Charlotte Home Buyers Archives - Houses for Sale in Charlotte NC

What’s Your FICO Score? Do You Know What Score You Need to Buy a House?

03/19/2019 by Debe Leave a Comment

What’s Your FICO Score? Do You Know What Score You Need to Buy a House?

Oh the myths we hear in our business! Recently, it was reported that 24% of renters believe they need a 780-800 credit score to be considered for a mortgage. The reality is those reporters were misinformed…as were the renters who read the erroneous articles!

To begin with, only 25% of the Americans have a FICO® Score between 740 and 800. Here is the breakdown according to Experian:

16% Very Poor (300-579)
18% Fair (580-669)
21% Good (670-739)
25% Very Good (740-799)
20% Exceptional (800-850)

Just because you have a low credit score doesn’t mean you can’t purchase a home. Just as there are a multitude of options available for those with exceptional scores, there are a lot of options out there for consumers with low FICO® scores.

*“What’s our FICO Score? Can we buy a house?”*

Low or no credit score? There are many programs available with low or no credit score requirement. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) now requires a minimum FICO® score of 580 if you want to qualify for the low down payment advantage.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) does not set a minimum credit score requirement, but most lenders require a score of at least 640.

Veterans Affairs (VA) loans have no credit score requirement.

As you can see, none of those programs require a credit score above 700!

Yes, it’s true that the average FICO® score for all Closed loans in January, 2019 was 726 (that includes refinances). There are plenty of home buyers and homeowners taking advantage of the low credit score requirements when purchasing or refinancing.

This graphic represents the average FICO® Score of Closed FHA Loans since April 2012 according to Ellie Mae:

Average FICO Score of Closed FHA Loans (Refinances & Purchases)

As you can see, there has been a reduction for the last seven years. In fact, for FHA Purchase loans, the average FICO® Score reported in January 2019 was 675!

Many Americans simply assume that their credit score is too low to qualify and do not even bother to check. Credit.com confirmed that only 57% of individuals sought out their credit score at least once last year.

FICO® reported that since 2009, the average FICO score has steadily increased from a low of 686 in 2009 to today’s average of 704.This graph demonstrates the increase in the average US FICO® Score over the same period of time as the graph above (2009 – 2019).

The Average US FICO Score is on the rise in 2019.

Bottom Line

A surprising 84% of Americans have a FICO score that will allow them to buy a house. If you are unsure what your score is or would like to improve your score in order to become a homeowner, let’s talk! I would love to help you set a path to achieve your dream! Call or text (704) 491-3310

HUGE PRICE IMPROVEMENT on Custom Home in Popular Dilworth Neighborhood

03/15/2019 by Debe 1 Comment

HUGE PRICE IMPROVEMENT on Custom Home in Popular Dilworth Neighborhood

HUGE $100K+ PRICE IMPROVEMENT! Price per square foot is below market value on this stunning custom 2-story arts & crafts home. Located in the Dilworth neighborhood, one of Charlotte’s premier historic communities, you will be living just minutes from Uptown Charlotte.

Enjoy entertaining in your open great room/kitchen/breakfast area that flows beautifully onto the large screened porch, overlooking the babbling stream and wooded area in the back.

Floor to ceiling stone modern fireplace with gas logs, flanked by custom built-ins. No detail overlooked in this lovely home: 10′ ceilings down/9′ ceilings up, hardwood floors throughout (except baths/laundry/bedrooms), zero entry double-head shower with stand-alone soaking tub, dual vanities in master bath, gorgeous wood trim accents, oversized parking pad with covered parking at mudroom/kitchen entry.

Minutes to Uptown, Myers Park, South End & Sedgefield. Imagine having Freedom Park, shopping & restaurants just quick stroll away. Incredibly friendly neighbors and quiet, dead-end street – great for neighborhood gatherings with no through-traffic! You will LOVE this location!

Take the walk-through virtual tour and then give us a call! We’d love to give you the grand tour! (704) 491-3310

Why Do I Need a Real Estate Agent?

03/12/2019 by Debe Leave a Comment

Why Do I Need a Real Estate Agent?

87% Of Buyers Purchased Real Estate Through An Agent Or Broker In 2018

Why you need a Charlotte Real Estate Agent

Between the historic inventory shortage, intense competition and rapidly rising prices, navigating the Charlotte real estate market in 2018 was a real challenge for buyers. For that very reason, the vast majority of home buyers partnered with real estate professionals for their home search.

According to the 2018 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers from the National Association of Realtors, 87% percent of buyers purchased their home through a real estate agent or broker. The main reason? Buyers wanted an agent to help them find the right home for them and their families (52%). I can’t tell you how many times I receive calls from buyers who ‘just found’ a listing that I had on the market (or another agent had on the market) that has been under Contract for over a week. Savvy buyers understand that full-time, high-producing real estate agents have their fingers on the pulse of the local market.

The Bottom Line

If you’re thinking about buying a home in Charlotte this spring, make sure you work with a qualified real estate professional. There’s a reason 9 out of 10 buyers partner with an agent or broker to find and purchase their dream home and I’d love to help you find yours.

