Saints!
February 7th, 2010 Categories: Buy A Charlotte Home
What A Game… Talk aobut Coaching Courage. NFL Football the way it is supposed to be played!
Go Saints! Love that Sean Payton- Drew Brees and Jamar Nesbit!
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Veterans Day 2009| Support Vets Today and Every Day
November 11th, 2009 Categories: Buy A Charlotte Home
Forget US NOT Veterans Day
Thank You Vet’s
Forget US NOT Veterans Day
The Greatest Generation- Korea-Vietnam- Iraq 1991-Afghanistan and Iraq 2003
and to those serving today, here in the US and abroad,
Thank You All.
Only a small fraction of our citizens serve in the military today, while the Yellow Ribbons are nice, lets put them to work, help them heal, and support the Veterans Administration, and yes the taxes needed to support it. 1 out 4 homeless men, over 100,000 are veterans, about half from Vietnam.
A few Veteran Resources – Veteran Service Organizations
us veterans day 2009
Directory of Veteran Service Organizations
Hire Vets First Top 50 Military Friendly Employers
Too many homeless, too many veteran suicides, please support our Vet’s every day.
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Fall Pictures From Charlotte’s Neighborhoods
November 11th, 2009 Categories: Buy A Charlotte Home
Charlotte North Carolina
I really think spring is Charlotte’s best time of year- the city is so greeeen, it is lush and verdant… but some prefer fall and it is easy to see why. The colors have been great the last 2 years, these photos taken from Dilworth, Myers Park and across South Charlotte, and a pic from Lake Norman too… do you have one to add?
Charlotte, The Queen City, The Heart of the New South
a Dilworth street Charlotte NC
Brilliant Colors South Charlotte
a Dilworth street Charlotte NC
Brilliant Colors South Charlotte
Sanctuary Estate Homes at lake Wylie
Beverly Crest Blvd south Charlotte
Sanctuary Street-estate homes 20 minutes to Charlotte
Lake Norman NC Fall day
All the above photos were personally taken and are available free of charge with attribution
©Terry McDonald 2008-2009
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Home Buyer Tax Credit Renewed- Modified for The Better
November 7th, 2009 Categories: Buy A Charlotte Home, Charlotte First Time Home Buyers
First Home Buyer Tax Credit Extended, Move Up Buyers Get New Tax Credit
It is official. President Obama signed the bill Friday. The bill extends the existing first home buyer credit through April 30-and creates a new credit, I call it the “Move Up” home buyer tax credit of $6500 credit for qualifying “move up” buyers, and it increases the income limits to qualify… welcome changes and a shot in the arm for home Buyers and Sellers.
The bill extends the current $8,000 first time homebuyer tax credit (which was due to expire at the end of November) through April, 2010-however this is a “contracted by” date and you must close by July 1, 2010.
It also includes a tax credit of up to $6,500 for qualified move up buyers- you must have used the home as your primary residence for 5 of the last 8 years- and increases the borrower income limits for both credits to $125,000 for individuals and $225,000 for couples.
Home buyers will qualify for the full credit as long as they have entered a binding contract by April 30, 2010 and they close the transaction by June 30, 2010. The tax credit is limited to homes with a purchase price of $800,000 and below.
More details as we learn them but this is more that we had last February… lets go buy a home!!!
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Our Charlotte Real Estate partner
Quick Charlotte Home Search
Or Call the McDonald Team at 704-351-1519
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Charlotte NC- Good Housing and Economic News
October 26th, 2009 Categories: About Charlotte, Buy A Charlotte Home, Charlotte Business, Charlotte First Time Home Buyers
Unemployment DOWN, Existing Home Sales/Home Prices UP, Charlotte On The Rebound?
Yes, it is too early to declare the recession over. However, these are some encouraging signs–more than the “just getting worse slower” We have strong economic reports and increasing home prices again… the details below
Mecklenburg County Unemployment fell .3 % from August’s 11.3 to 11% in September
The region, Charlotte/Gastonia/Concord dropped .2%. Hickory/Lenoir/Morganton region dropped .5% to 14.1. In all, unemployment fell in all 9 counties I watch closely.
