Real Estate in the 21st Century

After two days of heavy rainfall in the region, our own Yadkin River continues to rise, Pictured here at the Gywn McNeil Bridge, the river has added two feet in the 48 hours.  Down stream flooding is likely if the rain continues. 

This train is a hallmark sight for Jonesville North Carolina, It has passed through the town for many decades.   A reminder of days gone by, but also a visible example of our countries greatness.  When the whistle blows, all is right in the world!

For those new to Yadkin County, Oak Forest Estates is a beautiful subdivision situated right of Hwy 421 just over the Yadkin County line.  Low taxes await those that purchase homes in this development that is just a few years old.  The lots have mature trees and the homes are perfectly set back off the road, providing the look of a timeless subdivision.   With a picket fence entrance, Oak Forest Estates has the look of a more traditional subdivision, but the homes within are unique to themselves.  Brick, stone and vinyl veneers are used to contrast the exceptional landscaping.  The size of homes vary, ranging from approx. 2200 feet to over 3000 sq. ft.  Basements, two car garages are common as are wide driveways.

Not many homes come up for sale in this popular subdivision.  With the current crop of homeowners happy with their decisions to purchase or build their dream home in Oak Forest Estates, when a home is available to purchase it is wise to quickly make an offer.  Home Realty Group, whose office is just down the street in Yadkinville can help with your real estate transaction.  Our sister company, White Oak Custom Homes can also help you decide if building is right for you.  Contact Home Realty Group at 336-677-1201x1 or our website at http://www.hrgproperties.com, our Yadkin County site, http://www.yadkincountyrealestate.com or http://www.yadkincountynow.com .   White Oak Custom Homes has a website, http://www.whiteoakcustomhomes.com

Another Veteran has fallen

 Not by a weapon of war, but from the enemy called cancer.  He fought hard and long, but the foe was relentless.  It may have stolen the body, but not the soul.

 Another son has been taken

 But he now is a better place, where his mother and dad have been waiting.  He may be just now fishing, where the big fish never get away.  There is a smile on his face and joy in his heart.

 A Husband has passed on.                                     

 But he is setting a table for two, when his bride meets with him again. 

And a son has lost a father.

 God speed to you sailor, you are in good hands now.

This is a tribute to my father, Eugene Terry who passed last night at the age of 83 .  He bravely handled much in his life, from the great depression to severe health problems,  He will be missed.

And to the staff and other caring people at the Winston Salem Hospice, my family and I greatly appreciate your loving care for us all.   Thank you. 

Yep, it was sitting right on top of my sweepstakes winning entry.  Seems I owe the state some sort of license fee.  So, I took the bill and put it with the rest of the bills I regularly get from the government.  The pile is getting pretty big. 

So I thought, what about a list of bills that we pay?

• Federal Income Tax
• Social Security Tax
• State Income Tax
• Workmans Comp/Unemployment Tax
• Local Property Tax
• Excise Tax
• Privilege Fee
• Yearly License Fee
• Auto License Fee
• Inspection Fee
• Storm Water Tax
• Sales Tax
• Gasoline Tax
• Company License Fee
• Telephone Taxes
• Cell Phone Taxes

I know that's not all, just a start, add some more if you want.  Here is the list in a different way.

The government didn't get me up this morning and bring me to work.  It won't pay for my lunch that I hope to have today(only if I can find some spare change in my pocket).  It won't pay for the gas that I need to get home, or the internet, phone, computer, desk, etc...at my office.  If fact for all its services, I am taxed so I get nothing for free. 

But if I don't pay some of these bills, regardless of what the constitution says, I can't sell houses, or drive a car, or even obtain the basics of life.

Government has taken away many of our unalienable rights.

Never complain unless you have a solution.

I will vote in all elections, local to national and vow to understand what each candidate is saying.  I will not vote for a candidate (if this is possible) that advocates government spending in any form.

I will review past voting records and seek to obtain the basis of those votes.  Did the incumbent vote for the benefit of a special interest?

I will try to get more of my community involved- even if it is just a blog post.

I promise to be an informed citizen, and I vow not to let this continue.

 Winter Check up Now!

I know, you are still basking in that last round of golf where you made a couple of birdies, or maybe frantically trying to get the kids off to school or maybe sneak in that last vacation before fall.  But winter is on the way and there are things to do now that will save you time and expense in the coming months.  Many of these things take very little time and are easier to do in the warmth of summer than the cold of winter.

