Wilmington NC Real Estate Guide

The latest costs of living results have come out for Wilmington NC.  The 2nd quarter cost of living index dipped slightly below average according to the national ACCRA cost of living survey.  The results put Wilmington at 98.6, based on the national average index of 100.  The first quarter average was right at 100.0. 

The Cost of Living Index measure differences in costs of services and consumer goods for middle class standard of living.  314 urban areas in the US participated in the study.  The study is conducted over a 3 day period, covering 90,000 prices of 60 different items.   The Greater Wilmington Chamber of Commerce posted the following chart detailing the scores compared to other Southern cities.

Click on chart for larger view.

If you are waiting for the prices of homes to drop to purchase Wilmington NC real estate, just look at the difference in the rates for the last 6 months.
Your purchasing power is at its greatest right now!
The low rates coupled with a decline in housing prices; gives you the best opportunity to purchase a Wilmington NC home at a discount today.

Considering a home with a loan amount of $220,000 at today’s rate of 4.25% for a 30 yr. fixed loan.  The payment for that loan amount at 4.25% would be $983.87. If you wait, and  the rates were to go back to the April 2010 level of 5% , the same payment of $983.87 would only allow you to borrow $201,605.14. You have lost $18,395.00 in purchasing power.
This does not even take into consideration that the market should be improving and the price of the home you want could be increasing.
Most will say it will take a while for the rates to return to 5%. But remember, that it was only in April of this year that they were at 5%,  rates increase twice as fast as they decrease.

Information furnished by Daniel Downing Prime Lending Wilmington NC 538-6473.

Loan Amount    Rate        Payment        Rate    Loan Amount
9/24/10                4/23/10
$200,000.00    4.25%        $983.87        5.00%    $183,276.00
$210,000.00    4.25%        $1,033.07        5.00%    $192,441.95
$220,000.00    4.25%        $1,082.26        5.00%    $201,605.14

4/23/10                9/24/10
$200,000.00    5.00%        $1,073.64        4.25%    $218,246.83
$210,000.00    5.00%        $1,127.32        4.25%    $229,159.11
$220,000.00    5.00%        $1,181.00        4.25%    $240,071.51

The Wilmington NC real estate sold price continues its monthly climb; we are 2.0% ahead of last month and 5.5% over last year this time. In our rolling 12 months we are 18.2% up in sold units and our average sold price is only down by 1.9%. We are back with sold units that exceed the previous month by 7.8%. August was a close to great month – our average sold price climbed by 1.0% over last month and 1.9% over last August. We were off base on sold units for August by 3 homes –  386 Wilmington NC homes were sold in  August and last August we sold 390.  Our Year to Date shows us that our average sold price is 13.2% ahead in units over last year and only 1.5% behind last year.  The trend I continue to see; is our negative numbers and gaps keep getting smaller and smaller.
In the month of August we saw a decrease of 37 homes in our listing inventory, we have 5,567 homes for sale in Wilmington NC as of September 1st.  This continues to put us in a strong buyer’s market with a listing inventory of over a 14.4 month supply. With the low sales in August this affects our month supply with a change of 2 months from last month. Our average list price has stayed below the $400,000 range for the last year; we are currently at $374,121. In August we saw an increase in our seller concessions, it is now 24.1%. Our average days on the market are 135. The list to sold ratio is 93.6% and is down 1.0% from last month; this number needs to continue to get better. The number of homes that sold in 15 days or less continues to remain very low, 13.0% of August sold homes. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.35% with an average 0.7 points for the week ending September 9, 2010. We are now hitting historic lows in mortgage rates. Read the rest of this entry

Enough already of all the negative publicity in the marketplace. If you are a potential home buyer looking at Wilmington NC real estate, you need to be looking at the affordability index. It is at an all time high (meaning home prices have been lowered)  and interest rates are at historic lows! 4.25%     If you wait for prices to drop further and interest rates go up, the value of the lower purchase price will be wiped out by higher payment. Get out there and look for the perfect house at the perfect price today!

And, if you are looking to sell your home  in Wilmington, NC,  your home must be aggressively priced, it must be in the best possible condition, you are in a beauty pageant and price war at the same time, and it must have the assistance of a reputable Realtor who knows the market and offers an aggressive marketing campaign and will use every tool in the arsenal.

For more details about the Wilmington NC real estate market, please contact kaybaker@ec.rr.com or 910-232-0363 or go to www.cbbaker.com.

Coldwell Banker real estate continues to receive awards for their innovative marketing especially in the Wilmington NC real estate market.  The Latest award was for “On Location” YouTube Channel, for the Real estate Category.  Below is the letter from Corporate headquarters for Coldwell Banker Realty.

Coldwell Banker Sea Coast realty and Kay Baker and Associates continue to strive for new ideas and creative outlets for marketing of Wilmington NC real estate.  Visit http://www.cbbaker.com/

COLDWELL BANKER REAL ESTATE WINS COMMUNICATOR CREATIVE EXCELLENCE AWARD FROM INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF VISUAL ARTS

Brand’s ‘On Location’ YouTube Channel Honored in Real Estate Website Category

PARSIPPANY, N.J., (July 7, 2010) – The International Academy of the Visual Arts has named Coldwell Banker On Location, the brand’s YouTube channel, a recipient of this year’s Communicator Awards for Creative Excellence in the real estate website category. The category honors the best site for the sale or rental of residential or commercial property.

“We were the first national real estate brand to add streaming video to our website. Today, our agents across the globe have posted more than 15,000 videos to our On Location channel,” said Mike Fischer, chief marketing officer for Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. “The most exciting part of On Location is that we have only just begun – there’s a lot more to come.”

