Customer vs. Client

By admin

Agency Disclosure laws are in effect in North Carolina and as a result, all buyers MUST sign either a Buyer Agency Agreement or a Subagency Disclosure with their REALTOR before the REALTOR can assist the buyer in any way.

The Law mandates that before an agent knows anything about you, your needs, wants or desires of a real estate nature, or discuss available properties with you, the agent must have first discussed with you how two of you will be working together. This means the agent must have written authorization from you that they are either your Buyer’s Agent and you are their Client, or they are a Subagent of the seller and you are their customer.

This is a requirement of all North Carolina Real Estate Agents. If any Agent does not discuss the laws of agency with you prior to any other conversation about your real estate needs, he or she is putting their license and their company’s license in jeopardy.

What Services and Information Can Your Carolina Living Agent Provide?

As A Client
Provide information on available properties
Show Properties
Help distinguish wants versus needs
Fill out contract forms following
customer’s instructions
Honestly answer all material fact questions
Disclose all material facts
Provide information on:
• Financing
• Use of experts
• Previous sales in the area
• Customary escrow & settlement procedures
• Sources of other information

Advice and counsel on
• Price to offer
• Getting defects fixed or paid for
• Asking for seller financing & getting favorable terms
• Interpretation of comparables
Promote and protect your best interests
Negotiate the best price and terms for you
Ability to show For Sale By Owners (FSBO’s) and
get the buyer the best possible price

As a Customer
Provide information on available properties
Show Properties
Help distinguish wants versus needs
Fill out contact forms following customer’s instructions
Honestly answer all material fact questions
Disclose all material facts
Provide information on:
• Financing
• Use of experts
• Previous sales in the area
• Customary escrow & settlement procedures
• Sources of other information
NO ADVICE OR INTERPRETATIONS

Become a Carolina Living Real Estate Client Today for your Charlotte and Lake Norman area needs.

Contact your Carolina Living Agent for all your Charlotte NC real estate needs.

Foreclosure Help for NC Homeowners

By admin

Two new North Carolina laws passed in NC provide some additional protection to homeowners facing foreclosure:

First, Beginning June 1, once a homeowner in North Carolina requests a loan modification, all foreclosure actions must be suspended. Currently, the law allows mortgagors to continue pursuing foreclosures against homeowners who are waiting to have their loans modified.

The second law requires mortgagors to provide clear and timely communications if a homeowner requests assistance.

The North Carolina Commissioners of Banks has established a website to offer lots of solutions. www.ncforeclosurehelp.org. If you are facing foreclosure here in North Carolina, there is help available. Please contact us for more advice on saving your home from foreclosure.

NC Foreclosure Statistics by County

Contact your Carolina Living Agent for all your Charlotte NC real estate needs.

Determining The Value Of Your Charlotte Area Home

By admin

charlotte real estate

Mortgages depend significantly on the value of the property that is involved. Consequently, it become important to know how much a property is worth before heading into refinancing plans, looking for a home loan, or selling a house.

One way to do this is to determine the market value of the property. A simple way to do this is to look at other comparable homes in the same neighborhood and see what prices they have been sold recently. One of your Carolina Living Realtors can assist you with this and will come at no cost to you.

Another way to find the value of your property is to find its appraised value. To do this you need to pay for the help of a trained and licensed professional. They will take into account a variety of factors, including the home’s square footage, construction quality, floor plan, design, surrounding neighborhood, proximity to important services and locations, as well as the landscaping, among other factors. An appraiser will usually cost anywhere between $200 and $300. In the current Lake Norman real estate environment, appraisals have become pivitol in the actual sale of the property. Short sales and foreclosures in the Lake Norman area have caused some of our appraisal values to decrease causing transactions to fail to close.

An appraiser can also tell you the replacement value of the property. This is how much an appraiser estimates it will cost to build a similar house on an unoccupied lot. The appraiser will take the age of the home into account to make a better estimate with deterioration and depreciation in mind.

One important thing to note is that a home’s estimated value is not the same as its worth. A home’s estimated value is defined by one of the methods listed above, while its worth is eventually established by what potential buyers are willing to pay for it.

Some things we have experienced in the Charlote and surrounding areas.

  • Tax value does NOT determine value of the home. It has nothing to do with market value.
  • Neighbors do not know the value of a home. Of course they are wanting values of homes to be very high.
  • Current list prices of homes, while helpful, do not determine the value of a home.