Melissa Polce

First Trust Bank Foreclosed House...My Saga Continues

OK-as of today this property is still not for sale and a comparable down the street just lowered their price $50,000. When I think of all the foreclosure home deals I try and secure for my clients...the fact that I have not been able to work my own magic with this First Trust Bank of Charlotte....DRIVES ME NUTS...so I will blog about this until John Keane (ahead of foreclosures at the Bank)is nice enough to finally contact us and least tries to work with us...Pretty Please?

If Any One Has A Better Idea...Let Me Know, I Am Sick of Looking For Houses and of course I want one Not on The Market, Sitting Vacant, doing nothing, Foreclosed 4 Months Ago!!!

Here is how the latest email has turned out:

Ms. Polce, I do not work with our assets for sale and therefore have forwarded your message on to the appropriate area.

Sincerely, Jean Galloway CFO/SVP

----- Original Message ----- From: Melissa Polce To: jgalloway@firsttrustnc.com

Sent: Wednesday, August 05, 2009 2:25 PM

Subject: First Trust Foreclosure on 21016 Catawba Ave.

Hello Jean-

I just wanted to send you an inquiry on 21016 Catawba Ave. Cornelius, NC because I had put in an offer with John Keane for the property and no one has ever even contacted us. I am a realtor & my husband is in mortgages, so as far as that is concerned, we can save the bank 6% off the top. I am also attaching the appraisal we have had done, it was completed in July. My husband and I offered $300,000 on the property in "as is" condition, pending 2 things, that we are able to obtain the correct residential zoning for the property(I already looked into this and it can be ok'd, but must be changed before the closing could occur) and that it is structurally sound.

We have offered exactly what the bank took it back for(per tax records), since the foreclosure, the other 2 semi alike properties have lowered their values, one is comparable and now down to $299k(21112 Catawba Ave)...the foreclosed property and the other 2 Catawba Ave. properties have actively been on and off the market for over 2 years, in reviewing the attached appraisal, you can see that has been noted.

Lastly, your bank has this home just sitting on it's books since May, some very minor repairs have been made to the property courtesy of the bank, general lawn upkeep, and paying Paul Kunar to "oversee the property",... however, it is a 100 year old home, in need of extensive care & repair. In Cornelius the majority of people do not look for older homes, especially off the water on a busy street in town. We are interested in purchasing the property, can you at least email or call me to discuss?

Thank you so much in advance!

Melissa Polce, Broker/Realtor
Keller Williams Realty
CELL: 704-450-4335
FAX: 704-949-2631
mjpolce@kw.com

Come on...I know most Realtors watch their pennies and dimes but I have to wonder about the agents and the SELEERS who list their properties so far off base it is not even funny...having been in that situation before, I know it is mostly the Sellers fault but...my theory is; If you bought your home in 2004-2007, you should not be looking for 25% or more increase in this market...Am I Wrong Here? I even run Archive Searches to see if they have done extensive upgrades or anything different, most have not...but still some people are crazy...Example...bought the home in 2005 for $450k, it is now on the market for $749k...You Must Be Crazy

What Do you think, and by the way...these homes are sitting!

Bargain houses selling as others keep sitting

Homes under $100,000 double share of market

By Stella M. Hopkins
shopkins@charlotteobserver.com Posted: Saturday, Aug. 01, 2009

Single-family homes under $100,000 have accounted for more than one in six Charlotte-area sales this year, almost double the rate before the downturn.

Some of these deals are older houses and rural properties, which are often less expensive. Other homes have fallen below $100,000 amid a weak market that's pushed prices down. And a major driver of the low-end increase is foreclosures and distressed sales, more common among lower-priced houses.

The erosion of property values pains the broader community, driving down neighbors' home values and property tax revenues. But it also means bargains for buyers. And reducing inventory at all price levels is a necessary step toward a housing recovery.

"These distressed properties have to get moved at some point," said Matthew Martin, an economist and head of the Federal Reserve in Charlotte. "It will help the healing process in the market."

Rising low-end sales during the second quarter helped give the region its best spring bounce from the winter doldrums in three years.

Sales at the very low end began gaining market share late last year as total home sales dropped sharply, according to Market Opportunity Research Enterprises. So far this year, single-family sales below $100,000 accounted for 18 percent of deals in the eight-county area, according to an Observer analysis of the Rocky Mount firm's data compiled from court records. That's double the 9 percent market share in 2006 and 2007.

About 40 percent of the area's low-end single-family sales this year were in Mecklenburg County. Throughout the eight counties, nearly all were existing homes, not new construction.

The MORE Report, one of the most precise measures of the eight-county region's home sales, doesn't track which sales are foreclosures.

But an Observer analysis of Mecklenburg County data found about two-thirds of homes that sold for less than $100,000 this year had fallen into foreclosure during the last 18 months. That compares with about one-fifth of all county sales, based on data available from the county last week.

"Lower-end sales and foreclosures are absolutely driving the market," said Joe Clorite, a Keller Williams Realtor in Charlotte.

And that means first-timers, newcomers, investors and other bargain hunters competing for the deals.

"When we see a house that we like, you don't have time to think about it," said Hood, whose current offer is his fourth. "You either move on it or somebody sweeps in and gets it."

David Forker moved to Charlotte in January, not long after retiring from a 20-year career that began with mopping floors for a grocery chain and ended as a store manager. Forker, now 50, plunked down $72,000 cash for a house in northwest Charlotte.

The three-bedroom house had sold new in 2001 for $109,500, fell into foreclosure in 2006, resold for $91,000 and foreclosed a second time last fall, according to county records.

Forker has been a homeowner since shortly after graduating college and a saver, socking away enough money to retire two years ago. He worked in Virginia, tried living in West Virginia, but wanted something different. His research led him to Charlotte.

