Over the next few years, more than three-quarters of the nation’s housing markets will suffer some decline in home prices. Many will experience double-digit hits in a forecast that has worsened considerably in recent months. According to an analysis conducted by Moody’s Economy.com, declines will exceed 10 percent in 86 of the 379 largest housing markets. And 290 of the cities will experience price drops of 1 percent or more. The survey attempted to identify the high and low points of housing prices in each of the markets, some of which started declining from their peak in the third quarter of 2005. All are median prices for single-family houses.

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This one-of-a-kind lakefront lot is truly unique within the Malone Bay community. It is one of the most desirable, if not the most desirable lot among the few remaining properties with waterfront access to W. Kerr Scott Lake.

Malone Bay features 18 lots at W. Kerr Scott Dam & Reservoir. 14 are Lakefront and meet private dock requirements. This is a gated community with Lots ranging from 2.3+- acres to 6.8+- acres On the Hwy 421 side of the lake just off South Minton Road, Wilkesboro, NC 28697

Main Channel Views.
300 feet of waterfront.
Dock with boat slip and 2 jet ski slips.

2.86 acres.

MLS Number: 51155
List Price: $359,000
Lot Size: 2.86 ac.
Apx Acreage: 2.86
Type: Waterfront
Area: Area 2
Suitable Use: Residential

Topography: Rolling
Utilities: Underground Utilities
Road Frontage: Private Road
Restrictions: yes
Water/Sewer: Public Water
Miscellaneous: 1-5 Acres
Location: Malone Way

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Having completed an Internal Revenue Code 1031 tax-deferred exchange, not beening able to rent the acquired house due to an oversupply of rentals in an area presents problems for maintaining the tax-deferred status. Rather, it would look to the IRS like you acquired the house with intent to make it your personal residence. Maybe the rent you are asking for the house is too high. Even if you have a negative cash flow for a while, that would be better than losing the tax deferral on the sale of your prior investment property.

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Looking to help curtail rising foreclosure rates across the country, the Federal Housing Administration recently announced its FHA Secure program. This new service is a broadening of the rules regulating FHA-insured loans. With FHASecure, consumers with a non-FHA adjustable-rate mortgage that are facing or in foreclosure can refinance to an FHA fixed-rate mortgage. Prior to the program, if a homeowner was already in foreclosure, they were pretty much left with no options. A history of, and current sufficient income to pay for the refinanced mortgage is a requirement. Without the minimum required income for the new fixed-rate loan, a consumer probably won’t qualify for the new program.

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At least one group has recently reviewed its codes of ethical standards for real estate agents and loan officers. Their goal is to re-establish trust between consumers and real estate professionals, to ensure that ethical standards are set and routinely practiced in the industry, and to sustain and increase the rate of Hispanic homeownership. According to the the association, Latinos are disproportionately vulnerable to predatory loan practices. Nearly 50 percent of Latinos who have a sub-prime loan would have qualified for a prime product. The reason that Hispanics were more exposed to predatory lending practices is three-fold. The first is the language barrier.

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Mortgage rates are higher now than last week, back up to 6.5 percent for a fixed-rate 30-year loan. The Fed’s 0.5 percent was actually two quarters: the federal funds rate had been trading near 5 percent, 0.25 percent off-peg, for a few weeks. That was an intermeeting ease not formalized, a deft piece of central banking: if formalized, and then the crunch dissolved by itself, the Fed would have had to execute an embarrassing formal reversal. Instead, Sept. 7 news of sinking payrolls (an economic fade additional to and independent of housing and the crunch) made it easy to formalize the first quarter and add another.

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Transitioning towards winter means giving your home a once-over for winter storm preparedness. Here are several things you can do to help get ready. Winter is a dry time inside your home, and many people choose to use a portable or central humidifier to put much-needed moisture back into the air. Now is the time to check your humidifier to make sure it’s operating properly, that all necessary plates and filters are in place, and that the system is clean and the water supply is correct. Check your operating and maintenance instructions for more information.

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It’s feasible to clean and reuse bricksl. From a “green” standpoint, it’s better to recycle them than to send them to the landfill. Used bricks are good for building all kinds of things — they make handsome walkways, patios and planter boxes. If you’re a little more ambitious, a brick barbecue or fire pit is not out of the question. Your only limit is your imagination. Cleaning the brick is labor intensive, but it requires only minimal skill and perseverance. Be careful not to break too many bricks when deconstructing the wall. Stack the bricks in a pile so they’re accessible during the cleaning process.