On Location has been rated among the top 10 most-viewed brand channels on YouTube. In April, just 11 months after launching On Location, Coldwell Banker announced it had received over 1 million views. The site was launched in May 2009 and was produced in collaboration with FD Kinesis.

“Home buyers would much rather see a home than only read about it,” Fischer said. “Our On Location videos empower them to get a feel for a home, a community or a real estate professional that they could not get from photos or a text description alone. Equally important are the home sellers who are now expecting video to be a part of marketing their property.”

With thousands of entries received from across the United States and around the world, the Communicator Awards is one of the largest and most competitive awards program honoring the creative excellence for communications professionals. The Communicator Awards are judged and overseen by the International Academy of the Visual Arts, an invitation-only body consisting of top-tier professionals from acclaimed media, advertising and marketing firms.

About Coldwell Banker®

Since 1906, the Coldwell Banker® organization has been a premier provider of full-service residential and commercial real estate. Coldwell Banker is the oldest national real estate brand in the United States and today has a network of more than 98,000 agents working in more than 3,600 offices in 50 countries and territories. The Coldwell Banker brand is known for creating innovative consumer services as recently seen by being the first national real estate brand to augment its web site www.coldwellbanker.com for smart phones, the first to create a iPhone application and the first to fully harness the power of video in real estate listings, news and information through its Coldwell Banker On LocationSM YouTube channel. The Coldwell Banker system is a leader in specialty markets such as resort, new homes and luxury properties through its Coldwell Banker Previews International® marketing program.

© 2010 Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker® is a registered trademark licensed to Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Each Office Is Independently Owned And Operated Except Offices Owned And Operated By NRT Incorporated.

Rendering by Creative Illustration Media, INC. LS&P Architects

Wilmington NC is going to get it’s own state of the art  Convention Center.  After waiting for approvals and site plans, an opening date has been set for the Historic Downtown Wilmington Convention Center on the Cape Fear River. 

The grand opening is set for Thursday January 13, 2011 at 9:30 am.  The public is invited and there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony with the mayor and other community leaders.  Following the ceremony, there will be a BizTech Expo with technology and business vendors.  On January 15 a black tie event will be held by the Greater Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, with proceeds benefiting the Cape Fear Future initiative.  

A couple of big companies have signed contracts to hold their conventions here for the next couple of years.  This will bring added revenue to Wilmington NC and expose our area and all it’s natural treasures and great Wilmington NC real estate opportunities.  

Please explore our website for the most up to date listings of all Wilmington NC real estate and waterfront properties.  www.cbbaker.com or call us and we will personally select properties that will fit your real estate needs or portfolio.

If the low prices and the low interest rates have you wishing you could buy a new home but cannot because of your debt load, there is still time to reorganize your finances to make your wish come true.  Take a realistic look at where you spend your money.  Write everything down and where you spent it.  Is there a $4.00 Latte everyday? Make a budget and try to do away with some of the extras that you buy on a whim.  There are budget tools online, like Suze Ormans expense tracker that will help get you started.   We also have a credit repair company that can help you earn additional points for your credit score, so that you can qualify for lower interest rates.  Before you know it, that new home can be yours.  Be patient and work towards what you really want.  We can help you achieve this.  For all your Wilmington NC real estate needs please visit www.cbbaker.com or www.kaybakerwilmington.com

To view the home pictured please visit www.AskMeAboutWilmington.com

Kay Baker & Associates is excited to announce our Greater Wilmington NC School Guide.  Your one stop shop for all the information you need on New Hanover County, Pender County and Brunswick County schools.  This innovative digital magazine is the first in the Wilmington NC area.  Useful information is at your fingertips when selecting the best school for you or your child from Kindergarden to Higher College Education, whether it be a public school or private school.  We have it all here for you.  Please take time to visit, and explore the links to each school system.  All the information about registering for schools, what each library has on it’s shelves, special need centers in each school and contact numbers are all put together for you in an easy digital magazine.  There is also a link for Wilmington NC real estate to search for homes in a certain school district.  We want to make your life easy, especially when entertaining a move.  Click here for the Greater Wilmington NC School Guide. Search all Wilmington NC real estate on www.cbbaker.com and let us know if we can help.

Many homeowners in the Wilmington NC real estate marketplace are finding themselves with a mortgage balance higher than they can even sell their home for. This puts the seller in a “short sale” situation. This means that the lender may agree to accept less than is actually owed on the property.  And, not all lenders will agree to accept less than what is actually owed, especially if you are not in default.  If you find yourself in this situation, you need a qualified real estate professional to guide you through this process. It is not an easy one, trust me. We will assist you in putting together a hardship package for the lender that may include a financial statement, hardship letter, bank statements, income statements, an appraisal on the property and even a listing agreement to prove that the property is on the market.

If you are in need of assistance, please do not hesitate to call or email kay@cbbaker.com. We are happy to answer any questions you may have concerning short sales and foreclosures in Wilmington, NC. And, if you are a buyer, we can send you a list of short sales and foreclosures, or you can search short sales and foreclosures.

Wilmington NC Builder Matches Tax Credit

A Wilmington NC real estate builder is willing to match the $8000 tax credit to homebuyers that purchase any remaining townhomes at Carleton Place.

These elegant one level brick  townhomes are located within minutes to Wrightsville Beach, Mayfaire and UNCW. These homes are very affordable with prices starting at just $179,900 and custom upgrades such as granite countertops, stainless appliances, hardwood floors and ceramic tile are are INCLUDED! Three different spacious and open  floor plans are offered with optional one and two car garages and a finished room over the garage for bonus space.

Reserve your Wilmington NC townhome close to the beach, shopping and all that Wilmington has to offer right here at The Townes at Carleton Place.

If you are searching for Wilmington NC real estate, you can find it all on my website at www.cbbaker.com. There you can search by maps, prices, neighborhoods, schools and more.