Stop Flushing Money Down the Toilet

Do something good for yourself.  With the economy slowing and gas prices increasing it is time to look at your current situation and identify ways that you can save money by cutting your current expenses.  One way to do this is by switching out your old toilets with new water conserving toilets.

Following Dekalb County’s Plumbing Retrofit Law, the City of Roswell in partnership with the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, is now participating in the Toilet Rebate Program.  The program allows Roswell residential water consumers the opportunity to apply for a rebate on the purchase of new water-saving toilets to replace older inefficient toilets.

Roswell residential water consumers are eligible to receive a toilet rebate if the following is met:

1. Have an individual residential account with a participating water utility in the District and be up to date on your billing payments.
2. Own or rent a single-family residential home built in 1993 or earlier (this will be verified).
3. Purchase an approved toilet after September 28, 2007 to replace an older toilet using greater than 1.6 gallons per flush (gpf)
4. Agree to an installation verification visit to ensure your efficient toilets have been installed.
5. Agree to complete a program participation survey.

Who is NOT eligible:

1. Customers who have already received a rebate from a District water utility.
2. Customers of utilities who are not participating in the program.
3. Customers who own or rent a single-family home built after 1993.
4. Customers who purchased a toilet before September 28, 2007.
5. Customers who currently have a 1.6 gallons per flush (gpf) or less toilet.
6. Customers living in a multi-family residence or non-residential customers.

There are two rebate options, and a limit of two toilet rebates per household.  Toilets that fit into option 1 are eligible for a $50.00 rebate and toilets listed in option 2 qualify for a $100.00 rebate.

For more information view the Residential Toilet Rebate Program’s website.

What do you think? Is this a program you would take advantage of in Roswell?

Glazer Design & Construction

Whether you are thinking about making changes to your home or business, or building something new, Glazer Design & Construction offers a wide-variety of construction services, designed to meet your every need.

Glazer Design & Construction has been serving the design, remodeling and construction needs of Metro Atlanta since 1995. We are proud to provide our clients with premium quality work at affordable prices, without sacrificing the integrity of the design or the materials that go into it.

Humans Aren’t the Only Victims of Foreclosure

The month of May saw more than 7,000 courthouse auctions. Homeowners, builders, developers and commercial property owners have stopped making payments and as a result lenders are repossessing them. This creates great opportunity for investors and landlords alike. However, there isn’t opportunity for all. The victims of foreclosures are not just humans, many family pets are being left behind.

The high rate of home foreclosures throughout the Atlanta area is having an impact on local animal shelters as they are seeing a disturbing trend develop. These people losing their homes are moving in with relatives or rental places and they aren’t always able to bring their pets with them. Many pet owners faced with foreclosure call local animal shelters, however not all pets are this lucky.

Meet Lexus. Lexus is an Australian Shepherd dog that was left behind when her owners were foreclosed upon. She is presently being fostered by a Keller Williams agent in our office, however it will not work as a permanent home. Lexus gets along great with kids and other dogs, but unfortunately not with cats. She is a great dog that is very well trained and behaved and is in need of a new home.

If you or someone you know would like to make Lexus a member of your family, contact us. info@soldonroswell.com or by phone: 770.300.0023

The Future of GPS Technology in the Real Estate World

There are sites now starting to pop-up where you can download your own Points of Interest (POI’s) into your GPS unit. 

Realtors could load up a GPS with specific POI’s for clients and ultimately make them available through a website where they can just download them into their own GPS.

They are also starting to come out with beta software to do GPS tours…when you drive by a POI, it starts an MP3 with info on that POI…so think about call signs IVR being replaced by a GPS recording.  What I see in the future is that every real estate listing has a POI you can download from the internet into your GPS…advertising/information is also downloaded on a voice file with that POI.

Go to these sites to read more: http://www8.garmin.com/products/poiloader
Custom POI sites:  http://www8.garmin.com/products/poiloader/POISource/
There are more links there that can be clicked upon.

30-Day Housing Trend for Horseshoe Bend Neighborhood in Roswell

Currently there are 18 active listings in the Horseshoe Bend neighborhood ranging from $307,900 to $1,595,000. Of the 18 active listing one listing is currently under contract as “Contingency-Other”. The listing at 400 Wayt Road came back on the market and sold after reducing their asking price by nearly $25,000. A total of 5 houses are currently under contract, 4 houses sold, and 4 listings expired.

The Benefits of a Recession or Down Market

In times of recession most people are fearful and uneasy. They are worried about their jobs, mortgage, bills, etc. We are currently experiencing a slowed economy which has created an economic crisis. The Chinese character for crisis is composed by combining two different characters; one represents fear and the other represents opportunity. While the current state of our economy creates fear it is also important to look at the opportunity that it presents.

Refinance Your Home
During a slowing economy it is standard practice for the Federal Reserve to make interest rates extremely low in the attempt to ward off or get out of a recession. This is a great time to refinance your home and lock in at a lower rate.

Declining Real Estate Prices
The law of supply and demand is at work. A surplus of homes and land for sale will result in falling prices which creates a buyer’s market. Because fewer people are looking to buy versus individuals trying to sell, fewer people benefit so prices fall rather than increase. If you are a first time home buyer, someone who is “buying up” or an investor this is a great time to buy.

Time to Streamline Finances
Prior to most recessions is “the boom”, a period in which the economy flourishes, when this happens individuals and businesses often lard up the muscle with fat. Money is spent foolishly and budgets do not dictate how money is spent. A recession forces both individuals and businesses to diet…to trim down and get back into shape. They look at ways in which they can better spend their money and how to maximize the value of every dollar spent. A shift occurs and money isn’t spent as freely as it is during times of rapid growth.

