The Real Estate Book of Georgia's Lake Country: Lake Oconee, Lake Sinclair - Vol 23#1

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2023 NEW YEA R'S RESOLUTIONS for home sellers

home warranty?

and most of the companies

Home warranties

By Ilyce R. Glink and Samuel J. Tamkin

By Ilyce R. Glink & Samuel J. Tamkin

To maximize your sales price, here

Almost every buyer starts their search online. More are closing the loop digitally as well, making offers sight unseen for properties they’ve come across on the web. Anyone looking in your neighborhood will see that your home is for sale if you have a robust

replacement of a home's The basic plan typically plumbing and heating with many appliances. items from the list of sure that you buy the However, most home add coverage for additional

Some warranties of a specific period and you pay for a service days later, you won't same problem.

What does that mean? If possible, paint the walls white, and remove extraneous furniture, artwork and knick-knacks. Stage your home with neutral furnishings, do a deep clean and replace carpet as needed. Replace old fixtures with modern LED lights. Open or remove window shades and clean the windows. Charming exteriors will get noticed faster, so don’t forget to give your garden an upgraded spring cleaning and plant colorful flowers. Repaint where needed.

For example, if you may include additional freezers, pools and spas, appliances and home specific costs for each plan. You may also platinum, gold or silver) Be sure to read the specifically under each

Make sure the online description of your home includes the correct keywords and as many photos as possible. Any agent worth their salt will know how to get that listing seen in as many places as possible.

Decide in advance what is the minimum acceptable sales price – and then stick to it.

Keep in mind that year and you'll pay plan. But the home working order on the agreed to). They won't broken) at closing. So, machine is on its very buy a home warranty machine the week after Interestingly, for those plans now cover the locks. With this rekey home will have new warranty from day one.

When it comes to selling your home, getting greedy is one of the biggest mistakes a home seller can make. Fighting tooth and nail over every last dime is a fast way to kill a deal, even in a relatively hot seller’s market. At some point, the buyer will stop caring about your home and withdraw. And, then you’re back to square one.

Before you whip out reviews about these them online, check long they have been that do business in your minimum, their registrations should be current. When pay close attention to a pattern indicating

breath. Selling a home can generate a tremendous amount of anxiety, especially if you’re trying to buy a home at the same time.

Resolution 3: Create a standout online presence for your home.

There may not be a crowd of homes for sale, but you want yours noticed for all the right reasons. And the way you’ll get noticed is to create an online presence for your property that stands out from the crowd.

The best thing you can do is decide what is the minimum sales price you’re willing to accept. Write that number down; and when the first offer rolls in, look at that piece of paper and see how it compares to the offer. If you’re at or above your minimum acceptable price, you’re in good shape. Everything else is gravy. And, if you get your minimum acceptable price, we think you should relax and feel good about the deal.

If you're looking your favorite internet warranty companies." comparisons of various

We believe that the best real estate deals happen when everyone walks away happy. As a seller in 2023, resolve to move on graciously, grateful for the time you’ve spent within those four walls, and for the buyer who will care for your home going forward.

Happy New Year!

©2023 Ilyce R. Glink And Samuel J. Tamkin. Distributed By Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

©2021 Ilyce R. Glink and Samuel

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178 PARKSIDE LANE - $950,000

New home in Parkside at Cuscowilla. This new 4 BR / 3.5 BA home is offered fully furnished and is located on a private lot across the street from a pond. There is also a grassy park that is maintained by the POA.

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150 PARKSIDE LANE - $925,000

Elegant custom home in Parkside at Cuscowillla. This 4 BR / 3.5 BA Southern Living home was built by a quality Custom Builder and it is located across the street from a grassy park with firepit and fountained pond.

SIMPLE TRICKS TO MAKE YOUR BATHROOM FEEL LIKE A SPA

Atrip to the spa leaves you feeling relaxed, pampered and rejuvenated. The experience centers on a serene environment that's carefully designed to help you unwind and escape, and you can easily re-create that soothing atmosphere at home in your own bathroom. By incorporating calming elements, upgrading fixtures and minimizing clutter, you can achieve a spa-like bathroom that allows you to melt away stress and relax in peace.

It requires only a few simple tweaks, so you don't have to take on a major bathroom remodel to create your at-home spa. Reimagine your bathroom as your own personal sanctuary, and use these tips to achieve that spa-like feeling every day.

1.

INCORPORATE NATURAL DECOR.

Incorporating plants is one of the easiest tricks for making your bathroom feel like a spa. Place potted houseplants on the floor, countertop and other bathroom surfaces, or try hanging a potted plant from the ceiling. Be sure to choose plants that will thrive in a humid bathroom environment and the type of light the space receives. If living plants aren't suitable for your space or skills, set a vase filled with fresh flowers on a shelf or countertop, or decorate with faux plants instead.

