Jonathan Osman - Charlotte / Matthews NC

Let's face it: the economy stinks. Unemployment is high and the fear of losing ones job is the number one factor keeping home buyers on the sideline. So what if you find yourself on the wrong end of a pink slip, out of work and the bills mounting? Here a few tips that should

1. It's time to get real with your situation

When the shock of being let go wears off, it's time for you to have a "get real" meeting with your spouse and family. Far too often, I have been called by sellers asking for assistance in short selling their home that had this conversation with themselves far too late. It's important to analyze your situation with regards to outstanding and reoccurring debts, sources of income (how much and for how long), prospects for employment, etc. This isn't a tough thing to do because for many of us, myself included, it's easier to ignore the bills and the phone calls than to face reality. Unfortunately, this is the main reason why so many homes are in foreclosure.

I mentioned getting the family involved too because I believe that as a family, you need to support one another. Also, the last thing you ever want to have happen is to have your son or daughter greeting the sherrif when he's serving foreclosure paperwork.

2. Call your bank

The good news is that you're not alone. With so many out of work, almost every bank has program to assist you in making payments or delaying payments when you have fallen on hard times. The key is to notify the bank as soon as you are aware of your situation. Often times, you can save your credit by being proactive.

3. Seek help from a community credit counselor

In your community are non-profit agencies designed to help folks going through your exact situation. The banks can be like that relative or co-worker that you really don't like to interact with because they have no understanding and no personality. These agencies can intercede on your behalf for free with the bank and may have information on local and state grants, foundations, etc that may be able to assist you as well. In the Charlotte area, contact Alliance Credit Counseling or United Family Services.

BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN NOT DEALING WITH EITHER AGENCY BECAUSE THERE ARE A NUMBER OF SCAM ARTISTS WHO'S GOAL IS TO RIP YOU OFF. If you are ever asked to pay any money up front, turn and walk away.

4. Call your mortgage servicer and good Realtor® who knows distressed sales

A house is just that: a house. Sure, it may be a status symbol for you and a place to call home but in the end however if you can no longer afford to keep it, you must look at it as four walls, a roof and foundation. Consult with your bank regarding the options that may be available for you. Another resource for help is Alliance Credit Counseling and United Family Services in your community. Be wary of anyone who advises you to stop making your mortgage payments and cease communication with the bank. These local non-profits are available to aide homeowners with their hardship and may know of state and local agencies that may be able to offer assistance as well.

Also, it's good to talk with a local real estate professional who understands the short sale or pre-foreclosure process and can get your home to closing. Choosing the right agent may be difficult because the process of the short sale is fairly fluid. Regulations are changing much the same as in lending and there are a number of factors that can cause a sale to go sour. However an agent who is in that market will be able to do what it takes to get your home to closing before the sale date.

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 July 1, 2009 - July 31, 2009

Active Listings

In 329 single family detached homes were listed for sale in Area 1 North Carolina. July's new listings were .30% more than in June and 21.10% fewer than were listed in July 2008.

Pending Units

168 Single Family homes received a contract. This was 1.18% less than received a contract in June and 17.24% fewer contracts than in July 2008. When compared to July 2007 and 2006, 43.24% and 48.15% fewer contracts were written and accepted this past July .

Sold Units

149 Single Family Detached Homes were sold in July 2009. This was a decrease of 6.29% from June and 11.31% decrease from July 2008. When compared to July's from 2007 and 2006 it is a decrease of 47.16% and 54.15%.

Average Sold Price

In July, single family detached homes that sold in Area 1 sold at an average of $205,937 which was 8.79% more than in June and 9.89% decrease when compared to July 2007.

Average Days on Market

Of the homes that closed in July, they were on the market for an average of 103 days before receiving an offer. That was 4.63% less than the month earlier 6.19% greater than a year earlier, and 80.70% greater than in 2007. 94 Single Family homes sold in less than 100 days while 55 homes in 100 days or greater. 6 homes were listed for over a year before receiving an offer.

Seller Concession

81 out of the 149 homes (or 54%) that sold in July offered the buyer a concession, usually closing costs. The average seller concession was $4,563.

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 4 closed listing offered such a concession, with the seller receiving 92.94% of their original asking price and a average days on market of 116.

