Homer Ray-Search New Bern NC Homes For Sale

Here's my perspective that smaller may be better when buying a home in our "new" economy.

Our new economy shouts everyday that the real estate party sure seems to be over and the clean up has slowly begun.

I can recall seeing charts where home sales and prices where spiking for the early part of the first decade of 2000. The size of the average home was relentlessly growing larger every year as well.

In retrospect what was causing the 'leap frogging" of prices or as some more polished folks termed it "flipping"? Remember that term? It was consumer demand and confidence that buying a house was the way to make some quick money. The result was throwing money at builders and home sellers like there was no tomorrow. The major thought was "it will always be worth more" if I have a little time.

As a real estate agent in New Bern, North Carolina, I remember the office caravan tours we would do every Wednesday morning to see the new inventory. I once visited a home that was re-sold "flipped" within 18 months for about 50K more the second time without any noticable improvements. That home could not be sold by anyone and ended up in the rental inventory market because the new owners moved out of town for another job,

Today I believe that most of the housing I see is still overpriced. This applies to existing and new homes as well. A new starter home runs from about $130k-200k in my region. That's still alot of money for most starter families.

In my opinion here are some solid tips for new home buyers in the new economy:

• Think smaller, the home is less expensive to heat, cool and maintain. You also pay less taxes!
• Try to get some yard with the house instead of all house and no lot, the "zero lot line" concept.
• If you are a two income family see how much home you can qualify on one income only. Things happen and as we have witnessed in the past three years good folks do get fired. Starting over is difficult and usually pays less.
• Look for a home that has a good floor plan that works for you. The most expensive changes you can make are structural and if not done correclty (usually the most expensive way) do not deliver the desired results.
• Buy the neighborhood not the house. If your new dream house backs up to an auto salvage yard (I saw one of these this week) be careful. The things you think you can overlook might be difficult down the road for you or a new owner.
• When considering buying in a new development, check out what the developer can build in later sections or phases of the project. Sometimes they will start with nice homes and then build something different in the later sections that may not be as nice or as appealing. I can name some local examples in New Bern where this has happened and this could impact your value later.
• Single person homeownership has been increasing, especially by women. If you only have one income, perhaps this is the time to enjoy being a renter and having no maintance expenses. Bank some cash and get healthy financially. Besides sometimes as a renter you can enjoying lots of amenties you don't get as a homeowner.

This is not your parent's economy, it's more like your great grand parents reality. They did not buy unless they could pay cash for the extra stuff, if there was any extra stuff. Sure they had a mortgage on the home or maybe a farm but usually not 2 car payments and the monthly credit card bills. Not many vacations to Aruba either.

I did not become a homeowner until age 36. As a single, one income owner for several years, it was not always easy. Sometimes it was very stressful. However being a homeowner has kept me anchored and working hard. I'll be painting some exterior workwork later today!

What I'm suggesting is that you should be careful if and when you decide to buy. Get someone who can help you find and buy the right house if that's what you want. Avoid the high pressure person who needs to sell you a house. Yes, they will pocket a few grand on the deal but you have to pay for it and it is not a short term commitment. With the bigger home you can become "house poor" very quickly.

You can't get out of a mortgage without serious financial ramifications even with the newest term " do a short sale".

What motivated me to write this blog was an article I read this morning calling a 2400-2500 square foot home "small".

Maybe we all can live with less. I have lived in 1200, 1500 and 1800 square foot homes and have been very happy.

It's your money, what do you think?

Opinion by Homer Ray, Certified NC Workforce Housing Specialist

New Bern NC

I Know I Will Not Get It, But This Is What I Want For My House

I've had several interesting conversations with some folks considering selling their homes recently.

We are in a tough real estate market in a small town in eastern North Carolina called New Bern. We have at least 18 months of inventory on the MLS and sales are tracking below 2010 year to date. Prices are still "stabilizing" or falling which ever you prefer.

The thing that I have tried to uncover in these conversations is their personal motivation when I ask them, "Why do you want to sell?"

