Stunning 3 bedroom, 3.1 bath home on over 1 acre is spotless and ready for you to move in! Need storage for your RV or boat? This home features a separate garage for just that purpose. The exterior is brick, stone, and hard coat stucco. Rose gardens are flourishing in the beautifully landscaped yard. The back yard is fenced and has a waterfall fountain.

Inside, living spaces are open to each other giving a wonderful feeling of spaciousness throughout the home. The kitchen is open to a bayed breakfast room as well as a large keeping room complete with a fireplace surrounded by built-in storage. A screened porch and deck join with a patio to extend the living areas outdoors in warmer months.

A main floor master suite has a sitting area as well as access to the screened porch. Upstairs, the bonus room includes a large screen TV with surround sound already installed!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ciDUkU8olQ

4 bedroom, 2.5 bath home in golf course community in Huntersville, NC. This spotless home features stacked stone accents and a covered front porch, as well as a rear deck with a vine covered arbor above.

Formal living room/study and foral dining room are at the front of the home, with family areas at the back on the main level. The laundry room/mud room is located between the garage and breakfast areas, with a utility sink and cabinets for storage.

All bedrooms are upstairs. The master suite has two large walk-in closets, a corner whirlpool tub, separate shower, and his & hers vanities. There is also a bonus room upstairs measuring 15′8″ x 18′8″ -- perfect for a game room!

The back yard is fenced and completely landscaped. Neighborhood features include a golf course, tennis courts, playground, pond, and pool.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqacE-lwrJs

In most areas right now, real estate is a buyer’s market. Inventory is at an all-time high. There may be 20, 30, or even 40 homes in an area that could be ‘perfect’ for a buyer.

Maybe the buyer has fallen in love with your home . . . except . . .

The master bathroom is too small
A gas fireplace would be better than a wood-burning fireplace
The kitchen needs granite countertops
Hardwood floors would be so much better
The front door must be covered

And on, and on, and on. You just lost a potential buyer – or did you?

Savvy agents will take these comments and work them to the seller’s advantage. How? By taking the feedback/idea, and working it into a potential offer on the home.

For example: the buyer would buy a listing held by Schwebel & Associates of Prudential Carolinas Realty, except all of the bedrooms but one have direct access to a bathroom. We receive this feedback and become proactive. We contact 2DIFOR Builders.

2DIFOR Builders specialize in strategic home alterations. Strategic home alterations is a tool for real estate agents to custom tailor that perfect fit for their client. There is no cost – 2DIFOR Builders simply offer feasibility options and budgets for changes to the home during the buying and selling process.

Schwebel & Associates presents 2DIFOR Builders with the information about overcoming the buyer’s objections. 2DIFOR Builders will assess the situation, determine possible options and budget the alterations. Armed with this knowledge, we can then present options to the buyer’s agent.

From there, the cost of the alteration might be negotiated in the selling price of the home, or it may become a condition of the sale.

Strategic home alteration also works equally well for our buyers. If we show them a home that is perfect except for . . ., we can offer the services of 2DIFOR Builders to help them to realize their perfect home.

Not every buyer has the ability to ‘see’ a home with potential changes, and certainly most won’t have an idea of the costs involved. Our solution is to help them with the process and at the same time, find them the perfect home at a good price.

With the amount of inventory out there, every advantage that we can offer to our buyers and sellers can only help them to achieve their goals; to find the perfect home, or to sell their home in a timely manner.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6FGe_64Q94

New listing with Schwebel & Associates features 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and has been lovingly cared for. The immaculate interior is highlighted by a formal living room and dining room separated by square columns. Kitchen updates include an ultra-quiet dishwasher, under cabinet lighting, a new microwave, self-cleaning oven, and a walk-in pantry.

Walls of windows in the family room bathe the room with natural light. A gas fireplace has a raised brick hearth. This area is open to the kitchen and breakfast nook.

Upstairs, the 4th bedroom/bonus room has unbelieveable closet space! In fact the entire home has great closet and storage space. All bedrooms are nicely sized, and the master suite has a luxurious bathroom with a garden tub and separate shower, both surrounded by ceramic tile.

The completely landscaped yard has a deck, and an outdoor sitting area with a vine-covered arbor. An irrigation system helps with maintenance.

Irv & I have had many savvy clients (and family members) take advantage of the downturn in Real Estate to lock in a long-term equity gain.

The old adage, “buy low sell high” hasn’t changed, but it now has a new twist. Savvy buyers take advantage of the overall market being down a certain percentage from the high.

For example if the overall market is down 10% then a home that was $500k is now $450k and a home that was $200k is now $180k.  If you sell the second home and buy the first you lose $20k on the selling side, but on the buy you gain $50k in potential equity for a net gain of $30k. Obviously this is a simplified example, but the point is the same.

Let us know if you think this may be an option for you.  As the economy shows signs of warming up the window of opportunity shrinks every day.

This article from Homes: Sell at a loss, buy at a discount

Has the Residential Real Estate Market hit the bottom?  Only time will tell but Irv & I have seen a marked and sustained increase in all types of activity related to our business over the past 3 months.  This article suggests we may have already made the turn:

Home Prices Increasing

What do you think?  Have we reached the bottom or is this a temporary blip?

Time is starting to run out for the $8,000 first time homebuyer tax credit in 2009! Get all of the details here:

First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit Information

With more and more Americans facing the prospect of declining home values and unemployment levels not seen in quite some time, many homeowners and their lenders are facing the situation where the home is worth less than owed.  This is no problem if the owner doesn’t have to move and can afford their current payment.  If the owner is forced to sell for whatever reason, then the possibility of a short sale becomes a very real option.

What is a short sale? A short sale is an option you have before you reach the point of foreclosure where you are selling your home for less than what is owed. However, the bank has to agree to a short sale as they stand to lose money via either process.  Banks do short sales because of cost.  An average cost to the bank for foreclosure is around $65,000, so they are smart to take the short sale.

You must have an offer in hand for the bank to tell you whether they will do a short sale or not.  They have the say-so whether or not a short sale will be accepted.

The 4 requirements to have a short sale are:

1. The home’s market value has dropped.
2. Mortgage is in or near default status.
3. The seller has fallen on hard times . . . unemployment, divorce, medical emergency, bankruptcy, death
4. The seller has no assets to speak of.

Foreclosure is on your FICO score for 6 years.  Short sales start to repair themselves after 2 years.

Short sales can be a win-win for the lender and the seller.  The lender recovers more of their capital faster than would be possible if they went through foreclosure.  The owner wins by relieving themselves of the financial burdens of the home and taking a smaller hit to their credit than would happen if a foreclosure occurred.

Unfortunately it’s not as simple as it appears.  Every lender and every situation is different.  There are pitfalls to be avoided and terms to be negotiated to reduce or eliminate any further obligations for the borrower after the short sale is concluded.  It is critical to have a team of experts in place to guide you through the process.  A seasoned real estate Broker and a real estate Attorney who specializes in such transactions are the backbone of such a team.

The Charlotte Chamber of Commerce has put together a series of maps that show estimated commute times from certain points in the metro area. This is a pretty cool tool for folks thinking of moving to Charlotte and are unfamiliar with commute times in different parts of the city. The times are only estimates, of course. Included in the report are occupations shared by residents in the various areas, thus allowing those who might be currently unemployed to use this information while searching for employment. The study focused on 15-30 minute drive times in 15 different areas of Charlotte.

Check it out at:

Charlotte Commuting Time Estimator

Today we have a guest blogger from the mortgage industry. Paul Bender with Countrywide Mortgage has an important update for all homebuyers:

EFFECTIVE TODAY:  Customers that are purchasing homes with less then 20% down, now must have a 700 credit score and have a debt to income less then or equal to 41%.   Government loans (FHA, VA) are not effected.
If the customers are putting 20% or more down then they can have a credit score less then 700, the DTI still needs to be 41%.
This is coming on the heels that the PMI companies are not wanting to insure loans to customers with lower credit scores. So if you are working with a borrower that has been in contact with their lenders, get them to call and either LOCK their loans or see about changing programs to a government loan.

I want to take a moment and try to explain what PMI does and why we have seen the latest changes.
If a borrower buys a home as many did over the past several years and needs financing for more than 80%  of the purchase price, then the banks can do that only if they can get insurance from the PMI companies for the amount above the 80%. of the purchase price

Example: 150,000
Down payment 10% $15000
Loan to Value 90%
Unprotected amount $15000; therefore covered by PMI

The insurance company will insure the bank for the other difference between 120,000 which  it would be at 80% to avoid PMI and the loan amount of 135,000…the extra $15,000.

Well, as you can imagine if a customer goes into foreclosure or default on their loan, the PMI companies must step in and pay the banks off down to the loan to value of 80%, hence making it then easier for you all to get a short sale complete at a lower than balance owed price.

So  with all the foreclosures, the PMI companies have been hit really hard with having to pay up.  With all the claims that they’ve have had to pay out . . . they have pushed back and said, “No more” . . . they do not want to take any more risks.

The insurance companies have researched and found that it is the folks with lower credit scores and higher DTIs that have defaulted. So little by little, they have been raising the credit scores and lowering the DTIs for loans they are willing to insure.

As a result the banks are having to react as well . . . if we can’t get insured for the dollar amounts we are wanting to loan above 80% then it is a risk to the banks and the banks are pushing back . . . the banks have money to lend, but they are also wanting to be protected.

Thank goodness for small favors – Government loans are not affected by this latest round of changes.