As real estate information has become more public and accessible, some home purchasers have taken this accessibility to mean they now the possess the skills and knowledge to protect themselves in a real estate transaction. Having worked with some "less then competent" agents myself, some buyers would do better on their own. However, there is [...]
Are the Light Bulbs Included With The House?
October 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Believe it or not, there's nothing in the standard real estate contract in North and South Carolina that says that light bulbs must remain in the house. The light fixtures themselves – yes but not the bulbs. Only in the most rare of circumstances (very angry seller) would someone remove every bulb from the property [...]
In Less Than 7 Days, Your Home Purchase Will Get More Expensive
September 28, 2010 By 1 Comment
In the market to buy a home in the next couple of weeks? You may want to consider speeding up that purchase because as of October 4, 2010, the following changes may put a crimp in your plans: Up Front Mortgage Insurance Premium UFMIP Decreasing This is the only good news that occurs to borrowers [...]
Bank Owned Foreclosure Properties
September 24, 2010 By
Looking for a foreclosed home? Charlotte Area HUD Homes Bank-Owned REO Single Family Homes Bank-Owned REO Townhouses / Condos Luxury Bank Owned REO Homes Search by City Foreclosed Homes: Belmont Bank Owned REO Homes and Townhouses Charlotte Bank Owned REO Homes and Townhouses Cornelius Bank Owned REO Homes and Townhouses Concord Bank Owned REO Homes [...]
Tighter FHA Mortgage Standards in Effect in October. What it Means For You
September 7, 2010 By 1 Comment
On September 3, 2010, HUD released it's latest credit score guidance which adds greater restriction to borrowers of FHA loans. This has been expected by the real estate community for some time now as currently, if you qualify for an FHA loan, the rate and loan-to-value is across the board. For home buyers, HUD is [...]
HouseMaster Does The Right Thing
September 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment
This week, Susan closed a transaction with a buyer that purchased an older home in the Myers Park neighborhood. The home inspection revealed a number of things wrong with the house however the inspector missed a very major item dealing with a floor joist. After the inspection was completed and the time period that the [...]
DO NOT Revive the Failed $8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit.
August 30, 2010 By 1 Comment
July 2010's miserable residential real estate sales have, once again, renewed fears of a double dip recession and more trouble ahead for the housing sector. In many parts of the country, the end of the $8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit at the end of April created a sales bubble that resulted in sales [...]
This Month in Real Estate – August: Mortgage Interest Rates Hit New Lows
August 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Support H.R.600: FHA Seller-Financed Down Payment Reform
July 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment
At the start of the whole "mortgage meltdown", Congress and the government reacted with all the deft of a bull in a china shop by eliminating programs like FHA Seller-Financed Down payment Assistance. Prior to 2008, FHA borrowers could ask the seller to pay 3% towards closing costs and an additional 3% towards the buyer's [...]
You May Have Trouble Getting a Mortgage If You’re Pregnant
July 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment
This week, the New York Times ran a story of that is of interest to anyone seeking to obtain a mortgage while they are pregnant. It seems that many mortgage originators are denying loans to potential borrowers if they learn one of the borrowers is pregnant and on maternity leave. The reason they give for [...]
HUD to Allow Government Agencies to Purchase HUD Homes Using Federal Grants at a Discount
July 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment
On July 7, 2010, HUD announced that they would be providing nearly $190 million in new grants to assist local homeless assistance programs throughout the United States. A noble goal as homelessness is awful but it raised some eyebrows as HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan recently begged the NAR to support fee increases to on home [...]
First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit – BUYER BEWARE
April 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Forget the USDA Rural Housing Mortgage Program; It
March 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Yes, the rumors are absolutely true. Straight from the desk of the USDA is that their rural development housing loan (you know, the only other mainstream 100% financing product besides VA) is likely to run out of money by April and they are warning lenders to stop issuing loans. For the USDA Rural Dev program [...]
Home Buyers: Are You Buying Into The Foreclosure Real Estate Hysteria?
March 9, 2010 By 1 Comment
Ask any home seller today or experienced real estate professional if they would ever see a scenario where a home, staged and priced below the market, wouldn't sell.However today, that's the case with a lot of homes in the Charlotte real estate market. A pattern has occurred where home buyers have bought into the hysteria [...]
First Time Home Buyers: Free Money to Purchase Your First Home in Charlotte
January 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Note: While many of these programs have lower income qualifying standards, these programs are not for buyers with "bad" credit. HouseCharlotte: Up to $10,000 The HouseCharlotte program is a silent second mortgage for up to $10,000 that can be used towards a down payment, closing costs, paying off medical bill collections up to $3,000 or [...]
First Time Home Buyers: Are You Buying a Home in a Brownfield?
January 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment
A brownfield is an abandoned industrial property that is available for re-use, redevelopment once an environmental clean up has been performed. In many major cities like Charlotte, the industrial complexes have either closed or relocated to industrial parks in order to expand or to meet new zoning regulations. In their place is now a brownfield, [...]
Lennar
January 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment
First Time Home Buyers: To Build a New Home or to Buy an Existing One
December 26, 2009 By 1 Comment
The entry level new construction home is the current lifeblood of the housing industry. With over 41% of all homes sold in the U.S. in 2008 being to first time home buyers, home builders have redesigned their amenities and plans to capture this ever-growing segment of the market. However, the question becomes as a first [...]
Suntrust Doctor Mortgage Program Provides Incentives to Physicians
December 26, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Throughout the last few years, the number of specialty mortgage programs has dwindled from around 2,000 in 2005 to less than a hundred today. As many of these specialty mortgage programs have been phased out, one vital program remains and is going strong. Known as the Suntrust Mortgage Doctor Loan Program, it is one of [...]
Home Buyers: Understanding the Updated $8,000 Tax Credit
December 25, 2009 By Leave a Comment
In addition to the decrease in home prices and the historically low mortgage interest rates available today, the United States Federal Government was you to invest in a home. As a result, the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit was extended and revised in November 2009 to enable more home buyers to take advantage. Here [...]
First Time Home Buyers: Closing Costs Associated with your New Charlotte Home Purchase.
December 25, 2009 By Leave a Comment
If you have bad credit or no cash, don
November 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Over the last few months, I have received a number of phone calls from potential buyers of foreclosed properties who identify themselves has having bad credit. At first, I thought this was a fluke -a random buyer or two who thought I may know of a program to sell distressed properties to people with a [...]
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