1. Clean out your gutters.  Easier to do now and the water from your water hose is cool and refreshing, not hand numbingly cold.
2. Paint exposed wood.  It will retain its effectiveness longer than when applied in cold weather.
3. Change oil in lawn equipment.  In  a few weeks, the mowing season will end and doing this now allows for the ability to do it in sunlight as opposed to the shorter darker and colder days of fall and winter.  It won't hurt the equipment to do it now either.
4. Spray all your tools with a rust inhibitor.  Many of the tools you use in spring are already put up for the next year.  Prepare them for use by using a protective spray to avoid rust.
5. Start mulching your flowerbeds.  Starting now will relieve some of the need to do this in the fall.  Pick the beds that no longer have flowers or are out of the way.
6. Inspect your furnace or heat pump.  Go ahead and get a new filter too.
7. Check the antifreeze in your car and adjust tire pressures.  Actually do this every month.
8. Inspect your roof for any damage or missing shingles.
9. Clean out chimneys and inspect any woodpiles that were left over from last year.  You are looking for termites; you don't want to bring them in to the home.
10. Start to store your warm weather items.  Do you really need all the shirts, shorts, and recreational items out now?
11. Spray for insects and weeds.  Get a jump start on prevention.
12. Check your plants and trees for damage.  Replace dead ones now.
13. As always, check your detector batteries.

You will be relaxing in the fall and winter by doing these things now!

This is another consumer friendly column from the Home Realty Group.  Look for more ideas and tips at http://hrgproperties.com or call our office for advice, information and instructions on all things Real Estate!

I have read a number of posts about some of our members that are cut and pasting information and claiming others work as their own.  Of course that is something that we need to address, but it is really that common? How many of us have taken the information of someone else and "rewritten" it?  Say you get an email from a loan officer and it gives some stats about loans.  Have you ever then taken it and said the same thing in your blog or newsletters?  More importantly, have you given credit to the loan officer?  Cut an pasting others content seems to be good and bad depending when and where you do it.  Have you ever taken another Realtors marketing material in home showing?  Maybe you thought it was good stuff and you wanted to be able to duplicate it.  How about all forms of communication?  What we say might be commonplace to us, but to some it sounds like our work. 

Now the thought police are chiming in.    I read posts daily and many times, most times, the information in the posts inspires me to write a new post.  But if I have that information as the bases of my post, is that plagrism?  And who gets to decide if this is bad or this is good? 

Let's look at our industry, in general our signs are the same, services are the same, even, oh God, should I say it, our commission structure.  Look no closer than the growth of blogging, video, etc.. We call it new technology, but maybe it's just taking something that isn't ours.  Let's stop calling the kettle black and look at ourselves.

One thing for sure is that we can't control it, doesn't matter how much you try policing it, unless the members themselves do it on an individual basis.

I am asked all the time questions concerning the real estate market.  Opinions are many, with the doctor, the waitress, and even the plumber will opine on the condition of it.  The question," how are homes selling?" is a big one, but the correct answer is usually not very indicative of individual properties.  The better one is. "Why is that home not selling?"

Every seller wants to net the highest amount of money when they sell a property.  Each has philosophies on how they want to market their property.  But there are some things that a seller does that can short circuit their attempts at selling and can cause them to fail at their desires.

1. Pricing the property too high- If your home is not priced competitively, people that are looking in your price range will reject your home and look at other, larger homes for the same price.  In addition, people who should be looking at your home will not see it, because it is priced above their home price ceiling.
2. Not properly preparing the home for sale- The buyers in the market at any particular time have a wide range of properties to view.  When they have multiple properties, in the same price range, with the same amenities, they will always pick the home with the best landscaping, up to date maintenance, and curb appeal.  Conversely, the home that needs repairs or has obvious deficiencies will at best get lower offers than their competition.
3. Limiting the Marketing of the home-  The most exposure that a home can get will increase the chances that it will sell, especially in the price range that the seller wants.  But limiting the exposure to a sign in the yard or an ad in the local paper only gets about 3-5% of the actual number of buyers that are in the market aware that the home is for sale.  By expanding the marketing to the Internet, social communities, and Realtors, the home will have maximum exposure.

So the bottom line is this, you need advice to properly price your home or chances are that you will be too high and lose potential buyers.  Pricing too low will cost you money.  Not having a plan to sell your home that includes making it look as good as it can be, repairing items that will affect its use and cause buyers to submit lower offers will cause the property to sit on the market.  And finally not having the broadest exposure at least equal to the competition will cause you to miss out on prospective buyers.

This is a continuing installment in a series of consumer articles offering tips, advice and information to homeowners concerning real estate.  These articles are produced and written by Home Realty Group and White Oak Custom Homes. For more information, we invite you to visit our websites at http://www.hrgproperties.com.  and http://www.whiteoakcustomhomes.com

A note to homeowners in this trying market

After hearing about the death of the real estate market, many of you are wondering where you fit in all this.  You may be thinking that your home isn't worth as much as last year or maybe that selling isn't the thing to do now.  Thinking that way may be a crucial mistake.

