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Category Archives: garage

Boyd Coddington, 63, dies.

WhatthehayeFor those that haven’t heard, legendary car builder Boyd Coddington died Wednesday, February 25th in Whittier, CA. Here is a link to one of the news stories. He was 63.

If you don’t know who Boyd Coddington was, here is a quick rundown. CadZZilla

  • Coddington wheels… he started the billet trend.
  • Hot Rods by Boyd.
  • Chip Foose and Jesse James worked for him.
  • American Hot Rod on TLC.
  • CadZZilla.
  • His Delahaye inspired Whatthehaye… which auctioned for $540,000.
  • Lead Zephyr.Boyd Coddington

Lead ZephyrThe cars are numerous and famous. There is no doubt that Boyd contributed in amazing ways to the automotive landscape of this country. Read the story in the LA Times. Google him. Google the cars.

Here are a few of the cars.

The news isn’t good

I just ran some numbers for my business coach. The numbers were absorption rates for 3+ car garage homes in Gwinnett.

I have been running these for a few months for homes in Gwinnett County, GA, in general, but I hadn’t run the numbers for 3+car garage homes… and they aren’t good numbers. This is going to get a little wonky, but please bear with me.

Absorption rate is this: If no more homes came on the market, and the sales pace continued at the same level, it would take ___ months to sell off the inventory. If the numbers get bigger as the time gets shorter, the market is still showing signs of slowing. They are. The only little bright spot is that they aren’t as bad as the last couple of months.

So, let’s get to some garage home numbers… I ran with several different price points.

         
  Price level 12 month rate 6 month rate 3 month rate  
         
  Under $400k 11.70 14.70 18.90
  $400k to $500k 18.20 23.60 32.50
  $500k to $650k 27.20 36.00 42.30
  $650k to $1m 25.90 34.50 40.50
  Above $1m 34.70 48.70 57.50
         
  All SFR 11.00 14.10 17.60

So, there are the numbers. There are a few things that I found interesting. Some good, some bad.

  • The under $400k homes are reasonably close to the average in Gwinnett.
  • Above $1m is pretty rough.
  • But, $650k to $1m is easier to work in than homes that are slightly less.
  • I would be a little happier if the garage homes were moving better… but I think I know part of the reason.

I think that what I am going to find is that when I break out the “All SFR (Single Family Residential)” by price range, that the numbers are going to be a little better for the lower prices, and unchanged for the higher prices. This is because at the lower prices, the garages push the price up in comparison to otherwise similar properties. But, when the prices got up, 3 or more car garages are average.

So, Lane, I’m getting bored…

Ok, give me a moment.  I’m going to cover this a little more on the next Gwinnett County Market Report.  But, there are a few things I want to leave you with… regardless of where you are located:

  • The Price is Right… it isn’t a game show, it is the #1 tool to sell your home.  If the price is too high, nobody even looks at it.  If it is too low, there isn’t negotiating room.
  • All the World is a Stage… and your home needs to be as well.  It MUST be presented in its best light, and arrangement.  Even if you have an eye for style, a stager has an eye for what buyers want.
  • This Little Piggy Goes to Market… and not only does it need to be marketed, but it needs to be marketed to the RIGHT demographic.  Golfers may not care about a 4 car garage… but car people will… in every price range.
  • One Step Beyond… is what it takes to separate one house from another.  Almost every real estate agent under 75 knows that 84% of buyers start on the internet… and 99.84% of sellers are there.  Obviously, that is no longer enough.  Interactive floorplans, virtual decorators, viral video and single property websites are what your competition might NOT be doing… so you should be.

I am developing a marketing plan that will knock the socks off of 94.3%* of the agents out there… but, there is only one way to find out more about it.  I can sit down and tell you.  Hit the Contact Lane button at the top of the page.

*94.3% is a totally made up and bogus stat…  :^ )

Time for some cool garage touches…

I haven’t posted much in the way of cool garage stuff lately, and I am sorry I have been remiss.  So, in the spirit of catching up a little, here are some handy garage links to some groovy cool products.

Garage Wall Wraps is for those with high end display garages.   While the product can also be used for other rooms (kid’s room, game room, etc.) what it really does is make a dramatic backdrop for staging vehicles in the garage.  Their website is under development, but there are a few cool images there. Tread pattern G-floor

Floors are a tough spot in garages.  To make the pretty, one usually sacrifices utility.  Of course, a lot of the compromise comes down to ultimate usage.  For some of us, those that weld and plasma cut and do some heavy duty wrenching, there aren’t any real great alternatives.  Personally, I am moving towards the idea of segmenting the garage based on purpose.  When my ugly Jeepster stops taking up the whole thing, I will make one side have a pretty floor, and the other side will be for the heavy work.  A product for the pretty side is G-Floor.   It is a roll-out flooring system.  It won’t stand up to welding spatter and plasma slag, but can stand up to things like jacks stands (with some modifications*).  And it beats the heck out of laying on concrete.

Unique GarageSo, kind of bridging the gap between a display garage and a working garage is cabinetry.  The has to be a place to put the tools…  For someone that is serious, built in cabinetry is the answer.  And, why leave it alone?  We tweak our Hot Rods to be a bit cooler.  So, enter Unique Garage.  They make garage cabinets with graphics.

