Archive for January, 2009
Latest on Housing Stimulus, Charlotte Real Estate Stats, Slumdog- Millionaire, Inaugural Update
January 30th, 2009 Categories: Real Estate News
Charlotte NCSenate Finance Bill Similar to House Housing Stimulus
The House Stimulus Bill passed with a $7500 tax credit on home purchases, and the Senate Finance committee approved a similar measure extending the credits through September 1, 2009. Latest details on the Housing Stimulus Details are here. It could be still improved in the Conference Committee, and my hope is Congress will extend the credits through the December 31 of this year. What can you do? Call or write your Representatives in Congress. Photo frm the inauguration of the 44th President if the US.
Representative Sue Myrick (202) 225-1976
Representative Larry Kissell (202) 225-3715
Senator Kay Hagan (202) 224-6342
Senator Richard Burr (202) 224-3154
The call should be simple-
Congress must act to increase demand for housing
express urgency in stopping the downward spiral of home values- Home Values are just like America’s saving accounts. With them go American spending, America’s confidence, and digs the economy into a deeper hole. House Purchase Tax Credits are the fastest way to increase demand.
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Remember, All Real Estate is Local. You Wouldn’t Watch the National Weather Report to Figure Out What to Wear Outside in Your City
so says the head of the Texas MLS, Read the rest of this entry »
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Housing Stimulus: State of the Housing Stimulus Package In Congress and More
January 27th, 2009 Categories: Charlotte News and Politics, Housing Stimulus
$7500 Tax Credit to New Buyers In House Bill- REVISED: NOW $8000, 75K INCOME LIMIT.
That’s the good news. Over in Charlie Rangel’s office, the House Ways and Means Committee is drafting the economic stimulus package that President Obama speaks about daily and hopes to have passed by mid- February, and a
$7500 Housing Tax credit is In IT for home buyers who have not bought a home in 3 years, who are buying for their primary residence, and with income below $95K individually, $170K jointly.
Real tax credits, for those out of the home market the last 3 years. They currently deadline when the old credits do, July of 2009, and the NAR is working to extend them through the end of the year.
This is big news, rocket fuel for the Realty business. I have to say I like that! Read the rest of this entry »
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Charlotte Real Estate Market Report 2008 A Look Forward to 2009
January 23rd, 2009 Categories: Buy A Charlotte Home, Charlotte Homes for Sale, FAQs About Charlotte
We have a new President but the US economic news is, not surprisingly, still grim. The nation’s housing is in its 2nd year of pain, falling prices, increasing foreclosures, sub-prime and the Alt A fiasco still unwinding- and more recently, disturbing increase of unemployed workers. The new President and Congress are likely to pass a massive economic stimulus- historic in size, up to 1 Trillion Dollars designed to put Americans back to work.  These are momentous times in the US, what does this mean for Charlotte, NC? What does it mean
 to home buyers and sellers in Charlotte NC?Â
Last night cruising through some cable channels I came across the entertaining Jim (Bet the house on Wachovia) Cramer on the Chris Matthews show, and he breathlessly told Matthews that nationally home prices “had to fall another 20%.” Well No Jim- perhaps in 4 states prices need to fall by another 20%,
but in 66% of the 381 major US Markets, prices have a “Low” or “Minimal” chance of falling prices in the next 2 years, according to the just released US Market Index by PMI.
Trying to simplify the story into sound bites, Jim, like almost all the other national news outlets are screwing up the housing story. Why? Because there is no one “housing market” there are hundreds of markets in the US. PMI measures 381 MSA’s each quarter. First a look back at 2008, then I’ll jump in to the PMI Market Risk Report by PMI, the company who puts their money where their mouth is.
Charlotte Real Estate Market Report 2008
In the 15 County area covered by the Carolina Multiple Listing Service (CMLS) there were:
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Welcome President Obama… One Million Plus Welcome the 44th President of the United States
January 21st, 2009 Categories: About This Blog, Charlotte News and Politics
Last minute tickets led to a last minute trip to Washington DC and the inauguration of a President. Judy and I decided and left in 30 minutes, and you know I took my camera! The view was just OK, the atmosphere electric, the experience? (groan) Priceless!
As I think about the day, if I only had one word to describe the day on the mall- it would be Joy. Despite a crushing crowd early, despite the cold, and the long wait- we were surrounded by all kinds of people, young and old, every race, every ethnicity, and they were celebrating America.
Yes they loved Obama, but they loved what he represents more, the American ideal. For the first time African-Americans have been brought into the compact that is America.
Now, anyone can grow up to be President. Tell your children.
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Charlotte NCÂ Terry’s Introduction to Charlotte, Over 10,000 views You Tube views-#1 for a search Charlotte NC,
About Charlotte NC Charlotte Homes For Sale  Charlotte Luxury Homes For Sale First Time Home Buyers
Charlotte Buyer Agents work only for you. 704-351-1519. Like what you are reading? Sign up for RSS, Real Simple Syndication.
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Charlotte Updates- Business, Economics and Hopes for the New Administration
January 19th, 2009 Categories: Charlotte News and Politics
As we inaugurate a new President, my attention has shifted to the national scene, and how it affects Charlotte.The city’s biggest company, Bank of America, plays on the national stage. Things have been happening with BOA and Charlotte the last two weeks before the inaugural.  A summary is below.
Bank of America
Bank of America received a 20Billion dollar infusion from TARP Friday to cover losses at Merrill Lynch, reported its first quarterly loss in 17 years at 2.39B and its stock fell to single digits this past week. All of this has created a storm for bank Chairman Ken Lewis who the Observer quoted an industry watcher as being in “the Fight of his Life.” My money is on Ken.
The Charlotte Chamber of Commerce reported on job gains and investment in the Charlotte MSA in 2008:
The year-end numbers of 2008 are certainly something to be proud of. Charlotte gained 1,337 firms, a record number, resulting in 12,165 new jobs. Also a record number was the addition of 27.6 million square feet. Investment totaled more than $2.3 billion this year, second highest of all time. The economy may be trying but Charlotte is certainly holding strong.
There are several important companies to note this quarter. Areva, a power industry services group, expanded with 545 new jobs. Designline International, a hybrid bus plant new to Charlotte, created 200 additional jobs. Carolina Asphalt expanded with more than 430,000 square feet of new space and Presbyterian Hospital has invested more than $300 million in expansions at several locations.
Although this year has been full of hardships, the numbers show that Charlotte still continues to grow with a diversified economy. The largest increase this past year was within the retail, healthcare, food service and professional and technical services sectors. Manufacturing also increased by 44 firms and despite the current state of the economy, Charlotte gained more than 80 firms in the finance and insurance industry.
The full story with the last 5 or more years of investment in Charlotte is here.
Mortgage Interest rates are low, historic lows.
For the week ended Jan. 11, the average 30-year rate in the United States was 4.92 percent, down from 5.10 percent the week before, according to the Zillow Mortgage Rate Monitor. more her from the Biz Journal
The Federal Reserve made news this week, Chairman Bernanke’s comments,
“The Federal Reserve retains powerful policy tools and will use them aggressively to help achieve this objective,†Bernanke said. “Fiscal policy can stimulate economic activity, but a sustained recovery will also require a comprehensive plan to stabilize the financial system and restore normal flows of credit.â€
Italics are mine.
Agreed. As part of any long term recovery plan (the proposed stimulus is a part) there must be a solution to the credit/foreclosure issues, and declining house values, in the 90% of the markets where no decline is necessary.
Rightly or wrongly, our homes have been our bank accounts, or savings accounts for decades.
There are some markets still way over valued, these market are the minority of US housing, 10% of the major 350 markets or less, located in just 4-6 states… and the rest? Prices are at or near where they should be but are falling anyway. This must be stopped. America, its citizens, US, can not afford this loss in wealth any longer. We didn’t start it, Wall Street did and now Federal policy must be to 1) stop declining values by increasing demand, 2) forcing the workouts of the estimated 2M foreclosures coming this year 3) getting the toxic assets off the books of these banks so their equity doesn’t keep falling.
