Thom Abbott

Data Privacy OneTrust adds 500 Midtown Jobs

September 22, 2017 by Thom Abbott

The good news for jobs in Midtown just keeps on coming….as data privacy OneTrust adds 500 Midtown jobs!

The company has developed technology that helps business protect sensitive personal data of employees and customers. (Maybe they could cruise up Spring Street and visit the Equifax office…they seem to need some help!)

As part of a $5M expansion, the footprint of OneTrust’s Midtown office will double. They plan to lease an additional floor in the Midtown Heights office building on Spring Street. The company was launched March, 2016 and is co-headquartered in London. Their software is in demand as the European Union and other regulators are working to protect the privacy of citizens with new laws.

Businesses are collecting more and more consumer data (seen those crazy ads pop up on Facebook right after you searched for a new car?) and this makes them cyber-hacking hot spots! Just ask Equifax, also located in Midtown…that just announced a massive data breach.

In the ABC article, “OneTrust’s growth is fueled by the macro trends of organizations collecting more personal data than ever before; IoT making this data even more sensitive; big data pressuring organizations to analyze and use the data in new ways; and consumer demand for additional privacy rights,” OneTrust CEO Kabir Barday noted. “All of this is putting pressure on organizations to think twice about how they protect the information they hold.”

OneTrust employees that may be relocating to Midtown Atlanta as new hires for the company will have numerous housing choices…from luxury apartments to high-rise condos. The Midtown Heights Building is convenient to the Arts Center MARTA station. This area of Midtown is starting to see more construction that should bring dining options nearby. Those looking for more space in townhome living can look at exciting areas like Chamblee and Brookhaven for other options! Chamblee offers the most direct access to MARTA, making for an easy commute to Midtown.

MyMidtownMojo and Thomas Ramon Realty are ready to help the new employees of OneTrust find just the perfect place to call home! Contact us today at 770.713.1505 or just fill out the Contact Form and we will be happy to answer any questions you may have!

Accenture to Add 800 Midtown Jobs at Tech Square’s Centergy Building

September 19, 2017 by Thom Abbott

We often wonder who will occupy all these new apartments coming into the Midtown Atlanta area. Ahhh….here is one clue!

Accenture to Add 800 Midtown Jobs at Tech Square’s Centergy Building

Accenture, a professional service company is planning a major expansion in Midtown…that will add some 800 jobs! The addition will happen in Tech Square’s Centergy building, where Accenture will add some 40,000 sq. ft. to their existing 33,000 square feet.

Part of the expansion — which will make the company the largest tenant in the 14-story tower — is the opening of a 30,000 sq.ft. “innovation hub.” The company has indicated they want to open 10 such centers by 2020.

The Atlanta innovation center will focus on programs like web and application development along with other IT services.

Employees of Accenture will have numerous housing options to consider! From several new luxury apartment towers to existing condominium buildings like Viewpoint, Spire or Plaza Midtown…all within in easy walking distance of Tech Square and the Centergy building.

If you are an employee, and need help finding a new home here in Midtown Atlanta for your new position at Accenture, give us a call. Or complete the form below and will be in touch with you as soon as possible. We look forward to making your move to Midtown Atlanta as easy as possible!

I Cleared My Rental Wait List

September 5, 2017 by Thom Abbott

If you have lived in a Midtown Atlanta condo for any length of time, you know it takes….time…to clear the rental waiting list. In fact, about 5 years in most buildings. (Almost every client we have sold a condo to, in various buildings, has cleared the wait list at 4+ years!)

I’ve Cleared My Rental Wait List — Now What?

Great you have permission to lease your Midtown Atlanta condo!

Once you have cleared the waiting list in your condo building, you have a specific amount of time in which to obtain a tenant for your condo. (This too will vary from building to building.) Now you need to find a tenant….that is if you in fact decide to rent your condo. You may decided it’s not the time for you to lease, and then your name will fall off the list and you will have to start back at the bottom. Depending on your personal situation, this can be the perfect time to start your real estate portfolio. You can look at purchasing another condo, or home, and lease this one. So you will need to be looking for that new home, and probably rather quickly based on the time you have to find your tenant.

How Do I Find My Tenant?

Many homeowners will choose to “go it alone” and try to lease their condo on their own. Not my advice for sure. There are services such as Craigslist and other websites, but do you really want to meet a total stranger, off the Internet in your condo? Ahhhh, I thought not.

Working with a real estate agent can make this process easier. Not only do we assist you with the marketing of your condo, we give you advice on the best things to do to make your condo more rentalable..and hopefully rent quicker. And an agent may be able to do property management for you, or just help you secure a tenant. Not all agents can, or do, property management. There are pros and cons to using a property management and we can discuss those with you in person.

