Brian Vanderhoff's North Fulton Real Estate Blog: April 2008

According to a new article out this month on CNNMoney.com's "100 Best" series, Alpharetta was named one of six suburbs across the country in major metropolitan areas in which home prices are likely to rise the most and fall the least in the next 12 months; this was reported in the category of "Best Places to Buy a Home."

The six suburbs selected were also considered to be the "most recession-resistant."

The average home price in Alpharetta is $359,950. The story states frenzied home building in Alpharetta has been stalled, which should start to reduce the area's large supply of vacant housing and therefore propelling housing prices upward.

The second market listed is Boston (Waltham, Mass.) with an average home price of $406,000. Waltham is one of the first places to experience the downturn of the market and appears to be among the first to rebound as well. In the last quarter of 2007, prices of homes in Waltham rose only 1 percent.

Cincinnati (Mariemont, Ohio) was next with an average home price of $354,800. The city should benefit from the falling dollar due to the city's manufacturing industry which weighs heavily on the economy. Commercial building is high, and high-end developments are moving into the area.

The fourth market is Cleveland (Shaker Heights, Ohio) with an average home price of $146,100. Shaker Heights gaining recognition as "ground zero for foreclosures" seems to be benefiting from their plans to assist distressed borrowers. Prices of homes have stabilized in this area and prices should be rising in the near future.

Detroit (Farmington Hills, Mich.) is the fifth market with an average home price of $215,000. With an average price-to-rent ratio of 15, a buyer can potentially get nearly 7 percent of their purchase back every year.

The final market is Houston (Sugarland, Texas) with an average home price of $180,600. The soaring oil prices in this particular area complement the real estate industry. In the fourth quarter of 2007, prices rose to 1.4 percent, the fastest of all metro areas analyzed.

In its inaugural year, this study looked at price momentum and price-to-rent ratio metrics for the nation's 30 markets.

Labels: Alpharetta, Alpharetta Real Estate, homes, houses

New Milton City Manager Billy Beckett was appointed by a unanimous vote of City Council on Monday, April 21.

Though interim City Manager Chris Lagerbloom joked that Beckett was more than welcome to take his seat immediately, he will actually begin work on April 30.

According to his employment agreement, Beckett will receive $137,000 as an annual base salary and, like other city employees, will be eligible for an increase of up to four percent after Dec. 31 based upon a job evaluation.

In addition to health, disability, retirement, and life insurance benefits, Beckett will also receive vacation and sick leave, as well as an automobile allowance of $600 per month. He will also receive $5,000 in moving expenses.

Council would need a majority vote in order to terminate the agreement.

Beckett is not eligible for severance until after Dec. 31, after which time he can receive up to 12 months of pay at his current level of salary. He must give a minimum of 30 days notice if he chooses to resign at anytime, unless both he and the city agree otherwise.

Beckett replaces Lagerbloom, who has served since August, when former City Manager Aaron Bovos resigned. Bovos received a $72,500 lump sum severance payment as part of his separation agreement with the city.

Bovos, who was paid a yearly sum of $145,000 at Milton, now serves as deputy city administrator in Roswell.

"I think I speak for the entire council and city staff when I say that we are excited and congratulate Mr. Beckett," said Mayor Joe Lockwood. "We're excited about moving forward."

Labels: City Manager, Fulton, milton, North Fulton

The Rosewater Theatre in Roswell is holding auditions for its summer production of "Steel Magnolias" by Robert Harling.

The play calls for six women, ages 22 to 65 and older, and auditions include cold readings from the script. They are being held at the theatre, 633 Holcomb Bridge Road, Roswell, on Tuesday, April 22 and Thursday, April 24 from 7-9 p.m. and Saturday, April 26 from 10:30 a.m. to noon.

The show will run every weekend, June 6-28.

Action is set in Truvy's beauty salon in Chinquapin, La., where all the ladies come to have their hair done. The wise-cracking Truvy is joined by her assistant Annelle, the town's rich curmudgeon Ouiser, an eccentric millionaire Miss Clairee, local social leader M'Lynn and her daughter Shelby.

For additional information visit www.rosewatertheatre.com, e-mail Lisa@rosewatertheatre.com or call 770-640-5500.

Labels: Auditions, Casting Call, Rosewater Theater, Roswell, Steel Magnolias

Children can see, touch and explore their favorite big trucks and vehicles at the 10th Annual Touch-A-Truck.

The event is Saturday, April 19 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at North Park, 13450 Cogburn Road, Alpharetta. It is sponsored by the Alpharetta Recreation and Parks Department.

Children can also visit the "Kids Zone" and jump on inflatables, get an air brush tattoo, create sand art and get an animal balloon. Food vendors will sell food and drinks, and Touch-a-Truck T-shirts in toddler and youth sizes will be sold. Admission and parking are free.

For more information, call 678-297-6130 or email wprcprograms@alpharetta.ga.us.

Labels: Alpharetta, Touch a Truck

North Fulton residents did their part to help create a Blueprint North Fulton during an interactive public meeting Wednesday night.

