You are currently browsing the monthly archive for April 2009.
Hodnett Cooper Real Estate is proud to announce that Veta Herndon has joined the company as an Associate Broker and Realtor.
As owner of Shorestone Properties, Inc., Veta Herndon brings to her role as broker the expertise of also being a licensed builder. Her insights into the dynamics of the housing market, zoning issues and requirements, costs of materials and labor, and the value of features and design give her a unique perspective on clients’ needs. Veta holds professional memberships in the National Association of Realtors, the Georgia Association of Realtors, and the Golden Isles Association of Realtors. Additionally, Veta Herndon has successfully completed certification courses for Accredited Seller Representation (ASR), Accredited Buyer Representation (ABR), the Graduate Realtors Institute (GRI), and is a Certified Internet Professional (e-PRO). A former teacher, Veta holds a Masters of Arts in Education degree from Georgia Southern University and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from Mercer University. She feels that her skills as a former teacher help her to, in her words, “walk my clients through the complex processes inherent in any real estate transaction to ensure they’re making educated and informed decisions.” Veta and her husband, Jim, live on St. Simons Island, along with their cockatiel, Zackary.
According to Pat Hodnett Cooper, President, “Hodnett Cooper Real Estate, Inc. is pleased that Veta Herndon has chosen to join our growing team of real estate professionals in the Coastal Georgia market area.” Veta will be in the Saint Simons Island office, located at 520 Ocean Boulevard.
Would you like to know more about real estate? Join Mary Bryan Fields on Monday and Thursday evenings beginning June 22 through August 10 for a lively and interesting study of “All Things Real Estate.”
Subject matter includes valuation, contracts, options, law, property management, listing agreements, buyer brokerage, representation, and more. If you attend regularly and complete all in-class exercises, you will be eligible to take the Georgia real estate licensing examination. The class is presented by Barney Fletcher Schools and is approved by the Georgia Real Estate Commission for 75 hours in-class instruction. Mary Bryan Fields has been a licensed Broker for more than 35 years and a licensed instructor for 30 years. Her decades of experience and “war stories” provide fascinating dimension to the material with practical advice to help you become an astute, well-informed buyer or seller.
Course fee of $495 covers all materials, including workbook. Professional package upgrade at $620. Call 800-850-0031 to register or contact Mary Bryan at 912-638-4750 for more information.
by Alice Barlow
Sunday, May 3 – Youth Symphony Spring Concert – 3:00 PM at the Glynn Academy Memorial Auditorium.
A concert filled with the sounds of nature and Spring! Selections will soar like the birds, sway like the trees in the wind, and beat to the rhythm of the Earth. Imagine it! The program includes:
- Moore: “Highflight”
- Rimsky-Korsakov: “Flight of the Bumblebee”
- Williams: “The Lark Ascending”
- Elgar: “The Cockaigne Overture”
- Reinecke: “Ballade” (Soloist: Ann Merwin)
- Sousa: “The Invincible Eagle March”
- Stravinsky: “Berceuse” and “Finale -Firebird Suite”
For more information:
Tickets at the door ($25 adults; $5 student/child) or at BuyTickets
General information – here
Directions to the auditorium – here
For the second year in a row, Hodnett Cooper is the presenting sponsor for Glynn County’s Relay for Life fundraiser. This year’s theme, “On Tour for A Cure” commemorates the thousands of locations across the Nation working together to fight against cancer.
Our team includes multiple cancer survivors. As such, this event is extremely personal to the men and women of Hodnett Cooper, who work hard each year to ensure its success. Annually, Glynn County contributes more than $400,000 towards the hope that those lost to cancer will never be forgotten, that those who face cancer will be supported, and that one day, cancer will be eliminated. 
Please join us for a lap around the track at 7:00 pm, Friday April 24 at the Glynn County Fairgrounds in Brunswick, Georgia. We welcome the entire community!