Screening Your New Tenant

So who is this person that has expressed an interest in living in YOUR condo? (We understand that you still think of this as your home, but it’s really a real estate investment that we now need to manage. And part of THAT process is finding a good tenant for your home. Most likely, another agent will bring a prospective tenant. Once they complete an application, we will have a credit check as well as a criminal background check completed by a national screening company that we work with. They check past rental references as well. If there are any unusual items on any of the reports, we can ask for further clarification and explanation. Ultimately, it is up to you to make a final decision on the prospective tenant. Of course, you must follow fair housing guidelines.

Fair Housing Act
Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act), as amended, prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of dwellings, and in other housing-related transactions, based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status (including children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women, and people securing custody of children under the age of 18), and disability.

As part of your leasing process, you can limit the number of occupants (this too may be dictated by condominium rules and regulations), pets, smoking and other things. Like a waterbed. Does anybody even HAVE one anymore?

Move In and Walk Through

Whether you work with a property management company or a real estate agent that offers tenant placement services (which is what I do) you will want to conduct a thorough walk thru at the time the tenant takes possession of the condo. During this walk thru, the condition of everything is noted and documented on the walk through form! We will also take pictures if we feel it will help for clarification at the end of the lease.

Renting out your Midtown Atlanta condo might seem scary, but we can certainly help it be a much easier and smoother process!

Midtown and the Midtown Alliance

August 28, 2017 by Thom Abbott

As I’m on the streets of Midtown Atlanta daily, and especially when I’m on a balcony of a high-rise building, I can certainly look back and remember when __________(fill in the blank) was a vacant lot. But when you talk with a prospective buyer who has never been in Midtown before, they may not realize just how much it’s changed.

Midtown Alliance and the Midtown Improvement District

Just like train or a car that need an engine to power them, so does economic development. One of the ways this can happen is through a community improvement district (CID). Midtown happens to call theirs the Midtown Improvement District. What’s so important about this?

A CID is a mechanism whereby the property owners agree to self-tax themselves in order to fund infrastructure improvements to a certain area. They establish the boundary and then work to improve that area. (This is a very simplistic explanation of what a CID is. (The Midtown Alliance has more information on their website)

What Has The Midtown Alliance Done in Midtown?

Hmmm…

1000+ new street trees
15+ miles of sidewalk improvements
Keeping Midtown Clean and Green
$9M of public improvement projects
New public art
3,500 light poles

The list goes on, and on.

And there are social events to engage the residents. Active social media presence on Facebook and Instagram to keep tabs on what’s going on!

In just a 1.2 square mile where the Improvement District functions, look at all that has happened…

Thanks Midtown Alliance!

How Can I Lease My Midtown Atlanta Condo?

August 4, 2017 by Thom Abbott

You’re a real estate investor. The Midtown market is hot, hot. You want to cash in and get an investment property.

You’re already a Midtown condo owner. You just met the guy (or girl) of your dreams and they want a house in the new real estate hot spot of Chamblee. But you want to keep the condo.

How Can I Lease My Midtown Atlanta Condo?

All of the above are scenarios I encounter on a weekly or monthly basis. Another is that dreaded, ” I got a job in _______ (Fill in the blank) but I want to come back to Atlanta and I still want my condo here. Unfortunately, you may have a problem with what to DO with your condo….be it in Midtown or anywhere in Atlanta.

And this is nothing new, just because of the hot real estate market and limited inventory! I wrote about this very subject in 2012!

You can’t just up and decide to lease your condo. All condominium buildings (well actually the Homeowner’s Association a.k.a. the HOA) have requirements as to the number of condos that can be rented at any given time. And that number in most buildings is around 25%. But why? It’s MY condo! I’ll do what I want with it!

NOT SO FAST!

When you purchased that condo, you agreed to abide by a set of rules and regulations, also called the Declaration of Condominium. They can also be called the CC & R’s ( Covenants, Conditions and Regulations). When you move into a condo building, you agree to these rules, and there will always be a provision regarding leasing your condo. And in that provision, you must have a leasing permit, issued by the HOA, to lease your condominium.

And in most communities, certainly Midtown Atlanta, there is a waiting list to get such a permit. A long, long list.

Why Do I Have to Have a Leasing Permit?

