Huntsville AL School News:  New School Coming!Submitted by: Kimberly Grant, Huntsville Real Estate Agent Huntsville Real Estate Blog Great news everyone!!!  The Huntsville City School Board has accepted a big to build a new middle school in west Huntsville.  Current Williams Elementary is a K-8 school located off Zierdt Road.  The proposed project will allow for the building of a 800 capacity middle school for grades 6-8.  The new school will be built adjacent to the current Williams School which will be used for grades K-5 after completion of the new facility.  It is said it will have a gym, lecture hall, baseball field, and additional rooms for art and music.  Construction is set to begin soon with a projected completion date of Fall 2009!!  This will be good for the growth in our are... 04/09/2008

Huntsville Alabama Gets a Gift from OprahSubmitted by: Kimberly Grant, Huntsville Real Estate Agent Huntsville Real Estate Blog Hello all!!!Have you seen the television show called Oprah's Big Give?  This is a show where individuals are given challenges where they help strangers.  This is Oprah's latest attempt to encourage the power of giving and also encourage others to actively seek opportunities to help others.  As part of the television show, $10,000 was given to our very own Channel 31 to give out in our area!!!!   The money was split into four checks.  They gave $2,500 to be given to The North Alabama Muscular Dystrophy Association, the National Children's Advocacy Center, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the Shoals, and the Huntsville Hospital Foundation. The promotions manager o... 04/09/2008

 Looks like we did it again Huntsville! Money magazine announced that Huntsville is in the top 100 places to live, again!  What makes Huntsville so attractive is the fact that it is a technology and strong engineering hub.  Now a NASA hub, the city is a lively place for engineering and tech startups. Boeing and Toyota both have branch offices here, and our workforce is well educatedCummings Research Park is the second largest research park in the country! Coming soon is the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology's. It is a $135 million dollar project, partly owned by the state of Alabama. More than a dozen companies will be involved in synthetic DNA research.Money magazine mentioned another factor for choosing us for the top 100 places to live was our abundance of green space!  The cit... 04/01/2008

I recently worked with a young family buying their first home. I remember that point in my life and how uncertain I was about the entire process. I was afraid I would make the wrong decisions for my family. So, I worked hard to watch out for their interests as I would my own. I held their hand all the way through the process and gave them tips along the way. The information I gave them is good for anyone purchasing a home. Below are items you need to consider in the home purchase process.1.  File your Home Stead Exemption at the court house.If you live in the home, you need to file the Homestead Exemption. The Homestead Exemption means it will be your primary residence and then property taxes are cut in half. The exemption provides a few other benefits. The biggest one would be instate ... 03/31/2008

It looks as if rates have inched upward a bit over the previous weeks rates. The rates are still well below 6% making this an amazing time to buy! Rates are low, housing inventory is up slightly. With both conditions in mind it's a great time to become a homeowner, or move up!   The update time is the far right hand corner!INSTITUTIONConv.30-year fixedRate/pointsConv.15-year fixedRate/points5-Year ARMRate/pointsYearly capLifetime capFHARate/pnts30yrVARate/pnts30yrLast UpdateSOUTH BANK/ Ginny Terry, Mortgage Expert / 256-519-3241 / Sam Moss, Mortgage Expert / 256-213-4804 / 5.75/ 0 5.25/ 05.5/NA2/55.50/ 05.50/ 027-Mar-2008 1:24:18 PMFeatured Loan Program: We're your VA & FHA Loan Specialists - Ck out our Government Rates! In-house processing, underwriting & closing! 1st Time Homeowner? N... 03/27/2008

If you live in the Huntsville area this is an event you should attend, especially if you are concern about marketing your business Marketing Plan - in 5 Easy Steps[HUNTSVILLE, AL] - "Build it and they will come" is a myth---it only happens in the movies (you know, Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams)! So why do so many people discount marketing? Is it too hard? Do business owners not understand the value? What exactly is marketing?  It is all the things that you do to generate revenue like advertising, publicity, networking, and promotion.   A Marketing Plan is nothing more than a bridge to get your product or service to a potential client.  But you need a plan.  We know that placing one print ad here, or sending one direct mail piece there, DOESN'T WORK!  You need a plan to consistently g... 03/17/2008

