Gwinnett County Real Estate Adventures: April 2009

Gwinnett County Georgiais a very large county with many cities and many zip codes. So starting this week I'm going to feature a different zip code each day with market stats and info related to the real estate market in that zip code. Real estate is very localized and what's happening in some areas might not be happening in others so if you're considering relocating to the Gwinnett County area or maybe you already live in Gwinnett and just want to move to the other side, you can come here to get local sales info to help you stay informed.

This information is helpful for buyers and sellers. Currently we are in a buyer's market with a surplus of inventory. If you're a seller in this market, you need to be patient and also flexible. Price is the number one component of selling a home right now and the homes that are priced right are selling. If you're a buyer the ball is in your court. There has never been a better time to buy with the lowest rates in 50 years and deals everywhere. Don't miss the boat!!

Since I live in the Dacula Ga zip code 30019, we'll look at some analysis of that area. The town itself is relatively small with approximately 4600 people living within the city limits. Most of the area residents live in the unincorporated areas with a Dacula address. Communities like Hamilton Mill and Harbins are located in this 30019 zip code. Click here for a previous post on the growth in the Dacula area.

Active listings in Dacula zip 30019 as of 5/4/09 Click here to see MLS search of all homes currently on the market in Dacula 30019

Expired listings in Dacula zip 30019 for April 2009

Sold listings in Dacula zip 30019 for April 2009

You can go to www.steverider-realtor.com to and click on the "MLS Search" tab to see all available listings in Dacula and surrounding towns as well.

Steve Rider REALTOR with Keller Williams Realty Lanier Partners Braselton Ga, selling homes in Winder, Braselton, Dacula, Lawrenceville, Buford, Grayson, Loganville, Monroe and surrounding areas of Barrow, Walton and Gwinnett County Georgia. Go to WWW.SteveRider-Realtor.com to see my featured listings or search for your new home.

If you're looking for a home in Northeast Georgia contact me either by clicking on the email link or call me toll free at 800-765-0460 or 404-663-7063 direct. I'm a life long resident of this area with life long knowledge of the market.

Copyright Steve Rider All Rights Reserved Dacula Ga Home Sales

Gwinnett County Home For Sale! Over 2 1/2 acres and no subdivision less than 5 minutes from the Mall of Georgia.

2550 Mitchell Rd Lawrenceville Ga 30043

I previously posted about a "difficult listing" that I took and how it's not difficult because of price or location but because it was owned by a close friend that was killed in a motorcycle accident. This house was his pride and joy because he built it and selling it is very hard for his mother but will bring some closure to the situation. Unlike every other home I've sold this one has a little more emotional attachment even though I know as a Realtor you should keep emotions out of it. Obviously this is not possible here so as with any other client I'm going to market the home to the fullest and also be a shoulder when she needs it. I'm sure closing day will be tough for both of us.

There are not too many 2.5 acre tracts left in this area so there's no doubt this is a valuable selling point. Here is a link to the plat.

In addition to the acreage, there is also a detached 2 car garage with plenty of space for parking for an RV or boat. Unbelievable storage above this garage too.

Click here for a virtual tour of the property.

Steve Rider Realtor with Keller Williams Realty Lanier Partners Braselton Ga, selling homes in Winder, Braselton, Dacula, Lawrenceville, Buford, Grayson, Loganville, Monroe and surrounding areas of Barrow, Walton and Gwinnett County Georgia. Go to WWW.SteveRider-Realtor.com to see my featured listings or search for your new home.

If you're looking for a home in Northeast Georgia contact me either by clicking on the email link or call me toll free at 800-765-0460 or 404-663-7063 direct. I'm a life long resident of this area with life long knowledge of the market.

Copyright Steve Rider All Rights Reserved Gwinnett County Home for Sale- 2.5 Acres & No Subdivision Less Than 5 Minutes to Mall of Ga!

If you live in Gwinnett County then I don't have to tell you about the award winning Gwinnett Parks and Recreation Dept. named the #1 park system in the nation in 2008 by National Recreation and Park Association. But if you're considering moving to the Gwinnett area then you'll want to know about the newest jewel in the impressive collection of county parks we have here. Harbins Park is the newest and largest of the over 40 parks currently open in Gwinnett County and is 1795 acres of Equestrian, hiking and biking trails as well as picnic areas, a huge playground for the kids, rental pavillions and open areas. Located in a more rural area of the county but still only 10 minutes to either Lawrenceville or Dacula this park is within a few miles of many desireable neighborhoods. Here is a short list of the neighborhoods in the area......

