Kim Compagnone asked:




The North Georgia Mountains offer so much for those wanted to get away from the every day hustle and bustle of city life. Relax and enjoy the great outdoors. If you love the water, there’s plenty of options. Spend a day on the Ocoee River white water rafting and kayaking. If tubing is more your style, the Toccoa River has tube rentals available. Other outdoor activiities include hiking and mountain biking on the many trails found at Aska Adventure Wilderness Area. Horseback riding, golf, waterfalls, and many scenic drives await your arrival.

To make your getaway complete, stay in a luxury vacation cabin rental instead of the small cramped hotel rooms. There you can enjoy a whole house where everyone can spread out and relax. The Bears Den Luxury Cabin Retreat is only 2 years old and awaits your arrival. All you’ll need to bring are your toiletries and groceries. The cabin is a 3 bedroom, 3 bath, 3 fireplaces and level cabin. It is decorated in all wood lodge interior, log furniture and decor throughout with, of course, the theme of the cabin being “bears!”

Some of the many luxuries you will find at the Bears Den, is a romantic setting on the screen porch area, complete with a fieldstone wood burning fireplace & hot tub overlooking incredible mountain views by day and bright stars at night. Blue Ridge features a Old Fashioned Drive-in Movie Theatre which play all the latest movies available. The year round mountain views (from all 3 levels) will leave you feeling relaxed and stress free!

The cabin has an oversized game room complete with a cedar top wet bar, pool table, poker table, log checker board table and benches, gas log fireplace & incredible views. A bedroom and bath is located on each level for the comfort and privacy of all.

Blue Ridge, Georgia awaits you!

Megan Hazel asked:




The front yard is one of the most important landscaping projects you’ll undertake on your property. Getting the front yard right is particularly important because it’s the part of the house that people most often see-and the part they see and walk through every time they enter. With that in mind, here are some landscaping and design tips for your front yard.

Keep the House Design in Mind

The first detail of planning your landscaping-and particularly the materials you will use for structures such as walkways-is to determine how your landscaping will harmonize with the exterior of your home.

This is important because it ensures a smooth transition from the outside of the home to the inside. For example, if your home is made from brick, consider creating walkways that are edged in brick, to pick up on the colors of the home and echo those colors on the ground. Then make the dominant color of the walkway match or closely echo the color of the roof.

Pay Attention to Walkways

The front yard is less a place to relax in than it is an area that welcomes people to your home. Paying particular attention to the shape and design driveways and walkways is important, because these aspects of the front yard will see constant use. Driveways and walkways should be broad enough to use comfortably-for example, people walking from the gate to your house should not brush against shrubbery or flowers, but should have enough room to move without being caught by plants.

Adding motion-sensor lighting to driveways and walkways helps make your front yard a safer place to move through at night-you can choose lighting that complements the exterior of your home, further enhancing the harmony between the exterior and the yard.

Choosing Trees and Shrubs

When choosing trees for the front yard, you must think in the long term-how tall are they going to be when fully mature? Will they block sun, or shed leaves on the driveway or walkway?

These are important considerations for any front yard plantings. The trees and shrubs you add will grow over the years, and you’ll need to consider how much space mature planting will take up when you first add the plants. Don’t forget that root systems will grow over time, too-larger trees have extensive root systems, and a tree in a poor location may disrupt walkways or even the foundations of your home.

In addition, remember that overhang from your roof may deprive some plants of sunlight, depending on their sun requirements and the season. Small bushes and shrubs should be places four to six feet away from the home to ensure they receive enough sunlight throughout the year.

Fragrant plants and trees are an excellent option for front yards, with attractive scents that welcome your visitors-fruit trees, herbs, and sweet-smelling shrubs such as lavender are good choices.

Consider the View

When designing front yard landscaping, consider the view you are creating both of the yard and of the home. For example, if your front yard is small, it’s best not to cram too many plants into the area. It’s important to ensure that the front of the home is in full view from both the inside of the home and from the outside, so that you can see out, and so that new visitors are not in any doubt as to the location of the entry point of the home.

