This beautiful townhome is in pristine condition and priced to sell!  The current owner wasn’t planning to move and had just put in new carpet, designer paint, and new appliances including a high end convection oven for all you chefs out there.

The open floor plan features a living room with vaulted ceiling, 3-sided fireplace, and french doors to the private deck. A good sized loft on the second floor, that could be used as an office or study, overlooks the living room.

The master bedroom suite is on the first floor and it has private door that provides access to the deck.  The master suite features plenty of closet space, a private linen closet, and a luxury bath with dual vanities, a separate shower, and a garden bath tub.

Upstairs, in addition to the loft, are two other generous sized bedrooms and a full bath.  Plenty of room for visitors.

The rear deck backs to a private wooded setting.  This home is in a fantastic location near Brier Creek for shopping and restaurants.  It is also convenient to the airport and I-540 in case you need to travel.

Visual Tour of 7603 Astoria

The resident’s lodge opened early this year and the grand opening for the pool is scheduled for May 30th.  The resident’s lodge at Highland Creek has a fully equipped fitness center, a grand hall area, a gameroom complete with a pool table, card tables and fooze ball tables.  Sounds like fun, huh?

Residents at Highland Creek have access to all this, plus a full time Lifestyle Coordinator who plans some really neat activities for the community.  These activities include recipe exchanges, casino night, golf clinics, adult kickball (that could be dangerous!), holiday themed parties, kid activities, and more.

And the pool… well it is just plain awesome!  Take a look at these preliminary photos.

Highland Creek Pool

Lodge Back Porch Overlooks Pool

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Highland Creek by Centex

You can get a bargain

Time is usually short (pun intended) for sellers in a short sale situation.  With the current over supply of inventory, the price of a short sale must be low to get the attention of buyers looking for homes for sale.  The foreclosure clock is ticking and the seller must put a price out there that will get an offer fast.

Most banks will accept somewhere around 80% of market value to forgo the foreclosure process.  Banks don’t want to go through a foreclosure either.  If the loan amount is really low, that makes the possibility of getting a good deal even better.

Most Realtors have ways to determine how much is owed on the loan and the market value of the home.  Armed with these two pieces of information, we can determine the probability that the short sale offer will be accepted by the bank.

Offer must be clean

The offer for a short sale must be clean.  Contingencies, such as having to sell your home first, will not be accepted by the bank.  Also, you should avoid asking for closing costs and home warranties.  Focusing on the price is the best way to get your offer accepted and to get the very best deal.

It takes time

Once we find you the right short sale, and submit an offer, the waiting game begins.  It can take anywhere from 3-8 weeks for the bank to respond to the offer.

If you must be in a home by an absolute certain date, then short sales may not work for you.  But if you have some flexibility with regards to your move in date, you could end up with a home that is up to 20% below the already soft home prices we are seeing in our real estate market.

Ready to see what kind of short sale deals are out there?

Think a short sale might work for you?  Give me a call at 919-602-7000 or email me and we can set up a time to discuss your situation and discover if you might benefit from this great opportunity.

If done properly, the result is the number of missed payments are reported as late payments on a credit report and the bank agrees to mark the account as paid in full.  The alternative, foreclosure, can ruin a person’s credit for 7 years, prevent them from buying cars and homes, and even cause release from certain kinds of employment that stipulate there be no record of foreclosure on the individual’s credit report.  And, in the case of foreclosure, the bank can file a judgment for the difference between what they netted from the sale and what was owed.

There must be a documented hardship

The bank won’t allow a short sale without a demonstrable hardship in the life of the homeowner.  This can be a job loss, death of a spouse whose income was necessary to make the payments, divorce with the same circumstances, or additional expenses such as hospital bills.  In the case of job loss, if employment is found and the income is less than before, that may also create a hardship, which makes paying the mortgage impossible.

Add to these major life events a market that has shifted and caused the home value to decline, or inventory levels to rise to a point where a quick sale is not possible, and the problem is compounded.

There could be other options

Nobody wants to deal with foreclosure and that includes the banks.  There are programs in existence now and new ones coming online all the time that allow a homeowner to restructure their loan in such a way that the monthly payment amount is lowered and/or deferred for a period.  The first step for anyone in the position of not being able to pay their mortgage is to contact the bank and ask what options are available.  Don’t be afraid to call and don’t wait too long to do it.

A typical short sale scenario

• Homeowner has a loan balance of $200,000
• He lost his job and is unable to find employment
• Mortgage payments have been missed
• Lender sends a letter stating the loan is in default
• Homeowner contacts a Realtor to discuss selling his home
• The home was purchased with zero down payment and prices in the neighborhood are at $190,000 for comparable homes
• Any possible sale would be $10,000 short of satisfying the loan balance and there are no funds to pay selling expenses
• The Realtor suggests calling the lender to discuss other options, but without employment, no alternatives exist
• The Realtor lists the home as a short sale and finds a buyer willing to make an offer subject to lender approval as a short sale
• Foreclosure is avoided, credit is salvaged, the delinquent amount is forgiven and no judgment is issued, and the homeowner is able to relocate and/or pursue employment without the pressures of bill collectors calling about the missed mortgage payments

There are lots of moving parts

The short sale process is complicated and take an enormous amount of time and energy for a Realtor to manage.  The above scenario is simplified just to give you an example of the typical flow of the process.  In addition to what was described above, there are many other scenarios in which short a sale could be a viable solution.

If you are in a situation where you are unable to make your mortgage payments, and you do not see the situation turning around very soon, please contact someone for help as soon as possible.  By acting sooner, rather than later, you will find that you have solid options to avoid foreclosure.  I can be reached by email or by phone at 919-602-7000 if you would like to talk.  Whatever you decide, please know that most of the time there are good, viable alternatives to the devastating effects of foreclosure.

Request More Information About Short Sales

I hope everyone gets that message loud and clear.  Do you believe it? Here’s a few things to consider that might help you understand why I’m making such a statement while we currently have over 10 months of real estate inventory in the Raleigh market area.

New construction has been cut way back

The Raleigh real estate market has always been one of the hottest new construction markets around.  We have had as much as 50% new construction inventory and have consistently supported 40% plus levels.  I just checked and we are at 26.4% today.  Builders are responding accordingly to the reduced demand and cutting back on inventory levels.

There will be a lag in the rate at which these levels can return to more traditional amounts.  When buyers come back into the real estate market, we will have a 40-50% shortage of new construction homes.  This will drive price up. Think this might help create a seller’s market?

Builders’ margins are hurting right now and they will jump at the opportunity to recover lost ground.  Just like you (or any responsible business person) would were you in their position.

The re-sell market is just waiting

If you think there are lots of homes on the market right now, you’re right.  That’s because the inventory levels of unsold homes that are not new construction have grown tremendously.   But there has not been a corresponding decline in average sell price in this group.  The average sell price for March dropped 2.7% year-over-year.   Take the same measurement for the 2007-08 period and it actually went up 1.6%.

With high inventory levels and far fewer buyers in the market today, sellers are having to reduce prices, generally speaking.  But not across the board.  Some are just choosing to wait it out and are okay with it taking longer to get their price, or at least reasonably close to it.  Or they eventually take their homes off the market and wait.

When home buyers return to the market this group of sellers will be well positioned to increase prices because they never really reduced them by a large amount.  And with a shortage of new construction homes to compete with, re-sell sellers will have quite a bit of pricing power.  This is the very definition of a seller’s market.

There is pent up demand

People are still getting married, growing families, becoming empty nesters, getting job transfers, and experiencing the tragedies of death and divorce.  People still need to move. That did not change just because the national real estate market tanked.

Much of what is keeping buyers out of the market is that they are having trouble selling their current home.  We don’t have it too bad here, relatively speaking.  But people in other markets that need to move here have had to put their plans on hold because their local market stats are much worse that what I quoted you a few paragraphs earlier.

Once that log-jam clears, and buyers are able to enter the market (read: increased demand) inventory levels here will drop like a rock and prices will immediately stiffen and begin to rise.  When this occurs, the seller’s market will have arrived.

The media will report the shift right after it occurs

When you hear the traditional media reporting on what I am writing about today, it will be too late to take advantage of the soft prices and high inventory levels that exist right now.  The market will have already shifted by that time and the new problem in home buying will be how to best deal with multiple offers.

Oh, one more thing, interest rates may not remain at 4.5% if demand crushes the capacity of lenders to process loans.  When the currently reduced staffs at lenders begin to need to work overtime to keep up with demand, the price of those products may go up too.

It’s obvious that the grocery store isn’t ready for customers at 7:30 on a Saturday morning.  They were busy stocking shelves and everything was a bit of a mess.  But that’s okay with me.  At least they were open and I could get the milk and get back home quickly.

When I approached the check out area, there was no one there.  Not a single cashier.  I stood there for a few minutes, looked around the store, and did not see anyone.  I saw the door to the office area up front was open with a light on, so I thought I would stick my head in the door and see if I could get someone to check me out.  It was empty too.

As I wandered back toward the 10 or so empty check out lanes, I saw an employee making her way towards me.  I began to walk towards her.  As I get within a few feet of where she was headed, she looked at me rather disturbed and barked out that the light was on at the cash register she was walking towards.

She did not say anything else.  She did not say I’m sorry you had to wait.  Or, I can help you over here.  Or how are you this morning.  She simply pointed out to me that there was a light on at a particular cash register.  Almost as if to say why are you walking around looking for someone to help you… why didn’t you wait patiently until I noticed you?

Now maybe I’m over-reacting a little.  Or maybe not.  If I felt as though I was being scolded by the cashier, maybe you would have had that same feeling were you greeted by this woman whose only communication to you was that a light was on at a certain cash register.  Especially if you heard the tone and saw the bothered look on her face.

