The 11th annual Mercedes Marathon will be held Feb. 11-12, 2012, in downtown Birmingham.

The Mercedes Marathon is a qualifier for the Boston Marathon. Thousands of runners from around the world will be competing in Birmingham for the event. The race also includes a children’s run and a 5K run on Saturday. Sunday’s runners participate in either the full marathon or half marathon route through downtown Birmingham. Individuals and teams also run on behalf of local charities sponsoring children with special needs. Now in its eleventh year, the Mercedes-Benz Marathon weekend of events has become a Birmingham tradition. The 2011 event included more than 9,000 runners and walkers of all ages, shapes and sizes.

Proceeds from the event are given annually to children charities including The Bell Center for Early Intervention Programs and Kid One Transport. For more than 25 years, The Bell Center for Early Intervention Programs has provided therapy and special education services for infants and toddlers at risk for developmental delay including children born prematurely, or with spina bifida, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and a variety of other genetic disorders through its therapeutic programs. The program has realized dramatic results for more than 1,000 children who have benefited since its inception. Kid One Transport is a non-profit organization which provides transportation for children and expectant mothers in Alabama to any scheduled appointment to improve their health – medically, mentally, or physically. Since its inception in 1997, Kid One has completed 150,000 trips and served thousands of families. The Mercedes Marathon has raised more than $3 million for charity. If you are not a participant, come downtown and cheer the runners to the finish line. The Mercedes Marathon is Birmingham’s most recognized charitable event with a rich tradition.

Driving through the gated entrance of Greystone Farms, you quickly realize, you have arrived some place special. Nestled between Oak Mountain to the north and Shoal Creek to the south, Greystone Farms boasts 400 acres of beautiful wooded, rolling terrain. Comprised of seven different neighborhoods, Greystone Farms has something for everyone. Each neighborhood has a different architectural style and price–ranging from the very affordable high $100′s to over $500,000. The Farmhouse sits in the center of the community and is a great place for meetings and special events.

Adjacent to the Farmhouse is Farmhouse Lake which consists of 14 acres and is fully stocked with bass. Other amenities include a community pool and nature/walking trails surrounding the lake. Greystone Farms, a great place to live, play, relax, and call home.

The seven neighborhoods in Greystone Farms include:

Guilford — A garden home community situated on Farmhouse Lake.

Terrace Hills — A garden home community rising above Farmhouse Lake and nestled between rolling hills and lush wooded terrain.

Mill Creek — A garden home community located across from Farmhouse Lake with beautiful curving street scapes.

English Turn — A garden home community with architecture reminiscent of a quaint European village.

Milner’s Crescent — A single family home community with larger homes, many boasting three levels and lush landscaping.

The Brae — A single family home community nestled on top of a high ridge with panoramic views of Oak Mountain and Shoal Creek from every direction.

Lake’s Edge — A single family home community with large custom homes situated on beautiful Farmhouse Lake.

For more information about Greystone Farms contact Christina Rickey at crickey@homesearchsolutionsalabama.com

Groundbreaking for a $64 million downtown baseball park that will be built on Birmingham’s south side of town was held Thursday February 2, 2012. When the ballpark is completed the Birmingham Barons will play their home games in the stadium that will offer views of the downtown skyline and Red Mountain.

Officials have just announced Regions Bank as the title sponsor. The park will be called Regions Field, officials said.

The festivities began with a carnival featuring baseball players from Birmingham high schools and area colleges, a live jazz band and food stands. This afternoon’s activities at the western edge of Railroad Park are the symbolic beginning of the project to build a stadium and museum that will bring the Birmingham Barons back to the city. The team now plays at Hoover’s Regions Park and is scheduled to play in a completed new stadium next year.

Source: (The Birmingham News/Joe Songer)

Most buyers are information junkies and internet savvy.  Information is only as good as its source.  There is a wealth of real estate information on the internet, and it is great for research.  All this information is like puzzle pieces.  How do you assemble the pieces and complete the puzzle for a clear picture and understanding of the buying process? Which property best fits your needs?  If you were researching medical information, you would still go to your doctor for treatment.  I’m like a doctor of real estate; I encourage my customers; “find all the information you want; and I will give you expert interpretation.”  I will tell them what’s good, what’s bad, what’s accurate, what’s irrelevant; and what pertains to their personal situation in purchasing the home of their dreams for the best outcome.  Ask your doctor of real estate, Christina Rickey, for a healthy experience buying your next home.