Use plants and shrubs that emphasize the entry point of your home-for example, add a planter with colorful flowers on either side of the front door, or train a vine to grow over the exterior of the front porch. This makes your entry point more welcoming, emphasizes its location, and further eases the transition between the outdoors and the indoors.

Adding Color

Flowing plants can be added easily to provide a welcoming splash of color in the front yard. A good option that makes planning the front yard in the long term easier is to designate particular spots for short-term plantings.

This means that you first designate the spots for trees and shrubs that will be constant fixtures-that will grow and mature over the course of several years-and then plan to use the remaining space for annuals or biennial plants. For example, your short-term yard space could be the home of colorful bulbs in the spring, and then used for summer annuals after the spring bulbs have flowered and died out.

Alternatively, if you’d prefer a lower-maintenance front yard, use perennial shrubs and plants to add color, rather than annuals and biennials that have shorter life-spans and need replacing every one to two years.

Clint Maher asked:




If we have a look at the comparison between property and shares over the last one hundred years in Australia, we can see that property just edges below shares in your return on investment. By choosing the right investment property though, we can ensure our returns are much more substantial.

For a long term investment, we must look at buying property in the major cities of Australia. In the smaller capital cities, try and stay within a 10 km radius of the CBD. For Melbourne and Sydney, we can go out to a 15 km radius. It is important to understand that we want our property to be in a built up established area so when the economic downturns do come, we have our investment in a solid area, and not out in the mortgage belt which will suffer the most.

Look for property that adjoins well to do suburbs, as given time, the surrounding suburbs will be absorbed and taken for the ride. Once you have found a suburb that you are happy with, look for properties that are around the median price value for that suburb. You don’t want to purchase the cheapest, nor do you want the most expensive. We want to be in the middle.

So do you want a house or a unit? Each has their pros and cons and it really is a personal choice. If you are new to investing and have limited funds, then you may want to buy a unit. If you have plenty of equity in which to invest it may be wiser to buy a town house or freestanding house. Just remember at the end of the day it is the land component that appreciates in value, while the building depreciates.

If you do purchase a unit, try and find one in a small complex of no more than 16. The rule of thumb is if it has a lift or a swimming pool, forget it. Go for something nice and boring, but is close to the cosmopolitan lifestyle and you won’t go wrong. Remember to ensure the unit is greater than 50 meters square, or otherwise you will have trouble getting finance from any lender.

We have to look for property that does not lie on a main road, but rather two or three streets back from one. Near a school and a shopping complex is great too, but not directly across the road from one either.

Go to an area that you like, and get a feel for the area. It’s amazing what you can pick up with your intuition. If you wish, ask people who live in the area what they like and dislike about it. You’ll soon have an idea if this is a good area or not.

Once we are completely happy with an area we can refine our search to properties that are on the market. You can both research and find properties yourself, of pay for the services of a buyers advocate. If you are short of time and skill, it may be best to engage the service of an advocate. It is a one off fee and generally tax deductible.

If there is one thing I can impress upon you, it is that you try and buy the best property that you can afford. With the compounding effect over the years, your investment will far outperform those that are any less.

Chris Chico asked:




When considering an entrance into the real estate investment market, it is important to remember some basic house flipping tips and strategy.  To begin with, house flipping means to buy a property with a depressed value and then to resell that property for a higher price.  This process is usually a quick transaction with the investor only holing the property for a few days.  Many boast of huge immediate profits. The following guidelines will help lead you to financial freedom and fiscal independence.

The first thing to learn is how to identify a property that is likely to create a huge profit margin.  Why depressed value may make you think of properties that badly need repairs, condemned buildings, or buildings in undesirable locations, there are many other reasons that a building would have a low price.  Foreclosures are a great source of potential opportunities.  Visit local banks to get a list of available assets that have been foreclosed upon.  The prices of these buildings are usually much lower than current market prices and are not related to the current condition of the property.

