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Smyrna Vinings Home Sales Event

Keller Williams Realty Cityside, Smyrna Vinings #1 real estate office, is excited to announce their Red Hot Reductions event.

For one week only, from September 1st through the 7th, Keller Williams has reduced Smyrna Vinings home prices anywhere from $1,500 to $200,000.

Don’t miss this great opportunity to take advantage of this limited time sales event. Now is the perfect time to buy with a large selection of homes and interest rates still at very good historical levels.

Check out these great homes included in the Smyrna Vinings Red Hot Reductions event.

If you have any questions on this event or would like to schedule a showing, be sure to contact the SmyrnaVinings.com team.

Technorati Tags: Smyrna Real Estate,   Vinings Real Estate,   Keller Williams

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Manies and Merlot Tasting

Stop by The Wine Cellars at the Smyrna Market Village for a quick nail polish and a few wines samples… the ultimate after-work manicure featuring a variety of wines.

$7.00 Manicures with FREE Wine Samples (and yes, there’s more than Merlot)

Thursday, September 18, 2008

6:00pm - 8:00pm

Must be 21 or older - RSVP by clicking here , or send an email to them at info@winecellarsonline.com.

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

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The Wine Cellars will be holding a fun wine tasting to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society! Each donation helps accelerate finding a cure for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. More than 823,000 Americans are battling these blood cancers.

$10.00 CASH DONATION at the door

100% of your $10.00 Donation goes to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

RSVP requested - click here, or send an email to them at info@winecellarsonline.com.

Must be 21 or older to attend.

Technorati Tags: Smyrna Vinings Events, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, The Wine Cellars

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The Vinings Historic Preservation Society will be holding the third annual Vinings Tour of Homes on Sunday, September 14 from 12:30-5:00pm. The Presenting sponsors for this year’s tour are The Residences at Vinings Main and Avignon at Vinings.

The third annual Tour of Homes Preview Party will be Saturday night, September 13th.

Five unique and extraordinary homes located in Paces Manor, Paces Lake, Bakers Farm and Polo Lane have been selected to showcase, including one home whose kitchen was featured in a national magazine and one that includes a unique architectural feature that encompasses a water pond in the foyer. As an added bonus this year, the model homes at Vinings Main and Avignon at Vinings will also be open for the Tour.

Tickets for the Tour are $20 in advance and $25 the day of the Tour.

Susan and Joe Rich have graciously agreed to open their magnificent home in Paces Manor for the Preview Party the night before the Tour on Saturday, September 13 from 6-8:30 pm. This stunning home, designed by Goodsell Homes, features heart of pine floors with eight doors opening to the wrap-around porches and pool. The home even has its own baseball diamond complete with bleachers.

South City Kitchen/Vinings will return to cater this year’s party with a sophisticated array of their award-winning contemporary Southern cuisine. Kroger at Howell Mill is donating beverages for the party for the third year in a row. A lively auction of unique items is again being planned for this year’s party. Holly Kerr will donate her time to serve as auctioneer. Tickets for the Preview Party are $75 and include a ticket to the Tour of Homes on Sunday. Please contact the VHPS office at 770-432-3343 or vhps1874@bellsouth.net to make your reservation.

Tickets for the Tour of Homes are available for purchase at the following locations:

• The Vinings Center (VHPS office) at the corner of Paces Mill and Paces Ferry,
• Antiques of Vinings,
• Curves of Vinings,
• Fidelity Bank,
• Tennille & Co. in Vinings and Buckhead,
• Avignon at Vinings Sales Office, and
• the Residences at Vinings Main Sales Office.

Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. For more information please contact the VHPS office at 770-432-3343 or vhps1874@bellsouth.net. Updates will be posted at VHPS’ website www.vinings.org.

All proceeds from the Tour will benefit the VHPS and will be used toward current preservation projects in Vinings. The VHPS is presently working with the National Parks Service to place a historic marker at the recently discovered site of Hardy Pace’s grist mill. Plans are in the preliminary stages to restore the Pace/Robinson family cemetery on Vinings Mountain. The organization plans to use proceeds from the Tour of Homes to fund the projects.

