Your Weekly Jacksonville   NC   Real Estate E-Zine   

March 3, 2010

In this Issue:

Walter’s World – Keller Williams is Jacksonville’s #1 Real Estate Office

Special Report: Existing home sales down in January

Featured Article: Lessons from the Forbes 400

Recommendations & Resources: Could you wait to file your tax return?

Walter’s World

Keller Williams Realty is Jacksonville NC #1 Real Estate Office

Keller Williams Realty officially arrived in Jacksonville NC as a market center the middle of December 2009 and moved into our permanent location, 3840 Henderson Drive, on February 8^th, 2010.

Even with the moving and growing pains of a new office and Market Center, we have bolted to the top of the real estate office rankings as the #1 office in Jacksonville NC market. As we move into the month of March, we have closed 66.5 units with sales volume of $10,553,260, which is #1 in both categories.

We will also be participating in the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce’s Business Expo this Saturday, March 6. Come by and meet us at our booth. The Business Expo starts at 10am and lasts until 4pm.

Visit my website and find your Dream Home – take advantage of the Federal Tax Credits for 1^st Time Homebuyers – either $8,000 or $6,500 depending on what you qualify for, but you must have a contract on a home by April 30, 2010. For details, call (910) 340-5524.   

Special Report

Existing Home Sales Down in January

The National Association of Realtors last week released sales figures for January, revealing that the number of existing homes sold dropped 7.2 percent from December but were still up more than 11 percent from January of 2008.

Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist, offered that buyers who started shopping after the tax credit was extended in November are still in the market, having probably not closed transactions they’re expected to close.

That, combined with a shrinking inventory of homes on the market and stability caused by more distressed properties coming off the market, has led to a stabilizing of prices in many areas of the country.

With the tax credit expiring and mortgage rates expected to rise, it could be a brisk spring for house sales, Yun said.

“Activity should be picking up strongly in late spring as buyers take advantage of the tax credit, which is critical to absorb distressed properties reaching the market and to continually chip away at inventory,” Yun said in an NAR news release. “With a downtrend in the number of homes on the market, especially in the lower price ranges, values are beginning to firm but with great variance around the country.”

That makes now a good time to be in the market to buy, and will likely help sellers as spring rolls around.

Featured Article

Lessons from the Forbes 400

If you’ve spent any time studying wealthy people, perhaps you pay attention to the Forbes magazine list of the 400 wealthiest Americans when it comes out.

In 2009, the 400 were a bit lighter in the wallet than they were the year before. In 2008, it took a net worth of $1.3 billion to make the famous list. A year later, it took “only” $950 million. The recession has affected the wealthy, too.

An interesting piece on Forbes.com that went with the list when it was released in the fall says that the best way to eventually make the list is to own your own business. Of the wealthiest 400 Americans, 274 were self-made entrepreneurial types. Of the top 10 on the list, six of them made their own fortune (as opposed to having family money). The lesson to me seems clear: Own your own business.

The Forbes online article also features answers to questions on 22 different topics by eight of the self-made billionaires on the list. The topics range from their take on national health care, the state of the stock market, where they’d invest in real estate right now, their biggest investment blunder and even how much vacation is the right amount each year. The answers are interesting.

Particularly striking was R.J. Kirk’s answer to the question “Describe your life in five words.” Kirk, who made his way to billionaire in pharmaceuticals and investment management, answered:

“I decided to be happy.”

Powerful stuff. A lot of people pay attention to what we think will MAKE us happy — winning the lottery, getting a better job, living an easier life. But a look inside the thinking of a self-made billionaire shows us his different mindset. “I decided to be happy.”

Doesn’t this seem like the first step toward financial freedom, taking control of the process? And couldn’t all of us make this decision, regardless of what endeavor we’re pursuing? It’s something we should think about. 

Recommendations & Resources

Could You Wait to File Your Tax Return?

This year’s tax season has been made a bit more complicated for some by the new rules for converting traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs as well as two tax credits for home buyers. A recent Wall Street Journal article says that 11 million people file their returns AFTER April 15. Here’s an informative look at whether you could benefit by filing for a tax deadline extension.

