Don't Miss Festival in the Park this weekend!
Charlotte is home to many festivals, but Festival in the Park is the grandfather of them all.
When: Thursday, Sept. 24 - Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009
Where: Freedom Park
1900 East Blvd.
Charlotte, NC 28203
What: Festival in the Park is designed to promote and stimulate interest in the arts by providing the opportunity for people of all ages to see, hear, and learn from over 150 artists and crafts people who actively demonstrate and display their art. Nearly a thousand entertainers provide free ongoing performances at the main band shell and many stages surrounding it.
Festival Facts:
Click Below To Search For Lake Norman Area Homes:
To learn more about the Real Estate Market around Lake Norman
Contact us at www.KlineLakeAndCity.com
Click Here For Free Home Search
Search Bank Owned Foreclosures
Search Area HUD Homes
Kline Lake And City Real Estate Team
Heather Lewis Kline - Realtor/Broker
Andrew Kline - Realtor/Broker/MBA
704-472-8662 cell
828-719-8151 cell
704-439-5271 Office
Keller Williams Realty
CLICK HERE TO VIEW OVER 20,000 OTHER LISTINGS IN OUR AREA
Home For Sale in Sterling Pointe
Homes For Sale in The Peninsula
Homes For Sale in The Point
Homes For Sale in River Run
Home For Sale in Connor Quay
Homes For Sale in Birkdale
Homes For Sale on Governors Island
Homes For Sale in Westmoreland
Homes For Sale in The Hamptons
Homes For Sale in Westport
|
Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) |
 |
||||
|
|
|||
|
||||
| What is PMI? | ||||
|
| Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is required on all home loan transactions where the loan-to-value ratio is 80 percent or greater (Some cash-out refinance transactions require PMI at 75% loan-to-value). This means that if you bought your house for $100,000 and had a down payment of less than $20,000, you will be required by the lender to carry PMI. It makes sense as most expensive purchases in life require insurance. When you buy a new car, you are required to get car insurance. |
| Private Mortgage Insurance insures the lender - not you - against your default on the loan. Because statistics show that borrowers who put down less than 20 percent are more likely to default on the loan, lenders require PMI so that they'll recoup their investment in case of default. Without the guarantee from carrying the PMI, the lender would not make the loan, but they're willing to take the risk as long as you carry PMI. As a borrower this may provide you with a lower interest rate loan than you could originally obtain, but the mortgage insurance premium (MIP) may not be saving you any money in the end. |
| How do you get rid of PMI?
Private Mortgage Insurance is of concern to the borrower because, unlike mortgage interest, PMI is not tax deductible. You pay it and you never see a dime of it again. For this reason, you will want to get rid of it as soon as possible. When can you stop paying PMI? The lender cannot force you to keep the PMI once the loan- to-value has gone below 80 percent, however, the lender will not advise you when you are eligible to discontinue the coverage and stop making that mortgage insurance premium (MIP) payment. So what you want to do first is to take a look at your most recent mortgage statement and divide the remaining principal balance by the original purchase price of your home. If that number is below 80 percent, call the lender and find out their procedure for removing PMI. It is the responsibility of the borrower to track the debt to value ratio and make all the arrangements to stop the PMI coverage. It is important to note that even if you haven't been paying on the loan for very long, you still may qualify for having PMI removed by virtue of appreciation. This occurs when the value of your home increases shortly after you have purchased it. The lender probably will require a full appraisal, which will typically cost you approximately $300. But you will quickly recover this cost by not having to pay the MIP and therefore canceling the PMI. After the cost is recovered, the amount you were spending on PMI goes in your pocket. You can also pay a little extra each month toward the principal to reduce your loan balance and shorten the time you must pay PMI. |
| How can you avoid paying PMI?
