Honoring Who?  The 80%? Who are the 80%?  80% of all the servicemen and women who have died serving their country were part of the Infantry... And on June 19, 2009 the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center is Scheduled to open to the public. The museum's collection valued at over $30 million and spans the history of the United States Army's Infantry.  The oldest and largest branch of the U.S. Army, the U.S. Army Infantry was established on June 14, 1775, when the Continental Congress ordered the formation of ten companies of riflemen. The riflemen comprised the first armed force of a new nation. You may remember that Gen. George Washington led our nation's first soldiers into battle. And recall that Gen. George Patton was both hated and revered for his successes in World War II. ... 03/12/2009

YES - If your current on your mortgage but your bank won't let you refinance because your mortgage is "under water," here's how you qualify for the government refinancing program: Your home must be the primary residence Your loan must be owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac You must have sufficient income to support the new mortgage debt You can't take cash out of the new loan to pay other debt There's another big restriction, however, that will make many homeowners ineligible for the program: the value of your house can't have fallen much below the amount of the mortgage. "The ceiling of eligibility is 105 percent of current market value of the property-so that's not going to help homeowners who have suffered home price declines," says Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.c... 03/04/2009

Ok, I just have to brag a little bit here.  My 1 year old will officially be 1 year old on Friday.  We are having a party for him on Friday here at the house... and we are also doing something on Sunday... that has morphed beyond control.  And the latest morph is pretty cool.  We were going to take the 4 year old and some of his friends to a hockey game on Sunday.  He is a good Big Brother, and he has wanted to take friends to games all year.  So, we thought it would be fun for some of his friends to go to a game and this Sunday seemed like a good option.  We were going to make it a bit of a party for Jackson... just using Garrett's friends as the party-goers.  --Cool thing #1. And then the Thrashers announced their "Cross Ice Jamboree" for the kids that have been skating cross ice all ... 03/04/2009

Now I know everyone thought that if we give troubled companies some financial help those companies would manage to get themselves out of trouble.  (I almost typed that without laughing.) I think any company (i.e. banks, automakers, newspaper or insurance) who has made themselves unable to compete due to mismanagement, poor union contracts or just bad decisions should not be bailout by government.  If someone in the private sector wants to throw them a life line, fine but it should not be government. Now I do feel for the people whose lives will and are effected by the failure of a company; but it has happened before and will happen again and again.  That is life, which is hard and unfair from time to time. I know I have had life knock me around now and again. If I, as a Home Inspector, ... 03/03/2009

On Sunday, March 1, the Atlanta area got a rare snow day.  I was born and raised in Atlanta specificlly in Decutar and Tucker.  So, I can tell you that we rarly get snow in Atlanta.  The this area we are more likely to have a good old ice storm the the snow strom we had yesterday.  :   03/01/2009

I have just started volunteering for Junior Achievement. I wanted to help out in Parkview High School or Trickum Middle School, but they don't have partnerships with any of the teachers there. Instead, I'll be volunteering at Norcross High School for the time being. Junior Achievement is a great program, and it would benefit the students to have access to this type of curriculum. If you are a teacher at Parkview High School or Trickum Middle School in Gwinnett County, or an Administrator, feel free to shoot me a message and I'll be HAPPY to put you in touch with the right folks at JA. They would LOVE to be involved here in Lilburn. 02/26/2009

The other day I was sitting at a table with some other politically minded people. We started talking about some of the requirement paperwork we must complete from time to time.  We started to laugh about how in today's PC society that with each passing year we see more and more PC terms in our everyday lives. Two weeks ago I completed a state survey with a graduated scale that ran from Least Best to Better than Most.  Oh give me a break!  I crossed off the Least Best and wrote in Worst.  I replaced Better than Most with Best.  The government employee had a fit after I handed her the survey.  I ran across a short list for some fun (OK its not short - its vertically challenged) Crook - morally (ethically) challengedAlcoholic - Anti-Sobriety Activist Alive - temporarily metabolically able.... 02/26/2009

