About Jasper's Bent Tree

All Mountain Realty works in the gated communities of Big Canoe Talking Rock Creek Benttree and Lake Arrow Head. This is not to say we do not work else where. I am writing this blog for folks who are looking for homes or property ,or agents who have clients looking for proerty in these communities.

It is important to know that you do not have automatic access to these communities. So if you are thinking about driving up and looking around you may have to think again. In some cases you will be refused entry. In other cases you will be directed to the developers real estate company. Either way your choice is made for you. Why not work with a company like ours and see these communities. We pride ousrselves on knowing about them. We will show you the community and listings of all agents in them. You make the choice. Don't have it made for you. For more information visit us on line at www.georgiasno1agent or www.allmtnrealty.com

Yes it is the end of Feb and we have one more month of winter to go. But spring comes early to the North Georgia Mountains. This is a spring, almost, picture. This is also why the North Georgia Mountains are such a great place to be.

If you are in the mountains anywhere here is the big gardening tip of the day. Deer do not eat daffodils. They eat a whole bunch of other stuff including plants you spray with that awful smelling Deer spray. I think they have learned to associate that smell with something good to eat. So they just put their hoofs over their noses and munch away. But daffodils ahhhh. They hate them. So plant away and enjoy the first green of late winter.

The other green you see in the picture is Mountain Laurel. As long as you do not fertilize it the deer do not seem to like it either.

I posted a blog with pictures for the first time the other day called Winter in the Mountains. Some of the responses I got asked about snow. Now wouldn't you know it. Here I am a couple of days later socked in with snow and some ice. Linda Carrig also wrote a blog about the snow today.

This leads me to believe I should have written a blog asking for more business or at least 6 numbers for a Lottery ticket. So for those of you who asked here goes. Yes we did have snow last night in the Atlanta and Northern regions. Also unfortunately it changed over to sleet by morning. However around 1 oclock today I should be able to get out and about. Now remember I am 2,500 feet up so it melts a little slower.

The point is that it all looks great. We have the fire going. Being in the southern end of the mountains means that even this inclement weather does not stay with us for long. That's is one of the things that make the North Georgia Mountains a place to be.

Visit us on line at www.georgiasno1agent.com

I am mostly optimistic. However recent events lead me to less than optimistic predictions for us and our economy. I have posted around this issue before but now it seems to be more and more becoming a reality.

When something does not make sense then usually you are missing a piece. In this case what never made sense to me was how the Fed could cut interest rates in light of over the top government spending. The result , look at gas prices, has been a devaluation of the currency. So yes we want to help the housing market but....

Well the most recent turn with Citi Group helps explain it all. Foreign money is the answer the big guys are looking for a way to solve the liquidity problem. What makes investing in U.S. institutions so appealing for foreigners is a cheap dollar versus their currency. So if you look at B of A buying Countrywide at a good price the same kind of thing holds true for a cheap dollar making foreign dollars investing in the US attractive.

Now I am not one of those Xenophobic Americans. But this "solution" to irresponsible lending is being paid for squarely by you and me. It is being paid for in Higher imported good prices. It is being paid for in Higher gas prices. Have you taken a vacation out of the country lately ? You tell me how far your dollar goes. Now in the end this will translate into less rather than more home buyers as peoples discretionary income is dried up.

To the extend the Fed cuts interest rates they are complicit and part of the problem. To the extend the Bush administration deficit spends they are part of the problem. The Big guys are bailing themselves out on your back. So do not look at an interest cut with unabashed joy and as a panacea to our housing woes. I think quite the opposite is true. If the economy tanks then it really doesn't matter what interst rates are!

The community of Bent Tree in Jasper, Georgia, has been fortunate to escape an abundance of foreclosures on the market over the past couple of years. Tax lien sales have been a far more frequent issue (and a means of obtaining Bent Tree property for below market value) than distress sales . . . usually on building or membership lots for which owners no longer wantedto pay HOA fees and taxes. We have to go back to 2005 to find any REO listing sales. Those three however, presented quite a bargain on Bent Tree homes for some lucky buyers. Two sold at discounts from 66% to 72% off list price, while a third -- a brand new lakefront home -- sold at a price well below market for all it had to offer.

However, as we move into 2008, bank foreclosures on Bent Tree homes are appearing once more. Three Bent Tree homes are currently listed in real estate as bank-owned REO properties and, based on notices of upcoming sale of properties on the Pickens County courthouse steps, there appear to be more to follow.

There are three homes currently listed for sale, with at least one more already foreclosed on, but not yet listed in real estate. The houses available already offer something of a discount off the original loan amount, ranging from $90,000 to $150,000 less than the amount owed to the bank! All three (or four) are fairly new, having been built since 2000, and fall in the $300,000 to $400,000 price range.

One of the the homes is to auctioned at a live (versus online) auction in the next couple of weeks, offering the potential for an even greater bargain, whether for a potential homebuyer or an investor. More are likely to follow.

To this point, there don't seem to be any Bent Tree lots or land parcels in foreclosure, and I don't expect to see too many, if any, suffering this fate. (Again tax lien sales, often voluntary, are far more likely.)

While it is troubling to see this growth of foreclosure homes in Bent Tree once more, this post is not meant to sound alarmist. Three properties out of a total of 81 houses (3.7%) available for sale isn't a crisis, however, it is higher than the county average, and much higher than in its sister community of Big Canoe; particularly when the upcoming listings are added. It is something worth monitoring as the effects of the past ease of financing on higher-priced (and sometimes overpriced) homes starts to take its toll.

Feel free to contact me for details on these Bent Tree foreclosures or REO auctions (as well as other Jasper / Pickens County, Georgia, bank-owned homes and land), by email, text, phone or by commenting below (be sure to include contact info when commenting!)