Another great source for possible prospects is real estate auctions.  These usually include properties that have come under the ownership of the state, either through tax enforcement or the death a person with no designated heirs.  These assets are totally unrelated to current market values and simply go to the highest bidder.  Another helpful tip is to check online auctions.  With the growing popularity of the internet these have become much more common and easy to find. Simply use any search engine to locate these sites.

Once you indentify a property, the next step is acquiring the capital to purchase it.  Obviously you can front the money from your own personal wealth.  However, this is not always necessary.  A handy tip is to again visit your local bank.  Banks will often offer short term loans for such investment opportunities.  Use the loan or mortgage to purchase the house and then repay the loan immediately after selling it.  In this manner you can ensure a much higher profit margin.  Another tip is to put a five to ten percent down payment on the loan.  This will help you secure lower financing fees and better fiscal terms.

As soon as you own the house, you will need to find somebody to buy it.  A helpful tip is to limit purchasing a property unless you already have a potential buyer lined up.  This will limit the time that you own the house to a bare minimum.  This will also limit the time you have to carry the loan or mortgage.  Potential clients can be found anywhere.  Again a useful tip is to utilize the power of the internet. 

Advertise on real estate web pages to reach huge audiences.  This method is also the cheapest method to advertise.  Other ways to attract clients is to buy advertisement space in newspapers, on bill boards, or in classified listings.  These are just some helpful house flipping tips that will have you generating an alternate form of income in days. 

Don Levy asked:




One of my favorite ways of buying or selling real estate is by using the lease with option to purchase or the lease option method. In some areas this is known as the rent to own method.

Whatever you want to call it, this is the time of the real estate cycle when it’s probably the best way or maybe the only way to buy or sell a house. The reason being is that property values have fallen enough to where more people can afford a house, but fewer people can qualify for a loan due to the current lending crisis. I imagine that loans will be easier to get in 2 or 3 years.

With the housing values in a free fall mode many sellers are giving up trying to sell and are renting their property. Renting out a property is no bed of roses as renters are not known for being very kind to a property. This is where the lease option shines.

The way a lease option gets started is when a person finds a house they would like to buy, but for whatever reason can’t buy it right now. It could be because they don’t have a large enough down payment, their credit is not good enough, they don’t make enough money to make the payments or maybe they haven’t been on the job long enough. All of these reasons can usually be cured by time. The buyers believe that they will be able to get a loan and complete the sales transaction within the time frame of the lease option.

If the prospective buyer and the seller can agree that some time down the road the buyer will be able to qualify for a loan then they can go ahead and put together a lease agreement and an option agreement. The buyers normally give the seller a option fee amount and often pay a little more in rent. In return the seller will sometimes give the buyer credit for the extra rent plus some extra credit for paying on time. The option fee and credit will be used for the down payment or taken off the sales price. At this point the buyers have achieved several things:

1. They have basically bought the home they want. Because they have an option to buy it the owner can’t sell it to anyone else.

2. They are able to buy a house now instead of waiting until they get everything in order.

3. They have time to get squared away and they basically own the house.

4. Normally they can fix it up the way they want.

5. They have a forced saving account if they are getting a rent credit.

6. If the house needs repairs they can do them instead of giving the money to the seller for an option fee.

The seller has really made out also:

1. He’s made a guaranteed sale or if the buyers don’t exercise the option he keeps the fee.

2. He has made extra income with the above rent lease payment.

3. The option fee is tax free money he can use.

4. He normally sells above the market value.

5. The buyers are keeping the property in good condition as they are planning to buy it.

6. If he can’t afford to fix the property up he can offer it to someone who can do the repairs rather than pay an option fee.

As you can see this can be a real win-win situation for both parties as they each have solved their problem. Of course this is a simplified version as there are many variations of how the lease and option are handled but this should give you an idea of how to go about learning more about it.

