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"Fall" for North Georgia - Places to Go, People to See, Things to Do - October 2008 Edited

By Donna Yates

Real Estate Agent with BHGRE - Metro Brokers

October 02, 2008 04:24 AM

(October 2008)

Winterize Your Home
Winter winds will soon blow

"Fall" for Food
Recipe for a great Autumn

Great Fall Festivals
Places to go, people to see...

Home Buyers
Buyer's Agency Representation

Home Sellers
What is your home worth?

Question of the Month
Appraisal vs. Assessment

Donna Yates
Georgia Realtor
Mountain Investments
of North Georgia
Mountain Spirit, LLC
Blue Ridge, Georgia 30513

706-633-0644 (cell) direct

Websites:
www.move2northgeorgia.net
www.mynorthgeorgia.net
www.greatgeorgiahomes.net

Blogsite:
Around the Mountains with Donna

Email:
donna@ellijay.com

FEATURED HOMES FOR SALE
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More BLOGS
Creekside Chalet
The Great Escape
First Time Homebuyer
Toccoa River
Copperhead Lodge
Price Is Right
Earnest Money
Gilmer County

Posted: October 2, 2008
Dated Material

Please note this material is dated- post date of this blog is
October 2, 2008 and information contained herein is
as of October 2, 2008

Winterize Your Mountain Home
Many homeowners in North Georgia have a primary home elsewhere and need to winterize their mountain getaway. It won't be long and the winter winds will be blowing. Make sure your home is ready whether a second home or primary home, there are certain things that need to be done to prepare. Make your winter more comfortable and energy efficient by checking out these tips. Remember inspections of your furnace, fireplace and cleaning gutters need special attention.

"Fall" for Food
What a fun time of the year for great foods! With Halloween and Thanksgiving just around the corner, this site offers the best recipe to make a great Autumn season.

Great Fall Festivals (2008)
Places to go, friendly folks to see, things to do throughout North Georgia. One of the best times to explore and journey through North Georgia while the leaves are changing. Mark your calendars for these events and visit local apple orchards that are packed with family fun, great food, friendly people and sure to send you home with cherished memories.

North Georgia Fall Festivals R&A Orchards

Georgia Mountain Fall Festival Hillcrest Orchards

Georgia Sorghum Festival B. J. Reece Apple House

Oktoberfest in Helen Red Barn of Ellijay

Georgia Apple Festival Panorama Apple House

A-Maize-Ing We Will Go Merciers Orchards

Gold Rush Days

Home Buyers
Buyer's Agency Representation is a benefit that cost the buyer nothing! Do you know that when a buyer contacts a Real Estate Professional that the agent you speak to represents the seller. Until you hire a brokerage firm and its agents to represent (you, the buyer) you should avoid saying anything to the seller's agent that you , the buyer would not want disclosed to the seller. Learn more at: Move 2 North Georgia

Home Sellers
What is your home worth these days? Short of getting an actual appraisal, a Real Estate Professional can assist you with a free Home Value Report. This report will help determine your home's projected value in the current marketplace. Read about strategies to increase your home's value. Can your house sell in this market - YES, It Can! but it must be priced right. Inventory is up, prices are down, and the competition is tough. Request a free analysis, have a question, need more information - contact donna@ellijay.com

Question of the Month
What is the difference between home appraisal vs. assessment?
In a nutshell, you, the homeowner or home buyer pays for an appraisal. The government performs an assessment for property tax purposes.

Appraisal is normally requested by a homeowner or a home buyer's mortgage company to confirm the value of a home matches the price on a mortgage application. Lenders do not want to grant a home loan if the sales price far exceeds the actual appraised value.

Assessment is when the city or county government assesses the value of a home to determine how much property tax will be paid. Assessments are based on property sales records, size, age, condition, location and other factors. Property taxes are based on an equation of the mileage rate multiplied by the government assessment. (The mileage rate is what you pay per $1000 of value). Be sure to check with your county tax assessor's office for expert advice and information. Click on County Link below.

Fannin County Gilmer County Union County Towns County

Comments(15)

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Gary Woltal

Keller Williams Realty - Flower Mound, TX

Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth

Donna, terrific information in many categories as always. The tips on the winterizing the homes definitely apply to those who have second homes in the Georgia mountains and they are vacant part of the year. I am amazed how many fall festivals you have too and that you found the links to all of them. Great job.

Oct 02, 2008 04:28 AM

Donna Yates

BHGRE - Metro Brokers - Blue Ridge, GA

Blue Ridge Mountains

Gary: Wow, you were right on top of this one. I only listed a handful of festivals. Just about every small town here will have something going on. Fall is one of our happiest times in the mountains. Leaves are starting to turn and the air is fresh and crisp. Time to be out for a great adventure in North Georgia. Thank you for your comment.

Oct 02, 2008 04:33 AM

Harriet Carter

North Georgia Mountain Realty - Sautee Nacoochee, GA

As usual, Donna- excellent post!

I am learning from you in leaps and bounds - and I look forward to you and I being able to do some referral business !

All the best- Happy Fall!

Harriet Carter
North Georgia Mountain Realty
53 Highway 255
Sautee-Nacoochee (White County) GA

Oct 02, 2008 06:28 AM

Keith Perry

Coldwell Banker - Hiram, GA

REALTOR - West Metro Atlanta

Hi Donna, what a great post!! I will have to mosey up there and catch a fest.

