1407 Cortez Lane NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30319

4 Bedrooms, 3.5 Bathrooms

Offered at $489,900

Click here for front of flyer. 

Click here for back of flyer.

What a pleasure it is to represent properties such as this!  If you’re looking for a move in ready home under $500,000 inside the perimeter, you have to see this home.  Listed at $489,900 this home has the square footage, condition and upgrades of homes 20% more expensive. 

Brookhaven Gardens is a small neighborhood originally constructed in the late 1990′s in the incredibly popular and fast growing Brookhaven community of unincorporated DeKalb County.  The quiet community is a refreshing setting within 1 mile of the lights, cameras and action of Buckhead.  With a great location and reduced taxes, you get the best of both worlds.  Highlights of the neighborhood include an active Homeowners Association, which acts independently and also participates within the larger Brookhaven Fields Civic Association.  Each year in the fall, Brookhaven Gardens organizes a block party filled with great pot luck and catered food, karaoke machines, pony rides, visits from the local police and fire departments giving tours of police cars and fire engines, football on TV, and other surprises.  Perhaps one of Brookhaven Gardens’ best features is also the best kept secret of the area, a small fountain filled pond, home to at least 10 beautiful and friendly ducks.  Neighbors sometimes pause for a humorous duck crossing in the street, and many are found feeding the neighborhood “pets” from their waterside decks.  The community is built around the pond, and a waterfront gazebo is a welcoming spot for visitors to feed the ducks or enjoy the sounds of the fountain.  The residents of Brookhaven Gardens love the close walking proximity to the brand new Village Place Brookhaven development on Dresden highlighted by Library Coffee, Verde Taqueria, Haven, and the highly anticipated J. Christopher’s.

Hope you are not looking for a home needing work!  This private Brookhaven residence is an incredible value with upgrades such as new carpet, a brand new roof, new granite countertops in the kitchen, and new stainless steel appliances.  From the minute you walk in, you’ll notice one fantastic feature immediately.  The home has been well cared for, and it shines.  The carpet is new, the hardwoods are rich, and the paint is neutral awaiting your custom colors.  This Brookhaven beauty is bright and open with a floor plan perfect for all styles of living.  You will find a formal living room adjacent to the dining room complete with wainscoting and large enough for the biggest of dinner parties.  The kitchen is updated and home to shiny new stainless appliances and durable granite countertops.  The main living room is a casual retreat convenient to the kitchen and filled with natural light from the backyard.  The second floor is home to four bedrooms including the master, Jack and Jill bedrooms, and a fourth guest bedroom.  In addition, the laundry room shares the second floor with all the bedrooms, making laundry days a breeze.  The master bedroom is oversized featuring a large walk-in closet and trey ceiling.  The master bathroom makes for a spa-like morning every morning with a separate shower, jetted tub, separate water closet, and double vanities.  The three additional bedrooms provide for ample space.  The fully fenced backyard is private and professionally landscaped with great space for entertaining or playing.  The neighbors are gracious and friendly, and the HOA is positively active.  The location is convenient and desirable, and this home is move in ready and waiting for you! 

Andy and Lesley Peters with The Peters Company at Keller Williams Realty Peachtree Road are well versed in Atlanta Brookhaven real estate.  In fact, we live in Brookhaven ourselves!  We represent both buyers and sellers on new construction as well as resales, and we are intimately familiar with the Brookhaven short sale and foreclosure market. For more information about The Peters Company, visit our website at www.thepeterscompany.com. You’ll also find us on Kudzu.com under “The Peters Company” where we have received well over 40 5-star reviews and are ranked as one of Atlanta’s highest rated real estate teams. Give us a call today at 770-634-2782. We look forward to working with you and helping you take advantage of today’s market!

As is customary, the Peters Company is proud to share with you the latest statistics on our Atlanta real estate market.  Whether you are a buyer or seller or just curious, we hope you find this information helpful.  We have a market consultant who provides this information for us on a quarterly basis.  While it would be impossible to provide you with the over 30 pages of metro Atlanta statistics, we felt like it would be beneficial to share with you some of the “meat” from the report.  If you have specific questions about your area or neighborhood, it would be our pleasure to share some more in depth statisics with you.  In the meantime, please keep in mind that these statistics are for the metro Atlanta area at large and represent averages for all areas.