One primary reason is because of financing. Most lenders require a certain number of the homes in any community be owner-occupied. To get financing for a buyer, the lender will ask for a condo questionnaire to be completed, and the HOA must disclose how many homes are currently leased. If there is too high of a percentage, the lender may feel that a loan in that building is not a sound investment. There is also the un-founded truth that renters are less desirable neighbors, and don’t take care of a home like a homeowner would. (Not true..I’ve seen some pretty scary condos that were owner occupied…and I’ve seen many a owner bang into a wall, or scuff the paint with a suitcase of moving cart!)

Some HOA’s will allow a hardship leasing permit. Like the job example above? Let’s say you DO have to move out-of-state for a job, but want to move back as soon as you find a new job here in Atlanta! These situations are handled on a case-by-case basis, and differently from building to building.

I’ll Just Rent It “Under The Table” They Will Never Know

Ah, that would be a big….NO!

Have the HOA (remember that neighbor you never met…but now knows someone ELSE is living in your condo) find out you are renting and your tenant could face eviction. You will most certainly get a fine…as little as $25 per day to as much as $500 per day. The HOA can turn off access to common areas like the garage where you park, the club room and any other amenities. It can get pretty messy. Probably NOT worth the risk.

So if you are looking to buy a Midtown Atlanta condo, or a condo anywhere in the Atlanta area, make sure you place your name on the lease waiting list as soon as you close. Some HOA’s have a grace period of 90-120 days before you can, but get it on there when you can. It may take 4-5 years to clear the list, but when you do, it may be perfect timing to THEN turn it into an investment property and rent it! (And I can help you with that process!)

Or you may have no choice but to sell. I can help you through that process as well. Here are some tips about selling your Midtown Atlanta condo!

Just know that you need to be living in that condo, and don’t think you will be renting it out!

Beware of CyberFraud in Real Estate

July 31, 2017 by Thom Abbott

It’s a strange, and sometimes kinda sad world we live in these days. Seems like everyone is out to get you, or your stuff, or your identity anyway they can. And now you have to beware of CyberFraud.

You have to be careful in keeping your home and car locked. Watch where you sign on to the Internet and what personal info you do while in the unprotected environment. (I can’t imagine using some city-wide wi-fi and doing some banking transactions…..shreek!)

Well, the fraud gig has found its way to a part of the real estate transaction. The MOST important part of it…and that would be the money part! In Georgia, our closings are coordinated through a closing attorney. They complete all the necessary paperwork, but they represent the LENDER that requires all those documents to be signed. And part of this process, is the wiring of funds for the closing. This is mostly on the Buyer side of the closing, but there can be times when the Seller would have to wire funds as well. Well, now, there seems to be a chance that your funds for closing could end up in the wrong hands!

When you are getting ready for the closing, you will get communication from the closing attorney regarding the wiring of your funds to their account. You will never get that request from myself, or my real estate brokerage. This will always come from the attorney’s office.

That said, we offer up this caution regarding Cyber Fraud:

Beware of Cyber Fraud.

Fake e-mails attempting to get you to wire money to criminal computer hackers are increasingly common in real estate transactions. Under this scam, computer hackers fraudulently assume the online identity of the actual mortgage lender, closing attorney and/or real estate broker with whom you are working in the real estate transaction. Posing as a legitimate company, they then direct you to wire money to them. In many cases, the fake e-mail is sent from what appears to be the authentic web page of the legitimate company responsible for sending the wiring instructions.

You should use great caution in wiring funds based solely on wiring instructions sent to you by e-mail. Independently verifying the wiring instructions with someone from the company sending them is the best way to prevent fraud. In particular, you should treat as highly suspect any follow up e-mails you receive from a mortgage lender, closing attorney and/or real estate broker directing you to wire funds to a revised account number. Never verify wiring instructions by calling a telephone number provided along with a second set of wiring instructions since you may end up receiving a fake verification from the computer hackers trying to steal your money. Independently look up the telephone number of the company who is supposed to be sending you the wiring instructions to make sure you have the right one.

So, as the info suggests, when you get a request to wire funds, search out the firm separate from the info provided in the email. Then call, and confirm the wiring information.

You just have to watch out for the bad guys. They can be anywhere!

Accenture to Add 800 Midtown Jobs at Tech Square’s Centergy Building

I’ve Cleared My Rental Wait List — Now What?

How Do I Find My Tenant?

Screening Your New Tenant

Move In and Walk Through

Midtown Alliance and the Midtown Improvement District

What Has The Midtown Alliance Done in Midtown?

How Can I Lease My Midtown Atlanta Condo?

Why Do I Have to Have a Leasing Permit?

I’ll Just Rent It “Under The Table” They Will Never Know

Beware of Cyber Fraud.

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