What Does Warren Buffet Think About Buying a Home?

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We love this post from the KCM Blog on Tuesday. Here’s what they had to say about Warren Buffet and what he thinks about buying a home…

“Warren Buffet is seen by many as the greatest investor of our time. When he speaks, people listen. Like anyone else in his position of influence, he is criticized by some for using his bullhorn to promote his own business agendas at times. That makes it very interesting when we occasionally learn of how he privately advises those closest to him.

Such a situation occurred this week. Debbie Bosanek, Warren Buffet’s secretary of 37 years, recently purchased a second home in Surprise, Arizona.

In an article in the Omaha World Herald, Mrs. Bosanek discussed her reasons for purchasing a second home and the personal advice she received from Mr. Buffet.

“I just thought it was time to buy a home. Warren tells me that it will be the best opportunity in my lifetime. Mortgage rates are low and prices have dropped dramatically…I share Warren’s view about the future of America, and we believe that our country will do just fine. I’m happy to make this investment.”

The greatest investor of the last century privately has told the people closest to him that buying a home right now “will be the best opportunity in [their] lifetime”.

That’s good enough for us. How about you?”

For more information about real estate investments on the Outer Banks and Northeast North Carolina, contact an agent at Coldwell Banker Seaside Realty.

Outer Banks Featured Home: Charleston Drive, The Carolina Club

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This amazing home, located at 109 Charleston Drive in Grandy, features high-end cabinetry, including natural hickory and natural cherry, granite counter tops, cathedral ceilings, 9 ft. ceilings, tray ceilings, and composite decking. Mouldings are exceptional and paint colors exquisite. Extras include a central vacuum system, berber carpet, custom tile and beautiful hardwood floors.

This home highlights a huge master suite with views of the golf course from many angles, a private finished room over the spacious two car garage and an amazing view of the 3rd Tee of The Carolina Club golf course off the back deck.

Relax in an open family room with cathedral ceiling while enjoying the golfers and flip the switch on your gas fireplace. Truly a year round paradise. Observe holes 9 and 18 from your front yard or take a stroll to the community pool, tennis courts or marina.

Live above “par”……or under if you’re golfing outside your door! You are truly living the good life at 109 Charleston Dr. at an amazingly affordable price and only 15 minutes to the beautiful beaches of the Outer Banks.

Open house for this home is February 11 from 1 til 5. 

About the Carolina Club: “The Carolina Club features superb bentgrass greens and a picturesque par-3 island green. Five sets of tees allow you to match your game to the challenge, to ensure that all skill levels can have an enjoyable time. All of this, compounded with strong ocean breezes will have you reaching for every club in your bag! The Carolina Club features a warm-up range, putting green, and chipping green to allow you to sharpen your skills. Be sure to visit the practice putting green prior to playing. It is maintained exactly like the greens on the course, so that your practice can be consistent with actual playing conditions. This is all outside your door. You can also practice at the sister course, The Pointe Golf Club. The Pointe Golf Club is home to one of the finest practice facilities in the region. The 30,000 sq. ft. practice tee can accommodate even the largest groups or outings. The short game area includes a large chipping green, practice bunker, and putting green.”

For more information on this listing please contact Teri Tillett with Coldwell Banker Seaside Realty. 

4 Questions to Ask Before Buying a Foreclosure

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“Foreclosures can offer big bargains, but buyers need to be careful that they don’t get over their heads in purchasing a home that may need more repairs than they bargained for.

Foreclosures are usually sold as-is, and homes that are left vacant standing too long can have a lot of maintenance problems.”

REALTORMag suggest buyers consider the following questions:

1. How long has the home been vacant? Be cautious of a foreclosed home that has stood vacant for more than a few weeks or had its utilities shut off a long time. Marvin Goldstein, a home inspector for many foreclosed properties, says a home can deteriorate quickly when heating, cooling, electricity, and running water have been turned off for awhile.

2. How old is the home? Goldstein says that homes that are more than 50 years old may have a failing plumbing system or inadequate electrical wiring.

3. How does the home look? Are there broken windows, gutters hanging down, or damaged siding? “Trust your instincts. If the house looks bad from the outside, it’s probably worse than you think,” Goldstein told The Oklahoman.

4. Is there anything missing? Sometimes former owners remove anything of value from the home, such as built-in light fixtures, bathroom tile, water heaters, air-conditioning units, and hardwoods, says Bill Jacques, president-elect of the American Society of Home Inspectors.

Housing experts encourage buyers to get a home inspector to look at the property, even if it is sold as-is, so that home buyers know any repairs needed and cost estimates before they purchase the home.

