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Tips For Preventing Frozen Pipes
On average, an approximate one-quarter-million homes and offices have at least one room damaged by a frozen pipe per year. This statistic has to be higher for second home owners much like my clients here in the North Georgia Mountains. In order to ensure your home stays safe and your pipes don’t freeze, the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH)® suggests three easy-to-remember steps: Foam, dome and drip.
Foam: Insulate pipes exposed to the elements or cold drafts. For as little as $1 per 6’ of insulation, you can stop pipes from freezing and save energy. By keeping your water warmer, you reduce the amount of energy needed to heat water in the cold, winter months.
Dome: Place an insulating dome or other coverings on outdoor faucets and spigots to reduce the likelihood of water pipes freezing, expanding and causing a costly leak.
Drip: Allow a slow drip from your faucets to reduce the buildup of pressure in the pipes. Even if the pipes freeze, the released pressure in the water system will reduce the likelihood of a rupture. If you are going out of town and suspect the temperature will drop, turn off the water and open all of the taps to drain the water system. This way pipes won’t freeze and you won’t return home to a mess.
Again, for all of you who own a Cabin on Lake Blue Ridge, or a Lake House on Nottely, and especially for those Mountain Top Log Cabins in Cherry Log where it can get really cold, make yourself a note and place it on the refrigerator or on the the door to remind yourself to turn your water off! I have had so many past clients forget to do this. Some got lucky…but unfortunately some did not.
Your local home improvement store will have all of the tools and expertise you will need to complete these steps. Foam, dome and drip your way to a safe winter season free of costly home repairs.
Welcome The New Union County Community Center
The Union County Community Center, open to the public, is available for banquets, conferences, business meetings, weddings, reunion, and all types of events from bachelor parties to high school reunions. The new facility is equipped with the latest technology including internet access, audio visual presentation systems, and GPS devices at your fingertips! Whether looking for an impressive venue to host an overnight get-a-way, or planning a conference with 200 attendees, the Union County Community Center is the perfect place.
Union County is located in the North Georgia Mountains. Union County is home to 97,839 acres of the Chattahoochee National Forest which provides outdoor fun the year round. Union County is also home to many lakes, rivers, streams, and waterfalls. Boating, fishing, tubing, and other water sports offer outings for the whole family. Winter, spring, summer, and fall are all good times to visit Union County. Lodging includes a variety of hotels, inns, vacation cabins, and campgrounds.
Georgia’s Foreclosure Activity Back On The Rise!
Foreclosure Activity in Georgia is up in the 3rd Quarter of this year according to RealtyTrac®. Filings, which includes default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions were reported on 33,637 properties. This is a 21% increase from the 2nd Quarter of 2011. It isn’t all bad news however. Georgia Foreclosures filings are still down 18% below the same level reported in the 3rd Quarter of 2010. The state of Georgia is still among the highest Foreclosure Rate in the Nation, coming in at #4. A staggering 1 out of every 121 Georgia Homeowners is facing a Foreclosure Filing during the quarter.
Newton was the highest County in Georgia with Foreclosure Filings, followed by Walton County and then Barrow County.
The rest of the nation’s top 10 state foreclosure totals for the third quarter of the year included Arizona (29,701), Texas (27,860), Nevada (25,900), Ohio (24,166) and Colorado (12,918). The top five states accounted for 52 percent of the nation’s total quarterly foreclosure activity.
If you are facing Foreclosure here in the North Georgia Mountains, please Contact Us to see if you have options. We are eager to help and to earn your Real Estate business here in the Mountains of Georgia.
Click Here to See A Full List of Foreclosures For Sale in the North Georgia Mountains
Related articles
- Foreclosures Sink To 4-Year Low (thefrontporchview.com)
- For The 9th Straight Month, Foreclosure Filings Fall (thefrontporchview.com)
Home Values Rose For the 4th Straight Month
The government is confirming what the private sector has already shown — home values are on the rise.
The Federal Home Finance Agency’s Home Price Index shows home values rose 0.8% in July.
July marks the fourth straight month that home values climbed and the FHFA’s Home Price Index is the latest in a series of “rising home values” reports — an encouraging trend for buyers and sellers in the North Georgia Mountains and nationwide.
Last week, the S&P Case-Shiller Index showed home value up nearly 1 percent in July. CoreLogic reached a similar conclusion.
Nationwide, values are back to their highest levels since November 2010. Clearly, the housing market in Georgia is moving in the right direction. Or is it?
Although the data from the government and from private firms such as CoreLogic is encouraging, it’s also flawed. As such, we have to be careful about the conclusions we draw from the data.
The flaws of Home Price Index are glaring :
- Only homes backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac are included in the index. In today’s market, because of the FHA’s popularity, that leaves 1 of 3 homes “uncounted”.
- Only home resales are counted. New home sales are omitted entirely.
