Renaissance Realty Group’s Blog: Georgia

Q? - Does anyone out there use MOBILE ME an if so what do you think of it.

2nd Q? If not MobileMe What central web based system do you use for Mail /Contacts / Calendar / etc.. Outlook has crashed on me  for the last time.

I want to be able to get email in a centralized format on my computer my iPhone my laptop my iPad and my desktop or any hotel computer and have it all look act like one image and it to  be live and up to date at all times.

I can not be depentdent on one place

I would love to be able to merg serval calendar into one view - Work / Home / Kids calendar and know at a color code glance whos appt is whos.

I want to be able to make an update and know that any and all tools / people that have access to the calendar see it as it is updated

Do I want to much ?

Fourth of July Celebrations in Atlanta - Atlanta, Georgia
From the annual Peachtree Road Race to festivities at Lenox Square Mall or the spectacular downtown celebration including live music, family fun and great fireworks at Centennial Olympic Park, there are several fun ways to enjoy Independence Day while visiting Atlanta.

RiverBlast - Augusta, Georgia
The Fourth of July RiverBlast celebration activities at Riverwalk Augusta include a car show, food, games, and entertainment. The evening concludes with a spectacular fireworks display over the Savannah River.

Mall of Georgia Fabulous 4th - Buford, Georgia
TBA - Fourth of July at the Mall of Georgia usually includes live musical performances and special events during the afternoon, a dazzling fireworks show and a post-fireworks fun. 2010 Details to be Announced.

July 4th Celebration at the Cumming Fairgrounds - Cumming, Georgia
Located about 40 miles north of Atlanta near Lake Lanier, the City of Cumming's annual celebration includes food vendors, live entertainment, activities for kids and fireworks followed by a dance contest for all ages on July 3rd and a popular Steam Engine Parade and display on July 4th.

Lake Lanier 4th of July Celebration - Lake Lanier Islands, Georgia
Enjoy splashing all day in Georgia's largest wave pool and stay for a dazzling fireworks display at night.

July 4th Star Spangled Beach Party at Callaway Gardens - Pine Mountain, Georgia
Gates open early in the morning and the fun lasts all day at the annual Callaway Gardens Independence Day celebration including an array of outdoor activities, entertainment and a patriotic fireworks finale.

Fantastic Fourth of July on the River - Savannah, Georgia
Celebrate the Fourth of July on lively and historic River Street. The fireworks display, which begins at about 9:20 p.m. will be choreographed to music and simulcast so don't forget to take along a radio.

Six Flags Over Georgia July 4th - Austell, Georgia
This annual celebration features patriotic displays, family fun and great fireworks.

Fantastic Fourth Celebration - Stone Mountain Park, Georgia
The ever popular Lasershow Spectacular and a traditional fireworks display highlight this annual Independence Day event.

Statewide ban on texting while driving goes into effect July 1.
The Georgia State Patrol will observe a 30-to-60 day grace period in which any violations encountered will usually result in a warning. If cited for violating the new law, a driver may pay a $150 fine and will incur a penalty of one point on his/her license.

 The newly minted law faces an uncertain legal future on several fronts. How enforceable will it be? Both safety advocates and law enforcement sources say making the law stick will be tough. Some questions remain to be answered by the courts, including: What constitutes probable cause to stop a driver suspected of texting? How far can police go in questioning a suspected texter? Do the cops have the right to examine a cell phone found on the floorboard at a crash scene to see if texting was underway, or do they need a search warrant? How can witnesses be sure an accused texter wasn't simply looking at the number of an incoming call?

       It's that last legal point that concerns the governor, who noted that when a phone buzzes, the driver won't know if it's an incoming phone call or a text.

        "The governor said that he thought that the manipulation of the keys should be the illegal act," says Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley, "not the receipt of a text message, where if you don't respond back generally that conversation ends."

       The governor thinks that making the act of looking at a phone screen criminal could lead to a rise in lawsuits and prosecutions, as well. "A lot of trial lawyers might want to subpoena phone records and assign blame for every accident that happens," is how Brantley puts it.

     Gov. Perdue urged lawmakers to come back and take a hard look at the law in the 2011 legislative session, with a view to revising the part about reading texts.

      Texting bans, now in effect in various forms in 28 states, have drawn wide support from law enforcement, highway safety advocates and even the cell phone industry. But there are questions about how they work in practice. Enforcement may not be as straightforward as making a traffic stop because a cop saw a head intently bent over something in a weaving car. There's a feeling that Georgia's law will migrate up the legal food chain as attorneys defend against local cases, with some questions ultimately decided by the Georgia Supreme Court.

      For a case to stand up in court, says Gordy Wright, a spokesman for the Georgia Department of Public Safety, "the manner of driving would in all probability be the most telling probable cause for a traffic stop. When texting, you're distracted from watching the road and you tend to mimic the habits of an impaired driver, jerking the wheel, leaving the roadway, crossing the center line and so forth.

      "If you pull a driver over and find out that they are not an impaired driver, under the influence," he continues, "and you start asking questions, someone might admit to texting. And admitting would be one of the factors that would support a citation. The gray area is going to be a person having a phone in their hand. Were they dialing a phone number or were they texting?"

