If you’re involved in the Atlanta residential real estate market in any capacity, buyer, seller, agent or other, you’ve noticed that something has changed over the last year. The market has shifted significantly. Homes are selling fast, and I mean crazy-fast.  What’s “crazy-fast?”  Days.  Sometimes just one day.  Sometimes not even a day. Often with multiple offers.  I’ve experienced faster than expected sales recently on both sides of the transaction, on my own listings and when representing buyers.  And from speaking with other agents around time, I’m not alone.  ”Sure,” you might say, “that’s anecdotal evidence, but is it really true for the Atlanta market as a whole?”  I looked at the numbers and here’s what I found.

I checked the FMLS records over the last 3 years to see how many homes sold each year in various days-on-market brackets. For the purposes of this blog post, I’m just using single-family homes sold in the city of Atlanta. Below are the numbers:

Homes sold in 14 days or less in Atlanta:

• 2010: 919

• 2011: 922

• 2012: 1453

 Homes sold in 7 days or less in Atlanta:

• 2010: 399

• 2011: 406

• 2012: 691

Homes sold in 3 days or less in Atlanta:

• 2010: 127

• 2011: 137

• 2012: 269

Homes sold in 1 day or less in Atlanta:

• 2010: 49

• 2011: 65

• 2012: 103

As you can see, in all cases there is a huge jump in number of homes sold that quickly in 2012 versus previous years.  Why is this?  The total volume of sales has increased somewhat, but  nowhere near as much as the increase in quickly selling homes.  So what’s causing homes to fly off of the shelves?

Chart current as of time of writing. Click image for the latest chart, updated daily

The primary driver is that fact that inventory is down.  Way down.  In other words, there are fewer homes available for sale than there has been in the past.  The foreclosures that were flooding the market in the past are drying up.  Over the last few years there have been far fewer new-construction developments being built.  Fewer new single-family subdivisions.  Fewer new condo and town home complexes.  Fewer on-off spec homes.  Many homeowners have been upside-down on their values, so they can’t afford to sell, bringing those would-be sellers off of the market.  Many sellers who “want” to sell, but don’t really “need” to sell have given up.  So the sellers that remain often have some driving motiviation for their sale, and many are pricing their homes to sell quickly.

Chart current as of time of writing. Click image for the latest chart, updated daily

This has lead to an decrease in the overall days-on-market.  This is how long it takes to sell a home, from the time a property is listed for sale until it goes under contract.  Under contract means the seller has reached a binding agreement with a buyer .  The sale has not closed yet, but the property if off the market.  This is only measured on homes that have actually sold, so pending sales that fall out of contract aren’t included.  In other words, this is the actual time-on-market for homes that sold in Atlanta over the past year.

Chart current as of time of writing. Click image for the latest chart, updated daily

Real estate is just like any other market in our economy, prices are driven by supply and demand.  Even if there were no increase of buyers entering the market, the drop in inventory alone  changes the supply / demand curve dramatically.  Market action index is a measure of real estate supply versus demand.  This index shows if the market is trending hotter or colder. A value above 30 indicates a “hot” or “seller’s market, while below that mark indicates a is a “cold” or “buyer’s market.”  This can be leading indicator for prices. As you can see on the graph to the left, Atlanta has catapulted into seller’s market territory this year.  When one compares the trajectory of the MAI chart to that of the Inventory chart, it’s readily apparent that there’s more going on here than a simple decline in inventory.  One can also see that, although the inventory declined throughout 2012, the MAI doesn’t really jump up until 2013.  There must also be a coincident increase in the number of buyers in the 2013 market to form such a hockey-stick graph profile. So, I would expect the number of fast sales in 2013 to surpass even the elevated numbers of 2012. This is a perfect storm for increasing prices, should it continue.

