Wordless Wednesday: A Ride in the Pinzgauer

©2009 Anne Rains Photography, All Rights Reserved.

If you are in the market to buy or sell your home in the Bethlehem or Dacula area, I would be happy to assist you! My passion is helping people find their dream home and stepping them through this exciting journey. I serve the Walton, Barrow and Gwinnett county areas. Call or text me today!

Sean's American Bistro: Excellent Restaurant in Buford, GA

Last night I had the privilege to eat at a great restaurant in Buford, Georgia for the RETechSouth dinner; it was Sean's American Bistro in the live, work, play community called Buford Village. The atmosphere was terrific, I met a bunch of neat people and the food and drinks were amazing!

In case you're unfamiliar with the Buford Village development, it is conveniently located on Buford Highway at the Hamilton Mill intersection. This multi-function community sits on ten acres and 30,000 square feet of office space, 23 luxury town homes and 55,000 square feet of retail shops. These stores and restaurants include: Sean's American Bistro, Carter Elite Photography, Cone 7 Wines, Brand Bank and Smith's Bath and Home.


So, dinner was great; we started out the evening with an hour of cocktails, networking and listening to the live band. Next we ate a delicious dinner...appetizers included bread, spinach and artichoke dip and BBQ shrimp. We had our choice between four various entrees, which I chose the Lobster Tortellini. Oh wow! This was excellent--it was pasta with a cream sauce and huge pieces of lobster with spinach, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes (which by the way, I don't eat mushrooms or tomatoes and this dish still tasted great without those ingredients)! We followed up dinner with cheesecake for dessert. :-)


If you have a chance, I would highly recommend checking out Sean's American Bistro and the shops at Buford Village. Very cool atmosphere and a neat experience. A big thanks goes out to Matt Fagioli and Brad Nix making this possible!

Thank You For Reading!

If you are in the market to buy or sell your home in the Bethlehem or Dacula area, I would be happy to assist you! My passion is helping people find their dream home and stepping them through this exciting journey. I serve the Walton, Barrow and Gwinnett county areas. Call or text me today!

Harbins Park Grand Opening Ceremony!

Well, I'm very excited to share that Harbins Park is having their Grand Opening this Saturday, March 21st! I have enjoyed watching the progress of the park as it was being created and let me tell you, it's going to be a really great place to exercise and hang out!



A ribbon-cutting ceremony will officially open the park at 10 a.m. on Saturday and the celebration will last until around 2:00 p.m. Some of the free activities include: hay rides, crafts, pony rides, face painting and bike safety demonstrations. Also, people from local mountain biking and equestrian will be there to answer questions. A concession stand will be available for you to purchase food as well.


I have been anxiously awaiting the opening of this park, especially since it's so close to my home. Unfortunately I won't be able to attend the Grand Opening because I'll be on a plane to Colorado to go skiing...but it's definitely something I'm going to check out first thing when I get back!

This would be an excellent family event to take the kids to and I believe the weather is supposed to be nice and warm on Saturday! Get out there and enjoy the beautiful outdoors!

Thank You For Reading!

If you are in the market to buy or sell your home in the Bethlehem or Dacula area, I would be happy to assist you! My passion is helping people find their dream home and stepping them through this exciting journey. I serve the Walton, Barrow and Gwinnett county areas. Call or text me today!

Understanding the New $8,000 First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit

Did you know that if you're a first-time home buyer purchasing a house between January 1, 2009 and December 1, 2009 that you can receive a tax credit up to $8,000?

Photo By: Jack Duval

Previously this government incentive to purchase a home was limited to $7,500 and had to be paid back over the course of 15 years. However, some changes have been made, which I will outline here that will hopefully answer all of your questions.

Photo By: Simon Doggett

1. Who can receive the credit? Only first-time home buyers are eligible and they must close between January 1, 2009 and December 1, 2009. Investors or people purchasing a second home can not receive this credit.
2. What is a first-time home buyer? A buyer who has not owned a principal residence in the 3 previous years before buying a home. If you are married taxpayers, NEITHER you nor your spouse can own a primary residence; in other words if one of you owns a home (a primary residence) you can't obtain the tax credit if the other spouse purchases a home.
3. How is the amount of the tax credit determined? It is limited to 10% of the sales price of the home, but a maximum of $8,000.
4. What are the income limits on people claiming the tax credit? For single taxpayers the income limit is $75,000 and for married taxpayers filing a joint return it's $150,000. If you want more specific details on this, please visit http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com or ask your CPA or a tax professional.
   How do I claim the tax credit? Simply claim it on your federal income tax return; just fill out IRS Form 5405 to help you know how much to claim and write it on Line 69 of your 1040 income tax return. No other forms are required.

