Join the Charlotte House Hunter Group this thursday evening from 6:30pm until 8pm for our informal home buying workshop. If you've ever had questions regarding purchasing a foreclosed home, this is the place to be Thursday evening
Additional Topics we will be discussing:
• About the home buying process
• How to take advantage of the $8,000 home buyer tax credit
• How to qualify and what loans are available
• How to prepare for home ownership
• What you should know about the Charlotte housing market
• How a real estate agent can assist you with your search for a home
• What is escrow and the closing process?
Thursday, October 1, 2009
6:30pm - 9:00pm
Location: The Charlotte House Hunter Group office at Keller Williams Realty
2115 Rexford Road Suite 102
Charlotte NC 28211
RSVP by phone: 704-960-1725 ext 4 or RSVP by facebook
It is fairly well publicized that "first time home buyers" (i.e. haven't owned a home in 3 years) are eligible to receive up to an $8,000 tax credit for purchases before November 30. What you may not be aware of is that if you are a first time home buyer in one of twenty three counties in North Carolina, you may be eligible to receive an additional $14,900 in down payment assistance.
A flaw with the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit currently is that you cannot use any portion of the $8,000 for a downpayment. On a $200,000 home purchased using the minimum downpayment for FHA (3.5%), a buyer would have to invest $7,000 of their own money to receive $8,000 back. A program through the North Carolina Finance Agency will enable first time homebuyers to take advantage of a zero percent interest free loan to cover the downpayment and closing costs; alleviating the need for a substantial downpayment.
Qualifications
To qualify, the buyer must purchase a foreclosed (bank owned) single family, townhome or condominium built after 1978, below $210,000, in one of the twenty three available counties:
Second, the buyer must meet certain income restrictions, which vary by household size and by county. For Mecklenburg, Union, Cabarrus, and Gaston, that limit is $55,850 for a household of one. Iredell's limit is $50,300 for a household of one. As the household size increases, so does the ceiling on the income limit. While a single person household may be capped at $55,850 for the counties around Charlotte, a household of four has a limit of $75,000.
Next, the buyer must obtain eight hours of HUD-approved home buyer counseling. Information on course locations and times may be obtained by your lender or by contacting the NCHFA. In addition, the buyer must utilize the NCHFA's FirstHome Mortgage and must contribute $1,000 of their own funds. Finally, the home's purchase price must be, at most, 99% of the current appraised value.
As long as you keep current on your payments and own the home for at least five years, the $14,900 downpayment assistance loan will never need to be repaid. For every year of on-time mortgage payments, the loan will be forgiven 20% per year for five years. At the end of five years, the debt is eliminated completely.
For more information, contact the NCHFA or your preferred mortgage lender.
Market Update for Matthews, Mint Hill, and Charlotte NC (MLS Area 3).
For all neighborhoods west of Independence Blvd and South of 24/27 in Mecklenburg County, including the towns of Mint Hill, Matthews, and Charlotte.
Data gathered for August 1 2009 - August 31 2009 from the CMLS
Active Listings
In August, 145 single family detached homes were listed for sale in Area 3 North Carolina. August's new listings were 7.64% less than in July and 21.62% fewer than were listed in August 2008.
Pending Units
72 Single Family homes received a contract. This was 1.41% higher than received a contract in July and 15.29% fewer contracts than in August 2008. When compared to August 2007 and 2006, 47.45% and 57.06% fewer contracts were written and accepted this past August.
Sold Units
57 Single Family Detached Homes were sold in August 2009. This was a decrease of 9.52% from July and no change from August 2008. When looking in 2007 and 2006 the decrease is even more apparent, 56.49% and 60.42% respectively.
Average Sold Price
In August, single family detached homes that sold in area 3 sold at an average of $151,507 which was a 3.75% increase than in July and a decrease of 32.11% when compared to August 2008.
