20 | December 12, 2013 | Johns Creek Herald | northfulton.com
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CAITLYN WALTERS/STAFF
Mike Sohb, owner of the new Honda dealership, 1105 Buford Rd in Cumming, said the state-of-the-art facility also repairs cars.
ALDO NAHED/STAFF
The staff at the new Lou Sobh Honda dealership say they are ready to show about 300 new and used vehicles in stock.
Honda dealership opens in Forsyth Lou Sobh takes 11-acre site on Buford Road By CAITLYN WALTERS walters@northfulton.com CUMMING, Ga. — Lou Sobh Honda in Cumming is open for business after receiving its certificate of operation Nov. 20. The 11.7-acre site is at 1105 Buford Road along the Ga. 400 corridor. Mike Sobh, son of Lou Sobh and vice president of the company, said this is more of a soft opening and will have
an official grand opening in December. Sobh said the dealership will perform full maintenance and sell pre-owned and new Hondas. Sobh said the 47,000-square-foot showroom and service facility is the largest they have built so far. “There are about 18,000 Honda owners in the area, so we feel like this will be a good turnout,” Sobh said.
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Sobh said it’s the third facility like it in the nation with a modern, state-of-the-art look – even the toilets can turn into bidets. The rear service area is packed with 27 fully operational lifts with the capacity to hold 37. Sobh said there is a unique placement of four express lifts inside the service center where customers can view the maintenance process. “This makes simple maintenance three times as quick,” Sobh said. Sobh said they will em-
There are about 18,000 Honda owners in the area, so we feel like this will be a good turnout.” MIKE SOBH Vice president of Lou Sobh Honda
ploy about 70 people to start, but will increase to about 85 quickly. Lou Sobh has a highly successful Honda dealership in Jacksonville, Fla. Honda of the Avenues has continually earned a No. 1 status in its area. Lou Sobh also operates
dealerships in Milton, Florida and Los Angles, Calif. Known as the friendly “Giant,” Lou Sobh is committed to family-run dealerships and has been selling cars in metro Atlanta since the 1990s. For more information, visit www.lousobhhonda.com.
Housing demand remains strong Making health care decisions Most people don’t think about putting their home on the market in December, or even January for that matter. But prospective home sellers may want to reconsider, with inventory low and demand remaining strong in our area. For the beginning of December, the inventory of single-family homes is down 9 percent in North Fulton and flat in Forsyth County from this time last year. Seasonally, this is typical as there are fewer buyers looking over the winter period so fewer homeowners list or leave their home on the market. But when we look at demand (pending sales and past sales), home sellers may want to reconsider putting their home on the market now or immediately after the first of the year. In December 2012, there were 214 homes sold in North Fulton and at the beginning of this month, there were already 414 properties under contract. Similarly, last December there were 223 homes sold in Forsyth County with 497 under contract at the begin-
ROBERT STRADER
Local Realtor Keller Williams Realty
ning of this month. We won’t know what the final sales numbers will be for December 2013, but it is safe to say they will far outpace the previous year. Between current demand and the prospect of more competition from a surge in new construction next spring, January looks like a seller’s sweet spot for hitting the market. Bob Strader is a local realtor with the NORTH Group of Keller Williams Realty. Visit his blogs liveincumming. com or liveinalpharetta.com or email him: info@thenorthgroup.com.
Now that the Affordable Health Care Act is a law, have you evaluated your health care options for your small business? Have you taken the time to identify if you need to make a change? The recent problems with the health care exchange have small business owners with 50 or more employees scrambling to make decisions on the best options to provide health care benefits for their employees. On the day before Thanksgiving, it was announced that small businesses would not be able to buy health insurance via HealthCare.gov. The delay in functionality for the Internet-based SHOP (Small Business Health Options Program) system represents the latest setback in the efforts to implement the three-year-old Affordable Care Act. So what can you do? Small business owners that want to take advantage of the available tax credits will now have to sign up with either an insurance agent or broker, or directly with a health insurance company. Because this takes a lot of time to evaluate, it is forcing many small
DICK JONES
Founder & President Jones Simply Sales
business owners to renew their current plan early. Small businesses with 50 or more employees have until Dec. 23 to choose a health plan that will be in effect on Jan. 1 to comply with the law. This doesn’t represent a lot of time if you were counting on the exchange to be up and running as advertised. Small business owners need to understand the law, evaluate their options, select the best course of action for now and take action before the deadlines. Hopefully in a year, the online systems will be working as intended, and this process will be easier to understand and utilize.