Brian Vanderhoff's North Fulton Real Estate Blog

Traton Homes is offering home buyers up to $20,000 in savings of a new home in Atlanta during their 39th Anniversary Sunsational Summer Savings. Through September 21, 2010, prices have been reduced and/or incentives offered on 17 remaining new homes in East Paulding, Cherokee, Cobb and South Forsyth.

The featured homes now range from $189,700 for homesite #129 in Rosewood Park in East Paulding to $462,900 for homesite #34 in Kennesaw’s Paper Chase Farm. At all price points in between, buyers will find sale priced homes in Stonehaven at Vinings in Smyrna; Estates of Fernwood Creek near Roswell; The Pointe at Kirk Farms and Paper Chase Farm in Kennesaw; and Lochshire and the Gates at Parkside Village in Cobb.

The Gates at Parkside Village offers the only townhome on the list, with the three-bedroom end unit at homesite #46 reduced to $249,900. The old world feel of the community is accentuated by luxurious interiors appointed with granite, rich mouldings, hardwood floors and more. Proximity to Kennesaw Mountain Park and the Marietta Square means dining, shopping and recreation are nearby.

One ready to move-in home located in Kennesawy’s Paper Chase Farm is reduced to $462,900 during Traton’s Sunsational Summer Savings. Located in a community where homes are priced up to $1 million, the five-bedroom, four-bath home on homesite 34 has a guest suite on the main level with a luxurious owners suite, three additional bedrooms and a media room upstairs. The home is on a basement lot with a 3-car garage.

Traton Homes is known for offering homebuyers “Altogether More!” with more experience, more impressive architecture, more outstanding features and more rewarding lifestyles. Traton currently has 14 communities throughout Atlanta. With homes in Cobb, Cherokee, Roswell, Fulton, Paulding, South Forsyth and South Fulton, buyers are sure to find the location and features they desire.

If you’re ready to join the nearly 7,000 Atlanta families who come home to their Traton home each and every day (and take advantage of Sunsational Summer Savings before it’s too late), visit the Traton Homes website today.

Labels: Cherokee COunty, Cobb, Cobb County, Forclosures, Foreclosed, foreclosed homes, foreclosed homes for sale, foreclosed land, foreclosed properties, foreclosure, Foreclosures, foreclosures for sale, Forsyth, Forsyth County, marietta, Traton Homes

In these difficult financial times, more and more sellers are finding they need to sell their homes for less than they owe on their mortgages, known as a "short sale ." This can be a good deal for you as a buyer, as long as you're aware of the extra time and work required to make it happen.

The Mortgage Lender's "Short Sale" Factors
The seller's mortgage lender will be considering many factors in deciding whether to approve a short sale, including:

Whether the seller is deserving of a break, due to financial hardship caused by unforeseen circumstances such as layoffs, divorce or illness
Whether it would be cheaper to simply repossess the house, make any necessary repairs and sell it through a real estate agent
How many other properties the mortgage lender currently has in default
Whether there are co-signors who can be held responsible for the balance owed on the mortgage
The Short Sale Process
Your chances of success with the seller's mortgage lender improve if your communication with them is organized and complete. Your first contact with the seller's mortgage lender's "loss mitigation department" is crucial in making a good impression. You'll want to send them what's called a "Release" or "Authorization to Release Information" already signed by the seller, which allows the mortgage lender to talk with you about the seller's mortgage.

In your first talk with the mortgage lender's loss mitigator, you'll want to find out:

Whether they think a short sale might be a possibility
What information they'll need to complete the process
Loss mitigators sometimes receive bonuses based on how many defaulted loans they can clear up, so they're more likely to pay attention to your sale if you can show them you're taking care of as many details and objections as possible.

It will be necessary to be specific about the seller's financial difficulties with what's called a "hardship letter." The mortgage lender may also require paystubs, copies of medical bills, checking account statements and other appropriate evidence from the seller. The seller's mortgage lender will look at the seller's credit reports to verify the seller's financial predicament. This will all take extra time.

Broker's Price Opinion
The mortgage lender will order what's called a "broker's price opinion," which gives the mortgage lender some idea of what the property is actually worth in the current market. A broker's price opinion will be based on:


the value of comparable properties in the same neighborhood
the general condition of the neighborhood
the condition of the specific property in relation to neighboring houses
If the person who is inspecting the property needs to look at the interior of the house, you'll want to be sure someone is there to let him or her in. You may also want to provide the inspector with copies of low comparable houses in the neighborhood, and high estimates on any needed repairs. The lower the broker's price opinion, the more likely the mortgage lender will approve a short sale.

Settlement Statement Scrutiny
The seller's mortgage lender will want to have an advance look at what's called the " Settlement Statement" or "Settlement/Disbursement Estimate." The mortgage lender will be carefully reviewing:

Commissions going to real estate brokers
Where your financing is coming from (Cash? A loan?)
Payments to cover outstanding liens and taxes
Approximate date of the closing
Any cash to the seller (a definite no-no)
Any other expenses which may raise a red flag
While buying a home on a short sale can be frustrating and time consuming, your hard work can pay off in a home that's worth considerably more than you paid for it.

Labels: buying a house in a short sale, Cherokee COunty, Cobb, Forsyth, Fulton, Georgia

Some builders offer newly constructed homes available for immediate delivery. These homes are usually ready to move into within 30 days. That means some builders are eager to sell- but don’t expect them to say so.

Immediate-delivery homes often are available for various reasons:
• The community is nearly complete so the builder went ahead and had the on-site contractors build “spec” homes on the last lots, or the model home is for sale.
• The contract fell through.
• Builders purposely build homes for immediate delivery for buyers who are relocating or who have sold their old home and need to move quickly.

An immediate-delivery home may be specifically priced, although builders sometimes add financing incentives or free options rather than dropping the price. Recent buyers understandably don’t want the last homes o the street to sell for less than they paid for their home.

If you need to move quickly, or prefer seeing and walking through what you’re buying before you sign a contract, and immediate-delivery home could be the right choice for you.

Labels: Alpharetta, buying advantages, city of milton, City of Roswell, Cobb, Cumming, duluth, Fulton, Georgia, New Homes, wood

Several motorcycle rights groups were trying to band together Wednesday to force the state to allow their customized bikes on the road. Bikers said new federal emissions standards are being used to unfairly target their one-of-a-kind bikes.

A small but very vocal group of motorcycle enthusiasts insists new state and federal emissions rules are being unfairly used against custom bike owners.

"What we've got to do now is get together and get organized," said Randy Snyder, editor of Full Throttle Magazine.

Hank Young builds high-end choppers for a living and he said the new rules will hurt his business.

"There should be a way they can inspect the bike and issue me a title and registration for my customer. You know, everything boils down to money," said Young.

In the last few weeks, custom bike owners have gone to renew their tags and titles and some have been rejected.

Government officials said the custom bikes may not meet the new stricter rules. The State Department of Revenue issued a statement saying, "We are looking for a reasonable solution that accommodates existing law to find a way to title and register these vehicles. However, new legislation will be required."

"It's like everything is available to me. They'll take my tax money, but I can't register the bike. I don't understand it," said Young.

The coalition of biker groups plans to pressure lawmakers to exempt custom bikes or at least grandfather in the older ones. If that doesn't work, the bikers said they may go to court.

"It's starting now with the custom bikes and the kit bikes and it's not going to be long before it rolls into our custom cars and our hot rods," said Snyder.

Labels: Bikers, Cobb, Cobb County, Emissions, Motorcycle