Birmingham Real Estate Pros

Homewood Alabama Homes

The area of Homewood for this particular home tour is the Edgewood and surrounding region. This area is loaded with an incredible diversity of homes, most of which are absolutely fantastic! Simply turn left of right off Oxmoor Road once in Homewood and you will be greeted by some beautiful homes!

I have always been especially fond of the older homes found in neighborhoods such as Edgewood. To me, these homes have a certain charm and personality that can’t be duplicated in new construction. Don’t get me wrong, new construction homes have incredible “up” sides too. However new neighborhoods take a few years to develop their charm whereas an older neighborhood’s (such as Edgewood) charm has evolved over some 25 years or more. Time is what gives Edgewood it’s flair and is truly what makes the difference between this area and new construction.

On with the tour!

Homewood Homes

There are many ways to get to this section of Homewood, however, since my trip included a stop at Sweet Pea’s Garden Shop, I came in form the North, via Linden Ave. (Edgewood is just moments away from the downtown shopping of Homewood). Immediately upon entering the neighborhood, I am finding myself saying things like: “Look at that one!”; “That’s a cute home.”; “I like that one!”‘…etc… Seriously, I usually can’t go two blocks without seeing a home that catches my fancy!

Edgewood

Techincally the entire area I visited isn’t “Edgewood”, however, since there is no real easy way to distinguish between the sections, I call it all Edgewood. And quite frankly, the whole area is full of great looking homes. You’ll find all types of homes too. In fact, you’ll be hard pressed to find two homes that are exactly the same. They may share a similar footprint, but each will have it’s own charm. So-much-so in fact, that some homes in this area of Homewood are on the Birmingham registry for historic homes!

Along with other areas of older homes, industrious persons have renovated or in extreme cases, completely rebuilt homes in this area. Even though these homes have been built new or are obviously “younger” than their neighbors they blend right into the style and character of the existing neighborhood.

See It to Believe It

Usually, after the first few comments regarding how appealing are the homes comes the comment regarding their less-than-mansion-size stature. Now, I know that for similar prices, you can find a five bedroom, four bath, finished basement, and more in certain areas of Birmingham. However, none of which will have the character of these homes, the great location, the sense of community, nor the charisma. Another thing I like to tell my buyers is that looking from the outside can be deceiving. However small the home may appear on the outside, inside there always seems to be just enough room to be comfortable for small family. If the home has been renovated, this becomes even more true as the remodeling may have removed walls or opened up closed spaces.

Family Oriented Area

This area of Homewood is very family friendly. There are a few well placed community parks open to area residents with all sorts of outdoor play equipment. On weekends during the summer months, Homewood offers movie nights in the park, free to all who want to sit on the grass and enjoy a movie. If that wasn’t enough, farmer’s markets, art festivals, and more take place throughout the year in Homewood and Edgewood is in the right spot to enjoy it all!

Hop, Skip, and a Jump

Living in Homewood, in particular Edgewood, can be very convienient. Persons in Edgewood have a simple the commute over the mountain to downtown Birmingham compared to those living in areas such as Hoover and Inverness. Shopping at the Galleria or the Summit is just a short drive down HWY 31 or HWY 280. Interstate access is just moments away and those needing to get to the airport can make the drive in less than twenty minutes. Yet, no matter how close everything is, Edgewood actually seems like a world away. That may sound weird, but you have to just see for yourself. Then you will understand!

Homewood Homes for Sale

Below is a link to homes for sale in the Edgewood subdivision of Homewood, Alabama.

• Edgewood Homes for Sale

If you would like to view a home for sale in Homewood, simply contact us at 205-475-5437 or 205-612-8152!

Bluff Park - Hoover Alabama

The region of Hoover known as Bluff Park is located in the Northwest section of Hoover, between HWY 31 & Shades Crest Road. This area of Hoover is a real eclectic mix of homes.

For the most part, the homes are those representative of the neighborhoods of my youth (ranch style homes with established landscaping and stoops ideal for enjoying a slice of watermelon on a summer’s day). What these older homes lack in size they make up in style! While you can find a true Americana home in Bluff Park, you can also find some newer homes sprinkled through the area. There are even a few small new construction neighborhoods in the area too. A few years back, people who loved the area but needed more space starting renovating the older homes in Bluff Park by modernizing and expanding the existing homes. If that was not feasible, then they simply replaced the older home with a newer home built upon the previous home’s footprint.

Bluff Park is located in a fantastic location.

Sandwiched between Hoover’s shopping district and Homewood makes Bluff Park an ideal location for persons needing to commute Over-the-Mountain yet still be in the heart of all that Hoover has to offer!