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Beautiful Wilkes County NC Executive Country Club Home.

MLS Number: 51211 List Price: $359,000

Bedrooms: 3, Full Baths: 2, Half Baths: 1, Est Total SqFt: 3425+
Type/Style: Tudor, Two Story, Area: 6
Elementary School : Moravian Falls Elementary
Middle School: Central Wilkes
High School: Wilkes Central

Construction: Brick Veneer & Other, Solid Masonry Foundation: Basement, block & brick. Roof: Shingle – Composition, Two Years Old, Floors: Carpet/Hardwood/Tile
Garage/Carport: Garage-Double Attached
Interior Features: Smoke Detector(s), Ceiling Fan(s), Newly Decorated, Painted and Carpeted, Central Vacuum, Large Master Bedroom, Walk-In Closets, Hardwood Floors, Basement, Two Fireplaces (Rock and Brick), Gas Logs, Workshop in Basement, Walk-in Cedar-lined closet, Formal Living Room, Dining Room, Den with Oak Bookshelves and Cabinetry, Cable TV w. broadband Internet

Exterior Features: Tiled Patio/Deck and Walkways, Very Private Yard, Level Lot, Set Back From Street.
Subdivision: Farmington
Lot Size: 1.14 acres

Contact Elizabeth Carter, 336.973.5594 or Greg Stikeleather, Broker, 704.880.5247 or email eacarter@charter.net

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The Federal Reserve’s half-point cut on Tuesday could provide support for a slumping housing market. The Fed Funds rate affects a range of consumer loans, including home equity and mortgages. Lower mortgage rates would add to the number of home buyers able to afford to make purchases, increasing demand for properties and buoying home prices. Buyers generally care less about the actual purchase price than they do about the size of their payments. If rates drop, so will monthly debt obligations. But an important class of loans that might benefit from the big cut: the high-ticket home mortgages known as non-conforming or jumbo loans. These loans have no guaranteed secondary market because they exceed the $417,000 cap and Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae will not buy them.

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Kurt and Vicki Oliver could lose their home to a bank foreclosure. They had great credit, long-term employment and excellent assets and income. But their main problem wasn’t a usual symptom of troubled borrowers: job loss, divorce, personal problems or health reasons. Instead, they say, it was a bad mortgage from a fast-talking broker. They never knew what hit them until it was too late – the process was that confusing. What they thought they were getting was an interest-only, adjustable-rate loan, where only the interest had to be paid for the first five years at 1 percent for the first year and no more than 4 percent during the first five years.

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The increase in August from the month before was about in line with the average over the past two decades. The supply of homes has risen at a more normal pace in recent months after surging in late 2005 and 2006 as home sales plunged. Prices are still falling in much of the country, particularly in Florida and parts of California, Arizona and Nevada where prices rose the fastest during the boom of the first half of this decade. Mortgage lenders have severely tightened their credit standards recently, making it harder for many people to obtain loans and adding to downward pressure on home prices. Inside Mortgage Finance, a trade publication, said originations of home-mortgage loans in August fell more than 30% from a year earlier, according to a survey of brokers. A rise in foreclosures is also increasing the supply of homes for sale in many areas.

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A festering black lagoon mess stems from not properly prepping the pool for winter. And to clean it means at least a week of multiple chemical treatments and, of course, the delightful task of vacuuming up algae. As summer wanes, weekend afternoons spent lounging by the pool are numbered. But that hint of a chill in the air means that it’s time to give the pool serious attention. Winterizing a swimming pool is a job for any pool owner in cooler climates, but for second-home owners, who are away from their homes for months at a time, extra care should be taken.

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Write the contract, get it ratified, go through the excruciating mortgage application process, get approved, and then at the last minute a hang-up turns the buying process into a nightmare. What’s most frustrating is when it’s your own customer. What happens when a buyer has made some not so wise choices in their home-buying process? A buyer may have just got cold feet, plain and simple. Another sabotaged himself financially by taking a vacation with the money that was supposed to be used for closing. When everything comes together, as in the case of this one short-sale buyer, it’s even more frustrating when that buyer gets cold feet at the last minute. The buying agent had lined up everyone. The seller had priced it right, the short-sale executive had agreed to the terms of the contract, including a home inspection and closing costs.

