Archive for the ‘Nashville’ Category

The holiday season is officially upon us! Whether you are fortunate enough to already live in a Paran Homes community or a new home is on your holiday wish list and you plan to visit a Paran Homes community, you might want to add one or more of the holiday happenings listed below to your agenda. We often recommend a memorable adventure out in the surrounding area to our home buyers so they can get a true taste of what it might be like to live in one of our communities. This time of year, why not make your house hunting trip festive and fun?

Living or House Hunting in Metro Atlanta? Be sure to check out one or more of these seasonal-centric events:

Winter Wonderland Marietta: If you live in or plan to visit Chestnut Farms in Kennesaw or Oakleigh Pointe in Dallas this holiday season, you may want to make the short trek over to the iconic Marietta Square for Winter Wonderland Marietta. Nearly an entire month has been dedicated to the celebration of the season with caroling, live performances from local talent, story time, candlelight shopping on the Square, pictures with Santa, the lighting of the menorah, nativity scene on the Square and more. Most of the festivities will take place in Glover Park.

Holiday Shows at the Aurora Theatre: If you live in or plan to visit Heritage Pointe in Lawrenceville, you may want to purchase tickets to see a performance of several holiday-themed stage plays at this award-winning theatre. The line up of plays include A Christmas Carol (on stage through 12/22), This Wonderful Life (a charming adaptation of It’s a Wonderful Life – on stage through 12/23) and Reindeer Games (on stage through 12/30). While you’re there, you may want to pop by the Historic Lawrenceville Courthouse for visits and photos with Santa before or after the show.

Holiday in the Park at Six Flags Over Georgia: If you live in or plan to visit Sweetwater Landing in Powder Springs, you may want to allow a little extra time to pop by Six Flags Over Georgia for what they have declared as the “most wonderful time of the year.” Happening now through January 6, 2019 on select days, Holiday in the Park showcases many of the popular rides that you know and love paired with sparkling lights, festive shows, special treats like s’mores and hot chocolate, and – of course – the occasional appearance from the Jolly Old Elf himself.

Christmas in Cumming at the Cumming Fairgrounds: If you live in or plan to visit The Lakes of Franklin Goldmine in Cumming, there are a number of dates with which you may wish your visit dates to coincide. On 12/7-8, The Christmas in Cumming Arts & Crafts Festival takes over the Cumming Fairgrounds from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. presenting a great way to purchase original and unique gifts for anyone on your list. On 12/15 at 5 p.m., the Cumming Christmas Parade begins. Following the same route as the city’s 4th of July parade, the Christmas installment will end at the Fairgrounds with a huge Christmas festival and visits with Santa. Lastly, there will be plenty of chances to show off your ice skating skills now through January 7, 2019 at the Winter Wonderland in Cumming Rink at the Fairgrounds.

Stone Mountain Christmas: If you live in or plan to visit The Woods of Midvale in Tucker, you should definitely include Stone Mountain Park in your evening! Once the sun goes down, millions of dazzling lights go up on a truly stunning Christmas celebration that includes festive music, spectacular shows, a nightly tree lighting and Christmas Parade with appearances by Santa Claus AND the Snow Angel. Be sure to pop by the 4D theater for an immersive screening of The Polar Express and climb aboard the Scenic Railroad for a musical and magical ride around the mountain. If you plan to visit during the day, take advantage of the rare occurrence of SNOW in Atlanta thanks to Snow Mountain – offering a 400-foot snow-covered tubing hill and enormous snowy play area for building snowmen and igloos to your heart’s content.

Christmas Feast at Chateau Elan: If you live in or plan to visit Traditions of Braselton in Jefferson, there are a number of festivities to include in your holiday season house hunting trip. You could make the trip over to Lanier Islands for the famed Magical Nights of Lights and License to Chill Snow Island, you could hit the brand-new skating Rink at Mall of Georgia ORRRRR you could plan to spend your Christmas Eve or Christmas Day dining on decadent fare at the renowned resort and winery – Chateau Elan.

