Tammy Lankford- lake sinclair

PREFACE: I AM IN NO WAY SAYING COMMISSIONS SHOULD BE FIXED OR SET.

I've had some at home time on my hands the past week. So I've been doing a little research project on my MLS. In my local area there is a company that lists all properties for a 4% commission. And at various times several other companies have done the same for "Until Labor Day list with us for 4%" or until the end of the year list with us for 3%.

So in my research I looked for the following stats: Sales to Orginal list of homes with

7%commission = 96.7% Ave. DOM 82

6%commission = 95.3% Ave DOM 115

5%commission = 96% (71% of these were NEW HOMES) Ave DOM 168

4%commission= 88.9% AVE DOM 277

So I pose the question are they actually saving money. For my little company my advertising budget makes 50% of my overhead each month. I have bill boards, print (full color magazine), yes I still do some classifieds (but they are a perk for the magazine), Internet, and mail outs.

In the local magazine that I advertise in which is actually a publication by our local newspaper "for the local MLS" only MLS members may advertise in it. The one company that does only 4% hasn't run a single print ad in 2008 in that magazine, AND he no longer has an "office" he works from home... not much walk-in traffic there I bet.

But in getting out my handy frog calculator I figured out that saving commission at closing didn't save the seller any money. Listings sold for less than the comps, took longer to sell than the comps...

So today I mailed a letter to the area I work and I'm running an ad on the subject. My message does not have the above data in it... I took a different perspective on it.

I asked the question:

If you performed your job... the one you do now.... as your boss asked you to and in a timely manner and then your paycheck were 67% of the original amount you "normally" receive how would you like it? What if you came up with a nifty idea for a short cut to get the job done in half the time and then your boss said... "oh half the time/half the pay".

Over my real estate career I have adjusted commissions when negotiations stall on an offer multiple times. After all commission is an item open to negotiation between a broker and a seller, but I suggest to my sellers that in today's market they offer selling agent bonuses to make their listing more attractive to agents.

What do you think about discounted commission and/or discounted commission companies?

www.lake-sinclair.com

NOBODY COVERS THE LAKE LIKE LANE

I consider myself a middle/working class American. This week alone I have seen thousands of little imaginary dollars disappear from my savings. From my 401k, IRA SEP, and investments. Another week like this one and I just might have to readjust my planned retirement age. That being said it brings to mind two things I'd like to share with you.

• A PERSONAL STORY

When I was young my grandmother and papa kept me while my mom worked. In the little town we lived in everything closed down on Wednesday afternoons and my papa got off work and we went down to the A & P grocery store. I'd get a coke and pack of peanuts for the shopping trip. One particular visit we drove home a different route. I must have been 4 or 5, but I remember my papa pulling off the side of the road and getting me out of the car and standing me on the hood and telling me to "look". As far as I could see he owned that land. He said to me... when you grow up, invest in land they aren't making any more of it.

Now my papa died in 1979. My grandmother now lives in a nursing home and currently is in the hospital. I have no idea what my papa paid for that land. But in 1979 when my papa died it was worth about $400. per acre. When we sold it for my grandmother to have money to pay her medical and living expenses we got over $5000 an acre and well it was a lot of acres. She mainly spends the interest. My papa had lived by his own good advice and my grandmother is all the better cared for because of it.

• A CLIENT'S STORY

Once upon a time I had a client looking for acreage on Lake Sinclair, now this a rare. So I went to the record books and found several 4 to 6 acre tracts on the lake. I mailed letters (this was before Al Gore invented the Internet). One gentleman called and told me he really did need to sell his property. So I told him I'd do a CMA, got his phone number (Caller ID might have been invented, but I didn't have it yet). I went to look at his 6 acres with 280 feet on the beautiful shore of Lake Sinclair. I called him back and I told him at the time I thought we should list it for $279,000. and that I felt a realistic sales price would be some where around $250,000. He asked me to repeat myself. Then he asked his wife to pick up the phone and asked me to repeat myself again. Then he broke down in tears. He and his wife were both retired from Eastern Airlines and had lost their pension when Eastern folded. He told me he had paid only $11,000. for this land and that if I could get him a quarter of a million dollars for it, he just might not have to go back to work. He said I would be the "savior" of his retirement.

Well I did sell his land and he did get a little more than the quarter million I'd suggested it might sell for at the time. No I don't think I'm a savior, but I'm sure glad I helped this couple out instead of someone comming along and offering him $50,000. and him jumping on it without being informed.

My point here is that real estate, land, property is a safer, better investment than Wall Street. Buy land, they aren't making any more of it. Even in the housing "crunch" we are currently experiencing I dare say noone's house on Lake Sinclair would appraise today for less than it was purchased for even if it was purchased last year or the year before.

Invest in Lake Sinclair... a safe place to put your money.

As you can see it's a beautiful place to put your investment and you can have lots of fun while your investment grows.

NOBODY COVERS THE LAKE LIKE LANE!

www.lake-sinclair.com

The Uncle Remus Museum in Eatonton, Georgia is near and dear to my heart.   It's not just a place you should visit or a book you should read for me... for me... it's a personal journey.  You see... once upon a time I was a docent at the Uncle Remus Museum.  I started working with and for Mrs. Norma Wiliford when I was but a wee 12 years old.  It wasn't the first place I ever "worked" but I guess the convenience store across the street when I was 8 where I got paid a quarter and a coke to pick up trash from the parking lot and bag groceries doesn't REALLY count.

