Why do I love living in the Ballantyne area?

Just about every day I ask myself, “Why do I love living in the Ballantyne area?” I come up with a lot of answers but perhaps the best answer came to me over the last two days.

I was working out at the Morrison YMCA recently and was struck by the number of families taking advantage of the facility. At 3 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon, the cardio and strength training floors were about 75% full. I looked out the window a saw a swimming pool that was absolutely jam-packed. When I looked to my left, I saw high school kids playing volleyball in the sand pit. Up on the track, people are running, stretching, and kids are playing soccer on the fields.

All weekend, people were gathering at Ballantyne Village for dinner and music. People were also enjoying the great weather and music at Stonecrest.

Flash forward 24 hours. Ballantyne Country Club is the scene for the Morrison YMCA’s annual golf fundraiser for Project Starfish. About 100 people participated!  Through entry fees, contests and generous donations, the Y raised over $100,000. Plus, each team got professional golfer Fred Couples hit a shot for them. What a great surprise!

At each location in this blog, people were talking; people were getting to know each other; people were having a good time. People were doing things to make a difference in our Charlotte community. People truly love living here! Everything is right at your doorstep.

________________________________________________________________

What is your house worth today? Looking to buy a dream home?  Call me at (704) 634-9682 or email me at david.huss@allentate.com

Not ready, but are curious to keep up with your home’s value?  Then go to www.charlottehousevalues.com and sign up for my free monthly value report. My web site is here. www.davidhuss.com

What is the most difficult part of a real estate transaction? How can you make it easier?

Ask any real estate agent this question:

“What’s the most difficult part of a real estate transaction?”

The reply will almost always be:

“The home inspection process.”

Why?

The buyer buys the home based on the floor plan, the great neighborhood, the nearby wonderful schools, the shopping or something that makes them feel good. The inspection peels back the shiny layer and exposes the buyer to all that is not right with the house. After the inspection, the buyer begins to have doubts about the decision they have made.

And the seller? They dread it! They know the inspector will find some small thing that needs to be repaired. The seller also worries about something much larger. Typically, if there are big items, they are in the attic and the crawl space.  Two places the homeowner rarely visits.

You’ve heard the horror stories from friends who have a deal only to have the inspection kill the deal. Sometimes it is justified. Maybe they have not cared for the home or did not have a home inspection done when they purchased the house.  Sometimes it is not justified. There are home inspectors who are what I call “deal busters.”

A home inspector should report what he or she finds but not recommend or suggest fixes and changes. Sometimes, an inspector’s personality, attitude, or out-of-bounds comments can strike undue fear in the mind of the buyer.

Should it be that way? No. My idea for this article came from an inspection I completed just this morning with a buyer. We spent almost 4 hours at the house. We had numerous inspections done…mechanical, structural, termite, septic, and water.   At the end, we invited the seller to join us to learn about the findings plus answer a few questions. The seller had lived in the home for 43 years and was able to tell the buyer about most of what was going on with the home.

The findings were objectively done and stated. The seller said that he would be happy to make the repairs because he could understand and see the deficiencies and would expect the home delivered to him in good shape if he were the buyer.

This particular case is not the norm. Repairs are typically negotiated. But, it sure does make the experience much more pleasant when the home inspector is professional and the buyer and seller check their emotions at the door.

I should add that the home inspectors association has done a wonderful job of establishing a higher level of professionalism for its members through licensing and better education. Today’s home inspectors are tremendously better than those of 10 years ago. Learn more about home inspection at the NC Real Estate Commissions webpage on Home Inspections.

Understand that no home is perfect!  There are going to be issues.  It was not a widget made in a factory.

A Sobering Day

Last week was somewhat sobering for me.

First, I met with a lady for the second time in as many weeks about selling her beautiful Ballantyne home. Let’s call her Jane for this posting. Very little of our time was spent actually talking about staging the house, painting rooms, replacing carpet, etc. No, Jane and I talked about how was she was going to be able to sell the property and pay off the mortgage. Unfortunately, she bought her home at the peak of the real estate market and did not put very much money down towards the purchase. Today, Jane’s home is worth about 18% less than she purchased it for, but she owes a lot more on the mortgage. I actually felt more like a counselor than a real estate agent. Tears, strong emotions, and sadness. It was heart breaking!

Second, I follow real estate consultant Steve Harney’s daily blog postings. Steve does a great job of crystallizing the news reporting, market statistics, and salient data into information I can use in my career. On Friday, Steve varied from his usual postings and wrote an open letter to his followers. In that letter, Steve wrote about his financial problems which occurred in 1990.  Steve wrote, “I couldn’t afford to pay my bills. I was married and had two young sons. My home was approaching foreclosure. I didn’t know what to do and I was afraid to talk to anyone about my troubles. I was too embarrassed. I was depressed and ready to give up. Foreclosure seemed to be the only option.”

Now what? For Steve, help came in the form of a peer named Michael. Michael and Steve sat down and formulated a plan for getting Steve and his family out of debt. First, it involved selling the house. It was simply more than he could afford. The plan also included paying off his other debts, re-establishing his credit, and funding his kids’ college education. Steve says those were two tough years.

Back to Jane’s story. Jane is a proud homeowner. Prior to this home, she had never owned a home. She had to clean up some credit issues in order to purchase the home and did not want to let this new dilemma to destroy all that she had worked so hard for.

Jane did not know what to do. Her career was taking her to a new city so was being forced to face the issue. We looked at all the options…foreclosure, short sale, renting, taking money from retirement, etc. None of the choices would be particularly pleasant. But, up to that moment, the struggle with what to do was greater than anything to come. What Jane needed was exactly what Steve had in the early 1990s. Jane needed a person to talk to who could help her understand the options and make a plan to move forward. Worrying was killing her, but dealing with it is going to save her life!

Ballantyne is a very vibrant and highly sought after community…still. We are all proud to members of the Ballantyne community. However, Ballantyne has not been exempt from the housing downturn. Swallow your pride and reach out to someone to provide you with the knowledge you need make a solid real estate decision if you are confused and worried.

Need to sell your house? Are you worried you might never be able to sell your home? Do you owe more on your home than it is worth? Does it seem like there is no way to turn that is going to provide relief? Giving up is the worst thing you can do. Discuss the options and make a plan. The banks, home lenders and government are all working to ramp up efforts to help out distressed homeowners. If you want to start with a plan that starts with your home, contact a real estate agent today—real estate agents have pretty much seen everything and know how to help.

Want to learn more about the different options you have available?  Please don’t hesitate to send me an email at david.huss@allentate.com.   Also, I have a guide titled “Making a Plan to Get Out of Debt.” Just request this and I will forward this to you.

You can read Steve’s Letter by clicking on the link.