Check out Localism.com

There is a new blogging platform from the folks at ActiveRain  called Localism.com.  I have a lot more content over there so please feel free to check it out!

 

http://localism.com/neighbor/bobsouthard

 

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Bob Southard, e-ProRealtor®, Solid Source Realty, Inc. Buy or sell a home in Powder Springs, Marietta, Kennesaw, Acworth, Dallas, Hiram,and Cobb, Paulding, Douglas, North Fulton, South Cherokee, County, Ga

Visit my website www.AgentBobSells.com

Search Powder Springs Homes For Sale

Search All Metro Atlanta MLS Home Listings

 

Copyright © 2008 By Bob Southard, All Rights Reserved

McNeel Farms, Marietta, Ga.

Mcneel Farms blog with<br /> youtube vid

Mcneel Farms Blog

subdivision,map,evaluationBlog
Mcneel Farms
subdivision, .,
Marietta,
West Cobb, Ga. 30064

Last
Saturday night my daughter needed a ride to friends house for surprise
party and my gps took me to Mcneel
Farms. Driving through I was
reminded what a beautiful neighborhood this is.  Then on
Sunday, Barbara and I got invited to come hang out by the pool with
some old friends from way back. They have been in their “new” house for
several years and we have never been to visit. Where was it? You
guessed it! Mcneel
Farms! So after two more or
less random trips to the same neighborhood I think the real estate gods
are telling me that I should let you know about this great neighborhood!

Mcneel Farms
subdivision,
Marietta,
Ga. is conveniently located off
of John Ward Road road in west Cobb County.
The average home size is about 2800 square feet and all of the homes
are
situated on large, private lots. This is a beautiful part of the county
and much of the area is surrounded by the woods, walking trails, and
wildlife of
Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield National Park.
The neighborhood is only minutes away
from shopping and dining
at the Avenues of West Cobb, and is just a short drive the the major
shopping districts on Dallas Highway, Town Center/Kennesaw, or
East/West
Connector.

Cheatham
Hill Elementary School LovinggoodMiddle
School

Hillgrove High School (up to $300,00)
Hillgrove High School
($300,000-$500,000)

Hillgrove School ($500,000 and
over)

SEE
ALL HOMES FOR SALE IN THE MCNEEL FARMS
map

View
Larger Map

map

See
more Marietta Ga. Homes for sale

See
more great Powder Springs Ga. Homes for sale

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McNeel Farms Market report

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Are
you thinking of
selling your Mcneel Farms home?

Get maximum exposure with AgentBob’s WebWide Marketing!

The
McNeel Farm Home
Values
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Fins,under a full moon, under the bigtop..

Fins,under a full moon, under the bigtop….

Jimmy Buffet at Lakewood Amphitheater. Atlanta. April 27,2010

Warning!  This has absolutely nothing to do with real estate,
realtors, or Cobb County Homes for sale.  Well other than I
wrote it

Just like santa or the circus he comes to town once per year and
yesterday was the day.  The Jimmy Buffett “Under the Bigtop”
tour arrived in Atlanta.  For the most of the concert goers
the traditional concert experience actually begins several hours before
Jimmy takes the stage.  Tailgating at a Buffett concert is an
experience in and of itself.  We had a group of 20+ gathered
for cheeseburgers, kabobs, and good times. Barbara and I arrived around
1 but some of our group had already staked out parking area, pitched
the ez ups and fired up the grill.