What does it all mean for buyers and sellers in the Atlanta rea estate market?  For sellers it means the tide is turning in your favor. You should be able to sell faster than in years past, and if trends continue, for a higher price.  However, I must caution against “irrational exuberance”, too.  We are only beginning to turn this ship around, and sellers must be careful not to overreach on price.  The homes that are selling fast are those that are in good locations, good condition, and most importantly, are priced correctly.  While it’s exciting to see that last year 269 homes sold in 3 days or less, it’s also important to remember that nearly twice that many (535 homes) took over 180 days to sell.

For buyers, it means that you can’t hesitate on making offers, and you can’t lowball anymore.  Recently I saw a “coming soon” sign go up in the yard of an Atlanta home.  I immediately notified my buyer, but before they could arrange their schedules to see the home, it was under contract with multiple offers.  The home never even officially went “on the market” and it was gone.  Yep, things have definitely changed here in Atlanta.

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Today’s featured Atlanta park is Murphey Candler Park. This is a 135-acre public park located in the neighborhood (soon to be its own city) of Brookhaven. Not to be confused with Candler Park (sans Murphey), which is an Intown Atlanta neighborhood and a park of the same name. Murphey Candler, for whom the park was named, was a state Representative and Senator, who’s son was DeKalb County commissioner. The park is owned and operated by DeKalb County Parks and Recreation, and was opened in 1954.

Murphey Candler Park is home to many youth sports programs, including baseball, softball, football and swimming. In addition to the sporting amenities, the park also has a playground, picnic areas, walking trails and a lake.

Murphey Candler Park is also the name of the neighborhood surrounding the park, which includes ranches and two story traditional homes built from the mid-1950′s through 1970. Below is a sampling of listings in Murphey Candler Park.

Showing properties 1 - 1 of 1. See more Murphey Candler Park homes for sale.
(all data current as of 5/19/2013)

1. $349,000 : 1552 W Nancy Creek Drive, Atlanta
   
   4 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,922 sq ft

   Year built: 1971

   Parking spots: 4

   Square foot source: Tax Record
   

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

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Atlanta has a unique feel compared to similar sized cities owing much to its ample tree canopy and collection of parks. It has earned the nickname of  ”the city in the forest”  based on the fact that its tree coverage is the highest of all major US cities. Atlanta also has 343 parks, gardens, nature preserves and public greenspaces, totaling 3,622 acres. This blog post is the first in a series that will profile the various parks and greenspaces around Intown Atlanta and Buckhead. Today’s featured space is Tanyard Creek Park

Tanyard Creek Park is located in the southern portion of Buckhead, between the neighborhoods of Collier Hills and Ardmore Park. Tanyard Creek Park  has a little bit of something for everyone. There is a paved path that runs the length of the park from north to south, which is part of the Atlanta Beltline project. This path is stroller-friendly and suitable for running and biking as well. On the east side of this path is a huge, open grassy area. Here you’ll often see groups of people playing frisbee or tossing a football around. This area has become sort of an unofficial off-leash dog park, though technically Atlanta’s leash law applies, so use your discretion. On the west side of the path is a large playground area with swings, slides and other play equipment. The northern end of the path runs up to southern extremity of Bobby Jones Golf Course. The southern end will take you under the CSX railroad bridge to Ardmore Park (the actual park in the neighborhood of the same name).

To visit Tanyard Creek Park, from Peachtree take Collier Road to Walthall Drive or Dellwood Drive. Alternatively from Peachtree, you can take 28th Street and park on Ardmore Road and enter Tanyard Creek Park via Ardmore Park. You can also take 26th Street through Brookwood and enter by the Reserve at City Park townhomes. From Northside Drive, take Collier Road to Walthall Drive. Better yet, just click here for the Google map and find the best way from wherever you are!

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Atlanta has frequently made news, in both the local and national press, about it’s sky-high water bills. Though many residents were faced with inaccurate bills, even accurate bills are high, as Atlanta’s water rates themselves are among the highest in the country. Why? The water rates have mushroomed in recent years in order to help pay for the Clean Water Atlanta Program, a $4 billion federally mandated overhaul of the City’s aging and deteriorated sewer systems. So what can an Atlantan do to conserve water (and therefore money)?