Living or House Hunting in the Greater Nashville Area? Be sure to check out one or more of these seasonal-centric events:

A Country Christmas at Gaylord Opryland Resort: If you live in or plan to visit South Haven, Stewart Creek Farms or Villages of Berkshire in Murfreesboro, you may want to make the drive over to Nashville to visit the beautifully bedecked Opryland Resort and Convention Center. This time of year, a beloved tradition for countless families throughout the South is to tour the interior of the opulent atrium, as well as the surrounding grounds to marvel at more than three million twinkling lights and festive décor, an indoor winter wonderland boasting more than 2 million pounds of ice and an indoor skating rink. Don’t miss your chance to catch a performance of Cirque Dreams Holidaze.

Happiest of Holiday Wishes to You and Yours from Paran Homes! 

We Look Forward to Seeing YOU Soon!

Southeast Homebuilder Believes that Communication is the Key to Its Success for the Remainder of 2018 and Beyond

 Duluth, GA, April 18, 2018 –  Benjamin Franklin perhaps said it best… “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” With eyes firmly set on success, Metro Atlanta-based regional home builder – Paran Homes – is instituting a culture that is geared toward preparation and pre-planning… even if that means adding an extra step. In an industry filled with production builders that hit the ground running on multiple projects with the assumption that their sub-contractors know what they’re doing, Paran Homes is taking a little inspiration from the season associated with transformation and growth. As Spring 2018 continues to take shape all around the world, a new pre-construction culture will take shape at Paran Homes.

“When we launch a new community or unveil a new floor plan, the leadership team at Paran Homes always has a clear vision of what that neighborhood or home will look like upon completion and the ambiance it will convey for years to come,” said Josh Paterson, VP of Construction for Paran Homes. “We understand the steps needed to make that vision a reality. By instituting a pre-construction culture and bringing more players into the fold prior to construction, we’ll be ensuring that everyone is on board with that vision, have a clearer understanding of any obstacles to that vision, and possibly share ideas that could make that vision even better. Paterson continued, “Our Sales and Construction team members then outline the entire process to our buyers. They also review specific home plans for their lot, as well as all personalized design center selections in order to eliminate any errors, ultimately giving our home buyers peace of mind.”

Other advantages to pre-construction meetings at Paran Homes include:

• Providing a forum for team members to ask any questions they may have about the new community or floor plan
• Encouraging the team to set performance goals and consider best methods to achieve those goals
• Setting a timeline and holding all parties accountable for adhering to that timeline
• Outlining any required city, county and state forms and documents
• Establishing a clear, more formal starting point
• Best of all, minimizing the frequency of “mistakes” due to miscommunication and – as a result – keeping construction costs in line

Paterson adds, “We’re convinced that the incorporation of pre-construction meetings to our process is not just the right thing to do for our company, it’s also the right thing to do for our prospective home owners. In the end, the results will be a stronger team, a streamlined construction process and – ultimately – a collection of imaginative new home communities filled with beautifully crafted, quality constructed houses by Paran Homes.”

To learn more about Paran Homes and its communities throughout the Southeast, home buyers are encouraged to visit www.paranhomes.com

About Paran Homes:  Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Metro Atlanta, Paran Homes boasts beautifully crafted homes and imaginative communities in some of the Southeast’s hottest housing markets. With a presence throughout Metro Atlanta, as well as in and Nashville, TN, Paran Homes seeks to build houses of uncompromised quality while delivering a stellar customer service experience – from the first community visit to closing. To match the needs and wishes of today’s home buyers, the placement of Paran Homes communities is based on access to great schools, major thoroughfares/interstates, local shopping, dining and entertainment. Beyond the allure of its homes and community locations, many Paran neighborhoods feature resort-like amenities including pools, walking trails, and clubhouses. To learn more about Paran Homes, view available homes and discover current communities throughout the Southeast, visit www.paranhomes.com.

We know you’re already SO EXCITED about buying a new home, you can hardly stand it! Still, Paran Homes wants to take that excitement about 750 steps further! Home buyers in Atlanta and Nashville who place a new construction Paran Home under contract by March 30^th and close by May 30^th will be automatically entered in a drawing to win a $750 Pottery Barn® Shopping Spree*! Only three lucky homebuyers will be chosen at random, and the winners will have an opportunity to peruse the throw pillows, analyze the area rugs, select the shower curtains, look through the linens and/or choose the china at Pottery Barn that will make their new homes uniquely their own. If you are fortunate enough to be declared one of our three lucky winners, you might opt to spend your winnings on THE PERFECT chair for your new study or spread the wealth around on a number of décor items that fit your distinctive sense of style.

