Atlanta Condos For Sale

Who Does The Closing Attorney Represent?

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Buyers Agent for Midtown Atlanta CondosThis is not a bad question, and one I’m often asked! Purchasing a home or condominium will be one of the largest investments you make in your lifetime, and you want to know things are being done right.

Who Does The Closing Attorney Represent?

This is the perfect time to point out that real estate is local! How things are done in say California does not mean how they are done in Georgia! Your real estate agent may have covered this part of the home buying process with you, but in Georgia, the closing attorney represents the lender who is giving you the mortgage!  On closing day, your lender sends a “package” to the closing attorney which is basically the instructions and documents the lender wants you to sign in reference to y0ur mortgage. If I’m representing you as the Buyer, I will be with you at closing in case there are any questions, but the documents you are asked to sign are required by your lender.

Now, this stack of paper can be rather intimidating! The closing attorney SHOULD briefly explain what each document is as you sign them. You will not have seen most of these prior to closing. If you DO want to read them in advance, this is an important conversation for you and I to have with your chosen lender. Many times, the loan package is not delivered to the attorney until 24 hours before the closing. The attorney needs to know you want to review the documents BEFORE closing so they can have them prepared and emailed to you in advance. This takes some coordination between the lender, myself as your agent and the closing attorney! 

By the time you have reached the closing table in Georgia, an attorney is not really necessary to represent you. And while the Georgia Purchase and Sale Agreement has been carefully drafted to protect BOTH the Buyer and the Seller, that may be the time you would want to consult with an attorney. If you have any concerns about the process, just ask me and if it’s not something I’m knowledgeable about, then we can determine the professional (attorney, accountant or other) that you need to talk with!

The Closing Day is an exciting one! It should not be stressful and is the start of a new chapter of your life in your new home!

 

Where Can I Buy Furniture for My Midtown Atlanta Condo | IKEA

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Where Can I Buy Furniture for My Midtown Atlanta Condo | IKEA

IKEA Atlanta at Atlantic StationCongratulations! You’ve closed on your new Midtown Atlanta condo, and you are moving in. As you moved out of that old rental apartment, you started to toss! I mean, I’ve got a new place! I want NEW stuff! I want it to be stylish and cool and you know….

Which probably means that old couch and maybe a recliner…they did not make the cut for the moving van! So now the question is, Where Can I Buy Furniture for My Midtown Atlanta Condo? We will look at numerous options in the Midtown area…and beyond. But let’s start with a close favorite….IKEA!  The Atlanta IKEA store is located alongside Atlantic Station off of 17th Street!

The IKEA concept comes from the idea of providing home furnishings that are affordable. If you’ve ever purchased anything at IKEA, you know the one way the keep costs down is to have you assemble the furniture yourself. Hence, you will see much of the items in big flat boxes. If the assembly gig is not for you, never fear. They now even have a service that will come and do the work at your condo for you!

IKEA AtlantaI’m not going to dish them, but I have purchased some items that did not hold up well, and others that are outstanding. My office desks/tables are all from IKEA! I once managed a corporate condo that was almost entirely furnished from IKEA…as you can see, it looked pretty nice!

But you can truly furnish your entire condo from this store! From silverware in the kitchen to towels in the bathroom, you can get most everything you need here. I’ve never purchased a bed from here, so I can’t speak for them. One thing I like about most of their furniture is its clean, simple lines. That big pillow sofa that your parents gave you may have fit in the apartment, but may not work well in your condo space. The furniture here is just designed to work well in the kind of space you get in a Midtown Atlanta condo!

If you are going to visit IKEA, here is the number one piece of advice I can give you….

DO NOT GO TO THE STORE ON A SATURDAY OR SUNDAY. EVER!

IKEA stores are known to draw from a wide geographic area. Look at this map of where stores are in relation to Atlanta…

IKEA STORES NEAR ATLANTA

 

The Atlanta store draws from Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee! So it’s a weekend destination! The store will be crowed, the parking lot packed, and the lines…..UGH!

You live locally, so take advantage of evening visits! Walk the store, get your ideas and either buy them then, or make a return visit, but just NOT on Saturday or Sunday. If you have a weekday off, stop by the IKEA restaurant for a breakfast special to fuel you for the store.

Why? If you’ve never been to an IKEA, they are HUGE! But the store is well laid out with displays that lead you through all the parts of the home. Everything is labeled, and you find most of it in the IKEA Marketplace, on the lower level. Furniture is found in the self-service area past the Marketplace and before you check out.

IKEA Atlanta! A perfect answer to the question, Where Can I Buy Furniture for My Midtown Atlanta Condo?

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.

 

Should I Buy A Midtown Atlanta Condo Now….Or Wait?

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2013 Real Estate PricesAs a real estate professional, I’m asked….almost daily…about the real estate market. What’s going on, what’s happening, and the often big question….Should I Buy A Midtown Atlanta Condo Now…or Wait?

Well, let’s take a look at the numbers from the latest Corelogic Case-Shiller Indexes….

The Atlanta Business Chronicle reported:

Metro Atlanta’s housing market continued to rebound at the end of 2013, posting double-digit growth, according to the CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indexes.

