Hermes Family Shoes For The Souls – Hamilton Mill, Dacula GA

Well, I sit here writing this blog post with a freezing cold head after allowing my youngest daughter McClain to shave my hair yesterday. Over the past month, McClain (9 years old) and I have been hard at work in Hamilton Mill and the surrounding areas collecting shoes for the Atlanta Mission.

In 2009, we were able to collect 365 pair of shoes from Hamilton Mill and other neighbrohoods and schools in the area. When we set out this year I told McClain that we should try to increase the goal to 400 pair. Well, as we quickly reached that plateau, I made the comment that if we reached 1,000 pair I would let her shave my head. Not a very bright idea on my part. 1,598 pairs later I am sitting here bald.

Want to check out the video of the haircut? Matt’s New Do

Well, we took off and ran with this thing and Hamilton Mill, Pucketts Mill Elementary, Cedar Hill Elementary, Keller Williams Realty and a number of other schools, chruches and organizations helped us raise 1,598 pairs of shoes for what we call our Shoes For The Souls program for the Atlanta Mission.

This is not a high tech fundraiser that allows us to collect funding or provide tax receipts. This is simply and father and daughter out in the community trying to do a little good. Tough times are with us all and we have been through some ourselves lately and we simply wanted to do something to help others and teach McClain a lesson in giving back to the community.

To see the amount of shoes that we generated was amazing. 1,598 pair is a LOT of shoes. We had to go so far as to rent a box truck to get the shoes to the drop off point at the Atlanta Mission. Thankfully I had some neighbors in Hamilton Mill help with the loading of the shoes.

McClain’s favorite part of the experience was getting to tour the facility yesterday and getting interviewed for a tv story that is going to aired shortly. She asked so many questions about the facility and came up with a new Community Service project that Carmen and I are sworn to secrecy over. Too funny. Me, I was really impressed with the Mission and how well it was operated.  They also recently changed names from the Atlanta Union Mission to simply the Altanta Misison.

Anyway, a huge thanks to all of you out there who donated to our little cause. To see the faces on the staff and those who were going to be getting some new shoes yesterday was awesome. Worth the time and effort.

Hamilton Mill / Dacula – Distressed Homes

Is anyone you know struggling to make mortgage payments? With millions facing foreclosure today, chances are someone you know is in this situation.

The first thing to understand is that you are not alone, and there are dignified solutions to foreclosure. A short sale is one alternative becoming more and more common. Many homeowners pursue this route because the financial effects of short sales are much less damaging.

From loan eligibility to credit status, the results of a short sale leave you in a much better financial position than foreclosure. To explain further, I’ve created a free report showing the exact differences between a short sale versus foreclosure, which you can download here:

Free Information Website

This isn’t the easiest situation to deal with. However, confronting an unaffordable mortgage head-on with the right information can help homeowners regain financial stability.

As a CDPE-designated agent, I have extensive training in pursuing foreclosure alternatives. I can help homeowners figure out their best possible options.

Distressed Property Website For Hamilton Mill, Dacula GA

In an ongoing effort to help those homeowners  in and around Hamilton Mill who are in need of advice, support and understanding during the potential loss of their home to foreclosure we are here to help.

I have put together a website that offers to homeowners in Hamilton Mill and Dacula Georgia who may be in the process of losing their homes a place to come and research what your options are.

If you or someone you know is falling behind or has fallen behind on their mortgage payments please direct them to this site. Foreclosure is not the only option and it is one that will stay with you forever. 

Check out my Foreclosure Solutions for more information on how we can help you with your home in Hamilton Mill or in the surrounding areas of Dacula and Gwinnett County.

Pending Home Sales Rise 5.2% – Hamilton Mill, Dacula GA

Well another report with mixed signals that will continue to confuse anyone and everyone who is looking to buy or sell real estate. Bottom line is this in my opinion.

You cannot gauge when the market is at its low point. Once you realize that the market is at its low, it has already started back up. Similarly, you cannot guess when the market is at its peak. Once you realize that the market has started to lose value.

So I suggest that you buy or sell when YOU are ready not when someone tells you that you should buy or sell.

Here is the USA Today article.

Want to see what homes are on the market in Hamilton Mill? Click here.

Hamilton Mill Library Gains National Honor

Way to go Gwinnett County and our Hamilton Mill library for the awesome building recognition award we just received.  The new Hamilton Mill library was just recognized as one of the most innovative, unique and challenging construction projects in the nation by the Building of America Network.