The Rebate Check
Starting in June most Americans will receive a check or direct deposit from the IRS, possibly for $300, maybe $600, or perhaps $1,200 or somewhere in between. The check is an advancement on 2009 returns so the money isn’t exactly free…consider it more like an advancement from the government or a “no-interest” loan.

Undervalued Stocks and Bonds
Simply put; buy low, sell high. In a bull market short-term investors ride the rising tide…in a bear market it is the long-term investor that prevails. This is a great time to buy stocks because many are undervalued due to the current economic state of the nation. The market will eventually bounce back and those that have invested and bought low will reap the financial rewards when they sell high.

Lower Credit-Card Rates
Individuals with good credit rating are now in a position to ask for favors from their lenders. It is common that during a recession credit-card companies see a greater amount of delinquent payments, and as such it becomes important they keep their good, paying customers. As such, if you have good credit you can request to have your interest rates lowered and annual fees waived.

Vacation
Vacation get-a-ways and resorts suffer in times of recession and as such they tend to offer great deals and packages…take advantage of this great opportunity!

Become an Economist
That’s right…put your minor in Economics to use and woo your friends with your understanding of the economy!

Spring Cleaning: Pressure Washing & Gardening

I bought my first house this past December. The house I bought was a foreclosure in Terramont Subdivision in Roswell. The house needed mostly cosmetic work and I have been working diligently to rehab and “modernize” it. The inside of the house is nearly complete and with the warm weather I have begun to focus on projects outside of the house.

A few weeks ago I rented a pressure washer from the Home Depot, just down the road from me on Holcomb Bridge Road in Roswell…the cost including supplies was right around $100 for the day. I had enough time to pressure wash the concrete around the pool as well as the covered deck. I had to return the pressure washer before I incurred any additional charges so I was unable to get to the driveway, front sidewalk, or the house itself. Looking back it would have made sense to buy vs rent because you can get a pressure washer new for around $200-$300…I probably have a day or two worth of washing still to do.

Check out the before and after shots of the concrete around the pool below:

Last week my girlfriend Elika and I spent the weekend moving clay from the backyard to the front, filling a hole that was a result of building material waste from when the house was originally built. We purchased 35, 44lb bags of topsoil from Home Depot to mix in with (using a roto-tiller we bought, not rented) the remaining clay in the backyard to prepare for new landscaping. We still have three sides of the pool left to get ready, but we completed the biggest section.

I don’t want to have to pay a landscaper to do the work to my landscape, but I also don’t know where to begin. Neither Elika nor I know much about gardening so I sent an email to a few agents in our Keller Williams Realty - First Atlanta office asking if anyone could suggest a “master gardener” local to Roswell who could help us create design plans that we could then follow and do the work ourselves. My email led me to Tara Dillard who has quite the extensive and impressive resume. She has written five books, hosted various gardening television programs, written for magazines, served as an instructor and speaker for various groups, and the list continues.

For reasonable professional fees Tara has agreed to meet with me at my house in Terramont to create my landscape plan. The plan will incorporate plants, such as azaleas, camellias, and hydrangeas to ensure something is blooming everyday…something that if I attempted on my own I most likely wouldn’t achieve.

I’ll be sure to follow up with additional blog posts and pictures as I work on this project.

Newly Installed Landscape Watering Restrictions for Roswell

Residents of the city of Roswell may get a one-time 30-day exemption for watering newly installed landscaping to allow watering from midnight to 10 a.m. for three days a week by obtaining a certificate through the EPD Outdoor Water Use Registration Program.

There are three ways to obtain your certificate. Each requires you to view a presentation and pass a quiz.

• At your County Extension Office.

• At a retail garden center.

• Online.

All newly installed landscapes must be registered online through the EPD Outdoor Water Use Registration Program. They must also be registered on the city’s Outdoor Water Registry and post the permit issued.

Do I Need a Permit When Finishing Off My Basement?

Recently one of my client’s posed this question to me…”Do I need to get a permit from the county when I finish off my basement?” When getting bids from contractors, most were pushing back on this as it creates so much of a hassle for the contractor and adds delays and expense to the process. My client was concerned about whether not getting a permit would impact them when it came time to sell their house.

Here has been my experience with basement permits….rarely have I seen it come up as a question from a potential buyer as to whether or not the remodeling was permitted….especially if it is professionally completed.

It was also implied in the original client’s email to me that the contractor(s) thought not obtaining a permit could impact the square footage calculation upon resale of the home. That was news to me, so I also called an appraiser/past client of mine to get his take. He confirmed that they never take into consideration whether or not a basement has been permitted when assessing a home’s value on an appraisal. At the same time, finishing a home’s basement may not carry the same value as the main living spaces of the home…it all depends on the quality of the finishes.

However, the one person that would take permitting and square footage into account is the tax assessor…which is why people often do not get permits, they don’t want to increase their tax base because their s.f. has increased.

I think the more important thing to do is ensure that any contractors that are hired to finish your basement are qualified guys that will build to code. Should you go to sell, there is a question on the Seller’s Property Disclosure Statement that asks if there was any work done that was not permitted. You disclose it there and just indicate that you used professional contractors that built to code (I have not really seen this typically questioned by buyers even if disclosed as such…again, if it looks professional). If the Buyer still has questions, they can conduct their own general inspection as part of the normal home buying process to ease their concerns.

Ultimately, the decision is yours as to whether or not you require permits and the amount of risk/expense that creates for you as a result. In my real estate experience the only time I have seen the question of permits come up has been when there is a poor quality of construction (like on an older home that was remodeled) or perhaps a deck that was built near a flood plain or something like that.

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