Joshua Jarvis

This is a video tour of 5996 Wellington Avenue in Gainesville, GA. The home sits on acreage with waterfront property on Lake Lanier. With 4 bedrooms and 3 full baths, a full finished basement and over three acres, this home is spacious. Obviously, the main attraction is the lake view and the 2 boat slips. Deep water all year around on this home.

Since this is my first video, please feel free to critique it and let me know how to improve! (be kind).  I posted an unbranded version of this in Realtor.com.

The movie was made with a Flip! Video camera ($130) and Windows Movie Maker (which is free).  I look forward to doing more of this! If you have been making movies for e-mail video or video tours, let me know.

I grabbed this off a press release but it's true. If you've ever been to the Village at Deaton Creek in Hoschton, GA, you'll know why people are flocking there.

Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) is pleased to announce that Metrostudy has named the Village at Deaton Creek by Del Webb Metro Atlanta's top selling community for 2007 in its fourth quarter report for 2007. Metrostudy is a housing market research firm that is the leading provider of real estate and related market information in the country. Metrostudy provides primary and secondary market information to the housing and related industries nationwide.

Del Webb attributes its successful year to three key factors - the reputation as the nation's leader in active adult lifestyle communities for more than 47 years, the large base of baby boomer households in Atlanta, and the community's entire $10 million amenity package being fully functional.

Atlanta is in line with national trends that point to baby boomers as the fastest growing population and household segments. According to the US Census Bureau, there are over 530,000 households in the Atlanta market that are 55 and over. That is nearly 30% of all households in the Atlanta area. "We see a majority of our customers coming from the Atlanta area. Baby Boomers are one of the largest groups in the market, and they have significant buying power," says Cooper. This group also represents the largest growing segment in the market - by 2011, it will account for nearly 700,000 households. In fact, one in five metro Atlanta residents will be 60 or older by 2030.

The 35,000 square foot Club at Deaton Creek amenity center opened its doors in the summer of 2007, and the final phase of Village at Deaton Creek's amenities opened on schedule in December, just a year from the first homeowners moving in. Cooper notes, "The lifestyle is in full swing, so customers can envision themselves living in the community." Situated in Hoschton, near Chateau Élan, Village at Deaton Creek offers a full-time lifestyle director, 35,000 square foot clubhouse, miles of walking trails, a tennis complex, bocce ball courts, a dog park, and softball.

Cooper adds, "Being only 40 miles north of Atlanta, we offer our customers the opportunity to downsize and stay close to their family and friends, plus immediate access to a highly social and highly amenitized lifestyle."

Dr. Leslie David opened his medical practice to a beautiful thing, no competition. Hoschton, GA has been without a medical practice for some time.

Not having competition isn't going to stop Dr. David from being the best he can. His medical assistant, April Teatino followed him to Georgia from South Carolina.

"He's probably go the best bedside manner of any physician I've ever worked with," said Teatino in a "The Paper" article.

Dr. David moved into Trilogy Park a great neighborhood in Hoschton, GA. Dr. David also offers sports medicine giving him the well rounded capabilities to serve the community.

Dr David is very personable, having met him personally, it's great to be able to chat with a Doctor in town without feeling rushed off. In fact, that's one of the many draws of Hoschton, GA is the laid back atmosphere. It seems that Dr. David is going to be a good fit for Hoschton.

If you'd like to move to Hoschton, or Search all the homes there, click here.

If you're a buyer or a seller you may not have heard this one but for the average Realtor, we've been armed with this statement as an objection handler since the beginning of the profession.

SELLER: "We want to use XYZ Realty because they are cheaper."

AGENT: "I understand that and let me ask you ... If you had a choice between a two Doctors that would operate on you, would you choose the best Doctor or the cheapest? .... "

AGENT ... "Because selling your home is like financial surgery... "

For a long time now I've been fed up with this particular method of talking with a seller. Frankly, I could not say it, because we all know that what Doctors and Lawyers GO THROUGH to get to where they are, is nothing compared to the average licensing process of a Realtor. So for me, it was always a silly comparison that no educated person would buy into. After all, most agents can pick their licenses up at Walmart whereas Doctors and Lawyers actually have several hundreds of thousands of dollars tied up in education.

Then it dawned on me. Assuming that there was no health care system (socialized or privatized) and there was no "award" settlements -- Assuming that you would have to pay the bill in CASH. What would be the cost of a doctor's visit? In most instances, the cost would be anywhere from $150 for a regular visit to $50,000 for a small to medium sized operation. The cost for an attorney is a little easier. For their services you'd likely pay $150/hr to $450/hr for most lawyers. Obviously, if your using the "OJ" staff, you'll be paying a bit more.

Now let's compare that to the average home in Georgia. With the average price of a home being around $200,000, it already eclipses the highest cost. A $200,000 operation would most likely be some sort of open heart or brain surgery.

Now I hear the cynic in you saying, "But Realtor fees are not $200K and even if I pick the wrong Realtor I can still get a portion of that."

OK. Let's look at commissions. Assuming you hire the Jarvis Team and we decide to charge 7%, that would be $14,000 total commission. That's a little under 1000 hours of Attorney services and would cover most medical visits for the average adult for 20 or more years!

A mistake on hiring the right person can cost you 3 to 10% ! that's a "oops!" to the tune of $6,000 to $20,000 in just this example.

So I ask you, would you want to use the Best Realtor for the job or the cheapest?

Want to take it one step further? In the day and age where sellers may be walking the line and getting close to foreclosure, hiring the wrong agent could very well cost you your home!

In Atlanta, discount brokers on average sell for 3% to 5% less than a FULL TIME Realtor. It's worth noting that someone like Scott Daniels in Florida may very well buck this trend as he has a high-octane business. There are "discounters" that do so, because they can through their thoughtful business plan.

Yesterday morning and during training we (Keller Williams Agents) were given the announcement that Gary is at it again. This time he has written a buyer book called, "Your First Home." In it are photos of the authors first homes, explanations of appreciation and more. It will become the STANDARD given to all my buyer clients upon signing of a buyer brokerage agreement.

Here's the official word:

Written by Gary Keller, Dave Jenks and Jay Papasan, the writing team that brought you MREA and MREI, Your First Home is a resource for aspiring home owners and a business building tool for you.

Providing first time home buyers with the information they need in order to confidently enter into the home buying process, this hardcover book is exclusively for Keller Williams associates and the perfect gift for potential first-time home buyers in your database.

The first book in the new Keller Williams Realty Guide series, Your First Home is drawn from the real-life experiences of hundreds of thousands of first-time home buyers, this book provides proven, practical guidance on how to:

• Determine how much home they can afford
• Secure the best financing
• Finance their new home, even with less-than-perfect credit
• Craft a winning offer and negotiate with sellers
• Spot serious issues at inspection
• Close on their new home and maintain it

Click here for sneak peek into the first pages of this new release!

This product will be available at Family Reunion in the KWU Bookstore for $12/copy or $100/10 copies.

A paperback edition is also available to consumers in bookstores for $16.95.

I'm looking forward to the next set of books. Although KW tends to have a MLM or Book Club mentality on some things, everything from top to bottom I have received has been quality.