Gwinnett County Georgia REALTOR Steve Rider

Gwinnett County Georgiais a very large county with many cities and many zip codes. So starting this week I'm going to feature a different zip code each day with market stats and info related to the real estate market in that zip code. Real estate is very localized and what's happening in some areas might not be happening in others so if you're considering relocating to the Gwinnett County area or maybe you already live in Gwinnett and just want to move to the other side, you can come here to get local sales info to help you stay informed.

This information is helpful for buyers and sellers. Currently we are in a buyer's market with a surplus of inventory. If you're a seller in this market, you need to be patient and also flexible. Price is the number one component of selling a home right now and the homes that are priced right are selling. If you're a buyer the ball is in your court. There has never been a better time to buy with the lowest rates in 50 years and deals everywhere. Don't miss the boat!!

Since I live in the Dacula Ga zip code 30019, we'll look at some analysis of that area. The town itself is relatively small with approximately 4600 people living within the city limits. Most of the area residents live in the unincorporated areas with a Dacula address. Communities like Hamilton Mill and Harbins are located in this 30019 zip code. Click here for a previous post on the growth in the Dacula area.

Active listings in Dacula zip 30019 as of 5/4/09 Click here to see MLS search of all homes currently on the market in Dacula 30019

Expired listings in Dacula zip 30019 for April 2009

Sold listings in Dacula zip 30019 for April 2009

You can go to www.steverider-realtor.com to and click on the "MLS Search" tab to see all available listings in Dacula and surrounding towns as well.

Steve Rider REALTOR with Keller Williams Realty Lanier Partners Braselton Ga, selling homes in Winder, Braselton, Dacula, Lawrenceville, Buford, Grayson, Loganville, Monroe and surrounding areas of Barrow, Walton and Gwinnett County Georgia. Go to WWW.SteveRider-Realtor.com to see my featured listings or search for your new home.

If you're looking for a home in Northeast Georgia contact me either by clicking on the email link or call me toll free at 800-765-0460 or 404-663-7063 direct. I'm a life long resident of this area with life long knowledge of the market.

Copyright Steve Rider All Rights Reserved Dacula Ga Home Sales

If you live in Gwinnett County then I don't have to tell you about the award winning Gwinnett Parks and Recreation Dept. named the #1 park system in the nation in 2008 by National Recreation and Park Association. But if you're considering moving to the Gwinnett area then you'll want to know about the newest jewel in the impressive collection of county parks we have here. Harbins Park is the newest and largest of the over 40 parks currently open in Gwinnett County and is 1795 acres of Equestrian, hiking and biking trails as well as picnic areas, a huge playground for the kids, rental pavillions and open areas. Located in a more rural area of the county but still only 10 minutes to either Lawrenceville or Dacula this park is within a few miles of many desireable neighborhoods. Here is a short list of the neighborhoods in the area......

Alcovy Landing
Biltmore Woods
Ewing Estates
Alcovy Ridge
Bullock Estates
Enclave at Stonehaven
Amberly Glen
Crossroads
Great River
Arden Crest
Edwards Estates
Harbins Landing Estates
Barimore Place
Crystal Lake
Plantation at Bay Creek





The Master Plan of Harbins Park shows future growth and expansion to include a skate park and recreation area for teens but here are some of the current areas of the park open to the public.

The main playground has two sections, one for the smaller kids and one for bigger kids. The main playset has three levels and multiple slides and the kids love it, including my daughter!




The equestrian area has a separate entrance and parking lot designed specifically for horse trailers. Click here for a map of the riding trails.




This pavillion is available for rental for parties, family get togethers, etc.

There are currently 8 miles of mountain biking trails open with another 5 to be added soon. These trails are rated intermediate to advanced. I have yet to ride these trails but will update this post once I have for those of you who are avid mountain bikers.



If you're moving to Dacula Ga or Gwinnett County and want to find out more about what's going on in our community, contact me and I would be happy to help!