Technorati Tags: 3rd Annual Vinings Tour of Homes, Vinings Events, Vinings Historic Preservation Society

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As promised, I wanted to cover some of the good news that came out of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which was signed into law by President Bush at the end of July.

There’s a provision targeted for first-time home buyers who bought, or will buy, their home between April 9th of this year and July 1, 2009. You can receive a tax credit of up to 10 percent of the sales price, up to $7,500.

This is a tax credit, not a tax deduction. A deduction is an item that is subtracted from your annual income before income taxes are calculated. A tax credit is subtracted from the amount of taxes you owe.

Now you might be thinking that you don’t qualify since you’ve owned a home before. In reality, a “first-time home buyer” is defined in the new law, and includes those who may have owned a home in the past, but not within the last three years.

There are, as you would expect, income limitations on the tax credit - $75,000 per year if you’re single and $150,000 if filing a joint return to qualify for the full credit. The credit does phase out beyond those amounts up to $95,000 for singles and $170,000 for joint filers.

And one last caveat, the tax credit isn’t a gift - you do have to pay it back. It is effectively an interest fee loan that is payable over a 15 year period and repayment doesn’t begin until two years after purchase. If you sell the property before the tax credit has been fully repaid, any remaining amounts owed are due to the IRS upon closing.

You’re not required to file for the tax credit, that is completely up to you. The loan limitations for the program in metro Atlanta are $318,550. When combined with the new FHA requirement of a minimum 3.5% downpayment, that would cap the purchase price of your new home at about $330,000.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us and we’ll be glad to fill you in on the details and discuss your options. And certainly, if you know of anyone thinking about purchasing a home, be sure to have them give us a call and we’ll be glad to advise them.

The good news is that there is quite a few homes, townhomes and condos in Smyrna Vinings up to this price range to consider. We’ve set up some home searches for you below, so simply click on the area you’re interested in purchasing a home.

Vinings homes, condos and townhomes

Smyrna homes, condos and townhomes

Mableton homes, condos and townhomes

Technorati Tags: Vinings homes, Smyrna homes, Mableton homes, home buyer tax credit, first time home buyers

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Down Payment Assistance Phased Out

Going, going, … gone!

As many of you know by now, President Bush signed the landmark Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 at the end of July. The law covered a variety of housing related issues and items, but most noteworthy for homebuyers was making private down payment assistance (DPA) programs no longer available.

What does this mean to you?

Well, down payment assistance was the last widely used financing method where homebuyers could purchase a home with essentially 100% financing. The deadline to find a home and close is October 1, 2008.

But the real deadline is effectively this Friday, August 29th to lock your loan on a potential property. So if you haven’t started, you may have missed this opportunity. If you’re an active Smyrna Vinings homebuyer, the clock is ticking to make your decisions and get your contracts submitted and on to your lender.

Why is this? Well the majority of banks have set Friday as the latest date they’re willing to accept loan applications with down payment assistance. They obviously want to make sure they can get the loans closed by October 1st and as a result have created their own deadline.

So after Friday, you can pretty much work under the assumption that 100% loans are gone. After this, you will need a minimum 3.5% down payment to purchase your home if using an FHA loan or 5% for a conventional loan.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us and we’ll be glad to fill you in on the details and discuss your options. And certainly, if you know of anyone thinking about purchasing a home, be sure to have them give us a call and we’ll be glad to advise them.

Coming tomorrow, we’ll cover some of the good news that came out of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.

Technorati Tags: Smyrna homes, down payment assistance, 100% financing

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Smyrna Vinings Mortgage Rate Update

Week in review:

The pattern from the past few weeks was broken last week. We saw interest rates come down about .25% then shoot right back up by the end of the week (the exact opposite of the previous two weeks). By Friday’s end, interest rates basically had no change from the start of the week. So what happened? We saw a report on Tuesday that showed inflation had the biggest year-over-year increase in 27 years. Normally, a report showing increased inflation would cause rates to go up; however, the report was overshadowed by daunting news that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could be in serious jeopardy. The markets became nervous and investors took money out of stocks and invested in bonds which are a safer investment. When money flows into bonds, rates go down.

