A Homestead Exemption allows a partial exemption on a portion of the assessed value of your home. The amount varies from county to county. To qualify for the property tax exemption, the HOMEOWNER must file for Homestead Exemption at the county Court House or Tax Office, either in person, by mail or on a web site, depending on the county in which you reside.

If you purchased land or investment property, please contact your County Court House to see if you need to file a special Homestead Exemption. The following is a list of several counties, their phone numbers, web sites, and filing dates for each. Please call the number of the county in which you reside or refer to their web site for instructions on filing. A few county web sites have on-line filing.

• Barrow County 770- 307-3106   Jan. 2 – March 1 www.barrowchamber.com/newcomer.htm
• Cherokee County 678-493-6120   Jan. 2 – March 1 www.cherokeega.com/ccweb/departments/assessor
• Clayton County 770-477-3311   Jan. 2 – March 1 www.co.clayton.ga.us
• Cobb County 770- 528-8600   Jan. 2 – March 1 www.cobbtax.org.
• Decatur City 404- 370-4100   Jan. 2 – March 1 www.decaturga.com
• DeKalb County 404- 298-4000   Jan. 2 – March 1 www.co.dekalb.ga.us
• Douglas County 770-920-7272   Jan. 2 – March 1 www.douglastaxcommissioner.com
• Forsyth County 770-781-2106   March 2 – March 1 www.forsythco.com
• Fulton County 404-730-6440   Jan. 2 – March 1 www.co.fulton.ga.us
• Gwinnett County 770-822-8800   Jan 2 – April 1 www.gwinnett-tax.com
• Hall County 770-531-6733   Jan. 2 – March 1 www.hallcounty.org
• Henry County 770-954-2470   Jan. 2 – March 1 www.co.henry.ga.us
• Jackson County 706-367-6326   Jan. 2 – March 1 www.jacksoncountygov.com
• Rockdale County 770-929-4152   Jan. 2 – May 1 www.rockdalecounty.org
• Paulding County 770-443-7606   Jan. 2 – March 1 www.paulding.gov/gov/taxcommissioner.asp

I hope you are enjoying your new home! Remember me when any of your friends or family need assistance in buying or selling a home.

Browsing the internet this morning I came across an interesting thread on the White House pushing for 0% mortgage rates for refinancing homeowners.  Although this rumor is surley dead in the water many are commenting on the possibilities for Zero percent mortgage rates.

“. People need to write down the principal of these overvalued assets and no one wants to take the loss.”

“I worked at a community bank for awhile, I can’t imagine how we could have made a profit by lending money at 0%. Forget profit, how we could have paid for anyone’s salaries, etc.   Unless, of course, the government will pay banks to take the money. Hmmm…they tried that once, and called it TARP. But along with the “free” money came lots of government control and intervention.  Or they’re generating substantial fees, but the current mindset in D. C. seems to be against that.”

“What I’m saying is that the homeowners will lose the EITC as part of the deal. D.C. has been trying to get rid of it for a while.”

From www.zerohedge.com

Incidentally, even if the rumor was true, here is JMP explaining why it would have no real impact on Bank of America

 Bank of America (BAC, $6.28, Market Perform):  Market Overly Optimistic About the Impact of a Hypothetical $1 Tril. Refinance Program, in Our View

 Shares of BAC were up 8% today as rumors swirled that President Obama may enact a $1 trillion refinance program.  Granted, BAC shares were trading at a big discount to book (0.4x), and the investment community–now with several months of runway–seems to be going “risk on”. But the big upward move on this news seems more a grasp for “validation”, and we don’t believe it will stick.

 We must point out that BAC is up big, while JPM and Citi are only up with the broader bank index.  This suggests that the market is focused on the mortgage-loss exposure specifically as this is uniquely troubling at BAC.  Were the market focused on the big potential one-time benefits of mortgage production fees (in our view, the lone positive), they would all be up big, but this is not the case.  Meanwhile, servicing revenue should obviously be a zero-sum game.

 Thus, we focus our discussion on the loss exposure.  The key risk to BAC is the looming threat of material mortgage putbacks (reps and warranties).  These are not new losses but losses already locked in and incurred by others that are merely redistributed to BAC retroactively via the legal system.  No refinance program will undo these losses for which, in most cases, the foreclosure has been completed.

 As for the matter of avoiding new losses by saving currently wobbly homeowners, we question the efficiacy of a refinance program when the key issue is jobs–where the homeowner has no income nor liquid asset buffer, a lower payment isn’t going to matter.  More generally, as we have seen with prior attempts, these programs are more about kicking the can down the road, so it’s more about delaying future losses than avoiding them altogether.

 Many homeowners could already materially lower their payment (or avoid a looming balloon) via refinancing but can’t do so because of the LTV.  Thus, we presume any big refinance program would have to include the U.S. government providing mortgage insurance to the lenders/investors, which creates incremental risk for the U.S.

Appears to be another internet rumor.

Selling homes in Suwanee, Johns Creek, Alpharetta, Roswell, East Cobb, Cumming, and Lake Lanier

Remax Center now has a dedicated Johns Creek office located at 10475 Medlock Bridge Road – Suite 119 – Johns Creek (Duluth) Georgia 30097. Our previous office located just down the street off Abbotts Bridge, has moved as of 12/1/2011.  Located near the St Ives Country Club entrance just across the street from the Benjamin Moore Paint center.

