PLACES TO LOVE: Tiller Walk Estates

Are you looking for classic European Architecture in the south’s foremost metropolitan area, Atlanta?  Whether you are searching for a French Chateau, Italian Palazzo, Swiss Alpine Villa, or New England Estate, Tiller Walk will satisfy and supersede your dwelling needs.  TIller Walk, located in one of the finest areas of Sandy Springs and just minutes from downtown Atlanta, is a controlled community comprised of 57 new construction homes. beginning in the low $2 Million range.   Several of Tiller Walk’s homes have won the prestigious OBIE award for best homes in Atlanta, including what you may have heard referred to as The Castle of Sandy Springs, which is Lot 17 that features a true depiction of a French Chateau.

ALTERNATIVES TO THE TAX CREDIT: Receive Up to $8,000 for Purchasing a Home in Dekalb County

If you are searching for a home in Dunwoody, Decatur, Chamblee, Doraville, Tucker, Stone Mountain, or in any Dekalb County city, outside the city limits of Atlanta, there maybe money waiting for you!  Dekalb County’s Homebuyer Program offers eligible buyers who have not owned real estate in the last 3 years up to $8,000 to use towards their down payment, closing costs, or other prepaid expenses.  Displaced homemakers and single parents may also qualify. 

ALTERNATIVES TO THE TAX CREDIT: Employers That Can Cause You to Get an Extra $7500

You may feel like your occupation and the hours you spend working are undervalued and unappreciated.  Well, here in Georgia, your labor is not in vain! Although the federal tax credit has expired, there actually are numerous programs throughout Georgia that will give those that work in some of the most undervalued occupations down-payment assistance for their next real estate purchase.  (For other programs besides this one, please click here.)  If you are employed with any of the following (and in some cases even if you are a volunteer), you may qualify to receive $7500 towards your home purchase through Georgia Dream’s PEN (Protectors, Educators, Nurses) program:

How to Get LUXURY ATLANTA CONDOS at Discounted Prices

TWELVE Centennial Park, Tribute Lofts, Reynolds on Peachtree, Renaissance Walk, and Oakland Park in Grant Park are all luxurious condo developments that many would love to call home.  Thanks to the Atlanta Development Authority (ADA) you maybe able to do it for half the retail market values.  Currently, prices for these trendy, new communities can range up to the low $400,000s.  But through ADA’s Eastside Tax Allocation District Program, select one- and two- bedroom units are offered at $155,000 or less and do not require a buyer to go through a potentially lengthy short sale process.

ALTERNATIVES TO THE TAX CREDIT: How to Get Up to $7500 For Buying a Home in One of These Georgia Counties

The Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) has yet another new down payment assistance option to its Georgia Dream Homeownership Program to help revitalize and attract home buyers to the several counties affected by the 2009 Georgia floods.  The Georgia Dream Recovery Program offers down payment and closing cost assistance for all home buyers in the following Metro Atlanta counties: Carroll, Cherokee, Cobb, Dawson, Dekalb, Douglas, Fulton, Gwinnett, Heard, Newton, Paulding and Rockdale. For those desiring to purchase a home in these counties, the real estate qualifications to receiving the Recovery Program funds are that it maybe any home within one of these counties (it does not have to have been personally affected/damaged by the floods) with a purchase price of no more than $300,000.  The DCA’s recovery program is also available to counties in other parts of Georgia including: Catoosa, Chattooga, Crawford, Dooly, Houston, Peach, Stephens, Taylor and Walker.  For those desiring to purchase a home in these counties, the real estate qualifications to receiving the Recovery Program funds are that it maybe any home within one of these counties (it does not have to have been personally affected/damaged by the floods) with a purchase price of no more than $250,000.

AVOIDING BUYER HEADACHES: Lesson 1-”Yes, You’re Approved… Just Kidding”

Okay, you have done your homework by watching HGTV, reading various blogs and even consulting a real estate agent on what you need to do to purchase a home.  Among the prerequisites you were given, you were told to get a lender to pre-qualify you and you did.  Now you are excited and ready to look for some real estate.  But wait, not so fast!  To avoid any headaches after you have found the home of your dreams, you should help your lender examine if you are really ready to shop for a home.  “What are you talking about, Lee?” you maybe wondering.  Well, believe it or not, with the restrictions that have been placed now on the mortgage industry to curtail the number of future foreclosures and distressed homeowners, what you think is your income may not really be. 

May 2010: Sandy Springs’ Events To Love

Mark your calendar for these remaining May 2010 events here in Sandy Springs, GA, one of Atlanta’s most affluent suburbs for the young professional.  The first concert in the Wind Down Wednesdays series will take place on Wednesday, May 19 on the entertainment lawn at Heritage Green. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. and the concert starts at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults (21 and over) and includes one free beverage; $2 children (13-20) and free for ages 12 and under. For more information call 404.851.9111, ext. 203 or visit www.heritagesandysprings.org.

ALTERNATIVES TO THE TAX CREDIT: How to Get Rewarded Up to an Extra $7500 on Your GA Home Purchase

The Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) has yet another new down payment assistance option to its Georgia Dream Home-ownership Program. The Georgia Dream “Plus” option (or the Rewards Program) offers down payment and closing cost assistance for first time home buyers with incomes up to 100% of their Area Median Incomes (AMI). Georgia Dream’s down payment assistance options are normally restricted to borrowers whose incomes are at or below 80% AMI. This assistance comes in the form of a second mortgage loan, with a zero percent interest rate and requires no repayment until the home is sold, refinanced, or no longer used as the principal residence of the borrower.

How To Get the Homebuyer Tax Credit Until April 2011 - That’s Right!

Members of the military and certain other federal employees serving outside the U.S. and their spouses have an extra year to buy a principal residence in the U.S. and qualify for the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit.