Candice Johnson
Office (404)843-2500
Direct (770)847-6495
Thursday, November 29, 2012
How Atlanta's Famous City of Buckhead Got Its Name
In the early 1800's, a settler by the name of Henry Irby paid for a small piece of land near what today is known as Peachtree, Roswell, and West Paces Ferry Roads. He built a tavern and general store there that later became a place for farmers, hunters, and tradesmen to meet. One day while hunting in the thick stretch of wilderness, Irby shot a buck, and posted the deer's head on the door of what he then named The Buck's Head Tavern. Eventually, an entire city would be called Buckhead, and the very popular Irby Avenue would be named after the settler.
Check out these Luxury Buckhead listings!
Source: Schemmel, William. (2009). Off the Beaten Path Georgia A Guide to Unique Places, 10.
Candice Johnson
www.cjsellsatlanta.com
Office (404)843-2500
Direct (770)847-6495
Candice Johnson
www.cjsellsatlanta.com
Office (404)843-2500
Direct (770)847-6495
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Virginia Highlands Homes For Rent
Visit http://www.cjsellsatlanta.com/rental_homes.html to schedule a tour today. Hurry, appointment slots are filling fast!
Sell Your Home Fast, Here's How:
A well-trained listing agent can make the difference between you getting an offer to purchase your home in 1 to 2 weeks, or 6 months. There are times when you need to get your home sold fast, whether it's due to relocation or financial hardship. I am confident that each of you will agree that there is absolutely no time to waste in situations such as these.
Sometimes homeowners decide to sell the home themselves which could be a huge mistake. It is essential to reach the broadest audience urgently, and have the best tools on hand. Realtors have access to resources that the homeowner does not. Utilizing these resources early on is key.
The formula to selling your home fast consists of listing your home at the right price, marketing your home properly, staging your home to impress your market's current buyer, making your home available for showings, and of course hiring the right broker.
List Your Home at the Right Price
This is perhaps the most important factor of all. Price drives traffic, not marketing. Marketing merely enhances the traffic that you will see. One of the biggest myths for this current market is that more homes are successfully sold by initially listing the home above the market value, then driving the price down significantly. Your home will get what is known as a "stale factor." The newest listings get the most attention, and in order to take advantage of this you must price the home fairly in the beginning in order to get more buyer showings. Do not accept an agent showing up to your home with a computer-generated CMA prior to even touring the home. There is an art to pricing accurately. A true professional will tour your home, heavily research your market, and discuss your needs with you prior to offering a suggested price. A homeowner that is looking to sell in 45 days will almost never be offered the same price as a homeowner that needs to sell in 6 months. I explain this in detail in my listing presentations.
Market Your Home Properly
Buyers do the majority of their research online prior to visiting the property. You must have a huge online presence with as much information about your home as possible. Picture quality can make or break even the best listings. Here are a few picture quality tips:
Stage Your Home to Impress Your Market's Buyers
Many people think that staging is tedious, time-consuming, and expensive. This is certainly not true! Often, the most important part of staging is de-cluttering. You want to make sure the home is easy to navigate, clean, and free from debris. If you have too many furniture pieces, place them in either a basement or a compact part of the garage. Your floorplan should be as simple as possible. Less is always better.
You want to master 3 of the 5 senses in the home; Sight, hearing, and smell. This is critical! Your home should never smell like food or pets. Liquid potpourri is my favorite air freshner because it's inexpensive and long-lasting. Never choose a fragrance that is overpowering though. Make sure the home is as noise-free as possible. If you live near a busy area, try playing soft music when showings are scheduled to mask some of the sounds and give your home a more serene feel.
If your decor is outdated, it may be worth your while to make a few updates. This can be as simple as changing out bathroom rugs, shower curtains, linen, and artwork. (Please see my blog on strategically placed artwork).
Make Your Home Available For Tours
Remember what you did with listings that had difficult showing schedules and rules when you were once house hunting? You skipped over them, right? Most buyers and agents do! Agents and buyers want to do business according to their availability and not yours. In an occupied home I think it is fair to have your home open for tours from 8:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. with only a courtesy call requirement. Uncooperative sellers rarely sell homes, and when they do it takes much longer. Make sure that your agent utilizes a Supra lockbox that keeps an electronic record of which agent enters the home.
Hire the Right Broker
There are hundreds, quite possibly even thousands of agents licensed in Georgia, many of whom offer the same exact services. How do you choose one? Hire a well-trained innovator who has the flexibility and knowledge to make the best of your personal situation. There are no 2 transactions that are similar, and they should never be treated as such.
Beware of brokers whose claim to fame is their super low commission, rather than the quality of their work. Many of these brokers have tons of listings, but also rank incredibly high in expired listings. Remember the old cliche, "cheaper is not always better?" You need a broker that will dedicate time and resources to you and your family. It is nearly impossible to receive the best possible service when sacrificing price. It all boils down to your needs: Do you need to get your home sold, or do you want to be a buyer lead-generator for a broker, and eventually become expired and forgotten about?