Here’s how the individual price ranges are performing broken out by new construction and resale:

Here’s a bird’s eye view of the market:

• The number of properties listed for sale compared to the number  of properties which sold each month, illustrates the current imbalance existing between Supply (listings) and Demand (sales)
• Using a more current 3-month average of 1Q 2009 sales yields a 15.5 months’ supply, meaning that it would take more than 15 months to sell the current inventory of listings if no new listings came on the market
• A supply of more than 6 months is usually considered to be a Buyer’s market (see green line)

After reviewing all the statistics, here are The Peters Company observations:

Cumulative sales of single family detached homes were down 20.2% from 1^st Quarter 2008 and down 43% from 1Q 2007.  We’re hoping we can look back at 1^st quarter 2009 as a bottom for our market.  Fingers crossed!

Sales decreased in all price ranges except those properties under $200k which represent a large amount of foreclosures.  Only 257 homes sold between $500-750k in the ENTIRE Metro Atlanta market which includes 36 FMLS areas. 

The foreclosure market has drastically affected prices and the abundance of inventory as foreclosed properties represented 37% of all sales in the 1^st quarter.  This is unfortunate as appraisers are now also using distressed sales to appraise property which is driving down prices/appraised values.

The median sales price was down by 23.2% in the 1Q 2009 from 1Q 2008.

On average, of all the sold properties, homes are receiving about 78.6% of their original list price in a total of 178 days.  Days on market has increased about 17% since 1Q 2008. 

70% of all listings in the Metro market failed (expired or were withdrawn). 

Again and again this market is proving why you need a real estate agent on your side that KNOWS the market, KNOWS how to interpret the market, and KNOWS how to help you win.  The Peters Company is the real estate team for you.  Email us today.  www.thepeterscompany.com

Go green Atlanta!  It’s everywhere!  We all want to save energy, and of course money.  It sure is nice to know that the government is willing to incent you to take up this worthwhile cause.  To encourage energy savings, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 expanded the tax credits related to energy-efficient home improvements.  For 2009 and 2010, you may be able to claim a tax credit equal to 30% of the cost of energy-efficient property that you install in your principal residence. Qualified products can include new windows, doors (exterior and storm), insulation, roofing, HVAC systems, nonsolar water heaters, and biomass stoves (e.g., those that use plant-derived fuels, including wood and wood pellets) for your existing principal residence. (Note that installation costs are covered for HVAC, biomass stoves, and nonsolar water heaters, but not for the other products listed here.) A total combined credit cap of $1,500 applies to all 2009 and 2010 improvements.  For property placed in service in 2009 through 2016, you may be able to claim a separate tax credit for 30% of the cost of buying and installing qualified geothermal heat pumps, solar panels, solar water heaters (pool or hot tub heaters do not qualify), small wind energy systems, and fuel cell power systems (limited to $500 per 0.5kW of power capacity); generally, no cap applies to these improvements.  This tax credit is available for products installed in both new and existing homes. With the exception of fuel cell systems (which, to qualify, must be used in a home that is or will be your principal residence), these products may be used in a second or vacation home as well.  Only products that meet very high energy efficiency standards qualify, so you’ll need to carefully check the manufacturer’s certification.  It will tell you whether or not the product qualifies for a tax credit. Keep a copy of the statement, and receipts, for your tax records.  A tax professional can give you more information about these tax credits. You can also visit the Energy Star website, www.energystar.gov, to find out more about energy-efficiency standards and products.  Many thanks to Michael Pemberton, Certified Financial Planner, for providing this helpful homeowner information.  Michael does a great job, and we use him personally.  He can be reached via email at mpemberton@4wfg.com.

Lesley and I added blown in insulation to our Brookhaven home in Ashford Park, and we recouped our investment in a little over one year.  If you are looking for a way to upgrade that Decatur cottage or Virginia Highlands bungalow, consider energy efficiency.  Many of the intown Atlanta buyers we are working with are specifically looking for “green” homes, and the payoff could be much greater than the investment. 

