Fat Man's Bar-B-Que ~ Local Tradition For 40 Years Has A New Home     Located south of Pell City in Cropwell at 10179 Hwy 231 you will find, in my opinion, the best Bar-B-Que in the south.  What a real treat it was to dine at Fat Man's Bar-B-Que the other night in their brand new restaurant built in the same location as the original one that burnt down 15 years ago.      Jon Davis, the third generation owner of Fat Man's, decided after taking over the restaurant in 2007, to build back the same style restaurant that his father lost in the fire.  With some modifications on the outside from the original building, the new restaurant is open for business.  The smaller building that they operated from the last 15 years could only seat approximately 20 to 25 people. The new restaurant can seat... 02/16/2010

Pell City's Relay For Life 50's Sock Hop Come enjoy the evening with your neighbors to help celebrate life at the Pell City's Relay For Life Sock Hop. Communities around the world are joining forces in order to raise money to help find the cure for cancer.                                            Mark your calendars for the:                                                  50's Sock Hop                                          For Pell City's Relay For Life                                                 Dinner and Dance                                                 Friday, April 9, 2010                                                 6:00 P.M - 10:00 PM                                  Celebrations, Hwy 231 South, Pell City, Alabama                                      Leverton Bro... 02/15/2010

Preparing Your Home To Sell ~ A Few Helpful Hints You would never dream of having guest come to your home without having it clean.  With that in mind, don't open your home to potential buyers without taking the necessary steps to sell.    If you're like most sellers, you want to get the best possible price for your home. One of the first steps in preparing your home to sell is you have to realize that the memories you can take with you wherever you go, but the house will remain. This is going to be an emotional process.  You have to think of your home as a product In assisting home sellers over the years on Logan Martin Lake, it is my opinion that the next thing you need to do is go room to  room,  pack up everything that you are not currently using, and store it in a basement, or bette... 02/14/2010

Tips For When a Buyer Wants To See Your Home After selling Real Estate for 14 years, in the Logan Martin Lake area, these are my top 5 tips for when a buyer wants to see your home.  Tip #1 LEAVE                                                                                                                                 There are lots of tips a realtor can give you when your home is being shown; my first and number one tip to you is "LEAVE".  You have hired a Realtor to market your property to potential buyers and by leaving you allow him/her to do their job. Buyers are uncomfortable when the owners are home. They feel like they are snooping when they open the closets or kitchen cabinets. They will rush through the home and not see the potential use of the home.    Tip #2 Be Flexible I... 02/14/2010

I have been asked by homeowners thinking of selling their home, how a Realtor® determines a price on a home?   In determining the correct asking price for your property, you will need to have your REALTOR® do a Competitive Market Analysis. The Competitive Market Analysis is done in two parts:              Similar properties that are currently on the market for sale            Similar properties that have recently sold. By looking at comparable properties that are currently listed, we know exactly what a buyer has to choose from and what the buyer is comparing to your property. In order to set a comparable price, the comparable sold properties have been analyzed and have been compared to your home features and location.  Studying recent sold properties that are very similar to yours, we ... 01/20/2010

 When it comes to selling your home, the most important factor in getting it sold is proper pricing. The number one thing that can keep your home from selling is overpricing. You have to ask yourself, do you want to list your home or do you want to sell your home? Let me tell you what problems can occur from the overpricing:   Your property will not sale, you cannot compete with the home that is properly priced.   By overpricing your property, it helps other properties on the market to sell when their home is property price.   Agents do not want to waste their time by showing an overpriced property.   By sitting on the market for a long period of time, your property gets "market worn".   If you do find an interested buyer, you will have to worry about whether or not the property will ap... 01/20/2010

  The weather forecast of snow in the Pell City area was a rare forecast that had all the children excited with anticipation. The band of snow predicted, blew through the area quicker than anticipated and left very little snow.  During this time the temperature remained a few degrees above freezing and melted the snow on the roads.  When the temperature did drop the roads and overpasses quickly froze into black ice.   The Arctic Blast we are experiencing here is not something the area is equipped to handle.  The forecast low for tonight is 15; Friday nights low is 12 and 9 for Saturday night. The expected wind chill for tomorrow and Saturday is to be below zero. Due to the dangerous driving conditions, it is advised that you stay off of the area roads.  If you do have to travel, take ex... 01/07/2010