There's a new sport that's catching on all over the country......



It's called "Fence Riding". It's kind of like what you see the kids on the skateboards doing with the rail on the steps only there's a fence and a potential buyer involved. The fences vary in style, shape and height but the buyer's are all the same, they can't make up their minds to jump off on one side or the other. I've heard there are professional leagues starting up all over the place and soon we'll have the "US National Fence Riders Championship". Hundreds of the best fence riders all over the country will compete to see how long they can hold out while being offered a 4.75% 30 yr fixed interest rate on a house that's priced $50k off fair market value.

If you're a Realtor you deal with this on a daily basis and with any luck and some training you know how to coax these folks off the fence. To me it seems that the better the market gets for buyers the more they are holding out. The only explanation I have for that is they think since it got this good it might get even better. Ahhh, the dreaded "Bottom of the Market Syndrome". The only cure for this affliction is an increase in prices and rates which leads to another disease called "I should've listened to my Realtoritis" because by the time they're cured the best deals are gone.

If you're one of these Fence Riders there are many reasons to stop this nonsense and yes, I'm going to list plenty of those reasons.

The first thing any buyer should realize is that no one will know exactly when the bottom is reached until it starts to improve. Which means values start to increase along with mortgage rates and sellers start to gain more confidence. This will eventually turn this buyer's market into a seller's market. All things are cyclical and real estate is no different.

Secondly, the best priced homes are what's selling right now and they're selling fast. If you're not ready to buy then don't look until you're ready. The best deals are being purchased by motivated buyers that have their financing ready to go and don't have to sell another property to purchase one. You'll only get frustrated and be heart broken when your dream home is purchased by someone else who was ready to buy. Check out this previous post on purchasing a foreclosed home.

Third, if you have a home to sell and you're worried about not making any money or possibly losing money on that sale, you can usually make up your losses on the buying side. I know that's not like having cash in your pocket but long term it could be very beneficial. Most foreclosed homes are deeply discounted by the banks that own them so buying a home with instant equity is a very real possibility. That equity will be compounded by rebounding values and that equity is where you make up the losses you might have taken on the sale of your previous home and although it might take a few years to see that return, it's real. Click this link to read about a great example of instant equity from a previous post.

Let's see, what else is there.......?

Lenders are making loans! Don't let the media fool you, there is money to lend but the requirements have tightened and banks now require more down payment. The days of 100% financing are over with the exception of the Rural Development loans in certain counties in North Georgia. I'll explain those a little further into this post. If you are worried about whether you qualify for a mortgage, the first thing you need to do is call your loan officer. If you don't have one contact me and I'll refer you to one. Find out where you stand financially, you might be surprised! On that subject, talking to your lender should be the first step in purchasing a home. Especially in this day of bank owned properties flooding the market, as I said before the buyers getting the deals are the ones ready to buy and if you don't have a pre-qualification letter from a lender or at least have talked to one you're not ready. Sellers these days want to know the buyers making offers are qualified to buy the house and don't want to waste time with ones that aren't. Have that letter in hand when you start looking and save the time later on because that could be the difference in getting the house of your dreams or losing it to another buyer.

Rural Development is available in most of Barrow County, Jackson County and Walton County. RD is a USDA backed loan that requires no down payment and no PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance). This can lower your payment significantly and could mean the difference between qualifying and not qualifying for a loan. If you're considering buying in one of these areas and want more info on this loan program, contact me.

The Federal Government wants you to give you an $8000 tax credit! That's right, a tax credit and this one doesn't have to be paid back. If you're a first time buyer and you close before Dec 1 2009, you can get this credit on your 2009 tax return. Here's the best thing....if you don't use the entire credit the difference is given back to you!! Why wouldn't you want to take advantage of that? Check out the full details here.

As you can see, there are many reasons why you should get off the fence and get started purchasing that home you've been dreaming about. Don't wait too long because "I should've listened to my Realtoritis" is a very painful!