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Lenders are the latest group to jump on the environmental-marketing bandwagon by pitching mortgage products that offer homebuyers bigger loans or discounts if they are making energy-efficient improvements — or if their new home meets certain efficiency standards. Last month, Citigroup Inc.’s mortgage division launched a program that offers $1,000 off closing costs with its energy-efficient mortgage through the end of the year. Also last month, Bank of America Corp. launched an Energy Credit mortgage, which offers a $1,000 credit toward closing fees for mortgages on new homes that meet efficiency requirements set by the government’s Energy Star program.

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With the nation’s housing market in a slump and the mortgage market in disarray, many home builders are putting up fewer supersize homes and offering smaller floor plans. That seems to be what buyers suddenly want in an era of high prices and tougher financing. Financing has tightened down so much that many people aren’t able to qualify for the larger houses. Throughout the U.S. people can’t afford what they previously did. Floor plans are going to get smaller. After reducing prices on their current inventories of unsold homes, the next step is to start building to a new market. That new market is a lower price point at a smaller size.

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For all real estate speculators, “Making Hard Cash in a Soft Real Estate Market” by Wendy Patton and Justin Ryan may be an informative read. The authors suggest real estate buyers should purchase in “emerging markets” rather than in their hometowns, as most realty investors do and explain how to find the next high-growth emerging markets for real estate. Their theory of market timing sounds good. But the implementation leaves much to be desired because they fail to give actual examples of how they applied their theories and earned big profits.

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$5,850,000

MLS Number: 50913

City: Valle Crucis, NC
Stories: 2
Bedrooms: 4 Baths: 4.5
Area: Boone-Blowing Rock, NC
Year Built: 1990
Plus Five fully furnished 1,400 sq. ft. Rental Cottages. Each built in 1996 on approx. 1/2 acre sites. Current cottage average annual rental income $150,000.

39.4 acres with 360 degree view of Blue Ridge Mountains.

5,200 sq. ft. main house built in 1990 on 1.24 acres.

No restrictions and no zoning offer many other options:

* Family compound
* Corporate retreat
* Religous retreat
* Horse farm / Dude ranch
* Recording studio
* Cottages can be sold separately
* Land can be further subdivided if desired

Contact Elizabeth Carter, 336.973.5594 or Greg Stikeleather, Broker, 704.880.5247 or email eacarter@charter.net

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For most homeowners, keeping things safely pruned is a fact of life. Whether it’s pruning bushes to help maintain a summer fire-free zone around your house or trimming trees to keep your roof safe from moss and winter storms, you need to have the right tools to do the job quickly and safely. The most common tool for moderate-to-heavy trimming is the gasoline-powered chainsaw. A 12-inch model is adequate for most pruning tasks, while a 14- to 16-inch bar is a little heavier but more versatile for larger, more heavy-duty cutting. In addition to chainsaws, several manufacturers also offer gasoline powered hedge trimmers, string and blade trimmers, blowers, and other gas-powered equipment for heavy-duty cutting and cleanup work.

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Many want to understand the extent of renter’s rights when seeking to cancel a lease before the end of the term. Actually, neither a landlord nor a tenant can break a lease unless the right to do so is spelled out in the lease or is granted by some statute or regulation. Because of new laws in some states, victims of domestic violence may seek to be released from a lease if they can show a substantial risk of physical or emotional harm if they are not permitted to move. Another example would be if a tenant was forced to leave an apartment because all or part of the space was unusable, say after a fire or flood.

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Recent data on the housing market paints a stark picture. Home prices are declining in many regions nationwide. Last month the National Association of Realtors projected, that existing-home sales will fall 6.8% this year, while new-home sales are likely to fall 19%. At the same time, foreclosures are soaring. According to data provider RealtyTrac, foreclosure filings are up 93% in July from the previous year. If you’re unsure whether you’re ready to buy, first consider your outlook. Conventional wisdom says that homeowners who are likely to be in a home for at least seven years will see prices rise. If you’re going to want to (or have to) sell the home in the next three years — when some markets may still be suffering the mortgage mess fallout — consider renting.