An important difference between this tax credit and the $7,500 credit put into effect July 2008, is that this $8,000 DOES NOT have to be paid back! The only stipulation is that you must live in the home as your principle residence for at least three years, if you don't you will have to pay back the credit.

Also, because this tax credit is refundable, you could potentially receive a check from the government for part or all of the $8,000. To help you understand this a little better, here's an example from the Federal Housing Tax Credit's website:

"For example, if a qualified home buyer expected, notwithstanding the tax credit, federal income tax liability of $5,000 and had tax withholding of $4,000 for the year, then without the tax credit the taxpayer would owe the IRS $1,000 on April 15th. Suppose now that the taxpayer qualified for the $8,000 home buyer tax credit. As a result, the taxpayer would receive a check for $7,000 ($8,000 minus the $1,000 owed)."

Photo By: Visit Hillsborough

So, first-time home buyers, with this excellent tax incentive, coupled with the low interest rates and the extensive amount of homes on the market, why wouldn't you buy a home this year?

If you still have further questions, please watch the video below provided by the National Association of Home Builders.

If you are in the market to buy or sell your home in the Bethlehem or Dacula area, I would be happy to assist you! My passion is helping people find their dream home and stepping them through this exciting journey. I serve the Walton, Barrow and Gwinnett county areas. Call or text me today!

(Please note, the content from this post was obtained from the Federal Housing Tax Credit's website.)

Wordless Wednesday: Circle of Gold

©2009 Anne Rains Photography, All Rights Reserved.

If you are in the market to buy or sell your home in the Bethlehem or Dacula area, I would be happy to assist you! My passion is helping people find their dream home and stepping them through this exciting journey. I serve the Walton, Barrow and Gwinnett county areas. Call or text me today!

Just Celebrated My 1st Wedding Anniversary!

Yesterday, March 15th, was my first wedding anniversary! As I look back at the previous year I'm suprised it flew by so fast! Seems like Matt and I have only been married for a few months!! Although we dated for 4 and 1/2 years before marrying, this year of married life has certainly taught us a lot about each other. I think that we've certainly learned to communicate better and we're realizing that marriage is hard work...it's easy to let work and blogging and other things become your focus. But in order for your marriage to thrive and become great you need to make each other your priority. I think that we still have things to learn--it's an ongoing process, but I'm proud of our first year of marriage and I'm looking forward to many many more anniversaries!

One more thing: although the wedding cake topper looks pretty, it doesn't taste all that great after a YEAR IN THE FREEZER!! I would like to know who came up with that idea!! But we enjoyed getting it out and looking at it...in fact, I'm such an emotional person (I'll cry at anything) that when I opened the box all the memories of our wedding day came flooding back to me and the tears started streaming. Matt just laughed and helped me cut it!

And the tears didn't stop because I made us listen to the audio recording of our ceremony...my Uncle Paul is a preacher and he did a beautiful ceremony. It was neat to listen to us saying our vows and exchange the rings all over again. We looked at our wedding album and just enjoyed each other's company. It was a neat day.


As we move into our 2nd year of marriage, I would love your advice for how to have a great marriage!

Thanks For Reading!

If you are in the market to buy or sell your home in the Bethlehem or Dacula area, I would be happy to assist you! My passion is helping people find their dream home and stepping them through this exciting journey. I serve the Walton, Barrow and Gwinnett county areas. Call or text me today!

Are You Going to RETechSouth?

Well, I'm getting so excited about RETechSouth!! It will be here in just a few days and if you haven't registered yet, you still have time! Register today for this great technology and networking event--it will be so worth your time and money, especially with great speakers such as Jeff Turner, Matt Fagioli, Brad Nix, Missy Caulk, Teresa Boardman, Kelly Koehler, Ginger Wilcox and many, many others! With so many great speakers flying in from across the country to talk about a wide range of topics from Social Media, Marketing, Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, Google, Blogging to just about anything related to technology and real estate this is sure to be a day full of great ideas and intense learning.

Also, the key note speaker, Dave Jenks, co-authored both The Millionaire Real Estate Agent and Shift: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times.

If you live in the South you should definitely attend RETechSouth. It's this Friday, March 20th at the Gwinnett Arena in Duluth, Georgia.

