Looking Out From the Garage: March 2010

Still working on the details, but there are changes coming. 

The end goal is to create more of a hyper-local news site.  As we build towards that goal, we are inviting local businesses to post specials and information for Lilburn area residents.  The real estate content is going to be ratcheted down as the other content is built up. 

There will also be a few surprises coming... 

In the mean time, if you are a Lilburn, GA, area business owner, and you would like to promote special offers... for free... We'd love for you to use the Lilburn, GA Fan Page on FaceBook to do that. 

• Restaurant Menus and daily specials
• Home Service offers
• Landscaping Spring Specials
• There are a lot more interesting possibilities. 
  

When the site is finished coming together, it will have a stream of news local to Lilburn.  We'd love for you to be a part of it...

Here in Lilburn, GA, in the heart of Gwinnett County, we are on the path to getting our second Community Improvement District (CID). 

But what does that mean?

The basis of a CID is a geographically defined area, with businesses choosing to install a special tax on themselves in order to improve the area... and their businesses.  The property owners, representing at least 75% of the property value in the area, agree to tax themselves, and then elect a board to oversee how the money is used. 

They are a partnership of public and private sectors.  They are enabled by municipal government, the money is collected through tax revenue, but the private group spends the money.  The money doesn't 'replace' other tax money, but supplements it.

The Georgia Constitution specifies that funds collected through a CID may be used for seven types of applications: 

1. Water
2. Public transportation
3. Street and road construction and maintenance
4. Parks and recreational areas and facilities
5. Storm water and sewage
6. Parking, terminal and dock facilities
7. Other

In the Metro Atlanta area there are several CIDs. 

• The Cumberland Mall area
• Perimeter Center area
• US78 from West Park to around Scenic Highway
• Gwinnett Place CID
• US29 through Lilburn

Of course, there are others. 

I know that in my travels, over the last few years I have seen beautification projects, traffic improvements and other changes in those districts. I'm looking forward to the continued improvements in the Gwinnett County CIDs.  There will likely be a few more in the central part of the county in the next few years as local businesses step up to deal with aging infrastructure, better manage traffic flow and improve the marketability of the area.

Image by lane.bailey via Flickr

I am getting to the point where I wonder if this saga will ever end...  Let's get up to speed...

• Gwinnett County contracted with Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful for a new waste management plan.  The plan was going to increase recycling, reduce the number of garbage trucks on the streets, slightly lower bills (for many) and require that all residences have garbage collection.
• The plan was going to go into effect on January 1st, 2009.  There were two selected garbage haulers, of the nine licensed to operate in the county.  Several of the other haulers filed suit.
• In late December of 2008, a judge suspended the waste management plan...
• Fast forward to March 2nd.  The County Board of Commissioners approved a modified plan...
• On March 23rd, the Commissioners announced that the new plan would take effect on July 1st, and that four lawsuits had been settled, avoiding $80m in damages that the haulers were seeking.
• On March 24th, Red Oak Sanitation in Gainesville filed suit...  It has 3500 customers in Gwinnett County.

There are a lot of other little tidbits.  And there is another lawsuit still pending.

In case you are wondering. the plan only affects households in unincorporated Gwinnett County, GA.  Residences inside the city limits of cities in Gwinnett County aren't subject to the new plan.  They operate under the plans of the individual cities.

I guess we'll see.  There is plenty of time for the plan to be derailed again.  Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful is out of the picture.  They had been running the recycling center, and the county took it away from them last year.  They were the drivers of the big increase in recycling capacity.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Oh Garbage!.. (gwinnettgarageguy.com)
• Oh Garbage! or not so much... (lanebailey.com)
• Oh Garbage! again... (lanebailey.com)
• Gwinnett County v Gwinnett's Cities... (lanebailey.com)

Lilburn is already kind of home to part of the Evermore CID running along US78 between Stone Mountain and Snellville.  As an area resident, some of the improvements that are directly and indirectly a result of the CID are quite obvious.

• Image by mjp* via Flickr

  The updating of the bridge over the Yellow River between Lake Lucerne and the Yellow River Game Ranch.