Average Days on Market
Of the homes that closed in August, they were on the market for an average of 104 days before receiving an offer. That was 2.97% less than the month earlier 40.54% less than a year earlier, and 40.54% greater than in 2007. 35 Single Family homes sold in less than 100 days while 22 homes in 100 days or greater. 1 homes took a year or more to close.
Seller Concession
31 out of the 57 homes (or 54%) that sold in August offered the buyer a concession, usually closing costs. The average seller concession was $3,710.
Buyer’s Agent Bonus
Offering a bonus to a Buyer’s Real Estate agent is widely thought to produce a quicker sale and net the seller a higher return. This month there only one property that sold offering such a bonus. This one property sold after 600 days on the market at 90.91% of the list price.
Sold Price as a Percentage of Tax Value
51 of the homes that sold in August in Area 3 had a tax value assigned to the listing. The homes that sold in August sold at an average of 98.21% of their listed tax values. 27 homes sold below tax value and 24 sold over tax value. The lowest sold as a percentage of tax value was sold for 48.58% below tax value. This month there were no properties selling well over tax value (normally new construction, land or extreme renovations).
Sales Price as a Percentage of Original List Price
Of the homes that sold in August in Area 3, sellers received 92.26% of their original asking price. With seller concessions included, sellers received on average 90.81% of their original asking price.
For homes listed for sale for less than 100 days, those sellers received 94.77% of their original asking price including concessions while homes listed for greater than 100 days received only 88.27%.
Buyer Financing
Of the homes that sold in August, 20 used FHA, 23 used Conventional Financing, 1 VA and 11 cash.
Jonathan Osman
Charlotte Real Estate
Charlotte North Carolina Market Update for:
Single Family Homes in Mecklenburg County North Carolina Area 2 including:
Charlotte Neighborhoods East of N. Tryon Street and North of Albermarle Road (24/27) including the neighborhoods of Plaza Midwood, NoDa (The Arts District), Belmont, McCarron, Old Stone Crossing, Buckleigh.
Data gathered for August 1, 2009 - August 31, 2009
New Active Listings
In August, 255 homes were listed for sale in Charlotte’s Area 2. This was a increase of 4.08% over June and a 2% increase when compared with August 2008, 32.89% decrease compared with 2007, and 29.75% decrease compared with 2006.
Pending Homes
153 single family homes were placed under contract for Area 2 in August 2009. This increase of 22.40% over the month prior. Compared to August 2008, there were 4.79% more homes receiving contract than the year prior and 41.83% fewer than during the same period in 2006.
Sold Units
In August, 110 single family detached homes were sold in Area 2 through the MLS. This was an decrease of 4.35% when compared to the month prior and no fewer than in August 2008. This month when you look back to 2007 and 2006 when the decrease in the sales for this year were 44.16% and 52.17% respectively.
Percentage of the Listing Price Received
Sellers received on average 89.38% of their asking price before concessions in August. Compared to June that is an decrease of 2.33%. Looking further in the past month over month there is also a decline in 2007 and 2006 of 8.26% and 8.64%.
Average Days on Market
Of the homes that closed in August, they were on the market for an average of 104 days before receiving an offer. That was 5.05% less than the month earlier 40.54% more than a year earlier, and 55.22% greater than in 2007 and greater than 2006 with 50.72%.
64 Single Family homes sold in less than 100 days while 46 homes in 100 days or greater. Two homes sold after 1 year of being on the market.
Seller Concession
61 out of the 110 homes (or 55%) that sold in August offered the buyer a concession, usually closing costs. The average seller concession was $3,410.
Sold Price as a Percentage of Tax Value
109 of the homes that sold in August in Area 2 had a tax value assigned to the listing. The homes that sold in August sold at an average of 130.17% of their listed tax values. 66 homes sold below tax value, the lowest of which was an REO which sold at 26.90% of its tax value. There were also 13 properties selling well over tax value (normally new construction or extreme renovations). With this unusual factor removed the average drops to 88.81% as a percentage of tax value.