Brand is also important. There are a few good real estate brands out there that will offer you various benefits. Do your research and weigh the pros and cons of each one.
Sometimes homeowners decide to sell the home themselves which could be a huge mistake. It is essential to reach the broadest audience urgently, and have the best tools on hand. Realtors have access to resources that the homeowner does not. Utilizing these resources early on is key.
The formula to selling your home fast consists of listing your home at the right price, marketing your home properly, staging your home to impress your market's current buyer, making your home available for showings, and of course hiring the right broker.
List Your Home at the Right Price
This is perhaps the most important factor of all. Price drives traffic, not marketing. Marketing merely enhances the traffic that you will see. One of the biggest myths for this current market is that more homes are successfully sold by initially listing the home above the market value, then driving the price down significantly. Your home will get what is known as a "stale factor." The newest listings get the most attention, and in order to take advantage of this you must price the home fairly in the beginning in order to get more buyer showings. Do not accept an agent showing up to your home with a computer-generated CMA prior to even touring the home. There is an art to pricing accurately. A true professional will tour your home, heavily research your market, and discuss your needs with you prior to offering a suggested price. A homeowner that is looking to sell in 45 days will almost never be offered the same price as a homeowner that needs to sell in 6 months. I explain this in detail in my listing presentations.
Market Your Home Properly
Buyers do the majority of their research online prior to visiting the property. You must have a huge online presence with as much information about your home as possible. Picture quality can make or break even the best listings. Here are a few picture quality tips:
- Take photos when the sun is facing the front of the home. Depending on where your home is situated, this could be in either morning or afternoon. Utilizing natural light will give your pictures the perfect touch. Never take pictures on a rainy or cloudy day.
- Make sure the lawn is freshly manicured when taking exterior pictures.
- The main photo should always be an exterior shot of the house. Center the house in the photo and be sure the roof line is perfectly horizontal.
- When taking interior photos, turn on all the lights and open all blinds in order to have the best possible lighting effect. Take pictures from several different angles.
Stage Your Home to Impress Your Market's Buyers
Many people think that staging is tedious, time-consuming, and expensive. This is certainly not true! Often, the most important part of staging is de-cluttering. You want to make sure the home is easy to navigate, clean, and free from debris. If you have too many furniture pieces, place them in either a basement or a compact part of the garage. Your floorplan should be as simple as possible. Less is always better.
You want to master 3 of the 5 senses in the home; Sight, hearing, and smell. This is critical! Your home should never smell like food or pets. Liquid potpourri is my favorite air freshner because it's inexpensive and long-lasting. Never choose a fragrance that is overpowering though. Make sure the home is as noise-free as possible. If you live near a busy area, try playing soft music when showings are scheduled to mask some of the sounds and give your home a more serene feel.
If your decor is outdated, it may be worth your while to make a few updates. This can be as simple as changing out bathroom rugs, shower curtains, linen, and artwork. (Please see my blog on strategically placed artwork).
Make Your Home Available For Tours
Remember what you did with listings that had difficult showing schedules and rules when you were once house hunting? You skipped over them, right? Most buyers and agents do! Agents and buyers want to do business according to their availability and not yours. In an occupied home I think it is fair to have your home open for tours from 8:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. with only a courtesy call requirement. Uncooperative sellers rarely sell homes, and when they do it takes much longer. Make sure that your agent utilizes a Supra lockbox that keeps an electronic record of which agent enters the home.
Hire the Right Broker
There are hundreds, quite possibly even thousands of agents licensed in Georgia, many of whom offer the same exact services. How do you choose one? Hire a well-trained innovator who has the flexibility and knowledge to make the best of your personal situation. There are no 2 transactions that are similar, and they should never be treated as such.
Beware of brokers whose claim to fame is their super low commission, rather than the quality of their work. Many of these brokers have tons of listings, but also rank incredibly high in expired listings. Remember the old cliche, "cheaper is not always better?" You need a broker that will dedicate time and resources to you and your family. It is nearly impossible to receive the best possible service when sacrificing price. It all boils down to your needs: Do you need to get your home sold, or do you want to be a buyer lead-generator for a broker, and eventually become expired and forgotten about?
Brand is also important. There are a few good real estate brands out there that will offer you various benefits. Do your research and weigh the pros and cons of each one.
Visit my Sell Your Home page to learn about the phenomenal resources that I have through the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate brand, and my personal marketing plan to get your home sold fast.
Candice Johnson
Direct: 770-847-6495
Office: 404-843-2500
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Homes For Rent in Midtown Atlanta
Visit http://www.cjsellsatlanta.com/rental_homes.html to schedule a tour today. Hurry, appointment slots are filling fast!
Atlanta Relocation Expert
Planning a move to Atlanta can be a serious challenge, especially for those who are not familiar with the city. The Atlanta Metropolitan area spans across several counties and across almost 50 miles in all directions. Let’s face it, you need a Realtor that knows this great city well enough to match your needs to any given area.
