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January 23, 2010
Normally I am able to update my Ramblings
and web page when things slow down. Being that my last update to my
Ramblings was in October, it would be accurate to say that we have been
very busy and actually closing out some properties. The Holidays
were glorious as were able to visit with family and just enjoy the season.
It seems that from October our activity
around the office really picked up and has been steady up to right now.
Praise God! We have sold a couple of commercial tracts, several
small land tracts, one home and have financed several of our own
properties. I know you can not help but hear all the gloom and doom
but think about this. Even though may properties are being sold at
corrected or reduced prices, that money is still being placed back into
circulation. Example.........We closed on a 16 acre tract yesterday
in Pavo, GA(Brooks Cty). This was estate property, very pretty, on a
red clay canopy road with big pine, oaks and rolling hills. There
was an old home on the property that will be torn down. Lets follow
the money. The property was purchased and the seller made some money
that she will in turn give to her children and the will spend some, invest
some. The closing attorney made some money, we made some money, and
because the property was split, there will probably be more tax on the
property generated for the county. The purchaser will further
stimulate the local economy as he will have to hire a contractor to
put in a well, hire another contractor to put in a septic tank, he
will hire someone to tear down the old home on the property and then he
will move a home on the property or have one built. So even if he
purchased the property @ about $1000.00 an acre less than he would have
paid two years ago, that money/sale is doing a lot more to stimulate our
economy than most people think. Multiply that by all the other
foreclosure sales and other sales in general and you can see much of the
positive forces at work. Hopefully we will learn from our mistakes,
hold more accountability to our elected officials and basically stay
involved not become apathetic to everything that goes on around us.
Look at the heartbreaking devastation and suffering of Haiti. If you
live in this country, you are blessed. We should all remember that.
I am excited at the prospects of what this year holds.
We recently took part in a re-zoning that
saw a Large Residential Development Tract with R- 1 zoning, that got
caught up in the down turn and never took off, go from R-1 zoning to
Light Industrial for a new Industrial Park for our area. Sounds
Invasive, I know. Basically we had one neighbor who was for it and another
who was against it. I hated it that not everyone was sold on this
but I think as things progress folks will see this project will be less
invasive and a lot less intrusive to their quality of life than they
think. I know it will be less intrusive than a 100+ single family
homes. Time will tell.....but I think this will be good. This
project was a prime example of Transitional Land being dictated by the
state of the real estate market. This whole deal will be a great
case study to remember in learning to "Think outside the box."
Residential rentals are still strong.
Even our commercial rentals are picking up. We still have way too
many empty commercial rentals but we have rented several and I am excited
that I can see a turn.
I was elected/selected as the 2010 president
of the GA Chapter of the Realtors Land Institute this year. I don't
believe I was probably the best choice, but I do enjoy this type of work
and the folks in our chapter are very helpful. I have learned more
from this group of people than any other group I have ever been associated
with. I have been very busy trying to get our membership
together and formulate a schedule full of classes and program. We
have a GPS/Navigation class on tap for March 10th and 11th, and Mapping
Software Workshop scheduled for the 12th. This is the same software
that I have been using for years. I am very excited about this
class. The workshop will be beneficial to property owners, land managers,
and land brokers/agents alike. This class will be held in Forsyth at
the Georgia Forestry Association headquarters. Give me a shout if
you would like more information on this. National RLI will be having
their Land Conference in Fort Worth TX in April. Excited about that
but I still need to clear with management. Our state chapter
is also looking at doing a class in Macon, Brunswick and a Tall Timbers
Research Station program in April. Our state chapter is already
working on getting our listings hooked up with TotalCommercial.Com.
Lots going on! I have a lot of great help!
The Georgia Association of Realtors are
meeting in Charleston during the first week of February. Kayce will
be attending with me and this will be good for both of us. She went
with me during our last meeting at Charleston and it was one of our best
trips ever.
For what it is worth. If you have an
insurance claim and your are not happy with what your adjuster says.
You might look into a public adjuster. I know there are always two
sides to a story but as I understand it and have seen, the public adjuster
works off a percentage of what he is able to get you. This has
worked for us on some claims where the insurance did not want to pay.
No disrespect to the insurance people....just an option you might want to
be aware of..........like anything, research and get advice from the
source.