Have a great week!

Walter Whitehurst, Broker

Keller Williams Realty

Jacksonville NC Home Search

Posted via email from Jacksonville NC Resource for Real Estate Info

  Your Weekly Jacksonville Real Estate E-Zine   

   February 22, 2010

In this Issue:

Walter’s World: Doing Home Searches on Your Smartphone

Special Report: “Deed in lieu on steroids”

Featured Article: Presidential wisdom…two centuries later

Recommendations & Resources: More Money Blog

Walter’s World

Jacksonville NC Home Searches on Your Smartphone

Have you ever tried to do a home search in the Jacksonville area on your Smartphone? Either the application is slow loading, the image is too small to read, or the data is old and out of date. When you are driving around looking at homes, this can be frustrating.

Even with i-Phones and Android phones, you still get a lot of mobile applications where you only receive a partial list of the home listings available (like Realtor.com, Trulia or Zillow.com) or the listings have not been updated since they sold or expired ( like Zillow.com, Google Base, Trulia)

No More! There is a new mobile application for i-Phone users (with Android and Blackberry users coming later this year) that provides all the listings in the Jacksonville NC Market with up-to-date information. It is myAgent by IDX. You can download it FREE from i-Tunes app store or through this link.

To use it on your i-Phone, just download it and use the Access Code 5522 – this code gives you free access to all Jacksonville NC MLS Listings courtesy of Walter Whitehurst of Keller Williams Realty.

You will love the interactive map, the search features, the quick loading full-size photos of homes for sale. If you have any questions or would like to schedule a showing, my Cell number (910-340-5524) is right there at your fingertips.  

Special Report

Deed in Lieu on Steroids

CitiMortgage last week launched a new program designed to help struggling homeowners stay in their homes…at least for a bit longer anyway.

The mortgage servicer, one of the nation’s largest, has implemented a program that will allow delinquent homeowners to stay in their home for six months, provided they agree to hand over the deed at the end of the six months and walk away.

Rather than let the foreclosure process go all the way to auction, evict the home owner and pay all the associated costs, Citi will take deed at the end of six months and forgive any difference between what the house is worth and what is owed. In addition, it will help some owners with relocation costs.

Taking deed back instead of going through with a foreclosure is nothing new – it’s often referred to as “deed in lieu of foreclosure.” In a CNNMoney.com article, Citi CEO Sanjiv Das called his company’s new program “deed in lieu on steroids.”

Hopefully, Das said, allowing homeowners who can’t afford to pay to remain in the house for six months will help them plan their next move.

To be eligible for the program, home owners must have a first mortgage with Citi; no second mortgage; actually live in the home; and be at least 90 days behind.

Citi launched a pilot version of the program in six states – Texas, Ohio, New Jersey, Illinois, Florida and Michigan. If successful, the program would be expanded to other states.

Featured Article

Presidential Wisdom…Two Centuries Later

“Property is surely a right of mankind as real as liberty.”  — John Adams

There is a lot of discussion going on right now about the role government should or should not play in helping citizens of a country achieve home ownership.

Government’s role as an advocate for home ownership, for example, has been criticized and labeled one of the reasons for the subprime mortgage mess — a mess, critics say, that was created by pushing something on people who couldn’t afford it.

Even now, as the government, through tax credits and the purchase of bad mortgage-backed securities helps to prop up the housing market, the wisdom of those things is questioned.

Even the notion of “home ownership” has come under attack, with “experts” saying “rent, don’t buy” and “It’s not worth owning a home.”

The thing is, even though President’s Day 2010 finds us in quite a different position than we were two centuries ago, one of the foundations of this country is the ownership of property.

Look at the quote above by John Adams, the second president of the United States and one of the country’s Founding Fathers. He believed liberty, freedom, is a basic human right. Obviously to him, that included the right to own property.

Of course, things were different then. Adams was president in a young America, during a time not long after its citizens had relatively recently won independence from England. Those early Americans who fought for their freedom did so in part because of how strongly they felt it was their right to own property — not an easy thing for a “commoner” to do under a king’s reign in the country they left.

