Real estate blog entries tagged with bentree homes by Charlie Ragonesi, Homes - Big Canoe, Jasper, North Georgia Pros (AllMountainRealty.com)

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bentree homes: Set one goal - 09/09/11 08:28 AM

Look around. Look at all the info that is out there. Then ask yourself," If I set only one goal what would it be?" It should be the goal that you think will give you the most bang for the buck. Then set it. Make a plan on how to achieve it and have at it. Once you are successful you will want to do more .
Want to teach a horse to jump? You could set the bar where it needs to be and work like crazy to get the horse to go over it. Or you could set the … (2 comments)

bentree homes: Snowed in Day 3 - 12/27/10 03:41 AM

Today will be the last day of being snowed in. Some time today I should be able to get my car. But I did my 30 seconds, (See almost Christmas blog) and I am good. What I have been able to do is catch up on tons of paper work. I am also getting very organized. so I think I will by tomorrow be able to roar into 2011. My new mantra is , : When life hands you house stranding snow, Make a snow man "!!!
… (5 comments)

bentree homes: 1 Need your thoughts and 2 if possible your $$$ - 09/19/10 05:22 AM

1 Thoughts
The Mountain Real Estate Report is in its' 4th year on the radio. We have been very happy with it. The show was nominated, but lost, for a GABBY. So we need your thought for future shows. We do talk about property and ask for business. but that is just a small part of the show. We work hard to educate folks about real estate as well as interview folks who shape what is going on in our mountain communities. So please any ideas would be greatly appreciated. We have, in the past given credit on the air to … (1 comments)

bentree homes: Foreclosure rate still high - 08/31/09 05:46 AM

The national foreclosure rate reported today is still high. As of this time today the markets have reacted in a negative way. So what is the problem?
The Government bail out program and loan re-modification programs have actually worked! Some of these programs were started by the last administration and modified and expanded in this one. So again the question is, what is the problem?
The problem pure and simple is the lagging indicator in a recovery called the unemployment rate. Folks who are in trouble now are folks without a job . These folks do not qualify for modification. They … (4 comments)

bentree homes: Looking to Start a Real Estate Career in the North Georgia Mountains pt 7 - 08/24/09 05:56 AM

This is the last part in the series. I hope you all enjoyed it. The last thing we have not covered is choosing a firm to associate with.
Like many other areas you have choices. But if you choose a big name make sure they are established in the mountains. If you are new to mountain real estate this is key. There are not a lot of us up here.So chances are the folks in your firm will know a lot about the counties and areas you want to deal with. In my county for example there are 20,000 people. I … (2 comments)

bentree homes: Army Band Concert Last Night in Big Canoe photos - 07/04/09 02:14 AM

The Army Jazz band performed in the out door amphitheater here in Big Canoe. The concert was free. Donations were taken at the door for the USO. A great time was had by all.

As you can see it was a packed house. The band was great and there was singing as well. We were brought to our feet many times

As you can see the concert was enjoyed by young and old.
The concert went well into the evening. 2 weeks ago in the same venue we had Banks and Shane do their tribute to the Kingston … (4 comments)

bentree homes: Launch me Father not NASA Style Photo - 06/21/09 02:35 AM

This photo was taken 15 years ago. My hair was dark then. My son and I went to a wedding of one of my cousins. It was his first time in a suit and his mother was not there. So we made a deal. In Feb in South Carolina we went to the pool so he could swim and burn of energy. Along the way I ended up burning off energy too. My Mother caught this photo of us.
The boy got dressed wore a suit and tie and even would not take his jacket off at the reception. Every body … (3 comments)

bentree homes: USDA Loan Repairs Be advised !! - 05/21/09 09:33 AM

Many of us in Rural areas do USDA loans. USDA is 100 percent financing and often works out to be less costly than FHA with 3 % down!!! One of the benefits to this type of loan is you can finance up to 102 percent of the appraised value of the home. This extra money is typically used for closing costs. However if you have a buyer that is getting a great deal on a fixer upper beware !
You do have to escrow money etc like you do for FHA repair loan. But there is a BIG difference. If the … (9 comments)

bentree homes: Now is a great time to buy land - 05/14/09 01:30 PM

Land sales right now are terrible where I am. 3 years ago for every home I sold I sold 4 pieces of land. Today the ratio has turned the other way. Why?
First there is the financing. Lenders do not want to lend on land. It is easy to walk away from. So they want more money down and often rates are up to a point higher.
Second in so many cases it is less expensive to buy an existing home than to build. So construction loans again want more down and are interest rated higher.
So why is it a … (2 comments)

bentree homes: Big Canoe Photos IV - 05/09/09 01:08 AM

I posted the lower falls in the nature valley the other day. If you walk about a mile through the wood you climb gently to the upper falls. in Big Canoe. Now there are also the Nancy Wolmack Falls here to. Beautiful woods. The sound of rushing water and privacy. I hope you remembered your picnic basket. Doesn't your neighborhood have 3 sets of falls? No ? Consider the great mountain experience that is Big Canoe.
… (5 comments)