There are ways of both avoiding Private Mortgage Insurance and achieving a smaller than 20 percent down payment. Many lenders offer a loan called an "80/10/10." Instead of one loan, you get two. You'll have a first mortgage of 80 percent of the home's value, a second mortgage of 10 percent of the home's value, and you'll make a 10 percent down payment. Some lenders may even offer an 80/15/5. This may seem complicated, since you're still borrowing the same amount of money, but the lender in the "first position" is only lending 80 percent of the entire loan amount, which is less of a risk than the full loan amount. You get the small down payment and the tax-deductible interest. In addition, the total monthly payments are often smaller than one larger loan with PMI. The other way out is to get a loan that builds the PMI into the interest rate. In this case, you agree to pay a higher interest rate in exchange for the lender loaning you more money than they normally would. It can be a nice compromise, because the interest is still tax deductible and it's simpler than doing two loan transactions. The key here is comparison. Ask your loan agent for some mortagae insurance advice. Have them run some numbers for you on an 80/10/10 and a loan with built-in PMI. Then see which one will cost less or be most beneficial based on your financial situation. Note that these principles apply only to conventional loans. FHA loans have a Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP), which is required for the life of the loan. |
Source: KW.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click Below To Search For Lake Norman Area Homes:
To learn more about the Real Estate Market around Lake Norman
Contact us at www.KlineLakeAndCity.com
Click Here For Free Home Search
Search Bank Owned Foreclosures
Search Area HUD Homes
Kline Lake And City Real Estate Team
Heather Lewis Kline - Realtor/Broker
Andrew Kline - Realtor/Broker/MBA
704-472-8662 cell
828-719-8151 cell
704-439-5271 Office
Keller Williams Realty
CLICK HERE TO VIEW OVER 20,000 OTHER LISTINGS IN OUR AREA
Home For Sale in Sterling Pointe
Homes For Sale in The Peninsula
Homes For Sale in The Point
Homes For Sale in River Run
Home For Sale in Connor Quay
Homes For Sale in Birkdale
Homes For Sale on Governors Island
Homes For Sale in Westmoreland
Homes For Sale in The Hamptons
Homes For Sale in Westport
Charlotte Real Estate Blog:
By Ann Doss Helms
ahelms@charlotteobserver.com
Tuesday, Sep. 22, 2009
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board pulled the plug Tuesday on a plan to reassign the Cotswold Elementary zone from Myers Park to East Mecklenburg High.
But officials will move ahead with other student-assignment proposals that have riled public-school supporters in east and central Charlotte.
"This has been an incredibly divisive issue in our community, and I'm afraid it's not going to end tonight," board chair Molly Griffin said at an overflow meeting that drew hundreds of families in outfits color-coded to stake out their positions.
Superintendent Peter Gorman said he'll release a schedule of public meetings today on proposals to reduce crowding at Eastover Elementary and shift students from Myers Park to East Meck, including possible changes in the International Baccalaureate magnet program.
But he said he'd remove the Cotswold option after hearing Joe White, Trent Merchant, Kaye McGarry, Larry Gauvreau and Ken Gjertsen say they wouldn't vote for it.
Kimberly Mitchell-Walker, who made no comments during the two-hour discussion, raised her hand to indicate she agreed with them.
The board voted unanimously on Aug. 11 to consider options for moving students from Myers Park High, which has almost 3,000 students, to East Mecklenburg High, which will drop to about half that size next year when a new high school opens in Mint Hill.
Cotswold families have been holding meetings and bombarding board members with e-mails for more than a month, since the possibility surfaced of reassigning them from Alexander Graham Middle and Myers Park High to McClintock Middle and East Meck.
"If we allow this to continue, it's going to get nastier," Merchant said. "It's going to raise expectations. It's going to raise anxiety levels."
After the Cotswold decision, dozens of audience members streamed into the lobby at the Government Center. Cotswold families, wearing white tops, hugged and exchanged congratulations.
"I think the support of the board in recognizing stability shows how much they do care for the students," said Durral Gilbert, whose wife teaches at Cotswold Elementary and whose son attends Myers Park High.
East Meck backers looked grim, and some waved away reporters. Some said board members seemed to care more about Myers Park than their school, which they fear will lose good teachers and high-end courses.
"East Meck has the lowest teacher turnover in the system - until next year," said Cindy Carpenter, mother of an East Meck senior.
Top administrators told the board the drop in enrollment shouldn't cripple East Meck's academics, though it may create scheduling challenges. And they said Myers Park is crowded but not in crisis.
Board members gave various reasons Tuesday for not wanting to redraw high school boundaries.
"The issue has become one of neighborhood schools vs. social engineering. I'm in favor of neighborhood schools," McGarry said.
White noted that many experts believe smaller high schools boost achievement and graduation.
"I'm not sure I can buy into the (idea) that we're killing East Meck by putting it into a smaller situation," White said.
Board member James Ross said a system as big as CMS can't promise families stability. But "we can guarantee you some sensible rules that we're going to use to decide where your children go to school," he said, urging the current board not to delay until after the November election.
The board took no formal votes, and as Gorman summarized what he'd heard on the high-school plans, board member Tom Tate asked Gorman whether he believed the board had nixed all possibilities for redrawing boundaries.
"No," Gorman said, "I didn't hear that."
Families also turned out in force to weigh in on the elementary-school plans, even though no public comments were taken. Those from Myers Park Traditional, an elementary magnet school near Eastover, wore red to oppose a move to swap their building with Eastover's. They wore "Stop the Swap" buttons and waved "Save MPTS" signs.
Meanwhile, families from the Dilworth neighborhood backed that move, saying it makes more sense than moving their neighborhood from Eastover to First Ward Elementary. They handed out "No Band-Aids" T-shirts outside the Government Center.