Steve Rider REALTOR with Keller Williams Realty Lanier Partners Braselton Ga, selling homes in Winder, Braselton, Dacula, Lawrenceville, Buford, Grayson, Loganville, Monroe and surrounding areas of Barrow, Walton and Gwinnett County Georgia. Go to WWW.SteveRider-Realtor.com to see my featured listings or search for your new home.

If you're looking for a home in Northeast Georgia contact me either by clicking on the email link or call me toll free at 800-765-0460 or 404-663-7063 direct. I'm a life long resident of this area with life long knowledge of the market.

Copyright Steve Rider All Rights Reserved Riders of the Fence

I took a difficult listing today. Not because it was in rough shape, or because the seller wants to overprice it or because it's in a bad neighborhood but because it was once owned by a very close friend that was killed in a motorcycle accident. You talk about difficult try finding a middle between helping a grieving mother and friend and trying to make a commission. This listing has such a long back story that one blog post wouldn't explain it all so let's just say the property has been in litigation for over two years and has just now been released to my friend's mother who contacted me to list it. We were friends since high school and roommates for 6 years after.

The other part of this story is the friend I'm speaking of always dreamed about owning his own home. He had lived in apartments and duplexes all his life and wanted to build his own home. He worked as a superintendent for a local homebuilder for many years before his dream came true in 2002. He was able to get a construction loan and purchased a 2.5 acre tract not far from a very bustling area in Gwinnett County. Construction began and he supervised every facet of the job from the pouring of the slab to the fixtures installed in the kitchen. Taking pictures through the entire process and keeping them in a scrapbook. He was very proud of this house and it showed in the finished product. He even kept the blueprints, original plats, and electrical plans all together with the scrapbook. His dream had come true and I remember the first time I walked into the finished product. I was impressed and happy for him but it sure was a lot of house for one person!

A couple years later he built a detached garage and poured a driveway to it. When we were in high school and years after we always were doing something to our cars. Typical guys I guess but none of us had a garage or shop of our own to be able to work on them. Another dream of his was realized when this garage was finished and it is nice. Two car with storage and plenty of room for other stuff too.

While his mom and I were at the house today talking about all that needs to be done to get it ready for the market it was hard not to think about him and my emotions took over. As a Realtor it's not good to get emotionally involved with any listing but this is a different situation obviously. Since she lives over two hours away from the house, there will be a lot of extra work involved for me but I have offered to do it. He was an only child and his mom only has me and a couple other friends to rely on. Closing this house will bring some level of closure to this long and difficult situation and anything I can do to make that day come quickly will be done.

The listing will be on the market within a couple of weeks and we have priced it well so hopefully someone will buy and love this house as much as he did. I can only hope that he is watching and is pleased with what we are doing. Check back in a couple of weeks and I will post the listing.

Steve Rider REALTOR with Keller Williams Realty Lanier Partners Braselton Ga, selling homes in Winder, Braselton, Dacula, Lawrenceville, Buford, Grayson, Loganville, Monroe and surrounding areas of Barrow, Walton and Gwinnett County Georgia. Go to WWW.SteveRider-Realtor.com to see my featured listings or search for your new home.

If you're looking for a home in Northeast Georgia contact me either by clicking on the email link or call me toll free at 800-765-0460 or 404-663-7063 direct. I'm a life long resident of this area with life long knowledge of the market.

Copyright Steve Rider All Rights Reserved Gwinnett County Georgia I Took a Difficult Listing Today.

Okay get your mind out of the gutter. Not that kind of stimulation, but one of a political nature.

When it comes to politics, I will admit I don't know as much as the next guy. I didn't even know what GOP stood for until last year when I heard it on the news and the way I heard it there are two different meanings. (true politics I guess, one side can't agree with the other) Tell me something, what does an elephant have to do with politics?

