118 Chesterwood

This went pending yesterday, another builder foreclosure on the 17th fairway. Originally listed at $1,160,000 it's latest listing was a more reasonable 799,000. This was another house like Kent Ct built in 2007 that's been sitting for 3 years. When houses are priced right they sell, this shouldn't surprise anyone!! one tip on this one and the importance of local knowledge, watch out for the occasional pull-hook.

110 Kent Court....finally

This home originally priced above the market at $1,899,000 and on the water with a great view of hole 16 at the Point lake and golf club sold in foreclosure for $1,200,000 on April 15th. This was a new home and listed as having 5300 sq feet so it sold for $226 per sq ft., it has an unfinished basement, a big drawback for alot of buyers on this one was Duke won't allow a boatslip.

The Point foreclosure home sold in 7 days

This Dienst built home on the golf course at The Point in Mooresville has sold for the 4th time. Prior sales were:

Nov 2001=$630,000

Dec 2003 = $655,000

Sept 2006 = $755,000

April 2010 = $560,000

This house was listed for $566,800 ands went pending in 7 days! It's tax value is $758,060. This home if not "fire-saled" by BofA probably would sell closer to it's Dec 2003 price if not a little higher which would be reflective of the Case-Schiller index numbers for Charlotte.

There are still some "deal" houses out there and there are more to come on the market that are currently bank owned but not listed, some of these properties you need to move fast as alot of us agents have clients waiting and ready to buy. You need to have an agent that truly has local knowledge and understands values in this market such as myself. Call or email me if you have questions.

Recent sales in The Point

Brawley School road traffic?

What's up with Brawley traffic every year after school break, the traffic has increased dramatically for the last 3 years but it starts after spring break. Why?

You need to leave 15 minutes earlier than 2 weeks ago and this if the trend remains the same as the last 2 years it  will be like this until the end of the school year.

The commuters complain about the moms who drive their kids to school and the moms complain about the people who live down Brawley that need to commute in peak morning times? This should all be settled when the new road is done, which is coming along very nicely.

Charlotte Observer read on new rules of Lending

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/04/11/1368395/lenders-set-new-rules.html

Interesting Housing Reads

Edward Glaeser: Why Your House’s Value (Probably) Won’t Rise (Economix) from NY Times

Fannie Mae National Housing Survey (Fannie Mae PDF)

Ace Hardware on Brawley School Road

Another convenience for those who live down Brawley School Road, Ace Hardware wil be opening a new store in The Bloom shopping area.

The Brawley school road widening project is really coming along nicely, for the lake norman real estate buyers looking at homes in The Point and the other communities take advantage of the deals that are out there cause they won't last forever. That home at 465k in The Point I wrote about recently went conditional shortly after I mentioned it. I've seen some amazing deals for buyers and then again I've also had some buyers that either get way too picky on "deal" homes as investors or try to lowball prices when they really are already there. I had an investor who lost a home that he tried to get for 35k less than the already low-low price in fact 300k less than it sold for 3 years ago, bank rejected it and it sold at very close to what the bank wanted so someone got a great deal and my investor got nothing cause he got a little too greedy. We know the deals in The Point when we see them and will help you with proper valuation.

For young boaters on Lake Norman

According to a new state law that goes into effect May 1, all boat operators 25 years old or younger on North Carolina waterways must pass a Wildlife Resources Commission boating safety class before heading onto the water. You can call the Mooresville Police Department for more information as they will be conducting a free class from 12:00pm - 6:00pm on May 8. Violators of this new bill will be issued a citation requiring a court appearance.

The Point Lake and Golf Club, The Harbour at the Point, The Farms sales stats

Here' a look at the big 3 communities down Brawley school Road with mean and median prices over the last 3 years. The Point Lake and Golf Club has the widest variances in prices therefore the median provides a bit more insight than the average which gets skewed.

Brawley School Road video

I was asked to do a video for a client coming down in a few months of what Brawley School Rd. is looking like so here's a 20 second look at it

Brawley School Road traffic redirected

For those readers that are not living here yet we are now driving on the new road for a little bit and gives me a real look and feel of what the 4 lane road will look like with an estimated completion date July 2011.

Luxury Homes sold statistics

Thru March 24, 2010 there have been 6 homes sold for more than 1 Million in Mooresville, Cornelius Davidson and considered part of the Lake Norman area.

Compared to same time frame:
2009 - 7 homes
2008 - 12 homes
2007 - 23 homes

Buyers continue to be selective as we are still working our way thru inventory with a lot to choose from.

Brawley Peninsula

Interesting home with 200' of deep water shoreline across from Governor's Island offered at $649,000.
Email or call me if you want to see it.

The Farms Community

The Farms, a very nice family oriented community on Brawley peninsula currently has 25 homes listed for sale with prices ranging from $479,000 - $736,000. The community offers a country feel with clubhouse, swimming pool with a community swim team for your children, a playground and tennis courts.

Year to date three homes have closed at $500k, $505k and $558k

Waterfront Homes for sale on Brawley Peninsula

If you are looking to move to the Lake Norman area, a waterfront home is where your search should at least start with as these lots will hold their value better. Here is a look at the number of waterfront homes around Brawley peninsula or also know as Brawley School Rd that are active listings. If you are moving from another area such as I did from New England you will quickly learn that not all water is created equal and that there are alot of cove lots that don't have nice views that create big price differences, but again starting with waterfront will give you a good sense of values.

under $500,000 - 10 homes
$500,000-$750,000 - 28 homes
$750,001 - $1,250,00 - 29 homes
$1,250,001 - $2,000,000 - 20 homes
$2,000,001 and higher - 11 homes

Deal!! Buy this house! $465,000 in The Point

For the buyers out there who want to buy deal houses look no further. Every "deal" house we alert our readers to sells very quickly so don't delay. email me if you want to see this house but don't wait too long.

Real Estate sales thru February 2010 on Brawley School Road

So far in 2010 thru the end of February we saw 18 homes sold vs. 17 homes in 2009. At the top end the price was $1,400,000 for a home in The Point Lake and Golf Club. This only includes sold's thru the carolina MLS service and only homes serviced by Lake Norman Elementary School and Woodland Heights Elementary School. So mostly homes in and around Brawley School Road and Brawley Peninsula.

New Park coming west of I-77 Mooresville

A contract was awarded last night by the Mooresville Board of Commissioners to T.K Browne Construction to build a park called Cornelius Road Park, which is on the west side of I-77 and north of Exit 36. There will be 2 new baseball fields, 6 tennis courts, 2 trails and some open space that may be developed for soccer one day. Work on this will start in the spring. Sure would be nice if we were to get a park off Brawley School Road.

Competing with Puffery

While watching an interview with Harry Markopoulos on CNBC yesterday (the whistle blower in the Bernie Madoff case) his comments resonated with me. He was asked how did he first figure out Madoff was a scam, he replied and I'll paraphrase "my boss asked me to develop a product like his and it was impossible, it took me 4 hours to figure out his reported numbers were a lie and impossible to mathematically recreate so I learned he was a fraud and a liar I cannot compete if he has people believeing his lies."

In the real estate business I believe we have agents that may overstate the value of a house, get a listing and hope for the best, which usually means No Sale or very long times on the market with no activity or keep lowering the price and hopefully the customer will stay with the agent. This is just wasted precious time for the homeowners and wishful thinking. So to potential home sellers be aware of puffery by some agents. I'm not calling them liars but your home is worth what a buyer is willing to pay for it and a proper valuation is important as we continue to be in a "buyer's market" for the forseeable future. I'm in the process of recreating all the activity for the most active listings agents for the last few years in my area and to see the original ask price and it's eventual sale price, I wonder if there's a correlation to high listing activity and 1st asking price to eventual sale price being lower on average than agents with only a few listings. So be careful, it's hard competing with puffery and I want to tell you like it is, good, bad and honestly.