- The data comes with a 60-day delay. The October market is different from July’s.
Despite these shortcomings, however, the Home Price Index remains relevant. It’s among the most through home valuation models and it’s often used by economists and policy-makers.
When the Home Price Index is rising, Wall Street and Capitol Hill take notice. For residents of “Main Street”, however, the data may not be as important. To get local, up-to-date market statistics in North Georgia Mountains, for example , talk with a professional real estate agent.
Since peaking in April 2007, the FHFA’s Home Price Index is off 17.6 percent.
Recent Price Reduction On This Blairsville Foreclosure For Sale
332 Loftis Mountain Way – HOT FORECLSOURE In Blairsville, GA. from Georgia Mountain Real Estate on Vimeo.
Recent Price Reduction on this Nice Foreclosure For Sale located within an upscale community of Mountain Homes just outside of Blairsville Georgia. 3 Bedroom 2 Full Bath Ranch Styled Home featuring a Split Floor Plan. The Home is situated on a 1.42 Acre Gentle Lot backing up to woods offering Privacy. There is a 2 Car Garage with a Huge Finished Bonus Room above, Full Unfinished Basement complete with Boat Door and stubbed for a 3rd Full Bath.
For more information on this Property or other Great Bank Owned Homes For Sale in the North Georgia Mountains, please Contact Me. If you would like to receive a Full Length Video of this property, just let me know by contacting me above.
Listing Courtesy of Mountain Options Realty
Related articles
- 54 Rocky Road – New Foreclosure For Sale In Blairsville, GA. (thefrontporchview.com)
- New Price On Nice Lake House For Sale On Lake Nottely (thefrontporchview.com)
- Lake Nottely Real Estate Market Report August 2011 (thefrontporchview.com)
Are North Georgia Mountain Home Values On The Rise?
Has housing turned the corner for good?
The June 2011 Case-Shiller Index reading posted strong numbers across the board, with each of the index’s 20 tracked markets showing home price improvement from May.
Some markets — Chicago and Minneapolis — rose as much as 3.2 percent.
The rise in values is nothing about which to get overly excited, however. The Case-Shiller Index is just re-reporting what multiple data sets have already shown about the summer housing market; that it was stronger than the spring market, and that a recovery is underway, but occurring locally, at different rates.
For example, the June 2011 Case-Shiller Index shows the following :
- Denver, Dallas, Washington D.C., and the “California Cities” bottomed in 2009. Each has shown steady improvement since.
- None of the Case-Shiller cities showed negative growth between May and June 2011.
- 12 of Case-Shiller’s tracked cities have improved over 3 consecutive months.
The answer to the question is YES. For the past 90 days Home Values are on the Rise. Here in the North Georgia Mountains, our communities of Ellijay, Blue Ridge, Blairsville and Hiawassee has seen Home Values as a cumulative average drop 2% over the past year. However, since June of 2011, our Residential Real Estate Market has experienced a surge of nearly 14% in Median Sold Price. See Full Report Below.
North Georgia Mountain August 2011 Median Sold Price Report
In isolation, these statistics appear promising, but it’s important to remember that the Case-Shiller Index is a backward-looking data set, focusing on just a portion of the national housing economy.
As an illustration, the Case-Shiller Index’s “national report” only includes data from 20 cities nationwide. They’re not the 20 biggest cities, either. Smaller metropolitan areas such as Minneapolis (#48) and Tampa (#51) are included.
Larger ones including Houston (#4), Philadelphia (#5) and San Jose (#10) are not.
In addition, the Case-Shiller index fails to track sales of condominiums, multi-unit homes and new construction. In some markets, including Chicago, these excluded home type can represent a large share of the overall market.
The Case-Shiller Index is a fine data set for policy makers and economists. It describes the broader housing market and shows long-term trends. For the individual home buyer in Hiawassee , however, it’s much less useful. More than “broad data”, you want focused data that’s current and relevant.
The best place for data like that is a local real estate agent.
Related articles
- Home Values Climb Rise Slightly Nationwide In April (thefrontporchview.com)
- Buyer Opportunities Open With Pending Sales Slipping (thefrontporchview.com)
Housing Starts Still Low But Permits On The Rise
Single-Family Housing Starts fell to a seasonally-adjusted, annualized 425,000 units in July, according to the Census Bureau.
A “Housing Start” is defined as a home on which construction has started and ground has broken.
Furthermore, Single-Family Housing Starts were revised lower for both May and June of this year, by 6,000 units and 2,000 units, respectively. The data may be worthless, however.
Like in most months, the government’s official report states that the Housing Starts numbers have a margin of error exceeding their actual measurement. Mathematically, this renders the data statistically irrelevant.
- July Published Results : +4.9%
- July Margin of Error : ±8.9%
In other words, July Housing Starts made have increased by as much as 13.8%, or they may have dropped up to 4.0%. We won’t know for certain until several months from now, when the Census Bureau gathers more data.
