home buying: The Perks of a Winter Smith Mountain Lake Home Search
- 12/30/15 11:26 PM
The Smith Mountain Lake home search rises and falls from spring to fall like every other part of the country.
But some SML home buyers could benefit the most from a Smith Mountain Lake home search at a less popular time of the year - winter. Though warm temperatures and blooming landscapes tend to push the real estate search to a peak, wintertime property searches have many overlooked advantages.
In general, buying real estate in the winter months is not as popular as in Spring and Summer. This is especially true in a lake community, where things tend to grind to … (3 comments)
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home buying: Tips From Smith Mountain Lake Realtor Deb Beran
- 12/18/15 03:38 AM
Having lived at SML since 1988 and representing buyers and sellers for almost as long, Deb is a very experienced Smith Mountain Lake Realtor®️ who wants every homebuyer to be happy with their SML property.
While she loves showing potential homebuyers what they would love about a home, part of being a great real estate agent is making property buyers aware that certain property traits that would only hinder their lifestyle.
With assistance from realtor.com, we’ve put together a short list of common property characteristics that may not suit some Smith Mountain Lake home shoppers.
Getting Off the Island
Kitchen islands are popular … (2 comments)
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home buying: Home Buyers Shouldn’t Sweat Student Loans
- 06/05/15 11:53 PM
Millennial aged home buyers searching for an affordable Franklin County home or Bedford County home may wonder how much student loans will affect their ability to get a home loan. But there's good news from a recent study that shows student loans are not as likely to stand in the way of a mortgage loan as someone might think. As this news update states, TransUnion released a report that buyers between 18 and 29 with student loans do well on repayment and building good credit, both factors in obtaining home loan approval.
This kind of encouragement is great for young buyers who are ready to move … (0 comments)
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home buying: Smith Mountain Lake Parks Exceed Expectations
- 08/20/14 11:08 PM
One of Smith Mountain Lake’s greatest luxuries is a day hosted by Mother Nature. Our local parks are developed to help guests make the most of the peaceful, beautiful scenery. Though there are several picnic and play-friendly spots around SML, there are three that offer experiences well beyond the norm.
Hike, swim or fish the day away at the SML Community Park in Franklin County. Bike, camp and explore nature at the SML State Park in Bedford County. Each park has amazing views and help visitors take advantage of the lake’s fishing and swimming opportunities.
Booker T. Washington … (0 comments)
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home buying: Innovative Education Highlights Smith Mountain Lake Schools
- 08/17/14 10:46 PM
School children are donning backpacks once again in the Smith Mountain Lake community. Another school year is beginning at most area schools and man families here are expecting nothing short of excellence from public and private school systems. One of the ways the Franklin County school system is achieving high standards of learning is through an innovative, hands-on approach at the Gereau Center.
Franklin County’s Gereau Center is a creative learning center whose program combines challenging academic standards and integrating critical thinking skills in a problem-based learning approach. The Center for Energy Efficient Design (CEED), in which Energy Engineering is … (0 comments)
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home buying: Summer’s End Great for Home Selling
- 07/07/14 02:32 AM
The months between Memorial Day and Labor Day are peak season for home selling across the nation, Smith Mountain Lake included. If you’re one of the many home owners at Smith Mountain Lake looking to sell your property, let us help out with a few tips from a recent article in Forbes Magazine.
Though this summer started with a bang for home selling, its end may be even more impressive. Forbes states that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are loosening bank lending rules, which will be in effect by summer’s end. This is in conjunction with the nation’s largest lender, Wells … (0 comments)
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home buying: Room For the Garden To Grow at Smith Mountain Lake
- 06/30/14 04:16 AM
When it is time to think about that second home, retirement location or a more idyllic family neighborhood, Smith Mountain Lake often pops up on the radar. And one of the primary reasons is the acreage available. Many home buyers in this area are looking to trade crowding, traffic and small spaces for space to spread out and enjoy a personalized property. Local residents are making the most of the space available by following a national trend - growing their own food right in their backyard.
