Living

Whoever knew when I accepted a position as a call center worker for Sprint PCS back in 199*coughs into my hand* that I would not only be answering calls from irate customers but well over a decade later I’d be answering calls from co-workers turned friends turned sisters.

My children are blessed in that  over the years I’ve amassed a village of phenomenal and loving women that care for them just as much as I do. They call on birthdays, spoil in the most unbelievable ways and will flip the script and set the record straight when they step out of line in a heartbeat. They paint nails and dance to Michael Jackson and are just all around awesome.

One of the village aunties lives downtown in a happening part of town and my children love to visit her. They ask for her almost weekly and this weekend we traded in a quiet Saturday night in the burbs for a fun evening in the city.

Their eyes light up at the skyline and the railcar and the murals….and Harold’s chicken

Once we made it back to her place after eating chicken and laughing and catching up the little one got some instruction on how to play mancala, while I begged for random pieces of jewelry and sunglasses like only sisters do.

So that’s the story of our Saturday with one of the village aunties or aunt or Antie…whatever they are called in your neck of the woods.

Do your babies have village aunties or are you the village auntie?

Cirque du Soleil Kurios is coming to Atlanta. If you’ve never seen a Cirque du Soleil show I encourage you to put it on your bucket list. The entire experience is amazing to say the least.

Kurios is a Cirque du Soleil show that is great for the entire family as we all know kids are Kurios too!!  Step into the curios cabinet of an ambitious inventor who defies the laws of time, space and dimension in order to reinvent everything around him.  Share the experience today with $25 kids tickets.  Kurios Cabinet of Curiosities will perform under the iconic blue and yellow big top at Atlantic Station March 3 – May 8.   CLICK HERE and take advantage of this offer now!

**Offer Disclaimers:  Offer valid on select show dates and times while supplies last.  This offer may not be combined with other offers or applied to previously purchased tickets.

Here’s a sneak peek of Kurios!

Happy to offer one of my Atlanta readers the opportunity to win a four pack of tickets to see the showing on April 19 in the big top at Atlantic Station. Please note that the show begins at 8PM and runs approximately 2.5 hours.

Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Buying and selling a house at the same time has to be one of the most challenging things to do in a lifetime, especially in a weird market. You may have already found some Castle Oaks homes that you like the look of, but that doesn’t mean that buying will not be a stressful process. For those of you that have been hanging around since 2013 you probably remember all of the stress I was under while we were selling and looking to build/purchase a new home.

Home buying season is upon us and if trial and error, tears and anger qualifies one as an expert on a topic than I am well versed in the struggles that come with purchasing a home. There are so many things to be aware of when purchasing and one of the major tips I have is to do your research to make sure you are getting the best deal all around. If you are look into purchase a home for the first time or a family home and live in the Brabham area of Australia, it is also just as important to do your research into the type of home you want to purchase. You should also be aware that there are plenty of legal struggles surrounding housing sales I’d consider looking into Conveyancing Quotes comparison sites that’ll make sure you get the best deal and great support through the buying process.

Now that it is easy to gain access to some of the tools real estate agents use to find homes it is easy and imperative to become involved in your home buying process. I can’t stress this enough. I’m sure I was a little more involved than desired but I ended up with what I wanted.

I was often sending homes to our agent because I knew she was busy and I couldn’t stand to think about missing out on a great deal because she was working with another client or busy. In essence taking this approach can mean that in hindsight you did all of the work on finding your home and still be responsible for paying the agent a commission. I’ve discovered a new, better option for those of us who really want to own our home buying and selling experience- Owners.com.

This top 10 U.S. online brokerage offers innovative services to home buyers and sellers. Sellers are able to list their home for a flat fee of only $695 (including MLS exposure) which means on a $300K transaction, that savings is $8,305 (up to 1.5% back) when buying a home (saving approximately $4.5k on $300k transaction)*.

This new choice in end-to-end real estate services allows you to keep a portion of the commissions for doing a portion of the work yourselves. Just think about where you could put the money you save! Update a bathroom or kitchen, open a college fund, or take a vacation!

As Owners.com branches into Atlanta they discovered that 78% of buyers in this market are impressed with the idea of not having to pay for services they don’t use, which in terms of the current market trends means a boost in using these new options to buy and sell.

According to the same survey by Owners.com, home buyers in Atlanta are significantly more likely to say they prefer ‘move-in’ ready (79%) to a ‘fixer-upper ’ (21%). Using their website allows you to search for a wide-range of home styles within your budget, including those listed For Sale by Owner. The buyers rebate will give you a chunk of change to tackle improvements for those who seek a fixer-upper!

Owners.com offers home buyers the option to search for homes that are not only For Sale by Owner (FSBO) but MLS listed properties as well. You can easily search by zip code, neighborhood, school district or city and put the power of the home buying process into your own hands.

Here’s a property listing in Sandy Springs for instance with a lot to offer!

I’ll be back to talk about how Owners.com helps sellers in the near future. In the meantime, if you are looking to step into home ownership for the first or third time Owners.com is definitely worth looking into. Thank goodness I’m done with this process but I send you all love, support and Owners.com to help you along your way!

*Buyers can receive a rebate Based on an average home price of $300,000 (U.S. Census. Jan-Sep. 2015) and average buyer agent commission rebate of 1.5%. Some limitations apply. Rebate not available on all properties or For-Sale-By-Owner listings. See Owners.com for details.

This discussion has been sponsored by Owners.com. All opinions and thoughts are my own.