Tammy Lankford- lake sinclair

Yesterday I read a post by Liz Moras on this subject and it prompted me to talk to buyers in my area a little.

I got a call Saturday evening at home.

The customer dialed the office number, but at Lane Realty if you dial our office number after business hours, you still get an agent (please don't call after 11, we do need sleep). It's been a long standing practice at Lane Realty to forward the phone to a full time agent for customers who call during evening hours or before the office opens at 9 a.m. We strive to be available when customers/clients need us. And you never know what time someone might call to make an appointment.

Back to my call. The caller had been at Lake Sinclair earlier in the day with a cell phone that had service from a company that didn't offer good service in this area. He was calling to inquire about the price of a home we have listed. It was not a clear connection and his cell dropped the call. The duty agent had tried to reach him back and left voice mail. Later in the evening he was calling to make an appointment to see the home he had inquired about. I explained to him that I would get in touch with my agent that had duty that afternoon and have them contact him. He seemed upset that I would not make an appointment with him. He said, "It doesn't matter who I talk to, I don't care."

Well, I'm about to explain why I think he should care...

When you are looking for a home on Lake Sinclair there are many avenues to do plenty of looking on line. You can find houses and photos that peak your interest and call agent after agent to make appointments, but it's my opinion this isn't the best way to find a house that suits you.

It's my opinion that you should first decide if you like this area and would like to purchase at home here and then take the following step.

FIND AN AGENT TO HELP YOU WITH YOUR SEARCH FOR PROPERTY.

You see, Lake property is a very unique thing and Lake Sinclair has 15,000 acres and 417 miles of unique shoreline. It's about so much more than finding a neighborhood you like and a house you like. You need an agent with good communication skills to help you with the so much more. There are things like:

1. Do you want a boathouse? a double boathouse?
2. How deep do you want the water?
3. Do you want property with a boat launch?
4. How large would you like your dock?
5. Would you like open view on the main lake or a quiet cove with less boat traffic where your children or grandchildren can play in the water?
6. Do you want an area with building restrictions?
7. When boating are you going to have to let the top down to go under a bridge to get to the main lake?
8. Do you want the best fishing places on the lake?
9. Do you want the best skiing places on the lake?
10. Three counties border the lake with three very different millage rates for property taxes, which is in your budget?
11. Information about schools and hospitals in the three different counties vary also, would how long it would take an ambulance to reach your home matter? how about a fire truck?
12. There are 4 types of ownership on Lake Sinclair: Fee Simple, Strip lease, residential lease, and full lease.

You see, it's complex, and once you hire an agent who is familiar with these things and let them know what is important to you, you can be emailed lists of properties that would fill all or the most important of your wish list. We are also as agents familiar with which lenders have products for each type of property you might be considering. For example if you are looking at a lease lot we know which lender to send you to see, or if you are looking at a manufactured home we have loan officers who do those also.

So it really is to your benefit as a purchaser to find an agent and hire them. If you sign a Buyer's Brokerage Agreement that agent is then obligated to work on your behalf to help you find a home.

If you wanted to paint your house and you called Lowe's, Home Depot and Ace Hardware and Sherman Williams to inquire about paint... you are still sitting there with the same color. If you hire a painter and make a contract you will get your house painted. Same principle. If you hire an agent, that agent will work FOR YOU to find your Lake Sinclair home.

At Lane Realty we have a staff of full time agents to help you located and negotiate to find the best house at the best price available. Just give us a call today if you are looking for a home on Lake Sinclair and would like to HIRE an agent to represent you and help you have a Lake Sinclair home soon.

Thank you to my husband and my daddy for helping to keep our nation safe.

My husband is my hero! He served our country in the U.S. Army for 12 years. He grew up being one of those "military brats", he was born in Virginia, spent time in Japan and ended up in San Diego as a teenager.

His father walked out of his life when Donald was just 14 years old. For the past 30 years my husband has not seen nor heard from his father, yet he is the best daddy ever to MY daughter, Abigail.

Donald and I met just over 11 years ago. I was on line in a chat room talking to my web guru. I made a comment about a song and some unknown person disagreed with me and then my Donald jumped to my defense. I've always been one of those "I can take care of myself" kind of girls and didn't feel I needed anyone to come to my defense. But he went on to say that he used to live in Georgia. Turns out he'd spend 4 years at Ft. Benning and 3 or 4 more at Ft. Stewart. He didn't really have a great opinion of my fine state. He said it was too hot and it rained every day.

We exchanged email addresses and a romance began... across an ocean. He was stationed in Germany. And to this day I don't know who "the man" was, nor do I care. But once when I emailed to him to "duck and run" if he heard gun fire, but as he was worked close security detail at the time, he explained to me that it was HIS JOB to jump in front of "the man" to take the bullet. From the beginning our relationship has always felt perfectly right. I truly feel we are a part of each other.

