Earlier this year, the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners adopted an ordinance that affects transactions of every property in unincorporated areas of the county on which there is a building constructed before January 1, 1993.

The purpose of the ordinance is to require that all plumbing fixtures on the property be certified as “low-flow” or water-conserving fixtures before the buyer of the property can receive water service. If a qualifying property does not contain low-flow fixtures, then the fixtures must be replaced or retrofitted to be low-flow (hence, the term “retrofit at resale”). This ordinance becomes effective for residential properties on June 1, 2008, and for commercial properties, including apartments, on January 1, 2009.

What exactly is a water-conserving plumbing fixture? A water-conserving plumbing fixture means the following: ultra low-flow toilets (ULFTs) that use a maximum of 1.6 gallons per flush; urinals that use a maximum of 1.0 gallons per flush; showerheads that emit a maximum of 2.5 gallons per minute; lavatory faucets that emit a maximum of 2.0 gallons per minute; and kitchen faucets that emit a maximum of 2.2 gallons per minute.

Georgia Association of REALTORS® attorney Seth Weissman has prepared a white paper explaining the ordinance, and the GAR Forms Committee has developed a disclosure exhibit that can be used by agents involved in a transaction in DeKalb County. DeKalb County has also promulgated several forms: download the GAR white paper, click here to download the DeKalb County Water and Sewer Service Application.

Memorial day kicks off the summer season and our area offers many festivals and events all summer long to enjoy. From music to art and everything in between, Atlanta offers something to do for everyone! Summer always goes quick so take time to enjoy the below offerings throughout the area.

2008 Summerfest – June 6th-8th
The funky, artsy community of Virginia Highlands puts on an annual festival that is popular both with residents and visitors to Atlanta. Activities include live music, an artists market, and fun for the kids.

Summer Shade Festival
Planning Underway for the 6th Annual Grant Park Summer Shade Festival – August 2008
The festival is located along the shaded pedestrian roadways of historic Grant Park, Atlanta’s oldest public park. The weekend is filled with a variety of featured events including the Artist Market, food vendors, the Adams Realtors 5K RUN FOR THE PARK on Saturday morning, live performance stages and a children’s fun center.

Festival Peachtree Latino-August 26th from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Underground Atlanta
Festival Peachtree Latino is the largest family & multicultural global event in the southeast since 2000.. It is a multicultural festival covering over 23 countries, and is one of the top 20 events in the Southeastern U.S. Enjoy a parade, artist’s market, live entertainment and more.

http://www.festivalpeachtreelatino.com/

Georgia Movies in the Park: A family-oriented free outdoor film festival that takes place in city parks around North Georgia and in Covington. Movies are shown on a large two story tall inflatable movie screen. Pre-movie activites start at 6 p.m. and include children’s infltable slide and moonwalk. Movies start at dusk. Please, no glass containers or alcohol. Concessions will be available for purchase. Don’t forget your blanket or lawn chairs.

July 4th festivites in Centennial Olympic Park … located between Baker Street and Techwood Drive is the site of Atlanta’s daylong Independence Day celebration. Live Music & Entertainment start in the afternoon and end with a ‘really big’ Fireworks Display choreographed to a Musical Score. Thousands of people turn out, but you can also view the fireworks from a variety of `less crowded’ spots nearby. Festivities begin at 4:30 PM, with the fireworks show at 9:30 PM.

July 21-27, 2008 Hosting the largest Fireworks Show in the Southeast, Lenox Square will light up the beautiful Buckhead District with a huge Pyrotechnic Extravaganza at 9:40 PM at

During your home search you may come across homes, condos and townhouses that are a part of a homeowners association. You may have asked yourself, what does that mean? What does a homeowners association do? What are the pros and cons?

A homeowners association is usually formed by a developer as a non-profit to maintain some aspect of a development or community. In the case of many condos, a home owners association often handles the maintenance of the building at large. The homeowners association is normally a non-profit corporation. The association is normally funded by dues or an association fee. Most real estate listings will tell you if the home is a part of an association and the fees.

A homeowners association will have regulations and restrictions on how your property can be used. Some of them can be as simple as the yard must be kept free of clutter to more confining covenants like the house must be painted a certain color. Other associations do not have strict regulations and are concerned only with matters such as pool maintenance or grounds maintenance which may include snow removal from the community. You need to know upfront what the association expects of a homeowner in the community and a manual of these expectations, called by-laws should be provided to you.

