Diamond Dwellings » Matt Fagioli

Home Sales Are Back On The Rise After A 2-Month Pullback

Matt Fagioli — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 04:48:19 +0000

Just one week after reports of Existing Home Sales and New Home Sales plunging, the housing market is signaling that auturm may fare better than did summer.

The number of homes under contract to sell rose 5 percent in July.

The data comes from the July Pending Home Sales Index, as published by the National Association of Realtors®. By definition, a “pending home sales” is a home that is sold, but not yet closed.

Historically, 80% of such homes close within 60 days which makes the Pending Home Sales Index an excellent, forward-looking indicator for the real estate market.

Indeed, the nationwide drop in home sales this summer was foreshadowed by the Pending Home Sales report. The index dropped 30 percent in May. Then, two months later in July, it was shown that Existing Home Sales volume dropped 29 percent.

That’s a strong correlation.

Now, to be fair, the July Pending Home Sales Index is still relatively low; the second-lowest on record and well below last year’s numbers. But, the tick higher last month shows how housing may be stronger than than what the headlines report.

It appears that buyers in Lawrenceville took advantage of rising inventory, cheap financing, and stagnant prices, and pushed the market forward. We should expect similarly promising numbers when September’s Existing Home Sales data is released.

Gwinnett Sex Offenders & Arrests

Matt Fagioli — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 16:55:01 +0000

If you’re interested in homes for sale here in Hamilton Mill or anywhere in Gwinnett County, it would be a great idea to take a look at some of this information.

Gwinnett websites allow you to set up automated alerts for sex offenders living in the area of your current or future home. Another site notifies you of all daily arrests by zipcode for all of Gwinnett.

Here’s the link to set up alerts for Gwinnett County sex offenders

This one is for the GwinnettMugs.com arrest record alerts by zipcode

Check it out before you buy your new house in Gwinnett

Gwinnett County Government Sells Real Estate?

Matt Fagioli — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 21:08:19 +0000

Gwinnett County Government is offering properties for sale that have been declared “surplus” and have been approved to be sold by sealed bid to the highest responsible bidder. All bids must be properly submitted to the Purchasing Division.

The current properties available for bid are:

2600 Kirkstone Drive, Buford
3201 Cross Road/3267 Gravel Springs Road
1625 Reynolds Mill Drive, Lawrenceville
Vacant property at SR 124 and SR 324

We can help you purchase these properties or help you find just the right real estate to meet your needs & your goals.

The New Words in The Dictionary

Matt Fagioli — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 03:43:54 +0000

Got this list from Time Magazine (really via @twitter ). As always, some interesting stuff on this list. Lately, so much of these lists are driven by the web. Amazing that the course of our entire vocabulary is mostly driven by our online interactions. The term “Social Media” has become so ubiquitous in my world that I really don’t want to hear it anymore. Anybody with me? It’s like that song on the radio that’s just been played to death! But, I digress…

I’d like to suggest a few additions of my own, such as Escape Velocity and Man-Friend (a term my daughter uses to describe friends of mine that are the other fathers of her softball teammates)

Here’s the Time Mag list:

chill pill a notional pill taken to make someone calm down
chillax calm down and relax
turducken a roast dish consisting of a chicken inside a duck inside a turkey
bargainous costing less than is usual or than might be expected; cheap or relatively cheap
staycation holiday spent in one’s home country
fussbudget a fussy person
vuvuzela long horn blown by fans at soccer matches
national treasure someone/thing regarded as emblematic of a
nation’s cultural heritage
buzzkill a person or thing that has a depressing or dispiriting effect
social media websites and applications used for social networking
microblogging the posting of very short entries on a blog
netbook small light laptop
dictionary attack an attempt to gain illicit access to a computer system by using a very large set of words to generate potential passwords
paywall an arrangement whereby access is restricted to users who have paid to subscribe to a website
freemium a business model, especially on the Internet, whereby basic services are provided free of charge while more advanced features must be paid for
automagically automatically and in a way that seems ingenious, inexplicable, or magical
carbon capture and storage the process of trapping and storing carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels
geoengineering manipulation of environmental processeses in an attempt to counteract the effects of global warming
toxic debt debt which has a high risk of default
deleveraging the process or practice of reducing the level of one’s debt by rapidly selling one’s assets
overleveraged having taken on too much debt
quantitative easing the introduction of new money into the money supply by a central bank
exit strategy a pre-planned means of extricating oneself from a situation
overthink think about (something) too much or for too long
catastrophizing view or present a situation as considerably worse than it actually is
soft skills personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people
matchy-matchy excessively colour-coordinated
LBD little black dress
frenemy a person with whom one is friendly despite a fundamental dislike or rivalry
cheeseball lacking taste, style, or originality
cool hunter a person whose job it is to make observations or predictions about new styles and trends
hikikomori the abnormal avoidance of social contact, typically by adolescent males (in Japan)
steampunk a genre of science fiction that typically features steam-powered machinery rather than advance technology
tweetup a meeting organized by means of posts on Twitter
bromance a close but non-sexual relationship between two men
wardrobe malfunction an instance of a person accidentally exposing an intimate part of their body as a result of an article of clothing slipping out of position
defriend another term for unfriend (remove someone from a list of friends or contacts on a social networking site)
Interweb the Internet
hater negative person

(originally posted via ForwardSlashLife.com)

How Much Should You Expect To Pay In Mortgage Closing Costs?