Bluff Park Homes

We started our Bluff Park Home tour and immediately found homes that caught our attention! The first of the homes was in a new-er subdivision, Polo Trace. These homes are beautiful, large, brick homes. Not quite the homes I had in mind when heading through the area, but they are impressive and definitely earned a top-5 spot on my list of homes in their price range. (View Homes for Sale in Polo Trace)

Leaving Polo Trace, we meandered our way through the area taking note of some very attractive and down right comfortable looking homes. Apparently the owners must feel the same way, I didn’t notice too many for sale on these streets! Therefore, we hit the main road again and found ourselves turning around after we passed Chapel Creek. (The first home pictured is from Chapel Creek).

Chapel Creek is recent / new construction. The homes in Chapel Creek are very appealing. Sort of a European farm-house look, but not-so-much. I know that is rather confusing, let me explain. When I look at these homes, with their large main home and attached garage, I recall visions of English country homes, rose gardens, and climbing vines of ivy. Which to me, makes these homes very interesting. Now Chapel Creek is not the only area with this style of home, yet they are the only ones like this in Bluff Park that I found! There are established homes and new construction available. I would feel very confident showing these homes to potential buyers. They are that nice! However, this is a tour of the area, so onward we pressed.

Bluff Park

I am referring to this section of Bluff Park as “Bluff Park - Proper”. Mainly due to the fact that when I think of Bluff Park homes, these are the homes that come to mind. The homes in this section of Bluff Park are loaded with character! Each home is different. Each home has charisma. Each home offers something unique. There are few areas in the Birmingham area that have this atmosphere (Homewood’s Edgewood area, Hollywood in Mountain Brook come to mind). Now, some of the homes need some major TLC, some just a touch, while others have been completely remodeled. Which to me means that Bluff Park has a home for just about anybody!

There is a nice sense of community in Bluff Park. Along South Shades Crest Rd, you’ll find a few local hot spots, including the Tip Top Grill. This little restaurant has great food to go along with the great views overlooking the Oxmoor Valley. Quaint specialty provide Bluff Park residents with goods and services in a “get-to-know-you-manner”.

The Bluff Park region of Hoover is a fantastic area. Anyone considering a move to Hoover owes it to themselves to check out this part of town. Believe me, I don’t think you will leave disappointed!

Bluff Park Neighborhoods

The neighborhoods visited this trip

• Polo Trace
• Chapel Creek
• Bluff Park

If you would like to view a home for sale in Bluff Park, simply contact us at 205-475-5437 or 205-612-8152!

The action is definitely starting to pick up here in Birmingham. For example, today we showed homes near Chelsea, Sylacauga, Downtown Birmingham, Pelham, and Alabaster. Overall, it was just a real busy day for home shoppers! Very surprising too, since this is Talladega race weekend.
Hopefully, this is a taste of things to come, and people looking to sell or buy real estate will be able to get together on some deals to get the market rolling again!

This may be a short post today, but seeing how we have been running around today like crazy showing homes and writing contracts, I think it is ok… just this once.

Nice to be back and running again in the real estate business!

Birmingham Alabama Home Sales on the Rise

The Alabama Center for Real Estate has released the numbers for May 2008. The ACRE calculates the number of home sales reported then compares those numbers to those of the previous month and year.

Let’s start with the good news:
For May 2008 Birmingham Homes sold rose 10.66% over homes sold in April 2008.

Overall though, when compared to May 2007, home sales dropped an astounding 30.45%! So for those thinking that the housing slump had bypassed Birmingham, the numbers indicate something different. The year to date numbers are down from 2007 by 26.25%. Now, until we see the numbers for June, we won’t be able to make any predictions on whether or not the housing market has turned up or not. Home sales in Birmingham do tend to pick up in the early part of the summer, so I do expect better numbers in June and July, but I am not sure how they will compare to 2007. My first inclination is that they will be down in the 20% range.

What does this mean to a person shopping for Birmingham Alabama real estate?

If you are selling your home, make sure it is ready to show. If you are buying a home, make a list of things that you want in a home. With the amount of homes for sale in the Birmingham real estate market, it will help you sort through all the homes for sale to locate exactly what you are looking to purchase.

Even if the home is new construction, I always recommend to my clients that they contact a home inspector to do a pre-close inspection.  Some would think that this is a foolish waste of about $300, but I certainly do not!  A $300 home inspection can save the home buyer $1000s of dollars, not to mention headaches, in the long run!

I know a few real estate agents that would balk at having a home inspection on new construction.  So, let me give you a little background and then some real life examples on why I recommend home inspections on new construction to my clients.