  Life has been extremely uncertain for many of us during the economic downturn that has taken place in the last couple of years.  Stability is a rare concept not many of us can remember anymore. These difficult times have taken it toll on us in one way or the other.   When the housing market bubble burst it took out a lot of fine builders who built quality homes anyone would be proud to own. The trickle down effect took over other businesses and you know the rest of this story.  So many lives have been completely wiped out financially by a set of circumstances no one saw coming or could have ever imagined.    During this time a lot of people including myself buried their heads in the sand and were waiting to ride out the storm. By being absorbed in the economic news we were loosing hop... 12/26/2009

What A Wonderful World This Would Be If We Lived By This Christmas Quote                 I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.                                                                       -Charles Dickens                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Christmas is when most of us take the time to visit with our love ones. According to the Birmingham News quoting AAA, there is to be  an estimated 87.7 million people that  will travel an estimated 50 miles or more this year for the Holiday. Are these travelers going back to their roots to visit their aging parents?  So many Seniors are left ... 12/24/2009

Every year in my home I display my Christmas cards that I receive.  It's my own special way of remembering my wonderful friends who thought enough of me to send  a card.  When I received another one yesterday, I was putting it in its rightful place among the others when I realized that on all the cards that I received except one said "Happy Holidays" or "Season Greetings". Have you ever had one of those moments when a thought hit you so hard that it would bring tears to your eyes? Are we so afraid of offending someone that we have left the Christian meaning out of our Christmas cards? We should respect each others religious beliefs this Holiday Season and not have any fear of offending anyone.  You have your spirtual beliefs and I have mine.   So to my dear Jewish friends Happy Hanukkah... 12/24/2009

Logan Martin Lake is centrally located off of I-20 about 30 miles east of Birmingham in St. Clair County on the Coosa River. The nearest town is Pell City, Alabama.  Logan Martin Lake borders St. Clair County and Talladega County. The lake has been nicknamed "Lake of a Thousand Coves" by locals, and has 275 miles of shoreline along its approximately 48.5 mile length. The Coosa River reservoir, with around 15,250 acres, was built in 1964 by Alabama Power Company. The Logan Martin Lake reservoir is sandwiched between Logan Martin Dam on the south and Neely Henry Dam on the North. Logan Martin Lake has been fished three times by the Bass Master Classic in 1992, 1993 and 1997 and is very popular with many other championship bass tournaments. Because of the lake being back up when the Logan... 12/19/2009

  On February 14, 2008 I was driving to check on one of the houses that I had listed and out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw fire.  I circled around the block and I couldn't believe what I saw, it was Avondale Miles on fire.  I called 911 and she told me the fire department was already in route to the mill.   I know you are wondering why I am writing this post almost 2 years after the fire but I wanted to share with you some photos I took when Avondale was on fire.  First of all I want to share some history about Avondale and why it is an end of an era in Pell City, Alabama.   In 1902 Sumter Cogswell built the mill which was commonly known as the Pell City Cotton Mill, it was in operation until 1919 when it was sold and renamed the Avondale Mills. The textile mill was the heart ... 12/19/2009

  I was reading the Birmingham Business Journal yesterday and ran across an article that I wanted to share with you.  It's exciting for all the folks that have been left jobless due the current recession. Finally we are starting to see a ray of hope that the economy is turning around.  According to the article the Alabama unemployment rate had dropped for the first time in more than two years.  Before you put on your dancing shoes you have to remember this is just one month and not a trend.  This article states that this was due to Employers across the state adding 5,200 more jobs last month  that helped bring the jobless rate down.  In October the rate was 10.9 and dropped to 10.5 in November.  It was nice to be able to blog about something that is positive and gives hope during this H... 12/19/2009

