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Archive for November, 2009

Recycle Christmas Lights

Posted in Quality of Life, tagged , on November 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

It is a bit odd thinking of getting rid of something at the beginning of a season rather than at the end, but that’s exactly how most people deal with those irritating strings of Christmas lights.  I’m sure many folks are just now getting boxes down from the attic to decorate the tree or doors or whatever else you like to light up for the Christmas season.  You remember that last year, these very same lights worked just fine.  Yet, if you do have the forethought to plug them in before you hang them (don’t ask me how I know this), way too often something strange has happened to the lights while spending the rest of the year doing nothing.  You plug them in and miraculously, they DON’T WORK.  Not the kind of Christmas miracle you had in mind, eh?  Of course, you know that if you just can find the bad bulb in the batch, then you can get them working again- you did keep the little package of spare bulbs that you got with the set a couple of years ago, right?  All you have to do is go take a spare bulb and start changing that for the 100 or so bulbs in the string until you find the bad bulb and replace it.  Piece of cake!  Of course after doing all of that, you could discover that the problem is really one of the little fuses in the plug that of course you also have spares for.

Light string repair not going so well?  Numerous expletives mumbled under your breath in the process of getting ever more frustrated?  Wadding up the knotted wad of lights and throwing them in the trash?  Headed to the store for a new string or two? 

If you want to turn a negative experience into a positive one, there is a web site you can visit which will tell you all about recycling those old strings instead of putting them in the trash and taking up space at the dump.  Of course, this company would like you to switch to their LCD lights and will give you a 15% discount for doing the recycling with them.  I’ve noticed lot of small lights are being switched to LCDs because they run long, run cooler, and use less energy.  So, if you want to check this out, click on the Holiday LEDs website HERE.

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What’s a Bow Got to Do With a Dulcimer?

Posted in antique tools, Entertainment, Quality of Life, tagged , , on November 28, 2009 | 2 Comments »

What do you think of when you see the word “dulcimer?”  If you know anything about traditional musical instruments, particularly those familiar to our area, you may think of what we call an “Appalachian” dulcimer.  That kind is laid on your lap horizontally and strummed with one hand and noted with the other.  There are a few musicians who actually finger pick them like a dobro.  Other people will think of a “hammered” dulcimer which is totally different from the Appalachian version in that it has many strings mounted to a trapezoid shaped box.  The strings are struck by two small hammers.  These are also great for traditional and celtic music.

Several weeks ago, I went to a tool collector’s meeting in Bethania, NC, and was introduced to a type of dulcimer that I didn’t know exists.  Kenneth Bloom of Mt. Airy is a musical instrument maker and musician who has revived the use of the “bowed dulcimer.”    Kenneth says that they were common prior to the Civil War, but for several generations were virtually unknown.  Kenneth set about designing, building and playing these instruments in various sizes.  He played one at his presentation, and I was really impressed by the great, complex music he could perform on one of his instruments.   You can see more about Kenneth, his instruments and his music at his web site, http://www.boweddulcimer.com/.  He continues to evolve his designs and improve the sound quality and volume and is gaining widespread recognition for his work in the music world.

Given that all of his instruments are hand-made by Kenneth in his own shop, all of us tool freaks were really impressed!  That degree of craftsmanship is rare.  If you have a chance to see Mr. Bloom perform, I think you’ll be impressed, too.  Oh, and he’s got CDs for sale on his web site.

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Now, Can We Start the Christmas Season?

Posted in Quality of Life, tagged , , on November 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Call me old-fashioned, but I just can’t get adjusted to the idea that Christmas starts after Halloween.  I know the retailers are anxious to start the Christmas shopping as early as possible.  It’s probably going to be somewhat of a slim gift-buying season, so I get it.  But dadgumit, if this keeps up, we’ll be seeing decorations going up after Labor Day.  There’s just got to be a reasonable limit, otherwise, you’ll lose any benefit from the Christmas “warm and fuzzy” factor that, apart from the true religious aspect of Christmas, is why people love the season so much.  You just can’t successfully mix pumpkins and Christmas trees, unless the pumpkin is in a Christmas pie.

So, Thanksgiving is over.  It’s Black Friday when the traditional shopping season begins.  I hope for our retailers they have a great season.  I’ve just put up our own Christmas tree which spends most of the year in the attic (don’t start with me about live trees that cost $50-$100 and end up on the street).  Later today, we’ll add the decorations.

Let Christmas begin!