Miss Norma was the first curator of the Museum, so I learned the stories from the best.  She once told me she was the first woman in Putnam County to register to vote.  I have a beautiful tea cup and saucer in my curio that she gave to me and a Joel Chandler Harris story book that she signed... Love, Ms. Remus. 

My person connection with the museum continued after Mrs. Wiliford passed away and the reigns of the curator passed to her daughter, Mrs. Norma Watterson.  I started working there in 1977 (yes, I just dated myself) and I worked there until November of 1992.  For many of those years it was my second and even third job. 

Then 10 years later in 2002 when my only daughter was 14 it became her first job.  She worked for Mrs. Lanell Frost who is only the 3rd curator since the museum opened it's doors in 1963.

I've heard people say and I've read that "The Tar Baby" story is not politically correct and that's a bunch of hooey.  It's a wonderful story and actually is African folk lore that was passed down from generation to generation.  Joel Chandler Harris who was a newspaper columnist never claimed to have authored the stories, only to have written them down for all to read. 

Things at the museum look a little different than in the picture above.  There's now a second "brer rabbit" statue like the one at the court house made from the same mold on this location.  The fence has been mended from time to time, an herb garden added, a "well house" put around the spicket and the beautiful large oak lost it's life a few years ago.

When you walk through the doors it's like stepping back in time.  There are first editions of Harris' books on display, a sampling of the many languages these wonderful stories have been translated into on display, two wonderful originals from Song of the South signed by Walt Disney on display.  In the front cabin there are three large picture windows that have murals painted behind them that show what the plantation would have looked like where "Uncle Remus" told the stories to the little boy.  There are 12 shadow boxes with beautiful wooden carvings about some of the most famous stories.  There's the wooden brer rabbit on the front door that my daddy made, there's the crocheted rug inside that my mama made.  My family loves this place and I invite you to visit. 

If you find that you just can not make it this way to visit this wonderful place then I invite you to read the stories.  Or order them on tape and listen to them. 

 Don't not read these wonderful stories, for yourself or your children or grandchildren. 

If you have problems finding the books, let me know and I'll give you a hand in getting one.

Inventory is up at Lake Sinclair.

There are 186 Lakefront homes on Lake Sinclair in Putnam County currently on the market. 154 in Baldwin County and another 172 in Hancock County.

That's over 500 waterfront homes available on Lake Sinclair. The prices are better than they have been since 2006. Interest rates are near historical lows.

That means it's a buyers market out there.

Lane Realty represents buyer/clients when shopping for the most home for the money on Lake Sinclair. But, first let me sell you one "my" lake.

• In drought we stay at full pool. Lake Oconee, dammed to our north was built as a holding lake to keep us full.
• It's a Georgia power lake, not a core of engineer lake, meaning you can clear on owned lots to the water... you actually can have a view
• Most lots can have a dock and/or boathouse. There are minimum shoreline requirements.
• The Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources has no restrictions on how often you can eat fish from Lake Sinclair. (which means even if you don't fish or eat the fish, the water is also safe and free from toxins for your family to swim, ski and boat safely.
• Boathouses are restricted from our lake, so no chance of sewage dumps.

Lake Sinclair is a beautiful 15,000+ acre lake with over 400 miles of gorgeous shoreline. Come see it today. Below are a few of the views from properties Lane Realty currently has listed.

Let me start by saying I love this place. The Plaza in Eatonton Georgia that has just be renovated and now the location of the Eatonton-Putnam Chamber of Commerce and many outdoor events and concerts all summer long holds much special meaning for me. You see, it was the grammar school that not only I attended, but my mother as well. Right out where the "parties" now happen at the plaza was where I used to swing, have recess, got my first kiss, climbed high on the monkey bars.

So now this is what is happening on my old play ground. The renovated building is just lovely including the theater. I learned to love to read right here. My 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Dickey, I credit for the fact that I just can't read enough. At the end of the day she read us Pippi Longstocking. If you haven't given this book to your daughters, it's fantastic.

4 The Joey Stuckey Band and Clarence Carter at The Plaza Arts Center, 6 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. For more information, call (706) 485-4121.

6 Taste of Eatonton, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Plaza on Madison Avenue. Enjoy food and drink from all of your local restaurants and caterers. Enjoy live remotes, silent auctions and raffles. $20 for advance tickets, $25 at the door. Please call the Eatonton Chamber at (706) 485-7701 for more information. Platinum Sponsors: Georgia Power, Cuscowilla, McDonalds, Farmers & Merchants Bank, Fowler Flemister Concrete, Inc, Keystone Custom Homes, The Peoples Bank, Robert Betzel, DDS, The Eatonton Messenger / Lake Oconee News, Z97 and The Union Recorder / Lake Oconee Breeze. Gold Sponsors: Dock 103.9

18 The Sparrow Quartet, 8 p.m. in the theater of The Plaza Arts Center. For more information, call (706) 923-1655

.25 David Odom, clarinet soloist, 7:30 p.m. in the theater of The Plaza Arts Center. For more information, call (706) 923-1655

http://web.georgia.org/net/location/proximity.aspx?tid=22222&s=0.0.27.3011&cityid=21488

These are the events that will be at "The Plaza" in October, check back for information on what's coming up here in November.