Sold Price as a Percentage of Tax Value

139 of homes that sold in July in Area 1 had a tax value assigned to the listing. The homes that sold in July sold at an average of 118.08% of their listed tax values. 62 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 99.52% as a percentage of tax value.

Sales Price as a Percentage of Original List Price

Of the homes that sold in July in Area 1, sellers received 90.23% of their original asking price. With seller concessions included, sellers received on average 88.97% of their original asking price.

For homes listed for sale for less than 100 days, those sellers received 92.31% of their original asking price including concessions while homes listed for greater than 100 days received only 84.30%.

Buyer Financing

Of the homes that sold in July, 6 buyers used VA financing, 63 used FHA, 64 used Conventional Financing, and 16 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 July 1, 2009 - July 31, 2009

New Active Listings

In July, 245 homes were listed for sale in Charlotte’s Area 2. This was a increase of 7.46% over June and a 23.68% decrease when compared with July 2008, 36.53% decrease compared with 2007, and 20.97% decrease compared with 2006.

Pending Homes

125 single family homes were placed under contract for Area 2 in July 2009. This decrease of 10.71% over the month prior. Compared to July 2008, there were 25.60% fewer homes receiving contract than the year prior and 45.89% fewer than during the same period in 2006.

Sold Units

In July, 115 single family detached homes were sold in Area 2 through the MLS. This was an increase of 15% when compared to the month prior but 6.50% fewer than in July 2008. This month when you look back to 2007 and 2006 when the decrease in the sales for this year were 41.33% and 47% respectively.

Percentage of the Listing Price Received

Sellers received on average 91.51% of their asking price before concessions in July. Compared to June that is an increase of 2.10%. Looking further in the past month over month there is also a decline in 2007 and 2006 of 6.52% and 6.66%.

Average Days on Market

Of the homes that closed in July, they were on the market for an average of 99 days before receiving an offer. That was 7.48% less than the month earlier 11.24% more than a year earlier, and 52.31% greater than in 2007 and greater than 2006 with 20.73%.

71 Single Family homes sold in less than 100 days while 44 homes in 100 days or greater. Two homes sold after 1 year of being on the market.

Seller Concession

69 out of the 115 homes (or 60%) that sold in July offered the buyer a concession, usually closing costs. The average seller concession was $4,102.

Sold Price as a Percentage of Tax Value

108 of the homes that sold in July in Area 2 had a tax value assigned to the listing. The homes that sold in July sold at an average of 119.65% of their listed tax values. 66 homes sold below tax value, the lowest of which was an REO which sold at 32.13% of its tax value. There were also 8 properties selling well over tax value (normally new construction or extreme renovations). With this unusual factor removed the average drops to 92.48% as a percentage of tax value.

Sales Price as a Percentage of Original List Price

Of the homes that sold in July in Area 2, sellers received 91.51% of their original asking price. With seller concessions included, sellers received on average 89.75% of their original asking price.

For homes listed for sale for less than 100 days, those sellers received 95.13% of their original asking price including concessions while homes listed for greater than 100 days received only 81.08%.

Buyer Financing

Of the homes that sold in July, 2 buyer used VA financing, 44 used FHA, 44 used Conventional Financing, 19 cash, 1 Owner Financed and 5 other.

Jonathan Osman
Charlotte Real Estate

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 July 1 2009 - July 31 2009 from the CMLS

Active Listings

In July, 157 single family detached homes were listed for sale in Area 3 North Carolina. July's new listings were 12.95% more than in June and 9.25% fewer than were listed in July 2008.

Pending Units

71 Single Family homes received a contract. This was no change than received a contract in June and 14.46% fewer contracts than in July 2008. When compared to July 2007 and 2006, 54.49% and 51.37% fewer contracts were written and accepted this past July.

Sold Units

63 Single Family Detached Homes were sold in July 2009. This was a increase of 18.87% from June and a decrease of 18.18% from July 2008. When looking in 2007 and 2006 the decrease is even more apparent, 55.32% and 47.06% respectively.

Average Sold Price

In July, single family detached homes that sold in area 3 sold at an average of $147,450, which was a 15.17% decrease than in June and a decrease of 18.07% when compared to July 2008.

