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Those two areas of the Columbus economy -- housing and retail -- are expected to be among the biggest winners financially as Fort Benning’s population blossoms by as many as 28,000 people starting in March and moving into September.
By Tony Adams
“We’ve experienced a good bit of the trickle-in effect of the early moves and have sold a number of houses,” said Jack Key, a partner with the real-estate firm Coldwell Banker/Kennon, Parker, Duncan & Key, which does business in Georgia and Alabama.
“The bulk of it is not supposed to come, though, until about May, and we’re expecting a flood of people in here,” he said. “It should resemble an avalanche between May 1 and October 1.”
“You’ve got to think that with nearly 30,000 new neighbors, the movie theaters, the furniture stores, the car dealers, the restaurants, the grocery stores, the sporting goods stores, just about everything is going to get a big lift,” said Key, a former chamber chairman. “I can only imagine what it’s going to be like to have something akin the size of Rome, Georgia, drop in the middle of our market, kind of overnight.”
Read more: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2011/01/03/1405248/bennings-boost-from-brac-expected.html#ixzz1E8JSa3VW
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Thunder in the Valley Air Show
14th Annual Thunder in the Valley Air Show
March 19 -20, 2011
Columbus Airport
http://www.thunderinthevalleyairshow.com/plaintext/home/home.aspx
March 19 -20, 2011
Columbus Airport
http://www.thunderinthevalleyairshow.com/plaintext/home/home.aspx
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
People boom from BRAC at Fort Benning about to be seen
- By Tony Adams
It was more than five years ago that the federal government unveiled plans to relocate the U.S. Army Armor School and Center to Fort Benning, launching an expansion not seen at the post since the buildup to the Vietnam War.
And it’s taken time to put the pieces in place for the moment when a small city of soldiers and civilians arrive from Fort Knox, Ky., and other installations around the world to staff an infantry/armor-blended organization called the Maneuver Center of Excellence.
Starting in March, soldiers, civilian workers and some family members will begin relocating to Fort Benning. The pace is expected to pick up in May as schools let out and more families with children make their way to the Columbus area. By mid-September, Fort Benning is projected to have in its ranks as many as 28,000 more troops, civilian staffers (both Department of the Army and contractors) and spouses with children.
Read more: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2011/01/02/1404183/people-boom-from-brac-at-fort.html#ixzz1A5GkxUx9
It was more than five years ago that the federal government unveiled plans to relocate the U.S. Army Armor School and Center to Fort Benning, launching an expansion not seen at the post since the buildup to the Vietnam War.
And it’s taken time to put the pieces in place for the moment when a small city of soldiers and civilians arrive from Fort Knox, Ky., and other installations around the world to staff an infantry/armor-blended organization called the Maneuver Center of Excellence.
Starting in March, soldiers, civilian workers and some family members will begin relocating to Fort Benning. The pace is expected to pick up in May as schools let out and more families with children make their way to the Columbus area. By mid-September, Fort Benning is projected to have in its ranks as many as 28,000 more troops, civilian staffers (both Department of the Army and contractors) and spouses with children.
Read more: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2011/01/02/1404183/people-boom-from-brac-at-fort.html#ixzz1A5GkxUx9
Friday, December 3, 2010
Tree for Troops to deliver more than 700 Christmas trees
BY LARRY GIERER - lgierer@ledger-enquirer.com
More than 700 Christmas trees will be delivered to active duty Fort Benning soldiers and their families by the Trees for Troops program on Dec. 6.
The trees will be distributed on a first come, first served basis beginning at 10:30 a.m. in the parking lot behind the main post car wash.
This is the sixth year that Christmas tree growers and retailers nationwide have donated Christmas Trees for military families.
Approximately 17,000 trees from 29 states are expected to be delivered to military bases in the United States and overseas this year.
Since 2008 consumers have been able to participate in the program by purchasing and donating a tree at nearly 40 farm and retail lot locations during Trees for Troops weekend.
To find out more, contact the Christmas SPIRIT Foundation at 636-449-5060.
Read more: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2010/12/03/1369019/tree-for-troops-to-deliver-more.html#ixzz173rei96z
More than 700 Christmas trees will be delivered to active duty Fort Benning soldiers and their families by the Trees for Troops program on Dec. 6.
The trees will be distributed on a first come, first served basis beginning at 10:30 a.m. in the parking lot behind the main post car wash.
This is the sixth year that Christmas tree growers and retailers nationwide have donated Christmas Trees for military families.
Approximately 17,000 trees from 29 states are expected to be delivered to military bases in the United States and overseas this year.
Since 2008 consumers have been able to participate in the program by purchasing and donating a tree at nearly 40 farm and retail lot locations during Trees for Troops weekend.
