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Ringing in the New Year in Atlanta

Wednesday, December 23, 2009
posted by Frank Stevens

Ringing in the New Year in Atlanta

With a new year just a few weeks away, you might be making some new years resolutions of what you would like to accomplish next year. If finding a new home or relocating is on your list, then look no further than Atlanta. Nothing beats the entertainment options and affordable homes that this city has to offer. Now is the perfect time to buy a home and call Atlanta home.

To ring in the New Year, many Atlanta residents like to head to big events to celebrate with the rest of their friends and family. Parades are a big part of the culture in Atlanta and the annual Chick-fil-A Bowl Parade is one of them. Every year on New Year’s Eve around thirty bands, classic cars, and floats parade their way down Peachtree Street to International Blvd to Centennial Olympic Park and then ending at the Georgia World Congress Center. The Parade helps the city celebrate the two college teams that will be playing for the Chick-fil-A Bowl title.

The Hyatt Regency Hotel in Atlanta is said to have one of the largest New Years Eve celebration in the city. The celebration will take place in different rooms throughout the hotel. Their Centennial Ballroom is the largest ballroom in the city and will feature live music by three regional and national bands. Other rooms will be themed like the ‘Atlanta Idol Stage’, the ‘Punchline Comedy Lounge’ that will showcase four comedians and a ‘Bowl Game’ room where guests can watch the Bowl games on large screen televisions.

If you’re in the mood to listen to music, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra will have their New Years Eve celebration. A classy way to ring in the New Year as two-time Grammy Award-winner Sylvia McNair returns to Symphony Hall with selections from the Great American Songbook including Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hammerstein and more. Michael Krajewski leads the Orchestra in selections of your favorite light classics to round out this special evening.

Atlanta’s New Years Eve Ultimate Block Party downtown draws thousands each year. The event will feature live musical performances by local artists and musicians, as well as fireworks at midnight to help ring in the New Year. The Underground Atlanta is the official place to see the Peach Drop at midnight.

If a nice dinner and festive atmosphere are more your speed and you don’t want to be locked into one enclosed space, the restaurants of the Downtown Atlanta are your best bet. Many hotels and restaurants around town have special New Year’s Eve dinner packages. For example, at Livingston Restaurant they will have a New Years Celebration with a package that includes a four-course dinner, champagne toast, balloon drop and party favors to ring in the New Year.

The atmosphere in Atlanta will be thick with anticipation and good wishes for a prosperous New Year. With so many choices, it will be difficult to select just one to attend this New Year’s Eve.

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Christmas in Nashville

Monday, December 14, 2009
posted by Frank Stevens

Christmas in Nashville

With the Christmas holidays almost upon us, there will be plenty of annual winter events to enjoy in Nashville. If you are considering a move to Nashville, now is the time to buy. Whether you are in the market for a home in the city or a home in the suburbs, then Nashville has something for everyone’s price range and lifestyle.

Christmas is a special time in Nashville with plenty of festive activities to enjoy the holiday season. Strike up the band for Nashville’s Annual Christmas Parade. This year’s parade continues an exciting Nashville tradition of a nighttime parade! This family-friendly event will include live performances, floats and a visit from Santa.

Every year at this time the arts provide fantastic opportunities for adding some music and culture to the enjoyment of the holiday season. The theaters, concerts, symphony, and ballet will put you in the spirit of the season with both professional and local talent. It wouldn’t be Christmas without going to see a production of the Nutcracker. The Nashville Ballet at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center is a holiday tradition featuring professional dancers and over 200 local youth cast members will be dancing in this season’s production. Finding just the right tree might be a special activity to do with the family. In Nashville, try the Country Cove Christmas Tree Farm or Big Spring Tree Farm to find the perfect tree.

Another excellent event is a visit to the Nashville Zoo and the Zoo’s historic home, the Croft House. To celebrate the season, the historic landmark will be decorated with greenery, ribbon, and vintage decorations that belonged to Margaret and Elise Croft, former tenants of the Grassmere property whose family owned the land and home for five generations. A visit to the Croft House is included in your admission ticket to the Zoo. For a unique experience, a visit to ICE! Nashville’s Wonderful Winter Wonderland is an incredible display of artistry. The exhibit displays larger-than-life, three-dimensional ice monuments and colorful ice sculptures. The ice creations include thrilling ice slides, all enhanced by dramatic lighting and special effects. To stay comfortable, guests are issued complimentary warm parkas with hoods.

