The problem stems from the fact that raw land appreciated so quickly in north Fulton County, and particularly in Milton, where it is said to have quadrupled in a few short years prior to our current "market correction."

This created a price gap between the "original neighborhoods" and the new neighborhoods.  The original residents want to bridge that gap, but how?

Some of the neighborhoods like Brierfield near Crabapple have redone the entrance to the neighborhood with stacked stone signage and have replaced all the mailboxes and sign posts to given an updated look. 

That’s great, although, I don’t think that you can say the houses in Brierfield are worth $2000 more today than they were last year because of this.  Here’s my suggestion:  Promote the benefits of living in your neighborhood.

By that I mean:  market yourselves.  A neighborhood should have a unique selling proposition, just as a house should.  For instance, the neighborhood has one of the few swim teams around, or the best ALTA tennis program, or multiple lake lots with community access to the lake for fishing, or well-organized kids events like Halloween and Easter egg hunts, or horse trails, or proximity to a park or even a Starbucks or lawn maintenance included in the HOA dues.

For the longest time, I’ve been trying to get my neighborhood to build an artificial putting green (don’t forget the sand bunker) next to our pool.  How about that for a unique selling proposition?  How do you think the conversation would go when a prospective buyer drove into the neighborhood?  Man speaking to wife:  Look honey, they have a putting green.  I love this neighborhood already.

The HOA should have an External Communication function/person whose job it is to spread the unique selling proposition.  If your neighborhood does not have an external website, build one.  Get a neighborhood kid to spend a little time optimizing it for the search engines…he or she will know what to do.

Publish your community calendar, tennis matches, swim lessons, etc.  Take lots of pictures of different times of year and post those.  Calculate the number and age of the children and publish that because every mother I’ve ever worked with wants to know if there are kids her kids’ age to play with and the only place this information exists is with the existing homeowners.

Ultimate goal:  make your neighborhood desirable.  Market it.  Make someone in Iowa reading about your blooming azaleas in April drool to live in your neighborhood. Let them know what kind of people live in your neighborhood and that you all aren’t a bunch of raving lunatics!

A good time and place to start could even be right here and now.  Leave a comment to this post and tell us what neighborhood you live in and why it is a great place.  Go ahead…sell me on it.  Leave the url for you neighborhood website if you have one.

In the end, the value of your home is based on the comparable sales in your neighborhood.  If you can make your neighborhood the envy of the area and get people wanting it instead of just "taking a look," you’ll be more likely to get some solid sales at closer to list price and develop some price momentum.

Of course, you all need to be keeping you homes maintained and updated, particularly the kitchens, but marketing the neighborhood as only residents can do won’t cost you a dime, just a little time.  Go ahead, start today!

I made an exception when deciding to attend Bloodhound Unchained because I’ve been reading Bloodhound Blog for a while now and there are so many good real estate marketing ideas discussed there that I figured I must attend.  The people contributing on Bloodhound blog are truly discussing the foremost methods to market real estate in this Web 2.0 world; and as Alpharetta’s self-appointed bearer of the real estate 2.0 mantle, I viewed attendance as mandatory, not optional.

Real Estate with Web 2.0 Allows You to Develop Trust

Deciding to attend this conference on on-line real estate marketing and social media really wasn’t that hard, though, because I used the very tools I was going to learn about when deciding to go in the first place.

The internet is a brave new world of commerce. No one likes sleazy sales people, but sleazy sales tricks cannot work on the internet, where every suspicious claim can be checked in an instant. Transparency rules, and the practitioners who succeed with net-empowered consumers are the ones who are prepared to back up everything they say.

The bonus for people willing to work this way is that consumers will have a much higher degree of trust in their Realtor or lender. Rather than picking a name out of a phone book or off of a yard sign, they will have gotten to know that person — passively and anonymously — online.

The contributors at Bloodhound blog had developed with me over an extended period of time via the blog a high degree of trust.  Trust is the hardest thing to earn, but also the thing that makes all relationships flourish or flounder.  I think that you’ll believe me when I say the best client interactions you’ve had are the ones where the client trusts you and your expertise and you trust them to honor their business commitment to you.

My most sincere hope is that, like the Bloodhound blog earned my trust, that my blog is earning your trust.

Real Estate Entrepreneurs and the Yesterday’s Broker

But it hit me like an anvil hitting Wile E. Coyote when Greg Swan said that the audience was filled with a bunch of real estate entrepreneurs.  Yes, that is exactly what we are - unchained from the traditional way of doing business:  our real estate trade is the same as every other realtor, but how we go about the trade is radically different. 

We are not company (wo)men.  We don’t depend on our brokers for much of anything, certainly not business.  We seek our own counsel first - and then the counsel of our social media network.  We don’t hang out by the water cooler and bemoan the market; we make the market.  We are idea-based and action-oriented.  These attributes are actually why I wanted to attend Bloodhound Unchained:  because it is comforting, reassuring, encouraging and darn-right stimulating to hang out with like-minded people/realtors.