I generally don't word titles as strongly as that...  But this is important. Interest Rates on Mortages NEED to Rise... It isn't that we want them to rise, it is that the underlying structure is going to force rates higher.  Here are the things contributing to that coming increases... The Government will be borrowing more than a Trillion Dollars this year... and next year... and likely the year after that. China is not able to buy as much of our debt as they have in the past. The Federal Reserve Bank is pretty much out of options to push down rates... the Fed Funds Rate is already near 0%. The Congressional Budget Office stated that the massive borrowing for the new "Recovery" package will force out private borrowers.  Basically, mortgage borrowers will need to compete with the governme... 02/25/2009

If you want to follow along, here are parts I and II.  12/30/2008 1/10/2009   Once again, I took a meandering walk through the new listings in Lilburn for the last 30days.  As I wandered through, I was particularly looking for quantity of pictures and virtual tours.  The reason I was concentrating on those items was all about research that EVERY real estate agent should be familiar with regarding buyer behavior.  Buyers largely SKIP listings without adequate pictures.  Let's mention a few basic items.  Last year, FMLS changed the maximum number of pictures allowed from 8 to 12.  They also allow an unbranded virtual tour to be attached.  The pictures can all be captioned...  Many MLSs across the country allow more than 12 pictures... some as many as 50.  But many local agents are used to... 02/20/2009

Midori wrote a post yesterday morning that made me do something...  She's evil that way.  ;^ ) In Midori's post, she was talking specifically about schools and teachers and being involved in our communities.  You should read it if you haven't already.  The Ultimate Pay It Forward, Teachers Thinking About Our Future For those of you that don't know, my father was a teacher for many years.  He taught Junior high School, High School, Middle School and College at various times.  The subjects were mostly math and the sciences, especially earth sciences, geology, paleontology and paleogeology.  He loved teaching.  Even when he wasn't a teacher, he often found himself in classrooms teaching.  He volunteered to help teachers cover subjects that he had an expertise in, where they needed more str... 02/19/2009

Home for Sale Lilburn GA, listed by Larry SheeterListed by Larry Sheeter #678-488-7900. NATURES LOVERS PARADISE! 5 BEDROOM, 5 BATH HOME ON APPROXIMATELY 3.2 ACRES OF WOODS AND PRIVACY! FEELS LIKE A MOUNTAIN HOME TUCKED AWAY, BUT WITH ALL THE CITY CONVENIENCE! CLOSE IN LOCATION TO EMORY-CDC- & VA! GREAT FLOOR PLAN! KITCHEN IS OPEN TO THE KEEPING ROOM WITH FIREPLACE. 2-STORY GREAT ROOM WITH WALL OF WINDOWS. IN-LAW SUITE ON MAIN LEVEL OR IN FABULOUS TERRACE LEVEL. For complete property tour: http://www.advantagehometours.com/CompletedTours/1317Oleander/tabid/128/Default.aspx. 02/19/2009

I don't recall where I saw it, but I ran across a comment by a real estate agent about how prices are getting out of line... they are just crazy low.  It was something to the effect of "I can't wait until these crazy prices go away and we get back to normal."  It kept picking at me I couldn't leave it alone.  That thought kept coming back into my mind.  I could hear it.  That thought was popping up on my computer screen while working on other stuff.  I can't wait until these crazy prices go away and we get back to normal.  I couldn't figure out why this was bugging me so much... it was bothering me that I couldn't let it go...  And then it came to me The reason that I couldn't shake it was because it needed to be addressed.  It was crying out for an answer.  I don't know everything... A... 02/14/2009

With the recently passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, expected to be signed as soon as it hits the President's desk, many are wondering what might be in it for them. Well, with $790,000,000,000 there is room for a LOT of people to find a bit of cash. These are the ones that directly relate to housing: The First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit was raised to $8,000 and the repayment has been waived unless the home is sold within three years (previously capped at $7500 and required repayment at the rate of $500/year) The time period was also extended for the FTHBTC so that it runs through Dec. 1st, 2009 (previously set to run out July 1st) The Upper Loan Limit was restored for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA at $729,750 (this had expired Jan. 1st) The USDA also received $200M... 02/14/2009

