I'm Here to Help....But You Have to Let Me!

This week I found out that someone I met with in Dacula last year is about to be in foreclosure.

At the time of the meeting the homeowner was being transferred and wanted to lease the property. I offered to help find a tenant, screen them and handle the move in/move out. They declined because they didn't want to pay the fees associated with my services. The fee is one month's rent which in this case was $1200. This is paid by the tenant at the time they sign the lease along with one month's deposit. (So essentially the homeowner pays the mortgage the first month the tenant occupies the house, this way the homeowner doesn't have to come up with the commission)

They finally found a tenant that broke the lease before the end of the term. The next tenant was evicted three months later and the property has been vacant ever since.

 Let's break this down and see if they saved any money by not hiring a Realtor......

1. Paid attorney and court fees to evict tenant....$200
2. Cleanup of house....$250 (twice)
3. Time and travel from out of state.....$500 (twice)
4. Carrying costs (utilities and maintenance) monthly for vacant house (insurance is much higher) $200

So deciding to do this themselves actually cost them more than it would have cost to pay a Realtor to do it for them. Not only that, they've been paying the mortgage payment plus rent where they're living out of state because the house has been sitting empty for several months.

Now I hear the house is being foreclosed on in December which is sad because I've offered short sale assistance as well. This was a slam dunk short sale hardship but for some reason they wouldn't accept my offer to help. Short sales cost the homeowner nothing out of pocket and will save you about 6 years of headache on your credit report. The commission is paid from the bank's net proceeds, not from the homeowner.

Realtors have to eat too!

If you know any Realtors, you know that we like to eat. Have you ever been to an open house without food? Probably not. Just like every profession, we have to get paid and most people don't realize that Realtors are paid commission only! We are all self employed and working for you for free until we close the deal.

So I have just as much to lose as you, the client, if I don't get the deal done. Honestly I get as much or more satisfaction helping someone avoid foreclosure or just selling their home as I do getting paid. It's important to me but not my motivation. So if you know someone in a similar situation or maybe it's you, please CALL ME before it's too late. I'll be honest and advise your best solution even if it's not working with me!




www.SteveSellsGwinnett.com Steve Rider, CDPE Realtor with Keller Williams Lanier Partners in Braselton Georgia. Covering Barrow, Jackson, Gwinnett and Hall Counties in Northeast Georgia. If you're looking for real estate in Gwinnett County please contact me at 404 663 7063 or steverider1@gmail.com.

If You Build it They Will Come....and Buy Liquor

Who's ready for a drink?

Apparently the residents of Dacula are. The voters have spoken and the package store referendum passed on Tuesday by an overwhelming 181-76 margin. I personally signed a petition long ago to convince leaders to put it to a vote.

The votes are in and the people say "Let's buy some liquor!"

I know this is a hot topic for a lot of people in this town. Liquor stores on every corner could have a negative effect on the area. That's not going to happen so don't worry. Dacula isn't big enough to support more than one and the store Russ Weaver, the man behind this whole thing, will build is going to be nice. Quoting Mr. Weaver from Dacula Patch..."I’m going to open one of the best stores in Georgia. It’s going to be really nice.”

You know the old movie line..."If you build it they will come". Well I'm guessing that if you set up a 6ft table in the Kroger parking lot they would come based on the vote count. What I'm hoping for, and what the rendering shows, is a nice building that blends in well with it's surroundings.


Photo credit courtesy of Russ Weaver

There is quite of bit of work to be done before construction can begin but the largest hurdle has been jumped. This will definitely be great for tax revenue for Dacula. I just hope they have a good selection of tequila!


www.SteveSellsGwinnett.com Steve Rider, CDPE Realtor with Keller Williams Lanier Partners in Braselton Georgia. Covering Barrow, Jackson, Gwinnett and Hall Counties in Northeast Georgia. If you're looking for real estate in Gwinnett County please contact me at 404 663 7063 or steverider1@gmail.com.

The Varsity is Coming to Bethlehem!

If you've lived in the Atlanta area for any time at all, chances are you've heard of The Varsity.

This restaurant has been in Atlanta since 1928 and is a landmark in downtown. "What'll ya have?" can be heard as you walk up to the counter to order your burgers and onion rings. (If you leave without ordering onion rings you're missing out!) There are serveral locations around the Metro Atlanta area including Athens....where the Dawgs play!



