Happy Holidays – here’s some ideas on creating Wealth in 2022!
As we wind up 2021 we are extremely grateful for the 56 owners who allow us to manage their properties and the 40+ families who were able to make a great decision about buying or selling once they had the best possible information, considered all options, and decided to use of proven cost-effective services to buy or sell in Northwest Atlanta!
On to our December 2021 Email Update about Real Estate in Northwest Atlanta
What is a self directed IRA and why should I consider one?
A self-directed IRA is a type of traditional or Roth IRA, which means it allows you to save for retirement on a tax-advantaged basis and has the same IRA contribution limits. The difference between self-directed and other IRAs is solely the types of assets you own in the account. Including real estate! Self-directed IRAs offer many more possibilities. For example, you could invest in real estate or a privately held company. If you can find a custodian to agree to the deal, you’re good to go. (As with any IRA, you need a custodian or trustee to hold the account for you, there are literally thousands of firms that will do this.) Deals in Real Estate have generally “seen higher yields and less volatility.” There are rules that need to be followed in general you cannot do any of the work yourself (furnish services) and you never spend the night in a property you own as part of a self-directed IRA. So if you have money in the stock market through your IRA you may wish to explore buying real estate. Feel free to contact us with any questions.
Real Estate Stats and Thoughts
Our primary areas of service are below, and it continues to be an unusually strong seller’s market. Average appreciation is now at 18% year over year, but the rate of appreciation is now slowing from the highs of 26% year over year for the past 4 years. Look for bad press to highlight these numbers while ignoring the terrific opportunity that still exists to buy a property that will appreciate!
Number of sales in November of 2021 dropped significantly by over 12.5% (931 versus 1067) compared to November of 2020. This is ONLY because there were not enough homes FOR SALE. Those that DID go on the market sold with a median Days on Market of only 7 days! Active listings are at historic lows.
What does this mean for 2022? PRICES will continue to appreciate at a much slower rate than the past two years, time on market will be two to three weeks, and buyers will snap homes up until the interest rates rise significantly (4.0+ in our opinion.)
Highlighted City: Mountain Park
Indian Spring (which is adjacent to the Civic Building) was believed to have medicinal, life-sustaining value by the Cherokee Indians that lived in the area long ago. Braves would leave their homes in the hills and travel miles to retrieve Indian Spring water for an ailing Cherokee chieftain. Local lore holds that those who find their way into Mountain Park and the area of Indian Spring are drawn by the powers of the healing waters. Until the 1960s, Indian Spring was the only source of water for many residents.
For more than 25 years before incorporation in July 1927, Mountain Park was comprised largely of summer cottages of Atlanta’s elite. Some of these cottages had, and still have, special names including The Buzzard’s Roost, Rossier Holler, The Owl’s Nest, Park-Ur-Carcass, Paradise, Buckeye Ridge, Shack-Toe-In and Nuth-in-Much. More recent residents have continued the tradition of naming their homes, too.
In 1932, only three families lived in Mountain Park year round. Mayor “Charlie” Johnson operated Mountain Park’s only business, “The Stand,” a sundry store located at 101 Mountain Park Road. In 1971, Charlie sold “The Stand” to LaNell Cofer who continued to operate it until she converted it into her private residence. Today there are 568 People living there in about 300 homes.
The city’s unique beauty was enhanced when Lake Cherful was built next to its first lake, Lake Garret. Lake Cherful was constructed in 1951 over Oscar Burrell’s cornfield, which was located in both Cherokee and Fulton counties — thus the name Lake Cherful. The small white house where Oscar Burrell lived still exists on the Cherokee county lakeside.
Electricity was available in Mountain Park by the late 1930s. In 1960, Cobb County started supplying water to the city and natural gas became available in 1968. Nearly 90 full-time families resided here and, in the early 1970s, the residents were asked to voluntarily remove their outhouses. During that time the Civic Building, built by the Civic Club with the help of private donations, was nearing completion. In 1976, Joyce Ayers became the first woman to head a municipality in Georgia when she became mayor of Mountain Park. The city’s Volunteer Fire Department was established during her term and remains one of the few completely volunteer fire departments in Georgia today.
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In the mid 1970s, the Mountain Park Village Green was enlarged using reclaimed land from Lake Garret, which had become shallow due to siltation from real estate development upstream. The original sand bottom swimming pool was replaced in 1977 and, in 1993 the pool house was renovated to include handicapped-accessible facilities. In 1989, Mountain Park became the first municipality in Georgia to begin a recycling program. Mountain Park is an officially designated wildlife refuge which protects all wildlife including birds, animals and reptiles. A variety of species — some rare, including Great Blue Herons, Red Tailed Hawks, Eastern Bluebirds and Pileated Woodpeckers — live here part or all of the year. Recently two white swans have been spotted on Lake Cherful. More recently, the Mountain Park Improvement Club completed several enhancements to the city in 1997 and 1998, including renovation of the Sunday school pavilion, picnic pavilion and foot bridge over Lake Garret dam. It’s a small and funky cool neighborhood with few sales each year. Prices vary significantly because of views, waterfrontage and condition.
Property Management Question of the Month
Why should I hire Northwest Atlanta Properties to manage my rental?
1) It will save you time. Let us handle the advertising, tenant screening, move-in’s, maintenance issues, and move outs. Studies show the average vacancy cost 3 weeks of time and approximately 30 hours for the landlord.
2) It will save you money. Yes we charge a fair fee for our services. But because we are able to work with economies of scale we can save you time and money on hiring contractors, overseeing work, collecting rent etc. In Addition we know our rental markets and are able to increase rents appropriately. Recently we have seen rents rise 10% to 20%
3) It will save you worry and headaches. Simply put, hiring us allows you to give up much of the worry about rents and dealing with tenants.
4) Experience. We have over 90 years experience in managing rental properties. We can solve “problems” quickly and cost-effectively because we’ve seen it all
Have questions on maximizing your rental income? We are happy to consult with you for free.
Trivia Contest – Email Mike at mike.stott@
Q: Which Atlanta institute of higher education owes its origins to Asa G. Candler, founder of the Coca-Cola Co.?
A: Emory University. Founded In 1914, Candler pledged $1 million toward the university’s endowment.
B. Georgia Tech founded in 1885 when Business leaders said “We are selling our old raw materials at $5 a ton to states that have trained engineers who fabricate it and sell it back to us at $75 and $100 a ton.”
C. Spellman College founded in April 11, 1881, in the basement of Atlanta’s Friendship with 11 students. Within three months, the school had attracted 80 students and, by the following year, 200 women had enrolled.
D. Georgia State University, which, in 1913, began as an evening school for Georgia Tech.