There are many family-friendly activities to enjoy this time of the year. In nearby Lebanon, take the family to see The Festival of Lights. For more than 12 years, the James E. Ward Agricultural Center hosts a holiday tradition. This driving tour will have your eyes twinkling and features thousands of lights, animated displays. Children will delight in all the holiday décor and there is even a post office box to drop off a letter to Santa.

Nashville may not have the snowfall that signals Christmas is here, but the spirit of Christmas is alive and well. Downtown will be lit up with festive lights in addition to all the homes in the area. Whether you’re taking in a parade to see Santa or ice skating, seeing the Nutcracker or finding that perfect Christmas tree, there is something for everyone to celebrate this time of the year. Living in Nashville allows you to enjoy all the seasons without any of the inconveniences.

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Attracting Top Talent in a Tight Jobs Market

Wednesday, September 23, 2009
posted by admin

Attracting Top Talent in a Tight Jobs Market

When the economy grows worse, many companies are forced to consider lay-offs and job reductions. The goal of reducing the workforce is to increase productivity, or, in other words, to do more with fewer people. Two primary ways to accomplish this goal are to make sure that the people you retain are focused on strong value add tasks that relate as strongly as possible to your core business goals and to make sure that those people working for you are the sort of highly competent professionals who make a habit of outperforming their peers.

Even when workforces are being reduced, there is still a need to replace some workers in key positions as they retire, take positions elsewhere, or move on for other reasons. Often, during times of high unemployment, there are many applicants for few positions. Some companies narrow their search efforts in this climate, others broaden them. Because good jobs may be harder to find, companies that broaden their searches may find top prospects in other regions of the country are more willing to relocate for the right position than they would be during an up job cycle. For these aggressive recruiting companies, combing through a larger pool of applicants often results in finding candidates with higher qualifications.

At the same time, because of the staff reductions and lean workforce, it may be more difficult for companies to focus on offering relocation packages that can make the difference between acceptance and rejection of a job offer for that highly qualified candidate. Companies may be tempted to offer a simple cash reimbursement for relocation expenses because the administrative load will be lighter. However, this is just shifting the effort onto another employee’s shoulders, namely your new hire. The new hire is perhaps the least qualified to deal with the minutia of relocation details. He is not an expert in relocation, he is completely unfamiliar with the area, and he really needs to concentrate on learning the ropes for his new position.

Instead, the smart choice is to contract with a specialist like Wynne Residential Corporate Housing. With a single phone call to Wynne, your HR professional can make all the necessary arrangements. Wynne’s staff will take it from there. They’ll contact the incoming employee and make all the temporary housing requirements necessary. They’ll provide a fully furnished apartment, complete with kitchen utensils, bed linens, and everything else needed to make the transition to the new living space as seamless as possible for the new employee. Even such potentially troublesome details as establishing telephone service and other necessary utilities is completely taken care of by Wynne Residential, leaving your new employee not only more comfortable, but completely free to focus on providing your company with the productivity for which you hired them.

When the job market tightens, your company has the opportunity to add top quality personnel. Using a professional relocation facilitation company like Wynne Residential to get those employees properly situated in temporary corporate housing, not only increases the likelihood of those highly desired employees accepting your offer, but helps them to become more productive sooner.

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Temecula is Horse Country

Tuesday, September 15, 2009
posted by Frank Stevens

Temecula is Horse Country

People familiar with the area know the oft-repeated phrase “Temecula is wine country” because of its expansive vineyards and nationally famous wineries. Those even more familiar with the area might be heard to say “Temecula is Horse Country.”

Temecula Valley’s gentling rolling hills and open terrain make it ideal for horseback riding. When you add the beautiful year round weather of sunny southern California you have an unbeatable combination. Locals are well aware of these conditions and the valley is full of equestrians.

There are more than 20 working horse boarding and training facilities within an hour of Temecula that give evidence to the popularity of horse riding among residents of Temecula. The available boarding options include small private barns renting out just a couple stalls to larger facilities like Horse Gate Stable in the La Cresta area of Murrietta that offers a range of top quality arenas and training pens and the availability of an on-site FEI level instructor for those interested in competition riding. Others, like the Blue Fox Farm offer hunter and jumper training.

Residents and tourists who don’t own their own horses, often take a day out to visit one of the ranches that offer trail horse rides through the hills and valleys. One of the most well known horse riding options is Wine Country Trails by Horseback which offers guided trail rides for riders as young as seven years old who have some riding experience. Whispering Meadows Ranch also offers guided trail rides, as well as riding instruction for those looking to improve upon their equestrian skill set.