Several board members said they're not crazy about any of the Eastover options outlined so far, but hope better ideas will arise from the community meetings, expected to start next week.
Gauvreau asked why Gorman is asking the board to rush into changes for Eastover, with just under 600 students, when schools in the Huntersville area are larger and more crowded. "What's the crisis?" he asked.
Gorman said close-in Eastover has no land for mobile classrooms and had to create two classrooms in the auditorium this year.
"A year from now if we don't address it we will be back," Gorman said. "We think when you're using the stage for classrooms, it's time to address it."
The board must vote by November for any changes to take place in 2010-11.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click Below To Search For Lake Norman Area Homes:
To learn more about the Real Estate Market around Lake Norman
Contact us at www.KlineLakeAndCity.com
Click Here For Free Home Search
Search Bank Owned Foreclosures
Search Area HUD Homes
Kline Lake And City Real Estate Team
Heather Lewis Kline - Realtor/Broker
Andrew Kline - Realtor/Broker/MBA
704-472-8662 cell
828-719-8151 cell
704-439-5271 Office
Keller Williams Realty
CLICK HERE TO VIEW OVER 20,000 OTHER LISTINGS IN OUR AREA
Home For Sale in Sterling Pointe
Homes For Sale in The Peninsula
Homes For Sale in The Point
Homes For Sale in River Run
Home For Sale in Connor Quay
Homes For Sale in Birkdale
Homes For Sale on Governors Island
Homes For Sale in Westmoreland
Homes For Sale in The Hamptons
Homes For Sale in Westport
Lake Norman Real Estate Blog:
Property Summary of Sold Homes Around Lake Norman
Since 9/1/2009
(Single Family Homes)
| Sold - 40 Properties Found | |||||||
|
Square Feet |
Bedrooms | Full Baths | Half Baths | List Price | Sale Price | Days On Market | |
| Min | 1048 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
$
46,400 |
$
21,400 |
4 |
| Avg | 3109 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
$
478,278 |
$
447,569 |
160 |
| Max | 7439 |
6 |
5 |
3 |
$
1,750,000 |
$
1,525,000 |
770 |
(Condos/Townhomes)
| Sold - 2920 Properties Found | |||||||
|
Square Feet |
Bedrooms | Full Baths | Half Baths | List Price | Sale Price | Days On Market | |
| Min | 0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$
42,500 |
$
8,900 |
1 |
| Avg | 1321 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
$
175,419 |
$
170,852 |
101 |
| Max | 10634 |
4 |
6 |
2 |
$
949,000 |
$
925,000 |
920 |
Keller Williams, nor Andrew Kline, represent the sale of these closings.
Various firms make up the representation.
CMLS - Andrew Kline
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click Below To Search For Lake Norman Area Homes:
To learn more about the Real Estate Market around Lake Norman
Contact us at www.KlineLakeAndCity.com
Click Here For Free Home Search
Search Bank Owned Foreclosures
Search Area HUD Homes
Kline Lake And City Real Estate Team
Heather Lewis Kline - Realtor/Broker
Andrew Kline - Realtor/Broker/MBA
704-472-8662 cell
828-719-8151 cell
704-439-5271 Office
Keller Williams Realty
CLICK HERE TO VIEW OVER 20,000 OTHER LISTINGS IN OUR AREA
Home For Sale in Sterling Pointe
Homes For Sale in The Peninsula
Homes For Sale in The Point
Homes For Sale in River Run
Home For Sale in Connor Quay
Homes For Sale in Birkdale
Homes For Sale on Governors Island
Homes For Sale in Westmoreland
Homes For Sale in The Hamptons
Homes For Sale in Westport
Lake Norman Real Estate Blog:
Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools Posted Highly-Debated Potential Boundary Changes
charlotteobserver.com
Ann Doss Helms
New proposals that would shuffle students in popular magnets and affluent neighborhoods turned up the volume Wednesday on a student-assignment controversy that already has hundreds of families up in arms.
A complex set of plans to relieve crowding at Eastover Elementary went online after Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools offices closed at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Parents in the Dilworth neighborhood began organizing within the hour.
Those plans involve moving some Eastover students into the high-poverty First Ward Elementary and/or swapping magnet and neighborhood-school buildings.
Fierce debate over sending students from Myers Park to East Mecklenburg High has been building for a month, with meetings for and against the move drawing hundreds. The options posted Wednesday include reassigning families who live in the Cotswold Elementary attendance zone, moving students who attend Myers Park's International Baccalaureate magnet program or delaying action.
The school board will discuss the options Tuesday and decide whether to schedule community meetings on the plans.
The elementary and high school options both involve complex projections on how changes would affect crowding, academics, busing and poverty levels. Some board members and candidates say the current board should wait until after the November election, when the new board can review guidelines for student assignment before making explosive changes.
