Pam Turner, REALTOR®, e-Pro

This morning's Dalton, GA newspaper ran the following headline: Area Unemployment Falls - Companies Hiring Workers. This is VERY good news for us in North Georgia - it is a modest decline - 12.8% in April vs. 13.6% in March according to the Georgia Department of Labor for unadjusted unemployment in the metro Dalton area (Whitfield and Murray Counties). This is a decline nonethess and hopefully the light at the end of the tunnel.

Whitfield and Murray Counties have been hit very hard with unemployment due to the carpet industry closing plants. Foreclosures have also been very high, with over 60% of inventory being foreclosures.

The good news is that there are plenty of good deals out there if you're shopping for a home, and the job situation is improving if you're concerned about that.

Don't give up - things are getting better - North Georgia doesn't give up that easily!

I really thought it was common knowledge by now that when you want to buy real estate the place to start is the bank. The first thing we do is go to the bank to get pre-qualified, right? But very few "buyers" who have called me in the last year or two have done that. Just yesterday I talked to a gentleman who just recently lost his home to foreclosure. He said the mortgage was just in his name, so now they are looking to buy a house in just his wife's name. He was calling about a specific property and wanted directions so they could go look at it. He said he didn't know if his wife would qualify for a home loan based on her income alone or not.

Buyers - please, please go to the bank and get pre-qualified before you call an agent to look at properties. If you don't, you are very likely to find a property you love and then find out you are unable to buy it. On top of that, sellers these days want a copy of the qualification letter attached to offers on their property - and I would too, wouldn't you? The man I mentioned above was concerned about the bank pulling credit and turning them down, then he'd have to go to another bank and they'd pull credit too, lowering the credit score. My feeling is that if you go to a reputable lender in today's market and they turn you down, the search should stop there. Bouncing around from lender to lender till you find someone who will approve you is partly what got us in the mess we are in.

So, the moral of this post is "Do your homework BEFORE you look at homes." Put the time in up front to determine 1) whether you are in a position to buy a home or not, 2) what price range you need to be looking in, and 3) what type of loan you qualify for and how much out of pocket money you need. If you don't know a good lender, make that call to the agent - but instead of asking to look at properties, ask them to help you get pre-qualified.

This is just common sense, folks, be smart and go into the home buying process with your eyes open, armed with the confidence that you are indeed able to purchase a home by working with your lender FIRST - you want to have an awareness of where your financial comfort zone is so you are not facing foreclosure as well.

Congratulations to the Murray County Chamber of Commerce for utilizing technology to expand their network and make information more accessible to their members! They are brand new Twitter members, and they're learning to Tweet and to track down good Peeps to follow. If you haven't noticed, Twitter is on fire these days, and if you haven't got your account running, then maybe you are just on the verge of being in the "yestertech" crowd. Get onboard and get on Twitter so you can follow one of our local Chambers and be informed about what's going on in our community. Click on the birdie to follow the Chamber!

Included in the Online Relocation Package Whitfield/Murray County GA - information about Whitfield and Murray Counties and nearby areas.

Whitfield County was formed from part of Murray County in 1851. Georgia's 97th county was named for the Reverend George Whitefield, the founder of the Bethesda Orphan House in Savannah. The spelling of the county's name was changed to reflect the way it was pronounced.

Dalton, the largest city in Whitfield County, is the gateway to the 150 mile Chieftain's Trail which traces the path of the Cherokee Indian sites located in northwest Georgia. Whitfield County is rich in civil war history (read about the Great Locomotive Chase). Then there was the bloody Battle of Chickamauga, fought in nearby Catoosa and Walker Counties.

Chatsworth - located about 11 miles east in Murray County - is the county seat, and according to a popular legend received its name after a road sign with the word "Chatsworth" fell off a passing freight train nearby. Someone put the sign on a post, and the name stuck.

The Whitfield/Murray area has much to offer: scenic mountain views, four distinct seasons - though none are usually extreme - hunting, fishing, boating, picnicking, golf, tennis, and the list just goes on. I-75 runs through Dalton, thus we're about an hour and a half from Atlanta and about 30 minutes from Chattanooga, TN. The cost of living here is relatively low, and we have a friendly, small town flavor. You'll like it here!

Included in the Online Relocation Package Whitfield/Murray County GA - information about Whitfield and Murray Counties and nearby areas.

When you visit North Georgia, you'll want to include a trip to Etowah Indian Mounds - located near Cartersville, about 45 minutes south of Dalton. This 54 acre site contains 7 earthen mounds, a plaza, portions of the original village, borrow pits and a defensive pit. This is the most intact Mississippian Culture site in the southeastern United States. It was home to several thousand Native Americans between 1000 A.D. and 1550 A.D. The Mississippian Culture spanned from Wisconsin and Minnesota in the north, through Georgia to the south, and westward into the Great Plains. These people enjoyed an intricate system of trading, were accomplished craftsmen, and practiced sophisticated religious beliefs.

Only 9% of the site has been excavated, but examination of the artifacts reveals much about the people who lived here more than 500 years ago. This was a society rich in ritual, and the natives of this political and religious center decorated themselves with shell beads, tattoos, paint, elaborate hairdos, feathers and copper ear ornaments. Artwork on pottery shows meticulous attention to detail with intricate patterns.

Etowah Indian Mounds Historic site is located at 813 Indian Mounds Rd SW, Cartersville GA 30120. The phone number is 770-387-3747.

Stop by and travel back in time through the memories of our North Georgia ancestors - bring along a picnic, walk the trails, and tour the museum - it'll take you a couple of hours to enjoy everything.