Nick Whitson - Real Estate Agent & Advisor, Atlanta, GA (2026)

07/07/2023

This face of confusion is me trying to see my screen from the insane glare of a sunny Summer day in Atlanta haha! 😎

Behind me is a lot in Mechanicsville that we finally Closed this past Wednesday. What we thought was going to take less than 30 days turned into 14 months. Here's the breakdown:

My investors originally asked me to sell this property in 2019, but the price they wanted was a little ahead of the market at that time. Fast forward through COVID to the Spring of 2022, we tried to sell again as the market and pricing were more in sync. We went under contact quickly, and title came back with two big snags.

#1 The City condemned the house, tore it down, and hit my sellers with a very expensive demo lien. After a little running around at City Hall and pulling an open records request I discovered that the City sent the warnings and notices to the wrong address. It was a small spelling error by the City admin. So my sellers never received notice and never had the opportunity to address the situation before the City took action and demolished the house.

Bummer City, right?

After I collected all the records from the City, we had to hire a lawyer to spend a few months pushing the case until the City eventually forgave the demo lien. Problem #1 solved!

#2 Questionable Tax Lien? My investors originally purchased this property years ago, before I started working with them. All of the old liens were supposed to be paid out of the proceeds of that original Closing. Unfortunately somewhere in the process that didn't happen or wasn't recorded properly. Thankfully it was covered by the Title Insurance company, which meant we had to file a Quiet Title Action (QTA). It took almost a year to to go through that process and clean that up. We didn't have to do any heavy lifting, but we did have to wait. THIS IS WHY YOU GET TITLE INSURANCE! Problem #2 solved!

So what was supposed to be a pretty straight forward deal turned out to be a little messy, but we got it done. It can be easy for people to get frustrated with deals that drag out like this, but you just got to play it cool and problem solve.

Over the years I've worked on quite a number of, "hairy," deals. All you can do is put your best effort forward to learn the lessons each deal has to teach you and get it to the Closing table.

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If you're in the middle of a tough deal, or just thinking about buying or selling your first property?

Bring me your thoughts and questions! I'm happy to help you out whether you need me to represent you in a deal, or just need a second opinion from a friend.

Cheers y'all! 🍻🥳

07/01/2023

I realize I haven't posted on here for almost two months. It's been a transitional period for me these last 6 months as I switch brokers and slowed down to focus on a few specific transactions and get those wrapped up. Last month one of the development deals I started working on last year finally Closed; a small townhouse development north of Atlanta.

Now things didn't play out exactly how I had planned, and it was a very challenging deal that took way longer than I anticipated. And many times the deal fell apart and had to be pieced back together before it finally Closed. Technically, in the final round I could've been kicked to the curb and not made a dime for my time invested in getting everything cued up to make a deal.

Fortunately, I forged relationships with others in the deal who became friends. And one of those new friends had my back when the dust settled, making sure I didn't walk away emptied handed. There were many lessons learned in doing this deal. I had been allowing myself to get bogged down in the minutia of particular deals, which was locking me up. It wasn't until I was willing to let it all go - like literally say it out loud to myself - that things finally fell into place.

So today I'm reminding myself to be grateful for the good and sincere friends out there who are always willing to help out and look out for us when things get dicey.

Keep the good vibes alive! 🥳

04/25/2023

Hey y'all,

Finally closed out this 6.7 acre ranch in Austell today! 🥳

A really eclectic property featuring a 1950s Cold War era bunker, incredibly rare - serious dungeon vibes haha.

Originally we were looking at this property to develop a small neighborhood, ~10 homes, but we determined that wasn't viable. So I switch to my Realtor hat and helped the seller list and sell off their different properties.

This final piece turned out to be pretty tricky. The county records and maps didn't match the surveys we had on hand, and all the neighbors had mismatching title work and recording errors - it was a mess. This is why you get title insurance.

It took months of deep work and tenacity working with different attorneys, investment banks, and a whole slew of various entities to spearhead a resolution for all the issues and get this one through Closing. This transaction tested my patience, determination, creative problem solving, reminding me along the way of how I got the nickname, "Rodeo."

So when you run into a problem and people say it's impossible, don't throw your hands up. Get creative, and hammer down with that tenacious energy God gave you to get the job done.

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Shout out to my friend Hervic for the referral! 🍻
Referrals make up most of my business, and they are always deeply appreciated.

02/03/2023

Hey y'all,

Life update: I realized a few weeks ago that it's been 5 years since I first got licensed and 7 years since I got into Real Estate. I know I don't share all my deals on this page, and honestly it's because I was a little shy at first to share my journey.

After careful consideration I decided to switch things up and join the crew over at Keller Williams Intown Atlanta right there next to Ponce City Market.

New year new vibe, yeah?

Cheers to y'all for joining me along the ride! 🥳🍻🤘

01/03/2023

Happy New Year!

