If you’re on the hunt for your next home, have a growing family, or plan to start one in the near future, and are considering your housing options, then you’ll want to take into consideration what school disctrict you’re moving to.  Coming from South Florida, the schools were not all we hoped they would be.  And this realization came at a time when our then 4 year old was ready to move into the public school system.  We were no longer interested in paying through the nose for private school, but it made us cringe knowing that we would not be offering the best education to our child. 

So as so many factors came into play– pushing us to the edge of selling our Miami home and high-tailing it out of there before the market came audibly crashing down around us– yet again, we hit the Internet up for what the schools were like in Georgia.  And as we narrowed down our search to Fayette County, we were pleasantly surprised by how well the schools scored on a local and a national level. 

It’s also a good idea to call ahead to the school to find out what information they will need to enroll your child before things get hectic with the move.  My wife found out after calling the school that she would have to register our daughter in a completely different town and needed quite a few papers in order to get the ball rolling.  Be prepared!  And if you are considering going the private school route, know that spaces fill up fast for small preschools.

Moral of the story… if you’re seriously considering a move, there are other things to consider besides your commute to work and proximity to your neighborhood Starbucks…  (although my wife may take issue with that… she was ecstatic to find out from our real estate agent how close ours was to our home and it may have been a defining moment in her decision making)…  Take a look at the educational options that are available to you and work them into your real estate options.  Talk to your real estate agent about it and find out from someone who knows the area and who probably has his/her children in the same school system as yours would be! 

More next week on our adventures in moving… Come back, y’all!

And so began the business of selling our home.  With a house in Peachtree City, GA already in our sight, we now set upon the grim task of “staging”.  And what that really meant was going through five years worth of stuff accumulated thanks to a move from abroad and a new baby.  But what became clear when showing our home at the agents’ open house was that looks really do matter, and it’s not about you or your tastes and likes.  It’s much more basic and simple than that!  It’s about keeping a clean home and keeping a neutral color scheme.  De-clutter, de-clutter, de-clutter.  Scrub that tile grout and shine those countertops. 

http://www.trulia.com/blog/taranelson/2011/02/6_things_that_turn_home_buyers_off_and_what_sellers_can_do_to_prevent_it?ecampaign=cnews201103E&eurl=www.trulia.com%2Fblog%2Ftaranelson%2F2011%2F02%2F6_things_that_turn_home_buyers_off_and_what_sellers_can_do_to_prevent_it

It made my wife cringe, but it’s what got our home sold; the one buyer who came to view our home walked through it a total of three times, the last time was with a contractor in tow.  And each time she came she became more enamored by what she could do to personalize the space to her liking.  She was not being rude; in fact, she paid many compliments to the large chocolate brown accent wall we had towards the rear of our house, which did much to appease my wife’s sensibility.  It simply was a testiment to how easily she could envision the home becoming hers. 

Had she had to exhaust her imagination, it may have been easier for her to throw her hands up and move on to the next property; had she had to overlook filth or clutter or unpleasant odors, it may have been that much harder to see what she needed to see, and that was a great structure and space with exactly what she needed for her family to live comfortably.  And soon, it was official.  Sold in two months flat.

Spring is here.  Don’t underestimate the power of a seasonally-inspired cleaning blitz.  Even if you don’t have the cash to remodel a thing to encourage the sale of your home, it’s amazing what a little elbow grease can do to really showcase your home when planning to sell.

There’s another installment next week as we move from Miami, FL to Peachtree City, GA… Come back, y’all!

As I’ve mentioned before, my wife was  not lacking in the research department and was no stranger to searches on the Internet for whatever information we needed.  As we looked at the dizzying number of properties available on the market, it was easy to feel overwhelmed; and we quickly began clicking on realtors and felt a greater sense of confidence turning to the larger, more prominent real estate agencies, RE/MAX being one of our favorites, for help narrowing down our choices.  We also realized we needed someone who was truly knowledgeable with the local area. 

As destiny would have it, we fell in love with a builder and contacted them directly.  They put us in touch with one of their real estate agents.  There are no hard and fast rules or mathematical formula that exists that guarantees the perfect real estate agent for your needs; but there is one thing that both my wife and I can vouch for, and that’s the non-salesperson salesperson.  It sounds like a study on negative logic, but lets call it as we see it.  Real estate agents are salespeople; they essentially sell a product and that product is your home.  No denying that, and no sugar-coating the fact that a real estate agent works for and earns a commision on what they sell. 