SAVE-A-THON TOUR - 2010

NACA is continuing its Save the Dream Tour in 2010. Last year the tour was an incredible success with hundreds of thousands of participants averaging over 30,000 people at each of the twelve events throughout the country. Thousands of homeowners received same day solutions with many having their interest rates permanently reduced to 4%, 3%, and 2% and in some cased having the outstanding principal reduced based on what the homeowner can afford. Homeowners saved hundreds of dollars a month and some over a thousand dollars. NACA provides the most effective long-term solutions because it has secured legally binding agreements with all the major servicers/lenders and the major investors (i.e. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) which cover 90% of the at-risk homeowners. NACA has established the national standard in providing long-term affordable solutions for at-risk homeowners - All of NACA's services are FREE.

We are expanding the events to be a 24 hour a day Save-a-Thons over five days. This will allow thousands of additional homeowners to be assisted many who will drive and fly long distances to attend these extraordinary Save the Dream events. In previous events thousands of people had to camp out overnight in order to attend. Now they will be able to come inside to receive counseling even after sunset and before sunrise. NACA will have over 500 staff and volunteers on site and hundreds more off-site to work with all the homeowners.

The servicers and major investors will also have hundreds of staff on-site and many more off-site to provide same day affordable solutions. In addition to providing the solutions, many of the servicers will have the documents ready for homeowners to sign. The process would be completed with a resulting long-term affordable payment.

The following is the Save-a-Thon Tour Schedule. If you plan on attending you should sign-up. Once you sign-up you can do the workshop and counseling at the event and then meet with your servicer. Prior to the event you can attend the workshop, do a counseling session and have your file reviewed by your servicer. You would be able to go directly to your servicer for a solution.

1. Complete initial information (Ten Steps at NACA.com ) - click here for Ten Steps
2. Attend a workshop. Click here for Workshop.
3. Sign-up for a phone counseling session - click here for an appointment.

If the location is not confirmed, we are working on finalizing the locations and dates. Thus the locations and dates may change given the support we have from your political leaders. You can influence our decision by getting your Congressperson, Senator, mayor or other politicians to contact us. You can begin the process now.

1. Complete the initial information - click here for Ten Steps
2. Attend a workshop as the first step. Click here for Workshop.
3. Make an appointment for a counseling session - click here for an appointment.

Fannie Mae is checking on you and how you are treating their listings. Assume that you will lose your REO listings if you don't take the results of this internal memo seriously.

NOTE: Remember, even though your REO listing asset maybe a ‘Countrywide' asset...there is close to a 70% chance that Fannie Mae actually owns the mortgage...owns the property. In this example, CW is the 'servicer'...Fannie Mae is the ‘investor'

In January, Fannie Mae initiated a "secret shopper" pilot designed to collect accurate data on the knowledge, responsiveness, follow-up, professionalism and effectiveness of brokers and agents listing Fannie Mae-owned properties. Over a four and a half month period, our secret shopping vendor reviewed several hundred listing brokers/agents on a broad range of measures.

The initial results of this pilot clearly indicate that many brokers and agents listing Fannie Mae properties are not meeting even a basic standard of responsiveness and professionalism. Consequently, we will expand our "secret shopper" program nationwide and continue to collect information.

Fannie Mae expects brokers/agents to manage our properties as they would an owner-occupant client. This includes - but is not limited to - listing a property with attractive photographs and comprehensive descriptions, identifying HomePath financing eligibility, responding to e-mails and phone calls from both other real estate professionals and potential buyers in a timely, professional fashion. Also, providing complete, accurate information to all interested parties and making the property readily available to anyone interested in seeing it.

Below are some examples of our findings to date:

* 60% of direct Fannie Mae brokers and 57% of outsourced listing agents did not respond to requests for information within 24 hours. 35% of the time, the agent/broker did not respond at all after multiple attempts to make contact.

* For those that did respond to an e-mail, 36% of the outsourced agents and 50% of the direct brokers did not respond with the information requested.

* When asked for more information on HomePath Renovation Mortgage, 21% of the outsourced agents and 23% of Fannie Mae direct brokers could not provide information in a clear, competent manner.

* When contacted, 59% of outsourced agents and 71% of direct brokers did not ask the caller about their specific needs.

Over the next few months, we will be reviewing and updating our processes for including brokers in the Fannie Mae network and our measures for how brokers are evaluated. Expected changes include measurement of brokers' responsiveness and professionalism as well as the more traditional performance metrics.

Well the Gwinnett County Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) was created to help slow the decline of neighborhoods where housing values and conditions are deteriorating due to the presence of foreclosed homes.

A second objective of the NSP is to provide affordable housing to eligible low, moderate, and middle income homebuyers. To address the foreclosure problem, the County will use NSP funds to purchase vacant foreclosed homes in targeted Census Tract Block Groups, make necessary repairs on the homes, and resell the houses to new homebuyers. Federal law prohibits the County from providing foreclosure prevention assistance from NSP funds.

The County has received approximately $10.5 million from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and approximately $3 million of HUD NSP funds from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) for this program.