I had mentioned modifying my jackstands.  What I would do with a floor like this is to weld a flat plat to the bottom of the jackstands.  With the corners slightly bent up, and the edges ground with a slight chamfer, they would be less likely to damage the flooring while bearing weight.  Of course, I keep a few welding blankets around as well.

How cool is this?

If you are a buyer, how would you like to be able to hit a virtual tour for a house you are interested in, and then pull up the floor plan and load your furniture into the house to see how it fits?

You could pull your cars into the garage. Check to see how the speakers can be arranged in the media room. Make sure that there is a good workflow pattern to the kitchen. Make sure that your furniture fits and can be arranged with good groupings and traffic patterns.

As a buyer, would that make you more interested in the house?

But wait, there’s more…

How about if there were pictures of the rooms and outside of the house… and you could go in and redecorate. Change the floors to hardwoods. Paint the walls. Paint the house.

Would that help to make you more interested in the house?

As a seller, wouldn’t you want to have THAT kind of experience for the people interested in your home? Wouldn’t that rate better than a couple of fuzzy shots from someone’s low resolution phone camera? Want to see it? Call me…  My next listing will be getting this for free.

Isn’t technology cool?

New Lilburn development with a nice garage plan

Yesterday I visited a new development in Lilburn, GA, to meet with the developer as part of a round table discussion of what builders can do to attract buyers from agents. Floor truss system at The Legends at Parkview

Of course, the primary motivation for the builder was to get agents on to the property to see first hand the quality of the offerings.  With the market in its current state, just unlocking the doors isn’t bringing us out.   For most of the agents, wine and cheese was the big motivator.  I always have a slightlydifferent agenda, though.

While the other agents were taking advantage of the wines and cheeses, I grabbed a can of Coca-Cola and headed down to the basement… because that is where the walls are naked and one can get a better look at how the house is put together.   I liked seeing the floor truss systems rather than old school 2x lumber.  These are a much better floor system.  They also make it much easier to run all of the mechanical systems so that the basement can be finished to a higher standard.  Two of the plans seemed to be a little more cut up that I would have liked in the basement, but the third was pretty wide open.

I made my way back upstairs and visited the kitchen to pick up a few meatballs and some chicken nuggets (even a garage guy has to eat a little) and get ready for the discussion.  I also had the opportunity to talk with the builder/developer, and a few other people before everything kicked off.

kitchen in The Bristol in The Legends at ParkviewKendall Knight, from SunTrust Mortgage presented a few great options for buyers, including a construction to perm financing plan that sounds pretty good.  It allows an 18 month construction window (build time for this development is about 6 months) and up to 12 months to float the rate down.  It also allows only 5% down, and depending on individual circumstances, the buyer may be able to have the interest during the construction period paid out of the proceeds.

Sean Doughtie, President of Mayfield Homes (the builder/developer) talked about two programs that they offer.  The first is a trade up program, where they will buy the home of their buyer to facilitate the purchase.  They also allow contingent contracts on presale (to be built homes), unlike many other builders.  In addition to those options, they are very open to modifying the plans to better suit their customers.

Finally, Amberr Meadows, from Bank of America talked about their loan programs, such as their popular “No Closing Cost” option on loans.

The agents present peppered the presenters with questions, and there was a great dialog.  ***Full disclosure, I got a $25 Outback Gift Certificate from SunTrust in the drawing.***

But, I think you want to know more about the houses… and the garages.    Garage in the Addison at The Legends at Parkview development

The best garage looks to be The Addison.  It is a three car attached, with the bays arranged parallel.  But, the nice part is that the garage is deeper than most.  It also has an extra several feet next to the last bay which would do great to accommodate a motorcycle, big rolling tool box, or machine equipment.  So often, even in this price range, the garages are barely adequate to put in average sized cars.

The Victoria features a media room on the second floor.  I see that becoming more popular.  there is also an upstairs sitting area.  That home also has a master on the main level.

If entertaining is the goal. The Bristol has a generous kitchen that opens directly to the living room.  It also has a very open plan with a catwalk separating the two story living room and the two story entry.

I went back today to shoot a few pictures of the different plans, as well as some of the specific features.  In addition to the pictures and other information here, I also have posted more on my Active Rain blog, here.

Entry of The Addison in The Legends at ParkviewPrices run from the low $500s up to the low low $700s.  Now through March, they are offering basements on appropriate lots for the same price as homes built on slabs.  That equates to about a $35,000 discount.  There are plenty of options to make sure that the different houses don’t all blend together.  In addition to the nine different floor plans, each offers three different elevations…  and of course the builder will alter the plans as necessary to suit the buyer (for a cost…).

It is good to see a builder that is staying in business, and still building quality homes.  And, even more importantly, building them at a reasonable cost (for the size and quality…).

Finally…

As I mentioned in the other post, if you haven’t made it there yet, I am not employed in any way by Mayfield Homes.   I can work as a Buyer’s Agent to represent buyers purchasing one of these homes.  And I would love to help you buy a home.  There are several great things about working with a Buyer’s Agent when purchasing a new home from a builder.

  • We have been through this before and know where the “gotchas” are.
  • The builders want to keep working with us… we bring buyers… so they will go a little farther to make the deal work.
  • We don’t cost anything.  the builder pays the fee… and it is rare that a builder will cut the fee for an unrepresented seller.  They want to keep working with us, and freezing us out doesn’t make that happen.
  • We work on your side.  The nice people the builder employs work for the builder.  They aren’t there to protect your interests.
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