Alpharetta Cumming Lake Lanier Real Estate Blog: August 2007

The Summit of Dahlonega:
The Summit features maintenance free living with a year-round resort atmosphere. The Summit is a gated active adult community with exceptional mountain views nestled in a natural setting with an abundance of hiking and walking trails. This community consists of Single-story Condominiums, a Large Clubhouse for planned activities and fun gatherings, Outside Recreation areas with pool, putting green, and hiking trails and Breathtaking Mountain Views. Priced from $275,000.

Mountain Park at Dahlonega:
Mountain Park is a new active adult community located in Dahlonega, Georgia. Mountain Park offers a wealth of amenities and nature to form the ultimate in active adult living. Amenities include 50 Acres of Green Space, Tennis Courts, Walking trails, Fitness Center, Enclosed pool, Beautiful Clubhouse and a Cardroom/Billiards Room.
Priced from the mid $200's.
Silver Summit at Mountain Park:
Silver Summit at Mountain Park is an adult community of spacious homes. This active adult community has easy access to 400 and the resort town of Dahlonega. Amenities include Community Clubhouse, Reading Nook, Social Room, Demonstration Kitchen, Card/Game Room, Conference Room, Craft Room, Media Room, Fitness Center with separate Aerobics Room, All-Season Swimming Pool, Tennis Courts, 50 Acres Green Space with Walking Trails and Maintenance-Free Exteriors.
Priced from the mid $200's.


Castleberry Ridge:
Castleberry Ridge boasts spectacular mountain views, an unparalleled amenity package, quality custom home builders, and is the first community in Lumpkin County with fiber optic technology. Their custom builders offer a wide selection of practical floor plans, attention to detail and superior workmanship.

Achasta (formerly Birch River):
At Achasta, a Linger Longer Community, they are committed to providing world-class amenities that culminate in a complete lifestyle for their members. More than just a collection of features, the amenities complement a range of social activities, member events, golfing and river front activities that make their members want to Linger Longer at Achasta.

If you would like more information about these communities, or other homes, land or communities in the Dahlonega area, please contact Mike and Melody Vanderhoff today.

Dahlonega was chosen as the third most economical retirement location in the country according to a story and video released on June 3, 2007 by U.S. News & World Report. Read Story

"If you have spent over fifty years in constant activity—at work; raising a family; and serving your community—retirement may seem like a distant, foggy dream. Time has a way of sneaking up on the most thorough planner, though, so it is important to envision what life will be for you when your time is your own.

The Appalachian foothills of North Georgia have become one of the prime destinations for a retirement escape plan. The small communities dotting this scenic area are far enough from the big city to avoid traffic, noise, and congestion, but close enough to enjoy convenience, quality health care, and access to travel. The beauty of the area provides an endless supply of new discoveries: scenic mountain views; the rushing rapids of rivers, streams, and waterfalls; and preserved forested lands with a bounty of plant and animal life. North Georgia towns are definitely growing, but most civic leaders are focused on building infrastructure without destroying the natural surroundings. "
Excerpt from The Great Escape - Retiring to Dahlonega --from 400 Edition , December/January 2007 issue by Beth Snider

Dahlonega is truly a beautiful town with a great combination of history, culture, community & natural beauty. Through both real estate, and family, Dahlonega has taken up residence in our hearts. It is truly a great place to live, go to school, or retire. We'd love to introduce you to this great community. Give us a call today, or visit our website at www.VanderhoffRealEstate.com to see available homes and land in the Dahlonega area.

Did you know that over the summer many Forsyth County residents changed their zip code? If you've lived here for at least the past 10 years, you generally knew that Cumming addresses East of GA 400 had a 30041 zip code, Cumming addresses West of GA 400 had a 30040 zip code, and the Cumming PO Boxes were 30028. Simple enough to remember. Well, as of June 1, 2007, a large section of our 30040 residents now have the 30028 zip code. Approximately, those in Cumming North of Matt Hwy are now 30028. Also, those West of Doc Bramblett and North of Canton Hwy now have a 30028 zip code. So check with your friends in those areas before sending out your holiday cards, and make sure their zip code has not changed! For a detailed map of the zip code area, visit www.forsythco.com.