You'll want to come early, stay late and bring your laptop...as free WIFI will be provided.

For more information and to register, please click the link: REGISTER HERE!

Watch the video below for an interview between Matt Rains and Matt Fagioli discussing this awesome technology event!

Hope to see you there!

Wordless Wednesday

I'm part of a group called Wordless Wednesday on one of the other social networking sites that I am a member of and each Wednesday we make a blog post with just a photograph in it. So I thought I would start implementing that here on this blog as well. Here's the first Wordless Wednesday...

©2009 Anne Rains Photography, All Rights Reserved.

If you are in the market to buy or sell your home in the Bethlehem or Dacula area, I would be happy to assist you! My passion is helping people find their dream home and stepping them through this exciting journey. I serve the Walton, Barrow and Gwinnett county areas. Call or text me today!

Take Down the Bird Feeder

**Please note: I did not write this; I received it in an e-mail and thought the analogy behind the poem was a good one. Not sure who the author is, except that the beginning says "Maxine" tells it like it is.**

Photo By: *clairity*

Take Down the Bird Feeder

The analogy is absolutely right on . . .

Maxine tells it like it is!!!!

I bought a bird feeder. I hung

It on my back porch and filled

It with seed. What a beauty of

A bird feeder it is, as I filled it

Lovingly with seed. Within a

Week we had hundreds of birds

Taking advantage of the

Continuous flow of free and

Easily accessible food.

But then the birds started

Building nests in the boards

Of the patio, above the table,

And next to the barbecue.

Then came the poop. It was

Everywhere: on the patio tile,

The chairs, the table ..

Everywhere!

Then some of the birds

Turned mean. They would

Dive bomb me and try to

Peck me even though I had

Fed them out of my own

Pocket.

And others birds were

Boisterous and loud. They

Sat on the feeder and

Squawked and screamed at

All hours of the day and night

And demanded that I fill it

When it got low on food.

After a while, I couldn't even

Sit on my own back porch

Anymore. So I took down the

Bird feeder and in three days

The birds were gone. I cleaned

Up their mess and took down

The many nests they had built

All over the patio.

Soon, the back yard was like

It used to be.... Quiet, serene

And no one demanding their

Rights to a free meal.

Now let's see.

Our government gives out

Free food, subsidized housing,

Free medical care, and free

Education and allows anyone

Born here to be an automatic

Citizen.

Then the illegal came by the

Tens of thousands. Suddenly

Our taxes went up to pay for

Free services; small apartments

Are housing 5 families; you

Have to wait 6 hours to be seen

By an emergency room doctor;

Your child's 2nd grade class is

Behind other schools because

Over half the class doesn't speak

English.

Corn Flakes now come in a

Bilingual box; I have to

'press one' to hear my bank

Talk to me in English, and

People waving flags other

Than 'Old Glory' are

Squawking and screaming

In the streets, demanding

More rights and free liberties.

Just my opinion, but maybe it's time for the government

To take down the bird

Feeder.

If you agree, great; if not,

Continue cleaning up the poop!

Photo By: aussiegall

So, how do you feel about the poem's message?

Thank You for Reading!

If you are in the market to buy or sell your home in the Bethlehem or Dacula area, I would be happy to assist you! My passion is helping people find their dream home and stepping them through this exciting journey. I serve the Walton, Barrow and Gwinnett county areas. Call or text me today!

Want to Learn More About Blogging?

Calling all real estate professionals. Do you want to learn more about blogging? Maybe you would like to create a free blog or perhaps you are a seasoned blogger but would enjoy knowing more about Search Engine Optimization (SEO), how to embed videos and maps into your blog and adding widgets to enhance your blog. Well, I have the solution for you: Matt Rains from Real Estate Technology Online is teaching Blogging 101 and 102 courses over the next couple of weeks.

The next course is tomorrow at Virtual Properties Realty in Duluth, Georgia. Blogging 101 will be from 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and Blogging 102 will start at 1 p.m. and run until 4:15 p.m.

These courses will also be taught on Wednesday, March 18 at the Columbia County Performing Arts Center in Augusta, Georgia. The same times as tomorrow's courses apply.

Each course is three hour state-certified CE and only $30 per course!