There are high expectations for the new Administration, but so far he has received very high marks from all sides as they seemingly working together to get our economy back on track. So far so good but the real work begins Wednesday,  kumbaya days end, and the political work to turn his plans into legislation, get them passed in an acceptable form, and move to the next issue.
We are all watching, waiting and hoping that once again, when the United States needs a great leader, one has emerged.
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Charlotte NCÂ Terry’s Introduction to Charlotte, Over 10,000 views You Tube views-#1 for a search Charlotte NC,
About Charlotte NC Charlotte Homes For Sale  Charlotte Luxury Homes For Sale First Time Home Buyers
Charlotte Buyer Agents work only for you. 704-351-1519. Like what you are reading? Sign up for RSS, Real Simple Syndication.  Create your own newspaper, I strongly recommend the Google Reader. You’ll love it!
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Charlotte NC| A Physicians Guide To Charlotte, Charlotte Real Estate, and Relocating to Charlotte NC
January 18th, 2009 Categories: About Charlotte, Buy A Charlotte Home
Charlotte NCÂ When most people think of Charlotte, NC, they think of banks, Bank of America, Wac-Wells Fargo, and the 7 other Fortune 500 companies located here like Duke Energy, TIAA-Cref, Nucor Steel, Goodrich Tire etc…
Wow, here’s one…
See a luxury Home in the Sanctuary
When physican’s look at Charlotte, whether just completing their residency, or advancing their career, they see two gigantic healthcare systems locked into competitive struggle:Â The large national Novant operating under the name Presbyterian, and the local heavyweight Carolinas Medical Corporation, or CMC.
Each group wants to be THE major provider of health care here in Charlotte, each hospital dominates multiple specialties, and that isn’t the scope of this article… I’ll leave that for a medical professional to write, rather I’ll attempt to answer the bigger question:
Why are these two healthcare giants in such a fierce take no prisoners struggle over Charlotte NC?
Why? Read the rest of this entry »
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Moving To Charlotte? Charlotte Homes, Charlotte Real Estate and Relocation Guide
January 16th, 2009 Categories: Buy A Charlotte Home
Find out all the basics about Charlotte NC. Sign up for a free online Charlotte Relocation Guide
For the fastest introduction to Charlotte, try this Introduction To Charlotte NC video- #1 on You Tube, over 12,000 views.
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NO SPAM EVER!!!
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Moving to the Charlotte Area? South Charlotte, Huntersville, Uptown? Your first Charlotte home?
I am a Charlotte real estate broker and lead a team specializing in relocation’s, 2nd homes and first time home buyers–buying and selling
real estate of all kinds- and will represent only you. My team works with Buyers and Sellers every day from Uptown to Ballantyne, Lake Norman to Concord-and Fort Mill SC too. My team and I know the homes, the communities, and the new home builders. We know what’s hot, what’s not, and where the deals are. I think as you read my posts you’ll see that we understand home buyer needs, from a first time home owner to a luxury home purchaser.
We are working to make your relocation to the Charlotte area easier, less stressful and help you “buy smart.”
I am easy to reach, please don’t hesitate to call, call me direct at 704-351-1519. Terry
Related Links
Charlotte Homes For Sale- Map & Community Based, over 30,000 properties for sale!
Fort Mill- First Time Home Buyer Report (maps included!)Fort Mill Homes For Sale- Deep Market Report
Charlotte NC Homes Best Value Under 500K
Fix Housing First-a Housing Stimulus plan of the NAHBÂ Housing Stimulus by The NAR Proposal for the 2009 housing stimulus by the National Association of Realtors
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Charlotte Bound Flight 1539, Quick Thinking, Great Pilot Makes The Difference…
January 16th, 2009 Categories: Charlotte News and Politics
Captain Sullenberger, a credit to the Air Force training, and all of US, Thanks Captain!
It was not likely any of the passengers knew as they boarded the plane just how lucky they were to have this pilot, on this day flying their US Air airplane to Charlotte North Carolina.