Oct 02, 2008 08:35 AM

Tom Plant

WINEormous.com - Murrieta, CA

Donna - What a terrific post. Lots of good tips here!

Oct 02, 2008 10:15 AM

Donna Yates

BHGRE - Metro Brokers - Blue Ridge, GA

Blue Ridge Mountains

Harriet: Aren't we so fortunate to be in the mountains during Fall. Leaves are already starting to change and I definitely love the crisp air!

Keith: You stay so busy, I don't know how you will make time but I hope you do. Take a break and come up and some great fun.

Tom: Glad you are back. We have so many second homes here and I've been asked quite a number of times about winterizing their cabins. Hopefully, the links will help.

Oct 02, 2008 11:45 AM

Pat Whitehouse

RE/MAX 1st Olympic Lynchburg Va - Lynchburg, VA

Broker/Owner

Hi Donna-What an awesome post. So informative. I put the recipe one in my favorites so I can go back and check them out. There is a corn maze about 5-10 minutes from my house. they just started it this year so I don't know how they doing with it. It's located on a pretty busy highway. There are a lot of festivals in your areas I got to do something similiar to this for Lynchburg. Glad you're back. Take care-Your friend-Pat

Oct 02, 2008 01:16 PM

Cynthia Tilghman, Realtor® Onslow County NC Home Specialist

Kingsbridge Realty, Inc - Hubert, NC

Hi Donna,
Wow, you covered a lot of information in this one blog. I'm heading to the "Fall" for food--with the chill in the air, I'm ready for something that taste like Fall.

Oct 02, 2008 11:54 PM

Donna Yates

BHGRE - Metro Brokers - Blue Ridge, GA

Blue Ridge Mountains

Pat: I think I'm going to take my grandchildren to the corn maize here over the weekend. I've heard it's pretty a-maize-ing! This is one of the best times in the mountains for us. Lots of great things to do and the weather is just awesome. Thanks so much for stopping by. Cynthia: I looked at that site for recipes. Looks like they have some pretty good ones. I'm not one to cook or bake as a rule but there's something about Halloween and Thanksgiving for sure, that makes me want to cook. I do have a long standing tradition to make homemade vegetable soup on Halloweeen evening (always good after trick or treating with the kids). Enjoy. Update: I've tried to separate these two comments (one to Pat and one to Cynthia) but AR still runs it all together. Sorry ladies.

Oct 03, 2008 12:01 AM

Pat Whitehouse

RE/MAX 1st Olympic Lynchburg Va - Lynchburg, VA

Broker/Owner

Donna-Well, did you take your grandchildren to that corn maize. I bet it was fun if you did. You have 2 beautiful grandchildren so I bet that was quite the adventure. I went away last weekend for a womens getaway. It was fun. I have to get the pics downloaded and do a blog about it shortly. Unfortunately, I caught a cold when I was there and I am feeling lousy so I'm headed to bed early tonite and I hope if I take some cold medicine it might help. After I posted my comment I forgot to come back and look at yours til tonite. Don't worry about the fact that both of our comments were together like that. I could still read them with no problem. Take cre and I'll talk to you again.

Oct 08, 2008 12:22 PM

Bob White

Woodland Home Inspections - Cartersville, GA

Don't forget the Apople Festival in and around Ellijay (this week and next, I think) ---

It's the middle of October and the Fuji apples should be plentiful ---

We and our home group are headed up there Sunday after the morning service....

Oct 08, 2008 01:36 PM

Bob White

Woodland Home Inspections - Cartersville, GA

Doh!! I see you listed the apple fest now....

Oct 08, 2008 01:37 PM

Donna Yates

BHGRE - Metro Brokers - Blue Ridge, GA

Blue Ridge Mountains

Hi Pat: I'll be visiting you soon. Thanks for dropping by.

Bob: Yes, it's listed as the Georgia Apple Festival. Fuji apples are good aren't they ! The list wasn't mean to capture every apple festival going on around the mountains due to space limitation on the post itself but I did try to list some of the more popular ones. Hope you have a great time and come back and let me know what you and your home group did on your visit. Thanks for your comment. Have fun.

Oct 09, 2008 12:33 AM

Bob White

Woodland Home Inspections - Cartersville, GA

Well, we went to the apple fest.

About twenty in all (about half kids --- other people's kids, thank goodness).

The children had great fun riding camels, getting sling-shot into the air on bungees, and rock wall climbing...

We adults --- um --- well, we ate. And ate. And ate. Onion blossoms, foot-long corndogs, fresh crisp sliced apples covered in caramel and chopped peanuts, funnel cakes, etc., etc.

Then, as if we needed it, we all stopped at Panarame and bought bushels and pecks of apples, apple sauce bread, and more....

To top our visit to Ellijay off, we all dropped in on Colonel Pooles BBQ place and "pigged" out. Again.

Oh, yeah, the fall colors were good, too.

All in all a great day.

Oct 18, 2008 11:37 AM

Donna Yates

BHGRE - Metro Brokers - Blue Ridge, GA

Blue Ridge Mountains

Bob: So glad for the follow-up about your visit to the apple fest. Foot log corn dogs, I didn't know. Wasn't Colonel Pooles place "one of a kind"! Last fall was so much prettier but it's been nice this year, just don't think the leaves are going to hang around as long as they did last fall.

Oct 22, 2008 08:08 AM