Posts Tagged tina hunsicker
Top Things to be Thankful for in Vinings
Posted by thunsicker in Living, Vinings on November 21, 2011
-
Vinings - a great community where we have a lot to be thankful for!
Four square miles of small town in the middle of a great metropolitan area
- Access to the interstates
- Great public and private schools in our backyards – walk to Lovett and almost walk to Westminster (2.7miles)
- Low Cobb County taxes
- Sidewalks connecting all of us
- Caring neighbors and close friends
- Fun community activites via the Cochise Club and Vinings Village
- Interesting topography and beautiful trees
- Great restaurants to walk to
- Our wonderful library and firehouse
- Close gas stations
- Dog friendly atmosphere
- Varied social and cultural backgrounds
- The Chattahoochee Riverto walk to and along
The Chattahoochee River National Recreation area has an access point in Vinings at Paces Mill. Photo from VisitSandySprings.org
- My neighborhood’s lake
- This time of year – CVS Minute clinic!
- Many alternative ways to get intown or around Buckhead without going on highways
Happy Thanksgiving!
Vinings Home – a Cape Cod in Perfect Condition
Posted by thunsicker in Featured Homes for Sale, Vinings on November 17, 2011
This home now has the status of SOLD.
The perfect private setting in Vinings is further enhanced by a new kitchen and roof, and updates throughout this Cape Cod. Located at 3225 Laramie Drive in Atlanta, this home for sale has four bedrooms and three and a half baths. There’s a full basement and two-car garage in this home that is oh so close to Vinings Village.
Offered at $499,000 and listed by Tina Hunsicker.
Vinings home for sale at 3225 Laramie Drive, Atlanta. Now sold, originally offered at $549,000 and listed by Tina Hunsicker.
A light-filled living room is anchored by a cozy fireplace.
This totally new kitchen features an incredible view to the living room and to the well-manicured back yard. You’re so close to Vinings Village, you may rarely cook since there are so many great restaurants nearby!
The spacious master bedroom is on the main level, with three additional bedrooms upstairs.
The private back yard is the perfect setting for entertaining.
Three Vinings Homes Under Contract
Posted by thunsicker in State of Real Estate Market, Under Contract and Sold Homes, Vinings on October 26, 2011
Whew….it’s been a busy couple of weeks, and I have been managing three offers and all the communication that goes along with that between buyer, seller, listing agent, buyer’s representative agent, banks, inspectors, appraisers….you understand! All three homes in Vinings are under contract or sold now. Two are listings of mine, and one is a home where I represent the buyer.
SOLD – 3225 Teton Drive, Atlanta GA 30339
With a list price of $1,299,000, this Vinings home is under contract on Teton Drive. Listed by Tina Hunsicker.
Under Contract – 3333 Cochise Drive, Atlanta, GA 30339
This Vinings home on Cochise Drive was listed at $599,000 and is under contract now! Listed by Tina Hunsicker.
Under Contract – 4323 Orchard Valley Drive, Atlanta, GA 30339
Under contract in Vinings! I’m representing the buyer at this home on Orchard Valley Drive. Listed at $699,900.
Vinings Ice Cream Truck Hits the Streets
Posted by thunsicker in Living, Vinings on October 13, 2011
The ice cream truck has arrived in Vinings!
Residents of Vinings must be hearing the bells and speaker from the ice cream truck! We were used to hearing them at the beach, but in Vinings this is a relatively new thing.
We first started hearing the familiar ring of the ice cream truck a couple of months ago and now it’s pretty regular. Fortunately she usually hits our street after dinnertime so it works out well for us.
We’ve heard the ice cream truck on Teton and Orchard Knob already too, so I figure she’s most likely on all our streets.
We threw her for a loop when Chase came running out of a client’s house one day as she seems to now know where all the children are and was used to seeing two brothers from that house, not Chase. 🙂
Kids walk run to the ice cream truck in Vinings!
If your street doesn’t have the ice cream truck stopping by and you’d like her to, let me know and I’ll pass the information along.
Arthur Blank’s Buckhead mansion sold
Posted by thunsicker in Buckhead, Famous People in Atlanta, State of Real Estate Market on September 20, 2011
The front elevation of 3639 Tuxedo Road, sold in September 2011, the former residence of Arthur Blank.
After over three years on the market, one of the most breathtaking lots in Buckhead has sold, the owner was Arthur Blank (one of the founders of Home Depot and owner of the Atlanta Falcons). This Buckhead mansion was originally listed at $10,900,000. The tax records state that the home is 7,352 sq ft.
Everyone will always remember the grounds of this property at 4.19 acres… it has the most beautiful gardens, lakes and paths in the heart of Buckhead I’ve ever seen.
