Charlotte Homes for Sale
Nina Hollander
(704)779-0813

Foreclosure filings in Mecklenburg County, where Charlotte is located, had a steep decline in November versus the same time frame in 2010–35% fewer filings! November filings were also somewhat lower than October 2011.  The number of homes seized by financial institutions also dropped significantly from 404 to 249 year-to-year.

This great news extends to the entire Charlotte metro area, as foreclosure filings for Mecklenburg and and neighboring counties of Gaston, Cabarrus, Anson, Union in North Carolina and York County in South Carolina also dropped to 1,104 from 1,312 as compared with one year earlier–a 16% drop!

In many parts of the country, foreclosure shadow inventory levels are decreasing–boding well for home prices in the coming year.

Shadow Inventory Levels

For more detailed information about foreclosures in the Charlotte metro area visit RealtyTrac. For more information about foreclosure homes for sale visit GreatHomesInCharlotte.com.

Some important real estate news worth paying attentions to:

• Mortgage rates jumped for the fourth straight week and have hit their six month highs. This is somehow happening “under the radar” and lots of home buyers who were approved at very low rates who haven’t yet purchased a home, will get a bit of sticker shock surprise when they do. Keep in mind that each 1% increase in mortgage rates, on average, increases your monthly payment by about 10%.
• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have announced that they will freeze foreclosure evictions from December 20th through January 3rd for occupied homes. If you are facing foreclosure, clearly this is positive news for the holiday weeks.

Looking for more updates on real estate in the Charlotte, Waxhaw and Fort Mill areas? Contact Carolinas Realty Partners.

There’s lots of confusion out there whether you can still vote if your home has been foreclosed. Yes you can!

Keep in mind that while each state has its own regulations and rules on who can vote, there are some general guidelines if your home has been foreclosed that you can follow to vote tomorrow:

• If a foreclosure on your home has caused you to move,  you must re-register if you’ve changed counties or states. However, if you moved within your county it’s a simpler exercise– just update your address.
• Many states will allow you to update your change of address up until Election Day. Otherwise, ask for a provisional ballot.
• If your home foreclosure has begun, but you are still living in your home and are already registered to vote in that precinct, just go and vote as normal.
• If the foreclosure process is complete and you’ve moved out, you need to update your new address (see above).
• If you’ve not yet established a new, permanent residence at which to register to vote, many states will allow you to use your prior address of the foreclosed home.

So don’t let foreclosure keep you from voting! To check the rules in your state, go to the US Election Assistance Commission website.

For a complete list of foreclosure properties in the Charlotte, NC and Fort Mill, SC metro areas, contact Carolinas Realty Partners.

If you are interested in buying a foreclosure home today, you need to be aware that the process is much more complicated due to the bank foreclosure freeze than it was even one month ago. Here are three issues to be aware of in the coming weeks and months while the banks who’ve frozen foreclosure sales sort out their paperwork:

• If you are in the process of making an offer on a foreclosure home or plan to make an offer shortly, don’t expect to get a response from the bank immediately and don’t expect to be able to close on the home in the typical 30-45 day time frame. So if you have a deadline by which time to need to purchase a home, buying a foreclosure home might not be the best option for you.
• Ensure up-front that you can rescind your offer at any time at no penalty to you if the bank takes too long to respond to your offer and you wish to move on to another property. Your agent can help determine what, if any penalties may be in the bank’s contract addendum that might affect your ability to pull out of the contract.
• If you are already in a contract to purchase a foreclosure home, do not move out of your current home until you know for sure when you will be able to close on your foreclosure purchase! Again, you may need to wait it out for weeks, if not several months and you don’t want to end up homeless. If your mortgage loan commitment has an expiration date or you have locked in your interest rate with an expiration date, now is a good time to start talking to your lender to ensure your mortgage will be available when you are ready to close.

It’s worth reading a great article from SmartMoney.com on navigating the foreclosure freeze. And keep in mind if you need any help with navigating the foreclosure home market in the Charlotte/Waxhaw/Matthews/Fort Mill metro areas, Carolinas Realty Partners are here to help!

A quick update to my blog yesterday about the impact of the foreclosure freeze on your ability to purchase a foreclosure home in the near term–as of today, attorneys general from all 50 states have put on a “bi-partisan multistate group” to investigate if faulty procedures were used to sign foreclosures which lead to evictions.  Rigth now there is lots of uncertainty about how this will impact foreclosure sales, but it’s reasonable to assume that in the short run there will be more questions than answers as the major lenders start reviewing their paperwork. Clearly, this all spells big trouble for lenders, the economy, and homeowners and buyers. The impact on home values and prices remains to be determined. I’m enclosing a link to a video where, Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Consumer Housing Specialist for real estate site, Trulia.com, explains the impact this has on homeowners who’ve been through the foreclosure process or may be facing foreclosure.

Need more information about what’s happening in the Charlotte, NC and Fort Mill, SC housing markets and foreclosures, contact Carolinas Realty Partners.

By now, you can’t help but have heard about the foreclosure sale freezes by major financial institutions like Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, GMAC, PNC, etc. If more banks follow the lead of these four institutions, we could effectively have a national foreclosure moratorium (we know that foreclosure proceedings have been stopped in at least 23 states right now and could spread quickly to 40 states)!

Allegations of possible mortgage fraud including forged documents, faked social security numbers, phantom titles, robo-signers, disappearing paper trails are what gave rise to this freeze in foreclosure sales. It’s anyone’s guess how long it will take to resolve, as mortgage lenders will need to review paperwork for hundreds of thousands of mortgages.Legal challenges from class action suits and states attorney lawsuits will delay the process even further. Here’s a concise 5 minute video of why there are big risks in buying foreclosed homes right now.

What are some of the short and medium term implications:

• In the immediate term, if you are in a contract to purchase a foreclosed home and have a loan with a locked-in interest rate, you might not be able to close on the home.
• In the short term, homeowners facing foreclosure will have some breathing room and might even be able to save up some money to catch up on delinquent mortgage payments.
• In the longer term, the housing recovery might well be stalled and the crisis could continue for several more years.
• Even though the banks insist that most of the foreclosures were on homes legitimately behind on payments, with many of the foreclosure processes being deemed fraudulent, it means the original foreclosures would be nullified and banks would have to start all over again.

For more information about what is happening in the Charlotte, North Carolina and Fort Mill, South Carolina metro areas, contract Carolinas Realty Partners.

This Month in Real Estate reveals the states with the highest foreclosure rates and offers top tips on buying a foreclosure in your area. (You can also click on the picture above to take you to the video.)

High levels of foreclosures provide opportunities to purchase homes at large discounts as never before.  A few quick tips on buying a foreclosure home:

• Once you’ve made an offer, it may take some days to get a response from the seller. And don’t plan on getting any response during weekends.
• Foreclosure homes are typically sold “as is.” You may or may not have time to do inspections. Typically, you won’t get more than 10 calendar days. If possible, you want to have an inspection.
• Have a strong mortgage pre-approval letter from your lender to submit with your offer. Otherwise your offer may not be seriously considered.
• Be prepared to close within 30 days of contract acceptance (another good reason to have all your financing “ducks lined up” in advance.
• To ensure that you are indeed getting a “good deal” work with a Realtor who has experience with representing foreclosure home buyers. An experienced Realtor will help you identify appropriate properties, provide market value analyses, and help you navigate the contract/closing process with the seller’s representative.

Sound decisions when buying a foreclosure home can only be made with accurate and reliable information. Carolinas Realty Partners, specializing in Charlotte metro area foreclosure sales, will be happy to be your trusted resource. We can help in Charlotte, Fort Mill, Matthews, Weddington, Waxhaw, Indian Land, Indian Trail and throughout Mecklenburg, Union, York, Lancaster Counties in North and South Carolina.

A recent study from MIT and Harvard researchers indicates that a foreclosure reduces the value of a home by 27%! And if you own a home within only 250 yards of a foreclosed home, the value of your home drops by at least 1% on average as well (although, if you are in a neighborhood with lots of foreclosures, my experience shows that non-foreclosed home values drop by more than 1%). By comparison, if you file for bankruptcy, a home’s value drops only by about 3%. Currently, 1 in 12 homes valued at under $1 million, are in foreclosure.

Foreclosures have additional serious, negative consequences:

• If you are foreclosed on, your credit score will drop somewhere between 250-300 points.
• The foreclosure will remain on your credit record for seven years.
• You will be unable to qualify for a mortgage to purchase another home for at least 24 months and maybe as long as for 72 months.
• You may be unable to get hired for any job dealing with money.
• In some professions, you might actually lose your job.

And keep in mind that every month you are late with a mortgage payment prior to a foreclosure notice, your credit score is also dropping: by 40-110 points the first 30 days you are late and by 70-135 points by the time you are 90 days late.

And if you are contemplating a short sale, keep in mind that your credit score will drop between 100-200 points once the short sale is completed and you won’t be able to buy a new home for five years financing with a conventional loan. (If you are using a VA loan, you could buy a new home in two years; with an FHA loan in three years.) But these time frames all assume you’ve re-established your credit and payment history in the intervening years.

If you’d like more information about this subject contact Carolinas Realty Partners.

North Carolina’s foreclosure rate dropped 16.1% in 2009. The state is only one of 10 states posting a decline in foreclosure rates versus 2008, as the majority of states posted increases. North Carolina’s performance compares with a 14% increase in foreclosure filings nationally in December from November, the first monthly increase since foreclosure activity peaked in July, according to a RealtyTrac. Fourth quarter 2009, North Carolina posted a 0.2% foreclosure rate, the smallest rate among its surrounding states.

To view an interactive map of state-by-state comparisons of foreclosure rates click here.

To view a chart for 2009 foreclosure filings in all 50 states and District of Columbia, click here.

Would you like $23,900 in FREE MONEY from the US Government and the State of North Carolina to purchase a home in the Charlotte metro area in North Carolina?

Carolinas Realty Partners can introduce you to a program that provides $14,900 in FREE downpayment funds to purchase a foreclosure home anywhere in Mecklenburg, Union, Cabarrus, Gaston, and Iredell Counties in North Carolina’s Charlotte metro area with a sales price up to $210,000. This downpayment assistance program PLUS the $8,000 First-Time Home Buyer Credit provides a total of $23,900 in downpayment, closing costs, and tax credit incentives!

If you are interested, you need to meet the following qualification criteria:

• You must be under contract for ahome by April 30th, 2010 and close by June 30th, 2010 to qualify for the $8,000 first-time tax buyer credit.
• You must be a first-time home buyer wishing to purchase a home in Mecklenburg, Union, Cabarrus, Gaston, or Iredell Counties.
• As an individual your income must be no more than $55,850.
• As a two-person household, your income must be no more than $63,850.
• As a three-persn household, your income must be no more than $71,800.
• As a four-person household, your income must be no more than $75,000.
• You want to purchase a foreclosure home built after 1978 at a price of no more than $210,000.
• You need to have $1,000 to put down.

Each year that you live in the home, 20% of the $14,900 from the State of  North Carolina will be forgiven. After 5 years, you will owe the state nothing and have enjoyed the $14,900 for FREE!

For more information about this program contact us at Carolinas Realty Partners and we’ll quickly get you on your way to getting qualified.