Your old toilet is flushing money down the drain

One of the biggest water wasters in the home is the toilet.  This is especially true in the older homes in Buckhead and Intown Atlanta neighborhoods. Depending on the vintage, and older toilet can use 3 to 8 times more water than newer low-flow toilets. Of course, regardless of the money, using less water is the right thing to do, and is an important step if you want to have a green home. But I’m sure there are some number crunchers out there who are asking where the break-even point is on the expense of replacing your toilets versus money saved in water bills. What if I told you one could replace their toilets for free?  Well you can.

For a few years now, the city of Atlanta and other local municipalities have been offering rebates for replacing your old toilets with new, high-efficiency toilets. Recently Home Depot dropped the price on their Glacier Bay model N2316 to $98. This model qualifies for a rebate of $100, making it essentially free. You can get up to 2 rebates per household. If you have basic DIY skills, replacing a toilet is pretty simple. If you’re not the handy type, feel free to contact me and I can recommend some good plumbers in the area.

Though these efficient toilets use considerably less water, the newer models flush just fine. This particular one has a flush rating of 10 out of 10. There are many other models that qualify for the rebate, you can find a full list here. The toilet must be WaterSense Certified, which means it uses an average 1.28 gallons per flush or less. We opted for a dual-flush model, which uses 1.1 gallons for the “little” flush, and 1.6 gallons for the “big” flush. Most find that the “little” flush is sufficient the vast majority of the time, making the dual flush models even more efficient than the 1.28 gpf models.

Now, the next issue is what to do with your old toilets. Though the North Georgia Water website is pretty informative about the rebate program itself, it’s not as helpful on how to recycle old toilets. My first inclination was to donate it to Habitat for Humanity or similar charity. Turns out, they don’t want the old water-wasting toilets, either! Though they’re perfectly functional, it seems their only value is in their porcelain. After some phone calls, I found out that many of the charities that were listed on Earth911.com as accepting porcelain donations actually don’t. Eventually I found this page on the Atlanta Watershed site. These are industrial businesses that recycle porcelain. Though they are used to dealing with multi-family projects that are recycling a large number of toilets, they will accept toilets from homeowners, too. The odd thing is that, although they will presumably be making money from recycling your porcelain, you have to pay them for the privilege! Regardless, the cost is small, and you’ll have the peace of mind of knowing they’re being recycled.

So go and replace those water-wasting toilets. At this price, you no longer have an excuse. The rebate will last until funds are depleted, so don’t procrastinate any longer!

Photo credit: Images_of_Money on Flickr. CC License

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As mentioned in a previous blog post, Atlanta has some fine public schools. But, like most other cities, there are also those that are underperforming. This has a predictable effect on people’s behavior, both in terms of real estate as well as the attendance of the schools. Home buyers are attracted to the Intown Atlanta and Buckhead neighborhoods that have the best schools in Atlanta. This bolsters home values in those neighborhoods, but also leads to overcrowding in those schools. This overcrowding is exacerbated by the 61% surge of young professionals living in Intown Atlanta. In decades past, most young couples would move to the ‘burbs when they settled down. Now many of them are staying intown. Meanwhile, other schools end up under capacity. Simple solution; just move kids from the overcrowded schools to those that are under capacity, right? Not so fast.

A portion of one of the proposed options

The Atlanta Public Schools district is in the early stages of studying how to remedy this situation. The demographers have come up with 4 options on how to redraw the school districts to tackle the overcrowding issue. All of the options include building a new North Atlanta High School, moving Sutton Middle school to the site of the existing North Atlanta High School and building a new Midtown Middle school. Two of the scenarios also include the building of a new North Atlanta Elementary School. All plans include variations of expanding some schools and closing others.

Some of these options will have certain neighborhoods moved from highly-rated schools to underperforming schools. The mere sight of these scenarios has injected fear into the hearts and minds of many local parents. Even non-parents have cause for concern, because the changing of school district lines can have a deleterious effect on property values. So, many local residents look at all four options and think, “None of the above!”