Easter Bunny Visits HuntsvilleSubmitted by: Kimberly Grant, Huntsville Real Estate Agent Huntsville Real Estate Blog As Easter is fast approaching, Huntsville residents can expect a visitor to the Rocket City.  From now through March 22, 2008, the EASTER BUNNY will be here making special guest appearances.  Photos can be taken in Huntsville with the bunny at either Parkway Place or Madison Square Mall!!  Times for the Huntsville event are Monday through Saturday 10:00 am to 9:00 pm and Sunday from 1:00pm to 6:00 pm.    *There will also be a Easter Parade and Egg Hunt with the Easter Bunny on March 22, 2008.  It will be held from 10:00am to 12 noon for ages 4-12.  Admission is charged.   Kimberly Grant Realtor, Exit Leon Crawford Realty Search Huntsville Homes for Sale 03/17/2008

Bunny Bonanza Easter Egg HuntSaturday, March 22nd, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.Here comes Peter Cottontail, hopping down the bunny trail, hippity hoppity Easter's on its way! This year, HBG will have MORE eggs than ever before! They will have over 7000 eggs hidden in their lawns. WOW! Kids, grab your parents, your baskets and come find your eggs. They have a great surprise this year. There will be giant "dino eggs" hidden in the garden. Come see if you can find one! Huntsville Botanical Gardens has many activities going on for the largest hunt to date. Thanks to Steve Metz from Metropolitan DJ. He will help get the party grooving...DJ Steve will provide lots of music, musical chairs, and hula hoops just to name a few! Cookies and Lemonade will be provided for the little ones.There will be three "... 03/14/2008

Huntsville homes sales saw a significant increase from 2005 to 2006; 11% to be exact. The sales volume in 2005 was 4175 homes in the range of $100,000 to $500,000 per home selected for units sold. The total dollar volume sold for 2005 was $816,455,378 and the total volume sold in 2006 $935,341,910 an increase in total dollar sales of 14.5%. The average sales price in 2006 was $202,000 up from $195,558 in 2005 an increase of 3.3%. Indicating a better standard of living.From 2006 to 2007 the sales volume in quantity of homes stayed about level. We did continue the trend of the increased total dollar volume and the average sales price per home. In 2007 the total sold volume was $985,972,253 an increase of 5.1% over 2006. The average sales price $212,494 an increase of 4.6% over 2006. So th... 03/14/2008

It is amazing that just five short years ago we were paying less than $2.00 per gallon for gasoline. In 2003 I was paying around $1.60 for a gallon of regular. The days of low prices are gone and any excuse is a good one to raise the price of gas. These rising gas prices have taken a toll on the economy and the cost of living. If gas prices and food were calculated into inflation it would be off the chart. We will chronicle the experience of a consumer. We will, for privacy reasons call him Joe (average Joe). We will have Joe give us regular reports on how much his purchases have increased in price. Joe wants to find a way to conserve gasoline to help his wallet and increase the gasoline supply.There is only one way for consumers to combat gas prices, use less gas. Using less gas will g... 03/14/2008

Huntsville has become one of the best cities to live in the United States. Huntsville, with its surrounding natural beauty like the lakes, rivers and mountians, is also a very-high tech city. Known as the "High-tech Capitol" of the south, it would compare with Silicon Valley.Huntsville is home to Redstone Arsenal, an Army Base where extremely sensitive high-tech weaponry is developed. This isn't all the city has to offer. Huntsville has been home to many large companies. Boeing, NASA, Toyota, Ford, Marshall Space Flight Center, and Northrop Grumman are just a few of the hundreds of large companies in Huntsville.The estimated population of the city of Huntsville is near 170,000 residents. The estimated population of Madison County is around 310,000. Huntsville has many great things to of... 03/14/2008

A new month brings an opportunity to take a snapshot of the Huntsville real estate market and evaluate any tends that may be evolving. Thus in this post we will take a brief look at February's year over year supply, demand, and price pressures to get a feel of how our area's market is performing.A brief look at February's year over year statistics indicates: supply has remained relatively flat with only a 1.7% increase in inventory, demand however has decreased with 16% fewer sales continuing a trend we have seen since October 2007, leaving a 9.5 month supply of inventory. The following chart illustrates February's year over year supply and demand fluctuations:Looking month to month from Jan to Feb 2008 the picture is much better as inventory has leveled off and sales have increased whi... 03/09/2008

2008 January Market BriefA new month brings an opportunity to take a snapshot of the Huntsville real estate market and evaluate any tends that may be evolving. Thus in this post we will take a brief look at January's year over year supply, demand, and price pressures to get a feel of how our area's market is performing.A brief look at January's statistics indicates that units sold (i.e. demand) has decreased and inventory (i.e. supply) has increased confirming a trend that we have seen consistently since October 2007. However the trend in supply buildup does seem to be easing a bit within the last two months compared to the October and November numbers of +15% and +9.7% respectively.Nevertheless January's year over year supply, increased by 4.4% to 6665 single family homes. While demand... 03/09/2008