2. DECLUTTER YOUR BATHROOM.

Cluttered countertops and jam-packed bathroom cabinets aren't conducive to relaxation. To streamline your space, start by getting rid of any products that have expired or gone unused in the last year. As you restock, place any items you don't use on a regular basis inside cabinets, drawers or baskets. Prioritize counter space and other open storage for the few essentials you use every day, and neatly tuck everything else away.

3. STOCK PLUSH BATH TOWELS.

Fluffy, luxuriously soft towels are key to achieving a spa-like atmosphere. Choose bath towels made from an absorbent material, such as cotton or bamboo, that will stand up well to washing over time. Display extra towels in a rolled arrangement, or create a stack with crisply folded edges. For an extra-special touch, invest in a towel warmer rack so you can wrap yourself in a warm, cozy towel every time you step out of the shower.

4. INSTALL A NEW SHOWERHEAD.

Replacing your basic showerhead with a more luxurious model is an easy swap that can turn your daily shower into a rejuvenating experience. Look for features that suit your needs and preferences, such as massaging spray patterns, a handheld component or a rain showerhead that sprays water from directly above. If you have room in your budget, consider upgrading other bathroom fixtures, such as the faucet or commode, to high-quality models with special features like touchless automation or heated toilet seats.

5. UPGRADE YOUR TOILETRIES.

Reinforce the spa look with extra details like aesthetically pleasing bath products that blend with your color scheme. If your favorite products don't come in spa-worthy packaging, consider decanting your hand soap or shampoo and conditioner into pretty bottles. Clear glass jars are great for holding sponges, cotton rounds and other small items. Corral toiletries on a tray by the sink to add a luxurious feel to your vanity area.

©2023 Meredith Corporation. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

SOLD!

SOLD!

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ON LAKE SINCLAIR! Vaulted Great Room with beams/ hardwood floors/ stone fireplace/ Dining area. Kitchen with tile floor/tile backsplash/breakfast bar/granite counters. 5 BR/3 BA, finished daylight basement. Covered patio. .97 acre lot, seawall, double stall boat house w/2 lifts. $699,000

ALL WOODED GENTLE SLOPING/LEVEL LAKE LOT ON LAKE OCONEE! .88 acres w/127 ft water frontage w/slip dock & good water depth, seawall & rip rap. Located on the South side of Lake Oconee w/some of the clearest water on the lake! Corner lot. Faces NW. Area of fine homes. $299,000

NEWLISTING

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3 Year old roof. New water heater. ASKING $280,000

$799,900 Hurry!

BEAUTIFUL HEAVILY WOODED 1.65 ACRE LOT ON LAKE SINCLAIR. GA Power has approved a double boathouse and Water depth is about 6'-9'. Good soil test on file. Community well. Holiday Shores subdv. Fee Simple. Great Lot! $147,500

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BEAUTIFUL VICTORIAN RANCH HOME located in the heart of downtown Eatonton Historic District. 3BR 1.5 BA/Den/Kitchen w/Stainless Refrigerator/Range/Vent Hood. Antique claw foot tub in master bath w/walk in closet/laundry area. Unfinished Mud Room/Future Laundry Room/Future Bathroom Addition. Unfinished attic stubbed for bath. New exterior paint.

OUR FAMILY DREAMS WILL BE MADE HERE! One of Lake Oconee's finest point lake lots on the Richland side of the lake near The Ritz-Carlton Lodge with deep water, max slip dock, masonry seawall. Ranch style home with a half basement finished with 1BR 1BA/Den/Kitchenette. Total of 4BR 2BA with sunroom/ Covered Porch/Deck/Hardwood Floors. Firepit for cozy nights.

On the fence about selling?

Unsure how to begin the home selling process? Get your home sold fast by enlisting a professional real estate agent found in The Real Estate Book.

REMODELING AND NEW HOME HACKS

the home three years before, and Dr. Larsen and his wife trusted me. Little did they know, I had no clue how to build the three simple walls needed for the small new bathroom.

By Tim Carter

Do you want to build a new wall inside your home?

Perhaps you're trying to create a new small space for a home office or hobby room, or maybe you have a bigger appetite and are transforming a dank basement into a finished living space. But you have no idea where to start. I've been there. I've experienced your anxiety.

Just a half-mile from my home a new house is being built. I've yet to meet the new owners but I've been able to closely monitor the progress. The aroma of sawdust still invigorates me, and I must say I do miss wearing my tool belt rig all day long while building a new house. Three years ago I had the pleasure of doing this installing all the plumbing, radiant heating, and electric in my daughter's new home.

