Yet another great event coming to the Smyrna Market Village. 929 dave fm is launching Acoustic Sunset, dave fm’s live music series in the Smyrna Market Village.

Wind down your weekend each Sunday beginning at 4:00pm with music from local and emerging artists.

This week, dave fm welcomes Francisco Vidal.  Francisco has performed with the likes of Cowboy Mouth, Edwin McCain, Drivin’ n Cryin’ and dozens more.

The rest of the line up will be announced soon, but the recurring event is currently planned to run each Sunday night through May 4th. Bring your friends and family, and join dave fm for Acoustic Sunset in the Smyrna Market Village.  A free, all ages event!

Proudly supported by Coors Light - please drink responsibly, the City of Smyrna, Atkins Park, and your home for live music, 929 dave fm.

Technorati Tags: Acoustic Sunset, dave fm, Smyrna Market Village, Atkins Park, Smyrna Vinings Events

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Just wanted to give you a quick update on the diverging worlds of real estate and technology. I realize that most real estate agents are not very tech-savvy and that’s a huge benefit for my clients when either buying or selling their Smyrna Vinings homes, condos or townhomes.

To think that 92% of home buyers between the ages of 25-45 use the Internet during their home search, you can’t argue that technology has not had a huge and beneficial impact on the real estate market for the consumer.

Yesterday, I attended a conference, REtech South, with some of the top real estate technology folks in the country. It was a truly amazing event and I would like to thank Brad Nix for putting this together. Bravo.

Brad managed to bring some top talent in so that we could all share ideas, learn about products coming down the pipeline and get insight into some of the best practices being used around the country.

I personally learned some great stuff from the likes of Jonathan Washburn and Bob Stewart from ActiveRain, Mary McKnight from RSS Pieces, Rudy Bachraty from Trulia, Kevin Boer from 3Oceansrealestate.com, Pat Kitano from Transparent RE.com, Dustin Luther from 4realz.net and Jason Benesch from Real Estate Tomato. A lot of these folks are real pioneers and leaders in the world of technology and real estate convergence.

The ultimate goal is to be able to bring more functionality and better information to you, the consumer. We’re certainly hoping to provide some great new products and functionality to you in the near future that will be very beneficial to you.

But probably the most interesting perspective I took away from the conference, was that out of 40,000 some real estate agents in metro Atlanta, only a little over a hundred agents attended this inaugural event. Either the others are busy applying for another job or fail to understand how radically technology has changed the real estate market in just the past couple years and how much more impact it will have as we move forward.

Education and training is of critical importance to real estate professionals and quite literally, this was the conference to attend. But don’t fret, they’re already planning REtech South for 2009, which should be huge.

Technorati Tags: Smyrna Real Estate, Vinings Real Estate, Real Estate Technology

Smyrna Vinings Featured Home

Wonderful home in Smyrna Vinings situated in Cedar Cliffs and loaded with great features

• Hardwoods on Main
• Granite countertops & tile backsplash in Kitchen
• Huge brick patio perfect for those summer parties
• Four-side brick traditional home
• Fenced backyard
• Side-entry garage with lots of storage
• Huge Master Suite
• Professionally Landscaped Yard
• Brand new roof & exterior paint
• Basement includes gym, rec room and workshop
• Private, wooded lot

This gorgeous 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath home is conveniently located in the heart of Smyrna, just off of Ridge Road, between Atlanta Road and South Cobb Drive.

To learn more about this Smyrna Vinings home, check out the property flyer or contact us directly. Click here to schedule a showing.This home is offered at $350,000

Exclusively marketed by:

Aaron Hofmann

Keller Williams Realty

770-653-9601

aaron@SmyrnaVinings.com

SmyrnaVinings.com

Technorati Tags: 3512 Cedar Valley Drive, Cedar Cliffs, Smyrna Homes, Smyrna Real Estate

Smyrna Market Village Wine Stroll 2008

Saturday, May 17th - 2:00pm - 5:00pm

Proceeds will benefit a local Smyrna charity (TBD)

The Smyrna Market Village Wine Stroll is a fun event designed to allow patrons to stroll through the Smyrna Market Village while sampling a variety of wonderful wines and shopping with our local merchants. Enjoy great wine and fabulous food samples. Give to a great cause… all for the Smyrna community.