To find out more, contact the Christmas SPIRIT Foundation at 636-449-5060.
Read more: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2010/12/03/1369019/tree-for-troops-to-deliver-more.html#ixzz173rei96z
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
10 reasons you should buy a home now
By Brett Arends, The Wall Street Journal
You can get a good deal
You can get a house at a bargain price now -- especially if you play hardball. This is a buyer's market. Most of the other buyers have vanished since the tax credits on purchases expired.
We're four to five years into the biggest housing bust in modern U.S. history. And prices have come down a long way -- about 30% from their peak, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Indices, which track home prices in cities across the country. Yes, it's mixed. New York's prices are down only 20%. Arizona's have been halved.
Will prices fall further? Sure, they could. You probably won't catch the bottom, but it doesn't really matter so much in the long haul.
Mortgages are cheap
You can get a 30-year home loan for about 4.3%. What's not to like? These are the lowest rates on record. As recently as two years ago, they were about 6.3%. That drop slashes your monthly repayment by a fifth.
If inflation picks up, you won't see these mortgage rates again. And if we get deflation and rates fall further, you can refinance.
You'll save on taxes
You can deduct mortgage interest from your income taxes. You can deduct your real-estate taxes. And you'll get a tax break on capital gains -- if any -- when you sell.
Sure, you'll need to do your math. You'll get the income tax break only if you itemize your deductions, and you may be better off taking the standard deduction instead. The tax breaks are more valuable the more you earn and the bigger your mortgage. But many people will find that these breaks mean owning costs them less, often a lot less, than renting.
It'll be yours
When you own, you can have the kitchen and bathrooms you want. You can move the walls, build an extension -- zoning permitted -- or paint everything bright orange. Few landlords are so indulgent; for renters, these types of changes are often impossible.
Also, you'll feel better about your home if you own it. Many years ago, when I was working for a political campaign in England, I toured a working-class northern town. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had just begun selling off public housing to the tenants.
"You can tell the ones that have been bought," said my local guide. "They've painted the front door. It's the first thing people do when they buy."
It was a small sign that said something big.
You'll get a better home
In many parts of the country, it can be hard to find a good rental. All the best places are sold as condos. Money talks.
But this is a case-by-case issue: In Miami right now there are so many vacant luxury condos that owners will rent them out for a fraction of the cost of owning. Generally speaking, however, if you want a good home in the best neighborhood, you're better off buying.
It offers some inflation protection
Although housing can't entirely protect you from inflation, studies by professor Karl "Chip" Case, of Case-Shiller, and others suggest that over the long term, housing has tended to beat inflation by a couple of percentage points a year. That's valuable inflation insurance, especially if you're young, raising a family and thinking about the next 30 or 40 years.
In the recent past, inflation-protected government bonds or Treasury inflation-protected securities offered easier forms of inflation insurance. But yields there have plummeted of late. That also makes homeownership look a little better by contrast.
It's risk capital
Your home isn't the stock market, and you shouldn't view it as a way to get rich. But if the economy does surprise us all and start booming, sooner or later real-estate prices will head up again, too.
One lesson from the past few years is that stocks are incredibly hard for most normal people to own in large quantities -- for practical as well as psychological reasons. Equity in a home is another way of linking part of your portfolio to the long-term growth of the economy -- if it happens -- and still managing to sleep at night.
It's forced savings
If you can rent an apartment for $2,000 a month instead of buying one for $2,400 a month, renting may make sense. But will you save that $400 for your future? Most people won't.
Once again, you have to do the math, but the part of your mortgage payment that goes to principal repayment isn't a cost. You're just paying yourself by building equity. As a forced monthly saving, it's a good discipline.
There's a lot to choose from
There is a glut of homes in most of the country. The National Association of Realtors puts the current inventory at around 4 million homes. That's below last year's peak but well above typical levels and enough for about a year's worth of sales.
More homes keep coming onto the market, too, as the banks slowly unload their inventory of unsold properties. That means great choice as well as great prices.
Sooner or later, the market will clear
Demand and supply will meet. The U.S. population is forecast to grow by more than 100 million people over the next 40 years. That means maybe 40 million new households looking for homes.
Meanwhile, this housing glut will work itself out. Many of the homes will be bought. But many more will simply be destroyed -- deliberately or by inaction. This is already happening. Even two years ago, when I toured western Florida, I saw bankrupt condo developments that were fast becoming derelict.
And, finally, a lot of the glut simply won't matter to you. It's concentrated in a few areas, such as Florida and Nevada. Unless you live there, the glut won't have any long-term impact on housing supply in your town.
