To Rent Or Buy In A New City?

By admin

You’re officially making the big move from one city to another. Maybe you’ve landed a new job or have decided you want to travel to a new city to explore and live a little. All your bags are packed, you’ve said goodbye to friends and family and you’re ready to hit the road to the new city you will soon call home. One of the biggest decisions you will come across is whether you should rent or buy. Here are a couple of reasons why renting is better than buying for the first couple of years living in a new city.

It takes time to learn a new city, new neighborhood, and possibly even a new culture. Within the first month, you may be completely in love with your new city. It’s easy to be blinded by the excitement of living in a new place because it’s all brand new to you. After living there a few months, things could change. You could end up hating the area that you are living in. If you were renting, it would be much easier to move to a different neighborhood than if you were tied into making monthly payments on a mortgage for a house.

A lot can change in a year. You could end up hating your new job and your new boss. What if your old boss wanted to hire you back? It would be easier to move back home for your old job if you were only renting a place for a year versus if you had purchased a home. If you had bought a house, you would most likely be coughing up your own money to pay off your mortgage and pay for closings costs because your home had not increased in value in such a short amount of time.

All in all, it’s best to give yourself a few years to really learn a new city, in every aspect, before making a long-term commitment, like purchasing a house. Give yourself time to explore the city and all that it has to offer. Maybe after your first year, you’ll find an even better neighborhood to live in that fit your needs perfectly.

Article by Tom Miller Escape Somewhere

How To Prepare For The Big Move

By admin

Once you’ve found the perfect home, it’s easy to think its all downhill from there. While its true enough that securing the home of your dreams is a fantastic feeling, there’s one last obstacle that stands in your way: the dreaded moving day. As scary as it sounds, moving day is not an impossible feat. In fact, by taking a bit of our advice, moving day can be a piece of cake.

The problem with most movers is that they wait too long to get started. Once you have solidified your new home choice, you may want to relax, but you actually have a whole new list of things to do. For starters, you can start packing away any seasonal clothing you won’t be using. Spring and summer are often considered the moving seasons, so in these cases its best to pack away your heavy coats and other winter clothing. If you happen to be moving in the fall or winter, you can apply the opposite logic and start packing any summer wear that you have. You could also begin the processes of canceling and/or transferring services. This includes things such as newspaper subscriptions, internet service, bank accounts, etc. Just because you can’t break out the cardboard boxes doesn’t mean you can’t do these menial tasks early on! As far as your utilities go, you’ll want to talk to your service provider to make sure that your services will be turned on the day before you move in. After all, no one likes moving in to a new home without running water and electricity.

You’ll also need to decide whether you will hire a moving company or enlist the help of your friends. Both have their pros and cons. Wit ha professional service, you have the assurance that it will be fast, efficient, and hopefully a guarantee that if anything is broken it will be covered. If you decide to enlist your friends, it may not be as efficient and you run the risk of damaging special items, but you will also save some money.
About two weeks before the big move, you should start packing everything- not just your seasonal belongings. Be sure to pack smartly, using a color coded system or some other markings so that whoever helps you move will know which room to set the boxes in. On the day before, create emergency boxes. What we mean is, for each member of the family, have access to clothes, toiletries, etc. You should also plan out what you will be eating in your new home as your unpack, even if its primarily take-out for the first few days.

By following these preparation tips, moving day can be just as manageable as any other day of the year. Start early and plan thoroughly and everything will be fine.

Article by Tom Miller
New Home Source

Major Home Builder Has Bullish Opinion On Housing

By admin

According to Business Insider, Homebuilding giant PulteGroup reported Q3 net income of $117 million or $0.30 per share.  This was a big improvement  from last year’s $0.34 net loss.

According to Pulte CEO, Richard Dugas: “In past cycles, the U.S. housing industry proved to be a powerful engine that could help drive the economy forward and accelerate the pace of a recovery.  A similar scenario could again be unfolding, as the industry is responding to increased sales by hiring additional workers and purchasing more building materials.  While we are mindful of any potential impact from global or domestic economic issues, we are optimistic that the combination of ever higher rental rates, record low interest rates and limited housing supply can continue to support the improved housing demand.

Read more: Business Insider Pulte Group Article

In Charlotte, we have seen an increase in closing and a decrease in inventory pointing towards a very minor switch from a buyers market to a sellers market.  However, we are very mindful of the still looming Charlotte Foreclosures and Lake Norman Foreclosures that still impacts the ‘everyday’ Charlotte area seller.

