When looking for prestige as a business there are many types of honors which can be bestowed. The Inc. 500 consists of business which are  ”privately held, headquartered in the U.S., and had a minimum 2010 revenue of $2 million. This year’s list measures revenue growth from 2007 through 2010.”

To qualify for the 2011 Inc. 500|5000, all of the following must have been true of each company:

• Have generated revenue by March 31, 2007;
• Have generated at least $100,000 in revenue in 2007;
• Have generated at least $2 million in revenue in 2010;
• Be privately held, for profit, based in the U.S., and independent (not a subsidiary or division of another company).

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I am a multi-year veteran of the industry who has served in the highest offices in the industry. I can help you get the best deals and avoid getting ripped off!
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Atlanta Luxury Home Market – People are always asking me, how’s the Atlanta real estate market? In August 2011 there were 32 luxury homes that sold that were listed for over $1,000,000.  In August 2010, that number was pretty close to the same with 28 luxury homes sold.

What was the difference?

In August 2010 the lowest sales price was $850,000 with just 11 days on the market.  The average number of days on market for all the luxury homes sold was 193 days and an average sales price of $1,317,598.  The highest price Atlanta luxury home sold for $2,400,000 with 805 days on the market.

In August 2011, we saw a decrease in the number of days on the market in the Atlanta Luxury Home Market.  The lowest number of days on market is 0, yes, not even 1 day on the market for a home that was listed at 1,099,000 and sold for $520,000 in McDonough.  The average number of days on market for all luxury homes in the Atlanta area was 116 days with an average sale price of $1,620,534.  The most expensive luxury home that sold in August in the Atlanta area was $9,000,0000.  It was on the market 454 days.

Many of the Atlanta Luxury Homes are in golf course communities with fabulous amenities.

Where did the Atlanta area Luxury Homes sell in August 2011?

Buckhead  - 8 of the Luxury homes sold in Buckhead

• London Estates in Atlanta
• Kingswood – Atlanta Fulton County
• Woodward Investment (near Buckhead in Atlanta)
• Sugarloaf Country Club in Duluth – Gwinnett County – 2 of them sold here – For the same time period last year, 4 Luxury Homes sold at Sugarloaf
• Peachtree Manor Heights –Atlanta in Fulton
• Atlanta National in Alpharetta in Fulton
• St. Marlo in Duluth Forsyth County
• Tuxedo Park – Near Buckhead in Atlanta
• High Gates on Robinson in Marietta – Cobb County
• Chatham Park in Roswell –Fulton County
• Riverwood in Johns Creek – Fulton
• Sentinel Ferry at the River in Sandy Springs –Fulton County
• Lake Lanier in Cumming – Forysth
• Atlanta National – On the Golf Course in Alpharetta
• McDonough in Henry County
• Atlanta Country Club in Marietta
• Country Club of the South in Johns Creek –Fulton County
• Chastain –Atlanta Fulton County – Last year same time period 3 Luxury homes sold in Chastain
• Spalding Stables Estates in Atlanta – Sandy Springs area of Fulton County
• Chatsworth in Atlanta near Buckhead
• The Enclave at Jett Ferry – Dunwoody – New construction by John Wieland

If you’re thinking of buying or selling an Atlanta Luxury Home, contact Jen Bowman, Broker Associate with Keller Williams Realty Atlanta Partners, Luxury Homes by KW at 404-456-5024.

www.LuxuryHomesGA.com

I am a multi-year veteran of the industry who has served in the highest offices in the industry. I can help you get the best deals and avoid getting ripped off!
Contact form on this web site

These days it is almost impossible to get the best home loan without the best credit. During the “sub-prime” boom it was possible to achieve high balance financing with low credit scores if you had the right income and assets. During that time borrowers simply paid a higher interest rate to “offset the risk”. In today’s economy and lending environment, however, the industry has returned to more common sense lending practices. As a result having the best credit score and history possible is key to achieving the best home loans available at the best interest rate.

Key Number One

Have open credit with activity on it. The older the credit line and the better the activity on it the higher your score. New credit lines can temporarily lower your score until the reporting agencies see that you are going to manage your credit well. There are some offers in consumer lending which require the credit line to be at least 15 years old or older to qualify for the offer. This is generally for extremely low rate or high balance/high reward credit cards. So Key Number One is to actually have credit that has always been paid on time and is used regularly.