The Village area of St. Simons, located at the southern end of the island at Mallery Street and Ocean Boulevard, is the best place to start your visit of the island. From here, one can visit the historic lighthouse, fish or crab off the pier, hold a picnic, start a bike tour of the island, walk the beach, browse one of the village shops, or eat in one of St. Simons’s finer restaurants. This part of the island is developed and busy; nonetheless, the natural setting is quite beautiful, with large Live Oaks shading the view of the shimmering St. Simons Sound and Jekyll Island beyond. Shrimp boats are seen trafficking between offshore shrimping grounds and their harbor in Brunswick. In many areas, homes perched practically on top of rip-rap rocks appear ready to fling themselves into the ocean. In other areas, dunes have been allowed to endure and support the fascinating plant and animal communities that populate the dynamic area between beach and forest.
The village got its start in the 1870s resort period, when vacationers traveled from the mainland on steamships. Most of the early historic buildings of St. Simons were destroyed by fire. The St. Simons Hotel was built in 1888 near Massengale Park, which was linked to the pier by mule-drawn trolley. The grand structure, large enough to host 300 guests, was destroyed by fire in December of 1898. The New St. Simons Hotel was built at the same location in 1910, but in 1916, it too burned. Nonetheless, St. Simons continued to be popular with vacationers, and four other hotels were established near the pier, including the Bellevue, which was renamed St. Simons Hotel.
The third St. Simons Hotel, located at the end of the pier, was replaced by the first Casino Building, which burned in 1934. The area started to develop more rapidly with the building of the causeway in 1924, and more visitors opted to become year-round residents. With a growing population, a village of small shops and businesses was able to flourish year-round by the 1950s, and by 1960, the resident population was 3,199. Today, the village is the focal point of commercial and tourist activities on the island. The St. Simons Visitor Center is located in the second Casino Building at the northern end of Neptune Park and offers a complete assortment of visitor facilities and information, including a library, restrooms, a theater playhouse, and an outdoor bandstand.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (February 17, 2009) provides for a tax credit for certain home buyers. If you meet the qualifying requirements, you may save $8,000 in taxes!
The qualifying requirements are: (1) the property purchased must be your primary residence, (2) you must purchase between 1/1/09 and 11/30/09, (3) the credit amount is 10% of the home purchase price not to exceed $8,000, (4) you have never owned a home or you have not owned your principal residence during the three years prior to the purchase; if you are married, both spouses must meet the 3 year rule requirement, and (5) you must live in the home for at least three years. The credit applies to houses, condos, house trailers, or houseboats located within the United States.
If your modified adjusted gross income is less than $75,000 (single filers) or $150,000 (joint filers), you may take the entire credit as provided above. However, for purchasers with higher incomes the credit phases out and eventually disappears.
You receive the money when you file your tax return, not at the closing of the purchase transaction. The credit may reduce your tax liability or increase your tax refund. The credit does not have to be repaid. The money you save is yours, not a loan from the taxpayers!
The Georgia Sea Turtle Center officially opened June 2007 in Jekyll Island, Ga.’s National Historic Landmark District on the site of the original 1903 Power Plant building, much of which has been preserved and incorporated into the new facilities. The ambitious, $3 million center – offering an outstanding museum-style learning experience and a state-of-the-art rehabilitation center and veterinary clinic, is the first of its kind in Georgia and is the world’s leading sea turtle rehabilitation, research and education facility.
Why is a Sea Turtle Center Needed in Georgia?
Stranded sea turtles are often found along Atlantic coast beaches. A small, but increasing number of these turtles are still alive. Before, there were no facilities in Georgia to treat the turtles, and they had to be transported long distances to centers in Florida and South Carolina. Unfortunately, these facilities were often filled to capacity, and the turtles were not treated adequately and/or prematurely released.
The Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island is open to the public for tours:
April 09-Nov 09: Monday from 10am-2pm; Tuesday through Sunday from 9am-5pm
Dec 09-Feb 10: Tuesday through Sunday from 9am-5pm
For more information about the Georgia Sea Turtle Center and its programs, please visit georgiaseaturtlecenter.org.