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Economists’ Predictions

Posted in Finance, General Real Estate Market, tagged , , on November 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

In the last few days, we’ve seen quite a few statistics reported by various groups that measure how the economy is doing.  Being a Realtor, I especially look at reports having to do with housing- particularly sales volume and prices.  What inevitably goes along with these reports are the opinions of the pundits, both media reporters, and economists.  The problem you’ll see with these is that whatever opinion you want to see, whether optimistic or pessimistic, can be found reported somewhere in the media.  It’s like Winston Churchill said, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

From time to time, I pass some of these statistics along to you so you can draw your own conclusions.  Just remember a few things about reading what economists think of them. 

  1. Economics has been called “The Dismal Science”
  2. If you laid all the economists in the world end to end, they still wouldn’t reach a conclusion!
  3.  ”The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.” - John Kenneth Galbraith

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Another World in North Iredell

Posted in Iredell County, Quality of Life, Real Estate, tagged , , , on November 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

From the middle of Iredell County, Statesville, on down through Troutman and Mooresville, the character of Iredell County is defined by small cities, small towns, small farms, and Lake Norman.  Above Statesville, Iredell County becomes something very different.

 Last Friday afternoon, I accompanied Elizabeth Barnhardt, our Realtor Association Director of Government Affairs, on a brief tour of the northern part of our county so that she could see the very different life and priorities of the residents of that area, the better to understand the issues that our local government has to address in overseeing the needs of such a diverse county.  Yes, we have retail, industry and racing as major players, but in 2008, Iredell County had the largest number of dairy farms, 56 (mostly family operated), and the highest milk production in North Carolina. The second highest number of dairy farms was only 20.  So, you can imagine the differences in perspective of the various property owners across the length of the county.  This makes for some interesting dilemmas for the county commissioners.

Elizabeth, a Charlotte native, was visibly impressed with the beauty of the rolling countryside filled with grassy pastures and cows of various breeds.  We rolled through the communities of Turnersburg, Harmony, Houstonville, Eagle Mills, Union Grove, and Love Valley (which is a whole ‘nuther story) and by acres of farmland that underscored the point that this is “the country”, where people live who want open space and plenty of it. Lots of people in our area don’t know what beautiful land is just up the road.  You just need to get off of the interstate highway to see it and appreciate it.

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Working on Troutman’s Future

Posted in Iredell County, Quality of Life, Statesville, Troutman, tagged , , , on November 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

I live in Mooresville and enjoy life here.  However, I grew up in Troutman, have deep roots there, ran an office there, have a brother who lives there, and have many friends and relatives there.  So, I’ve stayed involved with what’s going on in Troutman since I ran the Century 21 Real Estate office there.  I love that community and want to see it prosper.  That’s one reason why I’ve stayed involved with the Troutman Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.  That group (otherwise known as the Troutman Area Council) is affiliated with the Greater Statesville Chamber of Commerce, getting excellent guidance and support from the Statesville Chamber.  The Troutman Chamber is growing in membership, and the board is doing good work to plan how we can help local government enhance the quality of life and the success of the local business community.  We recently had a planning session hosted by Engineered Sintered Components, a great local employer and participant in the life of the community.  John Koppelmeyer, head of Barium Springs Home for Children, facilitated a brainstorming session for driving ahead the ideas of what Troutman should look like in the future.  Of course, no small group can do everything at once, but there were some great ideas put forth in that session.  The board continues to meet to prioritize what comes first, what comes next and how to make those goals happen. 

If you or someone you know would like to participate in this discussion through membership in the Troutman Chamber, go to our website HERE to learn more about what we’ve been doing and how to become involved.

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No Point in Listing Too High

Posted in Finance, General Real Estate Market, Real Estate, tagged , , , , , , , , , on November 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

The good news is that there are buyers out there, especially since the passage of the expanded home buyer tax credit which now offers a tax credit for current homeowners who want to sell their home and buy another primary home (see details HERE).

The problem is that some of those people thinking of selling their home don’t understand how home purchases and mortgages work.  That causes them to be tempted to price their home too high when they list it.  I call this the “waiting for someone to show up with more money than brains” syndrome.  Fact is, that just will delay the sale of the property, if it sells at all.  If the case of the tax credit, not selling soon enough means you’ll lose the tax credit because of the time limits.  There are two  main reasons for this.