Call or text (704) 491-3310 – let’s talk!

3 Reasons We are NOT Heading Towards Another Housing Crash

02/21/2019 by Debe Leave a Comment

3 Reasons Why We Are NOT Heading Toward Another Housing Crash

Almost DAILY I receive a call, text, email or Facebook or LinkedIn private message – “What is going on with the market? Are we headed towards another crash?” or “Is another recession in our near future?” or something akin to those questions. I can’t tell you how many people I have reminded NOT to listen to the ‘talking heads!’ Seriously, that’s all they are – they are speaking in general terms without any relevant data to back up their theories.

It’s very frustrating to an industry that is accustomed to combating the negatives, normally; we don’t need the help of the media or other ‘talking heads’ who truly have no clue just how local our industry really is.

With home prices softening a bit, I can understand, to some degree, that there may be a concern that we may be headed ‘toward the next housing crash.’ However, we are in a TOTALLY different market than we were during the bubble market we were in, twelve years ago.

Here are three key metrics that will explain why:

Home Prices
Mortgage Standards
Foreclosure Rates

HOME PRICES

A decade ago, home prices depreciated dramatically, losing about 29% of their value over a four-year period (2008-2012). Today, prices are not depreciating, rather the level of appreciation is simply decelerating.

Home values are no longer appreciating annually at a rate of 6-7%. However, they have still increased by more than 4% over the last year. Of the 100 experts reached for the latest Home Price Expectation Survey, 94 said home values would continue to appreciate through 2019. It will just occur at a slower & lower rate. This is great news for home buyers who are nearing being priced out of the market. In fact, many have been already and many more would be if the rate of appreciating continued at the fast pace it was over the past 3-4 years.

MORTGAGE STANDARDS

Many are concerned that lending institutions are again easing standards to a level that helped create the last housing bubble. However, there is absolutely NO proof that today’s standards are anywhere near as lenient as they were during the period leading up to the crash.

The Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center issues a quarterly index which,

“…measures the percentage of home purchase loans that are likely to default—that is, go unpaid for more than 90 days past their due date. A lower HCAI indicates that lenders are unwilling to tolerate defaults and are imposing tighter lending standards, making it harder to get a loan. A higher HCAI indicates that lenders are willing to tolerate defaults and are taking more risks, making it easier to get a loan.”

Last month, their January Housing Credit Availability Index revealed:

“Significant space remains to safely expand the credit box. If the current default risk was doubled across all channels, risk would still be well within the pre-crisis standard of 12.5 percent from 2001 to 2003 for the whole mortgage market.”

FORECLOSURE INVENTORY

Within the last decade, distressed properties (foreclosures and short sales) made up 35% of all home sales. The Mortgage Bankers’ Association revealed just last week, that we currently have the lowest level of foreclosures in process since 1996 – less than 1%. That, to me, speaks the strongest to the point, we are nowhere near a recession.

Real estate statistics/data is hyper-local. Consult a local Realtor® for the local facts.

Bottom Line

After using these three key housing metrics to compare today’s market to that of the last decade, it becomes crystal clear that the two markets are simply nothing alike. We are likely in the midst of a much-needed market correction, taking real estate to a more neutral market than the sellers’ market we have been experiencing since 2013.

What Residents Like Best About Living in Charlotte

02/10/2019 by Debe Leave a Comment

What Residents Like Best About Living in Charlotte

I always enjoy listening to the 40-under-40 responses each year as the Charlotte Business Journal interviews the winners of this prestigious award. I’m always interested in where they attended college, what they have achieved, where they work, their job/title and my favorite question – “What do you like best about living in Charlotte?“

Here are some of the highlights that the 40-under-40 like best about living in the Charlotte region:

The welcoming and collaborative spirit of the Queen City
The restaurants – the culinary experience is out of this world!
The variety! One can walk on miles of greenway trails, shop at six different grocery stores, and order some of the best pizza available.
Proximity to the mountains and beaches
The number of parks and greenways
The availability of concerts and sporting events
Charlotte has that small-town feel and culture, but all the attractions and amenities of our country’s largest cities
The weather — we get the best of all four seasons!
The melting pot of people from all over the country…and the world
Reasonable cost of living
The warm and friendly people with their touch of Southern charm
Neighborhood walkability— to parks & area playgrounds, shops & restaurants
Variety of things we have locally — Whitewater Center, great restaurants, Carolina Panthers
It’s the perfect mesh of Southern charm and city living
Being a part of our growing city
The changing seasons
Charlotte has it all — from big-city life in uptown to rural farmland in the outskirts
Because Charlotte has it all, we seem to attract people from all over the country (and all over the world!), leading to an amazingly diverse population
The variety the area has to offer
Charlotte is the best all-around city—great opportunity, interesting work, easy commutes, access to arts and culture and an easy-to-navigate airport
The people and community
Not too cold; not too hot
Nice Uptown
Quiet suburbs
Small enough where you run into everyone you know at the grocery store, but then there is a very sophisticated business environment that allows for a high standard of living
Quality of life
Proximity to the coast and mountains
The cost of living relative to other large cities
Charlotte Douglas International Airport makes business travel easily accessible.
Charlotte is the perfect balance. Work pace vs. Southern charm; urban vs. green space; summer vs. winter
The sports venues
Music venues
Local breweries
Having lived in the Midwest, not owning a snow shovel is nice
Being an active member of the culinary landscape of Charlotte
This city does a great job welcoming newcomers
There are so many ways to get involved and have impact
You can live life at a fast or slow pace, depending upon the part of the city in which you reside
The community engagement opportunities.
Charlotte has so many benefits of big-city living, but without the pitfalls of mega-city living that sometimes make day-to-day life unnecessarily difficult and burdensome.
Charlotte feels like a cosmopolitan city in the sense that most people I’ve met have chosen Charlotte as a destination.
This region always feels like it’s on the cusp of something.
The wonderful people here—this city only has two degrees of separation.

Having lived here for decades, I can attest to hearing some version of each and every one of these statements from those who I have helped relocate to the area. As I keep up with my clients after they purchase, I’m always anxious to hear how they are enjoying their neighborhood and living in the area.

Each of these comments put a smile on my face because it’s exactly how I feel and exactly my hopes for my clients — that they will feel exactly like this after living here a short while. It warms my heart that they do!

If you’re thinking of relocating to the Charlotte Metro region, I’d be happy to share the hidden gems here in the city with you as well as the obvious, fabulous things to love about living here! Need to know where to find the best slice of pizza pie near your new neighborhood? Yes, I can tell you that too! Call or text me at (704) 491-3310 or email CharlotteBroker@icloud.com

BUYERS

Visit www.iCharlotteRealEstate.com for more information and to search for homes in the Charlotte Metro area. Your first step should be enlisting an experienced, local real estate broker. Selecting a great broker is not as easy as it may seem. You will want to enlist a seasoned real estate professional for your real estate needs. Again, I would love to share my knowledge of the area with you…and give you the grand tour as well!

Hiring the RIGHT Charlotte Realtor® is critical to your home buying success!

*References from any of our clients are available upon request. Or read our reviews www.CharlotteRealEstateAgentReviews.com.

Buying a Home in Charlotte in 2019? Here Comes the Inventory!

01/18/2019 by Debe Leave a Comment

Buying a Home in Charlotte in 2019? Here Comes the Inventory!

The #1 reason homeowners cited for not listing their home for sale in 2018, was that they felt they would be unable to find a home to purchase. After 3 years of declining inventory in the Charlotte region, we’re finally starting to see listings hit the market! So, let’s get together to chat about what this means for your home purchase or sale our market. Call or text (704) 491-3310. Thinking of selling? Let’s talk NOW!

Visit www.ListMyCharlotteHome.com for more information on listing your home and experiencing a successful sale with us!

BUYERS

Visit www.TheMaxwellHouseGroup.com for more information and to search for homes in the Charlotte Metro region. Your first step should be enlisting an experienced, local real estate broker. Selecting a great broker is not as easy as it may seem.

There are real estate agents and brokers who will sell you anything but, you want to enlist a seasoned real estate professional for your real estate needs. We would love to share our knowledge of the many communities in Charlotte and the surrounding areas with you…and give you the grand tour of our gorgeous city!

Hiring the RIGHT Charlotte Realtor® is critical to your home buying success!

SELLERS

Visit our seller tab above for more information on our marketing or visit 4HouseValues.com and complete the form to get an automated value; I will do the research and get back to you with an accurate valuation.

As with everything in life, preparation is key and I will equip you with what you’ll need to get you, as seamlessly as possible, through the home-selling process.

What’s my Charlotte home worth in 2019? Follow the link and complete the questionnaire – we’ll do the research and get back to you.

*References from any of our sellers are available upon request. Read our reviewswww.CharlotteRealEstateAgentReviews.com.

Hiring the RIGHT Realtor® is critical to your home selling success!

#ListMyCharlotteHome #CharlotteHomeBuyers #CharlotteHomeSellers

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How may I help you?

What’s Your FICO Score? Do You Know What Score You Need to Buy a House?

HUGE PRICE IMPROVEMENT on Custom Home in Popular Dilworth Neighborhood

HUGE PRICE IMPROVEMENT on Custom Home in Popular Dilworth Neighborhood

Take the walk-through virtual tour and then give us a call! We’d love to give you the grand tour! (704) 491-3310

Why Do I Need a Real Estate Agent?

3 Reasons We are NOT Heading Towards Another Housing Crash

3 Reasons Why We Are NOT Heading Toward Another Housing Crash

Here are three key metrics that will explain why:

HOME PRICES

MORTGAGE STANDARDS

FORECLOSURE INVENTORY

Bottom Line

What Residents Like Best About Living in Charlotte

Buying a Home in Charlotte in 2019? Here Comes the Inventory!

Hiring the RIGHT Charlotte Realtor® is critical to your home buying success!

Hiring the RIGHT Realtor® is critical to your home selling success!

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