your score.
• Be aware that paying off a collection account will not remove it from your credit report.
  It will stay on your report for seven years.
• If you are having trouble making ends meet, contact your creditors or see a legitimate credit counselor.
  This won’t improve your score immediately, but if you can begin to manage your credit and pay on time, your score will get better over time.

Amounts Owed Tips

• Keep balances low on credit cards and other “revolving credit”.
  High outstanding debt can affect a score.
• Pay off debt rather than moving it around.
  The most effective way to improve your score in this area is by paying down your revolving credit. In fact, owing the same amount but having fewer open accounts may lower your score.
• Don’t close unused credit cards as a short-term strategy to raise your score.
• Don’t open a number of new credit cards that you don’t need, just to increase your available credit.
  This approach could backfire and actually lower score.

Length of Credit History Tips

• If you have been managing credit for a short time, don’t open a lot of new accounts too rapidly.
  New accounts will lower your average account age, which will have a larger effect on your score if you don’t have a lot of other credit information. Also, rapid account buildup can look risky if you are a new credit user.

New Credit Tips

• Do your rate shopping for a given loan within a focused period of time.
  FICO® scores distinguish between a search for a single loan and a search for many new credit lines, in part by the length of time over which inquiries occur.
• Re-establish your credit history if you have had problems.
  Opening new accounts responsibly and paying them off on time will raise your score in the long term.
• Note that it’s OK to request and check your own credit report.
  This won’t affect your score, as long as you order your credit report directly from the credit reporting agency or through an organization authorized to provide credit reports to consumers.

Types of Credit Use Tips

• Apply for and open new credit accounts only as needed.
  Don’t open accounts just to have a better credit mix – it probably won’t raise your score.
• Have credit cards – but manage them responsibly.
  In general, having credit cards and installment loans (and paying timely payments) will raise your score. Someone with no credit cards, for example, tends to be higher risk than someone who has managed credit cards responsibly.
• Note that closing an account doesn’t make it go away.
  A closed account will still show up on your credit report, and may be considered by the score.

From www.myfico.com

Credit scores give lenders a fast, objective measurement of your credit risk. Before the use of scoring, the credit granting process could be slow, inconsistent and unfairly biased.

Credit scores – especially FICO® scores, the most widely used credit bureau scores – have made big improvements in the credit process. Because of credit scores:

• People can get loans faster.
  Scores can be delivered almost instantaneously, helping lenders speed up loan approvals. Today many credit decisions can be made within minutes. Even a mortgage application can be approved in hours instead of weeks for borrowers who score above a lender’s “score cutoff”. Scoring also allows retail stores, Internet sites and other lenders to make “instant credit” decisions.
• Credit decisions are fairer.
  Using credit scoring, lenders can focus only on the facts related to credit risk, rather than their personal feelings. Factors like your gender, race, religion, nationality and marital status are not considered by credit scoring.
• Credit “mistakes” count for less.
  If you have had poor credit performance in the past, credit scoring doesn’t let that haunt you forever. Past credit problems fade as time passes and as recent good payment patterns show up on your credit report. Unlike so-called “knock out rules” that turn down borrowers based solely on a past problem in their file, credit scoring weighs all of the credit-related information, both good and bad, in your credit report.
• More credit is available.
  Lenders who use credit scoring can approve more loans, because credit scoring gives them more precise information on which to base credit decisions. It allows lenders to identify individuals who are likely to perform well in the future, even though their credit report shows past problems. Even people whose scores are lower than a lender’s cutoff for “automatic approval” benefit from scoring. Many lenders offer a choice of credit products geared to different risk levels. Most have their own separate guidelines, so if you are turned down by one lender, another may approve your loan. The use of credit scores gives lenders the confidence to offer credit to more people, since they have a better understanding of the risk they are taking on.
• Credit rates are lower overall.
  With more credit available, the cost of credit for borrowers decreases. Automated credit processes, including credit scoring, make the credit granting process more efficient and less costly for lenders, who in turn have passed savings on to their customers. And by controlling credit losses using scoring, lenders can make rates lower overall. Mortgage rates are lower in the United States than in Europe, for example, in part because of the information – including credit scores – available to lenders here. Knowing and improving your score can also lead to more favorable interest rates. Check out an example of the national averages of interest rates and see exactly how much money you might be able to save.

From www.myfico.com

FICO® scores consider a wide range of information on your credit report. However, they do not consider:

• Your race, color, religion, national origin, sex and marital status.
  US law prohibits credit scoring from considering these facts, as well as any receipt of public assistance, or the exercise of any consumer right under the Consumer Credit Protection Act.
• Your age.
  Other types of scores may consider your age, but FICO scores don’t.
• Your salary, occupation, title, employer, date employed or employment history.
  Lenders may consider this information, however, as may other types of scores.
• Where you live.
• Any interest rate being charged on a particular credit card or other account.
• Any items reported as child/family support obligations or rental agreements.
• Certain types of inquiries (requests for your credit report).
  The score does not count “consumer-initiated” inquiries – requests you have made for your credit report, in order to check it. It also does not count “promotional inquiries” – requests made by lenders in order to make you a “pre-approved” credit offer – or “administrative inquiries” – requests made by lenders to review your account with them. Requests that are marked as coming from employers are not counted either.
• Any information not found in your credit report.
• Any information that is not proven to be predictive of future credit performance.
• Whether or not you are participating in a credit counseling of any kind.

From www.myfico.com