- Deductible Mortgage Interest
- Tax Free Gain on Sale
- Partially Deductible Home Improvements
- Save Taxes with Interest on Home Equity Loans
- Home Office Deductions
- Deductible Moving Costs
- Deductible Property Taxes
Home ownership can be the ultimate tax shelter. The Internal Revenue Code recognizes a number of tax benefits for real property owners.
One of the most significant tax deductions is the interest paid on a real estate loan used to purchase your primary residence. For example, if you paid $1200/month in mortgage interest, you can deduct, depending on your tax bracket, up to $11,500 a year. State and local property taxes are also deductible, as well as certain loan origination fees or points incurred at the time of purchase.
Expenses for permanent improvements to you home, such as installing air condition, a swimming pool or handicap ramps, because of a medical condition (prescribe in writing by your doctor) may be partially deductible. If you move more than 50 miles away because of a new employment opportunity, your moving expenses may be deductible. If you home is built on leased land, IRS sections 163 allows for deduction for lease payments. The ground lease must be for at least 15 years including the renewal periods, be freely assignable, and contain a future option for you to buy the leased land. Certain expenses associated with building and working from a home office can also qualify you for a tax break, but guidelines are strict. You must use the area designated as an office exclusively for business – dining room tables do not apply! Individuals who work at home are also entitle to deduct a portion of their home expenses, such as utilities, insurance and security system. Interest on home equity loans is likely to be deductible as well.
And when you sell, if your are married filing jointly, up to $500,000 in capital gains may be tax free!
Please note, this is a general overview and is not intended as tax advice. Please see your tax professional.
The Halter Realty Group of Atlanta recently partnered with local firm Hodnett Cooper Real Estate to market Grand View, a new, marsh front condominium community on St. Simons Island, Georgia. Grand View will be marketed through hodnettcooper.com, one of the most visited websites in the Coastal Georgia area.
Grand View, with prices starting at $249,900, offers extraordinary value and the rare opportunity for new-construction luxury condominium living on the marsh in the heart of St. Simons Island. Developed by Trammell Crow Residential and The Halter Companies, Grand View is a gated, secured-access 42 home community of two and three bedroom condominiums framed by protected marshlands and live oaks draped with Spanish Moss.
All Grand View homes include premium finishes like hardwood floors, granite countertops, ten-foot ceilings, double vanity master bathrooms and crown moldings. Grand View is tucked away in a quiet spot on the marsh in Sea Palms West, just minutes from St. Simons Island beaches, golf, tennis, dining and shopping, and with direct access to the Island’s extensive network of bike and walking trails.
Josh Lindenbaum, vice president of development for the Halter Company, says the community is filled with special features for its residents. “All of the homes at Grand View are situated around a beautifully landscaped garden park featuring a pool, spa and a residents’ gazebo with outdoor kitchen.”
Keys for the Cure!
Join us for an extraordinary musical performance benefiting Relay for Life, Friday, May 8, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. Five majestic ebony grand pianos, provided by Jamestown Piano Shop, will be played by ten talented locals at Wesley United Methodist Church on St. Simons Island. At each piano will be four hands and twenty fingers moving across the keys. This studied choreography is as spellbinding as the music.
The ten accomplished, local pianists are bound by more than their love of music. Five (one at each piano) are cancer survivors and all ten have been touched in some way by the disease. The evening’s skilled performers will be: Amy Bishop, David Crawford, Ann Dempsey, Beverly Fetter, Rhonda Hambright, Michele Jamieson, Donna Nilsson, Ann Nermoe, Diedra Singleton, and Claudia Theise.
Many of the world’s greatest composers have written wondrous original works for “one piano, four hands.” This evening’s performance will span styles from the 17th century to the present, including classical, popular, sacred and other selections.
100% of the ticket proceeds will go to Relay for Life and our community’s fight against cancer. General Admission is $25, Student Admission is $10, and Patron Tickets are $50. Patron tickets include reserved seating and a gala meet-the-musicians reception at Halyard’s Restaurant following the performance. Seating is limited to 500, so please secure your tickets well in advance. Tickets can be purchased via the web, here.
