June 15th, 2008
There are good foreclosures out there! But the two biggest factors in finding them is luck and skill. OK, well that sums it up right there. My next blog post will be about removing the smell of animals from the inside of your house.
Oh wait, let me tell you this story.
I have some clients who I have been working with for about a year and a quarter. Their requirements are very exacting in what they are looking for in a home. It would be less than $300,000, it must have at least four bedrooms and three baths. It must be big enough that the parents can find some solitude from hormone crazed teenage girls and it must be able to accommodate three horses. So it must have at a minimum of three acres but more would be better. You can pretty much guess that it would take a while to find such a house. We have found homes that were close, but no cigar. We have looked in the Fayetteville area MLS, the Pine Hurst/Southern Pines MLS and the Triangle MLS for homes. We have looked in Military by Owner, Realtor.com and for sale by owner, and other websites, newspapers magazines, etc. but we have always come up a little short. That is where that skill part comes in, finding the best places to look, keeping the search going and filtering out the bad from the good. Now the luck part, the day before yesterday I did my search and low and behold, there it was. I Found The HOUSE!!! Yea!!! It is over three thousand sq ft, it has four bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms and ten acres. And best of all it is only about ten miles from their current home. This will keep the gas prices down. I emailed the house to my clients, we set up an appointment, and we went and had a look on Sat. I called the listing agent to gather any other info I could about the house. He told me that the inside had some issues, it needed new flooring and paint and so on. And he said the last owners had had animals and the animals had made a mess of the place. If that was the worst of it then we were golden.
I got to the house early and walked around to check it out. It was in great shape and only needed a pressure washing. I then opened the front door, that is when I learned something about atmospheric pressure. On the outside I could smell the flowers and fresh cut grass as I entered the doorway into the hot stagnate house my hand rose to my mouth and my stomach began to heave, it was a totally different environment. I walked outside, flowers, I walked inside, the unbearable stench of animal urine and feces that have been cooking in a hot and enclosed house. I guess I didn’t believe the listing agent about the animals!
There is always something about a foreclosed home. And this time it was only the small thing, the stench. Again if that is the only problem that can be fixed. It is a great house and will make a great home once they get the animal smell out.
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June 10th, 2008
The other day I went over to talk to my neighbor, he was not home but his handyman was there cleaning up around the house. As I was walking home the handyman was over talking to another of my neighbors, we’ll call him Walrus. So Walrus and Handyman were talking and I strolled over and listened to them talk, it is always interesting to hear what some of the older generation are talking about, (they both had to be a good ten years older then me). The two men have known each other since they were kids. The talk centered on the old days, what else. I knew there was a lot of old money in Fayetteville, these two didn’t have it by the way otherwise I would have hit them up for a loan, but I have never seen it myself and I am not old Fayetteville so I never will. But it seems that Handyman grew up in a well to-do family that was big in Real Estate and had a lot of land and holdings. Walrus keep his eye in the proverbial prize and joined the military and then became a successful businessman. Handyman fell into the trap of fast living, he still has his house and some land but not so many teeth. Part of that fast living was he liked to pick fights, unfortunately for him he didn’t know how to fight, being drunk doesn’t help apparently.
The two of them began to talk about a very prominent man in town, we’ll call him Crackman, who was also into the fast life. He decided he liked crack, hookers and living on the edge. It would seem though if you are old Fayetteville you know the best and most influential attorneys, of course. And no I can’t give you his name to get you out of that scrap you’re in. So Crackman contacted said attorney and has yet to spend a day on jail or have his name mentioned in the newspaper or TV. I don’t think I can categorize rehab as real incarceration.
It is interesting what you learn as you go through life. There are quite a few stories like that around town, but no one every hears about them. And that my friend is my goal, to be the new old money in Fayetteville. The problem is that my wife would really frown on this whole crack hooker thing.
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June 10th, 2008
On June fourth I was reading the business section of the Fayetteville Observer and found a very interesting article. The article was about Shani Gates’ business “Curbing Creations”, a business that deals in decorative curbing and a lot more. Well, not only does she do great work, but she is a smart lady with very good business sense. In just a four year span Curbing creations has taken off with work coming from all corners. Shani and her crew travel all over creating their art, last week she was in Pinehurst, designing, fabricating and installing her creations. If you would like to see some of her work go by her office at 6835 Raeford, look at her advertisement in this months Cityview magazine or go to her website at Curbing Creations.
You may be wondering why I am plugging concrete, I am always looking for companies that are helping homeowners in many different ways. Shani helps homeowners by beautifying their homes and adding value to the home as well. If you see her work at her office or website and like what you see let her know.
