Looking Out From the Garage

Suwanee, GA is a suburb of Atlanta in Gwinnett, Forsyth and (just a little bit) in Fulton Counties. The population is 2000 was 8,725, but that only included the area inside the city limits, and it had seen tremendous growth since that census.  Money Magazine rated Suwanee in the "Top 10 Best Places to Live" in 2007, and it is one of the wealthiest parts of Georgia. Recently, the City of Suwanee has revamped their old town, adding a large park with a bandshell, condos, town homes and small businesses. It is also home to North Gwinnett High School, Peachtree Ridge and Collins Hill.

Market stats for Suwanee, January, 2010 indicate that there are 529 properties on the market. Overall, there is about an 9 1/2 month supply of properties, with sales matching the pattern set in most of the rest of the county, sales dropped off after November.

In the sub-$200k arena, there are 113 listings, with under 7 months supply. This is stronger than most of the rest of the county, but not as strong as it was in November (less than 4 months supply).  Part of that is because of the increase in listings... and half the sales.

Between $200k and $400k, there are 254 listings for sale, and under 9 months of supply. Sales dropped off dramatically during the Holiday period.  Some slowing is normal, but we'll have to keep an eye on the upcoming data to see if things change.

From $400k to $600k, there are 81 homes on the market. The absorption rate is around 12 months. Sales aren't that bad compared to December/January 2009.

In the $600k to $800k arena, there are 34 listings, with about a 14 1/2 month supply.  Sales are actually picking up here...

The range from $800k to $1m, there are 7 homes listed and approximately 10 1/2 months of inventory on the market.  While it is pretty strong at this price level, the number can bounce around a lot because of the low overall volume of sales.

Above $1m, there are 40 properties listed. The current absorption rate indicated 5 years 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 Suwanee Market Data.

Back in 2007, Money Magazine selected Suwanee, GA as one of the Top 10 Best Places to Live.  And it is a great place.  Situated between Duluth to the south Buford to the north, it sits along the banks of the Chattahoochee at Suwanee Creek.  While mostly in Gwinnett County, parts of the Suwanee mailing address are also in Forsyth and Fulton Counties. 

1838...

That was when the US Government gave Suwanee a Post Office, but it was 1949 before Suwanee incorporated.  Even though it was incorporated, it remained a sleppy little agricultural town until the 1970s.  In 1970, there were only 615 people living here.  In 2000, there were over 8700.  The 2007 estimate is over 11,000.  And the 30024 ZIP code, which is the Suwanee mailing address has an estimated 41,088 people (2007). 

Before the early 1800s, the area was inhabited by the Cherokee and Creek Indians.  Some think that the name Suwanee derives from the Shawnee Indians, who inhabited the area before the Cherokee and Creek.  In 1817/1818, the area tribe ceded the land to the US government. 

In 1869, the Georgia Airline Railroad bought a right of way, and the village grew around the depot constructed there.  It was the transfer spot from the Lawrenceville-Suwanee Narrow Gauge Railroad to the Southern Railroad.  From there, passengers could ride into Atlanta. 

Not just an old town... there is Old Town... and Town Center.

Suwanee recently completed a large portion of its Town Center project.  In addition to Town Center Park, home to festivals, free concerts and movies, there is a new City Hall complex, shops, townhomes, condos, single family homes and offices.  It sits at the corner of Buford Highway and Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road. 

Suwanee's Old Town is just across Buford Highway.  It encompasses a few more shops, as well as the Suwanee Branch of the Gwinnett County Library and PlayTown Suwanee.  Suwanee’s downtown revitalization efforts have earned it accreditation from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Main Street Program.

Adjacent to Town Center is the Suwanee Creek Greenway.  It is a four mile hard surface trail that winds from Suwanee Creek Park to George Pierce Park.  It winds along Suwanee Creek, with a wooden boardwalk from the Greenway to the Town Center area.  It is available for walking, jogging and biking along the creek. 

But wait, there's more...

Suwanee, with its proximity to I-85 and Peachtree Industrial Blvd, is very convenient to the Mall of Georgia, Discover Mills and numerous other shopping and recreational opportunities...  The Gwinnett Braves and Gwinnett Gladiators both play nearby.  The Arena at Gwinnett Center hosts concerts and other events, as well.

It's pretty easy to see why Money Magazine liked this place...

And you can live here too...

To see the latest market stats for Suwanee, take a look here... 

If you'd like to browse homes currently for sale in Suwanee, check this out...

And it wasn't a bad thing.  

The story won't air until next month (July), but they were filming in one of my listings.  Specifically, they were showing a property that was staged with a live-in home manager.  Showhomes of Atlanta is the vendor that is doing the job correctly in this story. 

Somebody else didn't.  And instead of saving the seller money and making their home more attractive and available. They did exactly the opposite.  

I don't want to go into details, because the story isn't released yet, but I will say that it seemed Randy Travis (not the singer) was pretty impressed with the house, the furnishings and the professionalism of the folks from Showhomes of Atlanta. they are the counter-point to fly-by-night operations that don't properly investigate the people that they put in their clients' homes... and by extension, our clients.

As always, I am willing to make myself and my listings (with the client's consent) available to the media.  In this case, I only had to show up.  Everything was arranged through and by Showhomes.  But, when I know that a vendor is doing a good job for my clients, I have no problem promoting them.  When they are doing a bad job for my clients... I make it tough to hide. 

It was a lot of fun meeting the crew from Showhomes, as well as a couple of the folks from The iTeam.

I hope you have the opportunity to visit my newest listing.  This is a beautiful and amazing home. We go way back... The seller actually bought the home from me a few years ago. It was only a couple years old, and beautiful. But, he saw more. The unfinished basement was finished... and finished well. I can't use the word custom enough when I start talking about the basement.

• Not just a wet bar, but a solid Cherry English Pub bar.
• Not just a Wine Cellar, but a stacked stone wine cellar with wrought iron gates.
• Of course there is a fireplace... also stacked stone with a beautiful keystone sunburst design.
• Much more... check out the website.

 Then the main floor started getting attention. It was already close to perfect.  But close wasn't good enough.

• The guest bedroom got hardwood flooring.
• The guest bathroom received new granite counter tops and faux finished cabinets.
• Each room was repainted... wonderfully. Faux finishes, glazes, contracting colors, antiquing.
• The Laundry Room was enlarged and built-ins were added.
• So much more... check out the website.

Not to be left untouched, the upper floor was also upgraded.

• A playroom was turned into a home Theater with stadium seating.
• The Hallway had hardwood flooring installed.
• Each of the bathrooms received new granite counter tops and faux finished cabinets.
• Check out the website.

Of course, there is so much more. There are custom wood plantation shutters throughout the house. There is a 30 kW Generator that can power the whole home in case of a power outage. The yard is fenced... and of course it is a brick and aluminum fence with a lifetime warranty. Visit the website. Visit the Virtual Tour. Coming soon, the video, the interactive floor plan and the interactive style designer. This incredible home is in the Laurel Springs community in South Forsyth, just north of Johns Creek and Alpharetta. It is offered at $969,000.

Not the surrender flag, but the white flag denoting the last lap of the race.  And it has been a marathon. 

It has been a month in the making.  There are a lot of details that will only come out over a cold drink in a dark room, but let me just suffice to say that the last twelve days have been packed...  In the last twelve days, I have written 20 pages of content, uploaded 12 galleries, and coordinated photo shoots and video shoots.  Much of it is the normal stuff for a listing... but much isn't. 

In talking with the seller we settled upon a marketing plan that involved a few wild ideas.  There were no things that hadn't been done, just things that hadn't really been done together. 

• Single Property blogsite
• Obeo StyleDesigner and SpaceDesigner (still waiting for those to be completed)
• Obeo Virtual Tour (it loaded tonight)
• AtlantaDwellings.tv Video Tour
• 95 detail pictures
• 44 Virtual Tour pictures
• 10 panoramas
• 40 outside links
• 5 languages
• ... (it goes on and on)

So, I am proud to present...

www.9010BrixhamCourt.com

I'd love to hear opinoons about this.  It is a blog, and will continue to grow... At least by the Video Tour and the StyleDesigner and spaceDesigner which aren't ready yet... but much more. 

And there are a few other components of the marketing plan which will be unvieled as they happen.