Top 7 Most Popular Posts of 2009

By admin • January 16th, 2010

As a recap for last year, I thought I would list the pages on my website that generated the most traffic. Being a website that focuses on homes Atlanta, Buckhead, Sandy Springs and Dunwoody; some of the popular pages were expected, but others surprised me.

The Atlanta Farmers Market
I spent a lot of time on this post, actually taking pictures of all of the various landscape companies, and comparing prices to some of the “bigbox” stores. So it’s rewarding to know people are finding this information. My husband and I buy most of our gardening supplies at the Atlanta Farmers Market, not only due to the price, but also for its huge selection. It doesn’t surprise me that this was a popular webpage in 2009. The Atlanta Farmers Market does a horrendous job in marketing itself. This post has about 100x more information and pictures than the actual Farmers Market website.
Although it’s not directly a real estate post, I felt there was a need for the information. Besides, curb-appeal and landscaping are one of the most important things you can do to get your home sold quickly.

The Georgia Closing Cost Calculator
I noticed there wasn’t a lot of information available regarding basic closing costs in the Atlanta real estate market. Apparently I wasn’t the only person who felt this information would be helpful as it’s become a popular tool. It’s a very basic estimate, as closing costs between mortgage companies and attorneys can vary widely, but at least it will give you an idea of the type of line items that can appear on a settlement statement.
I always thought it was a little lame to tell clients a ballpark percentage, like 2 or 3% of the loan amount, as many of the line items are fixed and others depend on the loan or purchase amount. So closing costs, as a percentage of the loan amount, are higher on smaller loan amounts.

How to Refinish an Exterior Door
Not related to Buckhead or Atanta real estate per se, but it is a project my husband and I tackled right after buying a foreclosure. If you’ve ever wondered how to save some money refinishing a door, I go through sanding, stains, and coating – complete with pictures. It doesn’t require a whole lot of skill, but it takes a lot of time.

Atlanta Parks and Playgrounds for Children
Another post not directly related to real estate, that took more time than a usual post, but gets a lot of traffic. I went to most of the major parks, took pictures and wrote pros and cons. Being a mother of a young child, I knew there wasn’t a comprehensive list of Atlanta area playgrounds. While my list is hardly complete, it’s a good start.

A website reader recently complimented this post, by stating her family had just moved here and she had been looking for a list of Buckhead parks. So it’s not a huge rationalization leap to have an article about Atlanta parks on a real estate website.

The Streets of Buckhead
This project seems to be at a complete standstill. I’ve written some optimistic articles about this project in the past, but at this point the commercial real estate market speaks for itself. High interest in this project is validated by the heavy traffic I received on pages where the Streets of Buckhead is featured. I will say the web traffic trended down over the course of 2009. The ownership periodically puts out optimistic press releases, with revised opening dates, but I’ll believe it when I see the cranes crank-up. I still think the project is going to be great for Buckhead, it’s just a question of when construction resumes.

Update: Here is an updated article on this project.

An Atlanta Crime Map
The FBI says that violent crimes are down in the City of Atlanta. There were a lot of crimes involving high-profile Atlanta politicians last year. That coupled with the crimes against GA Tech and State students constantly in the news has left the public with perception is that crime is up.

Potential Phase-Out of the Mortgage Interest Deduction
An oldie but a goodie. This article was written last March, but still gets traffic. Most real estate finance articles get a high amount of traffic. This year I’m going to be writing about the trials and tribulations of getting my Buckhead home’s tax appraisal reduced. I have a feeling the property tax appeal articles will generate more traffic than all my other posts combined.

I look forward to continuing my real estate and relocating to Atlanta, Buckhead, Sandy Springs and Dunwoody updates in 2010. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me.