Abhishek Agarwal asked:




The timeshare properties in the American Southeastern State of Florida are deemed principal units due to the states superb climatic conditions. They’re perfect for summer vacationing, family outings to the beach front and idyllic for water sport adventure lovers, timeshare properties of Florida provide a fantastic discovery experience. There are many websites setup as meeting points for owners of Florida time share properties and buyers, renters and other traders interested in these Florida time share properties.

The interest of owning part of the Florida timeshares is driven by its breathtaking location. The state of Florida is loaded with plenty of attraction spots that could prove to be much fun for you and your family akin to the Disney wonderland, white sandy beaches, cool breeze and amazing people. If you feel interested in owning part of the wonderful Florida timeshare remember this.

* Timeshare properties of Florida aren’t limited to real -estate, you can also find autos and vocation slots on these Florida Time share.

* It’s advisable that you make up your mind on the type of Florida time shares you want to own, it’s possible to rent Florida time share properties, which means you are able to get that at a fraction of the original cost.

* If you already own a timeshare property, then you can barter it with another time share unit in Florida. This might involve plenty of bargaining on your side, especially if your unit isn’t in a pleasant location or is off-season. You could also exchange if for a houseboat, riverboat or a cruise.

* When you locate a Florida time share property that you fancy, you can consider what arrangement the owner offers. Plenty of Florida time share property owners post their conditions to enable potential clients a quick “browse through” of the contract document beforehand. In regard to the time share trades of Florida, it’s advisable that you make a personal contact with the property owner. Any agreement on price should then be kept between the two of you.

* Feel free to inquire from the property owner about any questions you may have pertaining to the condition of the Florida time share property you are interested in, you should inquire about the tear and wear the property has been subjected to, or whether the property has seen any renovations before your occupancy, and which equipments are covered against damage e.t.c.

* The details of all your expenditure must be revealed. Be informed about the things you are required to pay for and your limit as the new owner or renter. It’s wise to consult an attorney prior to singing anything.

Majority of timeshare houses in Florida come fully furnished thus make it convenient for the new occupants to settle quickly. That’s the splendor of time shares unit in Florida. It offers you a superb getaway and the sense of pride in owning a place of value and beauty.

Florida time share properties like the sailboat can offer you something seldom found in lessons, and by this I mean a true real life leisurely treat. Lessons are often time constrained and pressured, because you have to keep up with the instructor within the planned week. That prevents you from having real fun a sailboat can offer. All this is availed to you without limit when you own a Florida time share property; you enjoy the liberty of using the unit at your preferred time frame as long as it’s within the agreement of the Florida time share.

Most timeshare property owners in Florida trade their properties through agents. A buyer should be smart enough to do background check of the time share agency you hire.

Simple web search can greatly assist you prevent falling victim to scams when you intend to buy a dream time share property in Florida. A common kind of scam involving Florida time share properties is when fraudulent salespeople give you a timeshare property which has already being given to another individual. The government could also render your sale null, or seize the property you are buying. With such cases common, you ought to be cautious.

So, if you have some extra dollars tucked away and you have no idea of where best to treat yourself and family to some vacation or outing, I would urge you to seriously consider the timeshare properties of Florida. It may just be the earthly paradise you are looking for a getaway from the stress of city life.

Sacha Tarkovsky asked:




When looking at overseas property you need to first be careful in the country you pick to invest in and you also need to be careful in terms of location. Let’s look at some points to consider and a great destination, recently voted one of the top ten in the world.

How to Choose a Country

The first is not to go for the next property hot spot, but go for one that is already showing solid growth. Sure plenty pioneers got rich by being first, but keep in mind many got the arrows to!

Most new emerging markets simply don’t give good returns and they never live up to the hype.

The fact that a property “may” produce good returns is not as good as “it is” producing good returns.

The other two main criteria to consider are:

1. The price of houses now in terms of value against growth.

There is no point in buying overseas property when houses have already exceeded fair value or where there is an abundant supply. You need a tight market with the potential for growth.