• Roadway improvements including new medians from East Park Place out to around Highpoint Road.

There is also another direct project that hasn’t been visible yet… the rehabilitation of the old Olympic Tennis venue on West Park Place near the (now closed) Super Target.

But another group is trying to  bring a new Community Improvement District to Lilburn. This one would run along US29 from Jimmy Carter Blvd out to Ronald Reagan Parkway.

It will be interesting to see all of the plans for this area.  There is a lot of commercial activity along the corridor, but it has never really been a destination like The Avenues in Snellville or some of the town centers (Norcross comes to mind).  There are a lot of great places to shop, eat and play in Lilburn, GA.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Gwinnett County v Gwinnett’s Cities… (lanebailey.com)
• Where in the World is Lilburn, GA? (lanebailey.com)
• Lilburn Market Report, March, 2010 (lanebailey.com)
• Say Goodbye to the Stone Mountain Super Target… (lanebailey.com)

What do all of these things have in common? 

Different real estate consumers have different needs. 

For several years, I have concentrated on 'special' properties.  In the last few months I have helped buyers find a house that could hold four vehicles inside... with space for another garage that would hold several more.  Another buyer needed a room that could hold a quilting machine that was sixteen feet long. 

Different real estate consumers have different needs. 

Recently I ran across a different (to me) concept... a home classroom.  For this home owner, a space to home-school their children was a priority.  In addition to high speed internet, the room was equipped with a white-board.  It was also situated to minimize distractions from the rest of the house. 

Different real estate consumers have different needs. 

There are scores of hobbies and lifestyles that real estate buyers have.  They range from those that are easy to accomodate to some that would almost need to have a home custom built to integrate.  I have seen homes that were for ballroom dancers, radio contolled car racers, RV enthusiasts and artists.  In each case, there were numerous details that were designed around the needs of the owner.  Marble floors and floor to ceiling mirrors, wide open basements, giant garages with huge doors and big north-facing windows have been in these homes. 

The bottom line...

Communicate your needs to your real estate agent.  And make sure that your agent is looking for what YOU want and need, not what THEY like.  That can be tough sometimes...

Social Media Breakfast - Atlanta has been plugging along since July, 2009.  We have met every month since then, except for December... in locations around Atlanta.  We have discussed topics ranging from Twitter to FaceBook Fan Pages, Posterous and Tumblr to Gist and gool ol' fashioned email. 

And we are still at it...  The technology keeps evolving and sites keep popping up and disappearing... 

The next Social Media Breakfast - Atlanta (#smbATL) event will be on Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 from 8:00 to 10:00am. 

If you are coming into town for REtechSouth (discounted tickets, affiliate link), and will be in town the morning before the event, stop onto the FaceBook Fan Page and let us know you are coming...  And even if it is a last minute thing, we would welcome you. 

If you aren't coming into town for REtechSouth... you are missing it!  This is one of the best events of the year.

Image by eshm via Flickr

A couple of years ago I wrote a post about Mortgage Fraud... and the dangers it can pose to sellers.  It is a good read, and can clue you in about one of the ways you (as a seller) can get dragged into fraud... and then dragged off to jail.  Be careful.

Link.

Now for a little story...  Early in my career, the agent on the other side of a transaction from me asked me to prepare a second contract and increase the sales price.  Even as a "newbie" I knew that what this "seasoned agent" was asking me to do was wrong.  My broker agreed...  The seller was fully insulated from the situation.

The problem is that the fraud evolves.  As investigators and others recognize specific tactics, the tactics are changed.  Many of them might seem to be almost logical... and the perpetrators may have a good story to spin.  But at the base, it is still fraud.

Don't be afraid to ask your agent, you agent's broker or even local investigators questions.  Better safe than sorry.

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Effective on March 1st, the issue between Gwinnett and 15 of its cities has been upgraded by the State of Georgia.  The 15 cities and Gwinnett are now listed with the state as No Longer Qualified Local Governments.

The cities are: Auburn , Berkeley Lake, Buford, Dacula, Duluth, Grayson, Lawrenceville, Lilburn, Loganville, Norcross, Rest Haven, Snellville, Sugar Hill, Suwanee and Braselton.

