Hot Deal Foreclosure/New Construction in North Raleigh!

FORECLOSURE!

NEW CONSTRUCTION!

6024 Battleford Drive

Brookhaven Subdivision

$599,000

This great estate home was completed in 2008 but has never been occupied. The builder’s loss will be someone’s awesome gain! It is over 4000 square feet (+ 400 more unfinished upstairs), 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 3 car garage, bonus room, media room, screened porch, coffered ceiling and all the other bells & whistles you’d expect in a Brookhaven Esates home. When construction was completed, this home was originally listed at $849,900!!

To view the property details go to:  http://www.mlsfinder.com/nc_tmls/changingstreets/index.cfm?action=listing_detail&property_id=1740794&searchkey=432a7882-0421-8a72-d25a-60e09bab9d42&npp=10&sr=1

Leesville Schools & 1st Floor Owner’s Suite

9804 Treymore Drive
Village at Westgate

$179,900

 

Many features including:

1st Floor Owner’s Suite with Large Walk-In Closet
Soaring, 2 Story Ceiling in Living Area
Gas Log Fireplace
Hardwoods Flooring in Entry
Gas Range
Breakfast Bar in Kitchen
Pedestal Sink in Half Bath
Neutral Colors
Linen Closets
Pantry
French Door Opens to Patio
Fenced Backyard
Easy Maintenance Vinyl Siding
2 Car Garage
Low HOA Dues ($75/Quarterly)
Front Lawn Maintainence included in HOA fee
Leesville Schools!
Call Nancy Piacente, Broker, ChangingStreets.com at 919-219-1214 to schedule your showing today!!

List Your Home

Here is the best home listing deal in Raleigh! A great agent with 25 years experience (closed thousands of transactions), a written game plan and list of services, a donation to the local PTA (at a time they need it most) and a company with national reach all for under 5% total.

When buyers are thinking of moving, they are thinking of Changing Streets! Just last month our team in Raleigh increased web traffic by 60% locally and people clicking in from our other markets increased 116%. We would love to put this to work for you when selling your home, many agents in today’s market are relying on what worked three years ago, the MLS and price reductions. We look beyond that, what are the buyer metrics for you neighborhood? How many showings? How much web traffic? How many buyers looked at your home?

This professionalism is what will get you the best deal on your home, and get it sold!

So to recap:

Great Agent

Great Site

Great Plan

Donation to PTA

4.9% total commission, no transactions feeds or admin fees (oh yeah and if you buy your new home with our assistance we will drop another .5%!)

Great Deal!

Contact Nancy directly at 919.219.1214

or email Raleigh@ChangingStreets.com !

Time is ticking on Home Buyer Tax Credit!

Time is ticking away on the available tax credit. In order to qualify for the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit you must be under contract by April 30, 2010 and close with in 60 days.

The tax credit is actually 10% of the sales price up to $8,000 for first time buyers that make less than $125,000 a year as a single or $225,000 a year as a couple filing jointly.

Parents can assist with the purchase and even be co-owners with the tax credit going to the first time buyer.

This is really a fantastic program for a first time buyer, if  some one is renting for $850 a month, they could buy a $100,000 place (a nice townhome these days) have the same payment, $850, of which approximately $640 is tax deductable next year. This means with the $8,000 tax refund they can make the mortgage payment for 9+ months, basically live “rent free” then live cheaper than they did before after tax benefits?

Another factor is that all signs point to a floor in the Raleigh real estate market, showings are up, sales prices are up from last year, inventory is holding steady. It is a great time to buy.

There is also a $6,500 tax credit for move up buyers, again not bad, pay for the carpet and/or paint in the new house, redo the countertops (granite is cheap right now).

This is free after tax money, if you are thinking about changing streets, now is the time; but hurry.

Next step, call us. We can assist with setting up pre-approvals, assist with finding homes, show you homes and make sure you get a nice deal and a good home inspection all by the April 30, 2010 deadline.

Call us at 919.747.4360 or email Raleigh@changingstreets.com

Triangles Most Fabulous Homes

What does $2,500,000 get you in today’s real estate market in the Triangle?  Thousands of square feet of pure luxury, fantastic kitchens, acres of land, and pools.

