Wayne Long's Blog: All Categories

When I was in college mortgage rates went to their all time high of 18%.   That is what kept me out of Real Estate initially.  My father was a Real Estate Broker and I saw what a really tough market looked like and I didn't want to be involved.    This perspective gives me a truly different take on the market we are in now. 

What I see is opportunity for buyers!  

The old saying of buy low and sell high!  What makes a great time to buy property.  Let me think....
1) When you can buy at a discount.
2) When sellers will pay your closing costs so that you don't have to come out of pocket.
3) When you can finance at a great interest rate (5.75% 30 yr. fixed)
4) When you have a lot of inventory to choose from

Wow!  I think that time could be… Read Full Post

   Phenix City officials have anounced that HUD has approved the purchase of the land along the Phenix City Riverfront known as the Triangle Properties.    This is the major hurdle that has been holding up construction of the new Business School for Troy State University.   This new Business School coupled with the building of the Phenixian High Rise Condominiums by Ronnie Gilley Properties will be a major step in revitalizing the downtown area of Phenix City.   

    Phenix City is trying to do much the same thing Columbus has done across the River by moving the art and music departments of Columbus State University downtown.    Both sides of the river seem to be on a major… Read Full Post

Fort Mitchell is the Alabama side of Fort Benning.   The "West Gate" has become a popular place for newcomers to Fort Benning to buy homes because of their comparably lower prices than the homes in Columbus.   Homes in Fort Mitchell will range from $100,000 to just over $200,000.   

Recently I went down for an open house at a new subdivision called the "Villages at Westgate".  You can buy a lot of home their for $200,000 dollars.    The first model is a 3000 sq. ft. / 5 bedroom 2 story home that is priced at only $202,000.   These are a great buy in my opinion especially for the military because they are only about 5 minutes from the westgate and only about 15 minutes out of Phenix City and Columbus.   It is in a very rural setting so you would need to…

Cataula Ga is growing leaps and bounds in the southern part of Harris Co. just on the north side of Columbus.   It is only about 15 minutes back into Columbus and serves as a more rural bedroom community for Columbus.    You can have your small town feel and still only be minutes from the amenities Columbus has to offer.  

Home prices in Cataula range all the way from $100,000 to $800,000 as of this writing.  Please feel free to use our advanced "Find a Home" system to locate your next home in Cataula GA.   Also use the Great School system to check out schools in Harris Co.    Cataula is a great place to live! 

Fortson Ga is a rural part of Muscogee Co. just to the north of Columbus Ga.  It has become a hot spot to live as people move to the north side of Columbus.   Most of the new shopping, restaurants, and schools are on the north side of Columbus and for this reason along with the lower crime rate - north Columbus and Fortson have become popular areas to live.  

There is a wide range of home prices in Fortson Ga ranging all the way from $100,000 to $700,000 as of the writing of this post.   Please use our "Find a Home" search and mapping system to locate your next home in Fortson as it is by far the most advanced in the area for locating homes and mapping their location.  

Use the Great Schools system to check out the schools in the area. … Read Full Post

Midland Ga is a growing suburb on the northeast side of Columbus.   People generally like the area because it has more of a rural upscale feel.   Midland has some of the highest per capita income in the Columbus area. Homes for sale in Midland GA include homes priced all the way from $200,000 to close to $1million.   ( $869,000 is the top price as of the writing of this post).  

Midland is only 10 - 15 minutes out of Columbus and will give you a laid back country feel without a long drive.   Also, moms tell me the schools in Midland GA  are excellent and this is also a big draw for the area.  I have found that people like to live in area where they feel safe and their kids have great schools.  Midland fits the bill for this! … Read Full Post

Fort Benning Ga is the largest employer in the Columbus Ga Metro area.   Columbus is the third largest city in Georgia.    Here are some of the numbers produced by Fort Benning. 

1) Fort Benning has a 1.1 million dollar yearly payroll.

2) 33,000 active soldiers on Fort Benning

3) 47,000 military retirees call Fort Benning Home. 

4) 9,000 civilian employees work on Fort Benning

The Armor school is moving to Fort Benning GA as a result of the military realignment.   This is so the Infantry and the Armor School can train together.  Fort Benning has always been home of the Infantry.   The impact from the Armor School will be something like this:

5) 5500 additional permanent troops

6) 5500 additional civilian employess

This does not include…

We all want a great rate on our Mortgage.  To do that we need a great credit score.  It is more important now than ever!

1) Don't pay late!  30 days late on anything can really lower your credit score.  Approximately 35% of your credit score is based on your payment history.   If you pay on time every time you will have a much better score.  Even one late payment can lower your score up to 100 points.  

What if I already have late payments?  Stop paying late now.  The longer it has been since your last late payment the better off your score will be!  We can't do anything about the past but we can do something about the future. 

2) Keep your balances on credit cards below 30% of your credit limit.    Below 25% is even better.   About 30% of your credit…