Goldsboro Real Estate Blog

March 1st, 2008 by judith

I found two different lenders quoting 5.5% on government no money down loans on Friday .  One said that rate would be available all weekend. I also found a buyer one hundred percent financing on a $333,500 mortgage for 6.25%. 

 The credit crunch has affected the national rental market as many people who previously owned or would have owned their own homes are no longer able to qualify for financing.  The law of Supply & Demand is universal and as more people need to rent, the cost of renting goes up. 

Our local market is even more sensitive to supply and demand and the combination of the government deciding to tear down lots of base housing units at the same time they are moving a few hundred families to SJAFB makes the problem even worse.  One of our largest new employers is moving a fairly large number of people in from Detroit which is such a depressed housing market that those people also many times  have to rent until they can sell their homes in the North.

It has now reached the point in our local market where it is many times cheaper per month to buy and make a house payment than it is to rent.  If rates go down as anticipated  in mid March, that should  become even more true.

If you are a first time home buyer in the the State of North Carolina you can buy an existing home up to $189,000 and new construction up to $200,000 with no money down and half the PMI that any one else would pay. 

Mortgage payments are fairly easy to figure at 6% interest rate you can borrow $100,000 and have a principal and interest payment of only $600.00 per month.  Then you would add taxes and insurance onto that rate to get your monthly payment.  If you choose a house in the county where you are only paying county taxes that should add another hundred or maybe two maiximum  to your payment.  If your payment is $800.00 per month most of which is a tax deduction and it would cost a thousand dollars or more to rent the same house buying becomes an interesting (no pun intended) idea.

 If you would like more information about how to calculate monthly payments on any home for sale in Wayne County just email me at judith@themcmillengroup.com and we’ll send you the “cheat sheet” that realtors use so that you can figure what your payement would be on any home that might be of interest to you.  You don’t have to register or identify yourself in anyway we’re happy to provide it to you.

Judith

February 26th, 2008 by judith

 The national media continues to post gloom and doom headlines about the bleak housing market.  Today’s top story was housing prices declining a larger percentage this past quarter than they had in twenty years.  BUT when you read the entire story at the very end it tells you that these figures are compiled averaging the declines in a limited number of major cities.  Detroit had a decline in the housing market this past quarter….they also have the highest unemployment rate in the country right now.  Several of the large Midwestern cities have reported the worst winters in many years. 

 Chicago has had over 50 inches of snow so far this winter which is already more than 20 inches above their total winter average snow, common sense tells us that house shopping decreases in bad weather. 

  Miami was also one of the ten cities, it only stands to reason that if the majority of your citizens are Hispanic who are not bringing in their friends and relatives and many cases packing up entire families and leaving our country.  The increased risk of deportation has many families being proactive and leaving together rather than risk one of the parents being deported and leaving the family behind.

Las Vegas was one of the other cities where values declined.  Las Vegas has had double digit appreciation sometimes monthly rather than yearly.  The glut of “flippers” in that market indicates to me that the market is just correcting itself.

 Charlotte was the only city in North Carolina that was on the list and it showed a nice increase, the News and Observer shows mixed data about Raleigh but it varies from neighborhood to neighborhood.  You can still sell a house in Cary, Holly Springs, Wake Forrest or any of the popular areas in a relatively short period of time.  The days on the market have gone up and the prices have come down on the McMansions in North Raleigh where some have had to drop from a million three to a million one.  It’s hard for Realtors here in Wayne County to relate to those numbers.  The other areas that have increased days on the market and decreasing prices are in the lower price ranges where a combination of repossessions and Hispanics leaving the area in the south east and east central parts of their city.

 The Goldsboro Housing Market is strong, we are not having rapid appreciation in all areas but our market is strong if you have a house to sell this is a good time to buy one.  Traditionally this time of year we have one of the largest inventories, there is traditionally less to choose from in the summer with the inventory peaking in May and declining to it’s lowest level in August.

 The rental market is tight because of all the new people coming to the base at the same time that the government in it’s infinite wisdom decided to tear down dozens and dozens of base housing units.  If you are an investor or have ever thought about becoming one please call and I’ll be happy to set up an appointment for you to sit down and talk with one of our agents who specializes in investment properties.  Their are bargains to be had in the lower price ranges because of the glut of repose on the market many financial institutions will take less than market value to get out from under so many repossessed homes.  That segment of the market will probably show a decline in prices by the end of this quarter but the investors who do not choose to become landlords are flipping them for enough to make a nice profit so that when you look at the overall numbers one offsets the other to the point that we are not showing a big decline even in that price range.

February 18th, 2008 by judith

Our local market never saw the dramatic increases in property values so consequently we have so far avoided the dramatic downturn of the national real estate market

Wayne County multiple listing service statistics show that some segments of our local market are actually showing increases over last year.

SJAFB is bringing families into the our area at the same time that they are tearing down base housing.  Our local market should experience an increase from now until July or August.

This mini boom has made it impossible for me to use the stats to track the market the way I have always done,because so many of the Kinston and Clayton/Smithfield companies have joined our mls and their total figures have been included.  The only way to make sense of the figures is to track the top five companies and what they have done year to date over last year to date.

 Let’s look at the overall statistics for the month of January.  January 2007 showed  a total of 31 real estate companies had at least one sale.  January 2008 only 28 companies had at least one sale.  However if you look at the totals of what sold the top five companies had a total combined residential sales of $11,084,029 for 2007 with a slight decrease in 2008 to $10,385,000.  This slight decrease in the sale of stick built houses was offset by the increase of double wides and modulars from 2007.  Furthermore Prudential was the top selling company for January of 2008 and was up by $808.150.  The only other company that was up was My Goldsboro Agent. Dees and Tyndall and Houser were both down slightly and Town & Country GMAC dropped out of the top five and was replaced by Cardianl Point Real Estate that specializes in foreclosures.

The month of January was prior to the influx of military people which is just beginning.  It will be interesting to see what happens in February.

 My personal view is that if you have a house to sell under $200,000 this is going to be the best possible time to sell.  If you are a first time home buyer it is possible to get 100% financing with one half PMI and flexible FHA ratios.  That program only goes up to $200,000 on new construction and $189,000 on existing construction.  In addition Prudential offers programs to help people buy homes for nurses and other health care professionals, teachers and school personnel, safety officers including police offers, firemen and EMT’s, all military personnel and first time home buyers.

 If you’ve ever wished for a larger, nicer home this could be time to sell because there is a large pool of buyers and it can also be a great time to move into a larger home because of the lower interest rates.  Many times it is possible to buy a larger nicer home and have no increase in monthly payments because of a decreased interest rate.

 If you’d like to know what you home is worth you can get a ball park figure off the interenet from Zillo or some of the other websites.  Those are imprecise because they do not take into consideration things like eight foot ceilings vs. nine foot ceilings, sprayed ceilings vs. smooth, tile vs. vinyl etc.  If you are seriously considering selling you need to talk to an agent and have them make all the fine point adjustments to your figures so that you don’t cost yourself money.  Any of our agents will be happy to help you just call our receptionist and tell her what you want and she will assign you to the agent most experienced in your area.

If there is anything I can personally do to help you please don’t hesitate to call me.

Judith McMillen

January 25th, 2008 by TMG Webmaster

Welcome to the Goldsboro Real Estate Blog by Judith McMillen of Prudential The McMillen Real Estate Group.