For the concert itself we got inside about 6:30. Since we had lawn
seats we wanted to get inside early to stake out some good turf.
The are we were at was near the front of the lawn in the
center. As far as lawn seats go, they were good seats.  There
were a couple of things that were quite memorable about the evening:

• It was really cold!
• Zac Brown appearing on stage with Jimmy Buffet
• 
  
• Beautiful full moon over the right shoulder and Venus watching over us on the
  left shoulder
  
• Oh yeah…… it was really cold

Jimmy started playing around8:30 or so and the show finished about 11 I guess.  He opened
with Nobody from Nowhere off of the new
Buffett Hotel CD and followed with License to Chill.
Georgia Native Zac Brown joined Jimy on stage for the Zac
Brown tune “Where the boat leaves from”.  I haven’t heard the
song before but it was really good and had a mix of Jimmy’s “Off To See
the Lizard” blended in with it that came across very well.
Later in the evening Zac joined Jimmy again for “Pirate looks
at Forty” and then for “Magaritaville”

See
the entire playlist from the Buffetworld.com website

Seeing
18,000 or so of your closest friends with fins up is always cool.
It was very cool seeing everybody doing “Fins” under the full
moon.

Jimmy closed the show with a beautiful solo acoustic version of “It’s
been a lovely cruise”.

There is a show this Saturday in Nashville.  Anybody up for
road trip?

See the entire photo album on my AgentBob wordpress blog

See the entire photo album on my AgentBob wordpress blog

Ant and Grasshopper – 2010 version

THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER

This one is a little different ……

Two Different Versions ……

Two Different Morals ……

OLD VERSION

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away..

Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.

The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!

________________________________

MODERN VERSION

The ant works hard in the withering heat and the rain all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while he is cold and starving.

CBS, NBC , PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

America is stunned by the sharp contrast.

How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, ‘It’s Not Easy Being

Green…‘

ACORN stages a demonstration in front of the ant’s house where the news stations film the group singing, “We shall overcome.” Then Rev.

Jeremiah Wright has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper’s sake.

President Obama condemns the ant and blames President Bush, President Reagan, Christopher Columbus, and the

Pope for the grasshopper’s plight.

Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.

Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer.

The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government Green Czar and given to the grasshopper.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper and his free-loading friends finishing up the last bits of the ant’s food while the government house he is in, which, as you recall, just happens to be the ant’s old house, crumbles around them because the grasshopper doesn’t maintain it.

The ant has disappeared in the snow, never to be seen again.

The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident, and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the ramshackle, once prosperous and once peaceful, neighborhood.

The entire Nation collapses bringing the rest of the free world with it.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote in 2010.

Who is John Gault?

Who is John Gault?

I swear--by my life and my love of it--that I will never live for thesake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.     --John Galt's Oath from Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" 

Lithia Springs, Douglasville, Ga,  Sweetwater Creek State Park, Hike

Last Saturday morning we met
some friends for a hike at Sweetwater
Creek State Park in Lithia
Springs, (Douglasville), Ga. It has been years since I have walked
there and previously I had only done the red trail down to the mill
ruins.

Trails
at Sweetwater Creek State Park

We met at the interpretive center/park office on Factory Shoals Rd and
started off on the white trail. This was a beautiful walk that went
through varied terrain and elevation changes. In the springtime I’m
sure there would be a lot wildlife and native plants.
Approximately the first 2/3 of the trail are pretty easy
although sometimes steep.  As the trail headed down to Jacks
lake it became much more rugged.  In the slide show you’ll see
a pic of the waterfall that drops from Jacks lake down to the creek
branch.

From this point on it was pretty rugged for novices like us.
Some of it was from the terrain and some of it was from
debris left from the September floods.  This is an area that
was very hard hit by the flooding.  You can see some of the
flood damage in the photos. The trail finishes along the shore of the
creek with beautiful views of the falls area.

As the white trail ended, I think we missed a trail marker for the red
trail.  We connected to the blue trail which has an immediate
elevation rise of about 250 feet!  Yeah we were huffing and
puffing .   The trail loops around and meets the red trail
at the historic mill ruins.  Back in the civil war days this
was a bustling manufacturing area powered by the water from Sweetwater
Creek.  The mill ruins are just one reminder of what used to
be. The interpretive center has some great displays and information
about the history and archeology of the area.

At the mill ruins we could take either the remainder of the blue trail
or connect to the red trail to get back to the parking lot.
We opted for the red trail.  From the ruins back to
the parking lot was about another 1/2 mile or so and not to strenuous.