The Peters Company goes green!  In an effort to do our part to help the environment, we have scaled back our print marketing efforts considerably from once per month to once per quarter.  Instead, our e-newsletter called the “Metro Atlanta Real Estate Update” is sent bi-weekly, and the response has been enormous.  We consistently add double digits to the distribution list every week, and our clients seem to appreciate the ease of the medium versus traditional print.  If you would like to be added to the distribution, just send me a quick email at andy@thepeterscompany.com.  We will keep you posted on topics such as intown Atlanta foreclosures, metro Atlanta short sales, relevant home tips, new home mortgage rates, and local Atlanta market statistics.

Brookhaven, a busy intown Atlanta community, is nestled between Buckhead and Sandy Springs.  Peachtree Road separates east and west Brookhaven.  The westside of Brookhaven is well known for historic homes in the neighborhood that bears the community’s name and the classically popular Capital City Club.   The new Sembler Town Brookhaven development will bring even more modern day convenience to the area including commercial, retail, and restaurants.  The eastside of Brookhaven is filled with blossoming neighborhoods such as Ashford Park, Drew Valley, Brookhaven Fields, Brookhaven Gardens, Brookhaven Heights, Fernwood Park, and Hillsdale to name a few.  New developments along Dresden Drive like Village Place at Brookhaven on the eastside have furthered property values and the desirability of the area.

Click Here for an Easy One Click Brookhaven (30319) Foreclosure and Short Sale Search.

Foreclosures are affecting every market, even the high flying community of Brookhaven.  The above link is updated daily for all active listings in the 30319 zip code 0f Brookhaven so make sure you bookmark this page for easy access and reference. 

Andy and Lesley Peters with The Peters Company at Keller Williams Realty Peachtree Road are well versed in Atlanta Brookhaven real estate.  In fact, we live in Brookhaven ourselves!  We represent both buyers and sellers, and we are intimately familiar with the Brookhaven short sale and foreclosure market. For more information about The Peters Company, visit our website at www.thepeterscompany.com. You’ll also find us on Kudzu.com under “The Peters Company” where we have received well over 40 5-star reviews and are ranked as one of Atlanta’s highest rated real estate teams. Give us a call today at 770-634-2782. We look forward to working with you and helping you take advantage of today’s market!

UPDATE :: THIS PROPERTY HAS RECENTLY BEEN REDUCED BY OVER 9% TO $634,000.00

The Peters Company has one of the premier foreclosure properties in all of Buckhead value priced at $700,000.  Park Place on Peachtree is known for luxury and has been a part of the Buckhead landscape for over twenty years.  This immaculate bank owned condo delivers in every sense of the word luxury.  The home is located on the 27th floor with views looking south on Peachtree Road and encompassing the beautiful and historic Stone Mountain and the downtown Atlanta skyline.  Many in Atlanta know this area of Peachtree Road as “Church Row” with Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church, Christ the King Catholic Church, and St. Philip’s Cathedral next door or across the street.  These three beautiful churches are well established beacons of Buckhead. 

Click here for the first page of the flyer, and click here for the second page of the flyer.

You really have to see the condition of this classic Buckhead beauty to appreciate the value.  The rich parquet floors and columned foyer await you and give way to the freshly carpeted main living room complete with upgraded track lighting, built-ins, wet bar and wide panning views.  Step out on your wraparound balcony and marvel at the most scenic views of the city you have ever seen.  The separate dining room gives you more than enough room for a large dinner party.  The kitchen has been upgraded to include granite countertops and backsplash as well as custom cabinets, custom paneled Sub Zero refrigerator and dishwasher, and stainless oven.  You will also enjoy the two pantries and the breakfast area in the kitchen, giving you another brilliant view of Downtown Atlanta.  Wake up to the Atlanta skyline!  The Master suite is an expansive private retreat with it’s own balcony, draped by custom window treatments.  The Master bath has room for two with granite topped double vanities, separate jetted tub with granite surround and paired with a tiled shower.  You will have more than enough room for two wardrobes and storage in this oversized Master closet.  The secondary bedroom boasts the same unforgettable skyline view and includes balcony access and two closets.  The secondary bathroom is far from typical with granite topped double vanities and tiled tub/shower combination.

The building amenities include a fitness center with steam room, sauna, and heated swimming pool.  The temperature controlled wine cellar makes for a welcomed collection or casual convenience.  In addition, your visitors can enjoy a private guest suite, and even your vehicle is pampered thanks to three levels of underground parking.