However, while there is cause for concern, it’s too early for alarm. All of these scenarios are based on demographics alone, i.e., they are population driven only. As such, no community input has been considered … yet. These options are very preliminary, and APS fully expects that the final district lines will likely look nothing like any of these scenarios.

So, now they are at the phase of seeking community input. Your first opportunity to voice your concerns is through this survey, which APS is asking local residents to complete. As this is important to all homeowners in the area, I encourage everyone to fill out the survey and let their thoughts be known.

To see a map of current school district boundaries, click here.

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We keep adding new and improved home search features here on IntownElite.com, and the latest additions are pretty slick! My personal favorite is the full-screen search option. Do you have a large-screen monitor, or just want to get the most out of your modest laptop screen? On our home search page, or on any of our featured search or neighborhood pages, you can now click an icon an take advantage of your full screen size when browsing homes for sale.

Screen shot from our home search page, showing how to get the new full-screen option

Another recently added feature is one-click login via Facebook, Google or Yahoo.  This helps you quickly login, or create an account if you don’t already have one, to save your favorite listings or subscribe to email or RSS updates for your saved searches.  This way, instead of having to come up with yet another password and have to remember to type that in, you can just login or create an account with one click.

There are some other great features we implemented a few months back. You may have noticed these already, but I hadn’t blogged about them yet.  One is the “autocomplete” location search box. This box can accept almost any type of location information, such as Cities, Zip Codes, Neighborhoods, Condo names, etc.  But now it can also accept addresses or MLS numbers. It works somewhat like Google’s Instant Search,  just start typing and it starts figuring out what you’re looking for.

Below that search box is where you set your search preferences. The neat improvement here, is that as soon as you start entering in your criteria, the map to the right immediately starts displaying the listings that match those specifications. You can move the sliders or type in numbers for price, bedrooms, baths, etc., and at the same time the listings displayed on the map will automagically refine to display only those listings, and the big green button keeps a running count of how many listings that meet those preferences.  Once you’ve set your preferences, you can mouse over property icons on the map, or you can click the big green “View Results” button to see the listings also displayed in a list form on the left side of the screen.

Well, we think it’s pretty cool, and we hope you will too. Bottom line, it empowers you to help you find a home that’s perfect for you. Click here to try it out! Now, if you prefer not to do all the hunting yourself, we’re here to help. Feel free to contact us and we can set up a custom search just for you.

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Now that we have a kid on the way, we sometimes hear some of our our suburban friends say, “Well, now you have to move OTP!” We actually had one friend-of-a-friend stridently exclaim, “You can’t raise kids in the city!” (Gasp!) Oh really? Why’s that? Of course everyone has their biases, but putting those aside, the subject that often seems to come up is schools. Some of the more “open minded” suburbanites would concede that it might be OK to raise kids in the city, but one would have to send their kids to private school. But is this true? Are there really no good public schools in the city of Atlanta?

Find Homes For Sale by School District. Just click and start typing!

The recent, well-publicized APS cheating scandal did much damage to the image of Atlanta Public Schools. But let’s not throw out the proverbial baby with the bathwater. There are still several excellent public schools in Atlanta. For the most part, the schools which were implicated in cheating to improve their test scores, still had poor test scores overall! By contrast, the highly-rated schools that were not involved in the cheating scandal continue to post high test scores.

Below is a list if highly-rated public schools inside Atlanta’s perimeter.  Click on the school name for info & test scores.  To search for homes for sale in these or any school district, click here.

In the Atlanta Public School district:

Elementary:

• Morris Brandon
• Warren T. Jackson
• Mary Lin
• Morningside
• Neighborhood Charter
• E. Rivers
• Sara Smith
• Springdale Park (SPARK)

Middle:

• Charles Drew Charter
• Inman
• KIPP West Atlanta Young Scholars Academy

High:

• Early College High School at Carver
• Grady High
• School of the Arts at Carver

In the City Schools of Decatur district:

Elementary:

• Glennwood
• Oakhurst
• Winnona Park

Middle:

• Renfroe

High:

• Decatur High

In Dekalb County Public School district:

Elementary:

• Briarlake
• Fernbank
• Montgomery
• Oak Grove
• Robert Shaw
• Wynbrooke

Middle:

• Chamblee
• Dekalb Path Academy
• Kittredge Magnet
• Wadsworth Magnet

High:

• Chamblee Charter
• Lakeside

To see a map of school district boundaries, click here.