Paran Homes communities that you may want to consider in order to be eligible for the $750 Pottery Barn® Shopping Spree interior design incentive include:

Oakleigh Pointe in Dallas, GA

Silver Springs Village in Powder Springs, GA

Sweetwater Landing in Powder Springs, GA

The Lakes of Franklin Goldmine in Cumming, GA

Wheatfields Reserve in Grayson, GA

South Haven in Murfreesboro, TN

Villages of Berkshire in Murfreesboro, TN

During this month associated with lucky four-leaf clovers, little green leprechauns and a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, we find it only fitting to wish you the BEST OF LUCK in our drawing to win at $750 Pottery Barn® Shopping Spree! More importantly, we wish you many years of happiness in your new Paran Home!

Go Ahead! We know you want to… Start “Window Shopping” at PotteryBarn.com!

* We’re sorry, but homes that are not completed and/or unable to close by the May 30^th deadline are not eligible to be entered for the $750 Pottery Barn® Shopping Spree drawing.

Southeast Homebuilder Gives the Gift of Land in Tennessee in Support of One of the Largest Fundraising Initiatives to Benefit Renowned Children’s Research Hospital

Duluth, GA, December 19, 2017 –  Founder Whit Marshall and his team at Metro Atlanta-based Paran Homes celebrated the season of giving by donating Lot #48 at the regional builder’s Barrington Pointe community in Tennessee to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. A ground-breaking ceremony was held at the site on December 12, with the launch of construction soon to follow on the next St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway house. The St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway represents one of the nonprofit organization’s largest fundraising initiatives, involving dozens of homes constructed by dedicated sponsors in cities across the nation each year. Donors purchase tickets for $100 each to be entered into a raffle for a chance to win a St. Jude Dream Home. Because St. Jude “funding comes from generous donors, St. Jude has the freedom to focus on what matters most – saving kids regardless of their financial situation. Every dollar makes a difference. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.”

“We are so happy to be partnering with Paran Homes to help the kids and families at St. Jude,” said Gus Issa, builder of the St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway house. “We could not make it happen without the tremendous support of our trade partners who so graciously donate so much of their resources to make this endeavor successful each year.”

The nonprofit organization is currently hosting more than 30 Dream Home Giveaways all across the nation. All proceeds from the St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee – which treats children in all 50 states and all around the world. The hospital freely shares the discoveries it makes. That means that for every child saved at St. Jude, doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. As a result, St. Jude’s efforts have helped push overall childhood cancer survival rates from 20% in 1962 to more than 80% today.

In addition to this recent donation of land to St. Jude, Paran Homes recently took part in a Toys for Tots drive at its communities and corporate headquarters throughout Metro Atlanta. For the second year in a row, the Southeast homebuilder collected hundreds of new, unwrapped toys for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program, with the goal of making the holidays a little bit brighter for even more children in need in the areas surrounding many of its Metro Atlanta communities.

“When we design and build our homes, we have this image in mind of the happy families who will one day live there,” said Marshall. “The truth is that – when faced with financial challenges, childhood illnesses or other catastrophic events – not every day is happy in the lives of so many families. With that in mind, my team and I – many of whom have families of our own – strive to do what we can for all of our neighbors in hopes that one day soon, the happy days will far outweigh the bad. We are so honored to partner with incredible nonprofit organizations like St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Toys for Tots who share that same mission.”

To learn more about Paran Homes and its communities throughout the Southeast, home buyers are encouraged to visit www.paranhomes.com or call 678-726-9646. To learn more about the St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway, please visit www.dreamhome.org.

About Paran Homes:  Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Metro Atlanta, Paran Homes boasts beautifully crafted homes and imaginative communities in some of the Southeast’s hottest housing markets. With a presence throughout Metro Atlanta, as well as in and Nashville, TN, Paran Homes seeks to build houses of uncompromised quality while delivering a stellar customer service experience – from the first community visit to closing. To match the needs and wishes of today’s home buyers, the placement of Paran Homes communities is based on access to great schools, major thoroughfares/interstates, local shopping, dining and entertainment. Beyond the allure of its homes and community locations, many Paran neighborhoods feature resort-like amenities including pools, walking trails, and clubhouses. To learn more about Paran Homes, view available homes and discover current communities throughout the Southeast, visit www.paranhomes.com.