The answers have been rooted in logic but underpenned by emotion. They all had good reasons to want or need to sell but when it came to what they thought they could get for their house, emotion took over.

The question I would like to propose is "How did you come up with that?"

Here are a few of the answers I got.

• The tax value of my house is this and I know it is worth more than that.
• We moving to "X" and we need to get "Y" to make this work for us
• My house is the nicest home in the neighborhood, I know
• I know I will not get what I want, I just need to get it on the MLS and wait for my price
• We're not in in hurry we just want to get it listed and we want all we can get.
• We know it needs some repairs and improvement but we're not doing anything to it.
• I bought a boat with the home equity loan and we have to cover that as well.
• We're in no hurry , we just want to list it now, for this amount. We don't care how long it takes.
• We're not going to give it away
• Just bring us an offer, we deal then maybe....

Does any of this sound familiar to you? These answers have nothing to do with what a buyer thinks your home is worth to THEM!

My recommendations come back to these key points.........

• If you really want to sell in 90 days let's get an apprasial done so we don't leave any money on the table..we have a professional documented "opinion of value".
• Let's spend some time and money de-cluttering and doing some staging
• Will you do be willing to offer a "home buyer's warranty"?
• Are you willing to get a home inspection done and address repairs needed in advance of putting it on the market?
• Do you know what homes have been selling for in your neighborhood? May I show you?
• What do you think about a car that sits on the lot or someones corner for a long time?

If you can make progress with the "recommendations" you really see where you stand as a real estate agent and your chances of not only selling the house, but getting paid and recovering your marketing costs as well.

In most real estate deals we get paid for the results, "a closed sale or finalized transaction". Until then we are burning daylight and spending our money. If it does not sell, it's our fault, we're not good agents.

In a buyer's market, it is said that the buyer controls the deal and has all the cards. They call the shots and "you should feel lucky to get your home sold", right?

I submit the seller holds all the cards you should be interested in if you work as a listing agent in any market. If your cards are not right, you'll never get to the poker table.

*BTW... this is my 50,000 point post on Activerain. I have contributed more info and opinions than anyone else in my local market. Thanks Activerain!

The choices we make about housing.

We are confronted by all sorts of information about the housing market. It 's going down, it's coming back, it's never coming back, it going to be a "renter's world" from now on, etc.

I'm not sure what the future will hold for housing but I believe it is the cornerstone for a satisfying and stable personal life.

Denise and I live in a small home on the edge of the Trent River near Pollocksville, NC. The Trent River winds and twists thru the farm lands and forest of Jones and Craven counties on it's way to the much bigger Neuse River in New Bern.

We have had many neat and happy memories spring up for us in the little house and I'd like to share a few with you today.

Here is a picture of Denise picking blueberries off of the bushes that we have growing in the yard.

Neighbors and friends have stopped by to talk and pick some berries for themselves as well.

We became interested in honeybees and started a hive. Now we have four hives. We just collected our first honey last week.

We joined the Jones County Honeybee Keepers Club and met lots of new and interesting folks that we have identified with and enjoy seeing from time to time.

Sometimes we just sit outside and watch them coming in to the "airport" in the evenings.

Charlie "Phelps" our German Shorthair Pointer can swim in the River anytime he wants. With the hot Summer here in North Carolina bearing down this is a frequent sight from the porch and he's really getting pretty good at it.

A few weeks ago he went all the way across to the other bank, barked a few times and then came back across.

Lot of folks are worried about their homes and making money on their investment and I can appreciate that. Sometimes however I think that the need for shelter and the desire for home-ownership kinda got twisted up and converted into a way to flip and make a quick buck. Expectations changed for homeowners.

I honestly belive that is part of the fallout that many areas are experiencing today. I understand that if you don't have a job or money you may be forced to sell quickly and that may lead to some really unpleasant things right now. But if you don't need to sell, sit back enjoy the home you really loved the day you bought it.

Build those memories and friendships that enrich our lives. Get involved in the community and get the most out of life while you can.

We have two Great Horned Owls that sit at the edge of the woods and hoot all night long. They are pretty funny and I sometimes try to find them with the flashlight. It's fun to try to spot them on a tree limb.

We wake up to this view everyday...

We live in a very small, plain house on the edge of the River. We have made some very good things happen here.

It did not cost a bunch of money but it did require alot of work and sweat to get it where it would work for us.

It took committment to rehab it and clean up the property.

Today homeowners are faced with many tough decisions.

I hope you can find the good in your situation and make some good memories where you are!

"CAN WE TALK?" has always seemed to me to be the beginning of a very important conversation.

Sometimes the discussion has been frank and maybe even a bit uncomfortable. In other circumstances it has lead the way to a new game plan and commitment to a new way of thinking. "Honesty will set you free", I think the old saying goes but as some more cynical folks would add "it may be miserable getting there."

I had a discussion the other day with a client about the need to reposition their house. We have had few showings, no offers and really no serious interest. The clock is ticking, the Spring selling season in my market has been really soft and the Summer season so far has been more of the same.

As we all know the demand for a home really boils down to three major components:

• Location
• Condition
• Price

Our marketing no matter how constant or innovative, will not total mask tragic flaws in the big three components.

This home is in a great neighborhood on a nice street so I think we are OK on location.

The owners did a great job of getting the "powder and lipstick" list knocked out to get the home ready for the market. In fact I think they have been some of the best folks I have worked in that respect. Other than a major kitchen remodel or something like that the home is about as good as it's going to get.

So we come to the heart of the matter, PRICE. We came out with a price that was fair but not aggressive. We did not get much interest. We have taken one minor price reduction but still no serious interest.

We are in a buyers market with tons of homes for sale and most of the business being done is under 200K. The average price for a home continues to slip downward. With all this under consideration it was time for the talk that puts ""all the cards on the table".

My conversation went something like this," Mr. and Mrs. Homeowner, you've done a great job getting the house ready for the market and I think I've done everything I know to do to generate potential interest from a buyer. However we both have not gotten the results we both desire, a confirmed buyer and closing date. I hope you will agree that you have three choices:

• Leave the house priced where it is for the remainder of the listing and "wait on your price".
• Reposition the house for the least amount that you are willing to accept from a buyer.
• Take the house off the market until things get better, whenever that might it

This was not an easy conversation for me, it was tough in a way but also very honest. As always the sellers make decisions that will help their home sell or keep it from selling.

As good real estate agents we have to be willing to accept the decisions they make and be ok with that.

I'm glad we had a "can we talk conversation" because as usual it provided clarity and direction for a new game plan for me.

Getting a property priced right is 90% of the marketing efforts of a successful real estate agent.

There is no amount of money an agent can spend on an over-priced property that can induce an educated home buyer to waste their precious time looking at a home that is way over priced for the location, condition or neighborhood.

Please believe me, today's buyers are doing their homework. They are reading about real estate markets, values and have more power that ever before,thanks to sites like this one, Zillow and the Internet in general. They are reading blogs, constantly hearing news reports and becoming educated before they make one of life's biggest purchasing decisions

The past three buyers I have had used me to help them narrow down their internet choices. They had a shopping list, I provided access and guidance. They had been shopping online for months.

We are in a declining market which means home values are continuing to drop.

At the same time we are in a protracted "buyer's market", which means supply is more that demand, an economic in-balance.

Both of these situations mean..lower prices.

If you need to sell do you want to hear the real odds of selling your home and what it will take? Perhaps you want the get the "rose colored glasses" price that probably will not work, but that's o.k., because "we can always come down". Time is money and if it's not priced right today, you probably will not get many showings if any. You have to have showings to generate offers.

For more of my thoughts on the current market, selling your home today and the tried and true CMA, click the link below and visit my new site with both Neuse River area MLS search and Crystal Coast MLS listings you can view 24/7.

http://www.homerrayhomes.com/?p=2350