Posts Tagged ‘Grayson’

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!

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.