About St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to 80 percent since the hospital opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90 percent, and we won’t stop until no child dies from cancer. St. Jude freely shares the discoveries it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. Join the St. Jude mission by visiting stjude.org, liking St. Jude on Facebook (facebook.com/stjude) and following us on Twitter (@stjude).

Regional Homebuilder Now Accepting New, Unwrapped Toys at Corporate Office and all Active Communities in Atlanta

Duluth, GA, November 20, 2017 –  Each time Paran Homes launches a new community in the Southeast and breaks ground on a new home, its team members can’t help but imagine the families that will one day live there. They can envision memories being made and holidays being celebrated in those homes for years to come. Sadly, they also know that families come from all walks of life and their vision won’t hold true for everyone. In a desire to give back to those in need within one of the cities where Paran Homes’ has the greatest presence, the regional homebuilder has launched Toys for Tots Drives throughout Atlanta. Headquartered in Duluth, Paran Homes offers 10 drop-off locations for anyone who wishes to participate. Now through December 15, Paran Homes will collect new, unwrapped toys and bikes at its Corporate Office and all participating Atlanta communities.

“2017 marks Paran Homes’ second year participating in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program,” said Lesa Ness, Marketing Manager for the regional homebuilder and organizer of the company-wide toy drive. “Last year, we teamed up with the Duluth Police Department Criminal Investigation Division and had a wildly successful year thanks to our homeowners, vendors, employees and community visitors. We are really hoping to double our efforts this year and make the holidays a little bit brighter for even more children in need throughout the Southeast.”

The list of communities where Paran Homes will be collecting on behalf of Toys for Tots includes:

The Toys for Tots Program was launched by the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve in 1947. For the last 70 years, its mission has been to collect new, unwrapped toys and distribute them as Christmas gifts to less fortunate children in the surrounding community. Paran Homes’ Corporate Office – located at 3005 Breckinridge Blvd., Suite 200 in Duluth, Georgia – is now accepting toy donations. To find the addresses and hours of operation for communities where prospective gift-givers can drop off their toys at either the sales office or model home, please visit www.paranhomes.com.

It’s completely normal to have some hesitation when you start thinking about home ownership. The purchase of a home is the largest financial decision most people will ever make and it would be unnatural not to have some concerns!

For more than 25 years HomeBridge has led the way in simplifying the mortgage process in order to help people finance the American Dream of home ownership.

The following are a few questions we’ve heard from hesitant home buyers and ones that you should ask yourself if you’re wondering if buying a home in the next couple of years is the right move for you.

How long have you been paying rent?

A better question could be ‘for how much longer do you want to pay someone else’s mortgage?’ because that’s essentially what you’re doing when you rent.

When you purchase a home, you are becoming your own landlord and you’re paying yourself rent each month. If you decide to sell your home, the profits should become yours. If your landlord sells a home rented to you, they receive the profits. It’s really that simple.

What if I can’t make my payments?

This is an incredibly important question to ask yourself and a very understandable one as well. Ask yourself this question first though: Have you ever missed a rent payment for a reason other than you simply forgot to drop off the check?

For many buyers, their monthly mortgage payment is close to what they were paying in rent already, not factoring in the tax incentive they may receive at the end of the year and the equity they are building with each payment. If you’ve been responsibly paying your rent for years, what is to stop you from responsibly paying your mortgage?

How Much Home Can I Afford?

Another great question that we hear a lot. To start, use a mortgage calculator to get a ballpark estimate, like the one we have online here. This is a loose estimate, but it can act as a great starting point in determining what you can afford. The next step, even before you start looking at homes, should be scheduling a meeting with a mortgage loan originator, either in person or over the phone, for a consultation and no obligation click here.

The path to home ownership can be an exciting and enjoyable one if you follow the right steps! If you’d like to discuss those steps, you can call my office or send me an email to schedule an appointment.

About the author

Joel Van Ash is an MLO in the Johns Creek office of HomeBridge Financial Services, Inc. one of the largest, independent mortgage lenders in the U.S. Appointments with Joel or someone from his team can be made by calling (770) 634-9079, sending an email to jvanash@homebridge.com or by going online here.