The North Fulton Community Improvement District (CID) decided it needed a master plan to set priorities after contributing $2 million to the completion of Westside Parkway south from Sanctuary Parkway to Mansell Road. That's a good return on their investment, according to Ann Hanlon, executive director of the North Fulton CID.

Spending money wisely is a hallmark of the group, which is a self-taxing authority. Properties owners in the commercial corridor along Ga. 400 from Mansell Road north to McGinnis Ferry Road agree to pay more taxes to raise funds for transportation infrastructure projects that will help their businesses. The corridor includes land in Roswell, Alpharetta and Milton.

The stakeholders at Wednesday's meeting included local homeowners, city officials, council members, commercial property owners and developers. They were tasked with identifying what they like about the three nodes in the CID area, which were designated as:

• North Point, from Mansell Road north to Kimball Bridge Road.

• Old Milton, north from Kimball Bridge past Old Milton Parkway to Webb Bridge Road.

• Windward, north of Webb Bridge to McGinnis Ferry Road.

The participants also labeled what changes they wanted to see in land use and designated new roadways and trails.

The CID's consultants, with Urban Collage in the lead, will take the information gleaned from these meetings, and come up with priorities for the self-taxing authority to spend the approximately $2.4 million it raises each year.

Labels: 400, Alpharetta, Ga 400, milton, North Fulton

Virginia R. Novrit, 67, of Hilton Head, S.C., Clarence L. Davis, 68, of Hilton Head, South Carolina, Gregory J. Wings Jr., 25, of Atlanta, Olympia D. Ammons, 31, of St. Louis, Mo., and Ronald D. Martin Jr., 37, of Lithonia were sentenced this week by United States District Judge Beverly B. Martin on charges of conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering related to a multi-million dollar mortgage fraud scheme.

According to United States Attorney David E. Nahmias and the information presented in court: From late 2004 through early 2006, Novrit, Davis, Wings, Ammons, and Martin participated in a mortgage fraud scheme that involved millions of dollars in fraudulently inflated mortgage loans being provided to unqualified straw borrowers. The straw borrowers were paid as much as $600,000 per property from fraudulently obtained loan proceeds through shell companies. Novrit and Davis together obtained mortgage loans totaling more than $4 million within a six month period to purchase eight properties. Wings obtained mortgage loans totaling over $1.2 million to purchase a single property by providing the lender with false qualifying information. He also recruited a number of other unqualified buyers into the scheme and obtained a share of the fraudulently obtained loan proceeds from those transactions for doing so.

Ammons was a loan originator for "Ace Mortgage Funding," a national mortgage brokerage firm. he brokered fraudulent mortgages totalling over $7 million. Martin was paid $75,000 to act as a straw buyer and submit a fraudulent loan application for one property.

Four other defendants have already been sentenced to prison terms in related cases, and five more defendants await sentencing.

"These defendants and their co-defendants are responsible for causing millions of dollars in losses to mortgage lenders by artificially inflating the sales prices on million dollar homes and submitting fraudulent loan applications to fund the purchases of these homes," said Nahmias. "In cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement agents, we will continue to vigorously investigate and prosecute mortgage fraud schemes in the metro Atlanta area."

Novrit was sentenced to 3 years, 5 months in prison to be followed by 4 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $839,585 in restitution. She was convicted by a jury Nov. 26, 2007, after a three week trial.

Davis was sentenced to 4 years, 3 months in prison to be followed by 4 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $839,585 in restitution. He was convicted by the same jury.

Wings was sentenced to 10 years, 2 months in prison to be followed by 4 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $8,577,845 in restitution. He pleaded guilty Sept. 7, 2007.

Ammons was sentenced to 5 years, 3 months in prison to be followed by 4 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $7,549,044 in restitution. She pleaded guilty Oct. 2, 2006.

Martin was sentenced to 1 year, 1 day in prison to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $423,595 in restitution. he pleaded guilty May 16, 2007.

Labels: Mortgage, Mortgage Fraud, Prison

For Centennial High students, Wednesday, April 2 was not a normal day. During fourth period (lunchtime for many students), an announcement came to immediately evacuate the building for an undisclosed reason. School newspaper editor-in-chief and senior Yaanik Desai said that he and his fellow students were caught by surprise when the announcement came.

RELATED ARTICLES

2008-Mar-20
Fumes close Roswell’s Centennial High










"We were at lunch when the announcement came," he said. "Because everyone wasn't in class, it wasn't as organized as it could have been the evacuation was a little haphazard, but we all got out to the stadium pretty quickly."

Desai said that the students immediately ruled out a fire or storm because the school did not go through the normal fire or storm drills. He recalls that there was not much fear in his fellow students because no one thought it was an intruder or a bomb threat.

Once they got outside, several teachers said that it was a chemical spill before Principal John Bartley made the announcement to the students.

"People were definitely happy to be let out early once we learned what had happened," said Desai. "I think it speaks a lot to the administration that they got us out quickly and safely under the circumstances."

Although students enjoyed their early dismissal, Desai said he was pretty sure that it will back to school as usual today.

Labels: Alpharetta, centennial, High School