Check out the Gwinnett Daily Post article here for all the details.

www.HamiltonMill.co

I am really excited to see my new website at www.hamiltonmill.co has made it to the first page in Google after only 14 days. Pretty good stuff.

Yes, that is a .co address.

www.HamiltonMill.co is correct and this is my newest site for all Hamilton Mill homes for sale as well as any other homes currently for sale in the area.

Questions? Looking to buy or sell? Give me a call.

What do shoes and a bald head have in common? Dacula Ga / Hamilton Mill

Matt and Logan after we shaved our heads for St. Baldricks

As I sit here and write this I just kicked my shoes off under my desk and felt that cool, wonderful sensation of freedom from the constraint of my shoes on my feet. You know the feeling also, and you like it as much as I do.  However, what if you were in a position to not be able to have a decent pair of shoes and along with that were living on the street with no roof over your head.

Last year, my youngest daughter McClain, myself and our family decided to collect slightly use athletic shoes that were to be donated to the Atlanta Union Mission’s My Sister’s House. Little did we realize that we were undertaking a project that would ultimately raise over 350 pairs of shoes that we were able to donate.  It was an awesome experience and one that McClain learned so much from and has helped her to grow as a person.

This fall, McClain asked me if we could do the “Shoes For The Souls” project again and I jumped at the chance to continue our service work. We are a little better organized this year and already have McClain’s school, Puckett’s Mill Elementary School on board as well as my Keller Williams office. I am hoping to try and get my church involved but I have not even approached them at this point.

The goal we have set is 400 pairs of shoes, but thinking about it this morning I decided that if we were to raise 1,000 pairs by the end of September I would let McClain shave my head.  Personally I do not think we can get to the total so I fell pretty safe, but you never know.

If you have a few minutes, check the closets and garage for those shoes that just do not fit or that you simply do not wear and consider donating them to us.

Any questions, please give me a call.

Matt Hermes

PS: Carmen does not know this so….

Deed For Lease Option – Hamilton Mill /Gwinnett County Help

Attention Hamilton Mill homeowners and all other owners who are having trouble making their house payments and are looking at the possibility of foreclosure.

If your financial situation has become unmanageable, the thought of leaving your home may be unbearable. But with the realization that you cannot make your monthly mortgage payments you know there is not a lot of options. You do not want to leave your neighborhood, take your kids out of theit home school and find a new place to live. The Dee-For-Lease Option might be what you need.

Fannie Mae has approved a new program for struggling homeowners that will allow them to stay in their homes and lease back the house. The program is called the “Deed-For-Lease Option”. You can avoid foreclosure while still being able to remain in your home.

The program allows you to remain in the home and lease it from Fannie Mae after you have transferred the title to your property to the mortgage company. The lease term is 12 months or more and the monthly rental is based on the current market value of rates in our area.

Want to find out more about this option? Give me a call or email me and I will pass this information onto you.

Hamilton Mill Homeowners Do You Need To Relax?

Over the past three years I have received numerous requests for information and advice form homeowners who are possibly going to losing their home to foreclosure.

This is such a devastating thought and one I am well aware of as many of us have to decide what to do with our homes. The possibility of losing ones home is so frustrating and stressful.

I talk with people all the time that think that what they are going through is all their fault and there is plenty of blame that is laid on one spouse or the other. Here is what I tell them.

If you or your spouse could have predicted that these three things combined were going to happen then it is ok to be mad at the other spouse:

1. The stock market was going to lose almost 50% of its value a couple of years ago and we would continue to struggle thru those losses today then it is OK to be mad.

2. If you knew that the unemployment rate was going to increase to over 10% and that millions of American, you included, would hae lost your job and have to go on unemployment for months on end, then it is OK to be mad.

3. If either of you could have predicted that the housing market was going to collapse and we would lose over 30% of the value of our homes, or more, then it is OK to be mad.

However if you did not see all three of these issues happening, then give the other person in your relatioship a break and work together to figure out a solution. This stinks, not two ways about it. Let’s put a plan together to work through this and if the worst thing that happens is you lose your home then so be it. It is not the end of the world.

Keep the faith and keep your family intact.

My two cents.

Forrest Wood Cup and FLW Outdoor Expo – Hamilton Mill area

The largest bass fishing tournament in the country is heading to the Gwinnett Civic Center and Lake Lanier this weekend, August 6-8 and I got a bunch of tickets I want to get to my friends and clients who would like to go for FREE.

Here is a link to the site for more information.

http://www.flwoutdoors.com/forrest-wood-cup/2010/index.cfm

Give me a call or email me and let me know you saw this post on my blog and the tickets are yours.