Charlotte 2012 DNC Convention-Advertise Your Home For Rent

By admin

Your Charlotte Property Management Company|Carolina Living Property Management

Charlotte is gearing up for the Democratic National Convention.  We are building a robust advertising tool to assist homeowners with finding a viable tenant.

Visit  the DNC DIGGS  website  for information about what to ask in rent and you will see our ad for helping you manage the process.

If you are thinking of renting your home for the conference, the DNC DIGGS website is a great place to start?

If you are thinking of hiring a company to manage the process, feel free to contact us (704 451 7051) and we can discuss our services.

 

sandmn12000@yahoo.com

How To Remove Pet Stains From Carpets

By admin

Carolina Living Real Estate

More tips to help you with managing and preparing your home for sale.  Information is provided by Carolina Living’s preferred Home Warranty Company; American Home Shield and Merry Maids.

First, blot up any liquid by putting towels or absorbent rags over the spot and stepping on them. Start with gentle pressure and increase it up to putting your full weight down. Change to fresh rags or towels until no more liquid comes up.

For fresh stains, apply a bacteria/enzyme digester from a pet store, following the directions—it’s the only way to deal effectively with both the stain and the odor. Bacteria/enzyme digesters work slowly, so leave the solution on as long as the directions say. Urine has probably penetrated into the carpet and pad, so use enough solution to reach as far down as the stain.

Apply the solution, put plastic over it, and step on the spot several times until the area is well saturated. Then, leave the plastic on the whole time the digester is working to make sure the spot doesn’t dry out.

Old or dry stains are hard—sometimes even impossible—to remove, but try the bacteria/enzyme digester. If it’s a popular accident site, the bacteria may produce enough ammonia in the course of breaking down the stains to create a super-alkaline situation that interferes with its own action. In this case, you may need to neutralize the spot after the digester has been working for about four hours. Mix a solution of one cup of vinegar to a gallon of warm water. Rinse the area with this solution and apply a fresh batch of bacteria/enzyme solution.

If the stain or odor remains, call a professional deodorizing specialist. A complete cure will probably involve cleaning the entire carpet by extraction and replacing the pad underneath, if not replacing the carpet.

Carolina Living Property Management Hits Milestone

By admin

Charlotte 10/31/2010

Carolina Living Property Management, a division of Carolina Living Real Estate, hit a milestone of 35 single family homes under management.

Concentrating on the single family market, Carolina Living charges no upfront fees and a very reasonable 8% management fee which is helping it steamroll into the property management picture.

Carolina Living Property Management offers a complete solution by partnering with our sales agents and agents with other firms listing the home for sale.  While listing and marketing the homes for rent, the listing agent continues to list the home for sale, in a effort to find the homeowner a solution.

Carolina Living Property Management currently focuses on single family homes in a effort to keep its focus on one core competency.

Learn more at the Carolina Living Property Management website.

For Agents – Will You Survive

By admin

The last decade has provided agents a windfall of success. The market was so good that almost anyone could expect have a successful real estate career. Today, agents are faced with many challenges brought about by our failing economy. The type of buyer and seller have changed. The way houses are sold and bought have changed. And the way agents organize and conduct their business has changed.

The agents embracing change will survive the down market. The ones who don’t change the way they work, will be one of the many fatalities of our business.

Never before has the following statement been more meaningful: There are those who make things happen…Those who watch things happen….and Those who say… “What Happened?”

Many agents will feel they need their company to survive, and the company will do it’s best to make the agent feel that way. The truth is, the company needs you more than you need them. Your transactions may decrease over the next few years, but the fees and percentages you pay your company on each deal will not decrease. The result is….less money in your pocket.

A person on a 50/50 split who only does half the transactions this year that they did last year, will be receiving half the commissions they received last year. On the other hand, the same agent with our company receiving 100% of their commission, will receive the same amount of money even though they only did half the transactions. Regardless of your current split, the extra money you would receive with our company could really help offset any reduced transactions.

We want the agent to receive a 100% commission check with no strings attached!
Because of our lower agent count, agents are able to communicate with the owners, other brokers and mentors easily.

Agents who have joined our company tell us that they have learned more advanced skills and techniques with our company, than they have within their entire career

See Carolina Living Agent Careers