Loganville, Dacula and Bethlehem Real Estate - The Rains Team

In order to have a successful open house, sellers need to make sure their house is looking its best and standing out from the rest. Here are 11 tips to help your house look attractive to potential buyers:

1. The Outside Must Shine: Curb appeal is so important when selling your home, because it’s the first impression a potential buyer gets of your home–it is what makes them want to take a deeper look at the property. Some ways to increase your curb appeal are: mow the lawn, trim the bushes and put out fresh mulch in the flower beds. Also, spending a couple hundred dollars on fresh exterior paint can increase the sales price by thousands. Make sure the trim is touched up too.

2. The Inside Must Look New: Okay folks, paint is cheap, so if a room is looking dingy–go ahead and give it a fresh coat of paint.

3. Make Cosmetic Repairs: Windows that are cracked, holes in the walls and tiles that are chipped send the wrong message to buyers–they figure if there are several minor flaws they can see, then there must be more serious flaws that they can’t see. You may tend to overlook these things on an everyday basis, but buyers tend to be very critical and will use the little things as reasons not to make an offer; your home will sell much faster if it’s in tip-top shape.

4. Let in as Much Light as Possible: Turn on all the lights, you may even want to increase the wattage, even if it’s in the middle of the day. Open all the curtains. Doing so will make your home feel warm, inviting and cheerful.

5. Get Rid of All the Clutter: I don’t mean stash all your extra things in a closet–get it off the property! Potential buyers have the right to inspect every room, closet and storage space in the home…and you need to give off the impression that there’s plenty of room for all of their things.

6. Set the Dinner Table as if You are Getting Ready for a Dinner Party: It’s time to bring out the china, the best glasses and the candles–set the table as elegantly as possible. Help your potential buyers imagine what it would be like to live in this home–how easy and fun it would be to entertain here.

7. Kitchens and Bathrooms Must be Absolutely Spotless: Shelves and countertops should be well organized and clean. Assume that people will be looking through your drawers and medicine cabinet–if there is anything you don’t want people to see, remove it from your home.

8. Remove Some of Your Possessions: Spaciousness is key–you want every room of your home to look open and roomy. To achieve this, remove extra pieces of furniture, especially big, bulky pieces. Take down some of the family photos. Make your home a blank canvas, allowing your potential buyer to picture how they would live there.

9. Put Your Pets Somewhere Else: Dogs especially can be a real problem–you don’t want them barking when someone comes to look at the home, this could interfere with the buyers looking at your home. Also, don’t just put them next door either–dogs can sense when strangers are around and they very well could start barking then too, you wouldn’t want a potential buyer to be turned off by the possibility of a loud dog next door, do you?

10. Bad Smells Kill Deals: It is important to make sure your home is clean and odor free, smells that you probably don’t even notice anymore will be noticed by visitors. Use air fresheners and carpet cleaners if need be to get rid of pet odors, urine on carpets, cigarette smoke, etc. Baking cookies or lighting cookie-scented candles can send an inviting aroma throughout the house.

11. Leave: As soon as your real estate agent arrives, (do you need an agent? how about contacting me?) you should pack the kids in the car and leave the premises. Potential buyers need the opportunity to freely walk through your home without you standing anxiously by.

Okay, now you know all the things you should do to get your home ready for an open house or to put it on the market. If you have questions, feel free to contact me today or write a comment below!

The Riverwalk YMCA in Bethlehem opened this past summer and is another great asset to the growing community of Bethlehem. It is part of the Riverwalk neighborhood and is a beautiful craftsman-style facility. The fitness center features a swimming pool, playground, 4 tennis courts, beach volleyball court, fitness classes and plenty of cardio and weight machines.

We are members there and really like it, especially because of the current competition they have going. During the month of September they have a football themed competition where teams of 4 people can do exercise for yardage…basically the team with the most touchdowns at the end of the month wins a prize. For example, if you spend 30 minutes doing cardio you get 5 yards and if you do 3 sets of 10 on eight circuit machines you receive 10 yards. I am ashamed to admit that I’ve never made exercising a priority in my life, but for the first time ever I’ve been motivated to go to the gym frequently….I kinda wish they would just keep extending the end of the competition…maybe a year long competition would be better?!

The staff members are always friendly and the equipment is nice and new. They offer plenty of different group exercise classes and also there is free childcare while you are exercising. All in all, it is a great place to workout…and yet another reason for you to contemplate a move to the Bethlehem area. If you are wanting to move to Bethlehem, Loganville, Athens or any other city within the Gwinnett, Walton and Barrow counties, please contact me today–I would love to help!

If you have any questions about the YMCA or real estate in general…you know what to do, comment below.

I figured since it was Friday I would do a more personal post and let ya’ll meet my long-haired Chihuahua, Jackson. Isn’t he a pretty dog? I think so! And smart too…let me tell you about some of his tricks. First, he can do all the normal things that most trained dogs can do, such as sit, come and lay down. But Jackson is a unique dog in that he can also do special tricks such as: dance, walk on his two hind legs, twirl, play dead and crawl like a soldier. He can also give a high five and shake your hand. Pretty special, huh?!