Andy and Lesley Peters with The Peters Company at Keller Williams Realty Peachtree Road are well versed in luxury Buckhead Atlanta real estate.  We represent both buyers and sellers, and we are intimately familiar with the Buckhead Atlanta foreclosure and short sale market.  For more information about The Peters Company, visit our website at www.thepeterscompany.com.  You’ll also find us on Kudzu.com where we have received well over 40 5-star reviews and are ranked as one of Atlanta’s highest rated real estate teams.  We look forward to working with you and helping you take advantage of today’s market!

Short sales are all the rage right now.  We receive phonecalls weekly on Dunwoody short sales, Brookhaven short sales, and Buckhead short sales.  Many buyers are hunting for them specifically because of the high risk/high reward opportunity.  Typically an agent with a potential short sale listing will price the property to sell because time is of the essence.  A short sale is literally a race against the clock to avoid foreclosure.  It’s important to note that short sales are not a “get out of jail free” card or in other words a way for you to just short change the bank because you want to move.  Short sales are last chance opportunities for homeowners to avoid foreclosure.  These are good for a number of reasons.  First of all logically it helps the homeowner avoid a damaging foreclosure, and the effects on the homeowner’s credit are reduced versus foreclosure.  Secondly, short sales help the lender(s) because they don’t have to deal with the costly and risky process of foreclosure.  I say risky because banks are not in the business of managing property.  As a non performing asset, vacant foreclosure property becomes toxic for banks.  Now that I have received the Certified Distressed Property Expert designation I understand the value I, as a skilled short sale agent, provide for my clients.  I certainly believe that in this business of real estate you are helping people everyday, but perhaps not in the same way as you help people when their lives, both financially and emotionally, are on the line facing foreclosure. 

Perhaps another good thing about short sales is that the homeseller typically doesn’t pay commissions.  In fact, if negotiated well, a homeseller doesn’t pay much, if anything.  As a short sale expert, I negotiate on the sellers’ behalf with their lenders for a short payoff of their loans.  All the while, I negotiate with those same lenders to compensate me for the service I’ve provided.  For every short sale I complete a package for each lender that spells out why they should accept my short sale contract.  It’s my opportunity to make my case for the homeowner.  My last packages had over 85 pages each!  The process is long and requires a great deal of patience by both the buyers and the sellers, but in a successful short sale transaction, all parties receive what they want. 

Bad things happen to good people every day.  If you know of someone who has recently lost a job, had a change in income, or faces other unexpected expenses limiting their ability to fulfill their mortgage obligation, would you please give them my contact information?  There may be options available for them that could help significantly, and we would love to discuss those options personally.  We treat every consultation with dignity and confidentiality.  We just helped a client with a Norcross short sale, and we currently are working with a client on a Sandy Springs short sale to help avoid foreclosure.

While our entire business cannot be built around short sales, we believe that a percentage of our business needs to be dedicated to this valuable service.  For one, the market demands it given this economy.  Second, it’s a worthwhile fulfilling endeavor, and it truly helps people and families.  If you or someone you know is facing a potential foreclosure, time could be running out.  Give The Peters Company a call today at 770-634-2782.

Jaycie Mirabella!

As our business has grown, we feel the need to provide more for our clients.  Service is the name of the game in any business, but in real estate its non negotiable in our opinion.  With an increase in buyer clients, we felt the need to be available more and more to meet the demand.  Buyers need to see a lot of property.  They have to make tough decisions, decisions that cannot be made adequately at times without going out and seeing property.  Since there was only two of us, our time booked up pretty fast, and like in everything we do, we aim to please and we extend the extra effort to do things the right way.  It became clearly evident at this time, the beginning of the “busy” Atlanta real estate season, that we needed some help.  Enter Jaycie Mirabella!  Jaycie joins The Peters Company as our new Showing Agent.  She’ll be involved in several facets of our business as we continue to over service our clients.  She is an incredibly talented and hard working agent with a refreshingly positive attitude, and we are fortunate to work with her.  I asked Jaycie to tell you a little bit about herself because you are going to want to get to know her personally…

As the daughter of a motivated businessman, I moved a lot when I was a child.  In fact by the age of 10, I had already lived in 5 different states!  I remember one of my favorite parts about moving was searching for the perfect house to call “home”.  It should have been clear to me a long time ago that my perfect fit was in Real Estate! 