Back then, the founding fathers recognized it was the government’s role to protect the freedom of property ownership, and as the frontier of the New World expanded west, so did the government’s support of property ownership. It was encouraged, subsidized. After all, the ownership of property by its citizens was one of the basic beliefs on which the United States of America was founded.

Somewhere along the course of the 225 years or so between the colonists’ independence from England and today, however, that fundamental idea has gotten lost. Why? Because of a few bumps along the way?

Sure, there has been profiteering by some on the American Dream. Greedy bankers have been pegged as the enemy, with the U.S. government believed by some to be complicit, if not directly by action then by inaction when it comes to regulations. There have been instances of fraud and predatory tactics have been used on those who badly wanted the home ownership part of the American Dream.

But does that make the dream itself bad? Does that mean the government, despite the wishes of its Founding Fathers two centuries ago, should no longer back the dream? 

Two-thirds of American adults are home owners, enjoying the freedoms, the pride of ownership and even some financial advantages that ownership of property provides. Owning a home is obviously important enough for 2 out of every 3 American citizens to work for that part of the dream. Many of them will probably tell you it’s the best investment they’ve ever made.

Believe what you will about how big a role the government should play in helping its citizens achieve home ownership. Love or hate the fact that the government is propping up the housing industry right now with taxpayer dollars. But don’t be so quick to attack the notion that a government should encourage home ownership.

It’s what they had in mind more than 200 years ago.

Recommendations & Resources

More Money Blog

Do you ever read CNNMoney.com online? If you have, maybe you’ve checked out the site’s “More Money Blog.” If you haven’t, you should. It’s a pretty wide range of topics covered, mostly personal finance. And it runs the gamut from what Exchange Traded Funds to avoid all the way to what coupons to clip. It’s usually pretty interesting, and it’s often entertaining. You can check it out at:

http://moremoney.blogs.money.cnn.com/

Have a great week!

Walter Whitehurst, Broker

Keller Williams Realty

Jacksonville NC Home Search

Posted via email from Jacksonville NC Resource for Real Estate Info

  Weekly Jacksonville NC Real Estate E-Zine   

   February 11, 2010 

In this Issue:

Walter’s World: Only 8 Steps to a Home in Jacksonville NC

Special Report: A shift in payment priorities

Featured Article: Still part of the dream?

Recommendations & Resources: Rent vs. buy

Walter’s World – Only 8 Steps to a Home in Jacksonville NC

If you are renting and have a stable job with some savings, and a credit score in the 620 or more, you can likely qualify for a VA, FHA, or conventional financing for a home in the Jacksonville NC area.

The First Step towards buying a home is è Decide to Buy

There might be some fears you face when thinking about buying your first home

·       I can’t afford to buy my dream home – the best way to get closer to buying your dream home is to buy your first home.

·       I haven’t saved enough for a down payment – there are several programs that require little or no down payment

·       I can’t afford to buy a home – buying a home in most cases is a better deal for a family than renting especially over a 2 to 3 year time period – call a mortgage lender to determine if you are eligible

Step 2 is Finding a Qualified, Professional Real Estate Agent – for full article, “Only 8 Steps to Home”

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Special Report

A Shift in Payment Priorities

U.S. News & World Report recently published an article that indicated a pretty dramatic change in the way homeowners are now tackling their debt.

According to the article, a study released by Transunion showed that Americans are increasingly more likely to make payments on their credit cards before payments on their mortgages. The data shows that roughly 6.6 percent of borrowers paid credit cards first in the third quarter of 2009, up from just 4.3 percent in the first quarter of 2008.

This is a shift in the historical norm; which has long been slanted toward house payments as a priority ahead of other bills. Credit the housing bust nationwide for the change.

As homeowners struggle with unemployment and drops in their homes’ value, they have perhaps become reluctant to commit more money into an asset that might not be worth what they owe on it. Whereas keeping up with credit card payments continues to give them access to necessities such as gas, clothing and groceries.

