Here in the Atlanta Market we seem to have a huge number of investors trying to write offers on every property they see in the listing service.  They are all fighting over who will get their offers over first and it's always a sight unseen offer.  "Sight Unseen" just means that the buyer is writing an offer without ever having been to the property.   Many agents who don't do a lot of listings think this is a great thing.  We at 2ShortSaleGuys will not accept a sight unseen offer.   Many of them want to write the offer, have 10 business days to inspect the property which means it's really 2 full weeks.  In our experience they wait till the last day to inspect and then they back out or they send an email something like this: "This particular property does not fit into our investors specif... 02/13/2014

Owning a home is the apex of every person’s dream. It symbolizes stability on one’s finances. But making that dream become a reality is not easy. There are a lot of aspects to consider in buying a home. And the question is, How much can you afford? To know the answer to that is to consider your income, credit rating, current monthly expenses, possible downpayment and interest rate. The whole process of buying a home is tedious and an exhausting experience, but with the help of real estate experts, mortgage professionals and some useful tips, you can determine how you can afford a new home.   At the height of the economy, a lot of Americans owned their home. But after the recession hit worldwide market including right here in Georgia, many homeowners lost their homes to foreclosures. One... 02/13/2014

So you have decided to purchase a home, you have been online looking and now you are ready to get down and dirty. The next thing you need to ask yourself is "What documents do I need to get a mortgage.     Purchasing a home is not an easy process that can happen in a snap of a finger. There are a lot of considerations that you have to decide upon. The very first question is, “How will you purchase a home?” Now, purchasing a home is a huge investment which will require a great deal of time, not to mention all the paperworks that it involves during the process. Many of the home buyers rely on mortgages to help them purchase a home. It doesn’t sound easy, does it? Securing a mortgage might seem like a tedious process, and if you are seriously planning to buy a home then you should be aware... 02/13/2014

After all the tremendous stress and time consumed going through the process of buying a home, one can only wish that no other problem or issue may arise after finally obtaining the rightful ownership of the home of your dreams. The last thing a home buyer wants to worry about is what could possibly go wrong, break or malfunction in there new home. Since that can cover a multitude of items and systems, for peace of mind, it's always a good idea to get a home protection plan or Home Warranty. It's especially a good idea to obtain a home warranty if you're a first-time home buyer with no experience maintaining a home. When you purchase a home, even a home that is new, there is a very good chance that you will be offered a home warranty. The seller may offer to purchase one on your behalf t... 02/13/2014

By definition, a credit score is a number based on a statistical analysis of a person's credit files, that in theory represents the creditworthiness of that person, which is the likelihood that people will pay their bills. A credit score is primarily based on credit report information, typically from one of the three major credit bureaus: Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. Income is not considered by the major credit bureaus when calculating a credit score.   It is a fact that credit score plays a vital role in obtaining a favorable home mortgage loan. Lenders use credit scores to determine who qualifies for a loan, at what interest rate and credit limits. Literally, credit score is a fundamental part of your credit stability. What does a good credit score do for you?   Here are some of... 11/15/2013

We have great news to report at GaRealtyGroup | 2ShortSaleGuys in this month's market statistics for Winder, Georgia.  As many know, the real estate market took a significant hit for several years.  Many have said “the market is back” and I have the numbers to prove that although the market is NOT back, but it’s headed in a great direction.   Winder, Georgia is the county seat of Barrow County, Georgia.  Barrow County has approximately 70,000 residents according to the 2010 US Census.  Although Barrow County isn’t as big as nearby counties, it does encompass about 160 square miles.  Winder is continuously growing and currently undergoing a downtown renovation.   As for real estate in Barrow County, new construction is still assisting the market as real estate is continuing to grow.  Sou... 09/21/2013

  Thank you for visiting our Winder Georgia real estate information site including Winder Georgia Properties. Here you will be able to search all homes for sale in the Winder Georgia real estate MLS. This includes all Winder Georgia properties for sale such as houses, condominiums and homes and also includes HUD Homes, short-sales and foreclosures. If you are ready to buy or sell a house, we can help you out as a Winder real estate agent which includes Winder Georgia Properties. If you see a house you want more information on or would like to schedule a showing, be sure to call The Mark Spain Team, a great Winder Georgia Realtor, at 770-886-9000. If you would like to buy a new Winder home, we can get you in contact with Winder GA home builders to see all of yor Winder Georgia home const... 09/14/2013