The Atlanta-based mortgage lender filed for Chapter 11 on late Thursday in Wilmington, Del., said Carol Knies, HomeBanc's vice president of investor relations. It came days after HomeBanc, which had been reorganizing operations amid stress in the housing market, said it would sell its mortgage operations and related assets of its HomeBanc Mortgage Corp. subsidiary to Countrywide Financial Corp.

HomeBanc originates prime mortgage loans that are sold to investors through mortgage-backed securities, and the company said its main problem was it could no longer access its credit lines to fund new loans.

A Chapter 11 filing allows a company to keep its management in place, reorganize its debts and obtain new financing. It also prevents creditors from forcing the sale of corporate assets.

HomeBanc has listed assets of $5.1 billion and debt of $4.9 billion, according to the 22-page filing. Among its biggest creditors: JPMorgan Chase & Co., Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Wells Fargo Bank, Commerzbank AG, U.S. Bank, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and BNP Paribas.

Homeowners whose mortgages are with HomeBanc must continue to make their payments as before, the company said.

"This does not affect their loan with HomeBanc," Knies said. "They need to continue making their loan payments."

HomeBanc said those customers would be notified in advance of any future changes.

Countrywide has said it would retain some of HomeBanc's 1,000 employees but it is unclear how many of them that will be or what will happen to those workers who remain with HomeBanc.

Separately, in a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Countrywide hinted the liquidity crisis in the mortgage industry will make it tougher to do business. Many financial institutions and Wall Street investment firms that grant companies like HomeBanc credit lines to make loans, have yanked those lines as a growing number of the riskiest borrowers have defaulted on their loans.

At the same time, investors who bought these loans through mortgage-backed securities have become extremely skittish and are turning away from such investments.

Unable to get funding to make new loans or sell existing loans to investors, a number of mortgage companies including American Home Mortgage Investment Corp., New Century Financial Corp. and SouthStar Funding LLC collapsed.

And while the problem loans have mainly been in the so-called subprime market, those customers who have bad credit, even companies that didn't do much business in that segment -- HomeBanc's subprime volume was less than 1 percent of its total originations -- were still caught up in the fray.

"We believe the current environment of rapidly changing and evolving credit markets may provide increasing challenges for the financial services sector, including Countrywide," the company wrote in its filing. "We also believe that the challenges facing the industry should ultimately benefit Countrywide as the mortgage lending industry continues to consolidate."

-AJC.Com

HomeBanc Corp. announced this week that it intends to exit the mortgage loan origination business.

The Company at present is unable to borrow on its credit facilities and was unable to fund its mortgage loan funding obligations beginning August 6, 2007. Accordingly, the Company does not anticipate funding any future mortgage loans, and is no longer accepting any mortgage loan applications or funding any mortgage loans previously originated and not yet funded. The Company is seeking the most appropriate course of action to preserve the value of its remaining assets.

HomeBanc also announced that it has reached agreement with Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE: CFC) whereby Countrywide will acquire certain assets related to HomeBanc's retail loan origination operations, including up to five branches located in Georgia, Florida and North Carolina, and will assume the leases related to those branches. In addition, Countrywide expects to make offers of employment to substantially all of HomeBanc's retail loan originators. Countrywide will pay no cash premium in this transaction and will not acquire any other assets or assume any other liabilities related to HomeBanc. This transaction, which is subject to certain conditions, is expected to close by August 10, 2007.

HomeBanc is the parent holding company of HomeBanc Mortgage Corporation, a mortgage banking company that traditionally has focused on originating primarily prime purchase money residential mortgage loans in the Southeast United States. HomeBanc is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and has offices in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and Tennessee.