What is your real estate question?  “Ask the Expert” by responding to Christina Rickey’s Home Search Solutions Blog!

BE THANKFUL FOR OUR BLESSINGS

If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.

If your parents are still married and alive, you are very rare, especially in the United States.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful, you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the millions who won’t survive the week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 20 million people around the world.

If you attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than almost 3 billion people in the world.

If you can hold someone’s hand, hug them, or even touch them on the shoulder you are blessed, because you can offer God’s healing touch.

If you can read this message, you are more blessed than over 2 billion people in the world that cannot read anything at all.

You are so blessed in ways you may never even know.  Home Search Solutions wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving!

Author Unknown

Total residential sales in Birmingham for the month of October 2011 were 803 compared to 563 in October a year ago (43% increase). Average price in October 2011 was $152,926 compared to $185,116 in October 2010 (17% decrease). Median price in October 2011 was $127,000 compared to $149,900 in September 2010 (15% decrease). Inventory totaled 8,778 for October 2011 compared to 10,422 in October 2010 (16% decrease). To read the entire report, click on http://bamls.com/PDFs/BrokerReport.pdf.

Source: Birmingham Association of Realtors

With the leaves turning colors, now is a great time to fall in love with Highland Lakes.  Highland Lakes in Birmingham, Alabama is located along the convenient 280 Corridor on top of Oak Mountain.  As you drive through the gated entrance, you soon realize you have arrived someplace special.  Highland Lakes offers panoramic views in every direction of Oak Mountain and the adjacent valley below.  Covering nearly 1700 acres, Highland Lakes has homes priced from $225,000 to well over $2 million dollars. Whether it is a home situated on an estate size lot in the Crest, a custom built family home, or a beautifully appointed garden home, Highland Lakes offers something for everyone.  Highland Lakes also boasts great amenities including several lakes, parks and walking trails. 

The following is a brief overview of sales in Highland Lakes:

Closed Sales Year to Date:  45

Average SalePrice:  $414,991

Highest Priced Sale:  $850,000

Lowest Priced Sale:  $227,000

Percent of List to Sold Price:  94.83%

Average Days on the Market:  88

Homes On the Market For Sale in Highland Lakes:  63 

It’s a buyer’s market, let Home Search Solutions help you find your dream home in Highland Lakes.

Home Search Solutions–Working for the Buyer…Always!

Information Obtained from the Birmingham Multiple Listings Service

North Shelby/Hoover

Sales: 82

Average Sales’ Price: $315,390

Percent of List to Sold Price: 94.72%

Average Days on the Market: 96

Homes for Sale in Area: 616

It’s a Buyer’s Market – Home Search Solutions–Working for the Buyer…Always!

Information Obtained from the Birmingham Multiple Listing Service

2011 Top States For Doing Business Survey Results

For the second year in a row, Area Development Magazine Special Presentation (Fall 2011) has conducted a survey of a select group of highly respected location consultants who work with a nationwide client base. We asked the consultants to name their top-5 state choices in 12 site selection categories. Here are the top overall states:

States were ranked in each of the 12 site selection categories based on the number of times they were named as a "top-5" choice by the responding consultants. Next, a top-5 state's ranking in each of the 12 categories was assigned a weight in accordance with its position in these individual categories. Based on these total weighted scores, Texas is far and away the consultants' #1 choice for doing business, followed by Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina (with weighted scores only a point apart), and finally Indiana in the #5 spot. Taking the #6–#10 rankings based on weighted scores are Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, and — surprisingly — California, in that order.

2011 Top States for Doing Business

                                                           1. TEXAS                    6. LOUISIANA

                                                           2. GEORGIA                7. NORTH CAROLINA

                                                           3. ALABAMA                8. TENNESSEE

                                                           4. SOUTH CAROLINA   9. MISSISSIPPI

                                                           5. INDIANA               10. CALIFORNIA

Have you ever driven down Mountain Brook Parkway and wondered what it would be like to live in The Old Mill? The Old Mill House designed by landscape architect William H. Kessler is a 1926 replica of Perryman's Mill built by the Jemison Companies. It originally operated as a tea room, but the tea room closed during the Great Depression. It has since been converted into a private residence. Located on the bank of Shades Creek, it is a welcoming site as you enter the affluent suburb of Mountain Brook.