There are pros and cons to being a part of a home owners association, it may or may not fit with your lifestyle and ideals. Below are some of both to help you make a decision as to if you are interested in moving into a neighborhood with an HOA.

Pros
• Some communities with HOAs have community parks, playgrounds, swimming pools or other amenities. Another plus is the maintance is already taken care of!
• They handle keeping the neighborhood clean and maintains up to date, they also help keep the house all looking the same to keep property values up.
• The close community concern may give owners a greater sense of security.

Cons
• If you don’t like restrictions on your own property, a HOA may not be for you. Many associations restrict boats and cars that don’t run from being stored in a driveway and certain paint colors on homes.
• If you don’t comply with the rules or fail to pay the dues, the HOA has a right to put a lien on your property.
• Fees can be monthly or yearly, so you will need to include them in your budget; many fees tend to rise on a yearly basis.

In the end, it’s really a decision about your lifestyle. Before considering a home with an owners association read the agreement. Ask the home owners in the community about the services they receive. This way you can get a feel for how happy the locals are about their association. Also, be sure to make sure you know how the association deals with issues that arise. It is better to be safe and know what you are getting into before you fall in love with that house.

Lead-based paint is a major source of lead poisoning in children and can also affect adults. In children it can cause irreversible brain damage and can impair mental functioning. It can also retard fetal development even at extremely low levels of lead. In adults, it can cause irritability, poor muscle coordination, and nerve damage to the sense organs and nerves controlling the body. If your home was built before 1978, there is a very good chance that there is lead paint. If you are buying a home or even leasing a home, federal law requires a lead-based paint disclosure be supplied. It is possible that the current owner has no idea or if the home is for sale by bank they have no prior knowledge of the contents of the home. How can you find out?

If you are buying a home without a completed disclosure, renting a home that the owner would not have that information available or renovating a home built before 1978 where you will be disturbing more than 2 square feet of painted surfaces you need to understand the hazards of lead based paint. Because of the wide spread usage of lead paints before 1978, it is a good possibility that you will find evidence, however, rather than guess, there are testing methods. Home kits are available and while they will tell you if there is lead they are not a good predictor of hazard. A paint inspection can be requested with or without a risk assessment. The EPA recommends hiring a trained and certified testing professional who will us a XRF machine, lab tests of paint, dust and soil samples.

If you are not sure that there is lead paint but want to keep your family safe there are a few simple precautions you can take.

 Immediately take care of chipping paint. Do not sand paint that may contain lead as will create lead dust. Chipped paint needs to be immediately disposed of.
 Cover lead paint by painting over possible offenders. While this doesn’t cure the problem it is a quick solution to protect your family until abatement can occur.
 Frequently check play areas and high traffic areas for signs that paint is cracking.
 If you are remodeling, remove small children and if possible women of child bearing years.

A complete guide to lead-paint and renovating can be found in this EPA document. While paint isn’t the only source of possible lead contamination; it is the most common. If you think your family may have been exposed, it is important to get tested. Children who may have been exposed to lead-based paint should have a blood test to see if they have elevated blood levels.

The national home crisis continues and many economists predict it will likely be a year or more before we again see a booming residential real estate market in this country. However, compared with the nation as a whole, Atlanta appears to have been spared the worst of the crisis. A relatively healthy local economy that’s still creating jobs and bringing newcomers to this region are some of the main factors that helped to keep Atlanta from the downward spiral that is affecting other parts of the nation.

Sales of new homes fell in March throughout the nation to lows not seen in more than 16 years. The national median home price in March was 13.3 percent lower than it was a year ago and traditionally March is a strong month in the spring sales season.

Take for example the Northeast, where the market had been explosive only a couple of years ago, prices declined 19.4 percent compared with March 2007. By comparison, the South saw the smallest dip in March new-home sales only 4.6 percent.

Lower home prices and the lack of big price run-ups in past years have contributed to the South’s steady status. Local real estate watchers say the Atlanta market is gradually reconciling the supply of homes with demand, which should help things recover. Home builders cut construction schedules and sellers of existing homes dropped prices, a necessary market adjustment that will help to match up more closely with the number of potential buyers.

Eugene James, Atlanta division director for Metrostudy, which surveys the housing industry, expects to see sales pick up coming out of the historically slow winter months. He says local home builders are starting to report more prospective buyers looking around subdivisions.

Although it will be a long road to get back to the booming housing market that we experienced a few years ago, Atlanta is fortunate that there are still home buyers moving here and the local economy is still creating jobs.