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Posts Tagged ‘mooresville real estate’

Housing Shortage Coming?

Posted in General Real Estate Market, Real Estate, tagged , , , , , , , on February 16, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

It’s always interesting to see experts (some of my favorite people) write articles that fly in the face of common sense or generally accepted assumptions.  Sometimes these experts turn out to be whackos or professionals just hoping to get a little attention in their field and a spotlight in the press.  Most of the time in hindsight they turn out to be wrong, but once in a while they turn out to be right and get the rights to the “see, I told you so” position and get a double shot of fame. 

I ran across an article today in a web site called Real Estate Economy Watch.  The article reports on several economists who are building a case for an upcoming housing shortage based on low construction activity vs continuing growth in the population and other factors that may turn things around in the housing market over the next 10 years.  HERE is a link to the article.  I’d love for you to read it and let me know what you think.  Is this one of those rare investment opportunities that will be ignored by most until it’s too late? 

Don’t you just love it when economists disagree with each other and confuse the rest of us?

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Moving- Arrrrgghh!

Posted in General Real Estate Market, Iredell County, Lake Norman, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 25, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

I’d like to take the time to write a nice useful, insightful post today, but unfortunately, I’ve got to spend the rest of the day packing my office for a move to our new office on Williamson Road in Mooresville.  It’s only been a year since I moved from our Troutman office to the one on River Highway, but somehow, I’ve managed to undo all the thinning out of unnecessary stuff that piles up.  It is truly amazing how much paper we receive and generate in the real estate business, especially since we are more “digital” in how we conduct business than ever.  Some day we may move to an all-digital office, but right now, the real estate business still operates on paper, with agreements, offers, contracts, disclosures and all manner of other documents that become part of each client’s file.  The files have to be retained for a considerable period after the closing for audits and such, so they stack up.  Of course, I’m not complaining that I have files to stack up.  Each one represents a lot of time and effort to help a client or clients work their plans and fulfill their dreams. 

Those are good piles of files.  Back to packing!

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December Charlotte Area Real Estate Stats

Posted in General Real Estate Market, Real Estate, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 19, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

For those of you who love to look at numbers and draw conclusions, here are some residential real estate stats from December of ’09 for our Carolinas Multiple Listing Service area of Mecklenburg and surrounding counties.  My own opinion is that positive change in average price numbers is worth considering to a degree, but the contract and closings volumes don’t mean much since they were influenced by the anticipated end of the First Time Home Buyer tax credit, originally scheduled to end on November 30, 2009.  That tax credit has been extended for contracts signed by the end of April, 2010 and closed by the end of June, 2010.  It was also extended to include repeat buyers for the same dates, so we’ll see this winter and spring if those tax credits influence the sales and stats as much as the first round did.

Residential contracts reported        December 09 – 1,466

December 09 contracts reported increased 14.1 percent over December 08

December 09 contracts reported decreased 10.9  percent over November 09

Residential closings reported        December 09 – 1,527

December 09 closings reported increased 13.1 percent over December 08

December 09 closings reported decreased 23.6 percent from November 09

Average sales price            December 09 – $211,705

Average sales price in December 09 increased 5.7 percent from December of 08

Average sales price in December 09 increased 8.4 percent over November 09

Average Days List to Close                December 143.8

Of reported home sales that closed from December 6 through January 5, 2010, 44 percent closed in 121 days or more; 15 percent closed between 91 and 120 days; 19 percent closed between 61 and 90 days; and 22 percent closed in 60 days or fewer

List to Close  down 3.7 days in December 09 over December 08

List to Close ­ up 1.6 days in December 09 over November 09

The bottom line is that for a person who is thinking about buyer or selling and buying another home, there are some very good things going on that would suggest you go ahead with your plan.   Prices are still low (good for buyers) and people who sell now at what they consider a discount will turn around and buy their next home at a similar discount, and do it at historically low interest rates.  If you’re an investor looking for rental properties, you know you’ll get some great deals now, and there are plenty of renters out there.

