Do You Know Your Mortgage PNPs? Savvy Borrowers Know Them Well...

If I had been asked this question yesterday, I would have returned a blank stare. I read last week a very informative article on Inman News written by Professor Jack Guttentag of Wharton School of Business that talks about PNP's as it relates to mortgage loan pricing.

PNP stands for "Pricing Notch Points" and is a factor that determines pricing of goods. For example, when buying corn, a supermarket may offer "$0.75 per ear for the first three, $0.70 per ear for 4-12 ears and $0.50 per ear if you buy more than 12 ears". In this case the "thresholds" or PNPs are 3 and 12, which are the quantities that trigger the change in ...

"My husband and I were stationed in Okinawa, Japan and received orders to Charleston AFB. Alan was referred and contacted us by email and phone as we started our home buying process before even leaving Japan! Once arriving in Charleston, we met with Alan and he explained the entire process which was so crucial being that we were first home buyers. Alan made us a binder with awesome information about his company, the process and contact information from utilities to painters and plumbers! I carried that with me everywhere during the process. He was so organized and professional, that we knew we couldn't have asked or picked a better Realtor!

Not only was he organized, knowledgeable and pe...

Great Buy in Mt. Pleasant

This new listing hit the MLS today! 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1,472 sq. ft. in LONGPOINT subdivision. Listed at $218,000. Perfect for first time home buyers. Have any friends who may be interested? I'd be glad to help them buy it! More Details.

TBC - Charleston Area & Rockefeller

This week's announcement that TBC Corporation (the nation's largest marketer of tires for the automotive replacement market) had chosen Berkeley County to set up a new 1.1 million square feet distribution center at the I-26/Jedburg Road new 400-acre Industrial Park and Foreign Trade Zone (being developed by the Rockefeller Group and MeadWestVaco) is a real vote of confidence in this area, and a much needed boost for the Port of Charleston to reverse their throughput decline of the last few years.

The center is said to bring at least 100 direct jobs to the area and TBC is set to become the Port's 4th largest customer. Great news!

The Charleston Regional Business Journal reported today:

"AirTran leaving Charleston in early December

Charleston's only low-cost carrier will end service in early December. An AirTran spokesman said the airline did not have enough business travelers in Charleston to sustain its operations here. With the departure, officials expect an increase in fares among other airlines serving Charleston."

This is not good news for Charleston, I hope that they reverse their decision - we are waiting for two big announcements regarding new companies coming to the Charleston area. Although authorities have been tight-lipped, one of these is supposed to be a Chinese tire manufacturer coming to set up ...

OktoberFest Returns to Blackbaud Stadium

On Sunday, October 25th from noon to 5 pm Blackbaud Stadium will be transformed into a Bavarian-stule beer hall to celebrate Oktoberfest.

Come drink some German beer, listen to Oompah Music (The Roger Gootman Sauerkraut Band) and bring the kids! There are a multitude of activities planned including authentic German dancers, children's events like mini-soccer games, a mountain slide, a Hot-Shot Power-Kick game and a jump castle. A variety of German food will be available.  

Partykomers (Oktoberfesters) are encouraged to bring blankets and lawn-chairs. This event will benefit local charities including Debi's Kids and The Salvation Army Angel Tree....

The Washington Post reported on a national study done by credit bureau Experian and consulting company Oliver Wyman on 24 million credit files.

The results of the study are both surprising and very revealing: 

*** HOMEOWNERS WITH HIGH CREDIT SCORES ARE 50 PERCENT MORE LIKELY TO DEFAULT (DELIBERATELY) ON THEIR MORTGAGES ***

So much so that the mortgage industry calls these "STRATEGIC DEFAULTS" and their numbers doubled to 588,000 from 2007 to 2008, well beyond most earlier estimates...

The study also highlighted:

• These defaulters tend to go straight from paying their mortgages dependably to not paying at all, and two-thirds have only one mortgage;
• Most are heavily concentrate...

Mount Pleasant Real Estate Market - Is it Time to Buy?

Do you have 2 minutes to spare...?

Please let us know what you think about the real estate market in Mt Pleasant by answering this QUICK, ONLINE SURVEY! 

We'll publish the results and compare YOUR PERCEPTIONS compared with MARKET REALITIES...

Thanks!

Team BuyHomesInCharleston.com 

This Sunday from noon to 6 pm, the traditional "Festival Hispano" takes place at North Charleston's Wannamaker Park. The festival has a new name this year - "Latin American Festival" - since it focuses mostly on Central and South American culture, music and foods. 

The activities include a demonstration of the Brazilian martial art/dance capoeira by Capoeira Charleston, as well as a salsa dancing competition with music from DJ Luigi from Latin Groove, the premier Latin DJ in the Charleston area.

In addition to the music and dance, the festival provides a great opportunity to sample some of the traditional foods of Latin America, including tamales, tortillas, empanadas and chorizos. 

Th...

Short Sales (Part 1 - The Short Sale Process: Definitions, Timing and Consequences

By Alan Donald, BuyHomesInCharleston.com

Well publicized changes in the real estate market, the job market and the U.S. economy have left many homeowners in distress, with few options to avoid foreclosure or bankruptcy.

As a REALTOR, I don't like the fact that many people are losing their homes, many surrendering the home to foreclosure without even knowing all the options available to them.

Since many clients started to ask me about options, I elected to write a list of some options  that could be available for homeowners facing difficult times. (contact me to receive a free copy).

In the Charleston...

Charleston Named #2 "Next City" by Next Generation Consulting

Next Generation Consulting (NGC) has recently published a ranking of North American cities including the 80 best cities for young professionals in the United States and Canada.