I know I've been a little MIA. I know this page is usually filled with stories of helping purchase new homes, often their first. I rarely share stories about the other half of my business - land and residential development. Although I find it interesting and fun, it can be a little dry sometimes for others, so I tend not share. Maybe I should tell more of those stories, they can be interesting and there is a lot to learn, especially if you're interested in investing in land.

But just to recap on 2022, the end got a little crazy. Speculative fears around the market shift due to rising interest rates caused a lot of my new construction development deals to fall through as builders backed out leaving me high and dry - imagine working for ~6 months for free, then 10x that. I know it's not the typical heartwarming story of helping someone find a new home or investment, but sometimes it's important to acknowledge the good and the BAD, as there is always lessons to be learned.

1. Guard your time and space.
2. Be careful who you trust, listen to the way people talk and handle themselves when considering doing business together.
3. Just because a choice feels easy doesn't mean it's the right choice. So be careful of who and what you commit to.
4. If something needs to be said now, you should probably say it, don't wait on others to figured it out - the future time and opportunity costs as well as peace of mind are way more valuable than the impending 5 minute uncomfortable conversation you're putting off.
5. Listen to your gut.
.. I could keep going with all the lessons learned these past couple months, but what's done is done. It's a new year so time to let all the junk go and get back into flow. Renew the mind, and get realigned.

Cheers y'all, to a new year and new heights!🍾🥂🥳

11/08/2022

Hey y'all,

Catching up from a crazy end to the Summer and heading deep into the Autumn. Over the past year or so I've been shifting back towards the residential development world - really challenging transactions with long time lines. In between the ups and downs of the real estate development roller coaster, I still make time to help people buy and sell properties around the metro-Atlanta market.

The house you see depicted below is located in East Woodstock about 10-15 minutes from Milton/Roswell. We Closed on this house in August for my friend Luke who had moved back to Georgia. He was looking for a place to land close to family and a new job. As some of you may know, the market had been super hot through 2021 going into 2022 - super high demand and low inventory created a lot of buying pressure, making the market super competitive. It made it pretty challenging at first, but as I always say patience is key in this game.

This house stuck out from the crowd because it had a daylight basement apartment with a kitchen, laundry, and bath. A rare find, and ideal for house-hacking.

House-hacking can be a great tool for those who want to leverage the home they live in by leasing out the other rooms, basement apartment, ADU, etc. to pay the mortgage or put extra cash in your pocket just like a rental property. The key is often picking a desirable location and putting in a little hustle to fill up the extra rooms as quickly as possible. This is can be a great strategy on your first property, depending on your wants and needs. I've used this strategy as well in the past, it works well when executed correctly.

If you're interested in learning how to house-hack your current or next property, hit me up. I'd love to help you figure out how to take that next step.

Cheers to your new home and next chapter, Luke!
Welcome back to GA! 🍻🏡

08/02/2022

Hey y'all, been a busy Summer! Hope everyone is enjoying it.

Picking up from where we left off in May, I helped my friend Elliott Close this eclectic 1970s house in Acworth to end the Spring season. Elliott and his fiancé Keira were relocating to Atlanta from NJ. Relocating from out of state is one of the hardest things to do - a new City with a new vibe, it can take a while to get a lay of the land especially when you're shopping from the opposite end of the Country in one of the hottest markets in the US.

This house was surrounded by Japanese maples, a vegetable garden and wild black berries against a heavily wooded backyard. A modest looking home from the curb, it's actually quite a big house featuring vaulted ceiling and a massive den. The location was great, right on the edge of Kennesaw and Acworth, a quick jump to the Hwy with everything you need close by.

It was a tough hunt, that 2022 Spring housing market at times felt more intense than 2020 and 2021 combined - hard to imagine. Incredibly low inventory and a feeding frenzy of buyers in the metro-Atlanta market made it a real grind, especially in Cobb County around Marietta and Kennesaw where we had been shopping.

This hunt in particular was a good reminder that sometimes you just need to keep going to bat and swinging for the fences. Put the intention out there and you'll reach your destination.

Welcome to Atlanta Elliott and Keira, and congrats on your new home! 🥳🏡🍻

05/31/2022

Hey y'all! The past few weeks have been crazy busy - lots of iron in the fire.

Though it's been a grind, I've had the pleasure of helping some friends purchase cool houses in and around Atlanta this Spring, like this cozy bungalow in East Point near the edge of Hapeville for my buddy Daniel. It may look modest from the front yard, but it has many eclectic interior features, capped in the back by a covered deck and patio with an expansive mature garden. Truly a rare and unexpected find.

We'd aggressively been on the hunt for a few months before this opportunity popped up. Atlanta inventory at the time still felt really tight as to where and what we were looking to buy. Bidding Wars were still hot and we were often close to the top, but not the top pick. Looking back on it, the losses almost feel divine, like the Universe had an intentional purpose for that struggle along the way so we would end up in a situation as unique as this house.