For those who prefer to board and exercise their horses on their own property, the greater Temecula Area offers a number of horse properties for sale. Realtors like Bob Bodemer and Rachelle Wren of Temecula Area Homes know the area and can locate properties sure to please any horse and its owner. Several of the communities around Temecula have zoning restrictions which restrict lot sizes to generous parcels of five acres or more, providing room for horses without getting too close to the neighbors.

For those horse lovers coming to Temecula from northern climates, the opportunity to ride in comfort all year round is a very welcome benefit to living in the Temecula region. The same mild weather that makes the Temecula Valley ideal for growing wine grapes, also makes it an absolute paradise for horse riding. Local events like the International Jazz Festival and the Temecula Valley Balloon and Wine Festival add color and flair to the area for both residents and visitors alike. Riding through the valley trails during the balloon festival offers the best of both worlds as riders watch the great hot air balloons rise into the skies in flocks. Those who venture up in the balloons get a great bird’s eye view of the valley and its riding trails.

It’s true that Temecula is Wine Country, but don’t forget Temecula is Horse Country, too.

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Woodies on the Beach

Tuesday, September 15, 2009
posted by Frank Stevens

Woodies on the Beach

A woodie is the name used by hobbyists to refer to vintage automobiles whose body is made of wood. The majority of these wood-bodied cars were made in the 1950’s and earlier, and were originally built as a way to reduce the cost of the car. Earlier versions had metal panels covering the wood frame, but these were simply eliminated to lower production costs. These cars were often larger station wagon models and were quite popular among surfers in the 1960’s who found the cars big enough to carry surfboards and requiring only basic woodworking skills to get them looking good again. As a result, there is probably no other type of car that is so closely associated with a certain lifestyle as the woodie is to the surfing community.

Today, there are owners groups around the country who get together to show off their cars. One of the largest gathering of woodies is held each year in Encinitas, California. Known as the Wavecrest Woodie Meet, this event is held each year on the third Saturday of September at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. Wavecrest Woodie Meet is organized by the San Diego Chapter of the National Woodie Club.

This year, the meet has been expanded to a multiday event running from September 17th through September 20th. An estimated 250-300 woodies will be on display to the public on the 19th at the Moonlight Beach parking lot where, in addition to live entertainment, prizes will be awarded to the events top woodies. The next day, the San Diego Woodies are inviting woodie owners to join in a cruise up the coast highway. Those interested in participating should meet at the Encinitas City Hall at 8:00 AM.

The event seeks to recreate a little of the old care-free days of the1960’s surfer scene so those visiting should expect to get their fill of Beach Boys and Jan & Dean tunes, including the song Surf City which refers to the woodie in its lyrics and of course, Surfin’ USA which was written about surfing in Encinitas.

Although no longer being made, woodies were once held in such high regard, that even well into the 1970’s many higher end station wagons were produced with fake wood paneling designed to make them look like updated versions of the old woodies of the 1950’s and before.

Although, Encinitas and other surfing destinations may have a higher population of woodies than the rest of the country, woodies can be spotted at most vintage car meets all over the country. While the majority of National Woodie Club chapters can be found in California, it truly is a national organization with clubs in New England, the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, and many more locations that are far removed from the beaches of California.

Still, though, Encinitas is one of the epicenters of the surfing culture and remains a popular destination for surfers from all over the country. Many of them are loading up their boards in their woodies and making the trip out for the Wavecrest Woodie Meet.

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Top Golf Courses in Orange County

Sunday, May 10, 2009
posted by Frank Stevens

Top Golf Courses in Orange County

When looking for world class golfing in California, there is no area any better endowed than Orange County south of Los Angeles. There are over 50 courses in Orange County, from small nine-hole courses to celebrity designed professional greens. Several charity golf tournaments are held in Orange County along with the PGA-sanctioned Toshiba Classic on the Champions Tour.

Some of the top golf courses in the county include:

Monarch Beach Golf Links

This Robert Trent Jones designed 18-hole par 70 course lies right along the coast in Dana Point. The course is a nationally ranked championship course created in 1983 and designed after Scottish links courses with tight fairways and hilly greens. The course has won several recent awards including The Top 50 Courses for Women by Golf For Women magazine, Top 100 Golf Resort by Conde Nast Traveler, and Top 20 Golf Course by Celebrated Living Magazine. The pro shop has won Golf World’s America’s 100 Best Golf Shops award in 2008.

