Renting means giving up the pleasures of paying property taxes, repairs, fat mortgage payments and the ability choose your own carpet and wall colors. It should not mean giving up your security deposit for no good reason. Good landlords don't want to k...
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3/9/13 This question was asked the other day...and it's a good one. However, there are too many new-home builders in Valdosta for that to be a valid question, since each builder has his own ideas about how to price what they build. One may set a price ...
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3/29/13 I had a buyer ask me if they should get an inspection on a new home, even though it has a one-year warranty? Yep, you should , for four reasons. First, a home is a cooperative effort of a dozen building trades -- plumber, framer, concrete com...
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I can tell you exactly what interest rates will do, goes an old joke. They'll go up, go down or stay the same. A better predictor is Freddie Mac, which says they'll stay about the same for awhile. (Freddie Mac, chartered by Congress to in 1970 to all...
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Q. Give me a convincing argument for either selling or renting my house and you can have my business. I've got to do one or the other because I've been transferred to another state and my wife and I don't agree about what to do. I'm told the house ...
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Homestead Exemption Several types of homestead exemptions have been enacted to reduce the burden of ad valorem taxation for Georgia homeowners. These exemptions apply to homestead property owned by and occupied by the taxpayer as his or her legal reside...
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Q. My neighbor comes around my fence and through my gate several weeks each fall to collect the pecans falling into my yard from his tree. I've asked him not to do that, we fenced the yard so that we could sit on the glass porch for breakfast the same way...
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Because the news is full of them and because folks still believe it's possible to get something for nothing, there's a huge interest in foreclosures. Unfortunately, most of it comes from amateurs who've never been involved with foreclosures or even inves...
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Neighborhoods and subdivisions – sorta like people – have seasons: Birth. Active Youth. Maturity. Decline. And like people who never come to terms with the inevitable decline that comes from stacking up the years, there will be a homeowner or two w...
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"Don't bother showing my house to investors," the homeowner told the agent who'd just listed his house. "I need to sell, but I'm not letting anybody steal it." That's not smart. Investors and homebuyers use the same money, right? I'd consider offers fr...
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Because the job looks easier and less complex than the reality, there are great and vast misconceptions amongst the general public about what Realtors do. Because it usually takes several years for newly hatched Realtors to discover the many facets and re...
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All those headlines about the questionable quality of our state school systems? I agree with them, but not for most of the usual reasons. Back in the dark ages of the last century when I was in high school, I remember taking things like geometry, chemi...
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by Mike, Denice & Rusty A little real estate legal history today: Until about 10 or 12 years ago, every Realtor in Georgia was legally obligated to represent the Seller's best interests. Every Realtor was legally a sub-agent of the listing agent. This wa...
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am the new owner of a cracked clavicle, which is something I thought my neighbor played in the high school band. Don't ask why – I'm not telling – just know that I don't bounce anymore, I splatter. If it weren't for the permanence of the al...
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Acting like I knew what I was talking about, I made a flat statement about mortgage loans and was immediately challenged to prove it. And right then, I couldn't do it, I just didn't have the words. What I said was that at today's never-happen-again in...
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The sun is shining, birds are singing and I see homebuyers beginning to peek from the sidelines at the local real estate market, although many are still moving a little cautiously. A little stiffly, too, since they've been frozen in place for two years. ...
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Is there a ratings system for Realtors? Shucks, I don't even know if there's one for doctors and when you need one of those, they're a lot more important, even if not always as prompt about appointments. 'Course, doctors don't work on commission, ...
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I'm depressed, but it could be worse. I could have money in the stock market. The way things are going, though, I might not have any money at all, except for a little rent. I'm not sure that real estate, the stock market and the American mood was this ...
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Lemme ask you: If you stopped making care payments, would you expect to keep the car? Even if the baby was sick? Take it from the other end: What if you sold the car and financed it? Would you let the buyer continue to ride, or would he be taking the l...
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