The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act was originally enacted in 2007. This Act helped out homeowners from being exempted in paying the taxes on the amount that was forgiven which was actually considered taxable income. This act was supposed to be in effect until Dec. 31, 2012 but the Congress extended it for another year and the new expiry date would be on Dec. 31, 2013. For very obvious reason, theMortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Acthas been such an extreme relief to homeowners considering the difficulty of the current economic situation due to the recession. It has extremely helped homeowners who are faced with terrible financial burdens, especially those who have undergone Short Sale or Foreclosure.   In a few months’ time, this Act will expire and the question is…Are you are read... 09/08/2013

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has announced a reduction in the timelines someone has to wait to purchase a home after a bankruptcy, short sale, or foreclosure.  This is a great thing!!!  Time to get excited!!!  WOO HOO!!! In the past you had to wait 2 to 5 years depending on your circumstances if you went through the loss of your home.  Different lenders had their own criteria, however, it was all in line with the guidelines that FHA had set.  The typical wait time was 2 years from the discharge of your bankruptcy and 3 years from the recording of the foreclosure deed.     Those times have been cut down to 1 YEAR!!!  But the borrower has to meet a few criteria.  Listed below are those criteria according to the FHA Document “Mortgagee Letter 2013-26, published on August 15, 20... 08/18/2013

This week has been a rewarding week.  GaRealtyGroup | 2ShortSaleGuys have been on fire.  We have 8 closings this week, closing out June with 1.5 million dollars in inventory sold.  Everyone on our team has been productive.  Two listings come in this week with a total of 6 for the month and a couple listing appointments to finish out June strong.  This will totally be the best month at GRG | 2SSG.     But first and foremost, the best part of my job is that I have my own schedule!  I had the opportunity to serve River Hills Church and the children’s ministry this week to provide sound and media support to one of the most successful Vacation Bible Schools we have had at River Hills.  There was a ton of kids, it was a sports camp, they had a blast.     The key verse was Hebrews 12:1,2:   1T... 06/22/2013

There are many great things happening in my life!  I have an awesome business where I have been fortunate enough to hire people to assist me and allow me to leverage myself to earn more business.  I have the opportunity to work with my best friend, Bill Bythewood on a daily basis.  Each day is different in the life of GaRealtyGroup | 2ShortSaleGuys.  We have our daily banter, laughs and then we have her daily bouts where we have to “Eat that Frog” and get business done.  At the end of the day its all about what did you accomplish today.     This week we accomplished a lot, we finished the month of May off strong.  We had five closings in May totaling $629,000 in inventory.  We assisted three homeowners in avoiding foreclosure.  We are currently working about 25 listings and our Buyer’s ... 06/01/2013

There are hundreds of applications (apps) out there for your phones.  Some loves the iphone and others love the Android platform.   Whether you are a Droid or an Apple fan, the National Association of REALTORS are making it easier for you in the Real Estate Industry for apps. I personally have the iPhone 4S, I have tried the Droid platform and it just wasn't for me. www.repurposedapps.com is a platform website that NAR has setup for you as REALTORS to go to get the latest and greatest apps available to the real estate professionals.  It is a work in progress and you can do your part by adding your favorite app to the site and geting some name recognization all at the same time.  Some of my favorite on the site are listed below with my take on what the app does for my business.   WORDPRE... 05/19/2013

It's going to be a great week for me and my team.  We have some exciting things happening at GaRealtyGroup | 2ShortSaleGuys!  Terri Tarver is rocking it out helping Buyer's achieve their life goals in purchasing homes.  She has help 4 people this week put themselves under contract to purchase a home. Bill and I have some exciting new listings coming soon that are going to help homeowners prevent foreclosure as well as help some homeowners sell so that they can move on up and buy bigger homes, taking advantage of this down market with ridiculously low mortgage rates! We have 3 or possibly 4 closings scheduled this week that will continue to make us the #1 Group at Keller Williams - Lanier Partners in Braselton, Georgia.  We are excited that our number continue to grow and that we have al... 05/19/2013

If you are looking for something exciting to do this Friday, May 9th, come out and support the Barrow County Relay for Life event.   It will be held this friday at Winder Barrow High School beginning at 7:00pm and will continue all night until 7:00am Saturday morning.     As of this blog post, there are 41 teams that have already raise approximately $26,000 for cancer research!   Here is what Relay for Life has to say about their event:   The journey to end cancer starts with a single step. The American Cancer Society invites you to take that step with us by joining the global Relay For Life movement. When you walk to end cancer at a Relay event, it's your opportunity to not only honor cancer survivors and remember loved ones lost, but also to raise awareness about what we can do to sta... 05/07/2013

