Just in time for Halloween, I want to tell you something scary that’s no ghost story. Over the last few weeks, I’ve laid the groundwork for today’s topic – Fannie Mae – and their sinister plan to change the world!

OK, maybe that’s a little dramatic and overstated – you tell me.

Two weeks ago, I told you that everything depends on the appraisal and how low appraisals can cause a sale to be cancelled. Low appraisals are also keeping market values lower and stagnant (although we’ve seen a 13.5% increase in value in the last year in Las Vegas.)

Last week, I referenced a report that showed that nationally, we could be back to our record home values (set at the height of the market in 2005) by 2015. The logical question is, “If appraisals are keeping prices lower, how will we reach record values in a little over two years?”

Some folks think that Fannie Mae is taking the bull by the horns and forcibly changing the market. What exactly is Fannie Mae? Click HERE for the detailed answer.

The short answer is Fannie Mae buys (or securitizes) the mortgage you take out from a bank, so the bank has more money to lend to more homebuyers. The loans are underwritten within the guidelines set by Fannie, to ensure the loans are viable. There is another entity called Freddie Mac, which has the same focus and responsibilities.

They are both called GSEs (Government Sponsored Enterprises) and they’re chartered by Congress.

According to Fannie Mae, one of their main functions in today’s market is to help distressed homeowners, through their website, KnowYourOptions.com. The solution that many homeowners choose is a short sale, which is the best way out of a bad situation.

If the homeowner chooses to ignore all means of assistance, they’re going to lose their home to foreclosure (a lousy alternative with harsher consequences.) Does that knock Fannie out of the game? Nope. Now the home becomes part of Fannie’s arm called Homepath.com, which sells Fannie Mae foreclosed homes.

At face value, everything looks great, right? Not according to accounts from Realtors all across the country. Homeowners trying to short sale their Fannie Mae homes are in greater jeopardy of foreclosure now more than ever.

For homeowners trying to short sale their home with a loan owned by Fannie Mae, once they have an offer, Fannie sends an appraiser out to validate the value of the home. What is becoming an increasing trend, is that Fannie is requiring a purchase price for anywhere from 15 to 25% above market value. Why? To increase home values across the country and a bigger profit for Fannie Mae.

While that’s good for values, it’s bad for the short seller. Normally, lenders will lower their requested value if the buyer supplies an appraisal supporting a lower value. This only applies to buyers getting financing for their purchase, not cash buyers.

Yet Fannie has been refusing to lower their requested “net” – even with substantiated lower values. Is this bad for Fannie? Quite the contrary. If the home doesn’t sell as a short sale, they foreclose – and then it becomes a Homepath.com home.

With Homepath, Fannie Mae offers their own financing AND there’s no appraisal for their mortgages. That means no matter what the home is priced at, the buyer will not be protected by a lower-priced appraisal. It’s a win for Fannie and a losing proposition for the home seller (who got foreclosed on) and the buyer (who is overpaying for the home.)

The only winners are Fannie Mae and the neighbors whose home values increase.

In Arizona, this practice is so rampant that the local NBC affiliate did an exposé on exactly what’s happening, click HERE to watch.

How aggressive is Fannie being with their price increases? Here’s a current example: I sold a home in Summerlin as a short sale that closed on 12/30/11 for $94 a square foot. The homes in this subdivision have since sold per square foot for $99, $100, $92, $94, $112 and $131.

Two weeks ago, Fannie Mae listed the home next door as a Homepath.com home for $160/sf. The difference between the two homes – a slightly smaller floor plan and a swimming pool. Now let’s change dollar per square foot to sales price.

My buyer bought their 2,542 square foot home for $240,000, without a pool – click HERE to view. The Homepath home is 2,448 square feet with a pool for $390,500 – click HERE to view. If this home closes at list price, my client next door will have a net increase in value of $166,720 – in just 12 months. That’s a 69% increase in value.

So who lost big time? The former owners who got foreclosed on. They had the home listed as a short sale for $215,000, which was $88/square foot (obviously too low based on the neighborhood comps.)

What’s the moral of the story? If you’re going to short sale your home and Fannie Mae is the investor holding your loan, pick your short sale listing agent carefully. You need someone who is aware of what’s happening and is prepared to fight to get your short sale approved for market value. Let Fannie raise the prices on someone else’s home, not yours.

Have a great week!

Time to take care of the outside of the house and make sure it has some curb appeal. A large percentage of home buyers decide whether or not to look inside a home based on its curb appeal: It is THAT important.

