Helen, GA

Okay, you have an accepted contract on your home. The inspections have all been resolved, the due diligence period has passed, you have prepared for your move. You have a closing scheduled on your home at your new destination right after your closing here! You have scheduled sitters, purchased crates for the dog and cat to travel with you, called the movers, packed up all your personal belongings, you have called the utility companies here and at your new location. You have scheduled the last day of school for your children. You have asked your sister to come and help you out on moving week and yes, she has scheduled time off work to help out. You have everything ready to go. You know your closing is scheduled for date certain, two days from now. Suddenly you wonder? What time? So you call your agent, she says she has not heard from the closing attorney, she will call you right back. She calls you back and says, I am trying to find out what is going on, they don't have a copy of our contract.

Do you get a sinking feeling? Well, yes! Then you hear from your agent who is not the least bit happy that you are not going to close two days from now. Why? Because there will be a unilaterial extension filed by the Buyer. HUH???? Yes, there will be a unilateral meaning you don't have a say! And this is two days before closing. It gets worse, one day before closing and you still do not have the unilateral extension, nor do you have a date to close! Horror Story, but true story! Did you know this could happen? Yes, in Georgia it can. There is a paragraph in the contract you signed which says it can!

In these days of economic uncertainity, delays seem the order of the day. What can you do in situations such as the above? Your choices are limited. You need an agent who is aware of what can happen and you need a lender who is reliable. You cannot control the buyer, but your agent can help you understand the contract. Experience and Service are not expensive, they are priceless. Contact me when you are ready to buy or sell in Helen, Ga and surrounding areas. For your Mountain home, cabin, vacation or retirement home, call Flynn the Ga Real Estate Lady. For more tips on buying and selling, visit www.FlynnTaylor.com.

Sunday is beautiful, temps will be in low 70s here in Helen, but watch out for the rest of the week, if you come to Helen, bring your jackets! We will be in low 40s and 30s on Mon, Tues, and Weds, IF the weather wizards know what they are talking about for our area! What does this mean besides bring your jackets? It means you can enjoy the fireplace in the cabin you have rented for the weekend, curl up in a thick throw, read a book or just watch the leaves fall from inside! When you are forced out for food :-} you can enjoy any of the many wonderful dining experiences Helen has to offer. Or head on over to Clarkesville which is a change of pace. Don't forget the Batesville area, and you can still go on up to Lake Burton if you like the Lake area. Helen is not only a destination, it is a good home base for so many day trips. If you have never taken the drive on Hwy 197, past Mark of the Potter in the fall, you have missed an exquisite feel of being in England's Lake Country region!! The first time I saw this I remarked this must be what Heaven would look like and I still hold that opinion! It is a Must See, and the stop at Watt's Mill (Mark of the Potter) is one you will never regret. Besides all the wonderful hand thrown pottery, you can walk out on the back deck, look down into the Soque River (at its best) and see hundreds of Trout. NO, you can't throw out a line, even at midnight. There are cameras there to record your every move! Once I actually saw a deer crossing at the top of the cascading water falls, such a site will probably never come to me again, but once was wonderful and I shall never forget it. Whenever I am showing Buyers who are lucky enough to be able to move to our area this wonderful landmark, I always tell them my true story. Also, if you go to my site www.FlynnTaylor.com and watch my home page slide show, you will see a very odd looking fish/trout there. I took that photo and it was of an "albino trout" as documented by DNR, which took advantage of the wonderful feeding ground at Mark of the Potter. You can buy fish food to throw into the water. Take your camera, you don't want to miss this spot of this week in living color!

Be a part of our northeast Georgia mountain community. We feel lucky to be here as full time residents, but if I had to have a place just for weekends, I would choose to start my search in Helen! And I will be happy to help you. Email me at Flynn@FlynnTaylor.com, or prefer to talk? 706 865 5700, after about 8 rings, the voice mail does come on. (Sometimes I can't help it and go outside to enjoy all the beautiful countryside and the Chattahoochee River...yes, we still have homes on the river for sale, but hurry ;-}!)