This mansion on Tuxedo Road has been open to the public on many occasions. The home was upgraded and featured as the 2010 Atlanta Symphony Decorator Showhouse. The house itself isn’t the most special thing and I wonder if the Decorator Showhouse hadn’t updated many things if it wouldn’t have been torn down to make way for a new home with higher ceilings and larger rooms.
The gardens of the current home of Stephanie & Arthur Blank, located at 1080 West Paces Ferry Road. Photo by Thomas A. Wolfe.
In 2006, The Blanks purchased a home at 1080 West Paces Ferry Road in Buckhead. They apparently renovated the home over the course of two years and moved in during 2008, leaving the property at 3639 Tuxedo Road vacant since then. Their current home has over 15,000 square feet and was assessed by the City of Atlanta at $13,698,000.
Finally this in spring 2011, 3639 Tuxedo was reduced to under $5M and it just closed this past week for under $4M. I do believe the land alone is worth this price and I’m wondering if the new purchaser thinks the same thing and we’ll soon see a new structure there.
I’m sure there were some emotions involved in this sale; Stephanie and Arthur Blank’s divorce was announced on September 2nd of this year. The house was assessed by Fulton County at $4.8M and Arthur purchased it from Rex Fuqua in 1990 for $1.5M.
Here are some photos of the Arthur Blank’s Buckhead home that recently sold:
Among the most beautiful landscape in all of Buckhead, the previous home of Arthur Blank on Tuxedo Road has sold.
The elegant entry way at 3639 Tuxedo Road.
The updated kitchen featured at the 2010 Decorator's Showhouse at 3639 Tuxedo Road in Buckhead.
A memorable and glamorous dining room at 3639 Tuxedo Road, a home recently sold in Buckhead for under $4M.
The creative craft room at 3639 Tuxedo Road...Arthur Blank's home that was recently sold in Buckhead.
Most expensive home sold in Atlanta 2011 to the Al Hill III family
Posted by thunsicker in Buckhead, Famous People in Atlanta, State of Real Estate Market on September 15, 2011
I just happened to be looking at yahoo.com and the number #1 trending item was that Tyler Perry is now the highest paid man in the entertainment industry.
That got me thinking about all the famous people that live around metro Atlanta.
Of course Tyler is a neighbor and can be spotted at Canoe Restaurant regularly. I’ve been told that Janet Jackson stays at his home now versus her former residence on Mt. Paran that she had with Germaine Dupree.
As many of you know I’ve had Jane Fonda’s Atlanta residence listed and its currently leased but we’ll be putting it on the market again in the next few months. We’ve had the opportunity to show it to many famous people and their “front” people when they were filming here. Seems they all arrive with an entourage. Queen Latifah is one of the nicest that I’ve met.
We also have our share of professional athletes in the area with Hines Ward building his new house off of Riverside Drive and his ex-wife Simone and their son Jayden just purchased a townhouse at The Battery down behind Avignon and the Aberdeen in Vinings. I showed a house to Will Allen, a Safety with the Pittsburgh Steelers last week and he apparently has a contract on a home in Buckhead right now as well.
These instances of famous people and their recent real estate purchases in Buckhead made me take a look at how many homes over $4M traded in Atlanta this year….and the profile of the buyers and sellers. There have been only three homes sold over $4M in Atlanta in 2011 YTD:
One of the most expensive homes sold in Atlanta in 2011, 330 Argonne Drive in Buckhead is now home to author Emily Giffin Blaha.
330 Argonne Drive: This home was purchased by the author Emily Giffin (married name Blaha). Her previous home in Brookhaven is still for sale if you’re interested! She purchased her house for just under $5M in June of this year. Check out her most recent book, The Heart of the Matter.
1325 Monte Carlo in Buckhead was sold in 2011, in a property transfer/sale worth almost $7 million.
1325 Monte Carlo: This home was purchased via a swap with the owner’s previous home on Regency Court which is still on the market as well. The purchaser was a Darrell J. Mays and I can only find a Telecommunications Company which is foreign registration associated with him name on the internet. He paid almost $7M for the house including the trade value.
981 Davis Drive: This is the largest sale so far in 2011 at $9M. The previous owners of this home were Amanda and Walter Reames. Yahoo shows him as an investor and partner in Atlanta Capital Management.
The most expensive home sold in Atlanta year to date, 981 Davis Drive, former home to Walter Reames, now home to Texas oil family, Erin and Al Hill III. Click on the image for an interactive map of the property.
