We will begin to share more numbers with you soon but for now take a look at this chat of Standard & Poors Case-Shiller Index. This is the be data available to get the general pulse of the market. For specific properties and neighborhoods you need to find a great agent. If you need a referral we’re glad to provide some names.

Case-Shiller Home Price Index

Hang on to your hats Atlanta. This market sucks and the light at the end of the tunnel is likely a locomotive.

Our advice is to find a relative and move in with them Your kids or parents gotta take you, right?

The silver lining of the market is for those few of you that have still got a good income and cash assets. Housing deals for sellers suck raw eggs but you have a chance to scoop up housing for huge discounts. Even sheltered IRA funds can be used for real estate investment.

Rentals are in huge demand once again and rents are rising in the best properties. The key here is to buy and hold. Some properties in decent areas are selling under 50k and rents average about $800 month. It is easier than ever to develop a positive cash flow in rental property.

Tick Tock.

These are in no particular order yet so plan to help by voting

Breakfast is the most important meal in Atlanta

Too many mornings begin with breakfast from a box. Cereals, cereal bars, PopT-arts, and even oatmeal. Enough already. I for one love the joy of too much sugar, fat, and protein. Atlanta is a great place to get out and start the day with an awesome belly-full. I’m here to help.

My “best breakfasts in Atlanta” may change from one week to the next but several places are constant and hopefully have long lives ahead. Waffle House seems to be the one that’s become too big to fail, and given their size and profile it is the obvious place to start.

Waffle House is one of America’s best love brands, even in areas where the closest restaurant is 4 states away! Frequently visitors to Atlanta make their first trip just to see what all the hubbub is about. Many have their fist encounter with grits, and that may be why grits aren’t very popular outside of The South

(note to self: Next time you write about Waffle House, you should mention the waffles.)

Waffle House is popular and loved for several reasons. It’s reliable, average, affordable, acceptably clean and safe, easy to find and they are always open. The fact that they great you with a smile and call you ‘honey’ and ‘sugar’ is their secret sauce. Meet me at the Waffle House.

Sometimes you need something more. There are many reason to have a special breakfast and plenty of good choices around Atlanta. One of the current favorites was born as a small independent and has grown considerably as a young franchise. The Flying Biscuit can still satisfy, and now has about a dozen locations. The original location in Candler Park is the classic rock star, but the new shiny models are just as tasty. The food is fresh, more health-focused, and includes just enough hippie-dippyness. Viva la Biscuit!

Biscuits are wonderful, but some people and some occasions call for pancakes. No pancake on Earth is more worthy than those at The Original Pancake House. The waiting line at the doors is no deterrent to those that are out for return visit. If you have relatives from out of town and want to treat them special this is the place. Fresh ingredients and huge portions will surely please. Service and style is pure 1969 Americana. Just go, and remember they close early, with breakfast and lunch only.

Time and money are in short supply around Atlanta, so special breakfasts aren’t for every day. When funds are low and you hear bellys growling head over to IKEA for my best kept secret breakfast deal in America, Their cafeteria style restaurant is the hands down winner for breakfast on the cheap. FOr 99 cents you get eggs, bacon and hashbrowns. Come in before the store opens at 10am and you get a free coffee to boot. My breakfast, documented with an iphone in the video, included all this for $1.07. If you can top that deal then I’ll pay for both of us next time!

If you have a visiting celeb, or boss to feed I’d say you’d better try Thumbs-Up. Maybe you just deserve it! Sweet! Take your hungriest foodie and enjoy a real taste of plenty. THe ingredients are always fresh and the atmosphere is pure American Diner. The breakfast searved in the cast-iron skillet will really impress any big appetite, and as you’r eleaving you’ll enjoy your great attitude. Atlanta and the world is your oyster today!

These five choices are surely enough to satisfy, for a while, but do not include the number one top choice for best breakfast in town. The next 5 will include my top choice, and then we can fight out the positions for the next 9. We may even need to change the lineup, but for this I’ll need your help. Please add your ideas and comments here so that very best breakfast list can get a little validation.

I’m starving. See you soon.

Atlanta’s Best Breakfast List: (So far)

• Waffle House
• Thumbs Up
• The Flying Biscuit
• IKEA
• The Original Pancake House

Make you plans to attend or avoid as the case may be

Thankfully the Atlanta I love has many other fans and we are blessed (a word big in the ATL) to have world class residents that write in the bigs.  One such transplant has shared his perspective in words that many of us feel but few of us could write.

Join me now and enjoy this piece by fancy pants writer Jon Fasman as he tells his Atlanta story.

[note to self]  follow up with this guy in 2 more years and ask for an update.

photo credit: falsepositives

The biggest thrill was the fact that this is very near my home. It is within a few feet of very busy and well known Cheshire Bridge Road, right in one of Atlanta’s ‘best’ neighborhoods. The trail is simple to navigate and the quiet setting will have you thinking Appalachian Trail in no time.

Have a walk with me through this simple flip video. This is one of those spur-of-the-moment things so it’s a but rough, but you’ll see what I mean.

The park is one of many of the City’s assets and was recently improved in part with some help from Atlanta’s great benefactor via the Arthur Blank Foundation. (Thank’s Art! You’da man!)

Surrounded by the back yards of many lovely homes, the park is accessible from one little trail between two homes on a quiet city street. Those that don’t live in the area aren’t likely to know of it. Who wants strangers poking around in the woods behind their homes? If I lived there I’d likely want to keep folks like me out of there too

Maybe you’re not into creeks and trees and rocks and bugs and poison ivy and such. No problem, just search through this list and find a park that has the kinds of things that trip your trigger. On the other end of the spectrum the skateboard gangs have a park to keep them occupied too.

Now, take a hike, and recharge.

Wait just a minute. You want to know where this place is, right? Well I guess it’s OK to tell, but please keep it on the down-low. If you can get out there during the week day you may find you have it all to your self. If you take your mountain bike be careful not to run me over as the visibility out here is sometimes only a few feet. Also don’t be a litterbug, and field strip those cigs, you poser Here’s your map.

Atlanta Park; A Secret Garden