As a young man he flew the F-4 Phantom over Vietnam for the Air Force, so he knew something about danger, and had great training on how to think through the problem. He had spent 40 years of his life flying, teaching and more recently, reviewing accidents for his union, the NTSB and as a safety consultant in the private sector.
Asked by his wife about the danger of flying commercial aircraft, he once told her that is was “unlikely for an airline pilot to ever have a life threatening incident in his career.”
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First Time Homebuyers – Five Steps to a Wise Decision
January 14th, 2009 Categories: Charlotte First Time Home Buyers
Buying a home in Charlotte for the first time? Or elsewhere, whatever your age, the first time home purchase is complex and entails some risks- so I’ve put together this list of essentials. I could have stretched it into a Top Ten List, kudos to David Letterman, but I think I’ve distilled it to 5 steps… 5 multi-part steps that if you get these right you’ll get a good result without a big mistake.
What is a great result? The actual home will vary of course, but it will be for you, a great home, in a great community, at a great price-and in Charlotte, a great place to live and grow!
5 Steps to Buying Your First Charlotte Home
1. Location.  Not the worn out quote on value, I want you to think of location in a different way. I’ll write it in first person- like I am you, but it really is Location, Location and Location…
A)Location today- Am I happy with it now, 100%? 98% at least? I can see all of the community, or enough to know what it will look like. For the first time buyer, buying a house at the sales trailer with nothing but red dirt in front of you is a daunting and in most cases too risky a proposition. The biggest risk isn’t that the builder won’t finish- though there is that, the biggest risk is it will grow into something you may not like. How many times have I heard people say, “If I had known they were going to do that…”
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Charlotte Communities in Charlotte NC Welcomes 2009
January 8th, 2009 Categories: About This Blog, Real Estate News
Charlotte Homes For Sale and Charlotte Real Estate Became Charlotte Communities at the end of 2007.
Charlotte Communities has become THE Charlotte Relocation site of choice-
In 2008, visitors from 129 countries came to Charlotte Communities, and CC was translated into 51 languages.
Charlotte Communities provides, in good times and bad, an objective in depth review of Charlotte Homes for Sale/ Charlotte Homes Sold Real Estate Market Reports, community stats, community reviews, and a variety of intriguing articles about real estate and real estate mortgages… even as the year grew more challenging. Much of our real estate information is not found anywhere else- our Charlotte Homes for Sale Reports are wide and deep and prepared with a local Broker’s insight, our take on regional real estate is our own.
But its not just Charlotte real estate, Things To Do in Charlotte is a favorite and our local and regional reporting help readers keep an eye on the regional and national news that affect Charlotte, NC.
Yes, they come to see Charlotte home prices, but also Arts and Cultural reviews and links, things to do with children, like Imaginon, and things for the more advenuresome, the US National Whitewater Rafting Center which held the US Olympic team trials in April.Five writers contributed at least 5 articles in 2008. All the information is reviewed by us- independent, informed observers of the Charlotte real estate scene, and only me being a buyer Agent- with no dog in the fight on where someone buys a home. Things to Do in Charlotte has reported on everything from the Charlotte Greenway system to the popular Light Rail Lynx, Uptown performances to the India Festival, local concerts and more…
Sustainable growth
Radar Logic of NYC called Charlotte the only “Objectively Affordable” major city on the Case -Shiller report, cited “Sustainable growth” as the reason, a Charlotte cocktail of affordable home prices, a good economy with good jobs, and comfortable living (low taxes and lower on the “fear” quotient)–what they know that the national press often miss.
Charlotte Communities/Terry McDonald’s video Introduction to Charlotte is #1 on You Tube searches for Charlotte NC, together with the Charlotte Communities blog, this has become the #1 place for Charlotte relocation news.
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Charlotte NCÂ Terry’s Introduction to Charlotte, Over 10,000 views You Tube views-#1 for a search Charlotte NC,
About Charlotte NC Charlotte Homes For Sale  Charlotte Luxury Homes For Sale First Time Home Buyers
Charlotte Buyer Agents work only for you. 704-351-1519. Like what you are reading? Sign up for RSS, Real Simple Syndication.  Create your own newspaper, I strongly recommend the Google Reader. You’ll love it!
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