“Buying a bank-owned home gives you the opportunity to enter the market at a very low price level,” says Dorcas Helfant, a past president of the National Association of REALTORS®. “You can find terrific values among foreclosures, especially if they’re not in too bad shape. But, remember, these houses are discounted for a reason.”

Coldwell Banker Branded Websites Remain Most Visited

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Via ColdwellBanker.com…

According to Nielsen and comScore Media Metrix, the two global leaders in digital measurement, Coldwell Banker branded websites had the highest number of unique visitors among all national real estate franchise brands for full-year 2011.  This marks the second consecutive year that the Coldwell Banker brand ranked No. 1 in Web traffic among all real estate franchisors.

“The Coldwell Banker brand is clearly top of mind when consumers go online and search for a home,” said Michael Fischer, chief marketing officer, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC.  “Consumers know our great brand and have shown a desire to utilize the suite of online tools seen throughout the Coldwell Banker network at the national and local levels.”
According to Nielson, Coldwell Banker websites had 17.5 million unique visitors in 2011, which was more than 28 percent higher than the next nearest franchise brand competitor (13.7 million). Similarly, Coldwell Banker branded websites (26.1 million unique visitors) had the highest Web traffic ranking among real estate franchisors in the comScore Media Metrix full-year ranking for 2011, easily outpacing its next nearest competitor by 21 percent (21.6 million unique visitors).

The Coldwell Banker brand continues to place an emphasis on developing its website into a hub for consumers to find and prepare for the home buying and selling process.  Recent additions include the lifestyle search page and first time home buyer resource center.

Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC accessed the aforementioned information through its subscription to both Nielson and comScore Media Metrix. The rankings encompass all consumer Web traffic (unique visitors) to national and local websites operated by the franchise brands as well as by their franchisees.

Outer Banks Featured Home: Dowdy Lane, Kitty Hawk Landing

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4164 Dowdy Lane, Kitty Hawk North Carolina

This one-of-a-kind property located on the west side of Kitty Hawk in the beautiful Kitty Hawk Landing neighborhood, cannot be compared. Designed by the owner to take full advantage of the unique site, views and natural environment, this is an architect’s home. This lot offers direct water access to the sounds with a private dock on Avery Pond.

The home offers beautiful views of the Albemarle and Currituck sounds. Located on the end of a quiet street, this home is only three miles from the beach and main highway. 

The house has eight levels, each with different and unsurpassed views. Built in 2001, there are three bedrooms and two and a half baths. Features in this home include a sunken atrium with twelve foot ceiling offering views of the sound, wetlands, one-of-a-kind sunsets and night skies; elevator; gourmet kitchen with bar over-looking the great room with dining area; an observation/breakfast room over-looking the sound; custom cabinetry in the great room including entertainment area, bookshelves, and wet-bar with refridgerator; porches and decks off of the guest suite, great room and master bedroom; and a three story elevator.

This home has been well maintained with low operating costs. For more information on this listing please contact Sarah Brown or BJ Neal.

Sales Stir Hope for the Housing Market

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December marked the third straight month of previously owned home sales, bringing the supply of homes listed for sale to the lowest level since 2006. We are now seeing a glimmer of hope that the housing market could be starting to climb out of a profound downturn, according to an article posted by The Wall Street Journal.

Existing-home sales increased 5% in December from a month earlier, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.61 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Friday. Lawrence Yun, the Realtors’ chief economist, called the December gain “a good finish to a very tough year.”

Many economists had predicted that 2011 would be the worst year on record for existing home sales, but the year ended with 4.26 million sales, about 1.6% higher than the 4.19 million existing homes sold in 2010. Market-watchers attributed this to a minor surge in sales at year-end, driven by historically low mortgage rates, falling prices, active investor-buyers and increasing consumer confidence.

Still, economists cautioned that it’s too early to assume that the market is recovering. “These were positive numbers, but that doesn’t mean the market is getting better. Lenders have been trying to get rid of distressed homes, and investors been snapping them up,” said Patrick Newport, chief economist at IHS Global Insight. According to the Realtors report, investors purchased 21% of all homes in December, up from 19% in November.

The inventory of homes for sale declined in December to 2.38 million, the equivalent of a 6.2-month supply, assuming the pace of sales remain at December’s level. A six-month supply of homes typically is considered healthy, although NAR’s numbers don’t take into account the “shadow inventory” of homes that are either in foreclosure or on bank balance sheets and not yet listed for sale.

