Alabama Statewide Sales Tax Holiday

12:01 am, Friday, August 3, 2007 will be the starting point and 12:00 midnight Sunday, August 5, 2007 will be the finish line for time for Alabama’s Second Annual Tax Holiday shopping marathon.

This Tax Holiday aims to afford financial relief to Back-To-School shoppers across the state a $3.3 million break.

Governor Riley stated, "At a time when families need it most, this change will let them keep more of their hard-earned dollars. It will offer tax relief to Alabama families from the burden of the state's sales tax on items their children need for school."
For more information about exempted items, city participation, and county participation check out this article at the Alabama Department of Revenue. Also feel free to read this article from the Birmingham Business Journal.

Happy Shopping!

Best Places to Live: Find Out Where They Are

What do you want to know about where you might be moving? Are you having difficulty deciding between two or three areas? I found a resource for you!

Normally, I would never plug any website other than my own, but I think this would be a great website for any buyers or investors out there. It’s Sperling’s Best Places. While on Sperling’s I was able to find out a city’s general overview, demographic stats about the population, economy and tax information, housing statistics, health data, crime statistics, climate trends, education reports, transportation data, cost of living information, religious trends, and voting information. For those wanting to compare two areas, there is even a place to run a comparison. (Once you’ve picked an area or two here in our area, give us a call and we can actually start looking at homes!)

I’ll be adding Sperling’s to my link list on the side. (Or CLICK here.)I just wanted you to know about some of the resources we’re providing for you on the site. Our goal is that Greater Birmingham Real Estate Resources will be more than just a real estate blog. Our hopes is that it can be a resource for living in the Greater Birmingham Area.

Don't Forget to Sing Along

What does this have to do with real estate? Nothing really, although I'm sure I could try to make up something if I tried really hard. I don't want to though. I just want this to speak for itself. Don't forget to sing along...

Staging Your Home To Sell Part 3

House transformed for $5000.

If this amount is way out of your budget check out my other two entries. Transforming a home for $500 and transforming a home for $100.


In this video Barbara starts with out how to change a buyer's first impression (which does make or break a deal), addresses psychological issues, and tells how to get a better offer. Great tips and advice...

Federal, State, Local, Property, and Sales Taxes

We aren't first place and we're glad! We are number 46, number 49, and number 50. Normally states don't want to be last, but in this case it's a good thing.

I was reading an article on MSN Money about the best and worst states for taxes and an article about Property Taxes and we're scraping the bottom of the barrel... YIPEE! for you and YIPEE! for me.

Alabama ranks #46 in State and Local taxes, #50 in Federal, State, and Local taxes combined, and #49 in Property taxes (keep in mind this varies from area to area in every state).You can actually check sales taxes for different zip codes by checking here. Have a few places you are thinking about moving to? Do a comparison.

If you're like me and don't believe in wasting money this is important information. Where do you want to live? Start your life? Retire? That location you've been thinking about for years may prove to be a nightmare. Do your research. I linked several charts, websites, and articles above. There may be some possibilities that you hadn't considered yet.

An Optical Octopus Illusion Illustrates the Need for a Home Inspection

Watch and then ask.. What does this have to do with real estate or a home inspection?



Now, the answer to the question. What does this have to do with real estate? When I saw it the first thing I thought (well maybe not the first, but definitely one of the next five thoughts) was, "This is why you MUST get a home inspection!" So many times you can walk through a house and a very pretty picture has been painted, but underneath the paint on the canvas (behind the sofa)can be some real problems. We always recommend a home inspection to all of our buyers. We recently found a home whose heating system didn't work. It's the middle of summer, would you have thought about that?

A home inspection company just recently came to us and told us about having a home inspection before you sell. What a great idea! Have the home inspected and then fix what you want or fix it all. You can have a copy of the inspection at your home along with a list of what has been corrected. This lets all potential buyers know what could possibly be wrong and what you were willing to address.

Either way, whether you are buying or selling a home inspection by a real home inspector is a good thing.

Staging Your Home To Sell Part 2

House Transformed for $500 (actually $486.01)


Small space? Dark Space? They reveal some tips for brightening and enlarging a space.

Don't Forget the Laundry...Room

I found this article. It has some great advice...

Dazzle Buyers With the Laundry Room

Don't forget about the laundry room when you try to sell a home. After all, it may give home sellers a competitive advantage, says Sid Davis, author of Home Makeovers That Sell (AMACOM, 2007).

"Sometimes the laundry room will do it," Davis says in attracting buyers. "It's the wow factor that can get you full price for a home."