There are currently 39 homes for sale in the Triangle with price tags over $3.5 million.  15 of these homes are located in Raleigh, five in Durham, four in Chapel Hill, three each for Wake Forest and Cary and one in Morrisville and Creedmore.

Zero Down Loans Available

VA Guaranteed Loans – these are from the Veteran’s Administration and you must have served in one of the nation’s branches of the military to be eligible.   A VA Funding Fee is required by law (currently 2.15% on no down payment programs for a first time use), but the following persons are exempt from paying the funding fee:

•  
  • Veterans receiving VA compensation for service-connected disabilities.
  • Veterans who would be entitled to receive compensation for service-connected disabilities if they did not receive retirement pay.
  • Surviving spouses of veterans who died in service or from service-connected disabilities (whether or not such surviving spouses are veterans with their own entitlement and whether or not they are using their own entitlement on the loan).

Rural Housing Development Authority Loans (RDA) – these loans are for properties in rural areas only, but are another great way to finance a home.  Single Family Housing Section 502 Guaranteed Loans require no down payment and no monthly mortgage insurance, and are loans made by approved mortgage lenders to qualified low and moderate income individuals and families in rural area.  For more information go to

http://eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov/eligibility/welcomeAction.do

FHA - The lowest down payment available to most home buyers is the department of Housing Urban Development’s FHA program.  FHA requires only a 3.5% down payment

How To Have Minimal to NO Closing Costs

Through careful structuring of your real estate contract and home loan program, you may be able to drastically minimize or even eliminate the closing costs and pre-paid items associated with your purchase.  This can add up to a lot of cash kept in your possession!

If you want your closing costs covered by the loan, you need to increase the price and have a stipulation with the seller that they will pay the closings costs and pre-paid expenses equal to the amount by which you have increased the price.

The loan amount will be the purchase price or appraised value, whichever is less. As long as the home appraises for the increased price, you will have the closing costs paid as part of the deal.

As your lender, we may also be able to structure a home loan program that allows us to give you a credit towards your closing costs or we can structure the loan so that we pay some or all of the closing costs for you!

Taking Care of Our Watershed

A clean and well-managed watershed doesn’t just mean clean drinking water. Do your part to keep land and water clean and you could reap financial benefits too.

For most of us, the water at home comes from a municipal tap, so it’s easy to forget how much the quality of a community’s watershed affects water quality and the people, wildlife, and plants that depend on that water. Well-managed watersheds serve as recreational magnets for humans and critical habitat for wildlife, but they also reduce flooding, making your home safer and reducing insurance costs.
What’s a watershed?
Here’s the funny thing about watersheds: They are more about land than water. A watershed is all the terrain in a given area that drains to a single point-a lake, stream, wetland, or even the ocean.
Your yard is part of a watershed. “Nature doesn’t see the world in terms of municipal or site boundaries,” says Center for Watershed Protection (CWP) (http://www.cwp.org/) Program Manager Greg Hoffman. “Anything you do affects everyone else who lives in your watershed. That includes the people, but also the animals and plants.”
Some watershed challenges, such as irresponsible construction practices, are beyond your immediate control. However, many proven solutions lie just inside your front gate.