What to expect:

I feel interest rates have a chance to get better in the first couple of days this week. Beginning Tuesday afternoon, the rest of the week is packed with economic data that could swing our volatile market either way. My advice: If you have a transaction in process, be sure the person you are dealing with understands what is happening this week and be prepared to lock if necessary.

Breg-ometer:
Next 7 days: Improvement at the beginning of week; volatile thereafter
Next 30 days: Neutral
Next 90 days: Higher

Courtesy of:

Bob Bregitzer

Technorati Tags: Smyrna Mortgages, Vinings Mortgages, Atlanta Mortgages

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 21; 6:30PM
$45/person plus tax and gratuity

When it’s this hot outside, nothing refreshes more than cold Sweetwater beer
and your favorite flavors from South City Kitchen Vinings. Executive Chef Chip Ulbrich
has created this special menu to perfectly pair with delicious Georgia-brewed suds.
Reservations are required—call 770.435.0700 to secure your seats today.

First Course
Housemade tasso and fresh goat cheese with fresh Georgia peaches
Steamed buns with chopped pork shoulde and SCK BBQ sauce
420—a tasty West Coast-style pale ale
Blue—a unique light-bodied ale with a hint of fresh blueberries

Second Course
Silver Queen spoon bread with roasted heirloom tomatoes,
avocado and candied Benton’s bacon
Summer Hummer—this Belgian white ale is brewed with coriander and orange peel

Third Course
Pecan-smoked Meyer natural beef brisket, BBQ onions,
herb-roasted Yukon Gold potatoes, wilted collards and ale jus
IPA—a mammoth India pale ale loaded with intense hop flavor

Dessert
Zucchini cupcake with smoked chili chocolate ganache,
cream cheese icing and toasted pecans
Motorboat Ale

South City Kitchen is located at the corner of Atlanta Road and Cumberland Parkway. South City Kitchen is known for their contemporary twist on Southern food. You won’t want to miss this special event at one of Smyrna Vinings most popular restaurants.

Technorati Tags: Smyrna Vinings Events, Sweetwater Beer Dinner, South City Kitchen, Ivy Walk

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Consumers’ Choice Award has chosen Keller Williams Realty as a recipient of the 2008 Consumers’ Choice Award (CCA) in the category of Residential Realtors.

In a letter dated July 2, 2008, Jeffrey Chernoff, Chairman of Consumers’ Choice Award writes, “The award is the result of a comprehensive and objective survey conducted in May 2008 by an Atlanta survey sampling International (SSI).  SSI is the world’s largest statistical sampling organization dedicated to survey research and serves over 1600 clients globally.”

Survey respondents are asked to consider criteria such as Value, Professionalism, and Service when making their chocie.  The survey demonstrates that amongst the average consumer, Keller Williams Realty ranks #1 overall for Residential Realtors. 

The H2Realty Group and SmyrnaVinings.com would like to thank you for your votes…on behalf of myself and our team, thank you!

Technorati Tags: consumers choice award, Keller Williams Realty, residential Realtors, Atlanta 

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Smyrna Vinings Mortgage Rate Update

Week in review:

“To understand is to perceive patterns” said Sir Isaiah Berlin. If you want to understand the current state of mortgage rates, review at the last two weeks. Home loan rates are staying within a tight range. In both weeks, rates went up at the beginning of the week and recovered at the end of the week.

What to expect:

I would expect rates to continue the same pattern this week (or at least stay within the same range). We start the week at the low point in the range and will see a report of inflation at the producer level on Tuesday. Since the market is jittery whenever inflation is mentioned, we could see rates higher by mid-week. Then, I would not be surprised to see rates come back down at the end of the week. Once the market obtains overwhelming strong or weak economic data, the pattern will be broken.

Breg-ometer:

Next 7 days: Following the pattern
Next 30 days: Neutral
Next 90 days: Higher

Courtesy of:

Bob Bregitzer

Technorati Tags: Smyrna Vinings Real Estate, Smyrna Vinings Mortgages, Atlanta Mortgages