The Charlotte Chamber of Commerce announced that job creation is well ahead of 2008’s pace, and jobs are growing here faster than the last few years, hopefully signs of good times ahead. Area employers announced new jobs of 11,527, up from 9,552 last year. This good news was tempered by substantially lower capital investment numbers-from $1.75 billion in 2008 to $784M through the first3 quarters of 2009
The energy sector is growing as the world sees a larger commitment to nuclear power coming and Duke Energy’s HQ here makes all the difference. Health care is strong here as well , with two major hospitals competing and Premier Health Care relocating corporate headquarter’s here…Personally, we’ve moved several doctors this year.
Johnston and Wales University announced plans to expand its Uptown presence building a 30,000 square foot recreation center. The building will house a gymnasium, locker rooms, and places for student activities to meet…we’ll keep an eye onit. Johnston and Wales opened in 2004 in Charlotte with the plan to close its Richmond and Charleston campuses.
Wells Fargo reported increased earnings,$2.6B for the 3rd quarter, even as credit losses rose and Bank of America reported record 3rd quarter losses of 2.24B… and that Ken Lewis wouldn’t be getting a bonus in 2009.
Housing Prices Bottomed and Moving Back Up Slowly
Charlotte is a part of the well regarded Case-Shiller 20 city Home Price Index, and has had the 5th least price drop of the 20 major cities measured. This summer, Charlotte’s price index had 3 consecutive months of increasing home prices through July, the latest month reported. Home prices are still down more than 9% from a year ago, but they are moving in the right direction. Prices have now risen 3 months in a row and 4 of the last 5 months, Charlotte home prices hit bottom and are bouncing back.
ED NOTE: August C-S report slightly lower prices in August-still nearly 2% above February low
The number of foreclosures fell 6% in NC in the 3rd Quarter according to Realty Trac, the soure for foreclosure information.
Nationally, existing Home Sales up 9.4% from August pushed by first home buyer tax credits. It’s happening here in Charlotte too…as home sales under $200k are about 66% of our market in September as reported in the CarolinaMLS.
Charlotte Job creation up, housing sales up, home prices up… Take that Washington Post! Happy Monday!
Terry McDonald, Charlotte NC
Related Videos and Posts
Charlotte Homes – An Introduction to Charlotte, You Tubes #1 Video Charlotte NC
Charlotte Custom Homes Luxury Homes- Charlotte update and Luxury home report combined
Charlotte Homes For Sale- A Market Report Through 3 Quarters 2009
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First Home Buyer Alert
Yes, there is still time to get in before November 30, The TAX CREDITS WERE EXTENDED! hopefully you are far enough along and getting ready to make an offer. The IRS is not flexible, their deadline for contracts is April 30, Closings July 30, 2010. Call me and I’ll help you put it together. 704-351-1519
Home buyers, our $500 Gift card program has been extend to 12/31 and now applies to All Home Buyers who close begore 12/31/2009. Use us as your buyer agents, and within a few days of closing receive a $500 Gift card good at Ikea, Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel or Lowe’s Home Improvement Center. Call me today and we’ll get you started.
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Charlotte Real Estate
October 25th, 2009 Categories: Buy A Charlotte Home, Charlotte Homes for Sale
Charlotte Real Estate|Charlotte Homes For Sale
How do you like our generally new look? Please check out the Charlotte Relocation link, to see the familiar relocation links for jobs, taxes etc. We’ve added the home search in the right column, and did some house cleaning.
Here are someof my favorite recent posts: to get you
A Charlotte First home buyer (cute one!) Says “Show Me the Money!”
Charlotte New Homes- first home buyer inventory
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Call us to get you started, still just enough time for for first home buyers. 704-351-1519
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Tweets to be Indexed by Bing…Google, Yahoo Next?
October 22nd, 2009 Categories: Buy A Charlotte Home
Bing announces deal with Twitter and Facebook to index Tweets, Google follows suit next day
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first time home buyers lets get cracking! Timeis running out to get your home financed and closed by November 30.
See First Home Buyer Liana M and her $8,000 Check! Call me today 704-351-1519
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