2. The ease of buying and protection you will receive under local law.

Many people who get involved in overseas property investment don’t pay enough attention to this point and find out their rights are not quite what they thought they were!

A great destination to consider an overseas property investment in is Slovenia.

This small compact country borders North Italy and Austria and is much cheaper. Slovenia is a member of the European Union (EU) joining in 2004 and has the fastest economic growth of any new member.

The country has robust economic growth and a shortage of high quality housing.

Prices in many places have been rising by up to 30% per annum and a recent survey has forecast growth of up to 300% in the next ten years.

As a country Slovenia is offering investors good solid returns on their investments and it’s a country any serious overseas property investor should consider.

How to choose a location

While of course the location in terms of the country chosen is important, so to is the location within the country itself.

Slovenia offers a lot of different destinations that are great value and the one you choose is really down to whether you want capital growth, income or a mix of both.

The capital Ljubljana still offers some good value properties but the real bargains are to be had in or near the expanding resorts, as Slovenia’s tourist industry starts to boom.

There are plenty of specialist estate agencies to help you find the best properties that suit your needs. In Slovenia you will find that property is good value, the buying process is straightforward, secure and the future prospects in this undiscovered corner of Europe are excellent.

Chris Chico asked:




In today’s market, we’re watching the values of properties and portfolios hemorrhaging before our very eyes. We look at the value of the Dow, and then moments later we look at it again, the numbers can be dramatically different. Everything, it seems, is sliding down.

Remember when times were good? You could turn on the TV and it seemed like every channel had at least one or two or ten shows about house flippers who would buy homes, fix them up, and sell them again. But with today’s turbulent economy, is that even possible?

If you are curious about real estate investing, you probably have questions going through your mind like “Can I make money flipping a house in this market?”, “Aren’t housing prices off?”, or, “Won’t it cost way too much to repair?”. In today’s economy, these are valid questions. And the answer is: Flipping a house in this market is possible, house flipping isn’t dead. If done correctly, there are ways that you can grow a successful flipping practice even in an economy that is in meltdown.

In fact, with the right system, it’s possible to make great money even in down markets. That’s because the down market itself is helping you. Here’s how:

In good times, people can sell homes for top dollar so flippers are forced to buy homes at high prices then fix up the home to be even nicer and sell the home again, thus “raising the bar” and making the home a high value home. Let’s use an example of a home selling for $200,000 in a neighborhood of homes going for $180,000 to $220,000. The flipper buys the home for $200K and fixes it up really nice and puts it back on the market for $220K to $250K. Their profit is made in improve the value.

In tight times, many people are facing foreclosure and just want to get out of a bad situation where they cannot afford their home. Perhaps they’ve lost their job, or perhaps their mortgage rate adjusted to a higher price than they could handle. Either way, they may be willing to part with their home at a discount. So, for flippers in tough market conditions, the secret is to get homes at a discount and sell them quickly at a discount to someone else. For example, if a home is valued at $200K, the flipper might be able to buy it at an extreme discount – say $100K – and then turn around and sell it for $120K to someone else with very little work in between.

That’s the secret to flipping a house when the market is down. People facing foreclosure are motivated sellers and willing to sell for massive discounts just to get out of a home they can no longer afford.

Of course, there are many other tips, tricks, and techniques to real estate investing in times when the market seems disastrous, but the bottom line is: flipping is not dead. Good money can be made easily with the right system in place. 

Justin Mark asked:




Middle East with GCC regions are famous because they have lots of oil sources, they have real estate business there, and also known for tourist life style including night life. Even though, they are Arabic, country but they accepted to welcome world’s culture in GCC.

For muslim country, this is not so acceptable to be so open in relationship, night life style but UAE accepted it because they want to be one of best tourist places in world. So avoiding its religion rules, they accepted world’s life style. As they are concentrating to tourist places, they are making it full of buildings, and other places style. Therefore, over all real estate opportunities are there.

