Kay Baker

Affordable Neighborhoods in Wilmington NC

There are numerous affordable neighborhoods in Wilmington, NC and New Hanover County that are peachy perfect for first time home buyers that would like to take advantage of the $7500 tax credit. They range in price from just under $150,000 to $200,000. Just to mention a few that you might want to take a look at: Whitney Pines, Alamosa Place, Farrington Farms, Hollyfield at West Bay Estates. More....

Contrary to popular belief in the media, we aren't having any trouble getting people mortgages. Yes, they have to have a job, yes, they to have decent credit (but not perfect) but we are getting them done. The media has the public believing its impossible to get a mortgage because things are so tight. Actually with many mortgage brokers going out of business, the landscape has changed in our industry. The strong banks and mortgage bankers (like Alpha Mortgage) are taking on more of a "flight to quality" role and many real estate agents, financial planners and clients seeking out sound mortgage advice are being more careful who they do their business with. There is much doom and gloom in the real estate and banking sector but the beneficiary is great rates thus far. Mortgage rates are ranging between 5.5% and 6% over the last couple weeks. The Mortgage Applications index showed a 33% increase over the previous week, led by 88% increase in refinance applications.

To learn more about how you can finance a home, please just give us a call or email kaybaker@seacoastrealty.com. To search all homes in Wilmington, NC by city, zip code, neighborhood, schools or map, just log onto cbbaker.com.

Get Money Flowing Again

We are seeing some of the worst economic times that most of us have seen in our lifetime. We must insist that Congress act now to get money flowing again in our financial system, which is nearly frozen. This is not just about Wall Street it is more about Main Street USA. We will soon be seeing evident signs of this catastrophe. Mortgages and short term loans will be very difficult to obtain even with good credit; lines of credit on credit cards will be reduced and interest rates will rise; consumer spending will thus decline even further, depressing the economy; unemployment will rise. We must act quickly to stabilize our financial market and our housing market. More....

In today's real estate environment, more than ever, open houses are an effective marketing strategy. But, just to advertise the home in the Sunday paper and post a sign is not enough. An effective marketing campaign for open houses will prove to be a very successful open house and hopefully bring buyers to the table.

Here are some ideas for an effective open house:

1. Stage and landscape should begin 7-10 days prior to the open house. Make sure the seller understands the importance of curb appeal and presentation. Some nice fresh flowers in the kitchen, potted plants on the front porch, fresh baked cookies are all enhancements for an open house.

2. Place strategic open house signs 5-7 days before the open house stating the day and time of the open house. I have found this creates a lot of interest even before the open house.

3. Direct mail pieces to the neighborhood and adjoining neighborhoods to let everyone know. Neighbors will call their friends to tell them about the open house.

4. Marketing blitz to top Realtors to let them know to send their clients over to view this home.

5. Place open house banners on all the websites available to you days ahead of time.

6. Advertise in the newspaper days ahead and of course, post an ad for the day of the open house.

7. Be sure to have comparable sales information with you at the open house for buyers to see.

8. Remove brochures from the brochure box out front and bring them inside. This will entice the buyers to come in rather than taking a flyer and driving away.

Wilmington NC is ranked 6th in the lastest Milkin Institute of top performing cities list. The index ranks these cities based on its ability to create jobs and economic growth.

Provo, Utah was ranked in the first position and Raleigh-Cary, NC is in second position. Wilmington NC ranked 6th and Charleston, SC ranked 10th.

Many cities including Wilmington were ranked lower this year due to the national decline in housing and construction. Wilmington held the number two position last year. Houston is the top performer this year and El Paso, Texas improved the most this year moving from 122nd to the 37th position. MORE...