Credit The Varsity Restaurants

But now the people of Barrow County and Dacula are going to have The Varsity in their backyard.

Expected to open in Spring 2013 a Varsity Jr. will be built in front of the theater at Gateway Station off hwy 316. It will be similar in size to a Chick-Fil-A with a drive thru. Apparently, this location will have the same menu items as the other locations. My favorite is a double cheese burger and onion rings!

I'm not sure if this is a good thing or bad thing for me personally.....

If you try to eat healthy like me but love cheeseburgers and onion rings, this is not going to help your cholesterol or your belt line. I eat there about 2-3 times a year, usually on the way back from dropping someone off at the airport. There's just something about that downtown location. But having one within 7 minutes of my house might tempt me to eat there more often. Good thing is my house is down wind from this location so I won't be able to smell it unless I drive past it!

The residents of Winder, Dacula and Bethlehem have no shortage of places to eat, mostly fast food. We'll see how the combination of movies and Varsity onion rings goes but my guess is it'll be a big hit! What'll ya have?


www.SteveSellsGwinnett.com Steve Rider, CDPE Realtor with Keller Williams Lanier Partners in Braselton Georgia. Covering Barrow, Jackson, Gwinnett and Hall Counties in Northeast Georgia. If you're looking for real estate in Gwinnett County please contact me at 404 663 7063 or steverider1@gmail.com.

Predatory Lending or Not? You Decide

No Closing Costs? Yeah right.....

I met with a potential seller in Lawrenceville for a second time today after she called me for some advice. About two months ago I sat down with her and discussed her options for selling her home. She's an elderly woman in failing health and at the time she was uncertain about what she wanted to do. She received a letter in the mail from Chase a couple weeks ago offering her a no closing cost refi on her mortgage. Being intrigued and not understanding what she was being offered she asked them to send her more information.

The next day she receives a package FED EX from Chase and it contains several documents of which is a good faith and loan application for a new mortgage. The welcome letter congratulates her for being approved for a new 30 year fixed rate mortgage at 4.5% for her $86k balance. You might be asking, "what's so bad about that Steve?"

Here's what's bad about it....she only had 10 years left on the original note and her interest rate was 5.125%. Considering the fact that conventional rates are around 3.5% right now I don't see this as a win for her. In fact, to me it's borderline predatory lending. Why would anyone increase their mortgage by 20 years to save .6% on their rate?

Not Playing Fair

This infuriates me for two reasons...First, I've tried to refinance my own Chase loan for a lower interest rate recently to no avail. They wouldn't help me probably because I'm paying them 6.75%. Secondly, they sent this solicitation to an elderly person that would have been paid off in a little less than 10 years.....someone that had she not called me could have just signed the docs because she was made to believe it was a much better deal.

So they lower the interest rate to make it look attractive, her payment drops around $130 a month, and charge her no closing costs. Which in all actuality costs them very little to begin with. The only real costs are some processing and overnight fees and the fees paid to the attorney that handles the closing. Not cool Chase, not cool.

Consult a Realtor

If you receive one of these type offers in the mail, make sure you understand it before moving forward. It may seem like a good deal but it's probably not going to benefit you that much. Call me and I'd be happy to look it over for you.






www.SteveSellsGwinnett.com Steve Rider, CDPE Realtor with Keller Williams Lanier Partners in Braselton Georgia. Covering Barrow, Jackson, Gwinnett and Hall Counties in Northeast Georgia. If you're looking for real estate in Gwinnett County please contact me at 404 663 7063 or steverider1@gmail.com.

Traditional Real Estate Closings are Back!

After years of non-traditional closings, the traditional closing is back!

It used the be the best part about selling or purchasing a home was the actual closing....the excitement of sitting across the table from the other party and trading stories about the house or the journey of getting to that day. Then we got into the foreclosure years where the seller was never there and the closing became just another day. Well, the number of one-party closings are dwindling and once again we're coming back to a more traditional sale...

In the last month, I've been lucky enough to sit at the closing table with both buyer and seller three times.

