Red Hot Atlanta Homes - Kathy Seger & Ben Staten

We currently have a fantastic custom estate home for sale in North Valley, located in the majestic countryside of Milton. North Valley is a terrific neighborhood just a short commute to the Windward exit off GA 400.

Once you pass the scenic entrance, you know you're in a special community, with a tree-lined street taking you to stunning homes. On your left, you'll see an expansive pasture and then, further in the neighborhood, a lovely pond. The homeowners have exclusive access to a gated mile-long walking trail that winds along a meandering stream and is located next to the pasture. In addition, nearby are several prestigious country clubs with golf, swim, tennis and other social activities that you can join in on.

The neighborhood is a mixture of traditional southern estate homes on large homesites of several acres. There are currently 6 homes for sale in this million-dollar neighborhood 58 homes. Many of the homes are screened year-round from the street by the mature hardwoods and other trees in most yards.

The schools for the community are Summit Hill Elementary, Northwestern Middle and Milton High. There are also numerous private schools nearby, along with shopping restaurants a short drive away.

This neighborhood should be your short list if you are looking for a home for sale in Milton.

If you're a REALTOR® reading this post, you've seen the positive effects of the homebuyers' tax credit on the housing market, which unfortunately is due to expire December 1. You have also likely noticed a recent drop off in showings with the expiration date of the credit looming. Hopefully, the House of Representatives and Senate will act soon to extend and expand the credit; otherwise, the chill of winter will likely be felt throughout the housing market.

Fortunately, bills to extend the homebuyers' credit are moving thru both the House and Senate. GA Senator Johnny Isakson (R) has co-sponsored a Senate bill and recently took the unusual step of testifying before the Senate Banking and Housing Committee, urging its members to extend and expand the credit to all homebuyers, saying that the expansion of the credit would help get critical "move-up" buyers back into the market. Isakson was a leading real estate broker in metro Atlanta for over 30 years and personally understands the importance of keeping the housing market stable.

If you haven't done so already, please join the 170,000 plus REALTORS® who have written their Congressmen to ask them to vote to extend and expand the homebuyer tax credit.

Staging a home to sell is one of the most crucial aspects to consider when putting a home on the market. In today's housing market, even first time homebuyers have high expectations- after all, it seems everyone watches HGTV's Designed to Sell and other real estate shows.

Realtors are faced with two choices when putting their seller's home on the market. Keep the home in the same condition you find it; in other words, how the seller has lived in their home. Or, raise the bar by putting the home in top condition to sell the home.

How do you do this? You learn from these shows and aspire to stage a home like the pros. Here's an example of where we've staged a home's fireplace area of the family room. Before - left photo, you'll note that the fireplace area is bland- no, it's not Christmas despite the silver and gold trees on the mantel. While this homeowner has terrific accessories throughout their home, this is a cold and sterile photograph and area of the home- not very inviting for prospective homebuyers.

The photo on the right shows the same area after we have done some simple staging...while still not the perfect print (we prefer more color) on the mantel, we found this part of a set and used this over the mantel to bring the eye up more to notice the high ceilings in the this and for better scale. Additionally, we used it's companion piece over the sofa (not shown) to further unify the family room. Additionally, we found some darker small accessoriess to place on the mantle and used an odd-number of items rather than placing identical items on either end of the print. Also note that we moved a display curio and plant into the corner to warm up the area and make it pop in the photos. We even found a basket to put on the hearth and a different cushion with more contrast for the stuffed chair. The phone outlet is no longer in the photo.

How much did we spend staging this part of the home? Zero. Nada. We just took the homeowners' existing furniture and accessories and placed the items here for maximum effect. We also used a few of our own staging items that we keep in storage to use as needed. So next time you're walking thru a home, use your creativity to get a bigger impact, a quicker sale and at a higher sales price!

Another homeowner is getting their $8000 tax credit for being a first time buyer. Congratulations Kim and Kevin on your new home. They are very excited to be moving in this week-end and have family coming to Woodstock to help with the move. The home is a lovely traditional on a large level lot. It's within walking distance of the neighborhood pool.

Their new home is a located at the Woodlands in Woodstock. It's a friendly neighborhood off Hwy. 92. This week-end there is a neighborhood fall festival...a great opportunity to meet some of their new neighbors! While we were at the house this week, the next door neighbor came over and introduced herself and her children.

So back to the tax stimulus and why it works...for every home sold approximately $60,000 is spent in the ripple effect of that home being sold. Glad to know we are helping the economy.

If you thinking about purchasing a home remember interest rates are still in the 5% range and their are homes available in all price ranges. Check out these homes for sale in the Woodlands.

Do you know about the City of Milton, GA, incorporated in 2007? On the City website, Milton is described as "a distinctive community embracing small-town life and heritage while preserving and enhancing our rural character". Milton is located in Fulton County in the Northwest corner next to both Cherokee County and Forsyth County. The population is approximately 20,000 and covers 23,000 acres.

A unique feature of Milton is the different types of real estate neighborhoods... first there is the swim/tennis subdivision. These neighborhoods generally range in size from 50 to 300 homes. The second is the small enclave community, with 10 - 50 homes and usually one to three streets. The third neighborhood is the estate home on acreage. These homes are off the winding two-lane roads you'll find throughout Milton.

Milton has long been thought of as "horse country". Many homeowners in the area have horses on their property or board at nearby stables. These properties are usually 2 to 10 acres and represent the preservation of the rural character. These homes are a mixture of older small homes or large estate homes.

The enclave neighborhoods are usually new construction or newer homes. These homes represent enhancing the heritage of the community by developing neighborhoods on land from older smaller homes that are functionally obsolete. Homes are on .5 to 2 acre lots.

The swim/tennis subdivisions represent small town life. These communities range from 30 homes to 300. The neighborhood will have a sense of community with families gathering at the pool or tennis courts. There are also several subdivisions in the Milton that are golf course communities. Most of these subdivisions are newer and gated.

Homes for sale in Milton will range from $400,000 to $4 million. Milton is convenient to GA 400 with many homeowners commuting to the Windward or Perimeter area for work.