Tips for great credit for Georgia mortgages

Key Number Two

One of the best ways to tank your credit score and history is to make a late payment. Even a late payment on an auto or credit card can adversely impact your credit score and history enough to eliminate you from qualification for the best home loans. Some loans require there to have not been a late payment on any consumer credit in the last 12 to 24 months and most require no home mortgage late payments in the last 12 to 24 months. So Key Number Two is never pay late. By never I mean never.

Key Number Three

Keep your loan balances low. Paying a loan off, believe it or not, may have less of a positive effect than keeping your loan for the duration but paying it down quickly. With credit cards keeping a very minimal balance is key to increasing scores. For example if you have a credit card with a $5,000 limit and your outstanding balance is $4,900 this can hold your scores down. Conversely if you have a $100 balance on that same card you will notice an up trend in your scores. Likewise with car loans and other types of credit. Paying them off and closing them is not usually as good as paying them down and keeping them open. So Key Number Three is low balance to loan amount or credit line amount.

If You Have Questions

If you have questions about getting the best home loan to purchase or refinance a home loan in Georgia don’t hesitate to contact me. My office is in Marietta near the intersection of Windy Hill and Power’s Ferry so if you want to come by to discuss your situation and opportunities feel free to contact me to schedule an appointment. The coffee or soft drinks are on me! I specialize in Cobb County luxury home financing as well as any home for primary residence or real estate investment purchase or refinance in the north metropolitan Atlanta area of Cobb, Cherokee, Fulton, Paulding and Gwinnett.

Image: renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I am a multi-year veteran of the industry who has served in the highest offices in the industry. I can help you get the best deals and avoid getting ripped off!
Contact form on this web site

September of 2009 brought devastating flooding to many areas of metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. During this time flood waters from the Chattahoochee River, the Yellow River, Peachtree Creek and hundreds of other small tributaries and?reservoirs?crested to record levels. During a 24 to 48 hour period as much as 15 inches of rain deluged the already water soaked landscape and created a new line of?demarcation?between flood zone and safe zone.

At least eight people lost their lives, hundreds were injured and thousands left homeless as the Georgia flood receded. What it left behind, as does any flood or other disaster, is wounded lives and dashed hopes and dreams. As a grim reminder of the loss of property there is a raw video feed from CNN attached.

There are glimmers of hope coming to many people who were displaced. Some of that hope comes from local churches and civic organizations like Trinity Chapel in southwest Cobb County – one of the hardest hit areas. Another source of hope is for people looking to purchase a replacement home which also extends to anyone looking to move into a flood disaster affected county.

The Georgia Dream Home Ownership Program has been extended and?amended?to offer special concessions and assistance to persons who are buying homes in the areas hardest hit. Raising the income limits and purchase prices in these areas will help a few people whether direct victims of the flood or sellers who have difficulty selling because of the resulting awareness of the flooding in these areas.

Counties affected by the flood and covered under the extended Georgia Dream Home Ownership Program and the relevant information are:

As indicated there are specific household income limits for 1 to 2 member households and 3 plus member households. The minimum contribution from the purchaser’s own funds is $1,000 and the Down Payment Assistance from the State of Georgia is $5,000. Minimum required credit score is 660 at this time (2/19/2010) and, as always, these numbers are subject to change.

To learn more about the Georgia Dream for special flood areas you can call AmericaHomeKey, the local mortgage bank, at 678-439-8683 for answers and to learn about upcoming online and live training and events. AmericaHomeKey is located at 2870 Johnson Ferry Road, Marietta, Georgia, 30062 and is Georgia Residential Mortgage Licensee 23191 and NMLS ID 102930. Ken Cook is NMLS ID 208452.

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Looking for a great place to live with some of the best values in America? Look no farther because I am sitting in it right now keyboarding this post to you! On October 6th NBC’s Today Show with Al Roker highlighted Marietta, Georgia as the number 4 place in America to buy a home and get the most “bang for your buck”.