"What is a Next CityTM?
Next CitiesTM are places with the assets and amenities that attract and retain a young, educated work force. They have bustling city centers, walkable neighborhoods, diverse career opportunities, and vibrant art and music scenes..."

The article discusses the criteria that younger generations use for desirability of a city and the implications for employers and site selection professionals.

The ranking is based on the following...

PGA TOUR COMES TO DANIEL ISLAND IN OCTOBER

Daniel Island Club will host the PGA Tour's Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island October 19-25. This will be the season-ending event for the Nationwide Tour, and will be televised nationally. 

Many of golf's future stars will compete for the 25 highly coveted PGA TOUR CARDS for this exciting and reputable event. Thousands of golf enthusiasts will be eagerly watching the championship each day on Daniel Island's Ralston Creek Golf Course. 

Shake off the Fall blues! Come to visit Daniel Island and watch some of the world's golf elite players! Click on NationwideTourChampionship.com for ticket information.

For more informatio...

There are lots of activities in Charleston for a multitude of tastes. The inaugural "Museum Mile Weekend" promises to be very interesting and cost-effective! 

This Saturday and Sunday, you can buy a single pass and get admission to many museums and historical and historic sites in Downtown Historic Charleston. The $20 Museum Mile Weekend pass will give you access to five historic homes (Aiken-Rhett, Manigault, Russell  and others), to The Powder Magazine and to the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon, plus six museums (including the Gibbes, Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, Children's Museum of the Lowcountry and Confederate).

There will be special peripheral activities for the weekend, su...

If you love the beach but lying down in the sun is too passive for you - here's a great activity: Beach Volleyball. The Charleston Beach Volleyball and Social Club organizes regular league play and drop-in matches on Sullivans Island. Here are their upcoming events:

Sept 27th

Fall Leagues
Sunday
Week 3
Sullivans Island
Station 22
Sunday- 4:00-7:00 pm- Competitive A & B

September 29th
Tuesday Pickup- 6:00 to 8:00 pm
Station 22
Sullivans Island
Come join us for Pickup games and for drink and food specials, and trivia at Wild Wings in Mount Pleasant. $5 per person

Oct 4th
Sunday
Fall Leagues
Week 4
Sullivans Island
Station 22
Sunday- 4:00-7:00 pm Competitive A & B

Oct 6th
Tuesday Pickup- 5:30 pm
Sta...

If you are trying to sell your home, you will know how hard is to generate enough showing traffic.

Well, count yourself lucky! The Chicago Tribune reported that President Barack Obama's next door neighbors in Chicago are trying to sell their home, which they bought back in 1973 for $35,000. The listing agent said that the selling price will ultimately be defined by the "Obama Factor", but homes in the area are selling for between $1 million and $2.5 million.

However, how's this for a damper on showings? In order to SCHEDULE A SHOWING for this home, any prospective buyer will have to prove that he/she can afford to pay at least $1.5 million AND will have to be vetted by the SECRET SERVIC...

"We have MULTIPLE OFFERS!"

This is a dreaded call from your REALTOR if you are a buyer, but a welcome call if you are a seller.

Murphy's Law says that if anything can get more complicated, it will. Multiple offers is one of those situations where many people may freak out because they don't know how to handle them. So here is a brief guideline on how to deal fairly and smartly with this situation to avoid potential problems:

SELLERS

In some (lucky) situations (more common in "hot" property markets), sellers will have two or more competing offers to consider. They have several ways of dealing with them:

• Accept the "best" offer
• Inform all buyers that there are other offers on the ta...

Lenders require mortgage insurance for conventional loans when buyers don't bring 20% or more of the purchase price as equity to their closing.  Mortgage insurance only protects the lender in case you default on the loan. It doesn't provide any benefit to you! The sooner you can get rid of it, the better off you are.

So, it is essential to make sure you calculate your percentage equity in your home regularly, so you can eliminate paying mortage insurance as soon as possible! 

First, you have to know what TYPE of loan do you have: Is it a CONVENTIONAL, VA, or FHA loan?

VA

VA loans are designed so that veterans can borrow up to 100% of the value of the home WITHOUT mortga...

 
So, you noticed that three years ago, your next door neighbors put their house on the market one morning, and by that afternoon they had multiple offers to choose from. Now you have been trying to sell your home for eight months and there's just no action...!

The real estate market is unpredictable in the short term, since many factors (like interest rates, the amount of new homes being built and the economic health of the area) come into play. In the long term, the real estate market behaves just like other economic markets. It is a cyclical market (and in many places also seasonal). And it is driven by underlying supply and demand.

In a strong seller's market (defined as one with l...

The $8,000 Federal Tax Credit has proven to be extremely popular. According to Realtor.com, the most visited real estate website in the U.S., 10.8% of buyers say that this and other state incentives are the most important reason motivating them to buy.  The IRS reports that about 1.14 million buyers have filed for the $8,000 first-time tax credit, and expect many more buyers to file paperwork to qualify for the credit when they submit their 2009 tax return.

However, tax credits don't deserve all the attention. More importantly, the key driver for first-time home buyers today is the improved affordability throughout the country. In July of 2009, the National Association of REALTOR®'s (NAR's...

... There's a buzz going around about the real estate market in Mount Pleasant having "bottomed out" and on its way to recovery...

... Is this Fall/Winter the best time to buy...?

... What do you think...?

... Share your opinion with us!

Fill out our ONLINE SURVEY (it takes only a minute) - we'll publish the results in the near future...