Louise Scoggins' Blog: All Categories

It’s summertime…the kids are bored, they’re tired of the pool, they don’t want to be stuck inside staring at each other anymore, and you’re trying to think of something economical to keep them entertained. You think, Aha! Let’s take a picnic lunch to the park! We’ll take a football or Frisbee and the kids can run around playing catch with each other while we munch on watermelon and sandwiches. What a perfect afternoon! Well…not so perfect if that park you are planning on taking them to is in the City of Canton. This past April, Canton’s City Council voted to enforce the municipal ordinance that makes the parks “passive” parks instead of “active” parks…Huh??? That’s right, folks, City of Canton parks now require anyone wishing to “picnic, party, host a…

Kennesaw, Georgia is located in Cobb County, about 20 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta. Kennesaw is one of Cobb County’s smaller cities with a population of around 32,000 (2000 Census Bureau estimate). Kennesaw was recently voted in on a list of “25 Most Uniquely American Cities and Towns” by Newsmax Magazine. The magazine rated cities across the country based on a combination of nine categories, including hospitality, wholesomeness, family-friendliness, and community activities to name a few. Newsmax chose Kennesaw because of its schools, green space, family-friendly amenities, and low crime rates. In 2008, Kennesaw was chosen by Family Circle Magazine as one of “Ten Top Places to Raise Your Family”.

I can tell you whole heartedly that each of the…

Beautiful Cobb County is part of Metropolitan Atlanta, sitting just north and slightly west of Downtown Atlanta across the Chattahoochee River. Cobb County consists of several cities: Marietta (the largest city and county seat), Kennesaw, Acworth, Smyrna, Vinings, Mableton, Austell, and Powder Springs. The 2008 population estimate for Cobb County per the US Census Bureau is 698,158. Cobb County consistently ranks among the top 100 wealthiest counties across the US, and has one of the lowest crime rates in the state.

One of the biggest draws for people to come to Cobb County is the superior school districts. Cobb is home to some of the state’s best schools, and ranks as Georgia’s most educated county. In fact, the schools are so good here in Cobb that it…

River Green subdivision is located along the banks of the Etowah River in Canton, GA. A beautiful, master-planned development by John Wieland, River Green is a place any family would love to call home. River Green features resort-style amenities with two pool areas and two clubhouses – The Summer Club and The Heritage Club. The Summer Club is the smaller pool area, featuring a pool, toddler pool with mushroom waterfall, small clubhouse area, and a playground. The Heritage Club is the larger of the pool areas, with multiple pool areas, slides, large toddler area, and huge clubhouse. The Heritage Club also features an onsite gym. River Green has lifeguards at each pool area to ensure the safety of your family. There is also a full time, onsite Activities…

Help! I have several buyers all looking for homes under $100K. Regular, normal families -- not investors -- who want a nice affordable home. These buyers are highly motivated and want to take advantage of the tax credits, low rates, and great prices. They are smart buyers to be doing just that. The problem is that it’s super hard to find a nice home that’s not a foreclosure or short sale under $100K. Even a decent home and we would settle! Or if the home is OK the neighborhood is questionable. The decent ones are short sales and with my buyer’s tight time frames to purchase (each less than 60 days), taking our chances on a short sale is risky at best.

So what’s an agent to do? I have scoured Cobb County Homes for Sale, North Fulton, Northwest Gwinnett,…

Much to my dismay, Cousins Properties recently announced that they were no longer going to plan an “Avenues” outdoor shopping mall at the Ridgewalk development in Woodstock. I grew up in the East Cobb area where the first “Avenues” came to Atlanta, The Avenues of East Cobb, and it was a huge success. So huge, in fact, that they then implemented an Avenues in both West Cobb and one in Forsyth. The outdoor shopping malls are filled with popular retail stores, restaurants, coffee shops, book stores, all kinds of wonderful things. They are a great place to get ice cream and walk around on a sunny afternoon, breathing in some fresh air. I have always enjoyed my time spent at the Avenues. So you can imagine how excited I was when I first heard about the Avenues…

I read a great article recently, written by Suzy Welch. Suzy is the author of 10-10-10: A Life-Transforming Idea. At a point in her life when her need to people please started reeking havoc in all aspects of her life, Suzy formed the 10-10-10 idea. For any dilemma she faced, she thought about how her decision would affect her in 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years.

The story that Suzy told tells about her decision (years ago, before the 10-10-10 rule came into play) to take her kids with her on a business trip. A multitude of mini-disasters followed: her daughter getting sick, her son getting heatstroke, and both kids escaping a hotel-run event and bursting in during her important presentation. It was this series of unfortunate events that caused Suzy to…

Foreclosures Hit Record Highs…Again

In a report published by the Mortgage Banker's Association last week, research shows that foreclosures hit another all time high for the 4th quarter of 2007. The 4th quarter statistics show that 0.83% of all mortgages are now in foreclosure, beating out the previous high of 0.78% -- set (oh so very long ago) in the 3rd quarter of 2007.  The last time the foreclosure rate was this high was some 20 years ago in 1985.

A whopping 30% of all foreclosures are found in the notoriously popped bubble markets of Florida and California. These two states, along with Arizona and Nevada, are also so overbuilt with new construction homes that the Mortgage Banker's Association predicts it will be a long time before the housing economy…