north georgia: North Georgia Real Estate do's and don't Part 1 - 01/13/12 11:35 AM
It is a great time to buy in our North Georgia Mountains. Here are some of the do's and don'ts
1 Do not "lowball" a short sale or a foreclosure. If you do you probably will not get it. We are seeing more and more of these go for asking or over asking price. Hey THEY ARE GREAT DEALS to begin with.
2 Remember if you are "out there in the woods" on well water, on a gravel road your home may have been reasonably priced but your insurance will be high. The fire component of your insurance can be double or … (3 comments)
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north georgia: Mountain Community update - 09/28/11 01:36 PM
We are starting to see the return of second home and retirement buyers to the North Georgia mountains. As folks are more able to sell their existing homes, they become able to buy here. We also see younger families leaving the big cities for a more traditional way of life. If you are in Atlanta or Philadelphia or Minnesota or where ever and are looking for natural surroundings in a good climate consider the North Georgia Mountains. We are affordable, amenity rich, and just a great place to be. Take it from a NYC transplant !
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north georgia: Jennifer Grey wins Dancing with the Stars - 11/24/10 09:40 AM
I am a sports fan, love splitting wood, hunt when I can, and thanks to my wife am addicted to Dancing with the Stars. I have followed the show since season 1. I think the attraction is seeing people out of their comfort zone working and sweating to achieve something. In the end the prize is a mirror ball trophy. The trophy can't be worth more than a hundred bucks. But for 12 tough weeks you have all kinds of well off celebrates working their butts off to win this thing. There is a lesson in this about pride.
Every year … (2 comments)
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north georgia: Thanksgiving,Family, and the movie Failure to Launch - 11/20/10 04:08 PM
Thanksgiving is a time for family and friends. So as I was working around my office I cam across this photo. As you can see the movie Failure to Launch when it comes to our family is not a problem
This picture is special to me in a number of ways. 1 Son Joe is now 25 years old and could maybe launch me. 2. The picture was taken by my Mom who is no longer on this Earth. And my hair in this photo still appears to be all black !
So for your Thanksgiving it may be fun … (5 comments)
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north georgia: No sales but I am happy - 11/19/10 04:26 PM
This week nothing has happened as far as contracts go but I am happy. I am happy because I am working with 3 first time buyers. I remember in the distant past( when dinosaurs ruled the earth) how I felt when Sally and I bought our first home. For me growing up in apartments all my life, made this a real thrill.
After the closing we had 226 dollars between us. I still remember. I got paid once a month. So we had to live on that for 2 weeks. We bought paint for the homes inside. We bought food for our insides. We … (7 comments)
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north georgia: Mountain Real estate Report - 09/25/09 02:45 PM
This week the mountain real estate report focused in part on reverse mortgages. I am also including a link to a blog I wrote about this topic this week. Take a moment to read it. Those who did found some ways to use this product for their clients and their business.
link to blog is http://activerain.com/blogsview/1253492/a-reverse-mortgage-for-what- … (2 comments)
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north georgia: Ball Ground Near the Etowah Sunday Photo - 09/06/09 04:08 PM
Am I in Kansas? No! This photo was taken in the Ball Ground area in North Georgia. The beauty of our mountains is as soon as some one finds some flat land it is farmed. These Sun flowers are just wonderful to see. This is a rather large field near the Etowah River
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north georgia: Introducing Big Canoe - 08/26/09 02:01 PM
Big Canoe Georgia is one of the best kept secrets East of the Mississippi. It is a community of approximately 10,000 Acres. It features 27 holes of Golf. A fitness Center. * out door tennis courts in a Beautiful Mountain setting as well as 3 pools one indoors.
Big Canoe is in the North Georgia Mountains. Elevations can be as high as 3200 feet. Yet you are only 1 to 1/2 hours from Atlanta. Going the other way you are close to Chattanooga as well as Asheville N.C.
Big Canoe is gated. But 1/3 rd of the space is set aside … (3 comments)
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north georgia: A new Dream. A new clean game - 12/09/07 01:35 PM
A while ago I posted a blog with an article from a famous Soviet woman. It touched me and it was about the American Dream of home buying. Now in the media there are all kinds of "catchy "titles. The dream turns into a nightmare. The dream gone bad. I am sure you all have heard them. In this network we talk about responsibility for our current problems. We are sharing the guilt. For those former Catholic school attendees we are doing Mia Culpa. So lets shift from guilt. Let's talk about dreams.
