As we all know, crime rates do increase during the holiday season.  Here are a few tips to keep your family and home safe: 

Traveling?
1.  Ask a neighbor to watch the house while you’re away. Leave your vacation address and phone number with them.
2.  Stop all deliveries, or arrange for a neighbor to pick up your mail, newspapers and packages.
3. Do a mail stop, which can be done with less than 24 hours notice.  For more information go to:  https://holdmail. usps.com/ duns/HoldMail. jsp

4.  Consider forwarding your home phone to your cell  phone. Professionals will call hoping you won’t answer.
5. Turn the bell or ringer on your telephone down low. If   a burglar is around, he won’t be alerted to your absence by  a ringing phone.
6. Plug in timers to turn lights, a radio or television on   and off at appropriate times. This helps to disguise the  fact that you are away.
7. Don’t announce your absence on answering machine messages.
8. Leave your blinds, shades, and curtains in a normal position. Don’t close them unless that is what you do when you are home.
9. Check garage doors and windows. Make sure they are locked.
10.  Gather valuables – jewelry-etc and hide in an inconspicuous place.
11.  Ask a neighbor to occasionally park in your driveway.   If you leave your car at home, park it as you normally would. 
12.  Tell your security company what dates you plan to be away. They can put a note on your account should you have an alarm.

Q:  I’m buying a new town house, why would I need an inspection?

A:  Even though it is new construction and the city or county has inspected the property, it is still critical to have a 3rd party evaluate the home.  A county inspector may view 10 units at one time, but the inspector you hire may spend 1.5 to 4 hours looking specifically at the home you would like to buy.  Based on my past experience, the average inspection fee is about $375.  This is money well spent when you consider that the average plumber or HVAC contractor charges $100 – $150 per hour!

One other item to note:  Before you hire the inspector to evaluate your new property, make sure that a “Certificate of Occupancy” has been issued by the city or county.

If you plan to compare interest rates before you “lock in” with a particular mortgage company, try to speak with all the different loan officers in one day.  Why?  Mortgage rates change almost daily, so you want to ensure that you are comparing “apples to apples” — one company may quote you 6.0% on Monday, but could give you a 5.875% quote on Tuesday.

Business 2.0 worked with Moody’s Economy.com rated Atlanta as the #4 ”Best Place in Nation to Buy Now”, with projected median sales prices growth for single-family homes (2008 to 2009):  5.6%

….”Hotlanta” boasts one of the highest rates of job growth in so-called creative-class occupations in the country. Why? It’s the top destination in America for young professionals, a transportation hub (Atlanta’s airport is the busiest in the world), and a place where most Fortune 500 companies maintain a regional presence. Projections by researchers at the U.S. Census Bureau and Virginia Tech place Atlanta at the center of a “megapolitan” cluster of urban sprawl that will develop over the next quarter-century, encompassing 7 million people.

This points to another niche real estate play –>  As buildable land around the city disappears, downtown neighborhoods  on the brink of transformation are ripe for investment.

SOURCE:   CNNMoney.com

** As a Realtor, I primarily work “intown“ and over the past two years, that market has remained quite stable.  Homes are still selling in a reasonable timeframe, multiple offers are still coming in (although not as often as 2003 – 2005), and there are still a LOT of buyers out there.  If you are considering selling your home, my advice would be to “have no fear”, but do everything you can to make your home look like a showplace!  If you are looking to purchase a home in the next year, this is the perfect time to do it.