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Of course we all know that neighborhoods are important for many reasons; friendly neighbors, community support, etc. And we all know there are many reasons to choose a particular neighborhood; location, style, affordability, etc. However, from the perspective of your wallet, there’s another important benefit the right neighborhood can provide; price stability.

A recent study by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University showed that higher-priced homes are less susceptible to bubbles than are lower-priced homes. Higher-priced homes don’t appreciate as quickly in a run-up, but neither do they fall as quickly in a downturn. According to analysis of Standand & Poor’s / Case-Shiller home price data, prices of lower end homes in Atlanta fell by nearly 50% from the 2007 peak to December 2010. The drop for higher-end homes fell by less than half that percentage.

Of course, this is a macro look at the entire Atlanta metro area, in which “low tier” homes were qualified as those under about $122k and “high tier” homes were those above approximately $221k. You might extrapolate from this data that even higher-tier homes in desirable neighborhoods may have lost even less value since the 2007 peak. You’d be right.

A quick check of the sought-after Intown Atlanta neighborhood of Morningside shows an average sale price of $668,952 in 2007. The average sale price in 2010 was $582,339, a 12.9% decrease from the peak. That’s certainly a lot better than the national average. Checking the Buckhead neighborhood of Chastain Park, we see even more stable prices. The average sale in 2007 was $1,052,769 while in 2010 it was $1,005,636, a reduction of a mere 4.5%. (Source: FMLS)

Whether these neighborhoods are in your price range or not, the principle remains the same all along the scale. So, the old adage remains: it’s better to buy a so-so house in a great neighborhood than to buy a great house in a so-so neighborhood. And now we have the numbers to back that up.

Photo credit: woodleywonderworks on Flickr. CC License

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In our experience selling homes, we often find that a person’s perception of their home’s value often differs from the reality of the marketplace. There are number of reasons for this, from psychological factors to simple misconceptions about market value. In this article we will discuss these issues as well as how best to determine an accurate selling price.

Home Seller’s Top 7 Pricing Mistakes:

1.) Not being objective

One of the first explanations of the disconnect between real and perceived value is simply human nature. Outside of family, friends and pets, our home is quite possibly the most difficult thing in our lives to be objective about. We likely have more emotional connection to our home than only other inanimate object. Sure, some guys might claim it would be their car, truck, motorcycle, boat or flat-screen HDTV. But when you factor in the monetary investment that the home represents, that usually bumps the home into the number one position in importance.

When looking at our own homes we tend to play up the positives and overlook the negatives. When looking at other people’s homes, whether they be recently sold comparables, competing homes on the market, or homes one is considering purchasing, we tend to do the opposite.

The goal is to try to view your home through the eyes of a prospective buyer. This is very difficult to do, so it’s best to just look at the cold hard facts, i.e. the numbers. But what numbers? Where do you get them? How are they derived? We’ll get more into that later.

2.) Depending on online home valuations

Previously we wrote about online home valuations, and how misleading they can be. They can be fun to play with, but they’re simply not accurate. They can be off 25-30% or more, easily skewing the real value by hundreds of thousands of dollars in some cases. They’re brain-dead number-crunching computers that don’t know the Intown Atlanta market. You can read the full content of that article here. So with that out the window, many homeowners turn to other methods to seek the real scoop? Here’s where we often find misconceptions.

3.) Looking at asking prices verses sold prices

Sellers often tell us their home is worth “X” because they “know the prices in the neighborhood.” But they know what prices? Do the know the actual sold prices, or do they just know the asking prices? When asked how they know these prices, typically they answer that they pulled flyers of homes for sale, or that they searched their neighborhood for homes for sale online.

