The REAL Houses of Atlanta: REAL Tips to Succeed as a Rookie Investor

If you are new to investing in Atlanta’s hot real estate market, check out the latest episode with critical tips for your success.  Click here to watch:

REAL Tips to Succeed as a Rookie Investor

Need Help with Your Mortgage?

Home-ownership for some in the past few years has gone from being the American Dream to a seemingly never-ending nightmare as the threat of losing not only their house but their home that represents their time, family, and livelihood is imminent.  Are you, or anyone you know, in this position?  Are you feeling overwhelmed by your current mortgage payments or afraid that you may lose your home?  Are you confused as to how you can get help? Well, if you are in Georgia, Rep. David Scott is sponsoring an event that may help you.

How to Get a $7500 Grant Towards Your Home Purchase

Many of us enjoy the investment matching programs offered by various employers, where for every $1 you invest in your retirement, your employer may match you with $1 or some variation.  Many capitalize on such matching programs but what if someone would match the funds you contribute to your home purchase? Here in metro Atlanta, there is such a program through the FHLBank First-time Homebuyer Program (FHP).

To HOA or Not HOA?

Imagine living directly across from the soon-coming (we hope) Streets of Buckhead (Georgia’s version of Rodeo Drive), or being in walking distance to your office on Wall St., or reveling in the sounds of jazz coming from the Detroit Riverfront.  Whether you are in Atlanta, New York, Detroit, or another urban area, townhouses and condos are stylish and maybe the most economical option to allow you to live close to your city’s hustle and bustle.    Moreover, you may love the low-maintenance lifestyle condos and townhouses afford you but there are several questions you should have answered by the Homeowner’s Association (HOA) before making an offer.

‘Tis the Season to Reassess Your Property Taxes

Whether you recently purchased a home or have been a homeowner for years in Metro Atlanta, 2011 will offer significant benefits for property taxpayers.  Due to the passage of the Georgia Senate Bill 346 earlier this year, reform is finally coming to the values assigned to our homes, which will bring hopefully much needed relief to real estate owners.  

STOP HOME LOSS SERIES: You May Qualify For HUD’s New Interest Free Loans

The Obama administration will offer $1 billion in zero-interest loans to help homeowners who’ve lost income avoid foreclosure as part of $3 billion in additional aid targeting economically distressed areas.  The Department of Housing and Urban Development plans to make loans of as much as $50,000 for borrowers in the hardest hit areas to make mortgage, tax and insurance payments for as long as two years through the HUD Emergency Homeowners Loan Program.  This new program will complement Treasury’s Hardest Hit Fund (announced in Feb. 2010) by providing assistance to homeowners in hard hit local areas that may not be included in the hardest hit target states as listed below. Those areas are still being determined.

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:

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.

Voice Your Opinion on Redeveloping I-285

Is there an alternative to I-285 traffic? In 2006, the Georgia Department of Transportation and the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority launched revive 285 top end, an initiative to develop a transportation solution for the northern I-285 corridor between I-75 and I-85. The project team is seeking more input and is asking for your help. Go online to www.revive285.com to voice your opinion.

Georgia Senator Pushes Extension For First-Time Buyer Tax Credit

If you are still trying to decide what your first home purchase will be, you may not have to beat the clock - yippie!  Bills to extend the maximum $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers, which expires Nov. 30, are pending in both the U.S. House and the Senate.

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