Matt Fagioli — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 04:49:38 +0000

How much does a mortgage cost? The answer depends on where you live. But no matter which your locale, chances are strong that you’ll pay more for a mortgage in 2010 as compared to 2009.

Here’s a chart that shows some comparison cities. Georgia comes in right about in the middle. Closing costs on Gwinnett County homes have been way more affordable than most other states. New York, Texas and others really tip the scales!

According to Bankrate.com and its annual Closing Cost Survey, a typical $200,000, purchase mortgage now carries an average $3,741 in closing costs — up nearly 37 percent from last year.

As defined by Bankrate.com, “closing costs” is defined as the sum of two numbers. The first group is labeled “origination charges”, a category that includes such items as underwriting fees, application fees and processing fees. These fees are paid directly to the loan originator’s company at the time of closing.

The second grouping of costs is labeled “third-party fees”. Third-party fees include appraisals, credit reports, settlement fees and title searches — items paid in connection with the loan, but not paid to the lending bank or broker.

It’s unclear why closing costs appear to have escalated into 2010, but Bankrate.com suggest that recently-enacted federal lending laws are a culprit:

The new law requires loan officers to be accountable to a Good Faith Estimate’s accuracy. Bankrate.com’s prior-year surveys may have been “understated”, therefore, because of a lack of accountability.
The cost of federal compliance is high, and banks may be passing on compliance costs to consumers

To see the complete list of closing costs by state, including where Georgia ranks, visit the Bankrate.com website.

Hamilton Mill Golf Tournament / October 21, 2010

Matt Fagioli — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 09:36:47 +0000

The ‘96 Worth Cobras Softball Team is seeking the National ASA Championship during their second season at the Girls 14u level and the upcoming 2010/2011 season.

The team is hosting a full-field open golf tournament to raise money for their upcoming bid for the national title!!

All are welcome so why not bring your best buddies for the 4 man best ball event on Thursday October 21, 2010. All the details are at 96Cobras.com

Newspapers Suck

Matt Fagioli — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 05:25:14 +0000

I had a great morning. Up at 6. Dropped my daughter off at Mill Creek High School at 630.

Went to the gym (back on track it seems). After all of that, I stopped at one of my favorite coffee joints to grab some joe and some breakfast.

I wanted something to read while I chilled out for 15 minutes or so. I didn’t have my iPad with me or a book, so I decided to buy a newspaper (gasp!). First I went for the USA today. It was actually sold out. So, I picked up the Atlanta Journal & Constitution. It cost me a buck! (same as USA Today).

I took the paper out of the machine (the outdoor kind that takes quarters). The first thing I noticed was how super thin and light this one dollar paper was. Once I sat down with it, I scanned the front page for something worth reading. Sadly, nothing seemed worth 4 minutes of my life. I flipped through all of the sections. The very last section was called “living” or something like that. I found one story there that I liked about “the moments that sustain us”. It was a cool little piece about how the small things in life are the ones we remember forever.

If I’d had my book or my iPad or my Mac, there’s no way I’d have paid $1 for this lame excuse for a paper that gave me one sorta “meh” story.

I’m quite certain that I’m stating the obvious here, but…

Newspapers are dead!

btw, I’m not saying that print is dead. But newspapers definitely are.

(originally posted at ForwardSlashLife.com )

12 Stone Church Saturday Campus is Coming September 18th

Matt Fagioli — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 05:33:25 +0000

If you’ve been planning to visit 12 Stone Church but had trouble finding the right schedule for you, something cool is coming. Starting September 18, 2010, there will be two Saturday night services at the Hwy 20 campus – 5pm and 645pm.

They are calling it “Saturday Campus” because it’s really a completely seperate team from the Sunday. Saturday will have it’s own awesome worship team and campus pastor plus a totally unique set of volunteers to run the childrens ministry, usher team, etc. It takes a small village to make it happen when the Church seats 2500 people!

Right now you can get connected to the Saturday Night Campus via facebook or contact 12Stone Church at 678.990.8100

Huge Changes May Be Coming From Washington – Again

Matt Fagioli — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 03:47:23 +0000

My friend Tom Royce wrote a great post today about some of the talk around DC these days. Huge changes may be coming in the way real estate works in the US. This is not just a Hamilton Mill issue or Gwinnett County issue (of course). These days federal policy on housing is something we’ve got to keep a very close eye on. I thought this was important enough to highlight it here and give you a link back to read the entire text.

Federal Government Overhauling Housing Policy? What Does That Mean For You?

With the rise of the powerful federal government, policy decisions coming out of Washington DC are having more and more influence over our economic decisions. When it affects the auto industry or the banking industry, these decisions may affect those of us involved in real estate, but it will not change our lives.

Here’s the full text of his post:

Hamilton Mill Golf Club / Canongate

Matt Fagioli — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 11:50:05 +0000

Are you looking for Hamilton Mill Golf Club? The actual golf course information?

I get lots of people stopping by this site who need the golf club contact info, so here you go!!

Hamilton Mill Golf Club is actually part of the Canongate family of golf courses. Here’s a link to their 27 courses around Atlanta.

If you want membership information, contact Stacey Matsche at 678.794.0763

psst… tell her we sent ya!

If you want to book a Hamilton Mill tee time, call 770.945.4653

The address for the club is:

1995 Hamilton Mill Parkway
Dacula, GA 30019

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