Community benefits
Healthy, restored, and well-managed waterways offer multiple community-wide benefits, including improved property values, according to research from the Clean Water Partnership (http://www.pca.state.mn.us/water/cwp.html) in Minnesota.
For example, a rainwater management system, which keeps rainwater in a neighborhood by allowing it to sink slowly into the ground, can raise property values when it creates great views.
A Clean Water Partnership study found prices for Minnesota homes with constructed wetland views were nearly a third higher than those without views and sold at prices on par with those fronting a high-quality urban lake.
What you can do to protect the watershed
You have much more control over what happens to the water on your own property. Here are nine ways you can preserve and protect local watersheds:
1. Plant a rain garden. Excess runoff can cause flooding and stream-bank erosion during rainstorms. Creating a rain garden with native grasses, trees, and shrubs gives runoff from your home’s downspouts a chance to soak naturally into the ground. Add a rain barrel to save water for later use.
2. Limit fertilizer. If you must fertilize your lawn, choose a product without phosphorous, which along with nitrogen, upsets the balance of nutrients in local waterways.
3. Service your septic system every three years. Failing septics send “plumes” of nitrogen, phosphorous, and bacteria to nearby streams and shores.
4. Avoid pesticides. Though most pesticides break down in soil, a storm can wash them into nearby streams. Instead, explore biological pest control methods such as species-specific bacteria, predator stocking (think ladybugs), and pheromone lures, which attract and trap pests.
5. Pick up pet waste. In a 20-square-mile watershed draining to a small coastal bay, two to three days of droppings from a 100 dogs would contribute enough E.coli bacteria to temporarily close the bay to swimming.
6. Buffer streams. If you have a stream on your property, provide a natural buffer of native trees, shrubs, and plants around its banks to filter dirty storm water runoff.
7. Use commercial car washes. The best place to wash your car is at a commercial car wash, many of which filter their water before directing it to treatment plants. If you must wash your vehicle at home, park it on the grass first, so your lawn absorbs some of the detergent runoff and contaminants.
9. Avoid paving. If you must pave, consider stone pavers for a patio, rather than concrete, and gravel for a driveway, rather than asphalt.
In short, it can be easy and tempting to think of watershed stewardship as someone else’s problem. But the responsibility for our most precious resource begins right at home.

Listing Your Home as a Short Sale

Despite the efforts of many people the number of distressed mortgage holders is growing in America. Over seven million home owners are now delinquent on their mortgage, some estimates say 25% of homeowners are underwater. It is time to face the reality that good people are in bad spots.

Being behind on your mortgage is not a shameful thing anymore. how many homeowners can take the blame for massive job loss? What is important is that homeowners in this position are making educated decisions.

Here are a couple facts about foreclosures that should freak anyone out that may be heading in that direction.

1. A foreclosure will keep you from purchasing another home for 5 years, minimum.
2. A foreclosure can come with a deficiency, meaning the lender or their assigns may come after you for the difference between what you owe and what they sell for. ( A deficency judgement is good for 27 years in most states)
3. A foreclosure will further erode your neighbors value.

A short sale will avoid number 2 above which in my opinion is good enough. President Bush passed an act that let banks and borrowers do a short sale without having to pay the IRS for the amount forgiven or having to face a deficiency judgement down the road, and almost all banks will sign off on all future rights to collect, but you have to ask!

The other benefit is that a short sale or pre-foreclosure sale will harm your credit, but you will recover quicker and be allowed to purchase a home with a Fannie Mae mortgage after two years.

The fact that the home will not be sitting vacant (in most cases) will help maintain neighborhood values. The seller can usually live in the home at a reduce rate and get relocation money from their lender. In most cases we can also make sure you are clear of any future obligations.

There really is less stressful way to handle a distressed mortgage, and we can help. We will try and take the stress out of the situation for you and your family by facilitating a short sale on your property. As always you can feel confident in speaking with ChangingStreets.com. For more information on how we can help you avoid foreclosure please give us a call at 919.747.4360. We are Short Sale and Foreclosure certified, we can help.

For more information and links on Short Sales check out : www.RaleighForeclosureOptions.com

Sell

Selling Your Home with ChangingStreets.com

You want a competent, knowledgable,  experienced, detail and results oriented team selling your home. There is no substitute in this market. Our team covers two states, the experience we gain in each market, makes your listing stronger. Talking about all the websites we that will show your listing is a waste of your time, talking about top of the line photography, is like breathing…you demand all things, and we supply them and many, many more.  We approach the listing of your home in a three step process…marketing, negotiating, project management. For a confidentail meeting about the listing of your property and the many options we have for you, please give us a call, email or click the chat button. We will make your selling experience Smart, Easy, Sane.

 

Selling Your Home Step-By-Step… The Smart > Easy > Sane way.

 As you probably know, you’re not the only one who’s selling a home in your community. But did you know that some 100,000 people join you each week? With those kinds of numbers, it’s easy to see that competition is pretty fierce. So, the better prepared you are, the better your experience will be and the better (and likely faster) outcome you can expect. Let’s keep this Smart > Easy > Sane!