It also probably signifies part of the issue that caused the housing bust. Access to no-money down or low-down payment loans that proliferated the market during the housing boom allowed buyers to get into homeownership without much “skin in the game.”

In the days of 20-percent down payments, homeownership was something you worked for, saved up for and therefore something you were less likely to give up so easily. It’s a lesson that you can bet banks are heeding.

Featured Article

Still Part of the Dream?

The U.S. Census Bureau recently revealed that home ownership in the fourth quarter of 2009 had dropped to 67.3 percent, about the level before the housing boom the nation experienced early in the past decade.

The percentage of home owners reached a peak of about 69 percent in 2004, during the height of the housing frenzy. It started dropping in 2006, as homes began being lost to foreclosure.

So the question: Is home ownership still part of the American dream?

Where you land on that important question might depend on whom you listen to. Many “experts” are saying that home ownership is overrated, and most people should be renting. Congressman Barney Frank, Financial Services Committee chairman, recently said that lower-income Americans should probably rent, not buy, their homes.

While Frank’s comment was made in the context of criticizing the government’s push for – and subsidies of – home ownership for everybody, a philosophy that probably led to the subprime mortgage mess, it’s not a comment that’s going to sit squarely with everyone.

Let’s face it, despite the declining number of home owners, more than 2 out of every 3 American adults fall into that group. Two out of three of us must consider it part of the dream, because as even as it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain ownership – unemployment, foreclosures, etc. have taken their toll – only a small percentage of us are readily giving it up.

Is home ownership for everybody? Probably not, as the big push for home ownership for all helped get us into a recession. But as the debate rages on about how involved the government should be in providing home ownership opportunities, let’s not just chuck away home ownership’s role in the American Dream.

Sure, there are financial advantages to owning a home. Tax breaks and equity build-up, for example. Paying rent gives you neither. But there are other components of home ownership with value that can’t be measured in dollars and cents.

There is a social component of owning your own home. Pride of ownership, while an abstract concept, has merit. The feeling of being part of a community, a school district, is rewarding to many. Home owners also enjoy freedoms that renters do not.

If you own your own home, you can paint the walls pink if you want. Have a dog. Blast your stereo at 2 a.m. You don’t answer to a landlord.

Does home ownership make 100-percent sense for everybody? No. Has pushing it on those who are not ready caused problems? Yes.

But no matter what the “experts” say, no matter how many have somehow decided home ownership is less desirable than it used to be, it remains part of the American Dream.

Recommendations & Resources

Rent vs. Buy

A real estate agent worth his or her weight should be able to help you figure out whether renting or buying makes financial sense for you. Each person’s situation is different, and should be considered carefully with a professional. However, for a quick, online general assessment you can visit Ginnie Mae’s “Rent vs. Buy” calculator.

Rent vs. Buy

Have a great week!

Walter Whitehurst, Broker

Keller Williams Realty

Jacksonville NC Home Search

Posted via email from Jacksonville NC Resource for Real Estate Info

  Weekly GungHo Real Estate E-Zine   

January 13, 2010   

In this Issue:

Walter’s World: The Gables Townhomes in Jacksonville NC

   Special Report: Look at your tax situation in 2010

Featured Article: Play the learning game, not the blame game

Recommended Resources: Financial Resolutions for the New Year

Walter’s World

Today, I went by The Gables townhomes in Jacksonville across from First Baptist Church to see them firsthand. After talking to the construction foreman for a few minutes, I checked out one of the units that was almost finished. The townhomes have a fairly typical layout except for the stairs going from the front door area rather than from kitchen area.

According to the foreman, the 2 bedroom units are just under 1000 sq ft and all of the planned 152 units will be the same size. Each unit will have a half bath on the first floor with 2 baths on the second floor.

These townhomes are priced at $118,000 and the seller is offering 2% of sales price for buyer closing costs. The units in the first section should be finished by first part of February. Click to view townhome listings of the Gables

Special Report

  Look at Your Tax Situation in 2010

OK, you probably read all the end-of-the-year articles (maybe even in this e-newsletter) about the tax moves you should make before the New Year.