Given that this is our DNA, Laurie Manny, a dedicated real estate blogger from Long Beach, CA, proclaimed that the brokers should be scared, VERY scared.  Why, because the entrepreneurial agent, or more precisely the real estate agent who is going to succeed in the new world of web 2.0, does not need much of anything that a broker can offer.

So let me ask you, the reading audience who might be considering engaging me to help you with your real estate purchase or sale.  Do you care that I’m affiliated with a national real estate brokerage?  Can you tell me which one without looking at the footer of this page?

What if I were with a second-tier brokerage, one that would charge me much less to do business, but one without the brand name recognition?  What if my broker were completely virtual?  Would you mind meeting me at Starbucks instead of my company conference room?

When at Bloodhound Unchained, I surveyed other attendees on this question.  Each and every one told me without hesitation that the broker doesn’t matter one iota.  What matters is you and your ability to effectively sell and market and maintain client relationships.

What do you think?  If you came to this blog tomorrow and found that I was with no-name broker, would you trust me less?

So why in the world then would two of Alpharetta’s largest subdivisions just elect to gate their communities?  Read on to find out.

Currently there aren’t that many gated neighborhoods in North Fulton from which to choose relative to the over 700 existing subdivisions.  Because you don’t see that many gated communities when driving around town, indeed, you get the impression that there just aren’t very many of them.  However, when I did some research for this post there were more gated communities than I expected. On the east side there are thirty-five or so gated communities including the gated golf course communities of Country Club of the South, St. Ives, St. Marlo, a couple sections of Windward and in Forsyth County, Laurel Springs.  Other gated communities without golf are listed on the right where you can click to see homes for sale in each. These neighborhoods include  Amersee Lakes, Atherton Park, Centennial, Ellard, Haynes Manor, Quail Hollow, River Falls, Tavistock and Winthrop Park. On the west side of GA-400, you have fewer gated communities.  This is because it is more rural, less commercial and frankly, I think that gating for exclusivity or security is the furthest thing from peoples’ mind on the west side. That said, there are some gated communities west of 400.  Providence at Atlanta National has always been gated - and guarded.  The high-end, luxury homes at Greystone have always been gated.  Jennifer Oaks, a mid-range neighborhood off Mid-Broadwell Road has always been gated and one of the few moderately priced gated neighborhoods in the area. As they have been built, the new high-end neighborhoods have been gated:  The Manor, Lakeside at Ansley, Crabapple Brook, Chatham Park, etc. But now, two existing west-side neighborhoods are going the way of the gate.  Well, I take that back.  One is going the way of the gate; the other the way of the guard. Crooked Creek Votes to Add Gate and Improve Swim/Tennis Seventy-two percent of voting Crooked Creek homeowners recently decided to gate their community (along with approving a $4 million upgrade to their existing swim and tennis facilities.)  Crooked Creek is Milton’s largest neighborhood with 620 homes and six miles of roads within the neighborhood. The reason for gating the neighborhood?  Not crime.  Not even exclusivity.  Traffic.  The neighborhood reports that about 2,000 cars a day cut through Crooked Creek to get from HWY 9 to Francis Road.  That is about 1/4 to 1/3 of all the traffic on the main neighborhood road, Creek Club Drive.

Gated Neighborhoods East of GA-400.  Click to see homes for sale in that neighborhood. Abberley Towneship Ammersee Lakes Atherton Park Autry Township Cameron Crest Farms Centennial Citadella Country Club Of The South Ellard Enclave At Glen Abbey Grand Estates Of The South Windward Haynes Manor Haynesbrooke Homestead Horseshoe Bend Johns Creek Walk Jones Bridge Estates Laurel Pond Montclair Olde Taylor Farms Quail Hollow River Falls Riverside Park St Ives Stonewyck Tavistock The Gates At Johns Creek Willow Royal Winfield On The River Winthrop Park Woodvale Wrights Mill Commons Wyngate   Gated Neighborhoods West of GA-400.  Click to see homes for sale in that neighborhood. Atlanta National Chatham Park Clearbrooke Crabapple Brook Crabapple Pointe Five Oaks Farm Garrison Hill Glenayre Greystone Heatherton Hidden Forest Ivey Mills Jennifer Oaks Lakeside At Ansley Reminisce Roxbury Estates Stonegate Stonegrove Taimen On The River The Manor The Overlook At Litchfield White Columns Windsor

 

The cost to a Crooked Creek home owner for a gate and new amenities?  An increase of $675 a year in HOA dues, which would basically double what they are currently paying for new dues of $1,425.