He’s also a pretty good listener, now of course sometimes he has a mind of his own and just wants to do whatever he feels like, but for the most part he will do as he’s told. When we moved into our new house I bought a leather sofa set and I decided he was not allowed on the couch…well I only had to tell him 2 times maybe to stay off the couch and he has not gotten on them since. Now that may not seem like something all that great, except that he knows the difference between the leather couch and the couch in our movie room…he knows he’s allowed on that couch and also on the bed.

Now, he has his flaws for sure…I’m not at all saying he’s perfect! For one, he is overly possessive and protective of me. So much so that he will bark and growl his head off around anyone new…he is not automatically friendly around people or other dogs. It is a bit of an embarrassment when people come over..and I’m always a little worried (okay a LOT worried) when small children and babies are around, because I’m terrified that he may bite them when they try to pet him. Another character flaw he has is that he is extremely aggressive towards large dogs–as in he runs up to them and tries to bite them and ferociously growls at them…I blame it in large part to the fact that as a puppy (before I got him) he was sat upon by a bulldog, but deep down I know it’s my fault for not socializing him properly.

Well, now that you have met Jackson, my precious dog, I would like to meet yours! Do you have any funny or crazy pet stories to share with me? If so, please leave a comment below! I would love to hear from you.

The new Harbins Park is set to open Phase I in Spring of 2009. It is located at the intersection of Luke Edwards Road and Indian Shoals Road in Dacula, Georgia. Once complete it will be the largest park in Gwinnett County at over 1,900 acres! This tops the current largest in the Hog Mountain area, Little Mulberry Park, at only 890 acres and Tribble Mill Park in Grayson at 700 acres.

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!

As we all know, it is increasingly harder to obtain a loan on a home these days due to the amount of foreclosures that have occurred. Banks and mortgage companies are tightening their requirements and are hesitant to lend money–especially to first-time home buyers. This is especially difficult because many first-time home buyers don’t have much money saved up yet or have perfect credit–the average age of a first-time home buyer is only about 26 years old. However, I have found a loan program that helps first-time home buyers, it is BB and T’s Community Homeownership Incentive Program or CHIP. It is a loan program specially designed for first-time home buyers. Some of the benefits are: 1.) up to 97 per cent of financing available on various different property types including singled family homes, townhomes, condos and doublewide manufactured homes on permanent foundations and 2.) the private mortgage insurance is waived–over the long run that saves you a lot of money!!

If you don’t have much money for a downpayment, have a lack of credit history and don’t have an income that exceeds 80 per cent of your county median income, then this program may be right for you.

Please contact me if you are interested in learning more about this program and I will connect you with the loan officer that I work with at       BB &T. Don’t be discouraged if you are a first-time home buyer–there are still good programs available to you and I want to help you find them and your dream house!

I have decided that taxis are a complete rip-off…let me explain why. We are here in Miami for Matt’s technology course and we thought we would save money and just take a taxi places instead of renting a car, boy were we wrong! Our hotel is only 5 miles from the course location and the taxi fare is $20!! Does that sound ridiculous to you? It does to me.

Yesterday after checking into our hotel we had to come to the course location for Matt to set-up and make sure everything works right…so $40+tip down the drain right there–you can understand why we stayed at the hotel and ordered in a pizza for dinner. Then we had to do the same thing again today…

I think next time we come we will rent a car, that has got to be a more economical way to go. We would like to see some sights while here; however, we’ve been told the drive from our hotel (near the airport) to South Beach would be a roundtrip of around $70!! I guess sightseeing around Miami will have to wait until the next time we come…

Well, today is going to be a hectic day because tomorrow Matt and I leave for Miami!! He teaches a Real Estate Technology Specialist (RETS) seminar to real estate agents and the REALTOR Association of Greater Miami and the Beaches (RAMB) has asked him to teach his course to their agents.

His seminar is 6 hours and teaches the most cutting-edge marketing tools for agent’s to use when marketing their listings and themselves. Some of the tools taught are: creating picture and virtual tours, researching property information using GIS databases and how to capture satellite images and use them as listing pictures. The course also comes with the Real Estate Flash Drive which has over $1,500 worth of free software with programs essential to your business, including a full office productivity suite. If you are interested in taking his course sometime, please check out his Website:

www.RealEstateTechnologyOnline.com

Tonight Matt and I met our current buyer couple at Outback Steakhouse for a nice meal and to sign the latest revision of their contract and discuss the different tasks that need to be completed before closing happens later this month. It was a fun night for many reasons…for 1. we got some business accomplished–always a plus!, 2. we had a great time talking and getting to know our buyers even more and 3. I had the great advantage of not having to cook tonight…although, as most of you know, I really enjoy cooking–but it’s always nice to have a night off now and again! Of course, I should have chosen my food more wisely–the cheesy bacon fries looked AMAZING and I’ve been craving them everytime I see a commercial for Outback, yep, you guessed it, I ordered them as my meal…I know that makes me sound like a pig for getting it as my entree; however, I did order the half portion (still HUGE) and only ate about half of that…still, my tummy is wishing I had just gotten a salad! Anyways, it was a fun night and we enjoyed taking our clients out to dinner! Only a few things have to be lined up and we’ll be all set for our next closing…

If you are in the market to buy a home, we’d be happy to help you! This year is the perfect time to buy! Low interest rates and an $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers!