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

Carolinas Realty Partners  in the Charlotte metro area are pleased to offer our special Real Estate CyberTips E-Newsletter, which in very concise form, provides you with monthly Cyber tips and tricks, along with our pointers to Internet places of special interest. This eNewsletter is specially designed for anyone in the market for a home, thinking about selling a home, or just interested in homeowner issues in general.

 To access your copy of the September issue of  “Real Estate CyberTips.”

This month’s special security issue includes the following Tips:

* YOU WANT INFO FAST – YOU GOT IT!
* EVEN THE FBI CAN’T REACH YOUR FILES!
* WHAT DO YOU OWN?
* HOW SECURE IS YOUR PASSWORD?

We hope you enjoy the September edition of  “Real Estate CyberTips”. 

For any real estate questions, don’t hesitate to contact Carolinas Realty Partners in the Charlotte metro area.

Fido may be everyone’s best friend and an important member of your family, but did you know that dog bites make up almost 33% of all homeowner insurance liability claims at an annual cost of over $350 million? The average dog bit claim runs close to $25,000 per claim! And these costs are rising every year.

Dogs bite close to 5 million people annually, with one million of them needing medical attention. Many major insurance companies limit coverage to dog owners and there are large breeds that tend to bite, can inflict lots of damage and are often considered “no-insure” dogs by insurance companies. Insurance companies will look at how frequently a particular breed of dog bites and that will influence their willingness to provide insurance and for how much. The American Kennel Club provides an on-line Homeowner’s Insurance Center, which offers lots of great information about how to handle your liability insurance for your dog. Another great resource for information on this subject is from Dog Bite Law.

There are 11 dog breeds that could raise your insurance rates. These are:

• Akita
• Alaskan Malmute
• Chow Chow
• Doberman Pinscher
• German Shepherd
• Pit Bull
• Presa Canario
• Rottweiler
• Siberian Husky
• Stafforshire Bull Terrier
• Wolf Hybrids

If you’d like more information about home insurance contact Carolinas Realty Partners.

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.

 The first-time and move-up home buyer tax credits might be gone, but with interest rates at historical lows, it makes more sense than ever to buy a home now. You’ll save thousands!!!  For example, on a $200,000 mortgage at 4.5%, you could save over $43,000 in interest versus a 5.5% loan on a 30 year loan. And your monthly payments are about $122 per month lower at the 4.5% rate.

Another way to look at it… every 1/2% change in interest rates is approximately equal to a 5% change in sales price! Every 1% change in interest rates is equal to a 10% change in sales price. In other words, when interest rates go down by a 1/2%, it’s like buying a house at 5% less. Obviously, the same house “costs” you 5% more with every 1/2% increase in interest rates.

So, with current low, low interest rates, not only do you get to pay less on a monthly mortgage and save money over the life of the loan, you get to buy “more” house than you could afford with higher rates.

If you are planning to buy and planning to do FHA financing, it’s even more critical that you buy now. As of September 7th, FHA’s up-front mortgage insurance and monthly mortgage insurance goes up. Watch this important video: FHA Buyer Tax September 7th to learn more, as very few people have been talking about this issue and September 7th is less than one month away!

With interest rates expected to stay low throughout 2010 (and where they go in 2011 is anyone’s guess right now), it’s the perfect time to think about buying a home. For more information Carolinas Realty Partners are always happy to help.

Carolinas Realty Partners are pleased to offer our special Real Estate CyberTips E-Newsletter, which in very concise form, provides you with monthly Cyber tips and tricks along with our pointers to Internet places of special interest to real estate owners, investors and related professionals. 

Please click here to access your copy of the August Issue of  “Real Estate CyberTips.”

 This month’s issue includes the following tips:

• SEE YOUR FACE IN 20 YEARS!
• ELEVATOR MUSIC WHILE YOU WAIT!
• GREAT STUFF IF YOU’RE MOVING!
• TRAVEL THE ENTIRE KNOWN UNIVERSE! 

We hope you enjoy the August edition of  “Real Estate CyberTips”. 

Here are some great tips to keep your Independence Day weekend fun, but safe!

If you are entertaining and planning to grill outdoors, follow these tips:

• Never grill indoors! And keep the grill away from trees, the house, campers and tents, and enclosed areas.
• Keep children and pets away from the grill. Don’t leave the grill unsupervised.
• Use long-handled tools.
• If coals are already ignited, don’t add starter fluid.
• Follow manufacturer’s instructions when using your grill.

Some fireworks safety tips:

• Keep water handy.
• Don’t let small children handle fireworks.
• Follow manufacturer’s instructions and wear eye protection.
• Don’t throw fireworks at people, pets, cars, etc.
• Stay at least 500 feet away from professional firework shoes.
• Store fireworks in a cool, dry place and where children and animals can’t get hold of them.

Carolinas Realty Partners in Charlotte wish you a safe and happy holiday weekend!

FannieMae instituted new credit rules on June 1st that many home buyers are not yet aware of, but which will have some serious impact on their ability to close on a mortgage. Essentially, what Fannie Mae has done is require lenders to verify that borrowers haven’t taken on any new debt during the mortgage application and underwriting process. Even after your loan may have been approved and is ready for closing, underwriters will be looking for the following information about your credit:

• An updated credit report prior to closing to show current credit card bills and minimum monthly payments. This updated credit report will replace the original numbers used at the time you applied for your loan. If your debt levels have increased just before your mortgage loan is ready to close, your loan could be denied.
• An updated credit score. If your FICO score drops in the time between your mortgage application and closing below minimum lending standards, your loan will be denied. And if it’s not denied, you may be subject to a higher interest rate which will increase your monthly mortgage payments.
• An updated credit report inquiry history. Underwriters will be looking to see if you have been applying for credit elsewhere and verifying that you’ve not incurred new debt from the time you applied for your mortgage loan.

What does this mean to you? Basically, it means you need to be very careful with your credit from the time you make a formal application for a mortgage until you actually close on your home. Here’s a list of important “Dont’s:”

• Don’t make major purchases (cars, boats, leases, jewelry, appliances, furniture etc).
• Don’t open new credit card accounts.
• Don’t apply for new credit until after you close on your mortgage.
• Don’t transfer credit card balances from one account to another.
• Don’t close any credit card accounts.
• Don’t pay charge-offs, collections, loans, credit cards without first discussing the impact with your lender.
• Don’t max out or over-charge on your current credit card accounts.
• Don’t consolidate your debt into one or two credit card accounts.
• Don’t take out any new loans.
• Don’t finance any elective medical procedures.
• Don’t quit your job, change industries, or start a new company.
• Don’t switch from a salaried job to a commission-based job.
• Don’t change bank accounts.
• Don’t transfer large sums of money between bank accounts.
• Don’t forget to pay your bills (even if some are in dispute).
• Don’t accept cash gifts without filling the property “gift” paperwork.
• Don’t make random, undocumented deposits into your bank account(s).

If you’d like a handy list of these new rules, email us and provide us with your name and email address and we’ll get a list out to you immediately.

Turquoise is the hot, hot, hot color for 2010 if you are staging or decorating your home! It’s considerd the new “neutral;” a color that most people respond to positively and is universally flattering appealing to both men and women. When home buyers enter a room with turquoise, they instantly get a mood lift.  Color specialists claim that turquoise restores a sense of well-being. And most any color goes with turquoise, as well, including neutrals, browns, greens, etc. Plus, there are lots of different shades of turquoise, which can flatter any neutral and any room.

There’s a huge misconception that when you are staging your home for sale you need to make everyting beige or white and delete all color. In fact, a pop of color instantly brightens and updates any room. This year, the color to use is turquoise. And keep in mind, you don’t need to paint all your walls turquoise–you can just do an accent wall if you’re so inclined. But if you keep everything else neutral–carpet, wall color, upholstery–you can simply add turquoise accents to “pop the color” by adding turquoise lamps, pillows, accessories, candles, etc. Keep in mind that when you decide on a strong color like turquoise to enhance your decor, you should stay with the same color family throughout the home to provide visual continuity.

Anytime you are staging your home, keep the following “rules” in mind:

• De-personalize and de-clutter each room–many stagers suggest removing 65% of what’s in each room to open it up and make it look more spacious. (Think of it as advanced packing, which you’d have to do anyway once your home sells.)
• 60% of each room should be one color.
• 30% of each room should be another color.
• 10% of each room is your accent color–like turquoise.

Carolinas Realty Partners are pleased to offer our special Real Estate CyberTips E-Newsletter, which in very concise form, provides you with monthly Cyber tips and tricks along with our pointers to Internet places of special interest to real estate owners, investors and related professionals. 

Please click here to access your copy of the June Issue of  “Real Estate CyberTips.”

 This month’s issue includes the following tips:

• REMODEL AND DECORATE YOUR HOME RIGHT HERE!
• THIS BUTLER WILL WAKE YOU UP!
• GET ANY SOUND YOU WANT!
• HERE’S YOUR 15 SECOND PITCH!

We hope you enjoy the June edition of  “Real Estate CyberTips”. 

Some great tips from the ASPCA about how to keep your pets safe this Memorial Day Weekend! Many of these tips are common sense, but as we celebrate the start of the summer season, they are certainly worth reviewing!

• Keep your pet indoors as much as possible during backyard parties and barbecue, which can be a minefield of potential problems for your pet–toxic food, alcoholic drinks, rowdy guests.
• Keep all alcoholic drinks out of reach for your pet.
• Don’t change your pet’s normal diet and keep in mind that onions, avocado, chocolate, grapes, raisins can be very toxic.
• Don’t use sunscreen and insect repellant intended for humans on your pet.
• Keep matches, candles, lighter fluid out of reach from your pet.
• Don’t leave pets unsupervised around water (pool, lake, river). Don’t allow your dog to drink chlorinated pool water.
• Keep your pet out of the sun and heat as much as possible and keep fresh water nearby and available to keep your pet hydrated when outside.

And if you suspect your pet has ingested something poisonous from the picnic table, please contact your veterinarian or the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center (APCC) at (888) 426-4435.

For more pet safety and care tips: click here.