If you want to see even more numbers, or more localized numbers, call me. I’ll be glad to get them together for you.

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Working With Realtors in Different Areas

Posted in General Real Estate Market, Real Estate, tagged , , , , on January 14, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Recently, I showed a house to a customer who is trying to decide where to move.  Her choices include a range of locations in North Carolina.  She has been just riding around and calling the listing company of each property to set up a showing.  This is pretty common among people who are at an early stage of home and location shopping, but it is not the most effective way to go about this.  We see this often with out-of-state customers because North Carolina has lots of good locations to move if you have the luxury of choice.

I’ve suggested to her that she would benefit from having an agent chosen as her Buyer’s Agent through a formal agreement in each of the areas she’s considering.  There are many reasons why buyers should select a Buyer’s Agent early in their search process.  The biggest reason is that it changes the buyer from being a customer to a client in the eyes of the agent.  That means that the agent does everything to the benefit of the buyer, not the sellers.  The agent is at that point working FOR the buyer in terms of finding the best house, maintaining confidentiality and negotiating the best price and terms.  That’s called having a fiduciary responsibility.  One of the results is that the Buyer’s Agent can be on the lookout for a suitable property based on the agent’s understanding of the client’s preferences, so that when such a property is found, the agent will call the client to check on her interest. 

Of particular interest in this situation described above is that a client can have several Buyer’s Agents working for him/her in different areas.  The standard North Carolina Buyer’s Agent agreement allows the client to set geographic boundaries within which the agreement is effective.  So, the client can have agents in several areas doing the research for the client, as long as there are no more than one agent working in an area for the client.  We’re happy to do this since this at least gives us a good chance of taking the process all the way to a closing.

If someone you know finds themselves in a similar situation, send them this post so they’ll understand the best way to find a new community and home.

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Shopping for a Community on the Internet

Posted in Iredell County, Lake Norman, Mooresville, Quality of Life, Real Estate, Statesville, Troutman, tagged , , , , , on November 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

I recently spent a pleasant fall afternoon showing homes to a couple from out-of-state who are looking to move now that they are empty nesters.  They said that they are in the market for a home in or near a relatively small community that has easy access to the amenities of a larger city.  They also are looking for an older home with some character- Victorian or early 20th century.  Through their search on the internet, they’d found Statesville, NC as a good candidate.  After talking with them about their preferences on the phone, they arrived after a long drive, and we went to visit a number of homes that fit their wishes and a few that looked good on paper (or internet screen) that didn’t pan out in reality.  They are also looking at other communities on the east coast, but I’d say that either Statesville or Mooresville (or somewhere nearby) have a good shot at being their new home.  Both have some attractive older homes (although Statesville has the lead in this) and both are an easy drive to larger communities with extensive amenities. 

I’m not surprised that Statesville came up on their radar screen.  Having grown up just south of there in Troutman, I’ve long known about the wonderful historic homes in several areas of Statesville.  The town is the “County Seat” of Iredell County, and so over the years has attracted many people of means who operated various businesses in the area.  They built some picture perfect homes that still retain their style and grace.  Many have been owned by successive generations who’ve kept them up and improved them so that even today, they turn heads as visitors drive by.  Our whole area also benefits from being not to far north or south, providing a nice mix of weather and seasons, and offer a convenient drive to our mountains to the west and our coast to the east.  We also boast of Lake Norman, the largest lake in the state, with 560 miles of shoreline, that offers lots of recreational opportunities.

I’ve traveled around the country a good bit over the years, but I’ve never seen a place that suits me better than my own home of Iredell County.  Talking to another Realtor today, he said that one of the reasons he’s encouraged about the future of our area is that we consistently attract people who, like my clients, can move anywhere, but choose our area over all the others.  That’s good for our economy and quality of life, not to mention future property values.

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Grey Hair and High School Reunions

Posted in internet, Iredell County, Mooresville, Quality of Life, Statesville, Troutman, tagged , , , , , , on November 10, 2009 | 3 Comments »

Young people don’t understand how you could use the words “grey hair” and “high school” in the same sentence.  However, if it has been 41 years since you finished high school, then you understand.  Last Saturday night, my South Iredell High School Class of ’68 had our 41st reunion at the Black Angus in Statesville.  Although the turnout was only about a third of the original class, we did have a few that came considerable distances to get together and talk over old times and catch up on the latest.

In preparation for the reunion, I got out my old blue and gold Vikings annual to try to jog my memory.  I have to say, it was a shock to see all those bright young faces looking back from the pages.  At that point in our lives, we had the world by the tail and nothing could stop us, or so we thought.  Now, just a change in the weather can bring out old Arthur Itis to slow us down.  This time it has not been quite the surprise to get news of many of my old friends.  Lots of them have discovered Facebook, and others are surely going to join soon since we FB members are encouraging them.  One night is a short time to catch up, and unless you brought a bag full of photos, illustrating what’s happened in your life was pretty tough that night.  Facebook allows us to have  sort of an ongoing reunion complete with photos and running commentary on what’s happening with each of us.  Some FBers are frequent contributors, and others do so only occasionally.  Then, there is that other class of members called “lurkers” who join and friend people but only read what others send.  Hey, whatever floats your boat, but it’s more fun to share at least the censored parts of your life with other folks in exchange for their latest news.

I hope we South Iredell alumni will continue to stay in touch through Facebook or other means.  It’s somehow gives me comfort to see that for so many people, life has turned out OK.  We’ve all had our ups and downs, but that’s really just another part of life that we’ve shared, and makes us all feel a bit closer after all these years.  We’ve survived!South Iredell Class of '68

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Buying Property and Surveys

Posted in General Real Estate Market, Real Estate, tagged , , , , , , , on November 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Each time I help a client purchase a piece of real estate, I always advise them to get a survey.  Of course, no one likes to pay any more than they have to in fees leading up to a purchase, and surveys for the typical residential lot can cost several hundred dollars.  Also, it has to be done as part of the front-end purchase process before closing.MENP059  If something turns up in the survey that makes the buyer want to bail out, he still has sunk the cost of the survey along with lender fees, title searches and such.  However, the reasonable way to look at this is that surveys are a form of insurance.  You pay for protection from a bad outcome.  You hope that you don’t have to take advantage of the insurance any more than you want to use the benefits of your health insurance, but you’re glad you’ve got it. 

Not everyone chooses to have the survey performed.  Much depends on looking at the last time it was sold, if a survey was done then, and what’s around the property boundaries that might cause a problem.  In any case, if you choose not to pay for a survey and take your chances, your Realtor, and probably your closing attorney, will have you sign a waiver that states that you don’t hold them liable for anything bad that comes up down the road as a result of you foregoing the survey.  If you’re counting on your title insurance policy to cover you, better not.  Those policies likely won’t cover any issues related to survey matters (fences, walls, setbacks, encroachments, etc.) if you did not have a survey.  It’s kind of like they want to check the health of the prospective insured before issuing that health insurance- not an unreasonable approach.

So, be very careful about that decision.  In a few cases, you may be OK without the survey, but I’m not going to count on that, and will ask you to sign the waiver- CYA.  Call me if you don’t know what that means.

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Going to the Head of the Line

Posted in General Real Estate Market, Iredell County, Mooresville, Real Estate, tagged , , , , , , , on November 3, 2009 | 1 Comment »

I recently talked with some friends about things that they should consider doing to their home in anticipation of putting it on the market.  I went over and looked at the house, and a nice house it is.  The problem is that it is in a neighborhood with lots of other nice houses that are competition in today’s market, not to mention the other homes in the area that would compare competitively to this one.  We talked about all the easy things like reducing clutter to make the space look as large as possible, removing most personal photos to ensure that potential buyers would be able to picture themselves in the house, being sure everything is clean and in good working order, and quite a few other things that don’t cost much if any to do.  I commented that in showing lots of houses, it’s still amazing how many people want to sell their properties but don’t want to do these simple things.