The only banks involved in these transactions were the buyer's lender. Seller and buyer sitting across the table, talking about the house and the memories created there....and the new memories to be created. At one point during the last closing for a home sold in Dacula, I said...."This is like old times!" Everyone except for the buyer agreed.....mostly because she was a first time buyer and had no reference point! That was the best part...she purchased her first home and got to actually meet the seller!



DeeDee Smith purchased a home in Dacula Ga

Randy and Nara Taylor purchased a home in Cumming Ga

So if you think the only homes selling are the ones that are in some type of distress, you're wrong.

Traditional resales are back and selling for list price. If you're interested in selling your home and want to know how you can get your price, CALL ME NOW and let me explain how.



www.SteveSellsGwinnett.com Steve Rider, CDPE Realtor with Keller Williams Lanier Partners in Braselton Georgia. Covering Barrow, Jackson, Gwinnett and Hall Counties in Northeast Georgia. If you're looking for real estate in Gwinnett County please contact me at 404 663 7063 or steverider1@gmail.com.

Dacula Neighborhood Uses Nextdoor.com Website to Spruce Up

For those that live in a neighborhood with no HOA in place, you know it can be frustrating sometimes to get everyone to come together. Whether it be cleaning up the entrance to the subdivision or just keeping everyone aware of safety issues. With no group or governing body, most things just don't get done or passed along.

I've lived in Brookton Place in Dacula since 2000 and we don't have an association. We have 127 homes and no way to mass communicate with everyone, that is until about 3 months ago. Nextdoor.com is a free website you can set up for any neighborhood, big or small. It's very simple to use and has a message board that comes in handy.

Our neighborhood just came together and renovated the subdivision entrance signs and it was all made possible by our Nextdoor.com website. I sent out a request to see if anyone would be interested in helping contribute monetarily and physically to this project and the response was great! It was amazing how many people were thinking the same as I was about how bad our entrance looked, but didn't know how to get something started to fix it.

Before...Reggie scraping off old lettering

In a little less than a month we collected enough money to purchase the supplies needed. With a little help from several residents, we cleaned up and spruced up the entrance and it looks great!

Signs put out throughout neighborhood

After the work was done...much better!!

The best thing about all this is the residents of Brookton Place now have a way to communicate with each other. Not everyone in the community has joined the site but it's growing every week. If you'd like more information about how to get your site started, just call me. I'd be glad to tell you how it works or just follow the link to get more info.  https://brooktonplace.nextdoor.com/about_us/ 

www.SteveSellsGwinnett.com Steve Rider, CDPE Realtor with Keller Williams Lanier Partners in Braselton Georgia. Covering Barrow, Jackson, Gwinnett and Hall Counties in Northeast Georgia. If you're looking for real estate in Gwinnett County please contact me at 404 663 7063 or steverider1@gmail.com.

Don't Trust Your Short Sale to Just Any Agent

I hear this a lot...."Short sales take too long and our credit is shot already. We're just going to let it go back to the bank". This makes me sad honestly. To think that homeowners put their hopes and dreams into something that they are now just giving up on. There are plenty of reasons why this is happening but the most common is mis-education and mis-information.

I spoke to an expired seller yesterday and she was ecstatic that someone was willing to help her. She apparently had an agent that wasn't experienced in short sales and wasn't marketing it agressively enough. She was just going to let it go into foreclosure and she's only behind one month! Not hiring an experienced short sale Realtor is like going to a pre-med student for a heart transplant. They could only get you so far then wouldn't know how to stop the bleeding. Make sure your Realtor is CDPE. Click here to learn more about CDPE.

Don't think you have options?

Loan mods, short sale and deed in leiu are all options to foreclosure. All of these options will be reported on your credit report for shorter periods of time than foreclosure. Go to Georgia Foreclosure Help for more info on these.

If you need help with a short sale in Gwinnett, Barrow, Jackson or Hall counties in North Georgia, please call me. Don't just wait until the notice comes in the mail!



www.SteveSellsGwinnett.com Steve Rider, CDPE Realtor with Keller Williams Lanier Partners in Braselton Georgia. Covering Barrow, Jackson, Gwinnett and Hall Counties in Northeast Georgia. If you're looking for real estate in Gwinnett County please contact me at 404 663 7063 or steverider1@gmail.com.