Read full article here

2011 Coldwell Banker Seaside Realty Awards Ceremony

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2011 Coldwell Banker Seaside Realty Awards Breakfast

2011 Coldwell Banker Seaside Realty Awards Breakfast

This week we celebrated the end of 2011 with the 2011 Coldwell Banker Seaside Realty awards breakfast. It was great to have the full team together to look back on the successes from 2011 and look forward to the great opportunities ahead in 2012.

Congratulations to the top producers, and to all of CBSR for a strong 2011 in Outer Banks and Northeast North Carolina real estate sales.

Thanks to Chili Peppers for a fantastic breakfast.

Agents of the Year:

  • Brad Beacham - Kitty Hawk
    • President’s Circle award winner
  • Diane Harris - Elizabeth City
    • Sterling Society award winner

Listing Agent of the Year:

Here’s a quick video of the highlights:

Optimism Builds in the Housing Market

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“Several recent indicators for the real estate industry are pointing to a market that is on the mend and entering recovery mode.

Housing experts’ predictions for the new year tend to center around a market stabilizing before entering a gradual, albeit very slow, recovery. However, the tone is more upbeat than it has been in years for the housing market.”

Via REALTORMag.com..

Here are a few of the signs that are showing the market moving in a more positive direction:

Home sales: Existing home sales are expected to increase 12 percent this year, following a 2 percent jump last year, Moody’s Analytics predicts. The signs are already showing: In November, pending home sales — a gauge for future home buying — reached its highest level in 19 months, the National Association of REALTORS® reported. (Read more.)

New-home market: Coming off of what could be considered the worst year for new-home building ever recorded, the sector is expected to bounce back this year. New-home sales and starts were already showing a rebound in the last few months of 2011. Moody’s is predicting that single-family housing starts will increase 37 percent this year, and new-home sales will soar 74 percent.

Housing stocks: Investors are starting to get optimistic about the possibility of a rebound too, and are turning to home builder stocks. These equities have recently outperformed the broader stock market and the S&P 1500 homebuilding index has increased 38 percent since mid-October, USA Today reports.

Consumer confidence: With mortgage rates at record lows and housing affordability high, about 71 percent of Americans say now is a good time to purchase a home. Also, more Americans are optimistic that home prices will rise over the next year — about 26 percent say prices will rise in 2012, an increase of 4 percent over the last survey, according to Fannie Mae’s December National Housing Survey.

Top 5 Reasons to Buy a Home in 2012

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Make the American Dream of home ownership a reality in 2012. Here are the Top 5 Reasons to purchase a home in 2012 via QuickenLoans.com…

  • Appreciation – Buying a home now (at the current rates) can almost ensure your home’s appreciation in the future.  Mortgage rates are near historic lows and home prices in many parts of the country are down.  This is the perfect recipe for home appreciation.  Additionally, many foreclosed homes are available for a fraction of the original cost.  This can translate to a higher profit if you decide to sell once the market rebounds.

  • Property Tax Deductions – For income tax purposes, real estate property taxes for a vacation home and first home are fully deductible.  The IRS (Publication 530) provides detailed tax information for first-time buyers that may answer many questions about what deductions homeowners are eligible for.

  • Preferential Tax Treatment – If you own your home for more than a year and receive more profit than the allowable exclusion after the sale of your home, the profit will be considered a capital asset.  Capital assets are given preferential tax treatment.

  • Equity Building – Many factors such as credit qualification, loan flexibility, and annual percentage rate (APR) contribute to the final decision of what type of mortgage loan best fits your goals.  Yet, a new trend being used by some homeowners is to actually add money to their monthly payment to decrease the principal balance of their loans at a much faster pace.  This trend is called equity building.  Equity builders usually select a home loan with a lower interest rate (and a shorter term loan such as a 15-year fixed) to help build equity faster.  This rapid payment process allows borrowers to:

  • Pay off the principal balance faster
  • Lock in near-record-low interest rates
  • Shorten the length of their home loan
  • Own their home faster
  • Pay substantially less mortgage interest

Equity building is a beneficial trend that’s becoming more and more popular with fiscally responsible homeowners.  Also, home equity is the largest single source of household wealth for most Americans.

  • Pride – Homeownership offers many benefits to many different types of people.  For some homeowners, playing your music as loud as you want and painting the walls the color of your choice is a perk.  For me, homeownership will permit me to build an NBA regulation size basketball court on my own property.  For my coworker Joel Jarvi, home ownership may allow him to build the indoor slide of his dreams.  No matter who you are, homeownership is a purchase, commitment, and journey that’s sure to bring you pride.

Furthermore, when the uncertainty surrounding the housing market fades and the market rebounds, homeownership may in fact transform that pride to profit through a home sale.