Atlanta In The Know

Archive for July, 2008

Atlanta Homes and Resale Value… Power lines are a definite NO

Categories: Atlanta Neighborhoods, Atlanta Real Estate News, Buying Your Home, Resale Value, Selling Your Home

As Atlanta Real Estate Agents, we represent Buyers. We help them find their home of choice. And manage all the details of buying their new home in Atlanta. One item that we always consult our clients on is resale value. According to the national averages, single family home sells every 5 to 7 years; thus, resale is an important consideration My husband and I were discussing this topic the other day and decided to make a list of the top 3 items that hurt the resale value of homes in Atlanta. They are as follows: Read the rest of this entry »

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Spoken by Liz Bankston | Discussion: 1 Comment »

Atlanta Real Estate Deals, A Deal of a Deal

Categories: Atlanta Real Estate News, Buying Your Home

Sometimes the most challenging thing about working with a BUYER is understanding what they are looking to buy. I had a man call me the other day requesting information about one of our listings. During the course of the conversation, we both realized that the home he called about was not going to be a fit for what he wanted. I offered my assistance in helping him find what he was looking for and I asked him all the normal questions: location, number of bedrooms, baths, price, etc. and anything else that I should pay particular attention to such as the lot, or school districts. I thought I was being professional and helpful in trying to uncover what kind of home he wanted.

When he told me that I sounded like the last four agents he talked to I thought, have all we gone to the same ‘Scripts and Dialogue’ classes? Do I sound like any other Realtor in Atlanta? I have to say it hurt my feelings long enough to realize I needed to modify something about how I talk with people. How can I serve our clients in the best way possible? How can I differentiate myself with the competition? Read the rest of this entry »

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Lunch at Los Rancheros

Categories: Dunwoody, Dunwoody Dish

Besides Real Estate, one of my very favorite things is food. I like both to cook and to eat great food. I think I have always secretly wanted to be a food critic - you know, have my own column in the the newspaper reviewing restaurants. Being that I am Realtor, and the likelihood of me being approached by the Food Network to have my own show, or even writing for The Dunwoody Crier is slim, so I have decided that I am going to do the next best thing. And that is to devote a section of this site for reviews on local restaurants.

So here is my first entry for the category, DUNWOODY DISH.

Restaurant: Los Rancheros, a Mexican restaurant located on Dunwoody Club Drive at the Kroger Shopping Center

My husband and I just ate Los Rancheros this afternoon for lunch. We looked over the very large menu while we munched on the complimentary chips and salsa. I loved the salsa - just the right amount of heat and not too chunky. We ordered the steak fajitas. It was my suggestion and Greg even said how long it had been since he’s had fajitas so he agreed. And Greg had to order the beef soft taco, too. It seemed within minutes our lunch arrived. It looked so good and we were so hungry that we forgot to take the picture of our dish before we started eating it! So please forgive the photo. The atmosphere was casual with lots of bright paints and textures on the walls, the service terrific - Tony was our waiter, and the food tasted great. The portions were large. I definitely over ate. Los Rancheros is one of only a few restaurants in Dunwoody that has an outdoor patio. I can imagine it being a great place to enjoy some margaritas so next time I go there, it will have to be after work.

If you have a favorite restaurant dining experience you’d like to share, just send me an email and I will post as an article under ‘Dunwoody Dish’ with your byline, or tag line - thanks!

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Spoken by Liz Bankston | Discussion: 1 Comment »

Top 3 Reasons to get a Home Inspection

Categories: Atlanta Real Estate News, Buying Your Home, Selling Your Home

Buying a home is a big investment, precisely why it is of utmost importance to have it inspected by a professional home inspector.  (So what better way to multi task during a home inspection as a Realtor is perhaps to blog about it).  I immediately tapped into the home inspector, and according to Eric Pierce with Home Probe, an Atlanta based home inspection company, the top three reasons to have the home inspected are as follows: to learn of any safety issues, to discover any defective items, and to gain information on how to maintain the home once you own it.

Even the most the most well maintained homes seem to always have items that make it to the inspector’s list. Some items large, and some items small. Most concerning items are ones that are related to the foundation or structure.

One item that is hitting every home owner selling their property in Dekalb County is low flow plumbing. A new law states that any house built before 1993 and sold will have to have low-flow toilets that consume 1.6 gallons of water or less per flush in order to have public water to be turned on in the new owner’s name.

Low-flow toilets became mandatory in new construction around 1993, so homes that were built after 1993 are not affected by this new ordinance. The county still has as many as 165,000 houses built before 1993, but it is unclear how many have been upgraded with toilets that use less water. The low-flow requirement is one thing that Dekalb County is using to cope with the drought in Georgia. http://www.dekalbwatershed.com/index.html

Just like you may not exactly look forward to seeing your physician for your annual exam, it is necessary in order to stay healthy. Same with your house and its exam. You may not exactly like to hear that the electrical outlets are not up to code or that the motor in the attic fan is broken. Or that you are now going to be required to buy low flow toilets. In the end, a few repairs and or replacements of said items will help to get your home to settlement.

A good healthy home gives peace of mind.

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