 1. Make a Good First Impression.

A well-maintained home will generally sell faster and for a higher price than a similar home that looks drab or run-down. When you prepare your home for sale, take a critical look inside and out. If you’re having trouble being objective, ask your ChangingStreets.com agent, a neighbor or a friend to help. (you can even go to ChangingStreets.com and look at photos of other people’s homes and get ideas on what looks good).  And don’t take the input to heart. Everyone has things—big or small—to clean up, repair or replace.

Three tips> a clean refrigerator front, a bowl of green apples,  and look at all door knobs and light switches.

 2. Know the Market.

Your home will be competing with similar homes for sale in and around your neighborhood, so it’s a good idea to know which homes are on the market and what their asking prices are. Take a walk or drive around the area to look for signs and check web listings. You can contact ChangingStreets.com and they will set you up with a neighborhood portal that will keep you informed of all the new listings, sales and price changes in your neighborhood.  Your ChangingStreets.com agent will be the expert to provide you information on area homes for sale. All of this will help you when you work together with your agent to determine the fair market value  and right price of your own home.

 3. Price Your Home Correctly.

 Pricing your home too high can discourage offers from serious buyers. On the other hand, pricing your home too low won’t leave you much room to negotiate. That’s why intelligent pricing is so important. Work with your ChangingStreets.com agent to determine the best list price for your home.

4. Make Sure Your Home is Marketed Effectively.

It’s tough to sell your home if no one knows it’s for sale. A ChangingStreets.com agent can create a plan that provides maximum exposure and the correct message for your home using our web site, direct mail and other marketing tools. This unique combination of services means your home is properly  marketed every single day until it’s sold.

 

5. Prepare for Showings and Open Houses.

Showings and Open Houses let potential buyers personally tour your home to see if it fits their lifestyle. Your goal should be to create an environment where potential buyers can visualize how the space will fit them. This includes removing items from your kitchen counters and arranging your furniture to create a simple, spacious appearance—so it’s easier for buyers to see themselves living there. Your ChangingStreets.com agent will provide you with not only a detailed list but also an implementation plan.

 

6. Negotiate the Terms of the Sale.

Buyers and sellers usually expect to negotiate the price and terms of a home sale. You can speed up this process if you evaluate and respond to offers and counteroffers in a timely fashion. Don’t worry if you’re not personally comfortable negotiating; your ChangingStreets.com agent has great experience and will help you through this process by handling all negotiations and sharing with you all the market information to assist in making smart decisions.

7. Review the Home Inspector’s Findings.

A home inspection is part of the process—stay calm. After the inspection results are delivered, many buyers request certain repairs. As the seller, you should receive a written copy of the inspection report as well. Be sure to review it carefully so you understand the nature and extent of any problems and repairs a buyer may request. Your agent should help you respond to the inspection, clearly stating what you will take care of, how and when.

8. Sign the Purchase Agreement.

Once you reach an understanding with the buyer, it’s time to sign the purchase agreement. Review this document carefully and discuss it with your ChangingStreets.com agent. The purchase agreement will specify the terms and conditions to which you have agreed. 

9. Prepare for Closing. 

The closing process involves an attorney and/or title company representative, the buyer, listing and selling broker/agent, and you, the seller. This important meeting will include the final transaction, which is transferring the home from your possession to the new owner. Make sure you bring all equipment warranties, instructions and maintenance or operation information to provide to the new owners—and don’t forget the keys and garage door openers too. ( We will remind you, we know this can be a crazy day!)

10. Have an agent with StreetSmarts.             

Even the strongest planned transaction can run into obstacles. That is where experience and perseverance come into play to solve your problems and handle all the issues that come up during the transaction.

 

The goal is simple—to raise the expectations of consumers. To empower you with information that will make the experience Smart > Easy > Sane. We save our clients time and stress. Period.

At ChangingStreets.com® we love what we do and we do what we love. We are in a rapidly changing industry and we pride ourselves on keeping our clients ahead of the curve. We’ve got StreetSmarts. We’d love to go to work for you in selling your home… and buying your next one, too!

Tips for a More Sustainable Life

Smart>Easy>Sane tips for a Better>Cleaner>Greener Planet

Small Steps Let You Live More Sustainably

 

By: Amanda Abrams
Published: August 28, 2009

Making little lifestyle changes will do a lot to enhance sustainability for the planet–and make every day Earth Day.