But now that 2010 is here, it’s time to think ahead so that you’re not scrambling around next December, when the tax landscape is sure to be different.

Remember, if you qualify for the first-time homebuyer or “move-up” buyer tax credit, closing on a new home before the end of June will earn you a pretty hefty tax credit. For many, that will be the biggest impact of tax laws for 2010.

However, if you’re planning purchases of energy-efficient windows or a car, you could get a tax break buy going green on those rather large purchases as well. It’s worth checking into.

In 2010, a new law allows for the conversion of a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA without income limitations, and allows converters to divide their tax bill over two years, 2010 and 2011.

Also remember that the Bush administration tax breaks are set to expire, and with the current Federal deficit, it’s questionable whether they will be extended. Without extension, the Estate Tax is likely to come back, and both regular income tax and capital gains tax could go up beginning in 2011.

Keep in mind that under the Bush cuts, capital gains taxes are tied to income – the rate tops out at 15 percent for those in the 25 to 35-percent brackets and is zero for those in the 10 and 15-percent brackets. If you have investments that will be subject to capital gains tax when sold, it might be a good idea to talk to an accountant or tax preparer about cashing in this year.

It’s never too early in the year to start thinking about tax strategy. Don’t wait until December!

Featured Article

Play the Learning Game, Not the Blame Game

On Christmas day, Dec. 25, we learned that that a man aboard an airplane bound for Detroit had tried to blow up the plane and had to be subdued by fellow passengers and crew.

Shortly after, we learned that this man’s father had warned officials of his son’s extremism but the warnings didn’t keep him from getting on the plane.

And after that, we learned President Barack Obama said that “shortcomings” led to the attack, and learned that the White House ordered beefed-up security measures and increased intelligence-sharing between government agencies.

Let’s hope the learning doesn’t stop with the facts that have come to light. Let’s hope the learning comes FROM the facts that have come to light.

It’s easy to play the blame game after an event like that. Not as easy, but far more important, is what we learn from the event, so that we can avoid the same mistake. Sometimes, people get so caught up in the blame that they completely miss the lesson.

We have to be careful that doesn’t happen with the global economic condition we live in right now. At least here in the United States, it appears we are finally learning lessons rather than pointing fingers.

Sure, it was easy at first to blame greedy banks or unscrupulous fund managers for the near-collapse of the finance industry. But the saying goes that what gets you into the bubble never gets you back out of it, and quite a few banks, and quite a few fund managers dealing in mortgage-backed securities, aren’t even around anymore to try to get out of it.

Unfortunately for some, the fallout of the actions of greedy bankers and shady mortgage brokers has stuck around even as they have disappeared from the landscape. The houses that were financed with payments that became unaffordable, that became impossible to refinance because of falling values — those houses are still around. And to blame them for the crash would be like blaming the car in an automobile accident.

An interesting article at Newsweek.com cited a report that Americans withdrew $682 billion worth of equity from homes in 2006 and another $473 billion in 2007. By the second quarter of 2008, however, that equity was instead turned negative, drawing money from properties instead of the other way around.

The result, the article says, is that it has changed the way Americans purchase, borrow and invest. Spending is down, yes, but it also may be getting smarter. If there’s more saving, more spending from money earned rather than money borrowed, it would appear that a lesson has been learned.

It’s up to you, as an individual, whether you will be part of the learning game as 2010 unfolds, or whether you will continue to instead play the blame game.

The blame game won’t help you undo what has already happened. The learning game will.

Recommended Resources

Financial Resolutions for the New Year

As mentioned above, it’s not too early to start planning some tax strategies for 2010. Tax moves aren’t the only financial moves to make in 2010, however. Morningstar.com offers this article of New Year’s financial resolutions as a reminder to include your finances in your goals for a better you in 2010. Click the link below to read about these resolutions.

http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=321692

 Have a great week!

Walter Whitehurst
Keller Williams Realty

(910) 340-5524 Direct

walter@HomeSearchJacksonvilleNC.com

www.HomeSearchJacksonvilleNC.com

Posted via email from Jacksonville NC Resource for Real Estate Info