Regardless, the trend in Housing Starts has been flat since last summer. July’s reading is in-line with the 12-month average and, not surprisingly, New Home Sales have been mostly flat over the same time span.
Housing starts here in the North Georgia Mountains remain about the same, very low. I feel until we get through all of the Foreclosures we will see very few, if any speculative building. It would be very hard for Builders to compete with low prices Bank Owned Properties. Let’s face it, you just simply cannot hardly build a home for what you can buy one for on the open market. I guess finding the right one may be a challenge, but then again maybe you just need an educated hard working Realtor®!
There is some custom building going on here in areas like Blue Ridge, Blairsville and Ellijay Georgia. With all the great deals on Land For Sale in North Georgia, it has been hard for Real Estate Investors and folks who had planned on retiring years down the road to go ahead and make those preparations now taking full advantage of today’s market prices.
Also included in the Housing Starts report is the Building Permits tally. As compared to June, permits were higher by a half-percent nationwide, with varying results by region.
- Northeast : +2.9 percent from June
- Midwest : +0.0 percent from June
- South : -1.4 percent from June
- West : +4.9 percent from June
When permits are issued, 86 percent of them start construction within 60 days. This means that new home sales and housing stock should follow the Building Permits trend, but on a 2-month delay.
Expect improvement into the fall season.
Related articles
- Housing Starts Signal A Strong Fall Season (thefrontporchview.com)
- Housing Starts Climb Unexpectedly In May (thefrontporchview.com)
New Price On Nice Lake House For Sale On Lake Nottely
1489 Chapman Ford Blairsville GA Lake Nottely Home from Chad Lariscy on Vimeo.
1409 Chapman Ford Blairsville, GA. 30512
Great Home For Sale on Lake Nottely located in the Upscale Community of Nottely Landing conveniently located near downtown Blairsville, GA. One of the Best Locations on Lake Nottely with Spectacular Long Range Lake and Mountain Views. Deep Water Lot, Gentle Lot, Views and the New Low Price makes this Lake Home a major attraction and one of the Best Buys on All of Lake Nottely.
New Low Price
$795,000
Just Reduced Over $100,000!
Please Contact Me if you have any questions or concerns about this property or any Georgia Mountain Lake Home. If you would like a Full Length Video Walk Through please let me know.
Listing Courtesy of Harry Norman Realtors
Related articles
- New Foreclosure For Sale In Blairsville GA Bordering U.S.F.S. (thefrontporchview.com)
- New Upscale Foreclosure For Sale In Blairsville GA (thefrontporchview.com)
New Foreclosure For Sale In Blairsville GA Bordering U.S.F.S.
52 Harrell Mauney Road Blairsville, GA. – New Foreclosure from Chad Lariscy on Vimeo.
52 Harrell Mauney Blairsville, GA. 30512
New Foreclosure For Sale that hasn’t even hit the North Georgia Mountain Foreclosure Market located in Blairsville Georgia.
This property is situated on 14.72 Acres bordering the USFS which leads to Lake Nottely only a short distance away. Property features a Detached Garage with Apartment above, Carport, Above Ground Pool, Fencing and more. The Home is a 3 Bedroom to 4 Bedroom Home with 3 Full Baths. Property was under major renovations at time of Foreclosure and will need some work. Property was acquired in 2006 at $405,000 and currently Union County has it assessed at $373,752. A Price has not been placed on the property at the time of this post, however it is believed that it will be priced in the low to mid $100’s
Please Contact Me for more detailed information or for a Full Length Video Walk Thru of this property.
Related articles
- New Upscale Foreclosure For Sale In Blairsville GA (thefrontporchview.com)
New Upscale Foreclosure For Sale In Blairsville GA
262 Old Birch Court Blairsville Georgia from Chad Lariscy on Vimeo.
262 Old Birch Court, Blairsville, GA. 30512
NEW Foreclosure For Sale in Blairsville, GA. that hasn’t even hit the Market! See it here on The Porch before anyone else. Nice Traditional Home in an upscale community outside of Blairsville. 4 Bedrooms, 3 Bath Home with a Full Unfinished Basement.
If you would like to see a Full 7 Minute Virtual Showing or Walk-Thru Video, please Contact Me and I will email it to you.If you have any questions or concerns about this property, please do not hesitate to Email or Call me. If I do not know the answer, I will research it and get the answer for you.
If you or someone you know is actively searching for a Foreclosure here in the North Georgia Mountains and see one of interest on the internet but can’t get to the Mountains, call me at 706-994-8686 and I will go and shoot a Virtual Showing for you.
Related articles
- Foreclosure For Sale Near Old Union Golf Course (thefrontporchview.com)
- Monthly Foreclosure Count Continue To Drop (thefrontporchview.com)