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June 8th, 2008
When I say Internet home buying I don’t mean buying a home directly from the Internet, like EBay, but it can be done ( I have had clients in Germany that did just that). For most of us buying a home is the biggest and most important purchase we will make. A lot of my clients are military families that are moving here sometimes for the first time. They don’t know the area, but they can research it using the Internet, it is a great tool. They can go to my website and search the Multiple Listing Service, they can go to Craigslist, Realtor.com and any number of other sites to look at homes. Home seekers can look up schools anywhere in NC by going to NC School Report Cards. Or they can look up crime by going to the local Sheriff Dept. Website or in Fayetteville by going to Crime Mapping in the Fayetteville Police Dept. Website. Families can also look up the locations of sexual predators at Family Watchdog. All of these tools and many more offer potential home buyers a lot of alternatives in their search. There is a good article worth reading on searching for homes by U.S. News and World Report, Six Secrets of Internet Home Buying.
So what is left for a poor Realtor to do? How do I make a difference in helping a family to find the right home? That’s easy, once a home is found on the Internet I can provide additional photos or video, give my analysis of the home (inside and out), the neighborhood, the schools ( my interpretation), the traffic in the area, background on the house and seller and more.
It is my responsibility to help and advise my clients on buying a home. I take that responsibility seriously. Bring the same sense of professionalism, honesty, integrity and loyalty I had in the Army and have brought it to my new profession.
By the way if you do go to the Fayetteville Police Dept. Website you will see a picture of a man with a clean shaven head. We may both may be sporting around the stylish bald look, but I am not the Chief of Police by day and Super Realtor by night. No, I leave the Police work to Chief Tom Bergamine, but that doesn’t mean I’m not super. Come around to the office sometime I’ll show you my tights and cape.
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June 5th, 2008
I read a recent article from Inman news today about how foreclosures are not bargains. Maybe they aren’t, at least to some agents and in some markets. But here in Fayetteville they can be. I said, they can be!
Here in Fayetteville and the surrounding area there are a good number of homes that have been foreclosed on. But just because they are foreclosures does not mean they are a worthy investment. The VA and Banks try to get as much as they can to cover their losses. They will sell a home for less than the going market value for homes in each particular neighborhood that is true. But they don’t get sold for that much less and by the time you have put the time, money and work into your foreclosure the value of the home is now the same as the other homes around it.
So what do you do? Look for a home that really needs a lot of work and is valued a lot less then the other homes around it. If homes in a neighborhood are selling for $100,000 and you by your foreclosure for $60,000 then put $20,000 into it, well now you have something. Then if you rent the home out you have an investment property that is paying for itself and providing you with a small income. And in a couple of years when the house has gained some more equity you can sell it and make yourself a nice tidy profit that you can use in a 1031 exchange to get more homes to fix, rent and flip.
You could also look at doing the same-thing with townhouses, they come a little more cheaper than a home and have a little more profit potential, but they won’t sell as well as a house.
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June 2nd, 2008
This past week brings us the release of a couple important pieces of economic data in addition to some moderately important reports. There are a total of four or five reports that are worth watching and are most likely to affect mortgage rates.
Rates have been going up lately, they were below 6% not to long ago. There are a lot of things to watch for when planning on buying a home. If only it were as easy and going out as looking at homes.
The first is the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) manufacturing index late tomorrow morning. This highly important index measures manufacturer sentiment. A reading below 50 means that more surveyed manufacturing executives felt that business worsened during the month than those who felt it had improved. A sub-50 reading is also considered recessionary news. Analysts are expecting to see a 48.0 reading in this month’s release, meaning that sentiment slipped slightly during May. A smaller reading will be good news for the bond market and mortgage shoppers while an unexpected increase could contribute to higher mortgage rates.
Last Tuesday’s only relevant news is the Commerce Department’s release of April’s Factory Orders data. This manufacturing sector report is similar to last week’s Durable Goods Orders release, but also includes orders for non-durable goods. It can cause some movement in the financial markets if it varies from forecasts by a wide margin, but it isn’t expected to cause much change in rates this month. Current forecasts are expecting to see an increase in orders of 0.1%.
The revised 1st Quarter Productivity and Costs report will be released Wednesday morning. This data measures employee output and employer costs for wages and benefits. It is considered to be a measurement of wage inflation. It is believed that the economy can grow with low inflationary pressures when productivity is high. Last month’s preliminary reading revealed a 2.2% rate, but I don’t think this piece of data will have much of an impact on the bond market or mortgage pricing unless it varies greatly from its forecasted reading of 2.5%.
Ahh, let’s just go look at homes!!!
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March 24th, 2008
“Placing your business or home in a location that does not depend 100% on the automobile is a good idea for many reasons and makes that decision deliciously visible.”
—Triple Pundit Blog
I just found a pretty good website out there. It is called Walk Score, in essence it finds your property on a map and then finds schools, businesses, etc. and then it rates the walk ability of home you are interested in. I checked out my house and found, my house is near the bottom for walk ability. And thinking about it you pretty much have to drive everywhere you want to go to get where you want to go. But that is just the way I like it!
If you are looking for a new home and walk ability is something important to you this sight will help you locate places where you may wish to live. Add this sight to the best schools, lowest crime, etc. and you have yourself a winner!
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March 21st, 2008
The Federal Reserve takes a huge gulp and slashes its key interest rate 3/4s of a percent. The stock market cheers. But on Realtor oriented Web sites such as Activerain.com the mood is less ebullient. After all the brokers have seen the Fed slash rates for months and the housing market has continued to tank.
Good news, we live in Fayetteville NC where the market is a little different for us and the rest of the real estate world. And different for other service orientated businesses, there is a lot of disposable income out there. But with that guaranteed paycheck every two weeks does come a little responsibility, where are you going to be ten years from now? Look for that opportunity to help increase your assets and give yourself a leg up on the future. After that go have a good time.
As you know there are a lot of ways to increase your worth; stocks, bonds, mutual funds, 401K’s and of course Real Estate. Right now is the time to buy, as they say buy low because the market has only one way to go and that is up. And real estate will go up, there is only so much land to build on and it can’t be replaced, lost or otherwise removed. If you can find a great deal on a tract of land or a great home, buy it. Now is the time to do your research and find that money maker. And land will hold it’s value better than anything else.
Oh, and you may find that once you move into your new home you will realize that home ownership is pretty good. You will never throw your rent money in the proverbial toilet again!
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March 15th, 2008
I have a listing in Kingsford, if you know Fayetteville you know that Kingsford is an executive neighborhood in the heart of everything Fayetteville. Right now there are two listings in Kingsford mine and another home listed at $799,000.
Why is this blog entitled, $385,000 doesn’t buy what it used to! It is entitled this because $385,000 is a bargain for this home, in this neighborhood, in this section of Fayetteville. When the medium price of a home is near $150,000 in the Fayetteville area $385,000 may seem excessive, but it is all relative. I can’t afford a $385,000 home, maybe you can’t either, but there are plenty of folks who can. Those who can afford this home will also look in Buckhead or maybe parts of Haymont, but Kingsford is top of the line for executive areas. They will compare price/sqft, amenities and many other things when considering a new home. For example if you compare price/sqft you see that $385,000 equals out to about $130 sqft and the $799,000 home is at about $170 sqft, that’s quite a difference. But when perspective buyers come to view my listing all they see is the old style wallpaper and the outdated kitchen. If you look at any home that was built in 1988 or the $799,000 home in 1993 you will always find cosmetic defects like wallpaper or paint, etc. that is the nature of the beast. It is up to the savvy consumer to look at the big picture and see the forest through trees.
Now why am I blathering on about expensive homes, because it does not matter how much you can afford. When you walk into a home you will have three different reactions; you will hate it, you will be indifferent or you will love it and you will have one of these reactions as soon as you walk into the house. If the house is a great home for you and your family the pink and green paint won’t mean that much. But things that are important are already a part of your decision like, price/sqft and location. Next time you view a home, process all the important information and then look at the things that will make a house your home.
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March 8th, 2008
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Real Estate Investment Trusts
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Real Estate Investment Trusts, or REITs, are a dynamic way to get involved in real estate. Most investors are comfortable with Real Estate Investment Trusts because of the flexibility, endurance, and liquidity that this type of real estate ownership can afford; as well as being a great starting point for smaller real estate investors. Any number of Real Estate property types may be owned and managed through a Real Estate Investment Trust including residential, developmental, and commercial properties.
Rob Valentine has this to say about REITs in his Real Estate Investment Trust blog entry:
<><>REITs come in three major forms. The most common and widely purchased are shares of equity REITs, which invest in commercially managed property that produce income. This is generally the type of REIT that is referred to when discussing them as an investment tool.Less common versions of REITS include mortgage REITs, which make loans to owners of real estate or invest in current outstanding mortgages. According to Investopedia.com, these REITs account for less than 10% of REITs available today. The final version is a hybrid of the equity REIT and the mortgage REIT and also accounts for a small percentage of REITs. These hybrids combine the mortgage investment of one with the property management of the other.”
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