All in all we covered about 4 miles of beautiful trails and history.
It was a great day and we are planning a return visit in a
few weeks.

Photos

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Bob Southard, e-Pro, Realtor ®, Solid Source Realty, Inc. Buy a home, Sell a home, in Powder Springs, Marietta, Kennesaw, Acworth, Smyrna, Dallas, Hiram,and Cobb, Paulding, Douglas, North Fulton, South Cherokee, County, Ga. Call me for all of your real estate needs.Visit my website Call me for all of your Real Estate needs 770-656-9134 Copyright © 2008,2009,2010 By Bob Southard, All Rights Reserved Follow Bob on Twitter , FaceBook, and LinkedIn

Market Report for Powder Springs

As of today there are 816 homes for sale in Powder Springs, Cobb County, Georgia.

From Jan1, 2008 through May 31,2008 there have 231 homes sold in the same area for an average of 46.2 hoes sold per month.

What this means is that at the current rate of absorbtion we have a 17.6 month supply of homes for sale. The realty is that many of the homes currently for sale will not sell. The homes that will sell are price at the midddle to lower price point for similar homes and they are in ready to move in condition.

The good news is that there are still buyers out there. The bad news is that “top dollar” today is not what it was last year. If you are selling your current home and moving to another home in the Atlanta area all of this really does not present much of a problem. Whatever theoretical loss or discount that you may take on your current home can be made up on the purchase of your next home. You may even come out ahead on the whole thing if you can adjust to the idea of a correct price on your current home.

View all Powder Springs homes for sale at www.PowderSpringsHomes.info

Solving the Oil Crisis

My dad is without a doubt one of the smartest people that I know. This isn’t a fathers day tribute or anything i am simply stating what I belive is a fact! He has spent over 50 years as an investmetn analyst and his area of expertise is as a technical analyst for the stock market. He does an email newsletter for his clients and sends me copies all the time. Very honestly, a lot of the stock market stuff i don’t understand. Hey, I’m just a simple minded real estate agent.

But when I got this email from him “Solving the oil crisis” Iwas anxious to see his take on it.

Below is his email. I have just a few comments to add. I’ll put those afterward.

************************************************************************

“JAN 13, 2008 MORNING MARKET COMMENT DOW 12,131 UP 47.23

HOW TO SOLVE THE OIL CRISIS

I WILL JUST SPEND A SHORT TIME ON THE MARKET TODAY THEN GET INTO THE MAJOR THEME. YESTERDAY THE MARKET HAD THE RALLY I EXPECTED. IT WAS A SHORT COVERING RALLY THAT THE DOW WAS UP 185. IN THE FIRST HALF HOUR AS OIL WAS DOWN $4.00. LATE IN THE DAY OIL WAS UP $.36 AND THE MARKET RALLY HAD FADED TO ALMOST NOTHING WITH ABOUT EVEN BREADTH.

THE OIL CRISIS: I BELIEVE THIS CAN BE SOLVED WITH A FEW SIMPLE STEPS. NOW EVERY ONE IN THE USA IS PAYING FOR THIS PROBLEM. WE SEND MONEY TO THE MIDDLE EAST AND ACT STUPID. WE ARE A DEBTOR NATION THAT NOW WATCH AS THE OIL TYCOONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST BUY OUR COMPANIES AND LEND US MONEY. WE FILL OUR TANKS AND SEND THEM MORE MONEY. YET I SEE NO LINES FOR OIL AT THE GAS STATIONS. WHY IS OIL HIGH?