So when the terms of the new Stimulus Package were rolled out, I thought to myself, "How is this going to affect the real estate market and the millions of people close to foreclosure?" Thankfully, NAR has broken down the parts of the bill that relate to homeowners and real estate in general. I'm glad too because the bill is over 1000 pages! My attention span is just long enough to write this post and that's about it!!

Here are some of the more important highlights relating to real estate as mentioned on the NAR website...

Home buyer Tax Credit - The bill provides for a $8,000 tax credit that would be available to first-time home buyers for the purchase of a principal residence on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009. The credit does not require repayment. Most of the mechanics of the credit will be the same as under the 2008 rules: the credit will be claimed on a tax return to reduce the purchaser's income tax liability. If any credit amount remains unused, then the unused amount will be refunded as a check to the purchaser

FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Loan Limits-The bill reinstates last year's 2008 loan limits for FHA, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae loans. These limits were equal to the greater of 125% of the 2008 local area median home price or $271,050 for FHA and $417,000 for Fannie and Freddie, with an overall maximum cap of $729,750. For the few areas where the 2009 limits were higher, the higher limits will apply. In addition, the bill includes language providing the HUD Secretary with the discretion, if warranted, to increase the loan limit for any "sub-area", i.e.an area smaller than a county. The Secretary's discretion is again limited by the $729,750 cap. These 2009 limits will expire December 31, 2009.

Neighborhood Stabilization- Division A, Title XII of the bill provides $2,000,000,000 in additional funding for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP). The NSP was created by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2089 (Public Law 110-289) to provide grants through the Community Development Block Grant program (CDBG) to states and localities to address the problems that can be created when whole neighborhoods are decimated by foreclosures. The funds can be used to purchase, manage, repair and resell foreclosed and abandoned properties. In addition, the funds can also be used by states and localities to establish financing methods for the purchase and redevelopment of foreclosed properties. After purchase the homes must be used to assist individuals and families with incomes at or below 120% of area median income. Twenty-five percent of funds must be used for households with incomes at or below 50% of area median income. By leveraging their expertise in partnership with others from both the public and private sector, Realtors® in many communities have been making important contributions to their local communities' neighborhood stabilization programs.

Commercial Real Estate- Commercial real estate is impacted primarily through those provisions of the bill focused on green building and energy efficiency as well as business tax incentives. H.R. 1 provides significant funds for state energy programs, which could be used to support commerical property owners' investment in energy efficiency upgrades while commercial property owners seeking to invest in alternative energy systems for onsite power generation would benefit from the Department of Energy Renewable Energy Loan Guarantees Program. Of particular benefit to small businesses would be certain provisions of the bill that provide tax relief in the area of bonus depreciation and capital expenditures, as well as the 5-Year carryback of net operating losses for small businesses.

This next section is important if you're looking for a new home in Jackson, Barrow or Walton counties. Gwinnett county is not eligible for USDA loans.

Rural Housing Service- The bill provides an additional $500 million to existing USDA Rural Housing programs. The RHS provides both a guaranteed loan program and a direct housing loan program for those meeting the program's eligibility criteria. The direct loan program will receive $270 million while $230 million will be allocated for unsubsidized guaranteed loans. It has been reported that this level of funding would provide for an additional 192,000 homeowners.

These are just a few of the highlights. If you want to see the entire list, go to Realtor.organd check out what your $25 RPAC money is doing for you!

Steve Rider REALTOR with Keller Williams Realty Lanier Partners Braselton Ga, selling homes in Winder, Braselton, Dacula, Lawrenceville, Buford, Grayson, Loganville, Monroe and surrounding areas of Barrow, Walton and Gwinnett County Georgia. Go to WWW.SteveRider-Realtor.com to see my featured listings or search for your new home.

If you're looking for a home in Northeast Georgia contact me either by clicking on the email link or call me toll free at 800-765-0460 or 404-663-7063 direct. I'm a life long resident of this area with life long knowledge of the market.

Gwinnett Realtor Steve Rider-Are you being Stimulated?