While this site is not going to be updated until October you can still find information about Real Estate in Bent Tree, Big Canoe and Pickens County by visiting my Bent Tree Real Estate site.
See you round the Mountains ( in October)
Don
Last Friday and Saturday Governor Purdue and the Georgia Department of Community Affairs sponsored Business and Housing Expos at 6 locations across the state. The purpose of the expositions was to inform citizens, non-profit organizations and state and local government agencies about programs available in Georgia that might be leveraged to gain the state and our communities a faster, stronger economic recovery.
I attended the northernmost expo on Saturday which was located at the Coosa Valley Technical College in Calhoun. I was interested in finding out what was available both in my role as a Realtor ® with clients who might find the programs useful and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Pickens County Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of the Chamber’s Business Council. I found the trip worthwhile on many levels and I will be writing short articles over the next few days providing information on the new programs that I found or providing new information on existing programs.
Our hosts at Coosa Valley Technical College were gracious and helpful, but I couldn’t help but draw comparisons between their facility and our Appalachian Technical College (soon to be the Jasper campus of Chattahoochee Technical College). Actually, there are no good comparisons as our Appalachian Tech campus is years ahead of its Calhoun counterpart and the new combined Chattahoochee Tech looks to become the strongest school in the entire state network of Technical Colleges. Just another great reason to be excited about the great place we live!
The articles from the conference will start tomorrow with the Georgia Weatherization Assistance Program.
See you ‘round the mountains,
Don
Executive Retreat on Private Lake
We just listed this spectacular executive retreat on 3.78 acres and I thought you might want to take a look at it. The home is located just outside Bent Tree and only a few miles from Big Canoe so it is only about an hour North of I-285, but it is decades away from Atlanta. The home overlooks its own 1.23 acre lake and looks up into Bent Tree towards Little Hendricks and Mole Mountains. The home has been completely reworked by its current owners and it now has Brazilian Cherry floors and granite counters to go with its spacious rooms and warm inviting ambiance.
The Home Looks Over the Lake and up into the Mountains
The master suite has been doubled in size and now has a Master Closet large enough for a Board Meeting and spectacular new Master Bath with dual furniture style vanities and a stone and glass enclosed shower and tub with multiple shower heads – a real spa!
Huge Den with massive fire place and flat screen TV
The home has formal living and dining areas, a spacious kitchen and an enormous den that over looks the lake along with 3 guest bedrooms in addition to the master.
Glass, stone and lots of water sources!
The Computer is a Moron - Not Me!!
I am not on the Mountain today. I am sitting in the Gwinnett Center attending the RE Tech South show. About 425 Realtors from across the South are here trying to learn what tools are the best tools to assist our clients. Social Networking is getting a lot of play as well as lots of interesting new tools.
We are already using two Multiple Listing Services, multiple websites, multiple blogs, bots that push our listings to dozens of sites, we have 800 Call Back Technology and just added TEXTMYMLS this past week. However, there are lots of other great programs and ideas out there and we hope to bring some new ones back to help our buying and selling clients. I will be back on the Mountain Saturday with a pocketful of new ideas.
See you round the mountains,
Don
One of the things that always happens in a market slow down is that owners decide to make improvements to their existing homes rather than purchase a new one. There are dozens of books and thousands of articles that weigh the various advantages and disadvantages of just about every option you can imagine.
In the United States there is a pretty clear consensus that kitchens and bathrooms are the wisest places to make major investments. Much to my surprise it appears that in Germany “His and Hers Closets” are at the top of the list. I didn’t believe it at first and then I stumbled on this YouTube video that explains the apparent paradox.
Now I remember why I enjoyed my tour in Germany so much. They really have their priorities in the right place. I hope your friends and neighbors are just as excited about your next home improvement.
See you round the mountains,
Don
The sky did not fall in 2008, but we did have a pretty low ceiling for most of the year.
Pickens County Georgia
According to REALIST, a national tax and real estate information service, overall sales in the county fell from 688 units in 2007 to 394 units in 2007. That amounts to a decline of almost 43% year to year. On the other hand the average sale only fell about 13%. That includes foreclosure sales so the value of resale homes actually held up pretty well. According to the First Multiple Listing Service (FMLS) one of the two major real estate services in this area and the one that most properties in PIckens County are listed on there were 257 listed single family homes sold in 2008 with lowest listing price of $49,999 and a highest of $2,295,000. The average list price was $219,008 and the average sold price was $205,964. Continue reading »
As we venture into 2009, I wanted to take a moment to say THANK YOU for you support and your business in 2008.
I know that for many folks this has been a very challenging year and I certainly hope that 2009 will bring us some better news of all kinds. Despite all the challenging events of 2008, a lot of good things have happened as well and I thought it only fair to take note of that. Continue reading »
Pickens County Home Sales Through October 31, 2008
Sales continued to plod along at a less than spectacular rate; never-the-less they are plodding along and homes are still selling, banks are still financing and, despite what you read in the newspaper and hear on the television every day, homes in this market are still selling, on average, at over 90% of their current listing price. Continue reading »
Well according to most of the talking heads this has been a long time coming and is based on decisions made years ago. I am sure that by now you have heard explanations of how the housing downturn is at the root of all these problems. It is intuitively obvious that a housing downturn affects the people directly involved in the process: buyers, sellers, real estate professionals, mortgage lenders, builders, construction workers, inspection companies, cabinet makers, building supply companies – the list goes on and on. This provides impacts that you can see and feel in our local community. We have not worked our way through this part of the problem, but there are some signs locally that we may have finally reached a level that we can work up from.