1) Rake leaves and put fresh pine needles or mulch down on ground coverings.
2) Trim all bushes, especially anything that is overgrown onto the sidewalk or the driveway. I had a client who had overgrown bushes, and it was covering up a spectacular view of the lake!
3) Power-wash the sidewalk and driveway if necessary. Don’t forget the siding of the house.
4) Professionally clean windows and gutters (don’t want anyone falling on me)
5) Mow the lawn and kill the weeds
6) Add pretty colorful flowers, Mums are spectacular right now and add color and warmth to the season.

Happy Fall!

this post by Marcyne Touchton.  Marcyne is an award-winning Designer, Master ASP Stager and Principal for Domaine Staging. She is featured as an expert source on real estate trends in news articles and TV segments throughout the region in the Carolinas.  704.905.6343

The foundation of a home is one of the most overlooked areas in luxury and custom home construction, yet it is probably the most important part. We know this intuitively and use the term “a good foundation” as a metaphor for anything that we want to build well from homes to businesses to relationships. Without the proper soil, footings, grading  for water to run away from your home and a foundation designed specifically for size, structure, weight, soil, and elevations, you end up with a poor foundation and homeownership fraught with costly headaches. So how do you know if the foundation to your home has been or is being done right?

A foundation is not a one size fits all application for all size homes ranging from 1,600 square foot to 12,000 square foot homes. Though the word “custom”has been misused and applied by builders to tract built AND luxury homes: both unfortunately tend to share the same building process.

Before building, choose a lot with proper soil and drainage. (Golf course communities tend to use all of the good soil for the golf course, and the poor soil remains for the lots).  I spent a mere five hundred dollars for a soil engineer to inspect my soil, recommend footings size, foundation and grade for my lot.  Proper inspection and sealed approval from knowledgeable soil engineers, can avoid the problems mentioned above which will compromise the structure of your home.

The plans for my last home were designed and engineered by computer, which considers the proper size for footings and foundation. For the size of this almost 11,000 square foot home, the computer determined the necessary use of 2ft x 2ft footings built with 12-inch wide commercial block, then filled with solid concrete.  (Most luxury/custom builders use 18-inch footers using 8-inch wide block: the same as smaller tract homes.) The foundation was then waterproofed with French drains installed around the exterior wall.

3 year-old home, always dry crawl

Inside the crawl space the soil was graded higher than exterior so water would go away from the foundation, never in. This seems like absolute common sense, but a simple technique that almost is never employed.   We put down 4 inches of crushed stone, spread over crawl floor keeping the surface dry and moisture free.

Automatic foundation vents were installed and exterior soil was graded so that Again, the water runs away from the foundation. Moisture and mildew proof spray foam was later applied to sub floor providing an airtight seal.

No water, no settling, no mold

One only has to look around to see all the companies out there hired to condition crawl spaces, pumping out water that runs under the house because of improper soil grading and waterproofing. These substandard building methods have produced thousands of South Charlotte homeowners holding the bill for installing piers to jack up their houses, repairs to foundations built on poor soil, repairs for water leaks and mold removal: All because no one took the time to do it right.

10 REASONS NOT TO STAGE YOUR HOME              

1. We want to test the market for 90 days. And on the 91st day? Price reduction–and 90 days worth of potential buyers who have already eliminated your property.

2. It costs too much money. I have never seen a home where the staging costs would have exceeded the first price reduction. And that doesn’t even factor in the monthly carrying cost of the home.

3. We can’t stage the house, we’re living in it. One common misconception is that staging is only for vacant homes. Every home/condo can be staged, and you can actually live in it after staging.

4. We didn’t have to stage any of the other properties we sold over the years. Yes, once upon a time you could generate three offers by 5 p.m. on the same day your Realtor put the For Sale sign in your yard. Not now. Buyers are picky and they have a lot of homes to choose from.

5. Everyone loves our house so buyers will love it, too. What you, your friends and relatives love about your house may not be what today’s buyer wants. Sellers are often baffled by the feedback they get after showings–amazed that buyers have found things they don’t like about the property.

6. We can clean the carpets and declutter without someone telling us how. Yes, you can (and should) do this, but it is a tiny piece of staging. Do you know what separates “clutter” from “asset”? And what about all the other things that staging encompasses, like traffic flows, highlighting architectural features, updating, and appealing to your target market?

7. We have no desire to remove/change our _______________ (wallpaper/mirrored tile/gold faucets/paneling/dated light fixtures . . .). And neither do buyers. Better to keep your home or be ready to sell at a deep discount.

