Jasper, GA

The North Georgia Mountains usually get busy in the summer. This is when we see many of the buyers. This summer started slow but picked up some as the summer went on.

We are seeing prices in places like Big Canoe adjust downward as the sales volume starts to pick up. In other areas we are seeing a lot of first time buyers come out. The traffic of second home buyers is slow.

Land sales are really really slow as it is tough to get financing and new home starts are sluggish.

So the net for our mountain market I think is 2009 will be a year the downward home sale slide has stopped. But I think prices will not increase uniformly or across the board.

My recommendation is gated community homes are a great bargain right now. They are also great places to live. So if you are thinking about the mountains this is a good time to buy.

Our board of Realtors is very active in the community doing many things to help. In general even the community I live in is very active in the county. Today at a meeting it was announced that per capita Pickens County had more volunteers involved in the community than any other county in Georgia !

But wait, the good news does not stop there. We are actually number 3 !!!! in the country. This was great news. I am a volunteer for governance and the fire department where I live so I am doing my part.

Many of the communities here in North Georgia are made up of folks from all over the nation that have discovered the beauty of the North Georgia Mountains. They are active folks and are rolling up their sleeves to give back. As a friend of mine half joking said to me , "If I knew retirement would be this hectic I would have stayed working" He was an air traffic controller!!!

So if you are reading this post and live in Pickens county take a moment to pat yourself on the back. If you do not live here its ok. We still have some space available and I know a great Realtor to help you!. I will try to get my hands on the actual national study and post it a bit later.

So you have read Part on and you are funded. You have your license and are ready to go. The North Georgia Mountains are beautiful and there is a large amount of land available for sale . So you are getting involved in land sales. You figure hey they are not as complicated as a home.

Did you know that E & O insurance generally runs higher if you do a lot of land sales ? Here is why

1 You need to consider first and foremost is the lot buildable? In Georgia a level 3 soil test is the first step to making that determination. This is especially true if yo are dealing in 1 or 1/2 acre lots. You could find under ground water or serious rock. The reason these factors are problems is because you are dealing in septic systems. Too close to water and you will not pass environmental laws. Too much rock and you will not perk. You also need to be at least 50 feet from streams . But some counties have tougher restrictions. So if your buyer sees a great piece of property with a stream running through it do your home work!

2 Do you see fire hydrants on the road that adjoins your proerty? If not you probably do not have county water and will be digging a well. At 9 dollars a foot this can get expensive. Again something to know so that you can discuss this with your buyer.

3 Where is the nearest power pole? Utilities can charge by the foot to run electric to you.

4 What is the zoning ? You need to know if you are building your dream home and you are in an area that has just been zoned commercial.

So when you are selling land consider all of the above an insure your buyer understands that in a lot that is not developed, yes the price to buy is low , but the price to make the lot habitable may be very high.

This year we have been involved in 3 listings that belonged to others and we are the second party in to try and sell the home. What makes these 3 unique is the homes were built before 1978. In all three cases when we presented the seller with the REQUIRED Lead Paint Disclosure they looked at us and said , "What's this?"

In Georgia you are required to disclose, if the house was built before 1978, the fact that there might be lead based paint. Yet in all three of these cases the disclosure was not done. I am going to assume out of lack of knowledge. Which is why I am writing this post . So what can happen?

1 If you get caught and yes the State does monitor these things the fine is $ 5,000 !!!

2 The buyer finds out about this after the fact and freaks out . Who knows where the $$$ will be in this case

3 The buyer renovates or has children . Either get sick from dust from the renovation containing lead or the child gets sick from eating paint chips. I do not even want to think about this one $$$$

So the bottom line is if a home is built before 1978 in Georgia you must have the exhibit for lead paint.

At the turn of the 20th and near the end of 19th Century there was a big , what we would call today, grass roots movement in the South. It was called the Populist movement. It featured such colorful characters as Sock-less Jerry Simpson, and famous figures like William Jennings Bryan.

There were a lot of poor folk in the South and this movement was aimed at changing and empowering these folk. Now the party that controlled the South was the Democratic party. So this movement really challenged the fat cats in the Democratic party and was a threat to them. What happened?

The Democratic party leaders split the movement by raising the issue of race. The party before this had black and white members. But by raising the issue of race the fat cats split the movement. In the end they were able to kill it. Divided the movement was too weak to survive. So something that was good and would have made positive changes for folks was derailed .

Today we have debate about heath care. WE NEED SOME TYPE OF REFORM. This post is not about what type but it is about the debate. The shouting and the rumor mongering going on today instead of debate is the new way of derailing the process. If we allow the process to get derailed by hate and fear mongers, then like the folks who allowed it to happen to them during the populist movement we will all be losers.