Park at rear of the building and follow our signs to the main floor elevator (center of building at rear). Once on the second floor make a right out of the elevator and immediate right into our lobby.

Serving Atlanta buyers and sellers for well over 19 years I look forward to working hard on your next real estate transaction.  Many of my customers are seeking foreclosures, short sale, REO, bank owned properties in Johns Creek, Duluth, South Forsyth, Suwanee, Alpharetta, Cumming, and Lake Lanier.  Many great deals remain including homes in Country Club of the South, St. Marlo, St. Ives, Laurel Springs, Grand Cascades, Olde Atlanta Club, Turnbury, Montclair, Bellacree, Thornhill, The Falls of Autry Mill, River Club, Farmbrook Estates, Shadow Creek, and Oxford Mill neighborhoods.  Listing agent, Buyers agent, new address.

Are you ready to sell a house in Johns Creek?  Thinking about selling it on your own?  You’ve got some work to do: There’s lots of inventory and in a buyer’s market like this one, getting an offer on a home can be challenging. Having Jeff Barnwell and Remax on your side can significantly reduce the amount of time your home sits on the market.  Consider the following tips to give your home the best chance to get noticed and sold in 2011/2012.

Lake Lanier Homes For Sale 

Showing a couple homes yesterday on Lake Lanier it hit me that Lanier is well on it’s way to our previous historic low of 1,051. Our previous low was saved by a hurricane parking over the Lake Lanier water basin for a couple days filling Lanier to well over 1074. It would appear that with the continued drought and problems with Florida and Alabama over water output that might just slide past our previous record.

Sellers with Lanier properties are really scrambling for what to do with this bad news. Although lake properties are selling at a brisk pace most are closing as distressed homes or with zero equity being paid out at the closing table. Buyer are now very aware of our past lake levels and what the drought exposed (currently showing on Google Maps and Bing) and are only seeking waterproof listings. Those properties deep in a cove or without views are just not selling. As a long time Lake Lanier listing agent and buyers agent it was easy to write off the initial low levels saying this was unusual and a strong rebound was sure to come. Trying to explain two drops in the last five years is starting to wear thin on my Lanier investors who are actively seeking other southern lakes that have a consistent water level (Lake Burton, Lake Rabun, Lake Seed).

Lake Lanier Water Level

My suggestion for sellers. If you have drought proof water, a dock permit, and a little room to negotiate I have plenty of buyers seeking top tier properties. If you have a Laneir home that might need to sell short sale or are considering foreclosure please give me a call, again, I have the buyers needed to make this work. The short sale negotiations are a chance for existing homeowners to mitigate their losses with banks and possibly walk from the property. Not every short sale is a success but it’s much better than a foreclosure. A word of advice – Listing with an experienced agent before you miss a payment has a better success rate for a closed short sale.

Buyers – Pre-qualification is key in negotiating with owners and banks in today’s market. If purchasing with cash I suggest an LOC from your bank before even starting the search. Once ready you are seeking the right location (south, north), right function (water, age, view), and price (speaks for itself). I tell my buyers we will find two out of three on most every lake viewing. Three out of three would suggest the home is perfect and would more than likely have multiple offers. My best advice for buyers. Be ready to write a contract tonight for the right property.

Call today to schedule a couple showings. If not already signed up for my “Lake Lanier Hot Sheet” please give me a call. Registration is free and for most of my Lanier buyers is the sole reason they own a lake house. 770-990-0743 -

JeffBarnwell@remax.net

Working with buyers and sellers in Cumming, Gainesville, Dawsonville, Buford, Flowery Branch, Oakwood, Gwinnett, Forsyth, Hall, Dawson Counties. For more information about Lake Lanier, Buford Dam, water levels, exposed humps, dock permits, shoreline, Lake Lanier Islands Water park please give me a call.

For the latest Lake Lanier Home for Sale

For the latest Lake Lanier Foreclosures

For the latest Lake Lanier listings by city

We are halfway through November and things are really lively in the Johns Creek real estate markets. It is mainly a case of new home buyers and long term investors purchasing foreclosure and short sale properties across the north Fulton and Johns Creek market.

As always, my numbers are primarily based on single family, detached homes that are priced from $0.00 through $1,000,000.00 plus. Constant data pulls are the best way to see what trends and fluctuations are affecting the industry.

Let’s get into the real estate new home sales October numbers:

• Total Number of Johns Creek homes actively listed on the market – 180
• Average House Listed Price – $490,000.00
• Number of Johns Creek Houses sold in October – 19
• Avg. sold Johns Creek House Price – $386,641.00
• Avg. Days on Market Prior To Sale – 98 Days

Even with only 19 homes sold in the Johns Creek market finding quality properties is proving very difficult. I have shown many homes lately and more often than not the bank owned properties are receiving asking price, sometimes with numerous offers.

As a Johns Creek home owner, I enjoy seeing an enhancing real estate market and the growing house values. But it is very tough to watch my buyers agency clients becoming annoyed when having to wait months on short sales or foreclosures not getting approved.  This proves to be great news for existing homeowners ready to sell.  More often than not I am moving these buyers over

I hope you enjoyed your October 2011 Johns Creek real estate update. For more information on Johns Creek homes for sale please call 770-990-0743 or email JeffBarnwell@remax.net  For the latest Atlanta area new homes for sale please visit www.JeffBarnwellHomesForSale.com