Home Depot has started testing a warm-and-fuzzy approach to selling its wares. This somewhat innovative approach to marketing hardware is targeted exclusively at the female shopper. Responding to longtime criticism that its warehouse environment was simply too rough for many women, the nation’s largest do-it-yourself retailer is set to open the two test stores, called Home Depot Design Centers, later this month in Charlotte, N.C., and Concord, Calif. They are fashioned as a hybrid of the typical Home Depot store and its Expo stores, the retailer’s upscale design-studio concept. Big professional construction products like lumber and building materials will make way for bath and kitchen showrooms that are more extravagant and carry more products than those in the traditional Home Depot store. There is also a bigger section concentrating on home organization. The new products, for example, will give color to the home’s interior design, as will other home-improvement items for products such as doors and windows.

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search for : Home Depot, Home Depot Design Centers

Today, as many buyers of condo units aim to avoid closing on their purchases (many were speculators who had hoped to flip their properties), lenders may be forced take a big hit on its loans. This year, with the number of condos completed expected to rise 45% and with condo sales down (sales fell 12% through August of this year), other banks may find themselves in a similar predicament. In addition, builders are likely to feel more pain next year when adjustable-rate mortgages are due to reset, which could push the number of U.S. foreclosures higher and hurt sales of newly built homes and condos.

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A short sale is the sale of a home in which the sale’s price is less than what the owner still owes on the mortgage. It is a procedure sometimes agreed to by lenders, who would often would rather take a small loss than go through the lengthy and costly foreclosure process. There can be significant negative consequences to a short sale;however, an ever-increasing number of properties are being advertised with that term prominent in the sales ad. While it may seem surprising that lenders would agree to accept less than what they are owed, they benefit by not having to go through the protracted process of foreclosing on the borrower.

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search for : short sale, foreclosure process, foreclosing on the borrower

Over the term of the loan, mortgage interest accounts for a significant expense in your household budget, To leave you with more dollars at the end of each month, look for a mortgage like you shop for a car. Haggle. It’s tougher to haggle today, but you can negotiate the rates and terms of a loan, especially if you comparison shop. Set your goal to go with a fixed rate even if the adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) carries a lower initial interest rate. A fixed-rate loan gives you a monthly interest-and-principal mortgage payment that won’t change. That’s piece of mind when other costs, including taxes, insurance and maintenance can change. If you are thinking about an ARM, make sure you know how much and how often the interest rate and payment could go up before you sign on, and be comfortable that you can meet those higher monthly payments. Don’t let a low teaser rate lure you in; you may be surprised later.

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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

click here for more information

There are many components involved in a new home, such as the roof, the foundation, the electrical and plumbing and the heating and air conditioning systems. When you contact a home inspector, inquire of his/her qualifications and background. In the past few years, when real estate sales were quite strong, many people with little or no experience opted to hang up their shingle as “home inspectors.” Many states have some form of laws involving certification of home inspectors. There is one controversial provision in most home inspector’s contract, called “an exculpatory clause.” This states that should the inspector make a mistake and negligently fail to pick up problem areas in the house, your only remedy is to get full refund of the contract price.

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Pricing property can be more art than science in some of today’s markets. New home builders probably have the easiest time of it — at least without shocking the buyers — because everything is new. There are no bare areas in the carpet, fingerprints on the appliances, nicotine stained ceiling tiles in the rec room — and definitely no cat and dog odors that are promised to be dealt with by installing new carpet after the buyer moves in. With resale homes, the first weapon to use in the battle to sell the home is to price it correctly. The challenge for sellers is that they want as much as the last sale, however, in today’s market that’s not as guaranteed as it was a year ago.

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search for : New home builders

The current buyer’s market means it is a great time to be a buyer. Sellers are eager to sell. Equally important, their real estate agents are anxious because home-sales volume is down in most cities. Even if you have bad credit, if you have good income you can probably buy a home. Before shopping for a home, it pays to check your credit reports from all three nationwide credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and Trans Union. free credit reports will not provide your very important FICO (Fair Isaac Corp.) credit scores. Today’s mortgage lenders look primarily at your FICO score, rather than your credit reports.

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search for : bad credit, Trans Union, FICO, Fair Isaac Corp

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Home-repair wannabes should have that tattooed on their foreheads. Because, as any do-it-yourselfer knows, a little success with small repairs gives you a false sense of ability, a feeling you can pretty much handle the big stuff, too. But sometimes, our optimism is met by an equally strong force: the spouse as the Voice of Reason. Perhaps she (to continue the stereotype) knows you don’t have the skills, based on the historical evidence. Or she recognizes that you don’t have the time you think you do — that with all the games, the car pooling, the grocery shopping, your day job, there aren’t enough hours in the day to devote to this project.

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