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Wordless Wednesday - Why we stop feeding the birds when winter's over

Mike Kelly, GRI: Real Estate Agent in Blairsville, GA

Bear on the porchBear on the porch

lAKESIDE

Mike Kelly, GRI: Real Estate Agent in Blairsville, GA

3243 Daisy Log Road Blairsville, GALake Nottely

3243 Daisy Log Road 17+/- Acres Offered at $1,950,000

Lakeside country estate on 17 acres with breathtaking views of mountains, lake and pasture! This unique 4BR/3.5BA contemporary home on three levels features an ensuite master on main level, kitchen with breakfast nook, separate dining room, great room with cathedral ceiling and floor-to-ceiling rock fireplace. Green features include energy efficient appliances, extra insulation and thermal pane windows. There are other amenties, both inside and out, too numerous to mention. If you want to live in rusric luxury, this may be the home for you!


Fire Engines can do more than putting out fires!

Mike Kelly, GRI: Real Estate Agent in Blairsville, GA

Mike with his plaque for winning third place! Mike Kelly Realty Fire Engine

I've always wanted my own fire engine. Not the kiddie car type, but a full size red fire engine with sirens, hoses, ladders...the whole works. So when I heard that there was a 1936 Maxim fire engine for sale in North Georgia, I hesitated only a short time before I gave into temptation and made it mine.

Now as all of you who have acquired fire engines know, the next big question is: what on earth am I going to do with it? Fortunately, I own a real estate company that will take any good publicity it can get. Suddenly my 1936 Maxim Fire Engine was slated to become a drawing card for Mike Kelly Realty.

Getting the fire engine ready to meet the public took a lot of work. The brakes didn't work, the choke had to be set just right before the engine would start and plumes of black smoke poured out of the exhaust. I and my riders - hesitant ones at that - jolted around and bounced up and down until I figured out how to work the clutch. And, since the fire engine, after all, was built in 1936, there was no power steering! Do you know how hard it is to get a fire engine to go where you want it to go without power steering?

Eventually, though, we took care of all the problems, polished up the brass and chrome, added a CD player and we were good to go.

Our debut onto the Blairsville scene took place at the Blairsville Memorial Day Parade a few years back. I drove the fire engine and members of our company sat in the back wearing fire hats and waving flags. It all went very smoothly, except for some overheating of the engine at the end of the parade.

Since then the fire engine has been a big hit in our town. On nice days, it sits in our parking lot, where passersby stop to examine it, sit in it, pretend to drive it, take pictures and even come into our office to ask if they can have a ride (generally, the answer is yes). I've been invited to take the fire engine to church festivals, grand openings, fund raisers and car rallies. I've even transported a whole birthday party to the local ice cream store!

The moral of this story is: if there is something you really want but can't justify getting it, figure out a way to make it work for you. That way you'll avoid the guilt!

Long-Term Rentals in Blairsville GA, Long Term Rentals in Blue Ridge GA, Long Term Rentals in Hiawassee, GA

05-13-09
Amanda Brock
Amanda  Brock: Real Estate Agent in Blairsville, GA

Long Term- Rentals in Blairsville GA, Blue Ridge GA and Hiawassee, GA.

Click here to view properties

PLease Take a Look at
www.RealtorBrock.com for Updated Lists.

IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR LONG-TERm RENTALS I CAN HELP. I will make the Process very Easy for You and Get you in the Type of home that you are looking For.

Homes with Owner Financing in Blairsville, GA

05-13-09
Amanda Brock
Amanda  Brock: Real Estate Agent in Blairsville, GA

Owner Financing on Homes and Lots in Blairsville, GA/ Blue Ridge, GA/ and Hiawassee, GA

PLease go to www.MountainCabinRealtor.com for Additional and Updated Lists.


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What is Owner Financing? ( Info From michaelbluejay.com)

(aka "Seller Financing")

You might be thinking, "Hey, could I just make payments directly to the seller instead of getting a mortgage? Then I wouldn't have to qualify for the mortgage." That indeed could be a good deal, except that owner-financed deals like this are rare. Here's why.

The seller has to pay off their existing mortgage before they can sell.

Let's say the seller is selling the house for $150,000 house, and they've got $110,000 left on the mortgage. If they sell it the regular way, where you get your own loan from a bank, then $110,000 of the your new mortgage will pay off the seller's old mortgage, and the seller will wind up with $40,000 in cash.

But if the seller wants to owner-finance to you, then s/he'll have to pay off the existing mortgage first. Does the seller have a spare $110,000 lying around? Probably not. So in most cases, sellers can't owner-finance to you even if they wanted to, because they don't have the means to pay off their existing mortgage.

The seller wants all their cash up front.

With a regular sale, the seller gets all the cash up front. When they owner-finance, the money trickles in, month by month, for 30 years. So most sellers prefer a regular sale so they can get all their money up front. After all, what's the most common reason people sell a house? So they can buy another one. And they'll likely need the money from the sale of the old house to use as a down payment on the new house, or to fix it up, or both.

Another reason the seller might not want to owner-finance is that they don't expect to live another 30 years in order to collect all the payments. This is especially true if the seller is over 40.

So you see, sellers usually either can't seller-finance, or they don't want to. That's why you'll rarely find houses that are owner-financed.

Of course there are exceptions. Here are cases when owner-financing is a possibility.

  • Financing as an investment. If the seller doesn't need all the proceeds from the sale right away, then owner-financing a home can be a great investment. When you put money in the stock market, you might get 6%, or maybe a little more -- or you could lose 5, 10, or 20%. By contrast, owner-financing gives the seller a guaranteed return of whatever the interest rate on the loan is. Further, sellers who owner-finance can charge a higher interest rate than banks because seller-financing often makes the deal attractive to the buyer, especially if the buyer couldn't qualify for a bank loan. The main risk to the seller is that the buyer will fail to make the monthly payments (known as "defaulting" on the loan), but in that case the seller can reclaim the house ("foreclose" on it) and sell it to get their money back. The seller is fine as long as they can sell the house for at least as much as is left on the loan.

  • You offer a higher interest rate. One way you might be able to convince an owner to seller-finance is to offer to pay a higher interest rate. Of course, you wouldn't make such an offer if you're able to qualify for a bank loan, but if you can't get a bank loan, then offering a higher rate directly to the seller might be what it takes to get you into the home you want. Also, once you've had the home for a year or two and your financial situation improves you might be able to move that loan to a bank.

  • The seller finances only part of the loan. Once I wanted to buy a home but I couldn't come up with the last $36,000. (I had no more cash left and couldn't get a bigger loan.) But I really wanted the house. So I asked the owner to owner-finance just that small part of the cost of the house, and I offered him twice the prevailing interest rate. He accepted. A year later I was able to easily move that loan to a bank at half the interest rate, so I only had to pay the higher interest for one year.

    PLease Contact Amanda BRock, Realtor Today
    Email: amandabrockrealtor@windstream.net
    Phone: 706-897-6636 Cell or 706-745-2188 Office