You can get a good deal
You can get a house at a bargain price now -- especially if you play hardball. This is a buyer's market. Most of the other buyers have vanished since the tax credits on purchases expired.
We're four to five years into the biggest housing bust in modern U.S. history. And prices have come down a long way -- about 30% from their peak, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Indices, which track home prices in cities across the country. Yes, it's mixed. New York's prices are down only 20%. Arizona's have been halved.
Will prices fall further? Sure, they could. You probably won't catch the bottom, but it doesn't really matter so much in the long haul.
Mortgages are cheap
You can get a 30-year home loan for about 4.3%. What's not to like? These are the lowest rates on record. As recently as two years ago, they were about 6.3%. That drop slashes your monthly repayment by a fifth.
If inflation picks up, you won't see these mortgage rates again. And if we get deflation and rates fall further, you can refinance.
You'll save on taxes
You can deduct mortgage interest from your income taxes. You can deduct your real-estate taxes. And you'll get a tax break on capital gains -- if any -- when you sell.
Sure, you'll need to do your math. You'll get the income tax break only if you itemize your deductions, and you may be better off taking the standard deduction instead. The tax breaks are more valuable the more you earn and the bigger your mortgage. But many people will find that these breaks mean owning costs them less, often a lot less, than renting.
It'll be yours
When you own, you can have the kitchen and bathrooms you want. You can move the walls, build an extension -- zoning permitted -- or paint everything bright orange. Few landlords are so indulgent; for renters, these types of changes are often impossible.
Also, you'll feel better about your home if you own it. Many years ago, when I was working for a political campaign in England, I toured a working-class northern town. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had just begun selling off public housing to the tenants.
"You can tell the ones that have been bought," said my local guide. "They've painted the front door. It's the first thing people do when they buy."
It was a small sign that said something big.
You'll get a better home
In many parts of the country, it can be hard to find a good rental. All the best places are sold as condos. Money talks.
But this is a case-by-case issue: In Miami right now there are so many vacant luxury condos that owners will rent them out for a fraction of the cost of owning. Generally speaking, however, if you want a good home in the best neighborhood, you're better off buying.
It offers some inflation protection
Although housing can't entirely protect you from inflation, studies by professor Karl "Chip" Case, of Case-Shiller, and others suggest that over the long term, housing has tended to beat inflation by a couple of percentage points a year. That's valuable inflation insurance, especially if you're young, raising a family and thinking about the next 30 or 40 years.
In the recent past, inflation-protected government bonds or Treasury inflation-protected securities offered easier forms of inflation insurance. But yields there have plummeted of late. That also makes homeownership look a little better by contrast.
It's risk capital
Your home isn't the stock market, and you shouldn't view it as a way to get rich. But if the economy does surprise us all and start booming, sooner or later real-estate prices will head up again, too.
One lesson from the past few years is that stocks are incredibly hard for most normal people to own in large quantities -- for practical as well as psychological reasons. Equity in a home is another way of linking part of your portfolio to the long-term growth of the economy -- if it happens -- and still managing to sleep at night.
It's forced savings
If you can rent an apartment for $2,000 a month instead of buying one for $2,400 a month, renting may make sense. But will you save that $400 for your future? Most people won't.
Once again, you have to do the math, but the part of your mortgage payment that goes to principal repayment isn't a cost. You're just paying yourself by building equity. As a forced monthly saving, it's a good discipline.
There's a lot to choose from
There is a glut of homes in most of the country. The National Association of Realtors puts the current inventory at around 4 million homes. That's below last year's peak but well above typical levels and enough for about a year's worth of sales.
More homes keep coming onto the market, too, as the banks slowly unload their inventory of unsold properties. That means great choice as well as great prices.
Sooner or later, the market will clear
Demand and supply will meet. The U.S. population is forecast to grow by more than 100 million people over the next 40 years. That means maybe 40 million new households looking for homes.
Meanwhile, this housing glut will work itself out. Many of the homes will be bought. But many more will simply be destroyed -- deliberately or by inaction. This is already happening. Even two years ago, when I toured western Florida, I saw bankrupt condo developments that were fast becoming derelict.
And, finally, a lot of the glut simply won't matter to you. It's concentrated in a few areas, such as Florida and Nevada. Unless you live there, the glut won't have any long-term impact on housing supply in your town.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Americans Still Believe Buying a Home Is a Good Financial Decision
by http://www.realtor.org/
NAR's (National Association of Realtors) eighth annual Housing Opportunity Pulse Survey reveals that nearly eight out of 10 respondents believe buying a home is a good financial decision, despite ongoing challenges with the economy and housing market. The telephone survey of 1,209 urban and suburban adults in the top 25 metropolitan statistical areas was conducted for NAR by American Strategies and Myers Research & Strategic Services for NAR's Housing Opportunity Program.