I survived with the help of a few phone calls to my boss. It was a humbling experience as I discovered you don't know what

You can't always do this in an existing home, especially if the ceilings in the room are finished with drywall or plaster. As you tilt the wall up, it binds against the ceiling. If you're challenged by a finished ceiling, you'll most likely have to install your top and bottom plates, making sure the plates are

Every now and then it's interesting to go back in time. I clearly remember having to build my first partition wall inside a house. I was a soaking wet-behind-theears carpenter working for a small remodeling company. One of my college professors, Dr. Larsen, had asked me to install a half bathroom in his home. I had no idea what to do, so I told him that my boss could do the job.

As you might suspect, with nearly 50 years of hands-on building experience, I've accumulated quite a few intriguing hacks that should be in many homes – as well as a handful of fantasy hacks that you will only find in homes built by those that can afford them.

garden. I built one of these years ago for a customer. Ever since I completed the punch list, I've always wanted one for myself.

Another really inexpensive hack is to install an outdoor frost-proof hose faucet that has both hot and cold water supply.

you don't know. Keep in mind this was decades before the Internet and YouTube. You have no idea what an advantage you now have when you have to educate yourself about how to repair and build things around your home. Count your blessings!

people's laundry in the cage that hung from the ceiling in the basement. With people wanting convenience with laundry rooms – often on the same floor as the bedrooms – I don't think builders will get many requests for these.

plumb in the same plane. You'll then cut each wall stud to fit snugly between the plates and toenail them in place. Drill angled pilot holes in the ends of the wall studs for the nails. Use no less than 3-inch-long 16d sinker nails to connect the wall studs to the plates.

Let's start on the outside of the house and work our way inside. I'm not an RV owner, but I got more than one suggestion to create a dump port 4-inch pipe that allowed the RV to discharge its sewage into a septic tank. As a master plumber, I can tell you it would take all of 15 extra minutes of work to do this as the piping is being installed from the house to the septic tank. What a great idea!

Once the simple plans were drawn and the contract signed, I was sent to my professor's house to start the job. I had painted the outside of

Another really inexpensive hack is to install an outdoor frost-proof hose faucet that has both hot and cold water supply. I did this in my daughter's garage so they can wash a filthy child or dog or clean a saltencrusted car in bitter-cold weather. Once again, it only takes a few extra minutes in most cases to install the hot water line to this faucet.

Generous roof overhangs, roofs over exterior doors, deep porches that offered shade on sunny days, and screened-in porches were features many wanted on their next home. A variation on the screened-in porch is an octagonal stand-alone structure that could be located in a lush shade

Building a new interior wall in an existing house can be much different from doing it on a new home job site. When we carpenters build a wall for a new home, we typically build it flat on the floor. Once all the studs are nailed to the bottom and top plates, we tilt the wall up and secure it so it doesn't fall over.

Many folks wanted to ditch their propane grill canisters. They want a pipe that extends out to their patio or deck that connects to the propane or natural gas lines that service their furnaces, water heaters and ranges. Guess what? I had this at the last house I built for my family. It took me just 30 minutes to install the tee fitting in the black-iron pipe line, cut and thread the short piece of pipe that went outdoors, and connect the shut-off valve and quick disconnect for the hose that extends to the grill.

Moving inside, right at the top of my son's wish list was hard-wired ethernet cables to all bedrooms and any room that might have a TV or monitor connected to the Internet. Many feel wireless is the way to go, but if you do your homework, you'll discover a hard-wired cable provides faster and more secure connections.

Quite a few people walked down memory lane and desired an oldfashioned laundry chute. These require a considerable amount of work and harken back to the day when someone in the house didn't mind sorting through different

If there is no ceiling, you can tilt the wall up so long as you orient the wall in the same direction as the floor joists above. You simply make sure the top of the wall rises up in between two parallel floor joists. Once the wall is vertical, you can then slide it into position under

Perhaps the most popular suggestions were practical ones about secret spaces to hide valuables. As you might suspect, I had thought of that and have one such place in my existing home. At the very least there are simple ways to do this in attached garages and basements using ordinary building materials and containers that would trick a sly burglar. If you do this, always plan for floods. You must make sure valuables can't be damaged by water.

Others wanted full-blown secret rooms with hidden entrances and exits. As for myself, I've always wanted secret staircases and passageways in a house. They'd work much like in the game of Clue where you enter a passageway in one room and exit into another room in a distant part of the house. Think of the possibilities!

There are several companies that offer different doors that are disguised as bookcases, steps that lift up, and other ways to hide an entrance to a secret room. You can locate these companies with ease on the internet. YouTube has quite a few videos of clever ways to create secret doors.

©2023 Tim Carter. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Building a new interior wall in an existing house can be much different from doing it on a new home job site. When we carpenters build a wall for a new home, we typically build it flat on the floor.