As I've written many times, patience and persistence always pay. And, when you want to lock something down - be bold.

Cheers to you and your new home, Daniel! 🏡🍻🎉
Killer deal in a great location!

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04/06/2022

Last week I helped one of my clients, Merlyn, close this cozy ranch in Stockbridge. Like many first time home purchases this past few years, it was a grind.

I believe we started our hunt in early December 2021. Shopping FHA on a tight budget, we knew it was going to be a challenge to stay in the metro-area close to the 285 perimeter. Prices have been on a steady climb for years, shooting off like a rocket in the late Summer of 2020 with no end in site. Coupling the price increases, which are a result of significantly low inventory and a huge migration of buyers into metro-Atlanta, we were nearly priced out of the market.

***Group that market dynamic with a dramatic rise in rents, stagnant wages, and inflation, you'll really start to see how a housing crisis develops. There are a variety opinions on how to fix such a problem, but perhaps I should save that for another post. The whole experience reinforced some of my opinions affordable housing generally speaking in the US; and some of the policies that are often pitched in the mainstream may not be the solution.

Anyways, back to the hunt:

We hustled all through the holidays and the top of 2022, sending out the many aggressive offers. It can be a real tough in the lower price brackets - sometimes there were up to 50 offers on a property, always over list price, and many cash buyers.

So we changed up our strategy, always leaving back-up offers, watching for properties to come back-to-market as we noticed an uptick in that, and looking for slightly distressed properties that we felt confident we could work with FHA requirements and the budget.

This little ranch was one of those that came back-to-market. We had actually lost it in a bidding war the week prior to getting it Under Contract, as it was bid just out of range. But during the back an forth we learned that this out-of-state seller who had inherited the property had been Under Contract multiple times and, lucky for us, was reluctant to sell to an investor.

After tense negotiations over the course of 6 weeks, we managed to get an $18k price reduction and cash credits at close for a few repairs. Sometimes the best deal is to find something with good bones that just needs some light cosmetics and TLC.

Remember: patience and persistence; and sometimes a little creativity to get across the finish line.

Congrats on your new home, Merlyn! 🥳🏡

03/19/2022

Hey y’all! Been crazy busy, but I thought this deal would be a good one to share.

Multi-parcel deal with a land lot split. Many thing to take into account on a deal like this: zoning, timing, pricing, etc.

All good things to be aware of if you’re new to flipping lots.

Interested in working together on a real estate transaction, whether it’s personal or business? HMU.

10/15/2021

Helped my friend Noori purchase this clean ranch in Duluth on Wednesday. The bidding war was intense, nearly 30 offers all over list price, but we structured a winning bid and picked it up for less than the appraised value.

It was a challenging house hunt. We started at the end of Spring and hustled all Summer, we made a lot of offers. We looked at on and off-market properties. Available product was tight. It took patience and persistence, evolving the game plan along the way to stay within our targets.

Instead of competing at the top of our target price range for a renovated ranch in the highly competitive markets of Duluth, Norcross, and Peachtree Corners we decided to go the opposite direction and focus on finding a less expensive, but clean house in specific areas that just needed some fresh cosmetic updates; and that would also still land inside the, "after-repair-value (ARV)," comparable properties.

This 1980s brick ranch was perfectly set on a large level lot with mature trees. Inside had simple layout to open up the kitchen, dining, and living rooms; vaulted ceiling, fireplace, and a large master bedroom. The house featured french doors out to a large deck, and a sunroom with glass walls around and above.

Nestled in a small neighborhood between downtown Duluth and Johns Creek, and all things into account, this house was worth the wait.

Congrats on your new home Noori! 🏡 🥳 🍻
You or someone you know looking for an experienced agent to help with buying or selling a property? Hit me up, I'm here to help.

10/07/2021

Earlier this week I helped my client, Kenya, Close on this house in Jonesboro. It had all sorts of extra perks: huge party patio, master ensuite featuring a fireplace, hardwoods, and a large kitchen and family room. It was a great find.

We had been on the hunt for a hot minute. The market for this type of house in Jonesboro is super hot - always multiple offers way over list price. A little creativity with a quick Close helped to lock this one down.

Patience and determination seems to be a big part of pushing through a tough market on the buyer side - staying positive and swinging for the fences every time.

Congrats on your new home Kenya, so happy for you! 🏡 🥳 🍻

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If you're thinking about buying or selling a house this year, don't be afraid, you can do it and do it well. I'm here to help guide you through the process. 😎

Nick Whitson - Real Estate Agent & Advisor

07/07/2023

07/01/2023

04/25/2023

02/03/2023

01/03/2023

11/08/2022

08/02/2022

05/31/2022

04/06/2022

03/19/2022

10/15/2021

10/07/2021

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