Local Real Estate Comments and Ramblings

Buyers - Ask about our 100% Financing Loan Program!!!

Gorgeous 3 Bed / 2 Bath with private backyard, great location, brand new, bank owned and ready for you!  
Welcome Home! Hang your hat in this 1-story brick front ranch home in Douglasville/Hiram. This home has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a full basement, roomy family room with wood-burning fireplace, master suite with walk-in closet for your wardrobe, whirlpool tub, separate shower, distinctive dining room with wood floors, sunny kitchen with appliances included, dishwasher, breakfast area, first-floor laundry, home office where you can be the boss, large deck, 2-car garage. This is a brand new home (builder foreclosure) that is ready for you to call home. Buy this home using a grant for down payment- with no minimum credit score! Reduced from $249,900 to Only $199,850

 Price just reduced to $184,900!!!

Open Living Area with Cozy Fireplace.

Nice kitchen with large work areas.

Separate Dining Area with upgraded lighting.

Back Door opens to the deck overlooking private and lush backyard

View the virtual tour at:290 Woodridge Dr.

Call: Bob Southard 770-656-9143
:AgentBobSells.com

View the property website at: 290 Woodridge Dr. Website

Apply for a Mortgage Loan at: Centurion Mortgage - Barbara Southard

Buyers - Ask about our 100% Financing Loan Program!!!

Gorgeous 3 Bed / 2 Bath with private backyard, great location, brand new, bank owned and ready for you!  
Look No Further You may have found a winner in this 3-bedroom/2-bath ranch home is an easy drive to Hiram or Douglasville. Offers a roomy family room with wood-burning fireplace, master suite with whirlpool tub, walk-in closet for your wardrobe, separate shower, distinctive dining room with wood floors, first-floor laundry, sunny kitchen with dishwasher, breakfast area, appliances included. This is a brand new home (builder foreclosure) that is ready for you to call home. Buy this home using a grant for down payment- with no minimum credit score! Only $204,850 

Price Just Reduced to $184,900
 
Open Living Area with Cozy Fireplace.


Nice kitchen with large work areas.

Separate Dining Area with upgraded lighting.

Back Door opens to the deck overlooking private and lush backyard

View the virtual tour at:281 Woodridge Dr.

Call: Bob Southard 770-656-9143
:AgentBobSells.com

View the property website at: 281 Woodridge Dr. Website

Apply for a Mortgage Loan at: Centurion Mortgage - Barbara Southard

In my life before real estate I was in the car business. Its a terrible business to be in but that's a different story.  Walking in to a car dealership actually really makes me nauseous. I got tired of having to beat people up (figuratively) to make a sale, putting up with obnoxious sales manages was a whole other story.

I much prefer helping people make sound financial decisions regarding the purchase or sale of their home.

If you are in the market to buy a car here are a few tips that I would give, In no particular order :

Figure out what car you want before you go shopping.

If you are financing, Arrange financing before you go shopping. Although I highly recommend NOT financing at all.. If you finance a car you are paying interest for the guaranteed depreciation.

Shop on the internet. All dealers have internet department now and they will quote you prices over the net.  Make sure you ask for the total drive out price including all taxes and fees.  They all have stupid junk fees.  Don't argue with it just shop around.

If you shop on the 'net, know what you want, and have your financing ready, you can avoid this guy ....                                                                                                   Just show up, meet the internet rep, go for a quick test drive and inspection, then sign the papers and go home. 

Buy used. The average new car depreciated about 10-15% the fist year and about 20-30% during the first 3 years.  If you buy a $30,000 dollar car that's a $9000 dollar depreciation loss. $9k is a lot to pay just to have a warranty and the new car smell. And remember , if you financed the car, you paid interest on the $9k. A 2 year old car with low miles is almost new and still has a little factory warranty remaining, plus it has already taken a big hit on depreciation.

If you are financing there is nothing wrong with using the dealer financing as long as you already have your own financing available.  Compare rates.  If they can compete then what's the difference? Just be sure of all your figures so the dealer doesn't try to slide anything in on the deal.

