New homes in Atlanta reduced to below market

We have 6 subdivisions in the Atlanta metro area with prices below market in each one. We have a wide variety of locations and values from Covington to Decatur to Braselton. Contact me for details.

Talk to me

About buying a new home. I went through the process personally and can help with the details.

What is happening

I know that a lot of you are probably asking the same question. What is happening? Our lives seem to be clicking along…you go to the airport and people are traveling….you go to the apple store and you can’ t get in the door because it is so busy. Yea sure we have all cut back on what we are spending….but the cruise ship was still crowded. SO WHAT IS HAPPENING? Why is no one buying a house?  Rates are the lowest they have ever been. Prices are the lowest for resales and new homes. But there are very few buyers. And there are very few buyers for a long time. This has been going on for what 2 years? They are not even renting new apartments. Is it because all the reasons folks usually buy a new house are gone?  NO one is having babies or graduating from college or getting married? We are all in limbo or in the twilight zone?

HOME BUILDERS JOIN FORCES FOR THE FUTURE

While many Atlanta homebuilders are cutting back operations, two long time successful homebuilders have merged their construction operations to form Richbuilt LLC, a next generation home building company. Richardson Housing Group and Richport Properties Inc. have joined forces to create a full service residential contracting company focused on fee building for owners of residential lots and houses.

With the economic downturn, 140,000 developed lots are currently sitting vacant.  The only viable market for these lots is a homebuyer. However, many of the owners of these lots are not in the business of building houses- most are now investors, lenders and even municipalities. With over 70 years of homebuilding experience between the two companies, Richbuilt offers to the owner of the lots a full service residential general contracting operation to manage the communities.  The owners get a competitive well built home to sell, Richbuilt gets the benefit of contracting fee income, and the homebuyer gets a quality buying experience from a well staffed seasoned homebuilding company. It’s a win for both sides. “Richbuilt recognizes the paradigm shift occurring in the ownership of developed lots – whether publicly or privately owned, “ says partner Rick Porter. “ Richbuilt has the expertise and knowledge to finish and manage partially completed subdivisions, work with the municipalities to insure code compliance and safety, and build homes and service those homes for owners that don’t have the necessary capacity or expertise. We are in a new era of homebuilding and must develop new ways to service housing customers.  Homeowners deserve the warranty and integrity of a solid builder. When the community owner cannot deliver this experience, then we can step in to provide the homeowners the new home they deserve regardless of who owns the lot.”

Richbuilt has the production expertise and capacity to provide contracting services  anywhere in the Northeast quadrant of Atlanta from I-20 to Ga. 400.  If a builder with reduced staffing owns a house that needs completing, that builder can outsource the construction to Richbuilt. If a developer needs a subdivision completed, Richbuilt can provide development services, updated market studies and house designs based on that study to complete the community. For bankers and investors, Richbuilt can go even further to complete site analysis, determine house compatibility, as well as determine municipality compliance.

Richbuilt LLC draws from the strengths of two very similar homebuilders.  Both companies have enjoyed 35 years of success by catering to the quality first and second time home buyer.  Both companies have built their reputations on helping to improve the homebuilding industry through activity in over 30 different organizations including being inducted in the Georgia Homebuilders Hall of Fame. Partners Richport and Richardson are both family businesses coming from several generations of brick masons, developers and builders. Allen Richardson’s son, Mark, is the managing partner for Richbuilt.  “Combining our two companies to form a next generation homebuilding company is a natural since production is a strength of both companies.  By offering a range of contracting services in land development, homebuilding and property management, we are able to keep all of our experienced production personnel employed. That is a lot to say for a home building company today, “ states Mark.

Find out more about the two companies at rhghomes.com and richport.com.

Grass Airstrips

One of the few grass airstrips left near Atlanta is located in the Kenwood Community. 3800 feet of maintained, manicured, Bermuda turf is the setting for your next wonderous landing. Due to a 4-year IRS settlement, we are finally able to reduce our homesite prices,  so that owning a lot in Kenwood will now cost less than hanger-space at your current FBO. Contact Cherry Porter at (404) 769-7219 for more information.

The House I Grew Up In

I recently sold the house I grew up in, but I didn’t sell the home.  I was about 8 years old when we moved into the house.  It was a mansion!!!  My two sisters and I all shared the same bedroom in our previous home, but now got to spread out a little bit.  We had two whole bathrooms in the house!!  And what a front yard.  It was flat with no trees—a ball field right there!  My father must have thrown a thousand pitches to me in that front yard, and I bet I kicked a hundred winning field goals.  Then we would sit on the front porch and rest.  My father spent a lot of time rocking on the front porch after work.  He never said much, but would just sit and rock.  He would play a name that car game with me.  He knew a lot about cars—or so I thought.

 

On our first Christmas, my mother and I wrapped red ribbon around the columns on the porch.  They were beautiful—looked just like candy canes.  Especially with the tree glowing right behind them in the front window.  My sisters were older, but Santa kept coming for many years.  I started riding horses when I was about 12, and one year I got a real saddle of my own for Christmas!!  My mother and sisters pulled a trick on me and I didn’t even know that the big present was for me until Christmas morning. 

 

I really liked egg sandwiches for breakfast.  It’s funny.  I’m sure we all had problems getting dressed in the morning, but I don’t remember it.  I do remember breakfast, though.  My mother liked butter, and put plenty on the bread before the eggs.  I wish she could make me one now.

