Localism: North Carolina

FHA Stramline Refinance

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:29:54 -0600

If you currently have an FHA Mortgage, you can "Streamline Refinance" your current mortgage.

What exactly does "Streamline Refinance" mean?

There is no appraisal required, no income or asset information listed on your application. Most lenders will run at least 1 of the 3 credit agency reports to get your current payment history on your mortgage. While your current credit situation does not matter in doing a "Streamline Refinance" you should not have more than 2 30 day late payment on your current mortgage in the last 12 months. You must be able to supply the lender with a copy of your current "NOTE" from your last mortgage settlement. It should only take 2 weeks from the time of application to the actual closing date. To view my official Website Please Click HERE

If you are interested in an FHA Refinance and live in NC please give me a call. 704-490-4733

www.firstmetromortgagejp.com

Research shows that less then 1% of Agents use Real Full Motion Video

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:00:18 -0600

I am working on a presentation on "Why Video" for a local Real Estate Agency tomorrow so I took the time (several hours) to look at a random sampling of 1000 listings for sale in the Charlotte, NC area. Here is a summary of my findings:

Of 500 Listings (250K-500K) - 2 had *real* full motion video
Of 500 Listings (500K-1M) - 4 had *real* full motion video (2 of them were my clients)

I emphasize the word "real" because there are many people who like to use the word "video" when all they are offering is a static photo slide show set to music. There were a few more of these offerings as follows:

Of 500 Listings (250-500K) - 7 had slide shows (amongst 4 agents)
Of 500 Listings (500-1M) - 13 had slide shows (amongst 5 agents)

It just goes to show how untapped this method of marketing homes is. I am convinced that as more agents use (and get better at) full motion video, and as sellers start to ask for it - full motion video will become the norm.

I conducted this research another time back in January, 2008 but didn't have the foresight to write down the statistics. As I recall back then, I only found 1 full motion video in all the listings I checked (which was several hundred, but not quite 1000).

Bottom line: Full Motion Video ---- It's coming --- be ready for it, or find a vendor who already is.

Lake Norman Real Estate Market Analysis Fall 2008

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 07:49:24 -0600

Lake Norman Real Estate Analysis - Activity Report 3 Years Back

I compiled data from home and home sales activity from the Carolina Multiple Listing Service for the Month of October 2008, and singled-out area 13 (Lake Norman). Then I organized the data into a crisp graph.

October 2008

Total Listings                                                         1516
New Listings                                                           250
Back on Market                                                     109
Price Changes                                                         444
Contingent/Conditional                                             23
Under Contract                                                          59
Sold                                                                             71
Percentage of Sold Homes vs. Newly Listed           28%
Months supply                                                           21

From the data through October 31, we can interpret that There are a total of 1,516 homes on the market. As of December 1, 2008, the total number of homes had increased to 1,676 homes. 444 PRICE CHANGES! It appears that sellers are trying to stay competitively priced since the inventory is so high. Since only 28% of the newly listed homes are selling, then the other 72% of the homes listed each month are staying in inventory. This high inventory gives us a 21 month supply of homes on the market.The trend is inventory is increasing, demand is decreasing, average home prices are going down.

It's really eye-opening to see that only 71 homes sold in the Month of October as compared to years past. The next graph shows the activity for each year and the market is down at least 41% in home sales since 2005.

Sandy Aichner, GRI, ABR, Broker, REALTOR ~ RE/MAX Executive Realty (704) 746-7513

Search Foreclosures in Lake Norman
Lake Norman Featured Listings

Lake Norman Real Estate Call me at: 704.746.7513 for information on purchasing or selling a home in Mooresville, Cornelius, Huntersville, Troutman, Denver, or Statesville, North Carolina or surrounding towns. OR email me: sandy@sandyisyouragent.com. Feel free to visit one of my websites: MooresvilleHomeSearch.com, SandyIsYourAgent.com . Or stop by my blogs at: Active Rain; or Twitter.

Sandy's Facebook Profile
LinkedIn Profile
Trulia Profile
Twitter profile
Flickr Photos by Sandy
Search Lake Norman & Charlotte Homes
Meet Sandy
Delicious Bookmarks

Flags at Half Mast

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 05:40:52 -0600

Most of us on AR are VERY pleased when we get 20, 30, 65 comments on a post. The lady to the left, regularly received upwards of 600 comments every time she hit "post."

For several years, my morning (noon and night) ritual was to check out CR and Tanta at Calculated Risk.

Yesterday, Doris "Tanta" Dungey passed away from Ovarian Cancer at the age of 47 - she fought the battle for almost 2 years. This is from her post on "Mortgage Pig!"

"I suppose this requires some explanation. Many years and versions of Excel ago, I was in some interminable conference call--I believe we were discussing general ledger interface mapping for HUD-1 line items regarding undisbursed escrow items on the FHA 203(k) in the servicing system upload, or perhaps we were watching paint dry--when I experienced one of those evolutionary breakthroughs for which the human race is justly famous. I stopped doodling on my legal pad and started defacing my spreadsheet. In a word, Excel Art was born.

An entire running gag developed, centered on the character of Mortgage Pig and his Adventures. The Pig you see above is a newer version; the old Pig didn't wear lipstick (old pig was developed before we started selling loans to Wall Street). You can, of course, print these images, but outside of the context of viewing them in Excel, they simply become primitive, childlike doodles of no particular resonance. Viewing them as a spreadsheet, on the other hand, makes them profoundly amusing. Really. There's just nothing like sending someone a file named "GL Error Recon 071597" and having a pig pop up when the workbook is opened for a knee-slapping good time. If you're a hopeless Nerd with no particular aesthetic sensibilities."

She will be missed.

Jacksonville NC - Christmas Card Design Contest

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 05:33:18 -0600

Do your kids enjoy art? Most children do.

The Onslow County NC Parks and Recreation Department is sponsoring a Christmas card design contest for young children. This is a fun way to encourage and support your child's creative and artistic talent. But hurry the deadline for entries is December 12 at 5 PM!

Cynthia Tilghman, Realtor, Onslow County Home Specialist 910 459 9189 Email Me

Kingsbridge Realty, Inc., Making Houses Homes

We take pride in assisting Military Families locate a home in Onslow County when relocating to Camp Lejeune North Carolina

Area expert for homes in Hubert North Carolina