"Don't Make a Move Without Flynn" See you soon???

Saturday was beautiful, the rain left early in the morning and bright skies where only dimmed by the number of leaves falling to the ground. What a beautiful time of year in these foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The maples are just beginning to change their colors from green to yellow, orange, gold and red. I think most of the acorns have fallen, at least I am not hearing the bullet-like sounds all during the day and night. And yes, my decks and driveway are covered in those acorns. Bailey, my little lion dog has brought in a hundred of them, I think. He loves to crack them open. A squirrel has nothing on Bailey! He does not eat them, but he does crack them open and leave them on the floor. Now try to sweep off the deck and it is a game for Bailey, called kill the broom. Bailey is enjoying fall as much as I am, I think.

Fall is a time to plant too, believe it or not and with any luck tomorrow will be pretty and I will get my "strawberry tree" transplanted. They grow in the wild and you can transplant them. The berries on the tree are bright red, like a strawberry, and beautiful for many months of the year.

Tonight was absolutely beautiful, you could just smell the freshness in the air, and the stars were clearly trying to outshine each other. Walking outside you smell the smoke from the neighbors fireplace and it reminds you the holidays are coming! In north Georgia you begin celebrating Fall in September, it goes through November and the day after Thanksgiving the Christmas lights are up! Only in January does it begin to get dreary and we hope for snow! Snow usually does not arrive until March, if we get anything other than a dusting!

Tired of the traffic, fumes, lights? Come on up to Helen and enjoy the weekend! It is country and we love it that way! Yes, there is room for one more! (Once you get here we will close the door :-} )

Once you fall in love with the Helen area, look for your home on my site www.FlynnTaylor.com It is there, I am sure of it! See you soon?

To all the "leaf lookers" today and tonight have been rainy. But the weather wizards say that tomorrow will be beautiful in the Northeast Georgia Mountains and Swiss Alpine Helen! Pack up the car and come on over to visit. The leaves are changing and falling. Hopefully the next two weekends will be great for the viewing and photographing the colors of fall. We have so very many points of interest in the area, you will definitely have a difficult time choosing, if you are only coming for one day! Gas prices have fallen and we have no gas shortage in the area now.

Don't miss the fall foilage and don't miss the wonderful german foods available in Helen. You will also find many wonderful mom and pop eating establishments along the way. Don't miss Yonah Burger on Hwy 75 just outside Cleveland. You can have wonderful breakfasts and great lunches there. Just across the road is a little white house called Velvets, full of antiques and junk for the collectors! You never know what you will find.

Also, don't miss the great buys on vacation homes right now. What could be better than a mountain get away. Being an hour or so out of Atlanta, it gives you the perfect place to get away for the weekend, all year long. Visit my site to see all the cabins available, www.FlynnTaylor.com or email me and I will send you a complete list of cabins on the market! See you soon???

Now. Now is a good time to buy real estate in northeast Georgia. Why? Because you don't have as much competition for the home you like and want to purchase. Because everyone else is shying away from making a decision until after the election. Because people who have to relocate are willing to take less if you have a good offer. What is a good offer? One that does not have strings attached. One that comes with a letter from the buyers' lender stating the buyers have their loan in place and are ready to close. One that comes WITHOUT a house to sell before the buyer can purchase. Then a Seller is more excited about an offer to purchase and don't feel as threatened. A Seller feels threatened when they are not sure their house will close, because the Buyers house may not close. It is a terrible feeling to be packed up to move and have a closing fall through. Moving Vans have been scheduled, utilities have been cut off, people have taken off work to help you move...and then it does not happen on schedule.

So you can see the value of being able to negotiate price when you are ready willing and ABLE to close on the house you want within a short period of time. Wouldn't you take a lower price if you knew the chances of closing were dramatically increased? Most people would.

Do your homework when you start to buy, know your negotiating leverage comes from a clean offer!

The more contingencies your offer contains, the less likely the Seller is to negotiate price.

For more information contact me Flynn@FlynnTaylor.com To see all properties available through our local MLS visit www.FlynnTaylor.com Prefer to talk? 706 865 5700