  1. Most buyers will be working with a “Buyer’s Agent,” an agent whose responsibility is to help the buyer find the best property at the best price.  No, they won’t try to jack up the sale price just to get a few more dollars in commission.  First, they have a fiduciary duty to their buyer client to help them get the best deal.  The second reason for this is tied to the point below.
  2. Unless a buyer is going to make the purchase with all cash, then there is a lender involved.  If you think about it, at closing, the lender owns most of the house, with the buyer having equity equal to their down payment.  The lender sends their appraiser (who actually works on behalf of the lender. not the buyer) to appraise the value of the house relative to the local market.  If the house does not appraise at a value at or above the contract price, then the lender will refuse the loan unless the buyer is willing to make up the difference.  The lender does not want to be stuck with a big loan on a property that was over-priced, in case the borrower defaults on the loan.  So, to go back to point #1, the buyer’s agent will advise the buyer not to agree to pay too much because the lender will refuse the loan in most cases.

So, like I said, there’s just no point in listing too high.  When agents are looking at sold properties on the MLS, we can see the entire history of a property’s listing.  It is not unusual to see properties that sold 10, 15, or 20% below their original listing price, and see that the seller kept dropping the price for a year or two, always being behind the curve of price changes, until they finally got desperate and set the price in line with the market, when it then sold.  Some of them waited too late and were forced into a short sale or foreclosure.

Pricing it right with the current market will get it done and cause much less stress on the seller.  By the way, I can help you set a proper listing price based on research I do on recent sales and current competition.

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Sunny Troutman Library Photos

Posted in Iredell County, Quality of Life, Troutman, tagged , , on November 18, 2009 | 3 Comments »

Here’s a sunny boost on a rainy day-  I rode by the new J. Hoyt Hayes Memorial Troutman Library this week to snap a few updated photos.  Wow, it’s looking great!  Seems a shame to wait, but the grand opening is now scheduled for mid-April, 2010.  I think the county has to get its funding act together to do this, and that’s not easy in these tough economic times.  Still, we can celebrate spring with a new Troutman Library!

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Adventures with Septic Tanks

Posted in General Real Estate Market, tagged , , , , , on November 17, 2009 | 1 Comment »

I’m currently working on the details of an upcoming closing for my clients in which the home has a septic tank, pump and drain field.  The house is 8 years old, and my clients will be using an FHA loan.  Both of these details point to the need for an inspection of the septic system.  The seller agreed to pay for the basic inspection since most buyers would likely be using a loan using FHA standards.  So, yesterday, we met with the septic system inspectors to take care of this.  Turns out, it won’t be that easy.  We discovered after considerable effort that the septic tank and pump is right behind the house, and so is a full-length deck that provided no access to the parts of the system that have to be physically inspected.  What’s more, the deck was designed in such a way that the decking could not just be pulled up to gain access.  They will have to be cut and then re-fashioned into several hatches for future access.  There’s a lesson here for folks who are placing new septic tanks. 

Consider the modern septic system.  I think you would agree that it’s a major improvement over an outhouse!  Lots of people install them and expect that once they’ve paid for the installation, they’ll be able to “do their business” for free.  Well, according to NC State Soil Science folks, you’ve got to at the very least have them pumped out periodically or risk ruining the whole system.  Below is a chart they offer along with lots of other useful information at their web site HERE.  If you want to know more about your current septic system or think you may eventually buy and build where you’ll need one, this site is full of good information. 

Table 1. Estimated Septic Tank Inspection and Pumping Frequency in Years
Tank Size
(gallons)		 Number of People Using the System
1 2 4 6 8
900 11 5 2 1 <1
1,000 12 6 3 2 1
1,250 16 8 3 2 1
1,500 19 9 4 3 2
Source: Adapted from “Estimated Septic Tank Pumping Frequency,” by Karen Mancl, 1984. Journal of Environmental Engineering. Volume 110.

I know some “city folks” who are scared to buy property that uses a septic tank and drain field, but they normally work very well, and with proper maintenance allow homes to be built where there is no access to city or county sewer systems.  That opens the possibility of building in some of the most beautiful sites out in the country.

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Rockin’ Friday Night in Mooresville

Posted in Iredell County, Lake Norman, Mooresville, Quality of Life, tagged , on November 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Last Friday night, my bride and I decided to have dinner in downtown Mooresville at Soiree, a very nice local restaurant.  As we drove into the downtown area, it was clear that the Mooresville Downtown Artwalk had drawn a very large and enthusiastic crowd.  Parking on Main Street was at a premium, and people were filling the sidewalks and stores which had art and music to attract and entertain visitors.  Soiree itself was filled with hungry and thirsty souls, many of whom were enjoying an acoustic bluegrass band in the bar.  The food and drink were great, and my spouse and I enjoyed the relaxed pace of Friday evening.

It was an unusually mild night for mid-November.  That seemed to work just fine for so many people who decided to relax on Friday night in downtown Mooresville.  It’s nice to see that much life in our old downtown!

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