The new year brings an opportunity to look at the Huntsville single family real estate market using local MLS statistics and assess our market's condition as well as take a brief look at what 2008 may bring.The first market indicator we will look at is the favorite of all current home owners: Price Appreciation. There are two area wide statistics that are worthy of consideration; one is the average sales price and the other the average sales price per square foot. Since both are simple averages and can become skewed by short term market anomalies, I would recommend being conservative and utilizing the smaller of the two if you use them to estimate your own property's appreciation.Year over year the average sales price of single family homes in the North Alabama area increased 5.96% from... 03/08/2008

With the new year upon us we would like to take brief look at what may be ahead for the Huntsville real estate market. While market statistics are invaluable when looking at historical conditions and trends, forecasting the future is often folly since historical trends are no guarantee of future performance so its best to look to those who focus on this endeavor full time.The folks at Housing Predictor are independent real estate market forecasters and consulted by the nation's investment houses, mortgage companies, and real estate companies and have an 85% accuracy rating. Their recent 2008 briefing confirms the real estate slowdown in Alabama and in Huntsville as indicated by our recent MLS history. The Alabama market overall is slowing but not as much as many parts of the country. Th... 03/08/2008

Absorption Rate is a metric used by some real estate professionals to measure a market's internal supply and demand. It basically utilizes the current inventory of homes (supply) and recent sales history (demand) to calculate the market's current sales rate.For example if a market has 1,000 current listings and a sales history of 2,000 homes per year, the annual absorption rate would be 1,000/2,000 = 0.5. Thus our example market has an inventory absorption rate of 50%. A percentage above 50% means more homes are being sold than listed (supply is shrinking). A percentage below 50% means that more homes are being listed than sold (supply is increasing). A 50% absorption rate indicates a 6 month supply of inventory and this is characterized as a balanced or transitional market.The good thi... 03/07/2008

If you are in the real estate market either as a commercial property investor or you are just looking for a home in Alabama, Huntsville offers a rich choice of properties at fantastic prices: from enticing 3 bedroom homes to prestigious, sophisticated mansions; from secluded vacation retreats to exquisite condos and townhouses with graceful curb appeal. Come to Huntsville and witness for yourself the amazing real estate growth that the city has engendered. While the prices of homes have fallen as much as 23.4 percent nationally and 16.9 percent in Alabama, for January 2007, in comparison with the year before, Huntsville homes sales has been steady. Thanks to the Base Realignment and Closures ( BRAC ) that is expected to draw over 5000 jobs to the Huntsville Alabama area in the next coup... 03/02/2008

Harmony Park Preserves Opens for Another SeasonSubmitted by: Kimberly Grant, Huntsville Real Estate AgentHuntsville/Madison AL Real Estate BlogI'm always in search of great things to do in our area here in Huntsville and Madison County.  I really hate to hear people say that there is nothing to do here!!  That is absolutely ridiculous!!  There are so many things to do here in Huntsville, Madison, and the surrounding areas that I don't believe there is anyone here that could not find something they like to do if they looked hard enough.  So if you find yourself a little bored some time soon here is a suggestion that you might like...especially since the weather is so nice today!!I have another great activity to share with you for your family and friends.  Did you know there was a place r... 03/01/2008

Huntsville's Annual Building, Home, and Remodeling Show!!Submitted by: Kimberly Grant, Huntsville Real Estate AgentHuntsville/Madison AL Real Estate BlogHello Hello Hello!!!Well the weekend is here and the weather is FANTASTIC!!  As you all know, I LOVE HOMES and everything about homes.   In our area, Huntsville and Madison have some of the most outstanding homes in the nation.  Additionally, our market is pretty steady and the affordability of homes in our area have the attention of potential buyers, investors, and relocation families from all over!!  One of the things I have loved to do every year is to attend the Building, Home, and Remodeling Show that is sponsored by the Huntsville/Madison County Builders Association.  I attended this event even before I became a Realtor.  Today th... 03/01/2008

Huntsville Home Buyer Questions:  Consumer Real Estate Tips!!Submitted by: Kimberly Grant, Huntsville Real Estate Agent Huntsville Real Estate BlogWhenever I get questions from consumers I always come back and try to share with others.  I had a situation with a potential buyer and a mortgage officer that I wanted to share with you all.  I decided this would be good to share for those interested in buying a home, not only in Huntsville, but any where.  This post will address the subject of debt-to-income ratios.  A common term that many may not be completely familiar with the definition and significance in the home buying process.Debt-to-Income RatioDo you understand the term "debt-to-income ratio"?  Hopefully this will shed more light on this term:Well, this is a comparison of your gros... 02/27/2008