She had a perfect opportunity to take a customer who may have been frustrated with having to wait and settle them down.  I was not the least bit frustrated by having to wait for a few minutes, but now I am frustrated by this internally focused employee who was apparently inconvenienced by having to stop whatever project she was working on and take money from a customer.

The point I’m trying to make with this story is that little things matter when trying to serve customers.  The tone of voice.  The expression on a face.  A friendly greeting.  An awareness of the customer experience and a sincere expression of wanting to make it as great as possible.  And of course what is said is very important too.

What is the great harm to her employer I spoke of in the opening paragreph?  If I had just moved to the area, and that had been the first time I visited this store, I may have considered taking any future business elsewhere.  I wonder how much business has been lost by companies who have great products and prices and are less than friendly to their customers?

The union of Pulte and Centex will result in America’s largest home builder. Move over DR Horton.

With Pulte in the number 2 position by volume, and Centex in the number 3 position, the combined entity will far surpass DR Horton, which will move to the number 2 position behind the new Pulte-Centex company.

Here are the 2008 sales numbers, in closings.

DR Horton 23,915
Pulte 21,022
Centex 18,241

No word that I’ve found yet on any new name, or when the deal is expected to be complete.  I suppose since Pulte is doing the buying, the Pulte name will remain.  Although it would be smart for the Centex brand to be capitalized on as well.

Inventory in Wake County is about 12 months now.  That’s based on 8898 unsold listings in MLS and 4370 sales in the past 6 months. Twelve months of inventory is way too much.

But selling a home in a reasonable amount of time can still be done.  Under $300K is the sweet spot right now.  Under $200K is the sweet, sweet spot.  Of the 4370 sold in the past 6 months, 48% were under $200K and 26% were between $200-300K.  That’s a total of 74% of the activity!

There are several reasons for this.  One is the $8,000 first time buyer tax credit that is available.  These price points are very much applicable to first time buyers.

Another reason is that FHA loans are some of the easiest to qualify for now and the down payment is only 3.5%.  The top home value limit for FHA is $295,000 in Wake County.

Selling a home can still be a successful endeavor.  If you have a home and estimate its value is under $300,000, moving right now may be easier than you think.  If you’d like to know the value of your home on today’s market, let me know.

For a first time buyer, it really doesn’t get any better than this.  Inventory levels are at an all time high, so selection is excellent.  Home loans are at an all time low, so your monthly payments will never be lower.  And now, the Treasury Department is offering $8,000 to boot!  Here’s how it works.

Who is a first time buyer?

Seem like a strange question?  Well, the answer is even stranger.  You would think a first time buyer is someone who, well, had never bought a home before, right?  Sort of.

A first time home buyer, for the sake of this tax credit, is anyone who has not owned a home in the last 3 years.  You could have owned a home and sold it 37 months ago, rented for the last 36 months, and qualify as a first time buyer.

What homes qualify?

The only rules here are that the home must be your primary residence, it must be in the United States, and it must not be purchased from a family member.

Are there income limits?

There are.  If your income is $75,000 or less ($$150,000 or less if married filing jointly) you qualify.

Do you have to pay the money back?

Maybe… but maybe not!  If you sell your home, or convert it to an investment property, within 36 months of the date you purchased it, you have to repay the tax credit in full.  But, if you live in the home as your primary residence for a full 36 months, you do not have to pay a single penny of the money back.

How do you claim the first time buyer tax credit?

As always seek advice from your tax professional, however, there is an IRS tax form 5405, titled First-Time Homebuyer Credit, that you can file to take the deduction.

So now, what are you waiting for?  If you’re a first time buyer, go out there and buy a home.  Do your part to stimulate the economy and get yourself a fantastic deal on a new home!  This perfect scenario for first time buyers won’t last forever.

A component of marketing is making your home appealing to the largest possible pool of buyers.  That means taking what I have to work with, such as a fenced yard that would be perfect for kids and pets, and communicating those features and attributes clearly to a targeted audience.

If your home is currently leased, North Carolina real estate law says that must be disclosed and that the lease conveys with the property. When selling a home in today’s real estate market, this single fact can significantly reduce the pool of buyers who would have either the interest or the financial capacity to buy your home.

Things have changed in a big way for real estate investors.  One of the largest changes is that private mortgage insurance (PMI) is no longer available for home purchases that are not primary residences or second homes.  That means that any real estate investment purchase must have a 20% down payment.

There was a time when real estate investors could buy a home with as little as 5% down.  Today, the cash required to buy an investment property is four times what it was only a short time ago.  This has significantly reduced the number of real estate investors who are able to buy a home.

Selling a home can still be a successful experience.  It just takes careful planning with a professional who knows the market and knows where buyers will come from.  The marketing has to be targeted and focused.  Time spent marketing to the wrong group can lead to dissapointing results and frustration.  Advertising the tenant lease you have in place that can produce instant cash flow is not very apealing to someone who is in no position to obtain the necessary financing to buy your home.