But what about the non-Crooked Creek resident.  Don’t they have rights to roads, too?  After all, these are roads that county taxpayer money has supported for the past 10-12 years.  Plus, the neighborhood is asking the City of Milton to make $600,000 in road improvements BEFORE they install the gates.  Does that sound fair to someone who doesn’t live there and lives in a neighborhood that likely needs road resurfacing more badly than Crooked Creek?

I totally understand that residents of Crooked Creek want to limit the cut-through traffic.  I’d want to if I lived there.  But I also understand how hard it is to get from east to west in Milton.  Most neighborhoods only have a single entrance and don’t offer any overflow options to crowed two-lane roads.  Before we know it, though, residents of Landrum Road, Nix Road, Wood Road, Summit Road will all want to close their roads to non-resident traffic.  Heck, Landrum Road residents have already tried it.

White Columns Adding Guarded Gate

White Columns is the second neighborhood on the list to add access control to its neighborhood.  I say "access control" because I’m talking about the section of White Columns that is already gated.  They are now adding a guard.  Why you ask?  Well, a lot of people, including many who lived in the non-gated portion of White Columns, knew the gate code and would use it to cut through the neighborhood to get from Freemanville Rd to Birmingham Highway.

The effect of cutting off the cut-thru will be to put more cross traffic on Nix Road, which is a dirt road in very mediocre condition, particularly when the new elementary school is complete in the Fall of 2009.  I’m sure the people on Nix Road will have something to say about this.

There will be no code access from the Birmingham Hwy back entrance to White Columns; the only way to get in that gate will be with a clicker.  Non-residents will have to get pass the guard on Freemanville Hwy.  I guess I’ll have to get my wife to make some more of those killer coffee-laced brownies to use as my guard bribes.  Hey, a realtor needs access.

The cost of the guard at White Columns?  About $1,000 a year in increased HOA dues and something like a $900 one-time assessment.

Questions for You

1)  Would you pay more to live in a gated community?  Would you pay more for a guarded community?  Does it depend on which side of GA-400 you live?

2) Have the Crooked Creek residents figured out what they will do will people learn the gate code…and they will learn the gate code with some many residents in the neighborhood.  Will a guard be the next step at Crooked Creek?  Indeed, is a guard the only way to effectively keep out cut through traffic?

The Manor is not breaking any sales records, but Echelon has performed so poorly that people are wondering what the future holds - and this uncertainly has absolutely affected buyers’ decisions to not buy in Echelon.  I have personal experience on that front.

The developer at Echelon, The Melrose Group, has a track record of under performance as evidenced by Bloody Point in Hilton Head.

Enter Trump, or so the rumor goes.  Here is a man who appreciates a smooth seven iron from the middle of the fairway.  Trump is also no stranger to golf course development.  He has an entire portfolio of beautiful courses under the Trump National brand and courses outside the U.S. as well.

Plus, Trump is already building in Atlanta at the new Trump Towers of Atlanta, in midtown, so he is likely familiar with Alpharetta’s market demographics and the huge upside of investing in this area.

Trump could be the 6 handicapper in the shiny golf cart that rides in and saves the day at Echelon.  I’ve always maintained that Echelon is a diamond in the rough.  The golf course is outstanding and its advantage over The Manor is that it has acre-sized lots - and fewer of them, precisely because they are larger.  Echelon will be a smaller and perhaps more exclusive community once it is built out and we are 20 years down the fairway.

The proposed deal I heard rumored is that Trump would buy out the lender’s position at Echelon and complete the development with The Melrose Company, but again, this is all speculation.

Someone needs to step in, though, whether it is Trump or someone else.  A golf course as good as that one is a terrible thing to waste (and by the way, you can currently get a membership there for only $15,000 regardless of whether you went to the North Avenue vocational school ;-> ).

A Trump development in Alpharetta would be just another jewel in a crown of high-end developments (Prospect Park being the other big one) that is really putting Alpharetta on the map nationally. 

Let’s tee it up, Donald.  And I want strokes from "the Donald" just to say that I got them!

But don’t let these deals scare you!

• Most lenders have beefed up their FHA underwriting staff. We can close most FHA loans in 5-10 business days;
• Loan limits in the metro area are as high as $346K;
• The 3% down payment requirement still can come from a gift or a down payment assistance program for the 100% loans;
• Seller contributions on FHA can go as high as 6% of the sales price;
• The Monthly Mortgage insurance cost about 30% less than conventional loans;
• Rates are excellent with yesterday’s 30 year fixed around 5.75% for the 30 year.

 
FHA loans are great for first time home buyers.  We have at least 10 lenders who offer FHA loans.  If you have ANY questions regarding FHA procedures or policies, please drop me an email.  With the market bottoming out, don’t let financing be a problem in achieving your home ownership goals.

Ted Fithian, Home Town Mortgage