It’s a great feeling every Earth Day to bike to work and show your love of the planet. But sustainable practices-managing how you use resources to ensure that there will enough for future generations-doesn’t have to be limited to once a year. With a few adjustments, sustainable practices can easily become a part of daily life and save you money while you help improve the planet.

What is sustainability?

Sustainable living is an umbrella term that covers many different ideas and programs. It can be as simple as recycling and using less water or as complex as changing state and federal policies to promote wind and solar power and high-speed rail transportation. Local planning commissions can promote sustainability by allowing higher density housing that uses less land.

If you want to support some of these public sustainability programs, you can contact your government representative (http://www.congress.org) to express support. You could also support a nonprofit group like the Edible Schoolyard (http://www.edibleschoolyard.org/) program, which teaches kids how to grow and eat locally.

Opposition to sustainable practices

Not everyone is a fan of sustainable practices. Some people worry that conservation efforts produce more government regulation, increase living costs, and reduce corporate profits. Not sure where you stand on these major policies. Why not start small and see?

Eat locally. One of the biggest impacts a family has on the environment is what it eats. It takes around 10 calories of fossil fuel-in the form of fertilizers, processing, and transportation-to produce a single calorie of supermarket food, according to Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma (http://www.michaelpollan.com/omnivore.php). Cut down on your food’s energy impact by eating food grown near your home.

 A 2001 study conducted by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture (http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/pubs/staff/ppp/food_mil.pdf), Iowa State University, found that the cost of transporting food from the region or the local area was four and 17 times less, respectively, than buying from national distributors.

Finding local food isn’t difficult

* Local Harvest (http://www.localharvest.org) will help you find farmers markets as well as farms in your region that offer subscription programs. Signing up for a subscription means you pay up front, so there’s a risk if the harvest fails. Costs vary depending on the size of the share and your part of the country. A good estimate from Local Harvest is that you’ll spend about $600 to cover produce for a family of four during a four or five month growing season.

* Keep food even closer to home by growing your own, either in your backyard or in a shared community space (http://www.houselogic.com/articles/start-a-community-garden-get-the-community-involved/). Expect to spend several hours a week seeding, weeding, and harvesting. Gardening is also a great way to teach kids about healthy eating.

 The downside of eating locally is that food from a farmer’s market often costs more than the same from the supermarket. And in winter, you may eat a lot of cabbage and potatoes if you stick to local eating.

Buy gently used

Everyone likes something new once in a while-and fast-growing kids require it. Consumer spending is also a big contributor to a healthy economy. But producing and transporting new products from the factory to you also uses lots of resources. One way to get new stuff and still promote sustainability is to trade something you no longer want for what you need.

* Freecycle (http://www.freecycle.org) is a 7 million-strong global network of people who share their possessions-for free. Once you join online, you’ll receive regular email about used items that you can request and pick up. Eva Schmoock, a student nurse and mother of two in Carrboro, N.C., is an avid user. She’s found new homes for everything, including paint and kids’ bathing suits.

* A low-tech option: Organize swap meets with neighbors to lessen your environmental footprint without opening your wallet. Get your kids to put flyers in mailboxes to promote the swap. Or try a consignment shop.

Reduce trash by composting

It isn’t just what you buy that has an impact on the world’s resources, it’s what you throw away. The average American is responsible for almost 5 pounds of garbage a day, 12.5% of which is food scraps, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/pubs/msw07-rpt.pdf). That trash clogs landfills and pollutes ground water.

Want to reduce waste? Consider composting. Just put those peels and pods (but no meat or dairy products) in a separate container instead of the garbage can. When the container is full, carry it to your compost pile.

A $10 plastic bucket with a lid will work; fancier models have charcoal filters that cut down on smells but cost two or three times as much. Let your kids scrape plates into the compost pail or empty the full container.

 You’ll find a compost bin for every budget. You can fence off a small (out-of-sight) section of your yard with less than $50 worth of mesh wire and poles. Plastic bins and barrels are neater, but can cost several times more. The best part of composting: In six months, nature will convert your waste into terrific fertilizer to sustain your vegetable or flower garden.

Amanda Abrams is a Washington, D.C.-based writer who spent many years planning to be an organic farmer. Now she writes about how to make the world a better place for papers like The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.

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