In the middle of fall 9 years ago Donald did not re-enlist. He flew home to visit his family in California and in January of 2001 he moved back to hot, sticky, humid Georgia. At the time he used to sing this song to me all the time. And he was a lot like the man in the song. No car, no job, just a few things tossed into a back pack and me picking him up at the Atlanta airport (he didn't actually walk).

We were married in the summer of 2002. And life has been a wonderful journey together every day since. I remember this one time when he was yelling at his youngest son, for not doing a school project that was due, that I watched Colin's eyes glaze over and actually saw the very second that he just tuned out what his dad was saying and at that moment I grew as a parent and realized there is no need to yell at my daughter. That if you talk softly, you child might listen. This knowledge certainly helped me get our 3 children through their "terrible teens".

Donald sometimes talks about when he was a MP stationed in Georgia,I know a lot about his time in Germany, but just about the only thing he's said about his time in Saudi Arabia was that you could really see all the stars in the sky when you are out in the dark desert at night. I don't pry or push. I just listen. I also know that he had a lot of fun when he helped keep the 1996 Olympics secure. He has some really cool photos from that adventure. He was so fascinated with the tattoo of the Olympic flame on one of the softball players that we have several photos of that. But due to the location of that tattoo, I better not show you those, I'll just leave that to your imagination.

I have the greatest respect for my husband's service to his country. I have an awsome love for his family. His mom, raised 4 wonderful children. Donald was # 2. When their dad was no longer in the picture, she stepped up and did a great job. My Donald is a kind, gentle, hardworking, smart and emotional man.

In February of next year will mark his ninth year with the Georgia Department of corrections. So he continues to work in a field that helps keep America secure and safe. I'm very proud of my husband and his service to our country. I'm thankful that last night he had a fabulous dinner in the oven when I got home from the office. I'm grateful that he sings to me. I'm overjoyed that he tears up at sad movies so I don't have to cry alone. And I'm blessed that he's the "daddy" that my daughter was missing in our lives for so many years. He is a true hero. To his country and especially to me.

This song is my tribute to MY AMERICAN SOLDIER, my hero, my husband.

Today I had the pleasure of speaking to a true American Hero on the phone. His name is Robert (Bob) Paschal and he is an American Soldier. Of course at 79 he's retired. He served 5 tours of duty in Korea and Vietnam and served in the Air Force for 22 years. But his work on behalf of soldiers continues.

He says the Lord lead him to do this work. Today 5 purple heart veterans arrived in Crawford County Georgia. They are all in wheelchairs. Tomorrow they are going hunting thanks to Bob. That's right, hunting. The Crawford County Lion's Club, which Bob is the president does this annually.

Bob told me not to give up on my husband telling the things that he can't yet bring himself to speak of from the time he was in a war zone. Bob said, "I finally told my wife after 50 years, so don't you give up on him."

The "deer" hunting is not so much the point of the "deer hunt" that he Lion's club sponsors. It's more about the veterans getting together with others that have shared the same experiences.

I'm looking forward to meeting Bob very soon and getting some photos from this year's hunt to share with you.

But for now I'd like to ask you to consider doing what I did today. Drop a check in mail to the

Crawford County Lion's Club

PO Box 531

Roberta, GA 31078

If every person who reads this mails just $10, it might be enough to give a disable veteran an experience of a lifetime. An experience he thought was out of reach to him forever because of his injuries. With Veterans Day just two days away, think of this as a gift to give back something to someone who sacrified so much for our freedom. Please consider.

It's really still warm for this time of year, the highs have been a little above average in the 70's this week and finally we've had a week without 5 days of rain.

It is really beautiful this time of year on Lake Sinclair. The fish are biting and water is calm and most of the ski boats and seados have been put away for winter.

Fall is really my favorite time to be out on the lake putzing around in a pontoon boat. (I long ago gave up water skis and fast boats). My husband is the fishing fan in the family. I'm pretty satisfied to have a good book along.

Our two dogs also love the lake and it's hard for us to keep them out of the water. Labs don't care how cold it is and our Great Dane well he'd follow Laney anywhere.

There are still some wonderful real estate bargains out there right now and I'd be happy to come in off the lake and show you some of them if you just give me a call.

Lane Realty is open 7 days a week. 9 to 5 Monday to Saturday and from 1 to 5 on Sunday. But for the week of Thanksgiving we will close Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and only show property by appointment those days.

Check out our web site and search the Lake Sinclair Area MLS to see what available properties you might be interested in seeing.