“Mr. Walter Fred Reames Jr. is a Managing Partner and Member of Executive Committee at Atlanta Capital Management Company, LLC. His responsibilities include oversight of the marketing and sales as well as the finance and technology functions. Before joining Atlanta Capital in 1978, Mr. Reames was a Vice President at the Citizens & Southern National Bank, serving as a Manager of its National Division East. He was responsible for the bank’s relationships with major corporate clients headquartered in 17 eastern states and Canada. Mr. Reames was also a Business Advisor at The White Oak Group, Inc. He has received his Bachelor’s degree from Yale University and completed the Graduate School of Credit and Financial Management program from the Harvard Business School.”
More interesting to me is the purchaser. My son had a new girl in his class at Westminster at the beginning of the year and she hadn’t been on the new student list that was published a couple of weeks before, so now in hindsight I think it was a last minute addition based on the closing of this property. Turns out the new little girl now lives in this house!
The new family in Buckhead is the Hill Family. Pictured here are the father, Al Hill Jr., left, a grandson of billionaire H. L. Hunt, and his son (current Atlanta resident), Al III, right, known in Dallas as “Al Three.” Photographs by Danny Turner.
At first I didn’t make the connection, but upon receiving an email a week or so ago it dawned on me who the family was: Erin Nance Hill and Al Hill III.
Many years ago in the 1980’s I worked for Mellon Bank in Pittsburgh and my territory was Dallas, TX, so I became aware of many things “Dallas” and when I lived in Washington, D.C. in the early 90’s I was friends with T. Boone Pickens’ daughter there and knew of many of the oil families in Texas.
The Hunt family in Texas is one of the wealthiest families in America .
Erin Nance Hill is from Calhoun, GA and has family here and was 1993 Miss Georgia, so it’s not a surprise that she wants to raise her children here as well. Atlanta is a great town for many reasons and we are thrilled to welcome The Hill Family to Atlanta and to Westminster! Erin was a well-known socialite in Dallas and was single-handedly responsible for raising almost $1 million for charity during her time there.
Additional photos of the Atlanta mansion at 981 Davis Drive purchased by the Hill family….it will take your breath away!
Sweet Treats in Vinings
Posted by thunsicker in Living, Restaurants, Vinings on August 31, 2011
I want to keep people updated on all things Vinings….including places I have tried to avoid…. There are three sweet treat places in Vinings that we have intentionally passed by for caloric and financial reasons. Its at least $8 for my son and I to stop by at any of these places it seems.
ColdStone Creamery
Yoforia
CamiCakes Cupcakes
Cami Cakes is the newest sweet treat shop in Vinings, and they have wonderful combinations of flavors in their cupcakes.
The newest entrant is the CamiCakes Cupcakes at 4338 Paces Ferry Road. (There was a cupcake place there before but I went once and the cupcakes were too small for the price.)
CamiCakes are large cupcakes and approximately $2.65 each…. and I’ve become addicted.
I have told many friends how deadly the salted caramel chocolates at Costco are and now I’ve discovered this CamiCakes Salted Caramel Cupcake. They have many great combinations, the Pineapple Coconut is another one that I’m thinking about right now.
I have always loved Piece of Cake in Buckhead and have frequented there throughout the years when the occasion arises. I still think Piece of Cake has the freshest cakes as they bake them right there and the smell is to die for! But due to convenience CamiCakes may be stealing me away.
As of September 1, there’s a Piece of Cake store in Vinings!
Yoforia in Vinings is a healthy alternative to some of the other sweet treat places nearby.
I know Yoforia is the healthiest alternative, but I really don’t crave anything there and the three children I’ve polled don’t like it either. They usually prefer the Coldstone Creamery ice cream or Cami Cakes as well. But if you’re trying to eat healthy and still want a treat – Yoforia is probably the answer.
Most everyone loves a big bowl of ice cream on a hot day, especially the kids!
Now onto the ice cream, Coldstone Creamery has been here for awhile and most people know about it, but if you’re shopping in the Vinings Village or need a place to take the kids on a hot summer day, nothing is better than a refreshing scoop of your favorite flavors.
All of these sweet treat places are walkable in Vinings Village and I know many make the drive to Menchie’s (in Paces Ferry Plaza by Houston’s) for their yogurt as well.
Yankee By Birth, Southerner By Choice
Posted by thunsicker in Vinings on August 26, 2011
Ok, ok, I don’t want my Pittsburgh friends to get mad at me. This topic made me think while I was at the beach recently in New Jersey with a sorority sister from college. I had such a great time and so enjoyed seeing her, my brother, sister-in-law and their children that it makes you think about where you live and wish that you could see them more often.
Twenty years ago via a job opportunity I moved to Atlanta, sight unseen. I remember my first real estate agent. I think I drove her crazy looking all over the city. We settled on a rental on Moores Mill in Buckhead back in 1992. It was a great house – (no longer there, torn down a few years ago) with a pool and large back yard. I’ve always had a dog, so a yard was important to me.