I am an Atlanta native and well-trained relocation expert with several years of experience assisting both families and businesses with completing their moves to Atlanta. Whether your move is short-term or long-term, my knowledge and expertise will make the process seamless. If you are not able to visit the city prior to your move, my virtual tours and detailed reports will give you a piece of mind when selecting a property. I am experienced in all areas of relocation including locating high-end luxury properties as well as commercial properties.
Please contact me for a free relocation consultation.
Candice Johnson
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Metro Brokers
www.cjsellsatlanta.com
cj@cjsellsatlanta.com
(direct)
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Metro Brokers
www.cjsellsatlanta.com
cj@cjsellsatlanta.com
(direct)
Georgia Natural Gas Promo Code
Sign up with Georgia Natural Gas today and receive your choice of either a $50 Visa Reward Card, or up to $0.20 off per therm. Here’s how:
1. Log onto www.onlygng.com or call toll free at
2. You must provide promo code: MTBR STONECREST
2. You must provide promo code: MTBR STONECREST
Leave your first and last name so that I may follow through on your behalf after sign-up. Happy Savings!
Candice M. Johnson
Candice M. Johnson
Sell Your Home With Strategically Placed Artwork
Taste in art is incredibly subjective. If your home even slightly resembles a museum, consider that one person’s treasure can be another’s trash. When getting ready to sell your home, it’s important to keep the artwork simple so that you can get the best selling price.
Before listing your property, consider having a candid chat with your Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Metro Brokers sales associate, or a close friend. Both can give you a better sense of pieces destined for the Guggenheim, and those better suited for the basement. Remember, it’s the walls that are for sale, not what’s on them.
Remove extra pieces
Overcrowded walls can make a room feel smaller. Many people cluster together family photos and art in groups – a design strategy that sings in some spaces and sinks in others. Take a critical look at the pieces in each room and consider if they add or subtract from the overall buying potential of the home.
Posters
Children typically have posters in their rooms of their favorite bands, artists or sports heroes. It’s a good idea to limit the amount of posters on children’s walls to give potential buyers a better sense of the room’s possibilities. You want to emphasize the versatility of each space. No matter how difficult (for you or your child), it’s also a good idea to remove any stickers and adhesives on the bedroom doors.
Buyers won’t want to remove stickers, adhesives or patch lots of holes in the walls.
Family photos
People like to see who is living in the home, but only to an extent. Take a look in each room through the eyes of a stranger. Are the pictures from last summer’s trip to the Grand Canyon a little much?
Valuable art collections
In most cases, art is a phenomenal investment. During any open house, make sure your best pieces are featured prominently. Valuable artwork can lend an air of prestige to a home, and be a great point for discussion amongst potential buyers.
Using art to create a mood
Art sets the mood for a home. Landscapes, black and white photography, sculptures, and other tasteful pieces do wonders, but try to avoid leaving out anything that’s overtly religious, sexual or controversial. Pieces of that nature can detract from the overall feel of your home and give potential buyers a reason to keep looking.
What are your thoughts on art in a seller’s home? Should they take it down or leave it up?
Author: Tisha Gay, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Metro Brokers
http://blog.metrobrokers.com/2012/10/29/sell-your-home-with-strategically-placed-artwork/
http://blog.metrobrokers.com/2012/10/29/sell-your-home-with-strategically-placed-artwork/
Houses For Rent in Atlanta, and Why You Need a Realtor
Many of my rental clients often tell me how exhausting the process can be when finding a house or condo to rent in the Metro Atlanta area without the help of an agent. It is very easy to become overwhelmed because it is a competitive market right now for renters. By the time a potential tenant schedules an appointment to see the home, they often find that someone else has beat them to it. They are also sometimes forced with dealing with unresponsive listing agents when calling to inquire about the properties.
HOW FRUSTRATING!
There are several advantages to soliciting a seasoned real estate professional to assist with locating a rental home. Not only are they familiar with school districts and local communities, but they have the necessary resources to get you out to the home FAST to beat the competition. House showings are generally scheduled according to YOUR availability because we generally have access to the properties that are listed. Your real estate agent will be better able to access local homes that have been rented in your desired communities in order to determine that you’re getting the home at the fair market rental price. Renting a home is a serious investment, and you deserve someone who will represent you, and look out for your best interest.
Many have asked me, “Do you have to pay a Realtor to have them assist you with renting a home?” As long as you rent one of the several hundred homes that are listed for rent in our MLS systems, my fees are paid completely by the homeowner!
I have 10 years of experience with assisting renters with finding homes. I specialize in luxury property rentals in Intown Atlanta and surrounding communities including Grant Park, Inman Park, Candler Park, Ormewood Park, Virginia Highlands, Little Five Points, Castleberry Hill, Midtown Atlanta and Buckhead. I have assisted with locating many types of homes from 6-acre equestrian lots, to luxury high rise condominiums. My knowledge and expertise will allow me to pinpoint the perfect home according to your needs and expectations.
Looking for a home to rent in Metro Atlanta? Visit http://www.cjsellsatlanta.com/rental_homes.html and tell us about your needs so that we can hand-select the best homes according to your needs. There are hundreds of homes to choose from!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)