Of course, all that tells you is the asking price. It should go without saying that asking prices can differ dramatically for selling prices. Consider that statistically, in current market conditions, half of the listings you see for sale fail to sell. Typically that means they were overpriced, (assuming the home was given the proper exposure and a reasonable time to sell). If no buyers in the marketplace wanted to buy a home at a given price, then by definition, the home is above market value.

Then consider that many homes that do sell were sold for a price substantially lower than its asking price. Perhaps you pulled a flyer when the home was first listed, then the home sold months later after multiple price reductions. Even if you knew the last listing price, what you usually don’t know is the sale price. Where can you find the prices at which a homes have actually sold? Hang on, we’ll get to that.

4.) Believing the “He said, she said”

Another thing we hear is something like “I heard that home sold for X.” Surely I don’t need to point out the fallacy of pricing by the rumor mill, do I? You might think it’s believable when it comes form a trusted source, but most home sellers are understandably private about the selling price of their home. If a nosey neighbor does ask, many (most?) home sellers, shall we say, embellish their selling price. The phrase “trust but verify” comes to mind.

5.) Depending on verbal advice without seeing the evidence.

Sometimes we hear, “An agent told me I could get X for my home.” This is when I recall images of some TV lawyer objecting, “hearsay!”

hearsay | noun

information received from other people that one cannot adequately substantiate; rumor
Law - the report of another person’s words by a witness, usually disallowed as evidence in a court of law

It doesn’t matter what any person says, it only matters what the evidence says. Any time an agent offers an opinion on price, always ask to see the evidence – a comprehensive Comparative Market Analysis or CMA.

It amazes me that many agents will give a price opinion without providing a CMA. Some agents may have the well-meaning but ultimately harmful human tendency to tell you what you want to hear, rather than the cold, hard facts. Other agents may have less scrupulous reasons for telling you what you want to hear – they just want to get your listing.

But why would an agent want to list your home at a price where it wouldn’t sell? A number of reasons:

a.) Competition. The agent may know (or think) that you are considering using another agent to list your home. They know many sellers will list with whoever tells them the highest price, which can be huge mistake for the seller. So an agent might tell you the high price so you’ll select them versus the competition. This is a tactic known in the industry as “buying the listing.” Their advice may change down the road after you’ve been listed with them a while and aren’t generating any significant buyer activity.

b.) Buyer leads. Some agents will take an overpriced listing just for the buyer leads. From the marketing exposure of your house (online, yard sign, flyers, etc) an agent will get inquiries about the property. If those buyers decide your home is overpriced, the agent can then show them other listings. If the agent has given up on hope that your home will sell at it’s current price, or that you will reduce your price to where it needs to be, the agent may still keep your house on the market as a way to get buyers for other listings! This is a terrible breach of the agent’s fiduciary responsibility to the seller, but it happens.

c.) Advertising. Some agents just want as many of their signs in yards as possible. Everybody notices when a new “For Sale” sign goes up in their neighborhood. That’s when you pull the flyer or go online to find the price, right? Fewer notice when the sign goes away.

Did you choose your agent because you saw their signs around your neighborhood? Did you follow-up on all of those listings and find out how many actually sold, and for what price? Probably not. Is this the same agent who gave you a price opinion without the evidence (CMA) to back it up? Hmmmm.

6.) Thinking that their re-fi appraisal shows true market value

We’ve also heard some sellers say, “I know my house is worth X, I have an appraisal!” Two questions always arise when I hear that; when was the appraisal done and for what purpose? Typically the appraisal was done for a refinance, and often it’s already outdated. Although they’re not supposed to, some appraisers tend to be a little more generous with their valuations if the appraisal is being done for a re-fi versus a purchase. Also, in a changing market, it’s best if the comparable homes used in any valuation were sold within the preceding 6 months. Beyond that time period, they may not reflect current market conditions.