8. The view alone will sell this place. Then why many months later are these great view homes/condos still on the market? Could it be that buyers want something to go with the view–like a comfortable, move-in ready home?

9. We would rather let the buyers makes their own paint/flooring choices. And that equals a price reduction. If buyers do make an offer on your home they will double or triple the cost of these items and reflect that in their discounted offer price–which includes a deduction for the inconvenience.

10. Our home is professionally decorated. A professionally decorated home is tailored to the owner’s particular needs. Does it work for the new buyer’s needs? You could see #1 above . . . .

These are all great reasons–

for price reductions
for extended time on the market
for buyers not coming to look at your home
for buyers not coming back for a second look

There are dozens of reasons not to stage, but only one good reason to stage–getting your home sold faster for the highest possible price. Staging is preparing your home for sale and creating a home that buyers want to buy. If you want to be in the best competitive position in this market today, consult with a professional home stager before listing your property for sale.

courtesy of Janet Jones
http://www.just-your-style-interiors.com
used with permission 

Average for the luxury home market in SouthPark:

Average sale prices for the luxury home market in Myers Park:

Located in Settlers Landing with entrances off Hwy 51/Pineville-Matthews Rd. and Alexander Rd.,  this 3 bedroom, 2 full bath home is also in the Elizabeth Lane Elementary, South Charlotte Middle and Providence High School zones.     Part of the beauty of Settlers Landing is the larger lots that were not clear cut when the homes were built.   This charming community has lovely, winding, tree-lined streets.   While some of the homes in the community do back up to Pineville-Matthews Rd, this home does not.

Though built in 1981, this home’s recent improvements include: upgraded, insulated siding, 30 year architectural shingle roof and new windows all installed in August 2011.  The HVAC system was replaced in September of 2010 and new carpet and flooring in 2009.   The inside is freshly painted and you will love spending time in the screened in porch!

Check out all the photos below, please forward to family or friends that may be interested and of course, call to schedule a private viewing!  Proudly Offered at $189,500

Living room with gas log fireplace

Living room open to Dining room

Dining room

Kitchen

Kitchen

Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom to vanity area and master walk in closet

Second Bedroom also with walk in closet

Third Bedroom with walk in closet

Screened In Porch

Screened In Porch

Manicured Back Yard

Back Patio Area

New water line installed August 2012 from meter to house

Side Door

Left side of home

Exterior back

To the right of front door

Close up of stove area

Second full bath

Master bedroom closet

Shower in master bathroom (the lighting in the bathroom makes the paint look much ‘greener’ in the photos than it actually is…it is the same color as the paint in the masterbedroom and vanity area photos)

Master bath

Vanity area in master bedroom

Eat in area of kitchen large enough for table to seat 4-6 people. Current owners use dining room right off kitchen, instead.

There’s no shortage of large homes around Charlotte, but one hybrid home is truly unique, in quality as well as style

French Countryside Castle Estate on 32.86ac – $2,750,000

It’s the most enduring cliché of all—a man’s home is his castle. For most people, that’s as far as it goes. But for Fred Nader, and his wife Lynn, it’s reality. In fact, the home could be mistaken for a European manor home—or even a small castle. Indeed, the Naders say inspiration for their plan came from Disney World’s castle and the extraordinary Biltmore home near Asheville, North Carolina. But, mostly, the truly unique design came from their bountiful imaginations. Unlike many people who end up inhibited or settling for less because they run up against traditional boundaries, the Naders have never been afraid to say, “Why not?”

Much of this fearlessness comes from many years in the construction business. They know that every new idea is just a plan looking for a solution. These days, combining styles and design elements is simply a matter of sitting down with a computer and a willing company. In this case, thanks in considerable part to a complicated if imaginative roofline, Fred and Lynn teamed up with Hearthstone Homes, based just across the mountain range in Tennessee. It was a challenge the company couldn’t resist either, particularly since the emphasis from start to finish would be on quality. Painting the exteriors and interiors of many homes literally thrown together by other builders convinced Fred that when he and Lynn designed and built their fifth home, they were going to do it right.

Great Room

“There are many large homes in the Charlotte, North Carolina, area that cost the homeowners $2-3 million, but what they’ve gotten is an increased-square-footage version of a tract home,” Fred observes. “Those homes have the basic two-inch-by-four-inch walls on eight-inch block foundations. Over time, the construction starts to buckle because of that inadequate foundation and support.”