Lots of rain here lately. In another
couple of weeks as things dry out we will start getting ready burn off
different wooded tracts. I always look forward to that. If you
have questions about prescribed fire.....click on the Tall Timbers link on
the home page.
Shortly after Thanksgiving I came home to be
informed that my daughter had swallowed a steel ball bearing out of
my son's magnet set. Marble sized. This did not bother me much
as I knew she would pass this. Well.......my wife and I knowing our
daughter and her history of drama and over exaggeration figured she was
just being herself when she said she could not swallow. He airway
was fine, she was not in any pain yet she would not allow herself to
swallow. My wife and both thought this was all in her head.
Well the next day we took her to the doctor in order to show her this was
all in her head.....well it was all in her head, per the x-ray her
esophagus. Well you can imagine how we felt! That was a Friday
afternoon at 4:00 pm. By 5:00 we were on the road to the Macon's
Children's Hospital. at 12:30 am Kayce and I are alone in some
empty deserted room on the far end of the Hospital and Charlotte is in
surgery where the Doctor's are trying to clear this obstruction in her
esophagus. a 10 to 15 minute procedure. Over an hour later we
are still there. In my heart I knew everything would be fine as we
had already committed this whole matter into God's hands. But still.
The room we were in overlooked a parking deck and the street below.
It was 20 to 30 degree weather, high wind chill and a drizzly rain.
We prayed a lot. I did not know it at the time, but Kayce had
focused on a Christmas tree she could see at the top of the parking deck
from where she sat, looking out into the dark, cold, wet night. On
top of that tree was a cross. Kayce later wrote a letter to all
those who had been praying for us about that cross and how it moved her
and how she clung to that cross and how it symbolized for her that Jesus
carried all our hopes, fears, sins, everything on that cross.
We lay it all at the cross. Until I read that letter, I did not know
all of this was going through her mind and heart. What in incredible wife
I have.
The doctor came in finally and let us know
that they were unsuccessful in trying to extract the obstruction and had
decided to force the obstruction down her esophagus and they would let
things run their course and this was what they had done. Answer to
prayer.
We have been blessed far beyond what we
deserve. We stayed most of that Saturday where they could monitor
Charlotte. Before Charlotte went under for surgery and when she
awoke it was the same thing that was on her mind......."When do I get my
Chocolate Milk Shake?" She had not eaten or had anything to drink
for 24 hrs! Count it all Joy!
From that point we rolled into the Holidays!
We did the Calloway Festival of Lights which was awesome and really had a
fabulous Christmas celebrating the birth of Jesus! The kids, as
always had a big time. I tried to drink as much egg nogg as humanly
possible.....it's just once a year! We had much to be thankful
for. Uncle Lance came home from LA which is always a blast for the
kids. While he was home just after new years ,we saw him on TV on
some Reality Show. That was funny.
This hunting season was fun. I was
able to go hunting with all my Children. Charlotte and I harvested a
couple of deer together, Colin and I, (with Colin doing all the grunting)
grunted and rattled a young 5 point buck to within 20' of our Box Blind!
It was awesome. Just to see Colin's face light up to the reaction of
the buck when he grunted! We let him walk. Colin is 5 and this was
his first encounter. Emmaline and I, got up close and personal with
a Rabbit! We did see some deer but they were so far away she could
not get a good look at them.
Yesterday I was off to a closing in
Brooks County and viewed what I thought were cranes scattered all over a
hill side coming into Quitman GA off of Hwy 84. I guess they were
sand cranes. What a sight!. I did not do so well with the Bow
this year but did manage to get some deer in very close, just did not want
to shoot them. Glorious all the same. I have not been doing
much fishing but that will soon change now that hunting season is coming
to a close. I don't hunt Turkeys. Not sure if I have the heart
to put Kayce through that right after deer season. Our Boston GA Big
Buck Contest and Wild Game Supper should be happening pretty soon. I
had a friend/client take me hunting and I harvested a pretty nice Buck.
Most folks have told me I am in the running so we shall see. That
deer have very little to do with my ability and more to do with being in
the right place at the right time. Kind of like real estate.
Count it up to God's Blessings.
Please pray for those folks in Haiti and the
people who are aiding in the relief effort.
Take care.
Dan
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