Mooresville will have to share the glory, though.  The club will be renamed Trump National Golf Club, Charlotte.  Given that many residents of The Point work in Charlotte, I guess there’s some kind of rationale there.  Some residents are concerned that Trump will drastically change the character of the community.  I suspect others are contemplating the joys of having their local club host a PGA tour event eventually.

Ahhh, the lives of the rich and famous can be so complicated!

Months Supply of Homes for Sale for 12 – Iredell County.

When I returned to the car 3 hours later, I noticed some dark glass on the pavement beside the car and thought, “I don’t remember that being there when I got out of the car.”  Then I looked up and realized the glass was my broken side window.  I looked inside, and sure enough, my bag was gone.  The door was never opened, the alarm didn’t go off.  My mind raced with ramifications of my loss.  I went back into the Association building and asked the staff to call the police who arrived in a short time to ask questions and look over the scene.  They said they’ve had a rash of similar break-ins in the area and actually had an unmarked car patrolling the area.  They said that a quick flip of a screwdriver in the window frame breaks the window, and the thief can be in and out in 10 seconds.

On the way back to Mooresville, while driving through a rainstorm with my back window broken, I was going through the should’a, could’a, would’a thing when I got a call from a Charlotte Police Detective.  He said that they’d recovered my bag with all contents and asked me to come back to Charlotte to identify it.  I was shocked and pleased, to say the least.  What an amazing outcome!  I didn’t give more than a 2% chance of their finding any of my stuff, and they got it all back before I even got home!  When I talked more at length with the detective, he said they’d come across my stuff while investigating an individual for a similar theft who was on probation.  They even came up with a way to get the thief to drive back to Charlotte to the police station in his own car! 

So, my belongings are back, my window is repaired, and I’m in awe of the Charlotte Police Department.  I sent a note to the mayor to be sure these officers and detectives get the credit they’ve earned.  I guess I’m changed to the extent that I’ve lost a bit of trust in people, but I know this kind of thing happens all the time, both in large cities and small.  What a shame that there are people who view theft as a reasonable way to make living.

Quite impressive when you think about it.

Check out the article HERE.

It might be a good idea if you do the same thing and order a test kit while they’re still free.  They may be free there all the time, but if not, I just saw kits from Kidde in Lowe’s yesterday for about $15, so that’s not much to pay for piece of mind. 

Still, I’ll take the frugal route if I have the chance.

If you already live in a subdivision with CCRs and you’ve never taken the time to read them, now’s a great time to do that.  It may keep you from doing something to your property that will run afoul of the HOA and waste time and money.  If you can’t find your copy, your HOA or management company can provide a copy.  They are also in the public records and can be found on your local Register of Deeds web site, although sometimes it takes some digging to find them.  If you need some help doing this and are in the Mecklenburg/Iredell/Lake Norman and surrounding counties, I’ll be glad to help. Just call or email me.

The degree of detail and restriction of different CCRs varies all over the map.  Some are fairly limited and others quite extensive.  They all are there to help protect the value of the properties owned by the HOA members, but various developers and HOAs differ on how much control and what details are necessary to do this.  Ultimately, if owners and HOAs disagree, things can get serious up to and including foreclosure on a property for failure to pay dues or fines.

Radio station WFAE recently addressed these issues on Mike Collins’ show Charlotte Talks.  He hosted several knowledgeable folks there to talk about the ideas behind HOAs and CCRs, and discuss issues and trends in that world.  It’s slightly less than an hour long, but worth listening to if you live in a planned community or are thinking of buying in one.  A link to the show is HERE.

HERE.

The article goes on to note that Mr. Cernuto owns the land on which the park will be built, so obviously, he has good cause to have an interest in it.  Any kind of land development is especially difficult in our current economic environment, so it’s not surprising that at least part of the reason for the change has to do with financing issues.