Just a little something out of the ordinary for my posts.  A classical video for you to enjoy!  Merry Christmas to Activerain peeps! http://www.hulu.com/watch/115462/a-charlie-brown-christmas   12/16/2009

  Fannie Mae changed requirements for mortgage applicants this past weekend.  Getting approved for a home loan just got tougher.   In its official announcement, Fannie Mae says the updates will minimize long-term lending concerns.  If that's the case, this won't be the last guideline change Fannie Mae makes -- especially with loans defaulting at an above-normal clip.   The Initial changes are major. The first pertains to credit ratings.   Effective December 13, 2009, the mass of Fannie Mae's loans require a 620 credit score minimum.  There are some exceptions.   A second relates to loans with private mortgage insurance.   Homeowners whose loan-to-value exceeds 80 percent now have an option :      1. Pay elevated mortgage insurance premiums month in and month out    2. Pay a one-time fee... 12/16/2009

  The Pell City Christmas Parade was a huge success as the streets were lined with a large turn out of folks waiting for the festivities to begin.   As we were standing on the street in the crisp winter air you could hear the excitement of the children as the Christmas Parade was starting to move through town.  The evening was seasonably cool and thankfully the rain had spared us.   With holiday spirit abound, you could feel the magic in the air as you watched the joy on the children's faces as the parade was moving past them.   Much attention and detail was giving to the Floats as they were beautifully decorated and enjoyed by the spectators.   Special thanks to all who volunteered their talent and time.    The Pell City Christmas Parade was truly a holiday party with friends and famil... 12/11/2009

Update from the St. Clair Association of Realtors Auction Benefiting the St. Clair Co. Children's Advocacy Center The numbers are in from the St. Clair Association of Realtors / St. Clair Co. Children's Advocacy Center fundraiser.  The 14th annual benefit auction raised $10,000 for the children's charity.  It was a fun night for a good cause. All money raised goes to help abused children in our area.   Congratulations to the St. Clair Association of Realtors!  All their hard work paid off!               12/09/2009

St. Clair Association of Realtors 14th Annual Benefit Auction For the St. Clair Co. Children's Advocacy Center. The St. Clair Association of Realtors 14th Annual Benefit Auction for the St. Clair Co. Children's Advocacy Center was held tonight at the First Baptist Church in Pell City. Much attention was given for another successful fund raiser with Shirley Kujanorganizing the event with volunteers from the St.Clair Association of Realtors. The Children's Advocacy Centeris a non-profit organization that opened in 2000. Its main object is the coordinates the multi-disciplinary response to sexual and physical abuse of children.   All of those who attended the event enjoyed Christmas carols played by The Pell City High School Jazz Band directed by Mr. Player while enjoying dinner.   The Pel... 12/09/2009

The Best Investment As a fairly general rule, homes appreciate about five percent a year. Some years will be more, some less. The figure will vary from neighborhood to neighborhood, and region to region.   Five percent may not seem like that much at first. Stocks (at times) appreciate much more, and you could earn over six percent with the safest investment of all, treasury bonds. But take a second look… Presumably, if you bought a $200,000 house, you did not pay cash for the home. You got a mortgage, too. Suppose you put as much as twenty percent down – that would be an investment of $40,000. At an appreciation rate of 5% annually, a $200,000 home would increase in value $10,000 during the first year. That means you earned $10,000 with an investment of $40,000. Your annual "return on ... 12/08/2009

I found a Great website that explains the tax credit indepth http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/faq2.php   The Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 has established a tax credit of up to $6,500 for qualified move-up/repeat home buyers (existing home owners) purchasing a principal residence after November 6, 2009 and on or before April 30, 2010 (or purchased by June 30, 2010 with a binding sales contract signed by April 30, 2010). The following questions and answers provide basic information about the tax credit. If you have more specific questions, we strongly encourage you to consult a qualified tax advisor or legal professional about your unique situation. Who is eligible to claim the $6,500 tax credit? What is the definition of a move-up ... 12/08/2009