Category Archives: life at home

Flashback Friday… Where in the World is Lilburn?

Friday, 10 December 2010 08:25

Written by Lane Bailey

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Last year I wrote a nice little post about Lilburn… This is a really nice place to live, and I thought it might be fun to dive into the history of the town. It certainly is interesting, as are the histories of many of the localities around Gwinnett County, GA.

I’ll let you read the post to find out that history, but I wanted to add a little bit to it…

My wife and I have made this area of Gwinnett County, GA, our home for the last nine years… and she lived nearby, in Tucker, prior to that. We decided to stay here to raise our two boys, as well. And we are constantly glad over that decision.

A couple of weeks ago, while at the Arcado Elementary School Night at the local Chick-fil-a, there was a constant stream of friends and neighbors chatting and catching up. A week before that, at a Family Night event, it was much the same. During trips to the grocery store, we run into the parents of classmates of our kids, clients, friends and neighbors. A trip to the park is much the same.

All of that is to say that there is a tremendous sense of community here. Belonging. Acceptance.

A few months ago, a little boy named Al suffered life threatening burns. The community rallied to his support, hosting fund-raisers and looking for other ways to help his family during their time of need. Al has made an incredible recovery, and has actually been able to return to school. But the outpouring of support hasn’t waned.

A visit to a Parkview High School football game or even a quick run up to Bruster’s Ice Cream yields a similar result… friends, neighbors and others we know from the community are there with warm greetings.

This is a wonderful place to call home. If you’d like to live here… give me a call. Lane Bailey. 678-200-5895.

Lilburn, GA Market Report, October 2010 (lanebailey.com)
Lilburn, GA Market Report, September 2010 (lanebailey.com)
Lilburn, GA Market Report, August 2010 (lanebailey.com)
There is a new City Hall coming to Lilburn, GA… (lanebailey.com)
Big League Dreams another step closer to Lilburn… (lanebailey.com)

Happy Thanksgiving… Don’t Stress.

Thursday, 25 November 2010 08:22

Written by Lane Bailey

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: Image via Wikipedia

Honestly, Thanksgiving is one of my least favorite holidays. I love the idea behind it, and can fully support being thankful for all of the wonderful things in my life… but I think that is something that we should remember daily, not just remember because there is a meal connected to it.

And about the meal… I’d rather have Japanese… A little sushi and some hibachi. Steak, shrimp, fried rice and a couple of tuna rolls with wasabi… Or maybe a juicy steak… Southwestern Pasta with chicken?

Turkey, dressing, cranberry (canberry?) sauce, pecan pie, pumpkin pie… I don’t care. In fact, one of the best Thanksgivings ever for me involved pizza.

A few guys I worked with that were single, or single for the weekend with family out of town, all got together and ordered pizza. We watched a few movies, played some video games and just hung out. For that day, we were family. We cracked jokes about ourselves and our spousal equivalents…

Another of my best Thanksgivings was with my grandmother after she got to the point of not wanting to cook. We got a big bucket from the Colonel the day before and just heated everything up. Prep took about 20 minutes and clean-up about 5. The rest oft he time was about the family. We mostly just hung out and enjoyed each other’s company. My grandmother told embarrassing stories about ancestors…

The point is…

This isn’t a day about food… That is just a distraction. It isn’t even a day about “thanks”… we should do that every day. It is a day about being with people we care about and enjoying the time we have together.

We actually celebrated twice this year. This afternoon will be with my wife’s family, and earlier in the week we met up with my mother and step-father in Myrtle Beach, SC. There was a lot of food a couple of days ago, and there will be a lot of food later today, but when it is all said and don, we will get together, play, laugh and “be together”…

Happy Thanksgiving. Don’t stress about the bird. If it caught fire and smoked everyone out of the house, it would make a great story in a few years…

Finished or Unfinished Basements…

Thursday, 21 October 2010 08:15

Written by Lane Bailey

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: Image via Wikipedia

I had the opportunity to sit in on REData Center‘s presentation about the state of the Gwinnett County Real Estate Market for the 3rd Quarter at NAMAR (Northeast Atlanta Metro Association of REALTORS) on October 18th.

One of the findings that was presented wasn’t a shock to me, but it was a shock to some of the other real estate professionals that were there.