 

The Russians were a big threat back then.  They set up missiles in Cuba, and my father was concerned.  I don’t really remember being scared, but my father wanted to be safe so he built a bomb shelter under the patio of the house.  It was really dark in there, though, since he never quite finished it to his plan.  The Russians didn’t really scare me, but that dark place did.  It’s still there—almost cost us a sale because it had some water in it.

 

I had my first date while I lived there.  I fell in love there, and got my first broken heart there.  I remember them both.  I brought me Senior Prom date to that house to see my Mother before the big event.  She was pretty.  She still is.  You see, we got married and bought the house from my parents when they wanted to move further from the city.  We had our kids in that house, and it became their home, just like it is my home.  You see, homes don’t get bought and sold, houses do.

 

I’ve been building houses for over 30 years.  I’ve sold most of them—thousands of them.  I hope that everyone became a home, because that’s what is neat about my business.  We’re in a tough economy right now, and it’s hard to sell houses.  I wonder if it would be as hard to sell homes?  Our minds are cluttered with all the talk about the value of houses, and what we should offer and what we should take and where is the bottom.  It must not be much fun these days to buy a house—to imagine where the bed will fit, to listen to strange birds on the deck early in the morning, to taste the cookies that could be cooked in that magnificent kitchen, to hear the laughter when our favorite show comes on, to help a young man tie a tie, to pick the perfect fabric for curtains, to make the house a home.  And that’s the real tragedy in the housing world.

 

So what can I do?  All anybody wants to talk about is price.  Except me, and maybe you.  And then maybe someone else.  And then maybe someone else.  And then maybe the word gets around.  The path out of the wilderness starts with one step, and I think I’ll take it.  We’re not in the house selling business, we’re in the home selling business.  And home is where the heart is, if we put the heart back in it.  Sure it’s a lot of money and it’s scary and risky, but let’s take on the burden of the business so the customers can get back to creating homes.  How can we make it more fun, with more heart and less head?  We’re not investors in pork futures, we’re creating homes for families of all types and descriptions.  This is the place where they will make egg sandwiches.  They will cry here, and laugh here, and love here.  Their hearts will sing here, and hurt here.  It will be beautiful, it will be a home.  Will they make some money on it?  They might—always have over time.  But, very few buy houses to make money, they buy houses to create homes.  I’m not hearing much about that in the news these days, nor is anyone else.  I’m sure folks are a bit confused.  I would be if I didn’t have my home in my heart.  I’ll never sell it, not for any price to any body.  Houses go up in price and go down in price, get bigger and get smaller, but homes never lose value.  What a great investment!!!

(Written by Rick Porter, President, Richport Properties, Inc.)

Partners for Success

Atlanta – Award-winning Atlanta new homes builder, Richport Properties recently partnered with award winning Realtors, The Chuck and Marshall Group of Re/Max Metro Atlanta to market Davis Oaks, a community of 21 new Atlanta luxury townhomes in the Oak Grove area of DeKalb County.
 
Richport Properties, the recipient of numerous awards including five OBIE Awards by the Greater Atlanta Homebuilders Association, developed Davis Oaks, an infill project with a focus on urban conservation which recently earned the Development of Excellence Award by the Atlanta Regional Commission.  “It’s a perfect time to partner with one of the most knowledgeable and active sales and marketing teams in Oak Grove”, exclaims Builder Rick Porter. “My family has been providing new homes to the Oak Grove community for more than 50 years and I could not ask for a better partner to help us continue that tradition.”
 
The Chuck and Marshall Group of Re/Max Metro Atlanta, the top selling real estate group in DeKalb County for 2007 and 2006, recently won the Realtor.com Real Estate Online Marketing Award of Excellence, which recognizes top agents who consistently provide great marketing services on behalf of their buyers and sellers.   “We’re excited to partner with Richport Properties since we share so many of the same values and we look forward to sharing with them our expertise in the Oak Grove area” said Chuck Smith.
 
Davis Oaks offers buyers an Atlanta in-town location with a 2.6 acre certified wildlife habitat and nature path walking trail, as well as unique features that include double screen porches (one off the master bedroom and one off the kitchen/keeping room) and elevator-ready floor plans and is a short stroll to the Oak Grove shopping and restaurant district. The community offers easy access to I-85, Downtown and Buckhead and is less than 5 miles to Emory University, the VA hospital and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Clifton campus.
 
For more information about Atlanta’s luxury townhomes community, Davis Oaks, contact The Chuck and Marshall Group at 404-551-2607 or visit www.DavisOaks.com.

Atlanta Regional Commission Awards Davis Oaks Townhomes

Davis Oaks Townhomes was recently awarded 2008 Exceptional Merit for Neighborhood Infill and Sustainable Site and Infrastructure Design by Atlanta Regional Commission and Livable Communities Coalition.  Davis Oaks boasts a nature trail behind the property.  To read the article please click here.

Stonecypher Community: A Hidden Treasure in Gwinnett County

Stonecypher, a Gwinnett County new home community was recently featured in Atlanta Journal Constitution.  Click here to read about the small town community feel Stonecypher gives to its residence.

Richport Makes Dreams Come True

A recent AJC article featured Vineyard Gate, one of Richport Properties’ made the dream of owning a new home come true for Melinda Winstead, and her family.  Winstead is quoted as saying, “To have that American dream that everybody talks about, it’s the most satisfying, the most exhilarating feeling that you can imagine,” she said. “The day we signed the house, it was the day before my 34th birthday. When they handed us the keys, it was like we were in a dream. It’s like we were in a movie and I was playing someone else’s part.”  To read more please click here.