Athens to beat state in economic growth rate

Morris News Service Story updated at 12:05 AM on Thursday, February 28, 2008

ATLANTA - The Athens area will avoid a recession this year and grow at twice the rate of the rest of the state, according to Georgia State University's Economic Forecasting Center.
In a quarterly outlook released Wednesday, Georgia State economists predict metro Athens will add 1.6 percent more jobs - compared to the anemic 0.8 percent growth forecast for the rest of Georgia.
While Athens should dodge a recession, the local economy will see fewer new jobs in 2008 than in the last quarter of 2007, when the city added 2 percent more jobs.
The authors of the forecast note the recession-proof nature of the taxpayer-funded University of Georgia as the area's largest economic engine.
"For this reason, we expect the employment growth in Athens to remain stable and increase by 1.6 percent and 1.7 percent in 2008 and 2009, respectively," they wrote.
The local unemployment rate rose slightly from 3.6 percent in December of last year to 3.7 percent in the same month this year.
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 022808

New listing in east Athens

Check out the virtual tour to a home we've just listed in east Athens. The home has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and it's listed for $129,900. It has hardwood floors, a new roof, new interior & exterior paint, fenced yard and beautiful landscaping! Let us know if you want more information or if you'd like to set an appointment to see theis great house.

http://www.classifiedflyerads.com/vt/widget.php?id=16654

Continuing Education at UGA

Twice a year, we get a catalog from The University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education. They offer a variety of classes for everyone. Some of the main categories are Business & Career Development (Accounting, Customer Serivce, Real Estate), Certificate Programs (Executive Coaching, Personal Proerty Appraisal), Creative Expressions & Personal Enrichment (Dance, Golf, Home Decorating, Wine Appreciation) and there is a lot more.

I have taken a couple of computer classes but the one I enjoyed the most was Feng Shui. I learned about colors and placement of objects to enhance good chi. There is a new course (just 1 session) being offered this time. Also, there is a course on Organizing and Preparing Your Home to Sell (Or Just Getting You Life in Order). That one sounds good to me.

You can also learn a new language, golf, photography, and real estate investing. The link to the catalog is www.georgiacenter.uga.edu/spring08

Moving To Athens Georgia: Foreclosures in Athens GA

Moving To Athens Georgia: Foreclosures in Athens GA
Call Jerri at 706-296-4395 for information on buying or selling a pre-foreclosure property.

Foreclosures in Athens GA

The following article recently appeared in the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

Georgia foreclosure rate ranks No. 5 in October

Georgia was in the top 10 for total foreclosure filings and foreclosure rates in October, according to Realty Trac's October 2007 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.
The state had one foreclosure for every 332 households for a total of 11,352 filings in October. Georgia's foreclosure rate was up 37.8 percent from September and grew 64.6 percent over October 2006. Its rate was the fifth highest in the nation in October.
The United States had a total of 224,451 foreclosure filings in October, up 2 percent from September and up 94 percent from October 2006. The national foreclosure rate for the month was one foreclosure filing for every 555 households.
"Overall foreclosure activity continues to register at a high level compared to last year, but it appears to have leveled off over the past two months after hitting a high for the year in August," said James J. Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac. "Default notices were down nearly 9 percent in October, indicating that some of the efforts on the part of homeowners, lenders and advocacy groups to find alternatives to foreclosure may be starting to have an impact. On the other hand, bank repossessions were up nearly 35 percent, evidence that more homeowners who enter foreclosure are losing their homes."

Many homeowners are not aware of the options available to them. The first thing you need to do, if you can't make your payments, is to call the mortgage company. They are much more open to working out a plan with you. Possibilities include revising the terms of the loan and adding the past due payments to the end of the loan. If you can't get the mortgage company to work with you (or if you're just not comfortable asking) call us. We are happy to do whatever we can to help you.

If you are not going to be able to work out a plan to repay and just want to avoid foreclosure, we can help with that too. We will contact your mortgage company and discuss options to help you get the house sold and save you from having a foreclosure on your credit report.

So, the main thing to do is act right away when you realize that you're in trouble. Once the property goes in to foreclosure, there is nothing to be done. Even if the 4-week advertising period has started, call us. We will do everything we can to help. Jerri 706-296-4395 or e-mail us.