Let Technology Work for You

If you're considering making a move, you've probably already searched the Internet to see what's available.

According to the 2010 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, nine out of ten buyers use the Internet as one of the information sources in their home search process.

Here are just a few of the leading-edge techniques and strategies I provide to make your home buying and home selling process as seamless and rewarding for you as possible:

• A free e-mail service that sends out daily alerts about new home listings that meet your unique needs.
• Detailed neighborhood information, including school ratings, home values and crime statistics, proving you insight into your next neighborhood, or the value of your current home!
• Through the Keller Williams Listing System, my listings are automatically syndicated to the largest real estate search Websites--making your home impossible to miss!

If you or someone you know is considering making a move, I would be happy to help!

Holiday Fun in Cumming on Saturday Dec 3

9:00 am Jingle Jog - Join the Forsyth County Community Connection for the Jingle Jog 5k. This fun race will start at Cumming Town Center on Marketplace Boulevard, traveling east down Mary Alice Park Road loop bringing you back to Cumming Town Center. The Jingle Jog is a chip timed race, with water stops along the way and a festive t-shirt. Walkers are welcome! For everyone’s safety, jog strollers and pets are not permitted in race.

3:30 pm Christmas Parade on Marketplace Blvd., Cumming, GA – cheer on the community and celebrate the holidays with this annual Christmas parade!


4:30 - Celebration of Lights, Northside Hospital – Forsyth, Cumming, GA - Bring your family and friends and enjoy entertainment from local groups and schools, photos with Santa Claus and many other activities for the kids. WSB-TV anchor Fred Blankenship will serve as emcee. Christmas trees will be lit in Atlanta, Alpharetta and Cumming, with lights on the trees representing those who have been affected by cancer.


Get more information at www.forsythfamilies.com

REAL Tips for Sellers

Check out this great video. It has some really helpful tips on selling a home. Enjoy!

Click Here for Video

Here Comes Santa Claus

More to come but for now:

Santa is coming to First Mountain Arts Gallery in Vickery Village on November 19th and 26th from 10 am until 4 pm.

Small Business Saturday.

The 2nd annual Small Business Saturday® is  a day dedicated to supporting small businesses
on one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year.

On November 26, we’re asking millions of Americans to Shop Small^sm at their favorite local stores and help fuel the economy. When we all shop small, it will be huge.

Facebook, Google, Twitter and other innovators are joining with American Express to offer a toolkit designed to help small business owners get the cash registers ringing this holiday season. 

Last year, there was a 28 percent rise in sales volumes for small business merchants versus the same day in 2009.



Visit this link for more information and various promotions for this day.

Green Your Home

1. Cross-Ventilate. An average adult takes in more than 14,000 breaths—or about 3,000 gallons of air—a day! Surprisingly, you are more likely to breathe polluted air inside your home than outside—even in cities like Los Angeles, which aren't known for air quality. Opening one window won't cut it… you need cross-ventilation so the breeze actually blows though your home, taking the pollutions back out with it. Open a front door and a back door, or one window upstairs and one downstairs.

2. Lighten Up. Simply swapping out the five most commonly used incandescent bulbs for CFLs or LEDs in your home can save you $60 to $100 a year. Combined with well-designed artificial lighting, natural lighting is also a great way to boost efficiency.

3. Low Flow. American families use about 400 gallons of water a day, and 70% of that is used inside the home. The majority is used in the bathroom: the average person flushes the toilet 2,500 times a year. Transform your home's toilet from water-waster to water-miser for cheap. Place a brick or 2-liter plastic bottle filled with water into your toilet's tank. The volume of these objects means less water will be needed to fill your tank—you've just created your own low-flow toilet. Also, be sure and have a leaky or running toilet fixed by a plumbing professional immediately.

For more tips, buy your copy of Green Your Home now at www.kellerink.com/greenyourhome

Encouraging Signs of a Strengthening Market

Market Update
While home sales in September were down slightly from a relatively strong month in August, they were up from a year ago, giving encouraging signs of a strengthening market and potential for stabilizing, if not appreciating, home prices. These signs include an increasing demand, shown by the number of people shopping for homes, and the decreasing inventory of homes for sale, in conjunction with some of the lowest levels of new housing construction since the 1960s when the Beatles first came to the United States.

Of the 3.48 million homes sold in September, 32% were first-time home buyers. With more and more people entering the market, the persisting obstacle for most is still the restrictive lending environment. In a plea to banks and policy makers, NAR President Ron Phipps said, "We need to remove the roadblocks to a housing recovery—not place more obstacles in the way of financially qualified buyers."

With an increasing demand and shrinking inventory, it is hoped that banks will begin to see the market potential and start to lend to otherwise creditworthy home shoppers, opening the road to a more rapid recovery. While consumer confidence still remains at all-time lows, retail spending increased 1.1% last month, a positive sign of growth fueled by the approaching holiday season, which could propel the U.S. into a promising new year.

Mortgage Rates
Mortgage rates were down again, from 4.35% in September of last year to 4.11% this September. While the Federal Reserve continues to put downward pressure on interest rates to spur sales, Congress's recent action to lower loan limits has further tightened lending among banks. This had the biggest impact in the Western states, which experienced an 8.8% drop in sales. This was mainly due to the concentration of more expensive properties in California, where buyers rushed to purchase properties in August before loans limits dropped on the October 1 deadline.

Home Sales

Home Prices

Hampton Golf Special

Fall Twilight Special

Come enjoy the great fall weather this week

at Hampton with the following special.

$30 after 2pm includes:

- A Round of Golf

- 6 Wings and

- A Draft Beer or Fountain Drink

**Valid 11/8/11-11/13/11**

Call the Pro Shop to make a tee time

770-205-7070

Property Taxes Due

Reminder - Property taxes are due November 15!

I'm In Hog Heaven

Mark your calendars for November 18 and 19th.  The first annual National BBQ Cup is coming to Cumming!  Located at the City of Cumming Fairgrounds, with over 250 hard power and water hook ups and a perfect competition layout on the 70 plus acre site this stands to be a huge inaugural event. 

And you should see the team list! About 90 vendors from GA and surrounding states!  Can you say Yum Yum!  Bring the napkins!