Needless to say, Fred and Lynn placed as much emphasis on how their home was built as on how it looks. The unseen was every bit as critical as the seen. From the very beginning, after soil testing, the site was constructed so that rain water would always run away from the house. Fred then began the structure with 12-inch block filled with rebar and concrete, on two-foot-by-two-foot footings for the crawl. The walls, exterior and interior are two-inch-by-six-inch and reinforced. Flooring also featured two-by-six joist with tongue-and-groove that has been screwed rather than nailed. Spray foam was installed in the crawl sub-structure, walls and ceiling to prevent mildew development. The house was so air-tight, in fact, that Fred installed a healthy-climate vent system that pumps air into the home, but retains a hospital-quality air filtration. It was well worth the effort as the winter heating bill for the 10,000-square-foot home tends to be no more than about $400 a month.

Thanks to decades of experience and a natural eye for design, the Naders knew from early in the design process exactly what the interior would look like. That meant almost no changes during building, and a final result that more than met expectations. They appreciate how rare that actually is.

Custom Habersham Kitchen

•            * Solid Exterior Walls (not 2″x4″or 2″x6″ tract home framing!)
•            * Ample room for helipad
•            * Great soil and layout for a vineyard.
•                There are NC state subsidies for new vineyards available.
•            * When Hwy74 freeway and Marshall bypass are complete, approximate
•                commute to Uptown Charlotte should be around 30 minutes.
•            * 15 minutes from Mint Hill, Indian Trial, Ballantyne, Monroe and new high end mall being built in Mint Hill.
•            * Almost 11,000 square feet under roof
•            * Offered for sale at $2,750,000  (2011 appraisal for home on only 5ac was $2,900,000)

The grandeur of the Naders’ home is reminiscent of 17^th and 18^th century French manors, but it’s comfortably ensconced in the still-booming central portion of North Carolina. A beautiful blend of building materials from stucco to stone to brick to log combine for a unique finish. The concrete shingles are flanked with copper valleys and gutters. Beneath the shingles is a rubberized membrane to ensure the roof will last more than 100 years.

• “Do buyers of $1 – $3 million dollar homes think that it is ‘okay‘ for a large percentage of the homes in South Charlotte’s luxury subdivisions to have had their expensive tile roof replaced already because the roof was installed incorrectly in the first place?   There is an epidemic in South Charlotte and Union county of  poorly constructed luxury, multimillion dollar homes that are sinking, full of mold, cracking floors, walls, ceilings, or all of the above.  It is a real problem and these new homeowners don’t know where to turn but to the same builder that built it that way in the first place. “

Jetski on private 15ac lake

The site slopes gently away from the home to drain into the Naders’ man-made lake. In addition to a smart plan, it’s been fun for them with lots of recreational time, too. The acreage also features a barn for their Arabian horses. The 12,000-square-foot main building has about 10,000 square feet of heated, highly livable space.

View from equine quarters to home

Private Estate, Easy Commute To Uptown Charlotte

kitchen

Habersham Cabinets is known for appealing designs in the European casual style, so that was a natural resource for the kitchen. As the kitchen flows into the great room, the level above features a Romeo-and-Juliet balcony that ties many of the home’s elements together with panache.

Study

Side yard to pier

First Floor Mastersuite

Masterbath with Walk-In Shower, Imported Spanish Copper Soaking Tub

50′s Style Coca-Cola cafe just off media and billiard rooms

The Naders’ home has a sense of fun alongside the elegance of many rooms. There is plenty of space designed specifically for making guests feel relaxed or stimulated, depending on the mood. Whether it’s following a game of pool or a movie in the home theater, guests can marvel at the Coca-Cola collection at the mini-bar constructed of leftover log siding, turned vertical for interest. The bar includes a fridge and dishwasher to make it easy on the hosts.

Billiard

One of four full baths

Theatre | Media room

Media | Theatre room

Diningroom with fireplace

Every niche, corner and hallway reflects the attention to detail that makes the Naders’ home stand out. Glazed beige stucco walls add light, particularly in the areas where beautifully finished walnut floors add to the sense of quality.

Stunning interior ceilings throughout home

The home’s beams are laminated layers of wood, so strong that pound-for-pound they equal steel for structural integrity. As a backdrop, the Naders selected spruce tongue-in-groove ceiling, finished to reflect light and add to the sense of spaciousness.

Enjoy sunsets over your own lake

What will you do on your lake today? Jetski, paddleboat, fish, swim…

March Closed Sales in Myers Park by Price Range