This week we are thankful for our Featured Vendor Partners.  GaRealtyGroup | 2ShortSaleGuys are highlighting each of our Featured Partners to thank them for contributing to our success, as well as highlight why they are worthy of us partnering with them.  We will not partner with just anyone.  If Bill and I wouldn’t use them in our homes, why would we recommend them for yours?  We wouldn’t!!!   Austin Wilson with Auburn Carpet Specialists has been in the carpet cleaning business for many years.  In fact, he was expressing to one of our clients recently that he actually learned to clean carpets from someone who was a carpet layer.  So Austin can stretch your carpets that look worn, he can clean those nasty carpets and make them look as if they were just laid!   In addition to carpet serv... 05/07/2013

  Thank you for visiting our Winder Georgia real estate supersite including Short Sale Houses In Winder Georgia. Here you will be able to search all homes for sale in the Winder GA real estate MLS. This includes all Winder properties for sale such as houses, condominiums and homes and also includes short-sales, HUD Homes and foreclosures. If you are ready to buy or sell a house, we can help you out as a Winder GA real estate agent which includes Short Sale Houses In Winder Georgia. If you see a house you want more information on or would like to schedule a showing, be sure to call The Mark Spain Team, a great Winder GA Realtor, at 770-886-9000. If you would like to buy a new Winder Georgia home, we can get you in contact with Winder home builders to see all of yor Winder GA home constru... 04/18/2013

Every month at GaRealtyGroup | 2ShortSaleGuys, we have to stop foreclosures.  We maintain on average about 40 listings.  In this market with low inventory, as long as we price the property right, we have it under contract within five to seven days. This month was no exception, GaRealtyGroup | 2ShortSaleGuys took eight listings and all eight of them had foreclosure date of April 2nd.  Now, Both Bill and I are highly competitive and enjoy a challenge.  However, this month we were in over our heads!  Eleven foreclosures were a bit more than we wanted.   We have the absolute best assistants to help us and a system that we continue to prove as succuessful.  When we take the listings, we will not market it till we have all the documents that we need to facilitate the short sale, that way we k... 04/04/2013

It's with great pleasure that GaRealtyGroup | 2ShortSaleGuys announces the arrival of a new Buyer's Representative to our team.  Terri Tarver has joined the elite Short Sale group to handle buyer's!  She will take the leads from our over 35 listings to assist them in finding either one or GaRealtyGroup's listings or another home that matches their criteria.    Terri has been in the real estate business since 2004, she has worked as a new construction agent, listing and buyer's agent and worked as a REO (Bank owned property) Agent.   Terri brings  a spark of energy, trust and confidence that is certainly a must for the GaRealtyGroup | 2ShortSaleGuys team.  Terri can be reached by email or by calling 678-425-4450     Would you like Terri to call you to view homes?  To view homes, click HE... 03/28/2013

The City of Winder will look a little different next weekend, March 30th at Apalachee High School.  Chick-fil-a Winder and River Hills Church have teamed up to host an egg hunt this year.  And in typical fashion they both can't be outdone!!!  This year they will be dropping eggs from a helicopter onto the field at Apalachee High School located at 940 Haymon Morris Road.    The River Hills Band will be there playing and festivities begin at 2:00pm with the band.    This is sure to be an exciting time and Chick-fil-a as well as River Hills Church cordially invites everyone watch the eggs drop from the sky and participate in this fun community event.                                      Would you like to live in a community that has super awesome events like this?  Schedule your appointmen... 03/22/2013

Today we closed a short sale, we have closed 14 of them this year, but this one was more special than most.  You see this one when we took the listing had a foreclosure scheudled.  The bank and an attorney with all the foreclosure paperwork done, foreclosure publication was in the newspaper as the law requires and everyone was just waiting on the foreclosure date.  That date was a mere three weeks away.   I was told about these folks and told they needed help.  I went and knocked on the door to introduce myself.  I don't like don't that, neither does my partner Bill.  But we do what we have to do as we are the best in the business in our area!!! We currently have 35 listings.  I knocked on the door and no one was home so I left a business card on the door.   The next day I returned late... 03/08/2013