But, show of hands now– who hates feeling like they’re being sold to?  Who hates that fake, over-the-top, slick sales pitch that not only sounds rehearsed, but hollow and passionless?  Who hates feeling like a commision and less like a family searching for a place to put down roots?  Case in point, you know what I mean if you’ve ever been to a timeshare presentation at any large resort.  The salesperson you’ve been assigned to makes you think you’re long lost relatives; but once they see that they’re not going to make a sale with you, it’s like you’ve hit an iceberg and are left floundering in the cold North Atlantic ocean.  The frost that suddenly appears as you sit in their cubicle is actually visible, and they can’t usher you out fast enough!  That’s not what you want with your real estate agent!  Our real estate agent blew us away with her commitment and genuine passion for her work.  She got to know us, where we were from and where we were going, and worked hard for us.  There was never a phony sales pitch or a disinterest in our concerns.  In short, we had stumbled across a true gem, without even considering how important all the qualities she brought to the table were!

http://www.ehow.com/how_4825922_choose-right-real-estate-agent.html

A few months later we were in Georgia for our closing, our moving van not far behind us.  That’s what a good real estate agent is capable of doing!  Don’t underestimate this valuable piece of advice: choose wisely because it truly makes a difference!

More next week on what drew us so close to Atlanta, Georgia… Come back, y’all!

Shortly after looking into areas surrounding Atlanta, Georgia, we decided to take a weekend break to look at homes and get a feel for the communities.  We were so sure that we were ready to move to Austin, Texas, that we thought it prudent to at least have something to compare it to and make absolutely sure we were making the right decision.  Bear in mind that we had yet to actually visit Austin…

But when we stepped out of the airport and drove into downtown Atlanta early that spring… well… let’s just say my wife thought she had died and this was heaven.  It was overwhelming how beautiful Georgia is in the spring; and coming from palm trees and hardy, heat-resistant landscaping, to see so much in bloom was gorgeous.

http://www.vacationsmadeeasy.com/AtlantaGA/articles/AtlantaWeatherInformation.cfm

There was so much dedicated green space, lakes, trees and flowers in bloom.  We could definitely picture ourselves and our daughter enjoying all there was on offer…

So not only was the cost of living more appealing, now so was the quality of living…  I think this was about the time we decided we might not make a similar trip to Austin.  Georgia was starting to feel like home.

There’ s more next week on what else we thought was worth the move from Florida…  Come back, y’all!

I moved from Miami, FL three years ago with my daughter and my wife.  The cost of living in Miami was skyrocketing and the housing market was beginning to crumble silently around us.  Homes in our quiet, gated community had been sitting on the market for months; one or two were in foreclosure, and at least one had been abandonded and weeds were growing rampant in the yard.  We moved now or faced the same fate. 

So I grabbed the bull by the horns and faced my fears of moving beyong our comfort zone, leaving our friends, family, and community; and I asked my wife to do a little research.  After all, moving doesn’t mean just moving…  It means relocating.  Relocating is finding a new school for our young daughter, navigating the DMV, locating our closest grocery stores and other amenities, choosing a community that was the right fit for the lifestyle we wanted– not a task for the light of heart!

With Google as her best ally, my wife tackled the task of whittling down potential candidates.  Our criteria was simple: we had to be close to a major airport as my commutes led me abroad for two weeks out of the month; the cost of living had to be cheap or at least cheaper than what we were experiencing in Miami; and the public school system had to be excellent as we no longer would be able to afford paying for a private school for much longer at the rate our finances and the economy were going.  One of our first choices was Austin, Texas.  Affordable, quirky but trendy, close to an airport, and schools seemed great.  Then I threw a monkey wrench into the works.  Why not Atlanta, Georgia? 

http://www.atlanta.net/

My wife gave me one of those all-suffering looks after researching down to ballet schools for our daughter in Austin, contacting real estate agents, and even tracking down a friend who lived in Texas.  I played it off as one of those ‘let’s be spontaneous’ moments and hoped she’d fall for it.  Being the personality type that she is, she went back to the drawing board and pulled up pages of research, including cost of living comparisons, on the Atlanta metro area as well as the rest of Georgia.

http://www.costofliving.net/index.cfm?fuseaction=BrowseCOL.Georgia-cost-of-living-data-by-location&state=GA&Show=state

Needless to say, we were duly impressed…  But an affordable cost of living couldn’t be all we would move for. 

More next week on what else drew us to this beautiful corner of the south…  Come back, y’all!