7.) Thinking that tax assessment value equals real market value

Some people will look at their property tax assessment and assume that value is actual market value. After all, in some counties it’s actually labeled “Fair Market Value.” However, in Atlanta, tax assessed values are notoriously inaccurate. I’m sure you’ve read multiple stories in the press where homeowners are appealing their tax assessments because they believe they are two high. In other cases, particularly when substantial renovations have been done, they can be too low. Tax assessors don’t come out to each property and inspect both the internal and external factors when they come up with their assessments. Instead, the assessment is typically performed on desktop valuation software. Often, the value was set when the property was purchased, then blanket adjustments are applied to all homes in the area as time goes on while the property itself is never given a second look. The bottom line is, tax assessments are simply too unreliable to be used as a guide when pricing a home to sell.

So, where can I get accurate pricing information? Well, one way is through your county tax records. While their tax assessments may be inaccurate, they do have on record the last price at which a given property has sold. The downside is that they typically are slow to update these records, so you may not be able to find the latest comps, and in a changing market, recency of data is key to accuracy.

comp | informal, noun

real estate industry slang term, short for “comparables”, meaning properties similar to the subject property that have recently sold

A real estate agent who specializes in your neighborhood has access to more recent comps via the MLS system. An agent providing a CMA for your property should choose 4 to 6 similar properties which have sold, preferably within 6 months and within your neighborhood. Only when there are not enough similar homes have sold within that time period or neighborhood should comps outside of those guidelines be used. From that list of similar recently sold homes, adjustments can be made for differences between the comps and the subject property (your home) to establish a reasonable estimate of market value, and in turn, a list price which will get your home sold.

Of course, no system is perfect, and any estimate of sales price is just that; an estimate, though hopefully an educated one. Though any agent can slap together a list of comps, accurate CMAs are difficult and take considerable time to produce. One complication is the great diversity of homes in the Intown Atlanta and Buckhead neighborhoods. The same variety that gives our neighborhoods their rich character also makes it difficult to pinpoint values. In a suburban “cookie cutter” neighborhood where most homes are very similar, it’s easy to just take an average of recently sold homes. But in our neighborhoods, virtually no two homes are the same, making it difficult to make adjustments for intangibles. Another problem is that when looking at comps, one is always looking in the “rear view mirror” and it’s difficult to accurately predict the short-term future of any market.

The bottom line is, the market will determine the selling price. Part of our job, as your real estate consultant, is to estimate that price as closely as possible. To get a detailed CMA for your property, click here.

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We’ve received a number of complements on our recent website makeover, and we’re flattered to hear that it’s been so well received. A number of you have asked about the stylized skyline outline in the website header, and whether it really represents Atlanta. It does, in fact, and it was inspired by the photo below. This spawned questions about this building and that, which got us thinking – maybe we should put together a guide to the buildings of the Atlanta skyline. So here goes!

Photo by Chuck Koehler

Mouse over the photo to see the names of the most prominent buildings. Click on a building to jump to its description. Click elsewhere on the photo to visit the photographer’s page on flickr.

Atlanta Marriott Marquis

Designed by preeminent Atlanta architect John C. Portman and completed in 1985, this Marriott hotel building is the 14th-tallest skyscraper in Atlanta.  Known as “the pregnant building” due to it’s bulging base, at the time of completion its atrium was the largest in the world at 470 feet high.

191 Peachtree Tower

This 50-story building was completed in 1990, and at 770 feet high, currently stands as Atlanta’s 4th tallest skyscraper.  The building was designed by Johnson/Burgee and Kendal/Heaton Asssociates, Inc. and won several awards in subsequent years. The facade is finished with Rosa Dante Granite and the distinctive illuminated “double crown” atop the building figures prominently in the Atlanta skyline.

SunTrust Plaza

At 869 feet and 60 stories, the SunTrust building is the second tallest in Atlanta.  Another design by the prolific John C. Portman, it was completed in in 1992 as part of the Peachtree Center complex. The building was originally named One Peachtree Center, but later changed names when SunTrust Bank bought half of Portman’s interest and moved their headquarters into the building.

Bank of America Plaza

Located on the southern edge of Midtown and towering to a height of 1,024 feet, the Bank of America building is the tallest in Georgia, the 6th tallest in the country, and 9th tallest in the world.  It was completed in 1992 after only 14 months of construction. The open-lattice structure supporting the spire illuminates at night, and if that wasn’t impressive enough, the spire is covered in 23-karat gold leaf.

Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel

Most everyone knows the Westin building, but fewer may know about the rich history of the site on which it was built. The first building at this location was the Governor’s mansion, which stood there from 1870 to 1923. It was then razed for the Henry Grady Hotel. Later, that hotel was torn down as well as the neighboring Roxy Theater to make room for the Westin which was built in 1976. Another one of John C. Portman’s designs, the 73-story, 723-foot tall tower was the tallest in Atlanta from its completion until 1987, when the IBM Tower (a.k.a. One Atlantic Center) was built.

AT&T Midtown Center

Following the history of the company, this building was formerly the Southern Bell Center, then the BellSouth Center before taking it’s current name.  This 47-story, 677-ft tall building was completed in 1982. The building is part of a complex which includes two adjacent mid-rise buildings, and has direct access to the North Avenue MARTA rail station. While perhaps not as flashy as some of the other buildings in Atlanta’s skyline, they do illuminate all four corners of the building in changing colored lights during holidays and special occasions.

1100 Peachtree

While, at 28 stories and 428 feet, it’s not one of the tallest buildings in Atlanta, 1100 Peachtree is especially striking at night. The crown is an octagonal stair-step shape which lights up beautifully at night. Of course, critics might say it’s just another of the “illuminated wedding cake” designs that seemed to be so popular in the early 1990s.

1180 Peachtree

Making a dramatic break from the wedding cake design is 1180 Peachtree, a new addition to the Midtown Atlanta skyline. This 657-foot office and retail building was completed in 2006, and achieved the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold certification. Two elliptically-curved glass fins extend upwards from the north and south walls, which gives the building a stunning uniqueness, especially noticeable at night.  The building is intended to accompany the forthcoming Atlanta Symphony Center, proposed by the Woordruff Arts Center. As such, the building is also known as Symphony Tower, but we tend to call it the “tweezer building“, based on it’s appearance from the east or west.

Four Seasons

Located at 75 14th Street in Midtown, this building is home to the five-star Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta. Yet another skyscraper completed in 1992, this one is Atlanta’s 9th largest. The building is cladded in marble and rose granite, and is a product of Swedish developer G. Lars Gullstedt. But not only does this building house the Four Seasons Hotel, it’s also home to luxury condos known as Above the Four Seasons.

Promenade II

One of the most visibly notable buildings in Midtown is the 40-story Promenade II. Another product of Atlanta’s early 90′s commercial building spree, this 691-foot tall office building is the 7th tallest in Atlanta. Like the Bank of America building, this skyscraper is set at a 45-degree angle to the street, which improves views for its tenants and increases its impact on the skyline. Like the SunTrust Plaza building, Promenade II features reflective glass and steel and ziggurat-like stepping crown on top. Promenade II was originally planned as part of three similar buildings, one smaller and one taller.  However, the market downturn which occurred shortly after its completion scrapped those plans.

One Atlantic Center

The last building in this lineup was actually the first high-rise of the Midtown business district. Completed in 1987 as the southeastern headquarters of IBM, this building is commonly known as IBM Tower. The success of this building, which quickly attracted corporate tenants, no doubt fueled the building boom in Midtown. At 50 stories and 820-feet, this was the tallest building in Atlanta until overtaken by the Bank of America building. The exterior facade is finished with pink Spanish granite, capped with a copper pyramid and topped with a gold spire. Four years later, its shorter sibling Two Atlantic Center was built with similar gothic design accents.

That wraps up our overview of many of the most prominent buildings that makeup the Atlanta skyline. Of course this is not an exhaustive list, and as a residential real estate brokerage, we would be remiss not to mention the many condominiums that contribute to Atlanta’s skyline. There are several high-rise condo buildings, especially in Midtown and Buckhead. But that’s a subject for another blog post. Check back later and we’ll have a full run-down of all the high-rise condo buildings in Atlanta.

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