Athens, GA Real Estate Blog

196 Red Fox Run ~ offered at $645,000

This is a truly amazing custom built home on 8 private acres. You will be impressed from the moment you enter the Foyer and notice the 10 ft ceiling and slate tile flooring. This home offers a formal Living Room with chair rail; an open and spacious Family Room with fireplace, built-in Spagnoli bookshelves and french doors leading to the deck; gourmet Kitchen with granite counters, island, breakfast area and private screened porch; and a formal Dining Room with antique chandelier and access to the Sunroom. Split bedroom plan with the Owner's Bedroom featuring 2 walk-in closets, tiled Bath with shower stall, tub and marble vanity. Two guest bedrooms and guest bath can also be found on the main level. The finished basement can be accessed either by spiral staircase or elevator and contains a guest bedroom/bath, office, large recreation room, storage room and access to the 3 car garage. The entire home was created with a passive solar and energy efficient design and it shows in the utility bills which are quite low for the size of the home. The outside grounds were professionally designed and landscaped and you will find an array of hollies, birches, crepe myrtles and more. This is a very unique property and must bee seen to appreciate the full value.

For those of you who live in or are familiar with Athens - I thought this was a very interesting video that was shot in 1947.  Obviously a lot has changed but there are many familiar sights:

Many people are discovering the benefits of yoga these days from all walks of life.  Athens has long been know for its cultural diversity and eclectic mix and offers many locations/studios to practice different styles of yoga.  Here are just a few if you live in the area and are interested:

Rubber Soul Yoga  http://www.rubbersoulyoga.com/

Five Points Yoga  http://www.athensfivepointsyoga.com/

Sangha @ the Healing Arts Center  http://www.healingartscentre.net/sangha.php

Chet Thomas Yoga  http://www.athensomtownyoga.com/

Home buyers - have you ever found a house in a perfect location but it was missing a key feature that you need or was in need of more repairs than you would be able to handle?  There is a loan out there for you - the FHA 203k.  I attended a very informative class yesterday given by Brian Stephens of Wells Fargo on the FHA 203k loan and learned some valuable information.  Virtually any home can be purchased with an FHA 203k.  Minor repairs, missing appliances, or major renovations can be financed into your mortgage.  It is even possible to tear a home down to its foundation and re-build it using this loan!  For more information about these renovation loans visit:

http://renovationloanguy.com/

If you are curious about Athens, GA foreclosures, below is a heat map from RealtyTrac which shows a breakdown of the 65 homes that were foreclosed in December by zip code.  If you would like to receive new listing alerts by email when a new foreclosure hits the market in the Athens area, visit  http://www.findathensareahomes.com/ and enter "foreclosures only" in the comments section.

2012 will be a great year to buy a home as prices stabilize and interest rates are still low - here is a short video from CNN Money about the year ahead:

Many of you may know Greg Rand who hosts the radio/internet show "Rand on Real Estate".  This is a clip worth watching from a recent show where Greg explains what went wrong in the last decade and why it is important to have confidence in the market going forward.  A caller also asks a question about a short sale and he gives some valuable info there as well:

With Winter now upon us, here are some tips from local Athenians on how to prepare your home and auto for cold weather:

This past Saturday was the last Athens Farmers Market of the season but if you are a locavore who wants fresh local produce throughout the winter and early spring you have another option.  Athens Locally Grown  serves as an online farmers market for the Athens area (in fact many of these growers also grow for the Athens Farmers Market).  Once you create an account you can order fresh veggies, dairy, meats, artisan breads and and many other items year round -try it out!  For more information visit:

http://athens.locallygrown.net/

Last month I told you about the new government HARP 2.0 program which may allow you to refinance your mortgage (if it is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac) no matter how far underwater you happen to be.  Initially lenders were going to begin taking applications in December but that has now been pushed back to March 2012 which is when Fannie & Freddie's automated loan underwriting software will be updated.  So if you are considering refinancing with this new program - hold tight until March and then take advantage of this great opportunity.