Alcovy Landing                 
Biltmore Woods   
Ewing Estates                        
Alcovy Ridge        
Bullock Estates     
Enclave at Stonehaven
Amberly Glen        
Crossroads           
Great River                                         
Arden Crest          
Edwards Estates   
Harbins Landing Estates        
Barimore Place      
Crystal Lake        
Plantation at Bay Creek  





The Master Plan of Harbins Park shows future growth and expansion to include a skate park and recreation area for teens but here are some of the current areas of the park open to the public.

The main playground has two sections, one for the smaller kids and one for bigger kids. The main playset has three levels and multiple slides and the kids love it, including my daughter!




The equestrian area has a separate entrance and parking lot designed specifically for horse trailers. Click here for a map of the riding trails.

        


This pavillion is available for rental for parties, family get togethers, etc.

There are currently 8 miles of mountain biking trails open with another 5 to be added soon. These trails are rated intermediate to advanced. I have yet to ride these trails but will update this post once I have for those of you who are avid mountain bikers.



If you're moving to Dacula Ga or Gwinnett County and want to find out more about what's going on in our community, contact me and I would be happy to help!

There's a new sport that's catching on all over the country......



It's called "Fence Riding". It's kind of like what you see the kids on the skateboards doing with the rail on the steps only there's a fence and a potential buyer involved. The fences vary in style, shape and height but the buyer's are all the same, they can't make up their minds to jump off on one side or the other. I've heard there are professional leagues starting up all over the place and soon we'll have the "US National Fence Riders Championship". Hundreds of the best fence riders all over the country will compete to see how long they can hold out while being offered a 4.75% 30 yr fixed interest rate on a house that's priced $50k off fair market value.

If you're a Realtor you deal with this on a daily basis and with any luck and some training you know how to coax these folks off the fence. To me it seems that the better the market gets for buyers the more they are holding out. The only explanation I have for that is they think since it got this good it might get even better. Ahhh, the dreaded "Bottom of the Market Syndrome". The only cure for this affliction is an increase in prices and rates which leads to another disease called "I should've listened to my Realtoritis" because by the time they're cured the best deals are gone.

If you're one of these Fence Riders there are many reasons to stop this nonsense and yes, I'm going to list plenty of those reasons.

The first thing any buyer should realize is that no one will know exactly when the bottom is reached until it starts to improve. Which means values start to increase along with mortgage rates and sellers start to gain more confidence. This will eventually turn this buyer's market into a seller's market. All things are cyclical and real estate is no different.

Secondly, the best priced homes are what's selling right now and they're selling fast. If you're not ready to buy then don't look until you're ready. The best deals are being purchased by motivated buyers that have their financing ready to go and don't have to sell another property to purchase one. You'll only get frustrated and be heart broken when your dream home is purchased by someone else who was ready to buy. Check out this previous post on purchasing a foreclosed home.

Third, if you have a home to sell and you're worried about not making any money or possibly losing money on that sale, you can usually make up your losses on the buying side. I know that's not like having cash in your pocket but long term it could be very beneficial. Most foreclosed homes are deeply discounted by the banks that own them so buying a home with instant equity is a very real possibility. That equity will be compounded by rebounding values and that equity is where you make up the losses you might have taken on the sale of your previous home and although it might take a few years to see that return, it's real. Click this link to read about a great example of instant equity from a previous post.

Let's see, what else is there.......?

Lenders are making loans! Don't let the media fool you, there is money to lend but the requirements have tightened and banks now require more down payment. The days of 100% financing are over with the exception of the Rural Development loans in certain counties in North Georgia. I'll explain those a little further into this post. If you are worried about whether you qualify for a mortgage, the first thing you need to do is call your loan officer. If you don't have one contact me and I'll refer you to one. Find out where you stand financially, you might be surprised! On that subject, talking to your lender should be the first step in purchasing a home. Especially in this day of bank owned properties flooding the market, as I said before the buyers getting the deals are the ones ready to buy and if you don't have a pre-qualification letter from a lender or at least have talked to one you're not ready. Sellers these days want to know the buyers making offers are qualified to buy the house and don't want to waste time with ones that aren't. Have that letter in hand when you start looking and save the time later on because that could be the difference in getting the house of your dreams or losing it to another buyer.

