Relocating to the Rocket City

Huntsville, Alabama - affectionately known as the Rocket City - is a technological town with a large presence of both engineers and creatives. The area has started rapidly growing over recent years and a large percentage of the population has relocated to the area from different states. This has given an eclectic and diverse feel to the expanding region.

The Rocket City is made up of two main cities, Huntsville (population of 193,079) and Madison (population of 47,959), with a number of surrounding smaller cities that make up the greater Rocket City region. Harvest, Athens, Meridianville, Hampton Cove, and Athens are small cities surrounding the metro area.

What’s there to do?

One of the best parts of the…

3226 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

Thinking a family pool is the perfect way to spend your summer and wondering how it will affect the value of your home?

The average cost to install, equip, and maintain a pool has an initial cost of around $30,000. Throughout the swimming season, you may spend upwards of $500-$600 on chemicals to chlorinate and keep the pool at the appropriate levels. Fences around pools are also required in the state of Alabama, so if your backyard isn’t fenced in - this would be another cost associated with installing a pool.

While considering these costs, you may be asking yourself, “So will adding a pool to our home, increase the resale value of the home?” This is a great question that a lot of homeowners have when considering the installation of a pool. The…

4919 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

How Does Homestead Exemption Work in Madison County?


Homestead Exemption is a “tax break” offered by the state of Alabama to property owners. Property owners are entitled to homestead exemption if they own a single-family residence and occupy it as their primary residence. In Alabama, owners must live in the residence prior to October 1st of the tax year of which the property owner is applying.

Receiving a homestead exemption is important, because it can greatly reduce your tax liability. The deadline to apply is December 31st of the tax year in which you would like to receive the homestead exemption.

To apply for a homestead exemption, you need to bring proper documentation to your local courthouse and apply for the tax exemption.

Proper…

8981 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

 

Huntsville Madison County Chamber of Commerce recently held their Small Business Awards night on August 14, 2018. Matt Curtis Real Estate, Inc. received the honor of being awarded Service Business of the Year out of a field of ten finalists. The company received the award based on the exceptional service given to their clients in northern Alabama, and volunteerism service of building a home in Nicaragua for every 100 homes sold here in the Tennessee Valley.

The Huntsville Madison County Chamber of Commerce serves to foster economic growth in our local community and offers a number of programs to serve local entrepreneurs. This year was the 33rd Annual Small Business Awards and companies throughout northern Alabama took part. There were 13…

1882 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

Buying a new home can seem like a daunting task. By breaking down the process into steps, and making a plan it can help ease how overwhelming it may seem. To more easily get you on the road to homeownership!

 

Here are 7 Steps to Buy Your New Home:

  1. Save for a down payment

The first step to owning your new home should be preparation. Getting in the best financial shape possible before starting your home search will allow your process to go smoother. Most financial advisors recommend you save up at least a 10% to 20% down payment for your new home. Other factors you can begin thinking about include whether you would like to do a 15 year, 20 year, or 30 year mortgage, which have different pros and cons.

  1. Get pre-approved for a…

1290 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

A new movement is sweeping the nation, its creative, kind, and almost free!   Rocket City is no exception to this new movement, some call it painted rocks, or “Kindness Rocks”.   Here in North Alabama, we call it Rocket City Rocks. It’s pretty simple, paint a rock and hide it somewhere for someone else to find to brighten their day.  After finding the rock the idea is to continue spreading joy by either re-hiding the rock, or paint your own rock and hide it.

Rock painting is fun way to get out and explore the area to hide rocks you have painted or search for rocks hidden by others here in Tennessee Valley.  To get in on the fun in a digital way, you can even put a message on the back to “Post a Picture to Rocket City Rocks FaceBook Group”.  Some…

1953 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

Ladies, if you’re looking for an exercise program focused on permanent results and without all the tough guy bluster we all imagine when we hear the words “boot camp”, look no further than Huntsville Adventure Boot Camp for Women!

ABC, run by program director and coach Joe Martin, has facilities in Huntsville and Madison. They also operate in the Harvest/Monrovia area, with their own head coach Deborah Thomason.

The boot camp is billed as “a four-week outdoor program of fitness instruction, nutritional counseling, and motivational training”. Each week most groups meet Monday-Friday, with each day’s session lasts one hour, however there are 3- and 4-day a week alternatives as well. Participants can expect to engage in core conditioning, short…

1292 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

Continuing our series of pieces on easy, outdoorsy day trips from the Huntsville area, this week I’m having a mixed bag of feelings on sharing Stephens Gap. Somewhat like a teenager who thinks their favorite band is cooler the fewer people that know them, there can be a twinge of guilt letting people in on a place like this, and I suppose I could rationalize it by wondering if someone wound up going and leaving garbage on the trail because they heard about someplace from me.

But, it’s a bummer to feel that way and much nicer to excitedly urge the sure footed among you to check out the natural wonder of Jackson County’s Stephens Gap cave. Protected by the Southeastern Cave Conservancy, and located a little over half an hour from Huntsville, Stephens Gap…

1167 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

We here at Rocket City Local have referenced Huntsville’s growth many times. Much of the movement into Huntsville is related to our growing tech and aerospace industries. However, one thing that families must consider when assessing a move for work is the quality and availability of high quality schools for their children. Considering this, the growth of the city is a testament to the quality of schools in the area, and Madison Academy is one such school.

The School

Madison Academy is a “Christian-based private school” with AdvancEd and National Christian School Association accreditation. The academy combines an academic curriculum with a spiritual foundation to provide a balanced education. Madison Academy is a member of the Student Exchange…

907 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

Matt Curtis from Matt Curtis Real Estate, Inc. has spent the last week in Nicaragua, Central America, working with the country’s capital city of Managua’s local Habitat for Humanity chapter to build a house for a family in a nearby village. Matt Curtis Real Estate builds a home for a family in need for every 100 houses sold, and this is the first of 60 homes planned to be built in Nicaragua this year, with much of the summer slated for construction.

Between the build, meeting the mayor of Managua and the national Habitat for Humanity director, and buying ice cream for the entire village, Matt’s been a busy guy this past week.

Frank, the director of Habitat for Humanity in Nicaragua, joined in a Facebook live session with Matt to thank home…

949 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post