Increasing Your Home’s Value with Outdoor Upgrades

If you’re planning to put your North Georgia home on the market and looking for a way to set your home apart, some outdoor upgrades may do the trick! Jessica Yonker, design expert from HGTV was interviewed in a recent Equifax Finance blog article, “Increase Your Home’s Value With These Five Outdoor Upgrades” and quoted as saying, “It’s useless to have a beautiful home inside and a mess outside,” so add some curb appeal with outdoor improvements:

• Fire pits – buyers will imagine themselves curled up around a glowing fire in a fire pit, which either can be built-in (you can build a simple one yourself) or portable (attractive, portable fire pits can be found in your department store or home improvement store)
• Outdoor kitchens – go all out with a kitchen outside that will make outdoor entertaining easy; add a sink, grill, stove/oven, bar, fridge and more

Atlanta Active Adult Builder Sees Increase in Home Sales

As one of Atlanta’s premier active adult builders, it’s no surprise that The Orchards Group has seen strong sales so far this year. But, the hot streak that occurred between January 1 and June 30, 2013 with 43 homes sold in their two communities beat everyone’s expectations! The Orchards of Brannon Oak Farm in Cumming sold 26 new homes and The Orchards of East Cherokee, a community in Woodstock, recorded 17 new homes sales. Of special note is The Orchards of Brannon Oak Farm, where 187 of the 218 total properties have been sold. “We expect to be sold out by the end of this year,” said Craig Smith, sales associate for the company.

Mitch Block, Director of Sales and Marketing for the Orchards Group, adds that more than 75 percent of the new homes sold have been inventory homes that were already under construction or very near completion. "As the Atlanta real estate market picks up, homeowners are seeing their homes sell quickly, so they need to be able to move into their new home quickly as well,” continues Mitch. “Many homebuyers today do not have the luxury of building a home from the ground up and having the opportunity to customize their home. The Orchards Group understands that, and knows that sometimes modifications need to be made to inventory homes to suit the new homeowner’s needs. We always try to accommodate the requests of the homebuyers to the best of our ability, and we try to compromise with homebuyers who have special requests in order to make their new homes just right for them."

TheOrchards of Brannon Oak Farm features three unique collections of homes that are priced from the $260,000s. The Arbors offers master-on-the-main villas with five different floor plans to choose from. Single-family detached homes that have either ranch or master-on-the-main plans are featured in the Gallery neighborhood, and the Southern Heritage collection consists of ranch condominium plans featuring two or three bedroom designs with an optional activities suite over the garage. The Orchards of Brannon Oak Farm also includes amazing amenities like a swimming pool, lawn area, fire pit, barbeque grill and a grand clubhouse that has a large gourmet kitchen, fitness center, gentlemen’s den with fireplace and card and game rooms.

Located in historic Hickory Flat, The Orchards of East Cherokee has two villages with their own unique floor plan mixes priced from the low $200,000s. The Gallery has two to four bedroom single-family homes, and the Southern Heritage collection offers two to three bedroom ranch condominiums. All of the homes at East Cherokee are zero to low maintenance, and the community features a swimming pool, waterfall sitting plaza and barbeque grilling area, as well as a grand clubhouse with fitness center, gourmet kitchen and game and card room.

For more information on the new homes from The Orchards Group, call The Orchards of Brannon Oak Farm at 648-513-8879 and The Orchards of East Cherokee at 770-345-5409, or visit their website at www.OrchardsGroup.com.