Atlanta Condos For Sale

Spire Midtown |Midtown Atlanta Market Report| July, 2014

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Spire Midtown Atlanta was the second of the three Novare “sister” buildings built in Midtown. The first was Metropolis, then Spire and finally Viewpoint.

Spire Midtown is a popular choice for Midtown Atlanta condo buyers!

Midtown Atlanta Market Report |Spire Midtown| July, 2014

Spire Midtown Atlanta Market Report

Let’s look at the activity in Spire for July….

ACTIVE LISTINGS (8)

  • Five 1 Bedrooms ranging from $168,500 to $222,900
  • Three 2 Bedrooms ranging from $355,000 to $399,900

PENDING LISTINGS (UNDER CONTRACT) (5)

  • Four 1 Bedrooms ranging from $199,900 to $209,900
  • One 2 Bedroom at $359,000

SOLD (3)

  • One 1 Bedroom at $195,000
  • Two 2 Bedrooms at $345,000 and $395,000

In comparison, in July, 2013, there were two 1 bedrooms sold for $172,500 and $184,500 and one 2 Bedroom at $310,000.

Quite a jump from $310,000 to $345,000 and  even $395,000 this year. I’ve been telling Buyers that are considering a Midtown condo purchase that the prices are NOT going down.

Search Spire Midtown Homes For Sale Here

To learn more about the Spire Midtown community (or building) you can visit our Spire Midtown Community Page.

1010 Midtown Holds Town Hall Meeting

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1010 Midtown Atlanta CondomiumsAs we reviewed our various Google search terms, we found this interesting article (actually appears to be a Press Release base don the fact that we found it at PRWEb.com (and this is a link to the actual article)

Having 100 residents show up to an event like this says tons about the community and the people that live there. We wanted to share it, not only to give you a sense of what is happening in 1010 Midtown, but if you live in another Midtown Atlanta condo building, maybe you can get some ideas for YOUR community!

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The newly elected Board of directors for 1010 Midtown, a widely recognized high-rise community in Midtown, Atlanta, in conjunction with their new management company FirstService Residential, spearheaded its first resident town hall meeting on Thursday, July 17 to communicate the Board’s new management initiatives and unveil its new mantra “Care for the Curve” – to compliment the original sales slogan of “Life on the Curve.”

The well-received event hosted in the fourth floor lobby and clubroom attracted over 100 residents who were introduced to 1010 Midtown’s new Resident Experience Committee, comprised of Board members, residents, and representatives from each service department within 1010 Midtown.

“Care for the Curve” and the Resident Experience Committee created to support it, will work to elevate property values and enhance the lifestyles of 1010 Midtown owners and residents. The new Board recognized the need to improve the level of services and amenities offered, and to include a state-of -the art security camera system and real-time video analytics designed to improve response time to safety issues. “It’s the integration of our concierges, our courtesy officers, owner involvement and awareness and use of technology including our new high-tech cameras that builds a safer place to live,” said Judy Reece of the 1010 Midtown Safety Committee. Additional proposed enhancements include marquee signage on Peachtree St NE, more flower beds, fencing and dog relief areas on 12th and Crescent, a new pedestrian walkway, and several detailed diagrams depicting a proposed beautification of 1010 Midtown’s sky park and pool area. “We are thrilled with the great success of our first town hall meeting; staying current with our amenities is critical to protecting our property values and to help 1010 Midtown stay competitive with its neighbors,” said Donn Mann, an Architectural Review Committee member.

“Atlanta’s Midtown area is one of the area’s most dynamic and cosmopolitan neighborhoods, and this new Board is committed to doing everything that it can to ensure that 1010 Midtown stands out as one of the brightest jewels in the crown of Midtown real estate,” said Board President Randall Mullen.

Do You Know If Your HOA is Healthy?

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HOAHealthy? What?

Do I have to get a doctor for my Homeowners Association? Well the answer to that is….maybe.

So what exactly do I mean by “Do You Know If Your HOA is Healthy?”

Let’s approach this from the perspective that you own a condo and are going to place it on the market For Sale. You probably never even give it a second thought as to what is currently happening with your homeowner’s association (HOA). Well, there are several things that can be going on, be they immediate, or long term that could dramatically affect the ability of a BUYER for your condo to get a mortgage. Let’s look at a few examples which seem to happen often.