"To tweak boundaries again and impact tons of neighborhoods is not the way to do it," vice chair Kaye McGarry said Wednesday.
If the board moves ahead, it will have to launch a sped-up review and vote by November to be ready for the 2010-11 school year.
Eastover changes
One CMS option would have Eastover swap buildings with Myers Park Traditional, a magnet in a larger building nearby. However, that would leave the Eastover building overcrowded with magnet students.
Another would move about 110 students from Eastover to First Ward, which will lose a magnet program next year. The overwhelming majority of First Ward students are black and from low-income homes, while Eastover is majority white and low poverty. The change would make little difference in Eastover's demographics, according to CMS projections, but would reduce First Ward's poverty from 82 percent to 67 percent and boost white enrollment from zero to 21 percent.
A variation on that option would put the First Ward students, including those moved from Eastover, into Dilworth Elementary, which is now an arts magnet. First Ward would become the arts magnet.
High school plans
After board member Trent Merchant said in a radio interview that moving Cotswold into the East Meck attendance zone would be the logical move, Cotswold residents promptly organized to resist that shift.
Meanwhile, East Meck supporters geared up to argue that losing so much enrollment would remove skilled teachers and shrink academic options for the remaining students. Tuesday night, a group of East Meck backers asked the board to move the Cotswold zone to their school.
The CMS staff plans to put that option on the table, along with three proposals to leave boundaries intact but move some or all of Myers Park's IB magnet students.
Any changes in Myers Park's IB program, which is considered one of the district's most successful magnets and a distinguishing part of the school, are likely to draw objections. Myers Park has 556 IB magnet students drawn from southern and western Mecklenburg County.
Tuesday's board meeting, which is open to the public but will not include public comments, starts at 6 p.m. at the Government Center, 600 E. Fourth St.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click Below To Search For Lake Norman Area Homes:
To learn more about the Real Estate Market around Lake Norman
Contact us at www.KlineLakeAndCity.com
Click Here For Free Home Search
Search Bank Owned Foreclosures
Search Area HUD Homes
Kline Lake And City Real Estate Team
Heather Lewis Kline - Realtor/Broker
Andrew Kline - Realtor/Broker/MBA
704-472-8662 cell
828-719-8151 cell
704-439-5271 Office
Keller Williams Realty
CLICK HERE TO VIEW OVER 20,000 OTHER LISTINGS IN OUR AREA
Home For Sale in Sterling Pointe
Homes For Sale in The Peninsula
Homes For Sale in The Point
Homes For Sale in River Run
Home For Sale in Connor Quay
Homes For Sale in Birkdale
Homes For Sale on Governors Island
Homes For Sale in Westmoreland
Homes For Sale in The Hamptons
Homes For Sale in Westport
Lake Norman Real Estate Specialist; Luxury Home Specialist
I am a part of Kline Lake & City Real Estate Team at Keller Williams in Cornelius, NC. Currently we serve Mecklenburg, Iredell & Lincoln Counties. We are a team of 2 Realtors and we both went to Appalachian State University. I have a Bachelor's Degree in Business Education and Andrew has his Bachelor's Degree in Economics with a Master's Degree in Business Administration.
Buying or selling a home should be a memorable time in your life, not a stressful event that keeps
you awake at night. We work closely on constant communication and new marketing trends to to best serve your needs based on our current market and to help make your real estate dreams come true.
Serving Your Lake Norman & Charlotte Metro Real Estate Needs - One Dream At A Time!
Lake Norman just 18 minutes from downtown Charlotte has great waterfront and golf course communities; for instance Verdict Ridge, The Penninsula, The Point, River Run, NorthStone, Birkdale, Highland Creek, Lake Norman is a beautiful lake with more than 520 miles of shoreline.
The 30-mile radius that composes Lake Norman is filled with everything you'll need for work and play. Lake Norman borders four counties which provide you with four school systems and private school options, recreational activities such as boating, skiing, fishing and golfing and a great variety of dining and shopping.
Lake Norman's beautiful shoreline has easy access to major interstates and the resource of talented business professionals make the region one of the fastest-growing and sought after places for companies and their employees to reside.
Surrounding Lake Norman are numerous unique towns - Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Mooresville and Denver. These unique towns offer the small town living, along with the tranquil lifestyle of lake living, while having the amenities of Charlotte.
Visit Us At
Http://www.KlineLakeAndCity.com
HeatherKline@KW.com
Office: 704.439.5271
Lake Norman - Cornelius, Denver, Mooresville, Davidson, Huntersville
Charlotte - Dilworth, Myers Park & SouthPark
Lincoln County - Vale, Lincolnton, Denver & Stanley
Do you have any good testimonials that clients have provided you in the past? Be sure to add them here.
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
Powered by the ActiveRain Real Estate Network
© 2009 ActiveRain Corp. All Rights Reserved