I actually got the call a couple of weeks ago... but didn't file it in my brain as a blog topic until today.  I was driving back from a meeting (ok, it was really mall walking with my boys) and passed an abandoned townhome project.  Sticking out of the ground was the plumbing infrastructure... a bunch of PVC pipes for the drain systems of the un-built townhomes.  We call the PVC Farms...  It is a nice little euphemism.  It looks like the PVC is growing wild among the weeds.  (admission here.  I didn't take a picture there, and shot this one in an actively built home community where there is lot maintenance for the unbuilt properties).  The question was: I bought a townhome and the builder only completed 20% of the project.  The rest of the property has pipes sticking out of the ground.... 02/11/2009

Image via CrunchBase I have become increasingly social... and while it is cool, it is also kind of weird.  I have been exchanging emails with people I haven't talked to since SIXTH grade.  That was more than 30 years ago. Through FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter, Active|Rain, YouTube and others, I am able to reconnect with people that had previously been lost to the sands of time.  It is an amazing and interesting time in which we live. A few months ago, I wrote an experimental post using a couple of keywords from my youth.  I used to roller skate and I posted up the name of the rink, the city, my high school and a few other things.  It was really cool to have a few emails from people that were searching for those exact terms. One of the tools in my social bag is called Retaggr.  Basically, ... 02/07/2009

I just got back with a meeting with a potential client.  We had a great time chatting about the market, her house, the area and where she wants to move back to.  We shared stories about family and friends.  In fact, it was less a meeting than a long awaited meeting between friends.  She was referred to me by another Active Rainer.  She had contacted the other person through her blog, but had a need to sell here before moving.  But she has only been here a year and a half, and she is upside-down on her property.  We talked about her options: Trying to convince her lender to do a short sale.  She isn't in any sort of financial crisis, but couldn't hold this property, and would really like to move back to where her family is because they could use her help.   Coming to the closing table wi... 02/07/2009

This is one of those stories that shows great motivation or great stupidity.  My wife heard on the radio about this grandmother who has failed her driving test 771 times and she says she will continue to try until she passes it.  Now most people would have stopped at failing a test 3 or 4 times; But, 771. Well, she get an A+ for perseverance. Here is the link.   02/06/2009

I just ran across a story in the AJC about a bill before the legislature that would force cities and counties to not ignore foreclosures when they are appraising homes for tax purposes. Basically, currently and historically, cities and counties don't count "distressed sales" when they calculate the value of a property for tax purposes.  When the market is rocking, that is fine... there aren't that many of them in relation to other sales.  But that isn't the case currently. There are subdivisions and neighborhoods that have as many as a third of the homes in foreclosure, and almost that many on the market at depressed prices. And that effectively resets the value of homes in the neighborhood that AREN'T distressed.  Buyers don't ignore those distressed properties as they decide the value... 02/06/2009

If you are selling your home look at the number of homes for sale in your neighborhood and within one mile of your home.  These homes are your competition and you must stand out from those homes in order to sell. What everyone will do is: Mow the grass. Clean up the outside. Clean up the inside. A little paint here and there. I think you get the idea. What very few will do is have the home they are selling inspected by a home inspector.  A Seller's Inspection will:   The seller can choose a certified InterNACHI inspector rather than be at the mercy of the buyer's choice of inspector. The seller can schedule the inspections at the seller's convenience. It might alert the seller of any items of immediate personal concern, such as radon gas or active termite infestation. The seller can ass... 02/05/2009

On Friday I was listening to the radio and heard this letter from John Coleman the founder of the Weather Channel.  In the letter he explains the story behind the global warming or I should say the global warming scam. It is a little long; but is really worth the read.   SAFETY WARNING:  I do not expect the liberals on ActiveRain to read the letter because it might cause their brains to implode. Here is the link to the letter - Enjoy. 02/01/2009