You should take Blogging 101 if you want to learn:

• How to start and create a free blog
• How to begin with a firm foundation that will enhance your Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Blogging unsuccessfully? Come to this course to learn how to do it correctly
• How to attract potential clients to your blog

You should take Blogging 102 if you want to learn:

• In-depth Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques
• How to embed videos and maps in your blog
• How to Video Blog (Vlog)
• How to add widgets, such as mortgage calculators and text messaging tools, to enhance your blog
• How to build a blog that stands out and attracts potential clients

Click the link below if you would like to register for any of these courses! We hope to see you there!

REGISTER HERE

For more information, watch the video below!

Remember to Change Your Clocks Tonight!

Well, it's time to SPRING FORWARD tonight (March 7), so don't forget to turn your clocks forward one hour. You will lose an hour of beauty sleep tonight; however, we're gaining an extra hour of daylight--gone are the days of it being dark around 5:30 or 6:00 p.m.! I always love this time of the year because it means that Spring will be here shortly and with Spring come the beautiful flowers and warm weather that I enjoy so much. It's also a good idea to change all the batteries in your smoke detectors; remember to change them again when we go back to regular time in Autumn.

As I write this, I'm sitting outside on my back patio enjoying the slight breeze and the warmth that this sunny day has brung and I found some beautiful flower photos that I want to share. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. And I'm wishing you a warm weekend wherever you are! Get outside and enjoy some fresh air if you can!

Photo By: Milica Sekulic

Photo By: BotheredByBees

Photo By: BotheredByBees

Now, more than ever, I believe that it's a great time to buy a home in the Bethlehem, GA area! If you are in the market to buy or sell your home in the Bethlehem or Dacula area, I would be happy to assist you! My passion is helping people find their dream home and stepping them through this exciting journey. I serve the Walton, Barrow and Gwinnett county areas. Call or text me today!

Thank You for Reading!

Update on Barrow Crossing Shopping Development

Today I went to check in on how things were coming at the Barrow Crossing shopping center development in Bethlehem, Georgia. I was pleasantly suprised to find that TARGET and BELK are now open! This made me very, very happy since I'm in love with Target! Yippee! (Hubby is none-too-thrilled with this news--as my shopping addiction now has a convenient place to be fed)!

Additionally, Staples and PetSmart will be opening shortly, as will Publix. The Best Buy that I had originally said was going to be at this development was actually put in the new shopping development in Loganville.

Now, more than ever, I believe that it's a great time to buy a home in the Bethlehem, GA area! With this shopping development built, more are going to be developed over time and property values are just going to increase in this area. If you are in the market to buy or sell your home in the Bethlehem or Dacula area, I would be happy to assist you! My passion is helping people find their dream home and stepping them through this exciting journey. I serve the Walton, Barrow and Gwinnett county areas. Call or text me today!

Thank You for Reading!

Building Personal Relationships are So Important in Real Estate!

I truly believe that you can't be successful in real estate if you are solely focused on your transaction number; for me and my business it's all about building and establishing relationships with your clients. People want to feel valued and appreciated; they want to feel that you're more concerned with their well-being than just the sale. This is the philosophy I do business by and it seems to be working--take a look at a recent testimonial that I received from a previous client that I'm proud to be called my friend as well.

When my husband and I went to buy our first home we were also right in the middle of planning our wedding so things were hectic and we really didn't have much time for home shopping. The Rains team were truly such a blessing for us-they gave us such individualized attention and thought of things that we needed before we did. We were also able to give them a list of things that we had to have and things that we didn't want in a home and they "pre-shopped" the area we wanted for us before we went looking because they knew our time was valuable to us. Matt and Anne are so professional and they truly care about their clients, I believe that they have values that are difficult to find in people these days. If someone is looking for individualized, honest, caring, and efficient service then there is no other way to go than the Rains team. They worked so hard for us so that we could get the house that we wanted while our time and energy was concentrated on planning our wedding. Thanks to them I guess we got our cake and ate it too. I am extremely grateful for them and consider them friends. Anyone that uses them will feel the same way. --Brianna Rice

I greatly appreciate each and every client and I strive to maintain a relationship with them even after the real estate transaction has closed.

Thank You for Reading!

If you are in the market to buy or sell your home in the Bethlehem or Dacula area, I would be happy to assist you! My passion is helping people find their dream home and stepping them through this exciting journey. I serve the Walton, Barrow and Gwinnett county areas. Call or text me today!

A Word Riddle: Can You Figure it Out??

Well, this was sent to me in an e-mail and I thought everyone else may like a shot at it as well. Here it is:

What nine letter word in the English language is still a word when each of the nine letters is removed one by one?