  • Rentals Exceed Condo Docs or Lender Allowance — Now this one will vary from lender to lender as to how they address this situation. But, most likely, your condo (or townhome) community has a limit as to the number of rental homes they can have at any given time. This is usually outlined in your Declaration of Condominium under Leasing Guidelines. While most HOA’s manage this very well, it can be a problem. If there are to many rentals in your building, a Buyer may not be able to obtain a mortgage as the lender will consider the community “unstable” with not enough owner occupied homes.  Might be a question to ask your HOA Manager before you list your home!
  • Delinquent HOA Fees  — You may your monthly HOA fees on time…every month. So does everyone else, right? WRONG! And this is another issue that can affect a Buyer getting a mortgage in your building. If the HOA is not tight on collecting HOA fees, and there are to many homes that are delinquent in their payment, the lender may not approve the HOA. Many Midtown Atlanta condo buildings are able to control this by limiting, or even denying access to the limited common elements of the building, for which your HOA fee is used. But if not managed, it can be another obstacle for a Buyer and they may not get a loan to purchase your home. Might be a question to ask your HOA Manager before you list your home!
  • Percentage of Retail to Residential Space or Square Footage —  If you live in a larger building with many homes, this most likely will not be an issue. In fact, it only came up once for me in a smaller building in Downtown Atlanta. The lender looked at the percentage of the building that was commercial vs. residential, and it took some brow-beating and phone calls to get the HOA and building approved so my Buyer could close on the condo!
  • Money In Reserves —  The HOA must allocate a certain amount of your monthly HOA fee to go to the Reserve Fund. This money is held “in reserve” for future maintenance and repairs to the common areas of the building…everything from the pool table to the pool furniture needs to have an estimate life, and when it will be replaced. Most HOAs conduct a Reserve Study to make sure they have adequate funds, and are planning for the future. Again, most recently a small building (just 18 homes) had money in reserve, but their current year budget did NOT have ANY money going to reserves. Probably more of an accounting mistake…maybe, but it did require an emergency Board Meeting to produce a new budget and allocate money into the reserves for the lender to approve the HOA.
  • Special Assessments or Pending Special Assessments — Again, this can vary based on what the need for the special assessment is. But of concern can be how the assessment is being paid by residents and the amount of it. Some lenders again consider and HOA may be unstable if they are having to pass a large special assessment.

These are just a few of the HOA “land mines” that can be uncovered AFTER your home is Under Contract and the Buyer’s lender is working on the Underwriting portion of their loan. These could be some good questions to ask your HOA manager BEFORE you list your Midtown Atlanta condo For Sale.

 

Midtown Atlanta Condos | How Long Do We Have To Pay The HOA Fee?

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condo hoa feesBlog post topics often come from questions that I get from a Buyer during the process of looking at Midtown Atlanta condos.  Today’s topic is not so much a question as a statement made by a Buyer. So it got me to thinking….

  • How long do you need to put gas in your car?
  • How long to you have to keep insurance on your home?
  • How many days can you stay up before you need sleep?

Ok, the last was a stretch…but the point being, if you want your car to keep running, you will keep putting gas in it.

In the case of a Midtown Atlanta condominium, How Long Do We Have To Pay The HOA Fee?

  • How long do you want the elevator to get you to the 30th floor?
  • How clean do you want the hallways, lobby,pool, fitness center, club room?
  • Do you want the 150+ security cameras to work and keep and “eye” on the building?
  • When you get a package, well do you want to get a package?

Those are just some of the services or necessities (elevator I think!) that you may use when you live in a condominium.  And someone has to pay for the upkeep of all these services or amenities.

Luxe Midtown Atlanta PoolEnter your homeowners association (HOA). It is the responsibility of the HOA, along with the Board of Directors and the Property/Association Manager to make sure all of the above happens, or is working. But let’s relate this to a single family home for a moment.

Do you have a pool? A fully equipped fitness center in your garage or basement? Ok, you have a treadmill. What happens when it breaks? Ah, you gotta call somebody. Y-O-U have to call someone. In a condominium, when the treadmill stops working, you call the Concierge, who in turn reports it to the Property Manager and a service call is placed. This is often referred to as…convenience.

