Why Buy A Home Now, Especially in GA?

Bottoms of real estate markets never announce themselves. Experts usually determine the exact bottom long after the market has rebounded. My prediction is that the experts will look back on the present time period as the best time to have purchased a home. This is likely the ideal short-term window of opportunity to get the best deal in this down cycle of the housing market.

In addition to the Federal Tax Credit of $8000, there has recently been two Georgia tax incentives for home buyers:

· $1800 Georgia Home Buyer Credit: it is available for the purchase of a single family residence between 6-01-09 and 11-30-09.

· Georgia Dream NSP $14000 Program: this incentive can be used towards down payment and repairs with purchase of a Georgia foreclosed property. Funds are dispersed in the form of a second mortgage lien with no interest and no monthly payments. You don’t have to be a first time home buyer and you can combine this incentive with the $8000 incentive!

Remember that the entire housing market is on sale right now. The houses that are most deeply discounted are foreclosed and short sale homes. However, buyers interested in value should still focus on Location, School District, Quality of Construction, and Design & Functionality.

If the house is being bought for investment purposes, the price point of the house is far more important. Look for lower priced homes that will appeal to a broad rental market. Don't sit on the fence; now is the time to move!




Professionalism has a new name: SHERRIL

Pets & Diabetes

My 15 year old mini schnauzer was diagnosed with diabetes a little over 2 years ago. Talk about a life changing experience for him, and for entire family! We are a band family and on our return from one of our many band trips in December 2006, we found out that Remy had had several 'accidents' in our absence. This was quite unlike our highly disciplined baby of the family who had the ability to let you know if he needed to go out to use the bathroom. It took minutes at the vet to receive the diagnosis that we had feared.

Here are a few lessons that our family has learnt along the way:

• Always keep his spirits up, talking to him with enthusiasm and excitement as if nothing had changed: Remy would mirror our mood; if we were down and discouraged he would walk around the home looking even more discouraged.
• Talk to your family vet at length and trust the recommended care: we shifted gears into high panic mode and after numerous calls to everyone whom we knew had pets, we immediately transferred his medical care away from the vet who knew him best, and into the hands of a specialist who turned out to be more expensive. We have since returned to the family vet.
• Try to keep his routine and his day as normal as possible.
• Keep an eye on any changes in eating & drinking habits, and bathroom habits as well.
• When going away, keep him in the care of someone or a family who he is comfortable with to reduce stress and anxiety.
• Reward him with a treat after giving him his insulin shot.
• Keep his treatment schedule as best as you can.
• Reassure him! Reassure him! Reassure him!