We certainly hope the new partners will be successful in bringing the park to fruition, given the large positive impact on our area around Mooresville and Troutman.  It does serve as a warning though that when we read about the grand plans of various developers about their plans for wonderful new developments that will be a boon to the area, we can be sure we’re not let in on the whole story.  Developers need buy-in from many different kinds of people.  Certainly those who can help finance a project must be comfortable with it, but the process also involves local and state government plus the sentiment of local residents in order to make the project work and get all the necessary approvals.  Developers will always describe a project in the most positive light in order to help get that buy-in.  I certainly don’t blame them, since the success of many projects will also bring economic benefits to many other residents of the area.  We just need to read news of such projects through a filter of a bit of skepticism.

I’m a card-carrying skeptic, so that’s not a problem for me.

Nowadays home buyers frequently choose to get the home they want to buy tested for radon.  The test is provided by all home inspectors with results back within a couple of days of the test.  If you’re not buying a home and getting a home inspection, you can buy do-it-yourself kits from home centers for less than $15.  Right now, the NC Radon Program website hosted by the NC Department of Health and Human Services is offering FREE radon test kits.  I love the word FREE, don’t you?  The link to get the free kits is a bit slow, so just have patience for it to open up.

The good news is that if your home has a too-high concentration of radon,  there are plenty of ways to clear it up that don’t cost too much.  The idea is to have an air handling system that sucks up the problem air, often in a crawlspace or basement, and blow it outside so that the gas doesn’t have a chance to concentrate in the house.  Outside, it is dissipated so that it’s not a problem.

The NC Radon Program site has lots of information about radon, the effects of different levels, and how to get rid of it.  It even has a NC zone map to give you a bit of an idea of how often this is a problem.  The fact is, though, that your neighbors house can test just fine and yours show concentrations about a safe limit, so doing the test is the best approach.  I’ve ordered my free kit and will run the test as soon as I get it.

If you’re outside of North Carolina, check your state health department for radon info, or you can go to a comprehensive site run by the EPA here.

Fortunately, our inventory is also going down from 12.5 months of inventory in December of 2010 (at then current sales rates) to 9.1 months of inventory in December of 2011.  As inventory goes down, we will eventually get to an equilibrium point where there is balance between buyers’ market and sellers’ market.  Historically that has been at 5-6 months of inventory. Only then will we likely see an overall increase in prices.  Another question for which there’s no easy answer is that of how many foreclosure homes will be added to the market over the next few years.  Lenders don’t want to dump all of their inventory on the market at once since that would dilute the prices of all homes on the market.  Foreclosures are currently down to 2007 levels according to a report on MSN Real Estate HERE, but the article explains that there are underlying issues that could change the rate of foreclosure in the future.

One reason for encouragement here in the Lake Norman NC area is that according to recent reports, North Carolina is one of the top five destinations for people moving from other, largely northern, areas.  See the article about this HERE.  Real estate agents in our area can attest that many of the buyers they are working with are from northern states, and many of them have come at the recommendation of friends who’ve already made the move.  As they move to our area, they will help to reduce the excess inventory and finally see some increase in home prices.

I keep an eye on expert opinion on the economy from many sources.  We don’t yet have full agreement that things are turning around, but I certainly see more positive than negative outlooks now, and that’s encouraging.  For homebuyers, that positive sentiment and confidence in the future is key to their willingness to sign on the dotted line.

I’m up for any recognition I can get.  The best recognition though, is when I get a call from someone who asks me to work with them based on the recommendation of one of my prior clients.  Word of mouth advertising is the most highly favored and most productive advertising for any business.  It’s especially important for people who want to buy or sell real estate because it involves such a large part of their assets and is not something people generally do often enough to feel comfortable on their own.

I work very hard to give my clients the confidence that their real estate transaction will be completed to their best advantage with as few bumps in the road as possible.  When there are bumps in the road, I’ll do everything I can to smooth them out.  I’ve been doing this for quite a few years now, and have lots of experience and resources to help me help my clients.