Even simple, inexpensive changes can make the laundry room more appealing, he says.

California interior designer Jackie Terrell, whose laundry room was featured in House Beautiful magazine, offers the following suggestions for making the room less cluttered and more comfortable.

Brighten things up. Paint the walls a bright color. Colorful walls help make up for any lack of natural light. Spot, recessed, and pendant lighting fixtures also can lighten murky spaces.

Make good use of space. Installing cabinets and a built-in ironing board make the room more functional. Installing a countertop over frontloading appliances creates a space for folding clothes.

Add carpeting. If the room is chilly, carpeting will warm it up.

Hang some art. Artwork underscores the idea that the laundry room is not just a storage space for your dirty clothes, but it can be an attractive space.

Source: The Denver Post, Sheba R. Wheeler (07/07/07)

Staging Your Home to Sell Part 1

House Transformed for $100



Watch and take notes. Little things do make a difference!

America's Hardest Working Boy?

Whoever says that today’s generation doesn’t understand hard work surely hasn’t met this boy. Why? According to the IRS and Social Security Administration he has held more than 3,900 jobs and at one time was holding down 919 jobs in 42 states.

You have probably figured this out by now, but this boy isn’t really working this much. (No, really, he’s not) He is, however, one of the most extraordinary victims of Social Security Number theft and fraud by workers in the United States.

Frighteningly enough though, he wasn’t the only one. The Inspector General reported that 11 social security numbers were used more than 400 times each and more than 9 million fraudulent and invalid W-2s are filed every year. Knowing this, you will probably find this as absurd as I did, if the Social Security Administration found out this was happening to you they couldn’t tell you about it nor would they report it to law enforcement agencies. (Thank you Congress and IRS) They would however contact the employees who used them and employers who hired them. These employees were hired by over 1.9 million employers while 95 of them had 1,000 or more occurrences. One even had about 13,954 instances.

I found all of this information in an article by Terence P. Jeffrey, editor of Human Events. Now, what does this all mean for you? Buying and investing in a home typically requires credit. When was the last time you had your checked? You, as a consumer, need to keep yourself aware of your credit scores. All of the major credit reporting agencies are currently giving one free report a year. It is not a full report, but properly monitored it can alert you to unusual happenings. Be aware and be safe. It will matter when it comes time to make such an important decision.

Visual Tours, Real Estate Guides, and Community Tours

Less than 10% of all Real Estate Consultants use some form of Virtual Tours to advertise their listings. Real Estate Consultants that use the state of the art VisualTour Marketing System offer you a distinctively different tour (Not all tours are created equal. Check out the real estate guides and community tours to the right.) and these advantages:

Immediacy - Your consultant can create your VisualTour immediately using their digital camera and professional sales skills instead of waiting on a third party. Your VisualTour can be online in a matter of hours!

Convenience and Security – Since your VisualTour can show every important feature of your home online 24x7, this helps minimize interruptions to your busy schedule due to unnecessary buyer visits. The ability to preview your home using a VisualTour also minimizes the number of unqualified strangers that go through your home in person.

Your Home, Your Tour! – Who knows your home better than you do? With your input, your real estate consultant can create a VisualTour that showcases ALL of its unique features, including neighborhood amenities. Together, you can decide exactly what should and shouldn’t be shown.

Superior Exposure – Your VisualTour can be distributed to national and local websites for maximum exposure. It can also be sent via email, and it can be placed on a CD.

Don’t settle for less than the very best when it comes to marketing your home!

Working with a Real Estate Consultant that uses VisualTour to showcase your home ensures that your home is exposed to the largest possible audience in the best possible manner with the least inconvience for you.

For more information about VisualTours and any of our other marketing programs just get in touch.

A Patriotic Wish by Edgar Guest

I'd like to be the sort of man the flag could boast about;
I'd like to be the sort of man it cannot live without;
I'd like to be the type of man
That really is American:

The head-erect and shoulders-square,
Clean-minded fellow, just and fair,
That all men picture when they see
The glorious banner of the free.

I'd like to be the sort of man the flag now typifies,
The kind of man we really want the flag to symbolize;
The loyal brother to a trust,
The big, unselfish soul and just,

The friend of every man oppressed,
The strong support of all that's best,
The sturdy chap the banner's meant,
Where'er it flies, to represent.

I'd like to be the sort of man the flag's supposed to mean,
The man that all in fancy see wherever it is seen,
The chap that's ready for a fight
Whenever there's a wrong to right,
The friend in every time of need,
The doer of the daring deed,
The clean and generous handed man
That is a real American.