Some key results:
Americans continue to believe that buying a home is a good financial decision (68 percent belive this strongly). More than two-thirds of respondents say that now is a good time to buy a home.
Job insecurity and the lack of jobs continue to be the primary obstacle to home ownership and market recovery.Respondents see the recession and job losses as the main reasons for the foreclosure problem, a shift from last year when they more likely to blame homeowners who bought homes they could not afford.
A majority of renters say that owning a home at some point in the future is either one of their highest priorities (39 percent) or a moderate priority (24 percent). Just 21 percent of renters say that owning a home is not a priority at all.
Frustration with banks is up: now a majority worry that banks have made it too hard to qualify for a home mortgage loan.
51 percent of respondents say foreclosures remain a big or moderate problem in their area. While there has been a significant drop in the percentage of those surveyed who say foreclosures have increased, 51 percent say that the rate of foreclosures is about the same as it was last year.
Most of those surveyed say that it is harder to sell a home in their neighborhood than it was a year ago.Looking forward, 70 percent expect real estate sales in their neighborhood to remain about the same over the next few months.
A nearly identical number (69 percent), also expect home values to remain the same.Nearly one-quarter (23 percent) are now very concerned about the number of homes and condos for sale in their area—a number that is up just 7 points from last year.
Most respondents are more concerned about the drop in home values than they are about home costs being too high. Still, cost remains the significant barrier to many who would otherwise like to buy a home.
See more information about homebuying at http://www.jimblalockandassociates.com/
NAR's (National Association of Realtors) eighth annual Housing Opportunity Pulse Survey reveals that nearly eight out of 10 respondents believe buying a home is a good financial decision, despite ongoing challenges with the economy and housing market. The telephone survey of 1,209 urban and suburban adults in the top 25 metropolitan statistical areas was conducted for NAR by American Strategies and Myers Research & Strategic Services for NAR's Housing Opportunity Program.
Some key results:
Americans continue to believe that buying a home is a good financial decision (68 percent belive this strongly). More than two-thirds of respondents say that now is a good time to buy a home.
Job insecurity and the lack of jobs continue to be the primary obstacle to home ownership and market recovery.Respondents see the recession and job losses as the main reasons for the foreclosure problem, a shift from last year when they more likely to blame homeowners who bought homes they could not afford.
A majority of renters say that owning a home at some point in the future is either one of their highest priorities (39 percent) or a moderate priority (24 percent). Just 21 percent of renters say that owning a home is not a priority at all.
Frustration with banks is up: now a majority worry that banks have made it too hard to qualify for a home mortgage loan.
51 percent of respondents say foreclosures remain a big or moderate problem in their area. While there has been a significant drop in the percentage of those surveyed who say foreclosures have increased, 51 percent say that the rate of foreclosures is about the same as it was last year.
Most of those surveyed say that it is harder to sell a home in their neighborhood than it was a year ago.Looking forward, 70 percent expect real estate sales in their neighborhood to remain about the same over the next few months.
A nearly identical number (69 percent), also expect home values to remain the same.Nearly one-quarter (23 percent) are now very concerned about the number of homes and condos for sale in their area—a number that is up just 7 points from last year.
Most respondents are more concerned about the drop in home values than they are about home costs being too high. Still, cost remains the significant barrier to many who would otherwise like to buy a home.
See more information about homebuying at http://www.jimblalockandassociates.com/
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
CAMPAIGN TO HELP MILITARY FAMILIES FACING FORECLOSURE
HouseLogic will donate $1 to USA Cares every time someone “likes” the Operation Home Relief Cause page, (http://apps.facebook.com/causes/532222), on Facebook and will match individual donations made to the cause, up to $20,000.
The National Association of Realtors®’ HouseLogic, a free, comprehensive consumer website about all aspects of homeownership, launched Operation Home Relief, a new Facebook Causes campaign. The campaign aims to increase awareness, rally support and raise funding for USA Cares, a nonprofit organization that provides counseling and financial foreclosure assistance to post-9/11 active duty U.S. military service personnel, veterans and their families. Visit www.houselogic.com & www.usacares.org for more information.
The National Association of Realtors®’ HouseLogic, a free, comprehensive consumer website about all aspects of homeownership, launched Operation Home Relief, a new Facebook Causes campaign. The campaign aims to increase awareness, rally support and raise funding for USA Cares, a nonprofit organization that provides counseling and financial foreclosure assistance to post-9/11 active duty U.S. military service personnel, veterans and their families. Visit www.houselogic.com & www.usacares.org for more information.
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