Average Days on Market

Of the homes that closed in July, they were on the market for an average of 101 days before receiving an offer. That was 21.71% less than the month earlier 38.36% less than a year earlier, and 68.33% greater than in 2007. 41 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

39 out of the 63 homes (or 62%) that sold in July offered the buyer a concession, usually closing costs. The average seller concession was $3,584.

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 56 days on the market at 91.55% of the list price.

Sold Price as a Percentage of Tax Value

60 of the homes that sold in July in Area 3 had a tax value assigned to the listing. The homes that sold in July sold at an average of 116.10% of their listed tax values. 25 homes sold below tax value and 35 sold over tax value. The lowest sold as a percentage of tax value was sold for 43.31% below tax value. There were 2 properties selling well over tax value (normally new construction, land or extreme renovations). With this unusual factor removed the average drops to 102.42% as a percentage of tax value.

Sales Price as a Percentage of Original List Price

Of the homes that sold in July in Area 3, sellers received 88.89% of their original asking price. With seller concessions included, sellers received on average 87.37% of their original asking price.

For homes listed for sale for less than 100 days, those sellers received 94.85% of their original asking price including concessions while homes listed for greater than 100 days received only 77.15%.

Buyer Financing

Of the homes that sold in July, 29 used FHA, 22 used Conventional Financing, 1 Other, 3 VA and 8 cash.

Jonathan Osman
Charlotte Real Estate

Real Estate Market Update for Single Family Homes in

Mecklenburg County North Carolina Area 4 including: Charlotte, Matthews. Neighborhoods West of Hwy 74, Independence Blvd. and East of Providence Road including, Grier Heights, Chantilly, Cotswold, Elizabeth, Eastover, Beverly Crest, Sardis Woods, High Timbers, Downtown Matthews, Lansdowne, Providence Plantation, and others.

Data gathered for July 1 2009 - July 31, 2009 from the CMLS

Active Listings

In July, 188 single family detached homes were listed for sale in Area 4, North Carolina. July's new listings were 5.05% less than in June and 17.18% fewer than were listed in July 2008.

Pending Units

67 Single Family homes received a contract. This was 32.32% higher than received a contract in June but 16.25% fewer contracts than in July 2008. When compared to July 2007 and 2006, 48.46% and 52.14% fewer contracts were written and accepted this past July.

Sold Units

92 Single Family Detached Homes were sold in July 2009. This was 2.13% less then June and 12.20% more then July 2008. When compared to July 2007 and 2006, 44.24% and 48.02% fewer home sold then this past July. Average Sold Price

In July, the single family detached homes that sold in Area 4 sold at an average of $357,154, which was 10.45% higher than in June and a 1.44% increase when compared to July 2008.

Average Days on Market

Of the homes that closed in July, they were on the market for an average of 101 days before receiving an offer. That was a 4.12% more than the month earlier 44.29% greater than a year earlier, and 98.04% greater than in 2007. 41 Single Family homes sold in less than 100 days while 22 homes in 100 days or greater.

Seller Concession

35 out of the 95 homes (or 38%) that sold in July offered the buyer a concession, usually closing costs. The average seller concession was $4,800.

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 were 1 property offering such a bonus. It was 177 days on the market and 91.72% of the list price.

Sold Price as a Percentage of Tax Value

92 of the homes that sold in July in Area 4 had a tax value assigned to the listing. The homes that sold in July sold at an average of 126.25% of their listed tax values. 61 homes that sold were under 100% and 31 were over 100%of the tax value. The lowest property sold as a percentage of tax value sold for 57.64%. This month there were 3 properties selling for well over tax value (normally new construction, land or extreme renovations). With those unusual properties removed the average dropped to 120.84%

Sales Price as a Percentage of Original List Price

Of the homes that sold in July in Area 4, sellers received 90.69% of their original asking price. With seller concessions included, sellers received on average 90.02% of their original asking price. For homes listed for sale for less than 100 days, those sellers received 92.22% of their original asking price including concessions while homes listed for greater than 100 days received only 85.69%.

Buyer Financing

Of the homes that sold in July, 27 used FHA, 60 used Conventional Financing, 4 cash and 1 Other.

Jonathan Osman
Charlotte Real Estate