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Fire searson is upon us. And, with less than normal rainfall in many reasons, maybe now it’s prudent to discuss common-sense safety procedure in case of a wildfire in your area. Most important is to never . Know how to protect yourself and your family. Generally, the less you smell the smoke, the less chance there is for harm. Conversely, when the odor is obvious, health and air quality officials advise; stay indoors, close the windows, staying indoors minimizes exposure to smoke and its harmful effects, just as a heat wave is no time to quibble about the cost of air conditioning, the same goes for a smoke-induced air-quality alert, the air conditioner can filter some of the particulates, if you don’t have air conditioning turn on the fan (not the heat) to your heating or ventilation system also to help filter the air, stock some extra filters for your air conditioner and heating system, the bad air can plug your filters, just as it can plug your respiratory system, once the inferno is over, be aware some people in your household may have developed more respiratory symptoms than normal, the ordeal can cause some to develop rhinitis or asthma. Seek medical attention when appropriate.

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Thanks to low interest rates in the wake of the stock market crash, getting rich in real estate, always part of the culture, became a national pastime, with cable-TV shows like Flip This House, Flip That House and The Property Ladder (not to mention newspapers and magazines) stoking everyone’s inner Donald Trump are homeowners’ to blame for wanting everything “right-right-now”? Those whom home ownership once seemed out of reach took on far more debt than they could ever hope to repay. Not having enough cash to put down the customary 20 percent, they just put down 10 percent. Not surprisingly, many borrowed the down dayment.

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The inventory of homes for sale is twice as big as it was three years ago, which could mean a longer wait to sell – and a longer time to shoulder two mortgages if you buy your next home first. And with home prices flat – or worse – in many markets, you may not clear enough to cover broker fees once you do sell. The rental market, on the other hand, is robust. Rents were up 4.1 percent in 2006, according to the National Association of Realtors. The problem is, that’s not all there is to the math – and the math isn’t the whole story. Landlording is a job every step of the way, from setting a price to finding a renter. So before you take in tenants, make sure you understand all the implications.

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Moving your household possessions can be expensive. Most folks overlook many of the simplest money saving concepts in making the move. For example, the most basic way to save on moving is… don’t move so much stuff. Movers often charge in part by weight of the load. Less stuff means less money. Also, the movers like to sell you boxes, bubble wrap and other packing materials, all at premium prices. Weeks before the actual move occurs, compare, then buy the items needed to pack your valuables. Or, use packing materials found around your home. Crumpled newspapers make for good packing and there is none better than the soft goods you will be moving anyway, towels, sheets, pillow cases, etc.

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Beautiful Wilkes County NC Timber Frame Home and Mountain Property.

MLS Number: 51166, List Price: $898,500

2 Bedrooms, 2 Baths, 2 half baths, 2 car attached garage, full basement, and a barn on 5 acres of land.

These terms are used to describe thousands of homes and yet some things just can’t be described, they have to be experienced. This is one of those homes that really has to be seen to be appreciated.

This majestic Timber Frame home of the Bob Timberlake genre is not just another house, it provides a feeling of home that is not about walls and floors and windows and doors. It creates a feeling of the flow between your outdoor and your indoor environment that is seamless. Everywhere you look there is a view. Everything you touch feels natural and beautiful in a way that cannot be described, only owned.

Contact Elizabeth Carter, 336.973.5594 or Greg Stikeleather, Broker, 704.880.5247 or email eacarter@charter.net

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Gardeners in the southeast welcome the cooler temperatures and perfect planting season of September and October. Perennials, trees and shrubs are best planted now. Along with fescue (the predominate lawn grass type) they can spend the winter establishing strong, healthy roots before diverting their energy to spring leafing and flowering. For perennials, it’s dig up, dig in and divide. Plant bulbs for spring flowering. Be sure to give all plantings a good share of water. Starting now and over the next couple of months, once soil has cooled to less than 60 degrees, plant the bulbs of spring bloomers such as crocus, anemone, daffodils, hyacinths and tulips in well-drained soil, about three times deeper than the diameter of the bulbs.

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Many people who are saddled with an undersized deck or patio hesitate to do anything about it, fearing that they can’t add on because they can’t match what’s there, and they don’t want to undertake the expense and hassle of tearing everything out and starting all over again. However, there are lots of ways you can enlarge and enhance your outdoor living space with a complimentary addition, even if it doesn’t match the original. One way of expanding a deck is to change height levels, which simplifies the transition and makes for a very interesting layout.

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