A recent article in the July/Aug Smith Mountain Laker Magazine highlights community members who are … (0 comments)
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home buying: A Gift To Young Golfers
- 05/14/14 10:45 PM
The golf scene at Smith Mountain Lake has always been a community highlight and now young golfers have a special place of their own to work on their game. The Laker Magazine’s spring edition includes the heart warming story behind the Smith Memorial Golf Training Complex newly opened at the lake’s W.E. Skelton 4-H Education Conference Center.
The practice facility offers young golfers a year-round place to exercise open driving, putting and chipping on a synthetic surface for easy maintenance. It was donated by a local SML resident in memory of his late wife, an avid golfer herself. Staff from area … (0 comments)
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home buying: Tips for the Home Search at Smith Mountain Lake - Know What You Need
- 04/23/14 03:25 AM
Searching for a new home can be so exciting that sometimes buyers lose focus of the practical parts of home ownership. Daily life requires more than great curb appeal and beautiful interiors, each family has certain needs that have to be prioritized in order to ensure a perfect property selection. Forbes Magazine offers a few tips for buying a home in the spring, ones we thought were appropriate for any of our followers who want to be smart about their Smith Mountain Lake property search. One tip is to make sure you know what you really need and want.
At … (0 comments)
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home buying: Tips for the Home Search at Smith Mountain Lake - Get Pre-Approved
- 04/18/14 01:57 AM
When the weather improves, so does home buying. Spring is consistently the busiest time of year for real estate, marked by increases in property listings, open houses and buying interest. Forbes Magazine offers a few tips for buying a home in the spring, ones we thought were appropriate for any of our followers who want to be smart about their Smith Mountain Lake property search. First is to hire an experienced real estate professional to guide your home buying process.
Second is to understand your financial capacity for a home mortgage. Recent changes in home financing make it even more … (0 comments)
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home buying: Tips for the Home Search at Smith Mountain Lake - Hire a Professional
- 04/16/14 03:44 AM
In spring time many aspects of the economy get a lift from tourism to home and garden, fashion to the entertainment industry. When the weather improves, so do moods - and spending. Spring is consistently the busiest time of year for real estate, marked by increases in property listings, open houses and buying interest. Smith Mountain Lake is no different. Our area’s homes show best when the landscape is green, the trees and flowers are in bloom and the warmer weather makes the lake most inviting.
Forbes Magazine offers a few tips for buying a home in the spring, ones we … (0 comments)
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home buying: Smith Mountain Lake - Where Home Improvement Is Easy
- 03/11/14 04:48 AM
Smith Mountain Lake is the type of community where everything you could possibly need to maintain a high quality of life is not only close by, but it’s offered by local residents who understand what a privilege it is to live at such a place. When your home needs work, something needs updating, interiors need decorating, the garden needs planting or you simply want to take good care of what has been done already, your best bet is going to be an expert or supplier right at Smith Mountain Lake.
You can find the best professional to do the work at … (0 comments)
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home buying: Smith Mountain Lake’s Latest Lodging
- 01/16/14 04:00 AM
The variety of accommodations at Smith Mountain Lake are one of the reasons visitors are drawn here again and again. No matter what type of trip you’re planning and what requirements it demands, there is a suitable type of lodging ready and waiting. Families often enjoy sharing a rental home complete with a deck, dock and great water views. Business associates can trade the pressures of work for a more relaxed professional gathering at one of our beautiful local convention centers. Hotels and motels, bed and breakfasts and houseboats round out the lodging scene.