Rural Development is available in most of Barrow County, Jackson County and Walton County. RD is a USDA backed loan that requires no down payment and no PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance). This can  lower your payment significantly and could mean the difference between qualifying and not qualifying for a loan. If you're considering buying in one of these areas and want more info on this loan program, contact me.

The Federal Government wants you to give you an $8000 tax credit! That's right, a tax credit and this one doesn't have to be paid back. If you're  a first time buyer and you close before Dec 1 2009, you can get this credit on your 2009 tax return. Here's the best thing....if you don't use the entire credit the difference is given back to you!! Why wouldn't you want to take advantage of that? Check out the full details here.

As you can see, there are many reasons why you should get off the fence and get started purchasing that home you've been dreaming about. Don't wait too long because "I should've listened to my Realtoritis" is a very painful!

Steve Rider REALTOR with Keller Williams Realty Lanier Partners Braselton Ga, selling homes in Winder, Braselton, Dacula, Lawrenceville, Buford, Grayson, Loganville, Monroe and surrounding areas of Barrow, Walton and Gwinnett County Georgia. Go to WWW.SteveRider-Realtor.com to see my featured listings or search for your new home.

If you're looking for a home in Northeast Georgia contact me either by clicking on the email link or call me toll free at 800-765-0460 or 404-663-7063 direct. I'm a life long resident of this area with life long knowledge of the market.

Copyright Steve Rider All Rights Reserved Riders of the Fence

I took a difficult listing today. Not because it was in rough shape, or because the seller wants to overprice it or because it's in a bad neighborhood but because it was once owned by a very close friend that was killed in a motorcycle accident. You talk about difficult try finding a middle between helping a grieving mother and friend and trying to make a commission. This listing has such a long back story that one blog post wouldn't explain it all so let's just say the property has been in litigation for over two years and has just now been released to my friend's mother who contacted me to list it. We were friends since high school and roommates for 6 years after.

The other part of this story is the friend I'm speaking of always dreamed about owning his own home. He had lived in apartments and duplexes all his life and wanted to build his own home. He worked as a superintendent for a local homebuilder for many years before his dream came true in 2002. He was able to get a construction loan and purchased a 2.5 acre tract not far from a very bustling area in Gwinnett County. Construction began and he supervised every facet of the job from the pouring of the slab to the fixtures installed in the kitchen. Taking pictures through the entire process and keeping them in a scrapbook. He was very proud of this house and it showed in the finished product. He even kept the blueprints, original plats, and electrical plans all together with the scrapbook. His dream had come true and I remember the first time I walked into the finished product. I was impressed and happy for him but it sure was a lot of house for one person!

A couple years later he built a detached garage and poured a driveway to it. When we were in high school and years after we always were doing something to our cars. Typical guys I guess but none of us had a garage or shop of our own to be able to work on them. Another dream of his was realized when this garage was finished and it is nice. Two car with storage and plenty of room for other stuff too.

While his mom and I were at the house today talking about all that needs to be done to get it ready for the market it was hard not to think about him and my emotions took over. As a Realtor it's not good to get emotionally involved with any listing but this is a different situation obviously. Since she lives over two hours away from the house, there will be a lot of extra work involved for me but I have offered to do it. He was an only child and his mom only has me and a couple other friends to rely on. Closing this house will bring some level of closure to this long and difficult situation and anything I can do to make that day come quickly will be done.

The listing will be on the market within a couple of weeks and we have priced it well so hopefully someone will buy and love this house as much as he did. I can only hope that he is watching and is pleased with what we are doing. Check back in a couple of weeks and I will post the listing.

Steve Rider REALTOR with Keller Williams Realty Lanier Partners Braselton Ga, selling homes in Winder, Braselton, Dacula, Lawrenceville, Buford, Grayson, Loganville, Monroe and surrounding areas of Barrow, Walton and Gwinnett County Georgia. Go to WWW.SteveRider-Realtor.com to see my featured listings or search for your new home.

If you're looking for a home in Northeast Georgia contact me either by clicking on the email link or call me toll free at 800-765-0460 or 404-663-7063 direct. I'm a life long resident of this area with life long knowledge of the market.

Copyright Steve Rider All Rights Reserved Gwinnett County Georgia I Took a Difficult Listing Today.