Again, my recommendation is to buy used and pay cash. Many states will make you pay sales tax if you buy used from a dealer.  Here in Georgia that is the case, but there is no tax if you buy from a private party.

Keep your cars for a long time and don't trade too often.  Cars are expensive and a terrible investment.  Keep it a long time and get your moneys worth out of it.

I could probably think of a lot more but this is enough to be dangerous anyway :-)

Good luck. 

If you are looking for somebody to help you make wise choices regarding the purchase or sale of your next home in Powder Springs, Marietta, Kennesaw, Acworth, Dallas, Hiram, or the surrounding areas of Georgia, please give me a call.

See what you can do for a few hundred or a few thousand dollars. Watch my video as i show you 2 kitchens that I did.

One was my own kitchen for my home here in Country Walk subdivision, Powder Springs, Ga. We did new countertops, new appliances, refinished the cabinets, and did new cabinet hardware for $3500. $2300 of that was the appliances.

The other one was just a light make over with a new stove for about $600. The stove was about $450 at a local scratch and dent store.

Take a look!

Online Videos by Veoh.com

If you have a home to sell here in Cobb, Paulding or any of the surrounding areas, or if you are looking for a home, please feel free to give me a call!

Okay it might not be quite what it sounds like. But next Tuesday April 8 will stillbe a night for stargazers to remember.

It seems that we will have a bright crescent moon...

And it will appear to be touching the Pleiades star cluster

 aka "The Seven Sisters"

You can read the full story on NASA science news at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/04apr_crescentmoon.htm?list1033239

If you like stargazing you might want to sign up for the NASA science mailing list. 

You can also visit my previous blog about the total lunar eclipse

"1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

 2 Now the earth was ^[a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

 3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

Genesis 1:1-3

I am really mad! (see my earlier post http://activerain.com/blogsview/454845/Mad-as-H-L) I was getting ready to send some listings to a buyer client today.  When I pulled up the list I decided not just to look at the listings but I also went ahead and looked at some of the tours.

Does your MLS allow agent to put personal contact info on their tours?

Isn't it pretty universal as a part of the IDX sharing that we can't have our personal branding or contact info on the tours? As a part of the rules for FMLS this is definitely the case.  Anyway, of the 23 listings that I pulled up 4 of them had the agent contact info either branded on them or available with a contact button!

I was on fire! So I did another larger search and pulled up about 150 homes in the local area.  I found about 10-15 more!  Every agent that has their buyers on any kind of auto listing email is letting their buyer get solicited by the listing agent!

Some of these might have been newbies and not known any better but I know some of them were brokers or broker associates who should absolutely know better. I am pretty sure that one of the agents I found today was a repeat offender.

I'm not about to names any agents or company names but I did see some common threads. 

It was almost always on agent created tours.  If the tours were provided by a third party vendor, the vendor knows the rules and there was no problem.  The two sources for tour hosting were either IMPREV or Point2agent tours.  Both of those companies do appear to have an MLS compliant version, because I saw those as well.

Listen up agents (at least those of you that these rules apply to) when you put your listing in the MLS for me to send to my buyers don't put your info on there so you can in turn steal my buyers!     

Give it a quick watch. How much have things changed since 1976?

If you are like me you like to take care of your Georgia lawn but aren't sure what to do and when to do it.

When do I put down Pre emergent weed prevention?

When do I fertilize?

When do I aerate?

How about lime? How much? When?

 Are you tired of paying those guys in the big Chem Lawn truck to come and spray your yard, and then you always wonder, did they do anything or not?

I found some great lawn care calendars on the Georgia Gardener. Most of the lawns in this area are either Bermuda or Fescue but I links here to several calenders.

Bermuda Grass Care Calendar

Fescue Grass Care Calendar

Zoysia Grass Care Calendar

Centipede Grass Care Calendar

StAugustine Grass care Calendar