The area’s house prices jumped 17.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013, compared with the fourth quarter of 2012. CoreLogic also predicts metro Atlanta’s home prices will increase 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014.

National home prices rose 11.3 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with the fourth quarter of 2012. Home prices nationwide were 20 percent above the trough reached in the fourth quarter of 2011, but remained 21 percent below the peak reached in the first quarter of 2006.

“Limited construction of new homes and low inventories of existing homes for sale contributed to the jump in prices,” saidDavid Stiff, principal economist for CoreLogic Case-Shiller. “Developers remain cautious about building too many new houses until they see stronger demand in their markets.”

So, if a Midtown Atlanta condo was priced at $150,000 in the third quarter of 2013, a 17.8 percent increase would be a $26,700 price increase compared to the end of 2012.

Really?

Well, no, not really. This is a perfect example of the ever so famous real estate phrase, “location, location, location.” Every area of a city is its own little world. Midtown is not Buckhead, is not Sandy Spring is not Roswell is not Alpharetta. So, what happens in Alpharetta is not the same as what happens in Midtown. We have to look at these numbers on a more local level.

Have prices gone up in Midtown? Yes, they have….yes they are. Maybe not a full 17.8 percent, but just look at our March Midtown Atlanta Market Report and you can see how prices jumped in various Midtown Atlanta Condo buildings!

You can always wait to buy real estate. It just might  will cost you more!

Midtown Atlanta Condos For Sale |But Are They Really?

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condo hoa feesAs a real estate broker and blogger, I most often like to write my own content. If you know me, you can pretty quickly tell a lot about me just from my writing style. I tell it like it is, but all too often in a nice way. (That’s my hospitality training that has been embedded into me!) But not the reason for this post!

As a Midtown Atlanta condo buyer, you are looking for one thing… Midtown Atlanta Condos For Sale. Right? Now you have your specific wants and needs, but overall, when you come to MyMidtownMojo.com or our totally rock it out new search site, your primary goal is to see WHAT Midtown Atlanta Condos are For Sale. Right?

So why is it when you venture off (what did your Mother tell you about not taking the sidewalk on the way to school) to one of those Big Guys sites, you find these condos, but then, when you call me, I either can’t find the same listing…or it’s not really For Sale.

Click on over to The Internet is For Sellers and Real Estate Agents, Not Buyers! 

I could not say it better myself if I tried.

Metropolis Midtown Atlanta | Midtown Atlanta Condos

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Metropolis Midtown Atlanta | Midtown Atlanta Condos

Metropolis Midtown Condos For SaleI’ve been selling Midtown Atlanta condos since 2004. Not only does that mean I have a pretty healthy knowledge of the Midtown real estate market, I’ve seen almost every condo building that exists be built from the ground up. (high rise buildings that is….)

Metropolis Midtown Atlanta was the starter for the condo building years that followed up to 2008-2009. The two towers originally started out as one being apartments and one for condos. The dramatic response of the market to this new Midtown Atlanta living option had the apartment portion converted to condominiums and it sold equally as fast. 

Like a car with a new paint job, Metropolis Midtown Atlanta has undergone some impressive renovations (all of which were very much needed) that included a completely remodeled Club Room and most recently, all new hallways throughout the building and the resident secured lobbies on the main floor. 

Metropolis Midtown Atlanta

The results are, well….impressive like we said. I’ve included both before and after photos so you can see what has happened and how great this Midtown Atlanta Condo building now shines! 

Consisting of 498 one and two bedroom condominiums in two towers, Metropolis Midtown Atlanta also boasts 40,000 sq. ft. of retail space on the street level and an 820 car parking deck. Current retail tenants include Taco Mac, Orange Therapy Fitness,  Jimmy John’s and a UPS Store. The large corner restaurant, La Tagliatella just closed in the past few weeks, so it will be interesting to see who may occupy this prime Peachtree Street Corner! 

Metropolis Midtown Atlanta

When looking at one bedroom homes in Metropolis, you have to carefully study photographs and the listing information. When the building was built, the developer, Novare Group, did numerous floor plans in a studio-type style whereby there is no 3/4 or full wall separating the bedroom from the living room area. Depending on how the floor plan is, you can be creative in adding in some type of wall to break the space up. 

Metropolis Midtown Atlanta PoolThe renovated club room offers seating areas, Internet stations and a lounge area for watching TV. The club room does not feature a separate movie room like the later Novare Sisters, Spire Midtown and Viewpoint Midtown. Nothing wrong with this feature…just depends on how much/often you would want or use the movie room! 

The 7th Floor amenity area (which includes the Club Room, Fitness Center and Pool) are like an oasis in the sky. A great place to unwind in the evening or catch some rays poolside! Speaking of Fitness Center…this one is quite remarkable in size and equipment! You can plan to toss that gym membership expense for sure! 

Metropolis Midtown Atlanta started Midtown condo living in 2002 and it continues to provide an great community to call home in 2014! 

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(all data current as of 6/6/2025)


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Data last updated: 6/6/25 9:02 AM PDT.

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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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