Before you would buy something as simple as a toaster, you would probably do some basic research.  For those looking to buy or sell, starting with the Internet would be a good choice to get that information.  But is it accurate?  Would you be able to buy the toaster at the same price in California as in North Carolina?  Would it even be available?  Most information on the web is as good as how much you paid for it, maybe just a little bit more.  Before you hire your agent, and you should hire an agent ( more on that later) do some investigating on your own.  Take in a open house in your neighborhood, get a good feel for the type, condition, amenities and prices offered at for those homes for sale.  Especially visit new construction that is nearby.

Your home may lack features that are available in newer homes nearby.  You may need to adjust your thinking as to value based upon properties that have amenities that are in demand.  These include attached garages, newer updated kitchens and bathes, professionally landscaped yards.  Other factors that change pricing are school districts, proximity to highways, industrial areas, high traffic areas, etc.  These must be taken into account when pricing your home.

Choosing an agent is important.  Most agents understand their markets and will guide you through the maze of decisions that will need to be made and help reduce your stress.  But many homeowners chose the agent that "discounts" their commission.  Maybe you perceive that you will save a couple of thousand dollars, in reality, you usually lose more due to poor decision making.   The number one mistake that is made is pricing your home incorrectly.  In an up market you can take chances, in a down market it will kill your sale. 

You will need to make a decision and this will reflect your attitude concerning your sale.  Do you want to sell fast or is the highest price more important.  By wanting to sell fast you put your home investment in a bad position.  Should you sale stock when it is down?  Should you wait?  Your home is the same, chances are you will not get the highest price if you need to sell fast.  If you can wait until the right buyer comes around you should get a higher price.

The market will ultimately tell you if you made the right decisions.   Too long on the market means that the price was too high, the condition of the home was not desirable, or worse other homes with more desirable amenities are being chosen over yours.  You can fix the first two, but it is hard to overcome the last.

Confessions of a For Sale by Owner

( or never again will I attempt to sale my home)

After careful planning,  doing hours of research, I decided to sale my home myself.  Really what could be so hard about it- I would save thousands of dollars!

Day one:  I purchased a sign at my local hardware store that had a tube attached it to put in flyers.  Wouldn't have guessed that flimsy metal and plastic tube would have cost $29.00.  Couldn't wait to get home and put the sign up.  There is so much traffic on my street that someone will buy it!

Day two:  Made some flyers on my inkjet printer at home, not to bad.  I knew I had some marketing talent!  Put 15 or so in the tube and took some to the office. 

Day Three: While at work, a coworker commented on my flyer. Looks like a buyer!  But all she said was that I misspelled some words and my $139.00 sales price seemed low. Went home and made more flyers.

Day Four:  When I got home, I put the home on the web in as many places that would take a free listing; promising millions of people would see my ad.  Sure I made the right decision now!

Day Five:  Another coworker puts up a flyer on her house, with a price close to mine.  Kind of jealous, her flyer looked better than mine and had more pictures.

First weekend:  Worked outside cleaning up the home and really cleaned the inside.  Sure someone will want to look at it this weekend.

Second Week:  Keep getting emails from porno sites, have no idea where those are coming from.  Also, getting a lot of callers that hang up.  Maybe my answering machine isn't working properly.  Might need a new one.    Somebody must be interested; I keep having to make flyers.  One of my coworkers said that she heard of someone selling their home in two days after buying a marketing plan they saw on TV.  Got the information on it and will look at it when I get home tonight.  Mistakenly deleted an important email today while deleting the porno sites and the multi level marketing schemes.  Unplugged my answering machine, clearly doesn't work.  Made more flyers with my cell phone number on them.

Third week:  Received the marketing plan in the mail.  For only $200.00 it looks great, lots of great ideas on how to market your home.  Think I will put flyers at local Apartment. Complexes.  I know one of them want to buy a home.  Made 200 more flyers.  Need to go to Office Dept to buy more ink.  Spend 4-5 hours putting out flyers at the apartments.  Tired, but happy.  Received 10 calls on my cell phone about the house.  Told them all they wanted to know and two callers set up appointments for tomorrow night.  Left work early to get home to meet with the prospects but neither showed up.  Guess they had something come up.  More calls and three appointments this weekend.

