Just a short break from all of the real estate related posts to talk about one of my other passions, Web Design!

I’ve been creating websites since ~1997 and it’s always surprised me just how much people will pay for a few webpages. From day 1, my thought has been that I would be able to dominate web-design & development because I can create the same quality website as the big-dawgs, but for less.

But, year after year and company after company, I’m discovering that that’s not the case. The real deal is that individuals and companies associate price with quality. If the prices I charge aren’t around the market price, then the question becomes not “Where do I sign up?” but “What’s the catch?”, regardless of how my portfolio comes across.

I suppose it’s the same in most markets, even housing. If a house is selling for much less than it’s comps, then you automatically ask “What’s wrong with it? Termites? Degraded foundation?”

So, lesson learned. I’m going to reorganize my pricing structure. I’ve seen many start with a base price that covers the basics that one would need. They typically range from $700-1500. I’m leaning towards $1200. That will cover:

• Website Design: I’ll work with you to develop a layout that is pleasing to you, standards compliant, and optimized for search engines.
• Wordpress Template: Wordpress is an extremely popular website content management system (this site runs on it). Any design can be turned into a Wordpress template. Once created, you’ll be able to add as many pages as you want to your website without any additional cost, whenever you want.
• Static pages: If you prefer not to go with Wordpress, a static website can be setup. Typically, there’s not much work involved in setting up additional pages, so I’ll add as many as you want (within reason - I’m probably not going to hand code your novel and put it online )
• Web Hosting: One domain name registered and One Year of webhosting setup with Dreamhost.com (the CDI! Dreamhost Plan). You’ll have control over your account and will be able to manage it at your discretion.

If you’d rather setup hosting yourself, I’ll work with you to discount some or all of the hosting costs.

If you go through Dreamhost, feel free to use the following promo code to save $45: ZBPROMO (this promo is available to everybody).

Starting in the low $300k’s, The Reserve is an upscale neighborhood located on Mission Road.

Originally, I had my doubts about this neighborhood. However, after watching it come together and touring a couple of the homes, all doubt has been shed. The Reserve is a nice subdivision. It has all the features that today’s homebuyer desires:

• bead-board
• wainscoting
• crown moulding
• large baseboards
• wood floors
• granite counter-tops
• designer-colours
• large rooms
• landscaped yards
• finished two-car garages
• built-in cabinetry
• spacious decks
• Club House with pool & tennis courts!
• and LOTs of room.

About the only thing missing is a theater room…which you could add in the large un-finished basements.

Pictures!

Enough of me talking about them, have a look for yourself:
House 1
House 2

It’s one thing to have your real estate agent cherry pick* your comparable sales, but when you can gather the information for yourself, now that’s empowering.

Knowledge of previous sales can go a long way in helping you determine what a reasonable offer would be. Fortunately, that information is becoming more and more available online.

I’ve come up with a list of the counties surrounding Bartow that have made property records available online. Each of them vary in the amount of detail that they provide, but they are all pretty useful.

Bartow County
http://www.bartowcountymaps.com/

Cherokee County
http://www.cherokeega.com/

Cobb County
http://www.cobbassessor.org/

Floyd County (Seems a bit buggy)
http://gis.romega.us

Fulton County
http://www.fultonassessor.org/

Paulding County
http://paulding.visualgov.com/

Polk County
http://www.qpublic.net/ga/polk/

In addition to the county searches, you may also be able to gain additional information by using Zillow. It’s another one of my favorite real estate websites.

*Kidding! I know they all don’t do that. However, using the websites above can help eliminate any doubt.

I remember when my own parents were buying a house, there was always talk about 15 year mortgages vs. 30 year mortgages; but it didn’t really mean anything to me. Being as young as I was, I didn’t really have an understanding of compounding interest.

Things have changed a bit since then, but I still find that when talking about mortgages, and how much one can save you over another, it’s better to just talk turkey.

Using actual numbers puts a real face on the potential savings. Below you’ll find various types of fixed rate mortgages from 15 up to 40yrs. You’ll see I’ve also included some additional What If’s?; such as paying an extra $100 a month.

Our Constants
Original Loan Value: $145,000
APR: 6.4%

15 Year Mortgage
Total Interest Paid: $80,926.66
Monthly Payment: $1,255.15
Payoff Date: July 9, 2022

15 Year Mortgage + $100 extra monthly
Total Interest Paid: $70,409.39
Monthly Payment: $1,355.15
Payoff Date: October 9, 2020 (13 years)

30 Year Mortgage
Total Interest Paid: $181,514.08
Monthly Payment: $906.98
Payoff Date: July 9, 2037

30 Year Mortgage + $100 extra monthly
Total Interest Paid: $131,565.17
Monthly Payment: $1,006.98
Payoff Date: June 9, 2030 (23 years)

30 Year Mortgage + $200 extra monthly
Total Interest Paid: $104,590.13
Monthly Payment: 1,106.98
Payoff Date: May 9, 2026 (19 years)

30 Year Mortgage + $300 extra monthly
Total Interest Paid: $87,277.67
Monthly Payment: 1,206.98
Payoff Date: August 9, 2023 (16 years)

40 Year Mortgage
Total Interest Paid: $257,529.86
Monthly Payment: $838.60
Payoff Date: July 9, 2047

Mortgage Summary

The main things we can take home from the above is that:

• 15 year mortgages will save you the most money (even more so than demonstrated above because they typically have lower interest rates.). Compared to the 30year, the savings in interest will be about $100,500!

  Let’s assume for a moment that after you finish paying off the house at the 15 year mark, you start putting the same amount into a high-yield savings account (Such as the one’s I’ve mentioned here). At the end of the next 15 years, that’ll add up to $336,892.11 ($110,965.11 of which is just interest you will have accrued!)

• If you’re going to pay $300 extra every month over the life of a 30 year loan, you might as well switch to a 15 year loan and save yourself some money (~$7000) (Again, 15 year loans have lower interest rates, so it’ll probably be even better than that).
• 40 year mortgages suck. Sure, many 40 year mortages don’t come with 6.4% interest rates, but even still you’ll probably end up spending more than had you went with the 30year + 100 option.

Want to do your own comparisons? Try BankRate’s Mortgage Calculator.

Victoria Village has been a long time in the making, especially if you consider the lot it’s being built on was graded some years ago (assumingly for some other sub-division, anybody remember the old name?). It can be found on Old Mill Road, near Cartersville Elementary School and beside the Excel Academy. On this map, it’s the upside-down “L” in the dirt.

Before I get into the meat and bones, let me say that I have not been into any of the houses in this subdivision. Unfortunately, a red sign near the entrance requires that you sign in before entering the “construction area.”

So, if you want to browse these, you’ll have to step inside and talk with one of the real estate agents first. With as many houses on the market today, and the purported slow-down in new home sales, you’d think there wouldn’t be any road-blocks for potential buyers.

Anyways, the houses in Victoria Village continue the line of craftsman-style homes being built in the area. The major difference in these is that the exteriors are painted, IMHO, an array of colorful pastel-ish tones. It looks like an attempt to re-create the feel of Charleston, SC (or any shore town really).

When I drive by this subdivision, I’m left with a memory of houses in light sage green & pinkish red (probably not the best colors to be remembered by), but the houses truly appear to be nice houses.

If you’ve got a higher tolerance for unnecessary requirements, give them a look. Houses start in the low 200s.

You can also visit Victoria Village’s website, but as of today it still does not have any information on the subdivision (need some help with that?).

The only thing you’ll see is “THIS IS THE FUTURE WEBSITE FOR Victoria Village”…Hmmm, I wonder if I have to sign-in first to see anything online too? =)