Let the buyer beware:

For your information, Alabama law employs the rule of “Caveat Emptor”, or more commonly stated, ”let the buyer beware”.  So, short of any life threatening or hazardous living conditions, if you don’t ask, or have the home inspected, the builder and the builder’s agent aren’t obligated to inform you of any defects.  If you discover them after the closing, you may not have legal recourse to pursue remedy of the situation.  Therefore, I believe it is my fiduciary duty to advise all my clients to get home inspections and ask as many questions as possible.  Yes, even when buying new construction!

A quick example:

An associate of mine recently had a client turn down the home inspection on thier new construction home.  The home closed.  Imagine their surprise the first night in their new home when they went to turn on the heat and it didn’t work. Five days.  That is how long it took to get the builder to send someone to look at the problem.  Not only that, it happened to be during one of the coldest weeks in Birmingham for 2006!   All their troubles could have easily been averted or resolved prior to closing by having a home inspection!

Yet another example:

Recently, I was forced to submit a mutual release for a new construction home due to shoddy and crude workmanship.  Although the problems with the home were numerous and obvious, my client was prepared to continue with the scheduled home inspection if the release was not granted without an official report.  Although the builder’s representative responded to our release request with a vicious personal attack, in the end, my client was released from the contract with all earnest and upgrade monies returned.

But let’s say the builder wouldn’t sign the mutual release based upon poor workmanship.  We would be reliant upon a home inspection.  Without having a licensed home inspector perform an inspection and detail the problems in writing, more than likely, we would’ve been in a fight to get the repairs / changes accomplished or to terminate the contract with all monies returned.

Let me give you another example:

I was working with a relocation client from the west coast.  She selected a new construction home.  She paid for some upgrades.  Then prior to the home inspection, she noticed a few things that needed to be repaired or corrected with the upgrades.  At the builder’s request, we presented a short “punch list” to the builder’s agent. 

In our meeting with the builder’s agent, my client was informed that since she was not native to Alabama, her standards were too high.   Also, that as her representative, I, being native to Birmingham, didn’t know any different and should inform her that the home construction was actually “good” for the area.  Long story, short, because she exercised her option to have a home inspection,  the items on the original list, along with a few new items, were repaired and corrected prior to the closing without delay.

Although the above scenario is a great example for the need of buyers representation, I think it also highlights one main reason why having a licensed home inspection is a great idea.  Without the an official home inspection, I have no doubt that request to have these items repaired would have been devalued or neglected by the builder.  Even though you may receive a new home warranty, I’ve seen builders take weeks to finish even simple repairs!

So what can you do?

1. Utilize the Home Inspection Clause in the General Sale Contract

Most sales contracts contain a clause pertaining to a home inspection.  These clauses are generally aimed at protecting the buyer.  Often, when a home inspection is performed and the seller is unwilling or unable to make the needed repairs, the sales contract is cancelled and any earnest money is returned.  If a home inspection clause is passed over or forgone by the purchaser, they may have forfeited any earnest money if they decide to terminate a contract after discovering needed repairs that the seller refuses to address.

2. If repairs from the report are unfinished, hold money in escrow at closing.

A couple from out of town that I was representing needed to close on a specific date due to time constraints.  Instead of postponing the close until the last items were finished, we proposed holding a few thousand dollars from the sale in escrow until the repairs were completed.  Believe me, those repairs were well done and finished within a few days of the closing.

3. Take Photos

If you are allowed to walk through the home, take photos of things you see as flaws or needed repairs.  This documentation is normally provided to the purchaser with a home inspection.   Yet, if you choose not to have the inspection, the photos can be a great asset when you are attempting to have those repairs made on your own.

 4. The last resort.

If you feel pressured by the builder to not use a home inspector, or you personally believe the work to be unacceptable and cannot reach a resolution, be prepared to walk away.  Personally, a builder’s agent that continually advises against having a licensed home inspector examine the property always makes me a little leery.  Also, if a builder is arguing about making repairs prior to getting paid on the home, can you imagine what it will be like after they are paid?

 Do yourself a favor:

Although the above examples are extreme, they can happen to you.  So do yourself a favor.  Get a home inspection.  Yes, even with new construction.

Fixing Up My Bathroom

Recently, I decided to undertake the remodeling of my guest bathroom.  This isn’t a great endeavor, but none-the-less, one that needs to be thought through and planned.  Why you ask?  The first time I redid our guest bathroom, without planning ahead mind you, it ended up bright yellow.  Some have gone as far to insinuate that the color is “blinding” yellow.  I prefer “cheery”.  I will admit that there is a sensation of standing on the surface of the sun when taking a shower, therefore, it is time for a change.