Strawberry Farms Golf Course

This 18-hole par 70 course was developed by former California Angels third baseman Doug DeCinces. Situated in Irvine, Strawberry Farms is the home of the Orange County Golf Champship held in May. The course boasts the longest hole in the county- a 630 yard uphill par 5. Strawberry Farms was ranked among “Must Play Courses” in 2000 by Golf Digest readers. The club also hosts events such as weddings and corporate gatherings in its “Big Red Barn.”

Coyote Hills Golf Course

The rolling foothills of Fullerton is the setting for Coyote Hills, a Payne Stewart designed 18-hole par 70 course. The course uses natural elements to create a challenging and beautiful experience, including waterfalls, streams and cobblestone bridges. The course boasts several awards: ESPN/Zagat Survey “America’s Top Golf Courses”, Golf Digest’s “Best Places to Play” 4 star rating, and Golf For Women’s “Top 100 Women Friendly Courses” amongst others.

Black Gold Golf Club

Black Gold is a recent addition to Orange County’s golf offerings. Located in Yorba Linda, Black Gold is an Arthur Hills designed 18-hole par 72 championship course that was once an oil field. The design uses several water features including ponds and waterfalls and incorporates elevation changes and bunkering options to challenge even the most experienced golfers. The course is rated 4 ½ stars by Golf Digest Magazine and has already racked up several awards and mentions, including Top 50 Golf Courses in Southern California by Southland Golf Magazine and is one of Golf Digest’s “Best Places to Play”. The club also hosts weddings and is feted frequently in bridal magazines.

Tustin Ranch Golf Club

Tustin Ranch is a Ted Robinson designed 18-hole par 72 course in Tustin just north of the John Wayne Airport and 20 miles outside of Los Angeles. The course has been named the “2008 California Golf Course of the Year” by the California Golf Course Owners Association. Tustin Ranch offers a private caddie plan- one of the only public courses in the county to do so.

There are many exciting options when choosing a golf course in Orange County. With the perfect coastal climate and breath-taking views of the ocean, golfing in Orange County is an experience to remember.

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Is a Short Sale Right for You?

Tuesday, April 28, 2009
posted by Frank Stevens

Is a Short Sale Right for You?

In today’s real estate market, foreclosures are reaching an all-time high. Mortgages that were initiated with a low interest “teaser” rate are adjusting to normalized rates and borrowers are realizing that they can’t afford house payments at the new rate. On top of that, jobs are disappearing at an increasing pace, making monthly mortgage payments even less affordable.

What do you do when you find that you can’t make your mortgage payments? Under normal circumstances, selling the house is often the best way to get yourself out of the financial situation before your loan goes into default and you further harm your credit rating. Unfortunately, many homeowners these days are finding that they are “underwater” with their mortgages, meaning that they owe more on their loan than their house is worth in today’s shaky real estate market. Practically all mortgage agreements disallow a sale on the property for less than the value of the loan and this puts the homeowner in a difficult and financially dangerous situation that there appears to be no way out of.

One solution that mortgage lenders are beginning to warm up to is termed the “short sale”. A short sale is simply a sale of the property for less than the loan value. In certain situations, a lender will decide that the loss they take on the short payment of the mortgage is less than the loss they would face if they had to foreclose on the property. Short sales can be complex and time-consuming arrangements to hammer out. The lender must sign off on the arrangement and, to do so, they have to consult their internal guidelines and work with their loss mitigation department to ensure that the deal works for them. The lender may also involve the house insurance provider to pay for part of the lender’s loss on the sale gap.

Despite the complexity, a short sale may be the answer for a homeowner that is otherwise stuck with an unaffordable debt. There are some caveats though and the homeowner needs to understand the implications of the arrangement with the bank before signing on the dotted line.

Not all lenders will agree to erase the balance of the debt on a short sale. In other words, you may still owe the difference between the sale price and the loan value. If this is the arrangement on the table, make sure that you have a way of paying off this balance. Renegotiate the terms to make it affordable based on your monthly cash flow. Also, understand what the lender intends on reporting to the credit reporting agencies. While a short sale arrangement is generally detrimental to your credit rating, it is usually less so than a foreclosure or several more late payments. Get a handle on your credit rating before you approach a new lender about a new house.

Short sales may be the answer to the credit squeeze for many homeowners. As long as you understand the arrangement and can follow through with it, it may save you money and headaches in the long run.

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