Sales Price as a Percentage of Original List Price
Of the homes that sold in August in Area 2, sellers received 89.38% of their original asking price. With seller concessions included, sellers received on average 88% of their original asking price.
For homes listed for sale for less than 100 days, those sellers received 91.34% of their original asking price including concessions while homes listed for greater than 100 days received only 83.36%.
Buyer Financing
Of the homes that sold in August, 2 buyer used VA financing, 49 used FHA, 33 used Conventional Financing, 22 cash and 4 other.
Jonathan Osman
Charlotte Real Estate
Real Estate Market Update for
Single Family Homes in Mecklenburg County North Carolina Area 1 including:
Charlotte, Cornelius, Davidson, and Huntersville Neighborhoods East of I-77, North of N. Tryon Street, West of Cabarrus County, and South of Iredell County including the neighborhoods of Highland Creek, Vermillion, Heritage Green, River Run, Skybrook, Northstone, Cambridge Grove, and others.
Data gathered for August 1, 2009 - August 31, 2009
Active Listings
In 329 single family detached homes were listed for sale in Area 1 North Carolina. August's new listings were the same in July and 4.11% more than were listed in August 2008.
Pending Units
187 Single Family homes received a contract. This was 11.31 more than received a contract in July and 2.75% greater contracts than in August 2008. When compared to August 2007 and 2006, 28.35% and 48.06% fewer contracts were written and accepted this past August.
Sold Units
127 Single Family Detached Homes were sold in August 2009. This was a decrease of 14.77% from July and 18.59% decrease from August 2008. When compared to August's from 2007 and 2006 it is a decrease of 50.20% and 61.86%.
Average Sold Price
In August, single family detached homes that sold in Area 1 sold at an average of $186,350 which was 9.51% less than in July and 14.28% decrease when compared to August 2007. The average sold price year to date this year is $189,056 compared to last year's YTD of $212,170.
Average Days on Market
Of the homes that closed in August, they were on the market for an average of 91 days before receiving an offer. That was 11.65% less than the month earlier 7.14% less than a year earlier, and 19.74% greater than in 2007. 78 Single Family homes sold in less than 100 days while 44 homes in 100 days or greater. 3 homes were listed for over a year before receiving an offer.
Seller Concession
70 out of the 122 homes (or 57%) that sold in August offered the buyer a concession, usually closing costs. The average seller concession was $3,794.
Buyer’s Agent Bonus
Offering a bonus to a Buyer’s Real Estate agent is widely thought to produce a quicker sale and net the seller a higher return. Only 2 closed listing offered such a concession, with the seller receiving 96.50% and 85.21% of their original asking price and a days on market of 11 and 258. This is also a good example of the swing in the numbers that we normally see. One shows a quick sale at a high percentage of list price and the other is quite the opposite.
Sold Price as a Percentage of Tax Value
111 of homes that sold in August in Area 1 had a tax value assigned to the listing. The homes that sold in August sold at an average of 122.42% of their listed tax values. 51 homes sold below tax value, the lowest of which was an REO which sold at 33.33% of its tax value. There were also 5 properties selling well over tax value (normally new construction or extreme renovations). With these unusual factors removed the average drops to 99.63% as a percentage of tax value.
Sales Price as a Percentage of Original List Price
Of the homes that sold in August in Area 1, sellers received 92.86% of their original asking price. With seller concessions included, sellers received on average 91.55% of their original asking price.
For homes listed for sale for less than 100 days, those sellers received 93.56% of their original asking price including concessions while homes listed for greater than 100 days received only 87.99%.
Buyer Financing
Of the homes that sold in August, 5 buyers used VA financing, 48 used FHA, 52 used Conventional Financing, and 17 cash.