SPECULATION. MARGIN REQUIREMENTS ON OIL IN THE PITS IS NOW 5%. THE HEDGE FUNDS , PENSION FUNDS, AND OTHER SPECULATORS MOVE THEIR MONEY OUT OF THE STOCK MARKET WHERE MARGIN IS 50% AND MOVE IT INTO OIL WHERE IT IS 5%. THE STOCK MARKET GOES DOWN AND OIL GOES UP. THE BIG BROKERAGE FIRMS MAKE HIGH PROJECTIONS ON OIL PRICE AND THEY COME TRUE. THE SPECULATORS RULE. THEY DO NOT INTEND TO TAKE DELIVERY ON THE OIL THEY BUY, THEY JUST BUY TO MAKE MONEY. BUY $100,000,000 MILLION IN OIL CONTRACTS, IT GOES UP 5% AND NOW THEY HAVE $200,000,000. SPECULATORS HAVE TAKEN CONTROL.

I HAVE BEEN IN STUDYING THE MARKET FOR OVER 50 YEARS AND HAVE A GOOD MEMORY. MARGIN USED TO BE FLEXIBLE. WHEN THE STOCK MARKET PLUNGED MARGIN USED TO BE DROPPED. WHEN IT GOT OVER HEATED MARGIN WAS INCREASED. THE HELPED SMOOTH THE MARKET OUT. AND WOW. DID IT REACT WHEN MARGIN WAS CHANGED. DID IT REACT WHEN THERE WAS FEAR OF MARGIN CHANGE

NOW RAISE OIL MARGIN TO 50% I BELIEVE YOU WOULD SEE $70-80 OIL. THAT IS ALMOST IN HALF. JUST THE FEAR OF THIS HAPPENING WOULD MAKE OIL FALL AS THIS WILL WIPE OUT MANY SPECULATORS.

GIVE INCENTIVES TO DRILL FOR OIL IN THE USA. TAKE THE RESTRICTIONS OFF. DRILL OFF THE COAST, DRILL IN THE MOUNTAINS, DRILL IN ALASKA.. I LIVED IN FLA DURING KATRINA. NO OIL WAS SPILLED IN THE GULF FROM THE RIGS THERE. MANY OF MY FRIENDS LOVED TO FISH NEAR THESE RIGS AS THAT IS WHERE THE FISH WERE. THE CARIBOU WILL SLEEP NEAR THE PIPE LINES. THEY DO NOT CARE. IF THE POLITICIANS ARE WORRIED, MOVE THE CARIBOU.

OBAMA IS YELLING EXCESS PROFITS TAX. I HAVE SEEN THIS HAPPEN OVER THE YEARS. IN PLAIN TERMS IT IS STUPID. IT GIVES THE POLITICIANS PORK BARREL MONEY AND TAKES AWAY THE INCENTIVE TO DRILL. WILD IDEA….GIVE THE OIL COMPANIES MORE TAX BREAKS AND INCENTIVE TO DRILL. I REMEMBER THE 27.5% OIL DEPLETION ALLOWANCE IN THE 1950′S. THIS WAS THE LAW THAT GAVE THE OIL COMPANIES A TAX BREAK TO DRILL. TAKE AWAY INCENTIVE AND RAISE TAXES ON THEM AND THEY DRILL LESS, GIVE THEM TAX INCENTIVES AND THEY DRILL MORE WOW. IT WORKED. IS NAY ONE IN WASHINGTON BOLD ENOUGH TO SUGGEST AND EXPLAIN THIS?

FLEX FUEL CARS: IN BRAZIL OVER 80 PER CENT OF ALL NEW CARS ARE FLEX FUEL. GIVE THE CAR COMPANIES TAX INCENTIVE TO BUILD THESE IMMEDIATELY. IF I WAS MCCAIN OR OBAMA I WOULD DO NOTHING BUT PUSH THIS PROGRAM IMMEDIATELY SAYING “I AM THE MAN OF THE PEOPLE, LETS SOLVE THIS PROBLEM TOGETHER.” I BELIVE THIS CAN GET EITHER ELECTED PRESIDENT.

THIS IS THE NUMBER ONE PROBLEM ON AMERICAN’S MINDS. THIS IS A PROBLEM THAT A STRONG PRESIDENT ,A STRONG CANDIDATE AND CONGRESS CAN SOLVE.

