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Mortgage Credit Certificate For First Time Buyers

March 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Are you looking for the new first time home buyer tax credit? I've got good news for you! It exists and it's called the Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC). Most every state has some form of the Mortgage Credit Certificate. Here are the details of how the program works in North Carolina. The Mortgage Credit Certificate gives qualifying first time home buyers a financial benefit when filing … [Read more...]

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1103 Front Gate In Heritage at Wake Forest

February 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Heritage in Wake Forest is an amazing community.  There's the golf course, the 2 swimming pools, the tennis courts, the walking trails.  And of course there are some really great, custom built homes too.  If  living in an award winning, master planned community is appealing, and you would like a maintenance free, easy-living townhome full of upgrades at an affordable price... read on. This … [Read more...]

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FHA To Increase MIP Rates For Second Time In Six Months

February 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

FHA has announced that it will increase the annual Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP) for the second time in six months.  The last increase was in Oct of 2010 and resulted in a $58 monthly increase in the payment amount on a $200,000 loan amount.  In October the up front portion of MIP decreased by about $2,500 for the same $200,000 mortgage. No decrease in up front premium this time … [Read more...]

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Rising Interest Rates Make Homes Cost More

February 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Rising interest rates could be the wild card that spoils your chance to get a good deal on your next home purchase.  Getting the absolute lowest price on a new home is important, but getting a low payment and total interest paid should be considered as well. I've heard a few potential home buyers say they are waiting for the market to hit bottom.  Although that sounds like a noble cause, in … [Read more...]

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Sales Tax In North Carolina

February 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The sales tax in North Carolina is made up of a fixed state rate and local (city or county) rates.  There are also special use taxes that are added to these amounts to obtain the sales tax rate in certain purchase situations. The North Carolina state sales tax rate is currently 5.75%.  If you live in the Raleigh area, you are in Wake County and there is another 2% tacked on for a total of … [Read more...]

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Why Are So Many Buyers Paying Cash?

February 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment

So how many buyers are paying cash for properties?  According to the National Association of Realtors 28% of all residential sales in 2010 were cash deals.  Is that a large percentage?  Oh yeah!  For instance, in October 2008 only 14% of home purchases were cash.  Those are national numbers.  And look where the really big volumes of cash sales were. All Cash Deals in December … [Read more...]

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What Are Property Taxes In Raleigh, North Carolina?

February 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Property taxes in Raleigh, North Carolina have been a popular topic lately.  Most homes are selling below property tax value right now.  This is because the assessed tax value was recalculated in 2007 (for the 2008 re-assessment) and the market here had still not begun to decline.  We reassess every 8 years so the current tax value was set at a time of peak home prices. Over the past 3 years … [Read more...]

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What Is The Best Time To Sell A House?

January 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

What is the best time to sell a house?  The simple answer to that question is that there is not a bad time to sell a house. But some seasons are certainly less of a challenge than others. There is a seasonality that is very consistant for home sales.  The graph below shows the typical shape of the sales curve for home sales in Wake County. The first thing you'll probably notice about … [Read more...]

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6 Steps To Buying A House

January 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

So what are the steps to buying a house?  There are lots of moving parts.  It can be one of the most exciting times in your life.  Unfortunately it can quickly turn into a nightmare if things go wrong and you don't know what to do.  It's a very important decision and you want to get it right. There are logical steps to buying a house that should be followed if you want to have a good … [Read more...]

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What Are Closing Costs For A Home Purchase?

January 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

What are closing costs when buying a home? Well, there are the usual hard closing costs that everyone sees on their settlement statement. And there are the soft closing costs that can add up to just as much, if not more. But today we will answer the question, "what are closing costs when buying a home" from the perspective of … [Read more...]

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