The house on Moores Mill was less expensive than my townhome in Washington D.C., where I had moved from. …a townhome was about all I could afford there. The housing values were definitely different in Atlanta and still are!
I would say the first two years were quite an adjustment and then I spent so much time traveling for work that I didn’t really get involved in things locally as much. At first the thing I noticed in Atlanta was that people didn’t talk about national news here. Maybe it was the circles I was traveling in at the time, but it was a big change for me coming from working across the street from the White House.
As my year-long rental came to close, my agent helped me find new construction on Log Cabin (in the neighborhood Chapel Hill of Vinings), and that was the first place that really started to feel like home. We had neighborly Friday drop-bys, neighborhood holiday parties, and actually a group of us went on a ski trip together. I’m still in contact with many of the group from Chapel Hill of Vinings.
The railroad tracks that run through Vinings, a unique four-square mile area in metro Atlanta, that I call home.
As a matter of fact, it was the movement of this group of people from our “starter homes” to the bigger lots across the railroad tracks into Vinings that got me wanting to make the move as well.
So in 1998, I bought the lot/house that I now call home in Vinings. I’ve been building and remodeling since it seems, with the last major work being done in 2005 – landscaping and an addition of a pool. I think I’m “done” now, but being in the real estate business has taught me that you are never “done” with your home. The updates keep changing and of course there is always maintenance that I keep up with monthly through the help of a great handyman.
Vinings Village, an exceptional shopping resource in Vinings.
Now almost twenty years later from that first move to the South, our Vinings home is truly our home. This is the only home my little boy has really known and the sidewalks, Vinings Village, the walking ability and the amount of long-time owners here makes the four square miles known as Vinings very unique.
I think many of the young families moving to Vinings now grew up here and have always considered it home and have finally reached the point where they can afford to step up to the bigger house as I did 13 years ago. And I have a funny feeling that – God willing – we’ll be here another 13 years in the same house…
Click here to see homes for sale in Vinings.
Prudential Georgia – Buckhead Office
Real estate trends in Buckhead’s 30327 zip codes
Posted by thunsicker in Data and Statistics, State of Real Estate Market on August 17, 2011
For the 30327 Buckhead market the trend is very different than the Vinings real estate market in 30339. What we’re seeing is consistent sales that are the same as last year, not down like Vinings.
The interesting thing about the Atlanta zip code 30327 in Buckhead (and I know this to be true from my clients who are looking to purchase) is that the inventory is really low.
We don’t see many new homes for sale in Buckhead entering the market and the inventory is getting eaten up so prices have stabilized more. I fully expect to see prices begin to increase slightly in 30327 as demand continues to increase and inventory does not.
Is now a good time to move up to a larger, better home? It may just be.
If a client is trading up this is still the time to do it, but for those downsizing or having to participate in this market for relocation purposes it still remains tough.
Statistically we are back to 1998 pricing. So if you think your house was worth “x” in 2005 that’s not the value anymore. Think back to what it was worth in 1998 and that’s what you’ll most likely get in today’s market.
I also run a Case-Shiller index for my clients to help exhibit what that value most likely is for their home.
Give me a call or text to 404.931.3944 or email tinahunsicker@hotmail.com if you’d like me to provide this free analysis for you.
Real Estate Indicator Tool: Case-Shiller Index for individual properties
Posted by thunsicker in Data and Statistics, State of Real Estate Market, Vinings on August 15, 2011
This Vinings home was listed at $575,000, which is a price we determined using the Case-Schiller Index report I can run on an individual property in metro Atlanta.
I have a listing in Vinings now that has an interesting real life example of value, and how the Case-Shiller Index has valued it over the years since they purchased it.
My clients purchased this home in August of 2004 for $677,500 and the home in August of 2011 is currently on the market for $575,000.
It is hard for people trading down, but this client is trading up and realistic about the market.
It can be difficult for most clients to understand this concept of the devaluation of our properties, but this is a saavy client in the financial industry and they completely understand the nature of our real estate market in metro Atlanta. These clients are looking to trade up, so they know they’ll reap the benefits of the depressed pricing on the purchase side.
The tax assessment on this home is still $623,550 and I’m sure many other benchmarks would show a higher value, but we’re ready to sell and priced right.
A Case-Shiller study is a great analysis to do on any purchase to help determine the current fair market value. As a professional REALTOR, I have many data-oriented tools like these at my disposal. Combined with my experience in the market, I use them to help my clients determine the right price to pay (or to list) for a home in this fluctuating real estate market.
An individual Case Schiller Index report for a Tina Hunsicker’s real estate client in Vinings (Atlanta).
Neighborhood Info
Click here for an interactive map-based search of some of metro Atlanta's neighborhoods.
See my Zillow
Real Vinings | Buckhead 