bentree homes: Big Canoe photos - 04/30/09 08:27 AM

Big Canoe is one of North Georgia's great communities. It is a Mountain Gem. It is over 8,000 acres. The 2 photos below are just one sample of what you can see. I took these from the top of a dam. The first one overlooks Lake Petit. The dam is the second largest earthen dam in the State. Lake Petit is one of 3 Lakes in Big Canoe and is about 90 feet deep at its deepest and over 95 acres in size. It is clean and beautiful and the fishing is great!! Looking the other way from Lake Petit you … (5 comments)

bentree homes: Bent Tree New listing - 04/23/09 10:06 AM

We have a new listing on Little pine road in Benttree . It is a lot . It is about .88 acres. It has a pretty stream running down the side. Location in this community is very good . Asking price is 28,000 !!! This is a really good price. Bent tree has golf Tennis and an equestrian center. This is a beautiful community and the fees run approximately 1300 a year . Build your mountain get away in this secure gated community in the North Georgia Mountains
… (1 comments)

bentree homes: Doing the Opposite - 04/14/09 12:29 AM

When we formed all Mountain Realty in Sept of 07 we set out goals. I laugh about the one I tell folks , We want to get in at the bottom. (Achieved). Some tell me at least you didn't have to go through the pain of scaling back.
One of the goals was to go after buyers. That has been a strategy. Contrary to the mantra you need sellers, and you do, we focused on buyers instead. Why , we figured that is who has the money. Kind of Willie Suttonish.
Now in ths big buyers market we are shifting our … (4 comments)

bentree homes: To Build or not to build , That is the question - 03/18/09 12:32 AM

Land sales are a large part of our business in the mountains. By all accounts land sales are really really slow. Some communities have a 2 year inventory at the current rate of absorption. There are 3 things that effect land sales here.
1 Investors. In the not so long ago days of easy money investors could buy land to hold for investment with less than good credit for very little down. Those days are over. So the easy money that fueled speculation has dried up slowing the land markets price increases incredibly
2 But the Question of building has effected … (7 comments)

bentree homes: North Georgia Update, Snapshot - 03/18/09 12:16 AM

There is some new news coming out of our area. In the Atlanta area the inventory of homes is about at 8 months. This is about 4 months below the National average. There is talk about, are you ready, a potential housing SHORTAGE in 2010!!!
We do see in the mountains inventory shrinking in the lower price ranges. I believe this is due to the first time buyer incentives that are out there. Many of the folks we are working with are first time buyers.
This should be tempered by the unemployment which is still going up. There are a couple … (1 comments)

bentree homes: Help for Home owners - 03/11/09 05:00 AM

The Obama Administration is moving forward to help home owners. The plans that they have put forward are for the most part encouraging and meaningful. I think the one exception is the cap on the mortgage deduction' But here they are in a nutshell
8,000 first time buyer credit.
This program provides an 8,000 credit for first time home buyers. A first time buyer is defined as some one who has not purchased a home with in the last 3 years.
Requirements are maximum income 75,000 for an individual and 150,000 for a family. This is adjusted gross income.
You must … (1 comments)

bentree homes: Meeting with Federal Reserve People - 02/19/09 07:29 AM

It has been an interesting week for me. Earlier in the week as part of our radio presence we interviewed Senator Isakson about housing. I have posted that with a link to the interview earlier. Today I attended a meeting where the speaker was from the Federal Reserve.
I am an X banker so I was able to follow his discussion and later able to ask questions. I am writing this blog to sum up what was said, as it is important to us in the industry
The Current Crisis; From the standpoint of the Fed the current crisis had its' … (5 comments)

bentree homes: Real Estate, Big Canoe, Jasper, North Georgia Mountain Market Update - 02/09/09 11:31 PM

So what is happening in our North Georgia Mountains?
1 Unemployment has gone up to almost 10 percent. This is rare for us. But key industries like the carpet industry are slow.
2 Tourism on the other hand seems brisk. Folks are not traveling as far as they used to. So people from Atlanta and even North Florida are vacationing in the Mountains.
3 The North Georgia Mountains still remain a great value. You can find 1 acre GOOD buildable lots in excelent loacaions for prices as low as 20,000. Homes declined in value approximately 8 percent in 2008. You can … (4 comments)

bentree homes: Jasper Georgia Home, Foreclosures and the problems with them - 12/21/08 06:38 AM

OK take a look at the house below. I did a BPO on it. Here are the problems. The house is great. But it is full of trash. Will the bank clean it out? In this case yes a little. Will the bank bring in some one to make sure things work? Probably not. The fight over this home is the listing price. It may be listed as low as 125,000. A really great deal for some one other than the lender.
This brings me to the point of the post. If lenders will spend a little time and clean up … (18 comments)

bentree homes: P. T. Barnum was right!!! 2 rants for the price of 1 - 09/22/08 07:45 AM

Rant 1
If you live in the the South or the Southeast you are feeling the price of gas at the pumps. The reason is simple , There is a sucker born every minute. First people watched Ike roll in. Then they thought lets go fill up. So they did. They topped up , filled up, brought gas cans to the pumps etc. And the PT Barnum's of the world said, Oh my lets raise the prices as the demand is so up. WE are the suckers. I was trying to get gas, Why, because I needed it ! There was … (1 comments)

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