Called my good friend and told her I couldn't go out of town this weekend due to the appointments.  Someone must have pulled up in the driveway to look at the house; there was a large oil stain on the driveway.  Didn't take long to clean it up though.  Saturday, one of the prospects didn't show on time and when he did show; I had to stop dinner to meet with him.  Cold spaghetti isn't very good.  He said he was just looking.  On Sunday both prospects came by.  One couple brought their kids and they got mud on the carpet.  They ask if they could rent to own?  Didn't understand the question so I said no.  They hurried through the home and left.  Did I do something wrong?  Made some more flyers.

Fourth Week:  Had to change my email because of the spam. How did they get my email address?  Left work early again to meet with prospect.  No matter, I can work later tomorrow.  Worked 12 hours today and still didn't get anything done.  Must be stressed because of the house.  My boss commented on my looks, maybe I need to take some time off.  Carpet cleaners finally arrived, took longer than they said, so I called the office and told them that I wouldn't be back today.  Cell phone is ringing off the hook, and I spend what I think is hours talking about my house, but it seems that everyone just wants to know what the rent is- can't they get it through their heads that I want to sell the house?

Fifth Week:  No offers yet so I am going to reduce the price.  Made more flyers.  Went to Office supply store for more ink.  Someone rang the doorbell at 6:00am this morning.  Came home one day and my deck chairs were missing.  Saw another oil slick.  I now turn off the cell phone when I get home, need the peace and quiet.  Tried to do some work on my computer and checked the sites that I place my ads on.  For some reason, I couldn't find my ad.  Took a couple of hours to redo the ads and upload them.  Morning is going to come too soon.

Sixth Week:  My boss asked me into his office and asked if anything was wrong.  Had no idea where he was coming from.  My coworker closed on her house.  Went home and found my stereo and TV gone, someone had broke in.  Funny, saw another oil slick. Called my insurance the next day and they said they would take care of it, but I do have to pay my $250.00 deductible.   Another prospect came by and got the carpet dirty again.  And he asked if I would seller finance?  My cell phone bill came in and I was over my limit by $75.00.  Need to not answer the phone and only take messages.  One of the apartments sent me a letter to come and take down all the flyers or I would be sued.  I am going to have an open house this weekend.  Called my girlfriend and cancelled our trip out of town.  Had the open house and got the chance to see my neighbors.  No one came by except them and that is after I spent $30.00 on drinks and chips.  Made more flyers.

Seventh Week:  Put the house on a FSBO website, only cost $399.00.  Needed to make more flyers because I lowered the price by $5000.00.  Read somewhere online that kitchens and baths needed to be modern to get the best price. I might remodel.  Took off a day and ½ to meet with the contractors.  For $40,000 I can get the best kitchen and bath ever!  Now that the FSBO site is up, I am receiving more calls.  Had to go out and buy a better camera to take the right pictures. It was suggested that I have a virtual tour.  Went into work late to meet with the photographer.  Only cost $79.00, she did a great job.  It is really beautiful.  Met with my banker at lunch to apply for the line of credit to do the kitchen and bath work. Great rate, interest only! It is time to put lime and fertilizer on the yard, not sure if I am going to do it since I am selling. 

Eighth Week:  The contractor started this week and should be finished in about two weeks.  I can show the property even with the work going on.  A prospect can see how much I take care of the home.  It will get me a much higher price.  After a couple of days of hard work, the contractor had to go do an emergency job. He said he would still finish on time.  Had a prospect come by, but he couldn't seem to grasp my vision on the work being done.  He probably wasn't interested anyway.  Made some more flyers.  Received my check from the insurance money minus my deductible.  Went and bought a new TV and stereo.

Ninth Week:  My parents came by to look at the work being done and my mother said she was worried about me.  After they left I finished off the last of the wine.  Need to buy some more chips and ice cream too.  The contractor is back working diligently.  The contractor is gone again.  Saw another oil slick, checked my car.  It has got to be coming from somewhere.

Another co-worker sold her home.  Someone stole my sign.  Bought another.  Had a prospect come by, invited him to drink wine with me.  That was sure bold!  Only had one glass and left.  Must be losing it.  Dropped the price again, made more flyers.  Contractor came back.

Tenth Week:  Boss told me not to miss anymore work.  Had a beer at lunch.  Got home and contractor wasn't there but my kitchen cabinets were-in the wrong place.  Called the FSBO site and cussed them out for not selling my house.  Was told it was my problem.  Really don't care to mow the lawn, I'm moving anyway.  First payment is due on the line of credit.  After I eat and have a drink I might call a Realtor.  Contractor said he could fix the cabinets but it would cost me more money.  And he needed an advance.

Well that was two months ago, the contractor took my money, got broken into again and I lost my job.  My parents had me committed because of my drinking but I am not worried.  The bank is foreclosing on the line of credit and I am going to lose the house.

Wasn't that what I wanted anyway?