Photos from Jamie Parker Snellville Realtor, Gwinnett Realtor
Beautiful picture of a snow capped home in the Kensington Subdivision during our recent winter weather event (January 19, 2009).Located in: Snellville, GA
Kensington is a Brookwood gem. Built by John Wieland, the neighborhood has many of the features that are typcial of his neighborhoods such as swim/tennis, a lake, and a clubhouse, Each home features an expansive floor plan. Most homes are 3000+ square feet. Many homes feature his and hers closets in the master, jetted tubs. A good proportion of the neighborhood now has new roofs.
This is a very well kept neighborhood run by a community association company. Owners take pride in their homes and neighborhood.
Community wide events are planned often. This gives the neighborhood a community feel. The pool is a the perfect place to catch up with your neighbors.
THere are only 3 homes for sale out of the 136 homes in the neighborhood.
This is a fantastic neighborhood to live and play in.
Governor Sonny Purdue, in an effort to balance the state budget, said that all state employees, including teachers, would have 3 furlough days. What this means for teachers is that the state funding part of their salary will be withheld for 3 days. For large school districts like Gwinnett, that constitutes the equivalent of $12 million dollars, an amount that the school district is unable to pay due to the tight economic times and funding cutbacks that have occurred during the last several years. Gwinnett teachers will lose the first two days of pre-planning, 8/3 and 8/4 and also 10/9. Other employees are impacted in other ways. See the following link from Gwinnett County's Website.
Gwinnett is very fortunate in that it is a well run school system. Alvin Wilbanks and the board continue to see into the future, running the system in a very business like fashion to ensure its continued sustained excellence. Teachers in Gwinnett had largely not felt the impact (salary wise) of all of the funding cuts due to the fore site of Gwinnett's leadership team. That is not the case in many of the other metro-Atlanta counties. The county will soon eclipse over 1 million residents and boasts a world class school system with 97% of its schools making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). It is no wonder that Gwinnett continues to be such a hot destination for those moving to the Atlanta area.
I found out today that someone who was a very faithful Brother in Christ died today of a brain tumor, leaving behind a wife and a 2 and 4 year old. Through the whole ordeal, the family continued to be faithful, never giving up hope and actually praying for his battle to end. Even as of last night, they continued to be faithful, posting today on their care page that their prayer has been answered and that Spencer is now at home with the father, rejoicing and praising God.
Solomon reminds us that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink (not getting drunk mind you) and to find satisfaction in his labor...during the few days that God has givn him...he seldom relfects on the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart (Ecc 5:18-20).
Remember to enjoy whatever lot in life that God has given you, whether you are rich or poor, a laborer or a CEO. We don't know how soon God will decide to take our life. Remember that he knew us before we were conceived and planned each second of our life. Spencer was only 30. But even though I did not know him, God used him in a powerful way to influence the lives of others.
There is much talk these days about short sales. While it is still unknown how this actually effects a buyers credit, this process is good for all involved.
1. It keeps another foreclosure from happening, thus allowing one less home for the statistics.
2. It saves the banks thousands of dollars in legal fees
3. The seller has peace of mind that they did what they could to pay as much of their obligation off as possible.
What are the steps to the process?
1. The seller needs to give their agent a letter stipulating that they have the right to negotiate with the bank on their behalf. This is called a borrower authorization form. It should include their social security number and loan number.
2. Contact with the bank is now needed. The Realtor will now call the bank and speak to someone in the loss mitigation department.
3. The bank will probably have a short sale package that they require the seller to fill out. The seller will usually have to provide documentation of their hardship and why they are unable to make their payments.
4. Once the paper work is filled out, it will take time. The banks are swamped. It is not unusual for the process to take a month or more just to get a short sale approval.
While all of the above is happening, the property is listed for sale in hopes of garnishing an offer that will come close to the loan amount. Having an offer in hand certainly can expedite the process.
Do offers get presented to the bank?
No. Offers will be made directly to the seller. Even if more than one offer is made, all get presented to the seller. Only the highest and best offer gets presented to the bank's loss mitigation department. Make sure all offers have some special stipulations regarding that the seller is selling for less than they owe. Talk to attorney to get the correct wording.
I am blessed to have several wonderful loan officers that I refer my clients to. They do their job and I do mine. I have no worries. They make sure that everything is done in a timely fashion.
Recently, see previous posts, the banks (owners of foreclosed properties) don't seem to be in much of a hurry to close. They continue to to not communicate even with their own listing agents, making the transaction very frustrating for all parties involved. Logic says that you have a property that is costing you money, why wouldn't you be overly accomodating to those willing to take these properties off of your books?
I have one now that is more than a month late. The loan stuff for my buyers has been complete for some time. We are waiting on title issues, all of which the listing agent assured me that they had told her were clear before she took the listing. We are making progress- looks like we will probably close next week.
I am also dealing with the same thing on another. We are only a week or so late on this one.
With the economy in bad shape, why isn't there a public outcry against the banks and how they are not working with buyers who are actually helping the economy by taking vacant properties off of the market and repairing them? The bank should have to pay a per diem for delays in closing just like the buyer would have to pay if it were their fault.
I know that the banks are slammed and were not set up for this type of thing. They should all be using a system like Bidselect, which allows agents to bid on properties for buyers. They tally a bottom line at the end. The winner is the one whose bottom line for the bank is they highest. It is a simple and straight forward process. HUD uses this system and my buyers love it.
Banks- lets get these properties off your hands so the economy can really begin to make the recovery that it needs to.
Your Gwinnett Realtor, Snellville Realtor who is committed to helping you and real estate needs. Check out my Snellville homes for sale, Gwinnett homes for sale and my Atlanta homes for sale.
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