Navigating Today's Market

Santa brought me a GPS unit for Christmas! It's hard to believe that I haven't had one until now but I am for the most part finding it quite useful. There are some moments though when I will argue with it! Here is a summary of my first argument with my GPS.

Point "A" is the intersection of Old Lost Mountain Rd and Richard Sailors Parkway. Point "B" is the intersection of Brownsville Rd and C.H. James Parkway. The GPS unit told me to take Old Lost Mountain Road into downtown Powder Springs then turn left and then make a quick right on to Brownsville Rd. Looking at the map this is clearly the shortest in terms of distance.

Here's the problems with that route:

1. The traffic light crossing Richard Sailors on Old Lost Mountain. It is much quicker to make the right on red.
2. Once you cross Sailors Parkway you need to make that left turn in downtown. Usually this isn't too bad but sometimes there is traffic to wait on. If you would have gone the other way there is still a left turn on to C.H. James but there is a left turn arrow and it comes first in the cycle - before the straight ahead green light.
3. The right turn on to Brownsville rd crosses over the train tracks. It's a fairly busy track so there is a reasonable likelihood that you'll get caught by a train.
4. In general this route is 2 lane roads with 35mph speed limits subject to slow drivers and left turning vehicles that will slow down the trip. Richard Sailors Parkway to C.H. James Parkway is all 4 lane.

While the other (non GPS) route is longer it is still much "faster".

Jim Crawford had a similar point the other day with his post "The purpose of listing a home for sale" . I had the idea for this post on the Christmas night with my first trip using the GPS but I want to give Jim some credit. His conclusion is the same as mine. Jim - I guess great minds do think alike :-). Whether you are buying or selling a home, your purpose is to get from Point "A" (your current home) to Point "B" (your next home).

The Internet and computerized GPS units and all of the other technical resources available are great tools. But navigating from point "A" to point "B" still requires human intervention to dissect the information and help you arrive at a conclusion that is best suited to you and your needs.

All real estate is local! No matter where you are living or looking you need a local expert to help you dissect all of the information available and plan the best route for you!

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Bob Southard, e-Pro, Realtor ®, Solid Source Realty, Inc. Buy a home, Sell a home, in Powder Springs, Marietta, Kennesaw, Acworth, Dallas, Hiram,and Cobb, Paulding, Douglas, North Fulton, South Cherokee, County, Ga. Call me for all of your real estate needs.

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