Mary Anne Payne, ePro, Associate Broker

The air is (??) getting a little chillier and it's time for the Cumming Country Fair at the fairgrounds on Castleberry Road! Great old time fun with rides, below is the schedule:

Cumming Country Fair & Festival

Fair hours:
Today, Oct. 3, 4 p.m.-midnight
Saturday, Oct. 4, 10 a.m.-midnight
Sunday, Oct. 5, 12:30-7 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 6, through Wednesday, Oct. 8, 4-10 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 9, 4-10 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 10, 4 p.m.-midnight
Saturday, Oct. 11, 10 a.m.-midnight
Sunday, Oct. 12, 12:30 p.m.-7 p.m.

Ticket info:
Adults: $7 at the gate
Students ages 5-18: $3 at the gate
Children under age 4: free
Parking is $3.

Directions:
To get to the Fairgrounds, take Ga. 400 to Exit 15 (Bald Ridge Marina Road) and turn left.
Continue straight through four traffic lights.
Turn left at fifth light on Hwy. 20 East.
At the first light, turn right onto Castleberry Road.
The Fairgrounds will be on the right.

Contact: (770) 781-3491 or www.cummingfair.net

From the Forsyth County News Website 9/11/08:

"Seven Forsyth County schools were among 20 Georgia school chief Kathy Cox honored Wednesday for student test performance.

The local recipients of the inaugural Superintendent's Distinguished Achievement Awards included: Big Creek, Johns Creek and Sharon elementary schools; Riverwatch, South Forsyth and Vickery Creek middle schools; and South Forsyth High.

The awards are based on student performance on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests, the Georgia High School Graduation Tests and the End of Course Tests.

The honors went to schools with the highest achievement and greatest improvement on the tests."

So that's 7 of 20 schools in the STATE of GA my friends and I think that is awesome! Here is my take on this: My daughter was in a private school from the 4th grade to the 6th grade and in her transition to Riverwatch Middle School I have been so pleased with the curriculum she is in. I have asked her if she is ahead or behind in any of her subjects and I have come to find out that she feels she is behind in Spanish (Riverwatch teaches high school Spanish 1 to 7th graders). Surprising because she was in a private school that had the International Baccalaureate Curriculum and you would think that language there would be ahead of the public school curve. She also feels that she is even and on grade level in her other subjects.

Congratulations to the hard work of our school system in Forsyth County!

After all, it IS August, a month that traditionally is not high on the sales month for real estate as most folks are settled in and in Forsyth County the early school start gets people more apt to settle in in July.

After reviewing the solds in the Brokermetrics (tm) program (which, by the way ONLY pulls from MLS transactions so anything outside of the MLS doesn't count) it is showing our average sales price or homes in Forsyth County at $256,870 down from an average of $280,000 last month. With the foreclosure rate as high as it is becoming, I expect this to be the trend for the next couple of months. Luckily, Forsyth county is not as high on the foreclosure list as Fulton and Gwinnett are (there is a reason we live in this county!!!!).

Currently there are 4277 homes for sale in the county with 233 under contract and 186 closed in August 08. That doesnt thrill me a whole lot, that also is a number that agents need to show their sellers. That you have a 4.3% chance of finding a buyer for your property right now.......OK ,so that's an overall number but it is reflective of what is going on right now.

With the government's support of Freddie and Fannie, rates have plummeted, and the election is right around the corner, there has never been a better opportunity to buy in our area. Check out the article written by Seth Wiseman, a respected real estate attorney on why it is time to buy now at the following link:

http://atlantalifemag.epubxpress.com

Football season is HERE---GO GATORS (I'm gonna get flack from that one......)

WOW WOW WOW

We had the pleasure of walking around the new Avenues of Forsyth property on 141 at 400 north the other day, or shall we say HIKING around the property-it has wide sidewalks and lots of open space to run around in!

Realty Executives of Atlanta's newest office WILL open September 1 in this location with a state of the art real estate facility not seen in Forsyth County as of yet. Welcome to a new era in real estate--lower fees for agents, professional high tech environment and no distractions so you can FOCUS on selling real estate. Our Location is on the upper south west corner of the facility across from the 30 PLEX theatre--holy moly--and above Ann Taylor, Chico's, Ted's Montana Grill and way too much tempting retail to spend our commission checks in.

With all that is going on around and in that location, agents will have a great place to meet clients, eat and shop all in one place. We have finalized our build out plans and Cousins Properties lives up to its dates so watch for fun grand opening activities from the center and from us! To find out about stores, site info and more, click on this link for more info!

To find out about how you can join us (experienced agents only, please...) please email me at maryannepayne@realtyexecutives.com.