Everyone and anyone is welcomed to attend; however, you must be 21 and over to participate (Valid Photo ID required).

Only $25.00 per person in advance; tickets are $35.00 the day of the event. Contact  The Wine Cellars to learn more or to order your tickets. This was a wildly popular event, so don’t miss out on this great Smyrna Vinings Event.

Technorati Tags: Smyrna Events, Smyrna Market Village, Smyrna Wine Stroll, The Wine Cellars

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Well, we recently covered the basis of the advanced Smyrna Vinings Home Search in our last class Home Search 201. We’ve dubbed this class, Home Search 202.

In this class, we’ll cover some of the really cool functionality available to you, which is all accessible under under Search for Homes on the top menu bar, then select Home/Condo Search. We’ve covered the basics in Home Search 201, but here comes the fun stuff.

If you’d like to be more specific or perhaps less constrained by searching by the city, you have the capability with the Additional Settings section. You can choose select any of the following items to fine-tune your search:

• Area of Metro Atlanta
• Name of Subdivision
• Name of Condo/Townhome Complex
• Elementary School
• Middle School
• High School
• Style

You can also make some other selections to narrow your search, including:

• Minimum Year Built

and certain other requirements you’re looking for in your next home, including:

• Pool
• Fireplace
• Foreclosure
• Dock
• Garage
• One Story
• Waterfront

Now, obviously docks and waterfront selections will probably eliminate 99.99% of all Smyrna Vinings homes, but keep in mind that you can use this for any of your metro Atlanta home searches.

Finally, you can also limit your search by using mapcodes.

Now, before you go back and click on Submit, make sure you click on “Narrow my Search with City, Zip, Sub Area…“. Then click on Submit and and review your results.

And if you review your notes from Home Search 201, you’ll remember that we emphasized the importance of registering for the Property Organizer, which will allow you to save your searches, save your favorite Smyrna Vinings homes and receive instant email notification when a new property meeting your criteria hits the market.

And remember, if you ever have any questions on the Smyrna Vinings home search tools or on any Smyrna Vinings homes, condos or townhomes, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re here to help you with your Smyrna Vinings real estate needs.

Technorati Tags: Smyrna Home Search, Vinings Home Search, Smyrna Real Estate, Vinings Real Estate

If you’ve now passed Home Search 101 and Home Search 102, then it’s time to move on to our newest class, Home Search 201. Coming out of the first two classes, you know about the basics of the home search functional availability at SmyrnaVinings.com. We’ll now move into some of the advanced functionality of our home search tools.

To access Smyrna Vinings Home Advance Search, click on Search for Homes on the top menu and scroll down to the Home/Condo Search.

The image above shows your first options, including selecting the city or cities that you want to search, whether you want to search homes, condos or both; setting the minimum and maximum price; and minimum bedrooms and bathrooms. Once you have made these selections, you can select Submit Search and and your home search results will be displayed.

Now the Smyrna Vinings home search tool has lots of nuggets of functionality that easily makes it the most powerful home search tool on the market and certainly the most popularly.

The last bit we will cover today is the ability to search by zip codes rather than by cities. You will notice that this option is located at the bottom left corner of the image above, where it simply states  “If you would like to search by zip codes, click here.” If you choose this option, you will be taken to the Home Search by Zip Code page.

On either the city search or the zip code page, you will still have access to the advanced search functionality that we will cover in our next class, Home Search 202.

But just one more tip, be sure to sign up for the Property Organizer. There is no reason to waste time re-running the same search over again. By signing up for the Property Organizer, you will be able to save your searches, save homes and receive instant notification when a home meeting your criteria hits the market.

Technorati Tags: Smyrna Home Search, Vinings Home Search, Smyrna Real Estate, Vinings Real Estate

Special event to commemorate the grand opening of the new covered bridge at Providence Group’s Woodbridge Crossing in Smyrna.

Technorati Tags: Smyrna New Homes, Woodbridge Crossing, Smyrna Vinings Events

City of Smyrna Mayor Max Bacon will be a special guest, along with City Council Representative Pete Wood and Smyrna Historical Society’s Harold Smith, at the ribbon cutting ceremony to commemorate the grand opening of the new covered bridge at Woodbridge Crossing in Smyrna.

The bridge, which is located in the Historic Concord Covered Bridge Area of Smyrna and crosses Nickajack Creek, will be held on Tuesday, March 25th.