(The answer is in the video or you can scroll down to see it typed out)

STARTLING

Remove the "L"--STARTING
Remove the "T"--STARING
Remove the "A"--STRING
Remove the "R"--STING
Remove the "T"--SING
Remove the "G"--SIN
Remove the "S"--IN
Remove the "N"--I

Pretty neat, huh?

If you are in the market to buy or sell your home in the Bethlehem or Dacula area, I would be happy to assist you! My passion is helping people find their dream home and stepping them through this exciting journey. I serve the Walton, Barrow and Gwinnett county areas. Call or text me today!

Want to Live in the White House? Now You Can!

One of my favorite things to do is visit and tour huge historical homes. I love imagining that I have the privilege of living in those massive houses. It would be especially fun for me to decorate one--Man! Would that be an extensive project to undertake or what?!

After touring the Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina one Christmas I was a little disheartened to find out that it wasn't for sale--okay, okay, so I knew that it wouldn't be for sale, but can you imagine living in a home that immense??! (If you have never been there or heard of it, just look it up on the Internet and see for yourself!) The mansion was built in 1895 and has four acres of living space--including 250 rooms, 33 of which are bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces, 3 kitchens, indoor swimming pool and a bowling alley. It is a truly remarkable property and worth a visit to tour the home and grounds which include a winery, majestic gardens, and much more.

So what does this have to do with the White House? Well, the real estate developer Fred Milani, built a replica of the White House as his personal home in Atlanta, Georgia. It's a scaled-down version of the true White House, but spectacular and vast none the less! He has lived in the 16,500 square foot presidential mansion replica for the previous seven years.

However, this January he put the home on the market for $9.88 million. The mansion can be found in the North Druid Hills neighborhood and is complete with an Oval Office including an exact replica of the President's Desk where Mr. Milani can be found working, a porch called the Truman Balcony overlooking the 75 car parking lot and the Lincoln Bedroom where guests sleep. Additionally, the home is very personalized with Middle Eastern home decor and self-promotion, such as the "M" which is tiled into the in-ground swimming pool.

The real estate agent on the property has said that most likely it will be a wealthy international buyer, perhaps from Dubai, who would be willing to buy this extremely personalized and unique home in this tough economy.

Mr. Milani is a prominent builder of McMansions; Atlanta was once a city where Mr. Milani could barely keep up with the demands of people wanting to buy the mansions he built, now the city has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation. Already Mr. Milani has narrowly missed being foreclosed on twice. Although he doesn't want to move out of his White House, he has multiple loans to repay from other homes he's built.

The New York Times article stated: "The forced sale of one of the city's most expensive homes, owned by someone who made his fortune in homebuilding, makes clear the widespread nature of the real estate collapse."

So, anyone want to go in together and buy this property with me?! Just let me know. :-)

On a more serious note, If you are in the market to buy or sell your home in the Bethlehem or Dacula area, I would be happy to assist you! My passion is helping people find their dream home and stepping them through this exciting journey. I serve the Walton, Barrow and Gwinnett county areas. Call or text me today!

(The research from this article came from this New York Times article.)

Finally!...SNOW in Georgia!

Today I finally got my wish...SNOW in Georgia! Now, my Northern friends will laugh at me, but I was excited about the 2.5 inches we accumulated today! The morning started out very cold and rainy...I'm not a huge fan of cold weather and the drive to church wasn't the most thrilling. But on my drive over the radio reported dropping temperatures and snow later in the day. Well, later in the day occurred sooner than expected...not long after I arrived it started hailing and within an hour of being at church, the minister decided to cancel the service. During my thirty minute drive home...it started SNOWING! Yeah!

It steadily came down the rest of the day and before long the yard was completely covered. Now, it's not the fun powdery stuff great for throwing snowballs--more of slush--but still very pretty to look at. Poor little Jackson, my Chihuahua, was not happy about the cold white stuff. In fact, when I let him out to pee, he took one look at the snow and stayed under the covering of the back door and just peed right there by the door mat!! Oh well, I don't blame him...I probably would have done the same thing if I was in his situation. :-)

Here are a few pictures of our winter wonderland--Hope you enjoy!

Thanks for Reading!

If you are in the market to buy or sell your home in the Bethlehem or Dacula area, I would be happy to assist you! My passion is helping people find their dream home and stepping them through this exciting journey. I serve the Walton, Barrow and Gwinnett county areas. Call or text me today!