Jonathan Osman
Charlotte Real Estate
Specializing in REO, HUD & Short Sale Homes in Charlotte, Matthews, Concord, Lake Norman and Wylie, Union County, and Fort Mill, Rock Hill South Carolina. Keller Williams Realty
Jonathan Osman, REALTOR, eAgent
Like the majority of people living in the Carolinas, I am not originally from Charlotte. I am a native of Washington, DC but grew up in the Maryland suburbs. I attended Liberty University to pursue a degree in Biblical Studies and while there met Tabitha...and as they say, the rest is history.
At the age of 20, I purchased my very first home and have bought and sold many since then. I love finding a deal that no one else has uncovered and matching up a unique property with the right buyer. As a result, I invest a lot of passion, knowledge, and experience in every one of my clients to aide them in making only the best decisions when it comes to purchasing one of life's largest investments.
Memberships and Awards
Tabitha Osman, Client Care Coordinator
We specialize in REO's, HUD, and Short Sale properties in the Charlotte area. This includes Matthews, Charlotte, Mint Hill, Indian Trail, Monroe, Weddington, Marvin, Waxhaw, Concord, Fort Mill, Rock Hill, Pineville, Gastonia, Belmont, Mt. Holly, and others surrounding areas.
Bradd and Megan G.
We have been so blessed to have "fallen" into such reliable hands during our first home buying experience. It's not everyday that you can feel completely confident in the huge decisions that we were making. Thank you so much for your guidance and patience.George S.
Jonathan treated me like a long time friend and was always available for me when needed. I have nothing but praise....on my treatment, and would be happy to deal with them in the future for other real estate transactionsGeorge and Chistine C.
I have bought and sold a lot of homes and I have not particularly liked the agents I have worked with. Jon changed my perspective. He is a knowledgable professional that I completely trust to handle all of my real estate needs.Kenyetta O.
He sold my home for $13,000 over my asking price in a matter of hours. I am very pleased.Paul and Tara M.
You have really impressed us with how much care you provided us here with our move. We will definately use you again and tell all of our friends.Adam & Jen Paper
I've known Mr. Osman for approximately 8 years and over the course of this time, I have sat at both ends of the table: as Jonathan's client and he as my client. As a client of his, I received the utmost attention at every stage of my home's sale, allowing maximum return on my investment while fostering a true sense of pride and accomplishment for both myself and the buyer. He was (and still is) The Consummate Professional. As my client, Mr. Osman was appreciative, responsive and extremely loyal; The Perfect Customer. Jonathan is one of those very rare people that are truly gifted in every area of life. He is a person of utmost integrity, extreme initiative, wonderful patience, enduring empathy, sincerity and tremendous creativity. I have been honored and grateful to have met his acquaintance so many years ago. My only regret was not talking him out of his decision to move out of our community. I cannot convey clearly enough -in these few sentences- how wonderful Mr. Osman has been as a vendor, a client, and as a friendCarole D
We asked Carole what we did well and she responded "Communication!! Marketing!!!!!!! Going outside the box to call buyers agents about the property (which got it sold!!) You also negotiated well. You listened to my situation and responded accordingly rather than providing the usual type of service (or lack thereof)!!!! "Dave Conord
Jonathan merges creativity and energy with compassion and integrity, resulting in a high success rate for his customers and a pleasaing transaction for all involved. His attention to detail and focus on results have attracted both buyers and sellers to hire Jonathan when it comes time to make a move. Jonathan's fresh approach to offering real estate services brings a higher level of service to our industry. It has always been a pleasure to work with Jonathan and I am glad to have him (and Tabitha) as friendsAngela Parker
Jonathan helped us find a home that was greater than our expectations and negotiated the asking price on our behalf successfully. He went out of his way to assist us with inspections, a fixed rate low interest mortgage and closing costs. I was on a business trip far far away while making the offer on the home, but Jonathan made sure I could review everything electronically, as well as sign the necessary contracts.
Overall, I couldn't have asked for a more helpful buyers agent and recommend him to anyone shopping for a new home. He was always available and willing to go out of his way (day or night-pacific or eastern time) to make purchasing our first home easy and stress free!!
Eric and Amber
When asked what we did well, they responded:
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