The bridge was newly constructed in 2007 and special consideration was put into the planning of this bridge. The new covered bridge replaces an existing bridge that was dilapidated and impeding the flow of water through Nickajack Creek. The new covered bridge was raised to help increase water flow and constructed to insure safe travel over the bridge and into the community.

“Woodbridge Crossing is nestled quietly in the Concord Covered Bridge Historic Area of Smyrna which is full of rich Southern history and beautiful surroundings,” said Ginny Bryant, Director of Marketing for The Providence Group. “We are excited about the completion of the beautiful covered bridge within the community and hope that homeowners will enjoy both its visual appeal and its usefulness.”

The ribbon cutting ceremony will begin at 11:30 a.m. with a welcoming speech by Warren Jolly of The Providence Group and special guests will also say a few words. A brunch buffet catered by Carolyn’s Gourmet Café will be served in the Woodbridge Crossing clubhouse. Drawings will be held every 30 minutes so all attendees are asked to stay for the entire event which will run until 1:00 p.m.

Everyone is invited! Register to WIN $10,000 in prize giveaways every 30 minutes including sky box tickets to the Hawks and Thrashers provided by Comcast; a Spa Sydell gift certificate donated by Atlanta New Homes Directory; two VIP tickets to the High Museum of Arts Wine Auction, donated by Skirt Magazine; a high definition flat screen television with DVD player plus prizes donated by local businesses including a gift card to Atkins Park in Smyrna Market Village, a family pass to Tolleson Pools, one month at World Gym including one visit with a trainer, PLUS $1,000 CASH! There will be many more prizes from other local restaurants and shops!

The homes at Woodbridge Crossing range in size from 2,500 to 3,500 square feet, and offer elegant exteriors featuring traditional brick, siding and stone which blend with the carriage-style garage doors.

As an additonal bonus for Smyrna Vinings home buyers, you’ll be excited to know that the homes in Woodbridge Crossing are eligible for the Smyrna Vinings Ultimate Welcoming Gift, valued at over $3,000.

Technorati Tags: Woodbridge Crossing, Smyrna New Homes, Concord Covered Bridge Historic Area, Smyrna Real Estate

Well, since TADs are going to be a big topic going forward for the next few months, we thought that should be the latest community poll.

We want to know if you’re for or against the use of Tax Allocation Districts in the Smyrna Vinings area. As we’ve mentioned before TADs allow cities to issue bonds for redevelopment work which will be paid by the incremental property taxes created after the project is redeveloped.

In February, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that it was a violation of the Georgia constitution to use school taxes (which make up a large portion of property taxes) in TADs. There are several groups now working to create a referendum on the November ballot so you the voter can choose whether to change this law.

To learn more about TADs, check out the recent post on the TAD Resource Center.

In Smyrna, the use of TADs will have a large impact on the Jonquil Village project and the upcoming Belmont Hills project.

So what we’d like to know is if you are for, against, undecided or still don’t know what a TAD is.

So cast your vote on the Poll located on the left sidebar.

Technorati Tags: Smyrna Vinings Redevelopment, TADs, Tax Allocation Districts, Jonquil Village, Belmont Hills

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The Cobb Library Foundation will be hosting Food Network TV personality Alton Brown on Saturday, March 29 at 12:30 p.m. at The Walker School in Marietta.  Tickets for the general admission event are $35 and may be purchased online or by calling the Foundation office at 770-528-2196.  Tickets for an 11 a.m. pre-event reception with Brown are also available at $125.  A book signing by Brown will follow the 12:30 p.m. appearance.

The Cobb Library Foundation is the fundraising arm of the Cobb County Public Library System. It raises funds for special projects throughout the 17-branch library system, including the Vinings Library and the Lewis A. Ray Library in Smyrna.

Alton Brown, a Cobb County resident, spent a decade working as a cinematographer and video director. Convinced he could improve the dull and uninformative cooking shows he often watched, he left the film business and moved to Vermont to train at the New England Culinary Institute.

He then created the Food Network’s “Good Eats,” a smart and entertaining food show that blends wit with wisdom, history with pop culture, and science with common cooking sense.  The show was named by Time Magazine as “one of six shows worth their salt,” and called Brown “the MacGyver of mackerel.”

Technorati Tags: Cobb County Library System, Vinings Library, Walker School, Alton Brown, Food Network