Although I moved a lot when I was a child, I consider Atlanta my “home”.  I spent my teen years in a small town south of the city and went on to graduate from the University of Georgia with a double major in Journalism and Political Science.  Lucky enough to be living in the city of a global news organization, CNN gave me my first taste of a “real job”.  I quickly discovered that I didn’t love television journalism as much as I thought I would, but I wouldn’t trade the two years I spent working there for anything!  I was given the opportunity to work with people from all over the world and create life-long memories.

My story wouldn’t be complete without telling you about my wonderful husband of 4 years, Nathan and our beautiful baby boy, Morgan.  Nathan and I started our life together living in a studio condo in Midtown and moved west to Smyrna when we started a family.  We enjoy life in Smyrna with our baby boy, Morgan and our Schoodle (yes, that’s a Schnauzer-Poodle!), Tanner.

I’ve been working in Pharmaceutical Sales for the last 5 years and have really enjoyed working with physicians and other healthcare providers.  It’s just recently that I have decided to pursue my dream of becoming a successful Real Estate Agent.  With the help of so many wonderful people at Keller-Williams, I feel as though I am now on the road to making this happen.  I recently joined Andy and Lesley Peters and look forward to what this year will bring with the three of us partnering together.

My goal is to partner with Andy and Lesley to provide top-notch service to our clients.  I truly believe my success thus far has come from always treating my clients with respect and going above and beyond to become a product and market expert in my industry.  I treat my clients, all of whom I consider friends, with respect, and my focus is to always look out for my clients’ best interest.  I am so excited to be a part of a team of people at Keller-Williams who work under the same philosophy.  

-Jaycie Mirabella

One of the joys of our job is to help our clients achieve their goals and through that process become good friends.  We have accomplished that yet again with Berkley and Lee.  Having first met with them in October of 2008, we decided in February to eventually rent their current Norcross townhome and help them find a “deal” on a larger Norcross single family home now.  While these results are not typical, we were able to secure them a deal alright at 83% sales/original list price.  Buyers are holding a lot of cards right now, but this was truly a diamond in the rough.  We closed on their new home on Thursday, and coincidentally we closed on the rental of their townhome on Friday.  We are so appreciative of the opportunity that Berkley and Lee gave us.  It was a real pleasure working with them, and best of all we made new friends in the process.

If you have been thinking about taking advantage of this market and need another opinion, we would be more than happy to invest an hour with you to determine your best move.  There are so many options out there for today’s Atlanta homeowner.  You can always reach us through the website at www.thepeterscompany.com.  We look forward to working with you!

The Peters Company KNOWS Ashford Park in Brookhaven.  Not only have we personally lived in Ashford Park, but we have helped Brookhaven homesellers and homebuyers in Ashford Park time and time again.  It’s amazing to see what this neighborhood has done through the years!  If you are interested in Brookhaven, you should definitely consider Ashford Park, and we’d be happy to help.

Here’s the details on our latest Brookhaven listing:

Developed in the 1950’s, Ashford Park was home to military personnel stationed at the site of today’s Peachtree-DeKalb Airport (PDK).  The military housing is a distant memory, but this area is still flying.  You’ll appreciate the history of the neighborhood while enjoying the incredibly desirable location in the heart of Brookhaven’s rejuvenated east side.  With the new Village Place Brookhaven blossoming now and within walking distance on Dresden, there’s a lot to be excited about here.  This charming two bedroom two bathroom cottage provides the perfect setting for city convenience and affordability. 

The front of the home has been freshly painted and finished with fresh landscaping.  From the moment you walk in the door, you’re greeted by rich history filled hardwood floors.  You’ll have plenty of space to relax in the main living room and adjoining separate dining room.  There is no need to waste a bedroom for your home office with the bonus nook off of the living room.  The kitchen features white cabinets and a brand new dishwasher as well as an extra cupboard cabinet for additional display and storage.  Come outside and find the screened porch you have always wanted.  Relax or entertain in privacy with a large flat fenced backyard.  The master bedroom and guest room are accompanied by a traditional full bathroom.  With an excellent lot, the possibilities for expansion are endless here.  The neighbors are friendly and wonderful.  You’re going to love it.  Welcome home to Ashford Park!