I happen to agree with them because I live here, have lived here my entire life except a little college stint, and I am very actively involved in my community and lending here. During the boom builders constructed some very beautiful homes which in turn emptied a number of existing homes and left us with a surplus of larger, newer homes. In fact on October the 12th I wrote about “My Home, Marietta, Georgia” which was a featured article here on Active Rain.

We were hit late in the price drops but when we got hit we got hit hard! Sarasota is number one, San Fransisco is number two, is number three is Lansing (another great city), and Marietta (that’s me) is number four. By the way, the Gone With The Wind Museum is way down on the list of “pride and joy” of this community. Seriously, only an outsider would say that! Don’t get me wrong, it’s very cool but the life is in that old town area is very vibrant and that is just one of hundreds of attractions in that immediate area.

You can watch the video here on the City of Marietta’s website. When you get finished call me. I’m not a real estate agent – I’m a very seasoned home lender based right here for my entire career in Marietta, Georgia. 3300 homes in the Atlanta/Marietta area have been financed across my desk I have a pretty decent “handle” on the market here.

Fifty years ago this past August I was born in the same hospital where decades later my children would be born and I would say good-bye to both of my parents. I remember when there was no Interstate highway, only six government high schools and the fire department was all volunteer. That was before my fellow Cobb County residents Ty Pennington, Travis Tritt or Julie (Julia) Roberts were born.

The seat of Cobb County is Marietta. I was, in fact born in Marietta and that is where I currently live. As a side note I live in the home my parents bought the year after I graduated high school. So let’s just say I am a little familiar with the history of my town and I would love for you to know a little about it, too, but not the histroy so much as the today.

Earlier I mentioned this is the home of a few famous people and Travis still lives in the area but a bit to the west. My town, Marietta, and more specifically East Marietta (East Cobb) is quite afluent. Many of the local sports stars and other celebrities have made this area their home. With established neighborhoods and some of the highest performing high schools in the nation such as prestigious Walton High School right here in my neighborhood, East Cobb is a highly desirable location to live and raise a family.

Our culture is highly diverse with people from every thinkable background making their home here. We have a large Asian population, big middle eastern population and many other nationalilities in the area. This leads to, of course, a vast selection of restaurants with food and atmosphere from around the world.

Today the population of Marietta, Georgia is about 68,000 and with the exception of income our demographics are very similar to those of Beverly Hills, California. Housing prices and values, on the other hand, are lower mearning you can get much more for much less. The average home value has declined over the last five months from $288,320 to $269,915 but there is also good news for sellers as inventory has also decreased steadily from over 2,300 one year ago to less than 1,850 today. This is considered a nine month inventory even though one year ago the average number of days on market was 113 and today that number is 200.

Finding work, professional, career or other, is not difficult in Marietta. In fact our unemployment rate today is estimated at only 2.4% with a median household income of $112,572. Big employers include the government (31,000 jobs), Lockheed Martin, Bosch, IBM, GE, Coca-Cola, and others. There are 238,000 jobs in Marietta. Cobb County population is reported at an estimated 660,000.

Marietta and Cobb County are home to the F22 war plane, the Atlanta Country Club where the PGA Classic was held for many years, and Six Flags over Georgia (more recently called Six Flags Under Water!) Come on over and let me show you Lost Mountain, the Big Chicken and some really good food and fun!

If you are planning on moving to the Atlanta area and are looking for a somewhat conservative but youngish area call me. I can tell you things your agent can’t and I can also welcome you here as a life long resident and even tell you enough local secrets to get you started! Anyone is welcome to Cobb County – after all we have Alton Brown (Iron Chef/Good Eats) and John Patrick (T2000 from Terminator/CSI New York). Oh, and I grew up with Randall Bently, Sr., father of Randall Bentley, Jr., who stars in Heroes.

My name is Ken Cook, Jr., and I am a well experienced small business man and mortgage lender. Call me at 678-439-8683 it’s not an answering machine it’s a ring everywhere. Don’t leave a message, just say your name, nothing else, you only get 4 seconds

Some data may have come from:
http://zipskinny.com
http://city-data.com
http://altoresearch.com
http://wikipedia.org
http://jobs.aol.com