Finishing a basement doesn’t really add to the value of the home in the eyes of a buyer…

I know that there are all sorts of news stories about the RoI (Return on Investment) of basement finishes… among other things. Generally, they seem to give the seller credit for between 30 and 50¢ for each dollar spent. This might be true in the case of appraisals, but doesn’t hold true for purchases.

In my experience, in talking with buyers and helping them prepare offers on homes, I have found that the basement is VERY important, but that the finish doesn’t really impact the price that buyers are willing to pay.

The space represents potential. Often, the potential is “squandered” by the home-owner… meaning that they put in a media room when the buyer would have preferred bedrooms, or bedrooms when the buyer would have preferred a media room. Or they put in drop ceilings when the buyer would have preferred dry-wall… or any of a number of options.

The bottom line is that I would NEVER advocate for a home-owner to NOT finish their basement because of future plans to sell, but I WOULD caution them that they should do it because it fits THEIR needs and lifestyle. Don’t expect it to pay back financially, but rather, expect it to pay back in the enjoyment of your home.

*another difference between appraisals and Comparative Market Analyis…*

Gwinnett County, GA, Market Report, August 2010 (gwinnettgarageguy.com)
Sugar Hill, GA, Market Report, August 2010 (lanebailey.com)
Norcross, GA, Market Report, August 2010 (lanebailey.com)
Buford, GA, Market Report, August 2010 (lanebailey.com)
Duluth, GA, Market Report, August 2010 (lanebailey.com)
Lilburn, GA Market Report, August 2010 (gwinnettgarageguy.com)
Suburban Atlanta School District Wins Prestigious Broad Prize (education.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com)

Gwinnett County Schools Get $1M Scholarship

Tuesday, 19 October 2010 18:09

Written by Lane Bailey

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: Image by lane.bailey via Flickr

It was announced today that the Gwinnett County Public School system was awarded a $1,000,000 scholarship grant from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. The $1,000,000 will go out as scholarships to needy students within the district.

Gwinnett took the top honors because of their high standards of performance for students regardless of race. They beat out Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina, Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, and Socorro Independent School District and Ysleta Independent School District in El Paso, Texas, for the award. The award is for districts that show the most gains in student performance and closing minority achievement gaps.

Something else that should be kept in mind is that the GCPS has done this on a budget that is quite austere compared to some other local districts, such as the City of Atlanta Schools. GCPS spends under $9,000/student, yet achieves better results than the City of Atlanta, which spends over $12,000/student.

Another feat that GCPS should be proud of is that they have achieved a high school graduation rate of 84 percent and 90 percent of those graduates go on to college or other post-secondary training.

I’m not a huge fan of public education (I’d like to see vouchers), but it is obvious that the Gwinnett County Public School system is doing some things correctly… and that they would be able to compete if there were vouchers in the district. In fact, I think that many parents in adjoining districts would try to get their children into GCPS if they had the opportunity.

And don’t forget that Lilburn, GA is home to two of the best performing groups of schools in the Gwinnett system, Parkview and Brookwood. I happen to know of a few homes for sale in the area… ;^ )

Ga. School District Wins $1M Broad Prize (huffingtonpost.com)
Welcome Arcado’s new Principal, Penny Palmer-Young (lilburndwellings.com)

Wayback Wednesday… SPICY!

Wednesday, 18 August 2010 08:22

Written by Lane Bailey

1 Comment

A couple of years ago I wrote a post about blandness. I don’t like bland and I think most people agree that bland is… boring. It applies to food, advertising, movies, art and anything else. Maybe everyone won’t like the spice, but almost nobody will like a complete lack of spice. But, I guess there are just a few people out there that really like boring.

The story is about a grandmother ‘protecting’ her grandson from something she thought was too spicy for his young palate. Of course, I applied it to real estate advertising… and even tossed in one of my favorite spicy commercials…

Take a look.

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Category Archives: life at home

Flashback Friday… Where in the World is Lilburn?

Happy Thanksgiving… Don’t Stress.

Finished or Unfinished Basements…

Gwinnett County Schools Get $1M Scholarship

Wayback Wednesday… SPICY!

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Flashback Friday… Where in the World is Lilburn?

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