Based on companies, budget, their profits, we have some real estate companies below.

Ezdan Real Estate Company – this is Qatari company, which is engaged in ownership, development, trade and investment. Established on 196o, this is public ownership and stock listed company. Based on financial status, this has 372,715,812.02 USD net profits.

Emaar Properties – handling world’s largest building Burj dubai, this is still world’s largest developer company. Established in 1997, this is public ownership and joint stock company. Major shareholder of this company is Investment Corporation of Dubai. For this company, net profit is 831,875,136.14 USD.

Aldar Properties – Abu Dhabi’s largest real estate company is building Yas  Marina F1 projects which has cost of $40bn in Abu Dhabi. Established in 2004, this is public ownership and joint stock Company. For financial conditions, this has net profit of 938,431,986.50.

Sorouh Real Estate: Sorouh Real Estate to aldar company, this is second largest company in Abu Dhabi. Established in 2005, this is public ownership and Jointstock Company. Major shares are held by Al Gouad Financial Investment and its net profits is 505,924,090.61. it has     16,939,393,000.00 and its value is  4,612,119,636.24 USD.

UAE and Middle East making them self more real estate based business so that they may make our places to be good tourist places.

Visit website for real states property, real estate companies, real estate agents

Sofia Rucci asked:




Sometimes we just have to get away from it all. That doesn’t always mean a vacation, although that’s usually what people do. Have you ever felt like it was just time to start a new life in a new place? You might be surprised at just how many people feel that way, and even more surprised at how many people actually do it. 

If you are ready to pack up and move, but you’re not sure where to go, there are some great places to live that have been recognized as the top ten places to buy real estate in America. These lists have been compiled based on a number of criteria, which includes property for sale and prices, rental property prices, jobs available and average wages earned, education systems and school ratings, crime rates, and even things to do in town. 

The top ten places to live in America that are shown here are compiled from several lists, and each have been in the top five of at least one top 100 list for 2008.  The top ten places to live in America are: 

Austin

Houston

Seattle

Sacramento

Portland

Des Moines

Chicago

Denver

Minneapolis

Raleigh

Now that you know the best places to buy real estate, you will need to do some research on each one and choose a few that look to you like great places to live. Do you want to live in a place where there is always something to do, with great night life and entertainment? Try Chicago, Seattle, or Austin.  Are you looking for a place to raise a family with the best education and the least crime? Then go to Des Moines, Portland, Raleigh, or Denver. Do you like warmer climates? Houston, Sacramento, Austin have warm climates.  Do you enjoy mountain climbing or skiing? Denver or Seattle is perfect for skiing & climbing. You are the only one who can choose your best place to live, but this list is a great place to start.

Now that you have narrowed it down to a few cities, how will you find real estate property listings or rental property in those towns? That’s easy. Go online and look for them. You can check property listings or even do foreclosure searches and find a great deal on a new house. You can even get free quotes for mortgages and movers. You can find land parcels and get free quotes for contractors to build your house – all online.  You can even list your current home online for free, too. You can find all of these things at www.buildwish.com

When you are considering moving to a location that’s more than a few miles away, it is often difficult to find a real estate agent who you can trust to help you from a long distance, or even a local agent who is willing to put the effort into finding you a great home that far away. The internet is a resource that you can use on your own, any time of the day or night, and search all of the property listings you want to, not just the ones that somebody else wants you to see. When you search for property online, you are in control of your own destiny. See how easy it is to find real estate property listings online, or even rental property listings. You could find your new home town sooner than you thought possible. 

For more Information on this topic visit www.buildwish.com a free Online Home & Garden Renovation & Design Directory in 100 Cities in North America. Featuring over 1 million free Real Estate Classifieds, Helpful Articles, Contests, Virtual home tools, Qualified Trades, Forums, a moving center, free quotes for Insurance, Moving, Mortgages, Contractors, Foreclosures and Much More!