Laker Magazine's latest lodging guide discloses more … (0 comments)
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home buying: Is a Homeowners Association Right For You
- 01/07/14 05:20 AM
Smith Mountain Lake’s residential scene contains neighborhoods with and without homeowners associations. The neighborhoods that do have HOAs vary quite a bit in standards, restrictions and benefits. The basics of an HOA, however, are prevalent in these communities and considering the pros and cons can be a great help to homebuyers who need to decide if they prefer to live in an HOA neighborhood or not.
realtor.com offers a brief list of pros and consfor those considering an HOA community, and here at Deb Beran Properties, we encourage our clients to know what they may benefit from with an HOA, and … (0 comments)
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home buying: Tour Open Houses at Smith Mountain Lake
- 10/18/13 01:04 AM
Real estate health at Smith Mountain Lake is on the same upswing as the national trend shows, and the pick up in activity at Deb Beran Properties affirms it. Buyers who are in searchof their lake dream home can no longer lingerat a distance and leisurely choose from plentiful inventory. The current state of real estate makes it necessary that home buyers be more aggressive and competitive. One of the ways we encourage getting ahead of the competition is by attending as many open houses as you can.
Most open houses happen over the weekends, so time your visit to Smith … (0 comments)
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home buying: Visit Smith Mountain Lake, Stay Forever
- 10/15/13 09:22 AM
As Smith Mountain Lake continues to become Virginia’s best kept secret discovered by the luckiest of home buyers and home builders, new residents find they have a lot in common. Many are from across or out of state, often the east coast. A lot are looking for less traffic, noise and people. Most dreamed of the kind of amazing mountain and lake countryside SML offers. For most, a visit here was the catalyst for making it home.
New residents frequently say they stumbled upon Smith Mountain Lake by wedding or event invitation, by mention of an acquaintance or by traveling through … (1 comments)
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home buying: Smith Mountain Lake’s 2013 Charity Home Tour
- 09/26/13 01:31 AM
The Smith Mountain Lake Charity Home Tour, one of our most popular annual events, demonstrates how easy it is to create a dream home at Smith Mountain Lake. The homes are always a fitting reflection of their owners, built to the precise preferences of those who reside in them. Many boast vast open areas for congregating, multiple bedrooms decorated for the tastes of children and grandchildren, offices and libraries for the business and academic space and sprawling basements with plenty of recreational activities to offer. Some provide stone fire pits, pools and patios for more outdoor time. Others have built in … (0 comments)
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home buying: Top Notch Neighbors
- 08/19/13 12:55 AM
Every home buyer hopes the community they move to will be scenic, economically stable, peaceful, exciting and well endowed with great schools and business opportunities. These requirements are relatively easy to investigate prior to moving, but one of the most important aspects of enjoying life in a new neighborhood, or not, is far less easily known. Good neighbors can make or break a community. A place can seem to have all the best aspects of the good life but be tarnished by pesky people who are too nosy, too noisy, too dirty or too demanding.
Excellent people are the pride and … (1 comments)
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home buying: Start Something New at Smith Mountain Lake
- 08/09/13 12:15 AM
Most of us have a hobby, skill or career we wish we could pursue but put on the back burner while life is full of other priorities and demands. We tell ourselves one day we’ll have time for it but that day never seems to come. Smith Mountain Lake is a perfect place for reigniting the flame of that hidden desire and local residents are doing it. Water sports, antique boat hobbyists, engineering feats and artistic development are just a few categories represented here by people who began later in life and are finding joy in that long-awaited pursuit.
Smith Mountain … (1 comments)
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home buying: Sold On Smith Mountain Lake
- 08/03/13 12:28 AM
Here at Deb Beran Properties, we like to make it a point to find out how community members not native to the area found themselves at Smith Mountain Lake. In many cases residents had been looking for a similar type of location for years before a family member, someone in their work place or an acquaintance encouraged them to check out our beautiful lake community in southwestern Virginia. Once they did, they were sold almost instantly.
An article in REALTOR Mag lists Tips for Finding the Perfect Neighborhood. Its advice includes ensuring access to favorite activities, checking out the school district, … (1 comments)
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The Smith Mountain Lake home search rises and falls from spring to fall like every other part of the country. 
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