JUST THE FEAR OF ADOPTING A PROGRAM LIKE THIS WILL DRIVE OIL DOWN AND I BELIEVE THE STOCK MARKET WOULD GO UP 1000 TO 2000 DOW POINTS.”

************************************************************************

So what does this mean? Here is my take from it. The people that are fueling the speculation on oil prices are the same people who fueled the specuation on mortgage backed securities and the dotcoms before that! These specualtors are driving up the prices!

The only other additional comment that I had is regarding Brazils energy independance. Their cars are fueled with ethanol produced from sugar. In the US the gov’t is subsidizing CORN to increase crop production. Production has increased and its all going into our gas tanks instead into the world food market. Corn is a very inefficient source for ethanal. It is NOT answer. Aroung the world there are countries having food riots over shortages. The policy to promote corn as an ethanol source needs to end. Corn is food … not fuel.

Write to your congressman and get them to intervene on the issues of 5% oil futures margins!

First time buyers program. Buy a home for $800 down!

I just listed this great home in Powder Springs.

Just last week, peter Berk from Sunshine Mortgage contacted me about a great new loan program for 1st time home buyers. This program will give a 5 to 1 match to the buyers contribution. The buyer comes up with $800 and the grant fund contributes $4000! If the buyer comes up with $2000 then the fund will contribute $10000! What a great way for new home buyers to build some equity and come up with the required down payment. this should prove to be a great marketing and sales tool for this home.

What’s the catch? There really isn’t one. The buyer is required to take a homebuyers education class and there are some maximum income restrictions. So if the buyer makes too much money they wouldn’t be able to use the program.

Whether you are thinking aobut buying or selling a home, I think this is a great program to use. Call me if you have any questions!

_______________________________________________

First Time Buyers – Only $800 Down or possible Lease Purchase

Location: Sorrells Ridge

Be The Proud Owner – Of your first home. Check out the deal on this traditional home in Sorrells Ridge. Has 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, comfortable living room with fireplace, large master suite, separate shower, walk-in closet for your wardrobe, sunny kitchen with walk-in pantry for quick access to everything, vinyl floors, breakfast area, dishwasher and fridge are included. Ask about our $800 down First Time Buyer Program!

Information

Contact Information

Bob Southard

770-656-9134

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Pricing

Asking Price: $159,900

Flexibility: Firm

Additional Pricing Information: Special Down Payment Grant for First Time buyers! For every $1 you put down the grant program will match 5 TIMES! For this home $800 is required from the buyer for a $4000 match. Buyer may put down as much as $2000 for a $10,000 matching grant!!!

Property Location

4212 Sorrells Blvd.
Powder Springs, Ga 30127
View Map

Links

SEE THE VIRTUAL TOUR

Features

Bedrooms: 4

Bathrooms: 3

Parking: 2 car garage

Year Built: 1999

Subdivision: Sorrells Ridge

Lot Size: about 1/2 acre

School District: Cobb County

Agent Name: Bob Southard

Broker: Solid Source Realty, Inc

MLS #: 3721947

Schools: Powder Srprings, Cooper, McEachern

Attributes

Appliances

Range/Oven

Full Refrigerator

Dishwasher

Interior Amenities

Fireplace

Vaulted Ceilings

Basement

Exterior Amenities

Tool Shed

Deck

Large Level yard

Photo Gallery

View as SlideshowView Photo Gallery (10 Photos)

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EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

VFLYER ID: 1690085

FIRST TIME BUYERS
$800 Down
+
$4000 GRANT $$$$

Black bears in Cobb County?

Here in Metro Atlanta we have a huge metro area. The downtown Atlanta area is circled by a perimiter hwy I285. I-75 is Runs from Miami to Canada. The northern intersection of the 2 is major interchange in a highly populated area of southeast Cobb County. This is only about 15 miles form downtown Atlanta.

Since this is such ahighly poplated and traveled area it makes this story very unusual. Apparently a black bear was hit by a car on the ramp leading from I-75 to I-285!

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/16434593/detail.html