The biggest hurdle is going to be selecting the color of the walls.  Right now I am partial to a very faint “slate” blue.  Unfortunately, that is the color that I used in the master bath last year when my wife and I remodeled it last summer.  We installed new tile floor too. Looks very soothing with the slate tile and faint blue walls, but I digress.  So, my thinking is that I need to choose a new color for the walls of the guest bath.  But do I?  That is the question.  

So today, I am off to Sherwin Williams to grab some color tabs and start the process of selecting a color.  Check back soon, I will post the color swatches that make the initial cut.

Top Birmingham Real Estate Tips 

As we start this journey of looking at the Top Ten Tips for the Birmingham Real Estate Tips, I want to start with something so simple that it is often taken for granted or overlooked.

#10: Search the Birmingham MLS

It is that simple.  Use the internet to help you find homes that meet your needs and budget without ever leaving your home.  The ability to streamline your search by utilizing a Birmingham MLS search saves you time. And, with gas prices rising, the ability to sort through homes without having to see them in person will save you hundreds of dollars in gas alone!

Where do you begin?

Start Here: Birmingham MLS Search.  Pick your area of interest and some basic home criteria and you will be on your way.  Scroll through the results.  If nothing catches your eye, go back to the search pages and enter new information, or use one of the “Fast Finds” or “Quick Searches” if you find that more to our liking.

We, The Birmingham Real Estate Pros, have developed an MLS search based around the consumer. We want to make it as simple and enjoyable as possible. You can search by area, subdivision, school district, city, and more.

One thing to remember when searching for homes on the internet, either with our Birmingham MLS search or another company.  If you are already working with a REALTOR ® , be sure to inform whomever you contact for additional information in order to eliminate confusion.  Although I would suggest to those already working with an agent to simply take a note of the MLS number, then provide your REALTOR ® with that number so they can get you the information.

What Next?

Once you have used the internet and searched the Birmingham MLS, take a list of homes that meet your criteria or have caught your attention to your REALTOR®.  They can  schedule viewings of those homes so that you can view them in person. (Personally recommend that you walk through a home prior to making an offer.  Although I have worked with clients buying homes sight unseen without encountering a problem, I believe it is important to get a feel for the home in person.)  Viewing the home in person will help you select the right one for you!

Basically, searching the Birmingham MLS is #10 on our list of real estate tips.  As you begin shopping the internet for homes, you may believe it should be higher on the list, but check back and see what 9 other tips were given greater importance!

New and Improved!

Today we launched our new and improved Birmingham MLS search functions for searching homes for sale by MLS area.  By improving the search capabilities, we hope to make finding the right home for you and your family in the Birmingham MLS a breeze!

Simply choose the areas in Birmingham you would like to shop, then narrow your search by adding options such as entering a price range, number of bedrooms, and more.  To help in locating your home further, simply select some of the addition search options to pinpoint exactly what you are hoping to find! 

We hope that by adding these features, finding the proverbial needle in the Birmingham MLS haystack becomes that much easier!

Visit the page at: Birmingham MLS Search to start locating homes for sale now!

Birmingham, Alabama was recently listed #3 in CNN/MONEY magazines list of the 10 Fastest Growing Real Estate Markets in the US!  Although this may be a surprise to some, as a real estate agent here in Birmingham, this isn’t that great of a surprise to me!

CNN/Money Provided the data below Regarding Birmingham:

12-month forecast: 2.7%
Median home price: $156,000
One year price change: 2.9%
Five year price change: 29.4%
Change in foreclosure rate: 20%

The one number that I do believe “sticks” out is the change in foreclosure rate.  Up 20% means that there are going to be some good buys available in some of the hottest areas of town.  Especially areas of town that grew in price dramatically faster than their surrounding neighborhoods and communities.  You will even find a few new construction homes under foreclosure in popular neighborhoods being sold by banks to recoup their investments. 

Interested in Buying Birmingham Real Estate now?

You should be!

Click to read the full article from CNN/MONEY.

Birmingham Real Estate Void

The exists today a void. A void of new construction single family homes between the price of $150K and $200K in popular residential areas such as Pelham, Helena, Hoover, and Alabaster. This has created unique opportunities for residents in established neighborhoods with homes priced to sell with in the void’s price range. This juxtaposition is something I find rather amusing. It was just a few years ago that these established neighborhoods were taking a beating by all the new construction homes sprouting up all over the Birmingham area. Now, it’s payback time.

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