"Charlotte was the most affordable place to live. I got a great bargain," said Forker, who also was drawn as a Panthers football fan and theater lover.

Real estate investor Kevin Brown moved from Florida to an uptown Charlotte apartment two years ago. He says he bought 20 single-family houses this year alone, most under $100,000.

"It's been nice," he said. "I can buy my properties 40 to 50 percent off their values."

Brown, who is 32, began investing in lower-end houses in South Florida six years ago. He wanted a different lifestyle, so he researched cities across the country. Charlotte's housing market looked more stable and profitable than other places like California and New York. He moved after selling all but two of his Florida properties.

Brown rents most of the houses, and says he does background checks on tenants before letting them move in. Business has been "pretty lucrative so far," but he declined to say how much he is making.

Also, about once a month Brown buys a house, fixes it up and sells as fast as he can.

"I like flipping houses," Brown said. "The rental business can be kind of boring."

Database editor Ted Mellnik contributed.

Melissa Polce mjpolce@kw.com 704-450-4335

IDX Rules Change to Prepare for CDS

1. Pending Listings Will Be Removed from IDX and Third-Party Data Feeds: Beginning Tuesday, July 7, CMLS will stop providing "Pending" listings for display on public Internet Web sites. This includes IDX, CarolinaHome.com, Realtor.com, ListHub, Charlotte.com, Distinctive Homes of Charlotte and The Real Estate Book.

2. Two Statuses for Listings in IDX and CDS:

Because each MLS has different statuses there will only be two statuses for listings in CDS, "Active" and Conditional". This should make consumer-based Web sites easier to understand. Therefore, CMLS listings in TEMPO^TM with the "contingent" status must appear as "Conditional" on IDX Web sites. CMLS adopted this change in the current IDX rules, and the deadline for compliance is Monday, August 3.

3. Map Display Rule for IDX:

"Pop-ups" or "balloons" that appear with a map showing the locations of listings are now exempt from displaying the required fields and IDX icon as long as the required fields and IDX icon are displayed elsewhere on the page, or there is a link to a page with the required fields and IDX icon.

July 23, 2009

Sitting pretty: Luxury home market stalls

In the affluent village of Bronxville, N.Y., where residents of million-dollar homes have an easy half-hour commute into Manhattan, selling a house has become a whole lot harder.

Larry Brocchini put his four-bedroom Colonial on the market in late May, with a price tag of $969,000. He and his wife, who want to move closer to their son's private school, have hosted open houses and showed the home by private appointment about 10 times, but they have yet to receive a bid.

The pool of potential buyers looking to escape crowds and crowded schools of Manhattan is also having trouble selling their apartments and co-ops. In the Big Apple, the median sales price for an apartment priced in the top 10 percent of the market fell as much as 26 percent in the second quarter and the number of sales were cut in half from the year-ago period, data last week showed.

"People are just being a little more deliberative than they have been in the past," said Brocchini, a 44-year-old attorney.

In fact, high-priced homes are languishing on the market. Nationally, at the current sales pace, there's about a 40-month supply of homes on the market for $750,000 or more, according to the National Association of Realtors. That's more than double the stock in mid-2007, before the credit crunch. By contrast, there is now less than a 10-month supply for all homes.

Sales of existing homes priced above $750,000 made up 2.3 percent of all sales in the first three months of this year, the Realtors' group said. That's down from 4.4 percent of homes sold in 2007, before high-priced mortgages dried up.

"The high end is the worst performing sector of the residential real estate market, unquestionably," said Bernard Baumohl, Chief Global Economist of the Princeton, N.J.-based Economic Outlook Group.

That is true in the Volusia and Flagler county markets as well, local Realtors said.

"Obviously, the smaller homes are selling more," said Rachel McGrath, a Realtor in the Port Orange office of high-end broker Stirling Sotheby's International Realty. "There is some resistance in the $500,000 and above market."

A $2.8 million home and land in Bunnell has been on the market for more than 1,100 days, according to Realtor.com. An 8,200-square-foot home in Edgewater selling for almost $4 million has been for sale for more than 1,000 days, almost three years.

In Ponce Inlet, a $2.6 million home has been listed for more than 900 days and it's been almost 900 days since a $3.9 million New Smyrna Beach home went on the market.

"Two years was normal for a seven-figure home sale before," said Sheriff Guindi, founder and owner of Prudential Transact Realty.

The recession and collateral damage in the stock markets have knocked many luxury buyers out of the market. Falling home prices coupled with new appraisal rules have scuttled many deals. And lenders have jacked up interest rates and down payment levels for high-priced mortgages.

It's only been a short time since high-end home prices in the region jumped the $3 to $4 million threshold, said Guindi. Although a $10 million riverfront home and a $8.54 million oceanfront home are raising the bar, but have only been on the market for about 70 days.

At the same time, banks are requiring down payments of 20 percent to 30 percent, even if the borrower has a golden credit history.

Industrywide, jumbo loans made up about 5 percent of the market in the first quarter of this year, compared with almost 15 percent in the first quarter of 2007, according to Inside Mortgage Finance.

Wealthy international buyers may be the salvation of the local high-end home market, McGrath said, because there currency is stronger than the dollar and they can find great deals in the region.

Guindi said 2008 was "lousy," but he is smiling at the four sales in his offices over $1 million each so far this year.

"The high-end market had to adjust lower like everyone else," Guindi said. "There will always be people in this incredible country with lots of money. For a really nice luxury waterfront home that is newer with the square footage and all the bells and whistles, there are buyers, if the price is right."

-- Business Writer Bob Koslow contributed to this Associated Press report.