How much do you spend on a pool service? A do-it-yourselfer? How much time and what’s the cost of the chemicals to keep the pool clean and healthy?

Atlanta trafficSee where I’m going? You may pay an association fee of $200-$450 a month (or even higher depending on the building and the square footage of your condo) EVERY month, but you also have all these services and amenities….every month to use. Now, if you don’t ever plan to use any of these kinds of amenities, then yes, condo living may not be for you.

Another factor could be your commuting costs. Do you live way OTP (Outside the Perimeter) and commute to Midtown or Downtown every day? How much time do you spend in your car morning and night? Gas? Wear and tear on the car? Imagine leaving your car parked all weekend as you walk to festivals, restaurants or just lounge on your balcony and take in the city sights and sounds?

Yes, you will pay your HOA fee as long as you live in your condo. But just look at all you are going to enjoy!

Midtown Atlanta Market Report | Viewpoint Midtown | Year End 2013

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It’s really no surprise to us that Viewpoint Midtown Atlanta was the #2 Selling condominium community in Midtown Atlanta in 2013!!

Midtown Atlanta Market Report | Viewpoint Midtown | Year End 2013

In 2013, Viewpoint Midtown had a total of 44 homes sold! This compares to 32 homes sold in 2012.

  • 12 One Bedroom homes sold with an Average Sales Price of $208,662.  The 2012 Average was $195,889.
  • 32 Two Bedroom homes sold with an Average Sales Price of $325,969. The 2012 Average was $305,274.

Viewpoint Midtown is seeing some additional changes in 2014! First off, the new adjacent apartment building, SkyHouse South opened in January. What does this mean for Viewpoint? In particular, those residences that are on the corner directly facing the new building up to the 23-24th floor lost a portion of their view. Secondly, the facade of the first two stories of the building is being renovated to make it more appealing in hopes of drawing retail tenants to the space that has been vacant ever since the building opened. (It would seem that filling retail space was not a priority for the developer, Novare Group.)

And lastly, a new luxury condominium building, Seventh, with just 21 homes is planned to be built on the corner of 7th and Peachtree Streets, where the current Starbucks is located. It will consist of two and three bedroom homes starting at $600,000 and going to over $1M. Coffee people…never fear…Starbucks will be relocated to vacant space in the Viewpoint retail, and will return to the first floor of Seventh once it’s completed.

All these changes, coupled with Viewpoint’s amenity package should keep this a top selling building in 2014!

Viewpoint Midtown Atlanta

Midtown Atlanta Market Report | Spire Midtown Atlanta | Year End 2013

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WOW! Take a look at the calendar, and in a bit more than 30 days, the First Quarter of 2014 will already be gone! Yikes! But, it’s never to late to take a look back when it comes to real estate. Where have we been, and perhaps…where are we going?

Midtown Atlanta Market Report | Spire Midtown Atlanta | Year End 2013

As we completed our review of the top selling Midtown Atlanta condominium buildings, Spire Midtown Atlanta held the #5 slot for top selling buildings. (Spire was #4 in 2012 and we’ll compare the numbers in a moment.)

In 2013, Spire saw total sales of 33 homes. There were 16  One-bedrooms, 16 Two Bedrooms (what are the chances of that!) and one Three Bedroom sold. The average Sales price of a 1-bedroom was $175,181. In 2012, it was $152,536.

The Average Sales price of a 2-bedroom was $324,806 in 2013 compared to $ 311,633 in 2012.

So we saw a pretty dramatic increase in the one bedroom sales price compared to two bedrooms. And this trend is continuing for 2014 as a couple one bedroom sales have passed the $200,000 sales price.

Spire Midtown Atlanta is still a very popular choice among Midtown Atlanta condo buyers. The building has just recently completed a renovation of the main lobby and club room. I suspect we will see the residential corridors in the not to distant future.

Spire Midtown
Spire Midtown

Thom Abbott

Associate Broker, REALTOR(R)
905 Juniper Street, NE Suite 110
Atlanta, Georgia 30309
770.713.1505 Direct
404.876.4901 Office

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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