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GUTTER-CLEANING MISTAKES THAT COULD LEAD TO DISASTER

Cleaning gutters is an essential home maintenance task that helps ward off damage to your foundation, leaks and other serious issues. Although clearing debris from your gutters seems straightforward, this chore can be dangerous if it’s not done properly, especially since you’ll likely be working on top of a ladder. It’s even riskier if your home has a tall roof or if you’ve never done the job before.

To avoid costly errors and unsafe situations, there are several guttercleaning mistakes homeowners should take care to avoid. By following a few safety precautions and sticking to a regular cleaning schedule, keeping your gutters clean and free of debris is simple. Familiarize yourself with these common gutter-cleaning mistakes to ensure this maintenance task goes smoothly season after season.

1. You don’t clean your gutters often enough.

One of the most common gutter maintenance mistakes homeowners make is simply not cleaning them as frequently as they should, according to Chris Counahan, president of LeafFilter Gutter Protection. At least twice a year is the typical recommendation, but depending

on your landscape, more frequent cleanings could be necessary.

“For example, if your house is surrounded by trees, you’ll need to tend to your gutters more than twice a year since your gutters are exposed to more debris and leaves,” he says. Pay attention to the condition of your gutters throughout the year, and if needed, mark semiannual gutter cleanings in your calendar so you can ensure this chore gets done.

2. You clean your gutters at the wrong time.

Timing is also important to ensure your drainage system works properly when needed. “Unpredictable weather and storms can increase damage to your home if your gutters are clogged or inadequate,” Counahan says. Plan to clean gutters ahead of periods when severe weather is common in your area. For many places, that means cleaning gutters every spring and fall in preparation for summer storms and harsh winter weather.

3. You don’t wear proper protective gear.

Cleaning gutters is a messy business, and you don’t want to reach into a clump of dirty, rotting leaves bare-

handed. Wear heavy-duty work gloves to keep your hands clean and protect yourself from any sharp objects that could be hidden in the debris. Additionally, rubber-soled shoes with good traction can help ward off slips on the ladder. And don’t forget protective eyewear. “You never know what can fly out of the downspout when cleaning gutters,” Counahan says.

4. You’re not following ladder safety precautions.

A fall from a ladder can result in serious injury or even death, so proper safety measures are crucial when cleaning your gutters. Inspect the ladder carefully before use, and ensure the base has secure, even footing before climbing the ladder. If possible, have a family member or friend hold the bottom of the ladder for stability. If you don’t have a helper, Counahan suggests letting another person know that you will be using a ladder in case an accident occurs.

While you’re up on the ladder, aim to keep your hips between the side rails to maintain your balance and avoid overreaching. “Always move the ladder to a new spot, instead of reaching farther down your gutters, to avoid potential falls,” Counahan says.

HOW TO FIND A HOME REPAIR SERVICE

Ahome is the biggest purchase most of us will ever make. Protect your investment by taking care of repairs quickly and properly. When you have a routine maintenance problem that you don’t have the time or skills to tackle, a home-repair or handyman service can help. These services are generally less expensive and faster than general contractors, who often focus on top-dollar gigs like home building and remodeling.

It can be scary to invite a person or crew into your home to do work, especially if you won’t always be around to keep a watchful eye. It’s important to find a home repair service you can trust to provide prompt and quality work. Whether your project is as small as painting one room or as big as rewiring your whole home, follow these steps before hiring anyone.

TALK TO FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS.

First, ask neighbors and friends for recommendations, preferably for someone with whom they have a positive, ongoing relationship. If that doesn’t net results, check peer-review sites, such as Yelp or Angi, or do an online search for “home repair” or “handyman services.” Make a list of at least three companies, and call the Better Business Bureau to see if complaints have been filed against any of them.

ASK FOR REFERENCES.

Next, ask the candidates for references. Ask these customers if they felt the service provider was prompt, courteous, professional, affordable, fair and trustworthy. Ask to see photos so you can judge the quality of the work. It’s best to interview customers who hired the contractor for a project similar to the work you need.

GET WRITTEN ESTIMATES.

Finally, get written estimates (these should be free) from a few companies before choosing one. Be sure the companies are bidding the same specs for the project so you can compare apples to apples. While reasonable pricing is important, going with the lowest price isn’t always the best bet. A poor repair job will cost twice as much when you must pay to fix mistakes. When working with a new-to-you repairperson, particularly someone who doesn’t come with recommendations from people you know well, you might want to give him or her a test run on a small project.

OUTLINE YOUR AGREEMENT CLEARLY.

Hire only a repair service or handyman who is insured, bonded and licensed or knowledgeable in the type of repairs you need. Before they begin even a small job, get a written contract that outlines the terms of your agreement, including timeline, fees and warranties. Without this step, you’ll have a much harder time recovering your expenses if the handyman doesn’t deliver as promised.

©2023 Meredith Corporation. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.