But sometimes, you have to part with some coin to really step up the place.  For that, I sent them a link to an article that is published annually by the National Association of Realtors and Remodeling Magazine that gives estimates on the return on investment of upgrades to kitchens, baths, decks, etc.  You can see that article HERE.  CONSM016It shows that none will return 100% of the investment, but what it does is put you at or near the head of the line when buyers are comparing your property to others on the market.  Since there is so much inventory in the housing market now, that can be crucial in affecting how long it takes to sell your home.  If, in your circumstances, time does equal money, then selling sooner rather than later will definitely help you pay for any investments you’ve made.

Another relatively easy fix is to hire a home stager to help you make the most of what you’ve got in furnishings.  I’ve got a pretty good eye, but I don’t claim to be expert in this like I am in listing and selling.  Home stagers are interior design professionals who will come to your home and develop a list of recommendations. For this step alone, one team I work with, Center Stage, charges only $75.  If you want them to help you follow through on the recommendations, they’ll do that for an additional reasonable charge.  Go to their web site HERE to see before and after photos, and you’ll see what a difference a trained designer can make in a home.

When showing a home to potential buyers, agents look at the buyers’ reactions when they first see a home.  We’re looking for a “WOW Factor” reaction.  When WOW happens, we know we’ve found a property that is contender.  These tweaks and updates in listed homes can make all the difference.

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NC School Report Cards are Here

Posted in Quality of Life, tagged , , , , , , , on November 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Being related to a bunch of public school teachers, and being friends with many more, I know that a large amount of time is required for the teachers to report lots of data about their students’ performance.  All of that comes into play in providing “report cards” for the state, our school districts, and individual schools.  logo2You can see the results of all of this reporting, and examine the  performance of specific schools at a web site provided by the NC Department of Public Instruction.  You can see the reports for the 2008-2009 school year by clicking HERE.

School performance is important to many people.  Some use this information to decide where to move their home if they’re new to the area.  Others use it to decide if they should move from where they are now.  Businesses are very aware of this interest in educational quality, so they use this information in their choices of moving businesses so that they can attract quality employees.  So, even if you don’t now have children in the schools, the quality of the schools can have a strong impact on the economic vitality of a community. 

Communities grow or die for a variety of reasons, but school quality is clearly one of the determining factors.  In Iredell County we’re fortunate to be able to report some very good numbers.  One thing to keep in mind, though, is that these numbers reflect each school as a whole.  Many schools are challenged by a variety of circumstances that they can’t control that may tend to push some numbers down.  Yet, in every school, there are dedicated, hard-working teachers who provide quality education at a student-by-student level.  I suggest you may want to spend a good bit of your attention on the teacher quality section of the reports.

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First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Extension?

Posted in Finance, General Real Estate Market, Real Estate, tagged , , , , , , on October 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

News reports are telling us that the Senate has agreed in principle to extend the first time home buyer tax credit, allowing it to act as an incentive to first time home buyers who go under contract by end of April, 2010 and close by end of June, 2010.  They’re also working on the possibility of further extending an incentive to existing home buyers who have been in their homes at least 5 years.  They maximum credit for them would be $6,500.  The House had already agreed on the value of extending the tax credits.  Now, the Senate is working on details of a bill to move this along.  HERE is a USA Today article with additional details.  So, now we’ll have some more time through the Spring of next year to see if these tax credit incentives have been an important catalyst for healing the economy or just a crutch to keep it from sinking further.  It may be that the tax credit extension is the necessary bridge to a time when employers can start hiring again, since there is some evidence that the business to business spending levels are starting to increase.  HERE’S some further detail in The Charlotte Observer on the state of the economy overall and predictions for recovery.

Wondering where all that government recovery money is going?  You can go to http://www.recovery.gov to see.

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