When I was young and athletic I dreamed of playing … (6 comments)
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north georgia: I saved a buck and lost my shirt ! - 12/03/07 10:40 AM
In all the buyers brains it has been drummed in that it is a buyers market !!!! Some where in the drumming another message has slipped in . The message is that since this is such a buyers market and sellers are so desperate why use a Realtor? Don't use one and save a buck. Let's save a buck and lose our shirts by buying in the following ways
1 Buy land on Ebay. This is a new and growing phenomena. People are buying land really cheaply . They are saving a buck. How many of those buyers are checking EPA sites … (12 comments)
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north georgia: As the Year winds down - 11/19/07 07:17 AM
Yes 2007 is winding down. It certainly has been an eventful year. Not all the events were good ! At this time as things slow a bit and I go out to split wood I use this time to think about business. There are 2 things I think about. 1. 2007 and 2. 2008
For 2007 I think about what worked and what didn't. How did I track my year? Was I able to make corrections in my plans? How did the services I bought pan out? For me starting All Mountain Realty was the big event in the year.
For 2008 I … (3 comments)
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north georgia: I am the man in the striped shirt ROUND 1 - 11/06/07 12:55 PM
OK buyers and sellers it is time to take a chill pill !!! Lately many of the buyers and sellers I work with have become very adversarial. I am the man in the striped shirt with the whistle refereeing rather than advising. Why is this?
Sellers feel like they are being ripped off. They feel all the negative press about housing is forcing them to take less than their property is worth. They feel Buyers are taking advantage of them. They feel buyers are making unrealistic demands for repairs. In other words the old bottle in the frig and a good luck … (8 comments)
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north georgia: What do we really Know about this Market ? I want a HOUSE - 11/01/07 08:56 PM
It's time to talk realistically about this market.
First there are things like fire, drought natural disasters that effect a market. But since we really have little or no control over them they are what they are and that's that.
Then there are the things that we do that effect the market. The sub prime mess coupled with the really big mess of investors being WAY over extended has created our housing problem. It is interesting that we do not talk enough about the investors who bought 6 or 7 houses couldn't close on any of them and went under.
So the question … (2 comments)
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north georgia: Pearl Buck,Willy Sutton, New business cards, an idea and a movement!!! - 10/21/07 10:55 AM
My title for this blog is the most ambitious yet ! So here goes.
We deal in real property. Real property has always been recognized as a thing of Value. Many of you read The Good Earth in School. It was the land that made the poor serf Olan I think was his name rich. The down fall of the family that was foreshadowed in the end of the Pearl Bucks book saw his children selling off the land. Land and real property has recognized real value !
This leads us to Willy Sutton whose big claim to fame was the immortal line when asked, "Why … (3 comments)
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north georgia: I never cried Wolf but they still don't trust me ! - 10/19/07 07:07 AM
I attended a local board meeting yesterday. I learned that the long range and short range(less than 3 years) problem facing Realtors is a lack of trust. A big part of this lack of trust is that NAR reported last year 50 percent of those who are new never made it past the first year. Personally I thought that number would be higher. Maybe in this market in 2007 it will be. Why!
There are a number of reasons. You cannot do this part time. It is not easy. It is more competitive than you think. How many Aunt Minnies do you … (9 comments)
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north georgia: Things we Realtors do that frost my beer mug - 10/18/07 08:46 AM
Our clients fold ,spindle and mutilate our spirit on a regular basis. We are no walk in the park to each other either. There are many things we see on our MLS's. Here are my top peeves with my fellow Realtors. It would be interesting to see what could be added
1 Directions.There are distances to be covered in the mountains. So I adore directions that say turn left on Jones road and then right on Smith road. What is left out is that Smith road is 6 miles away down Jones road. So here I go looking at every sign down Jones … (8 comments)
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north georgia: Where's the Water ? - 09/30/07 09:20 AM
If ocean front property is the most desirable, and mountain property a close second, then water front property in the mountains must be the first place many folks look to buy. In fact it is. There are a few types of water property buyers. I am going to list them and talk about one of them in detail.
1 The stream buyer. This buyer wants to hear the sound of the water and see the frogs and sit by a stream.
2 The river buyer. This buyer is a little more serious about their water wants. They may want to fish. They may … (3 comments)
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north georgia: E=MC Squared, Newton, and the price of Carpet - 09/18/07 03:32 PM
In Physics the second corollary to Newton's third law of gravity is , The probability of the bread landing Jelly side down is in direct proportion to the price of the carpet. In todays vernacular put simply, "Stuff happens". In real estate stuff happens. But there is one thing that really frosts my beer mug.
Today our Justice department, with our tax dollars, that we make in our business, is suing NAR and MLS's for being monopolies. Forget that there are hundreds of MLS's. Forget that there are only 3 oil companies, one giant computer company, etc. etc. Our government thinks they can … (1 comments)
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