At issue are parallel services being offered by Gwinnett County and the individual cities.  Things like police services...  Several of the cities have local police departments, but Gwinnett County Police (one of the largest departments in the state) patrols the same areas.

In effect, the various cities and the county need to come to agreement on exactly who is going to provide which services in which locations.  And they need to do it quickly.  While the cities and the county are on this list, none are eligible to receive state grants, permits or loans.  Stimulus money could be held up or lost if there is a continued stalemate between the parties.

Hopefully they will be able to get this worked out prior to the end of the month and we can be restored before April.

Norcross, GA is a suburb of Atlanta in Gwinnett County. The population is 2000 was 8,41, but that only included the area inside the city limits, and it has seen tremendous growth since that census.  The City of Norcross revamped their old town a long time ago, and it has served as a model for other towns in the area. It is also home to Meadow Creek and Norcross High Schools.  One of the things that Norcross is known for locally is the beautiful older homes in the downtown area.  They have maintained their historic flair quite successfully.

Market stats for Norcross, January, 2010 indicate that there were 283 properties on the market. Overall, there is about a 7 month supply of properties, with sales remaining fairly steady...  Last January there were 31 sales, and there were 29 this time around.

In the sub-$200k arena, there were 139 listings, with just over 5 months supply.  It may be the strongest market segment in Gwinnett County.  February will be very telling, though as November's strong sales drop off.

Between $200k and $400k, there were 101 listings for sale, and under 10 months of supply. January was a powerhouse, with 10 sales compared to only 3 in 2009.

From $400k to $600k, there were 36 homes on the market. The absorption rate is around 27 months.  The 4 sales in the Nov-Jan period doesn't compare well to the previous year's 9 sales...

In the $600k to $800k arena, there were 4 listings on the market. There has been one sale in the last year.  That calculates to a 4 year absorption rate...

The range from $800k to $1m, there were no homes listed on the market.

Above $1m, there were 3 properties listed. The current absorption rate indicated 9 months of inventory, but because of the smaller numbers of sales, this could be significantly impacted by just a couple of sales.

from LaneBailey.com.  I have a page dedicated to Norcross Market Information.

Buford, GA is a suburb of Atlanta in Gwinnett and Hall Counties. The population is 2000 was 10,668, but that only included the area inside the city limits, and it had seen tremendous growth since that census.  Buford is home to Lake Lanier, one of Georgia's premiere recreational areas, and Lake Lanier Islands.  Recently, the City of Buford has revamped their old town. It is also home to Buford (Buford City Schools aren't a part of Gwinnett County Schools), Mill Creek, Mountain View and Lanier High School (Lanier will open for the 2010-11 school year).

Market stats for Buford, January, 2010 indicate that there were 630 properties on the market. Overall, there was about an 13 month supply of properties, with sales slowing.  Oct/Nov were up dramatically, Dec was steady and January was down dramatically from last year.

In the sub-$200k arena, there were 249 listings, with over 8 months supply.Sales are definately slowing, with Absorption Rates moving out of the 5s to the 8s in the last couple of months.

Between $200k and $400k, there were 308 listings for sale, and just over 19 months of supply.  Sales going from 19 for January 2009 to just 9 for January 2010 pretty much tells the whole story...  In December, we were seeing accelerating sales... now we aren't.

From $400k to $600k, there were 51 homes on the market. The absorption rate is around 22 months.  For the Nov-Jan period, sales dropped from 12 a year ago to 7 this year.

In the $600k to $800k arena, there were 8 listings, with about a 24 month supply.  Sales in this range are pretty sporadic, but steady when looking at the long-term.  The drop in inventory over the last few months from 16 homes to 8 homes have meda things look less slow...

The range from $800k to $1m, there were 5 homes listed and approximately 15 months of inventory on the market. But with only three sales in the last year, that number can bounce pretty wildly.

Above $1m, there were 9 properties listed. The current absorption rate indicated 9 years of inventory, but because of the smaller numbers of sales, this could be significantly impacted by just a couple of sales.  There has only been 1 sale in the last year...

from LaneBailey.com.  I have a page dedication to Buford Market Information.