1. They can’t raise interest rates on debt you’ve already racked up. They can if you are more than 60 days late on these payments.  So pay your cards on time!

2. If your card charges you different interest rates (say, 14% for existing balances, and 2% for balance transfers), they must apply your payments to the debt carrying the highest rates first.  So the faster you pay it off, the more money you save.

3. They can’t raise your rates if they find out you’ve been late on other credit cards or loans.  This doesn’t mean you credit score will not be affected, which can eventually lead to higher interest rates.  Your best bet is just to pay it on time.

4. You can no longer go over your credit limit and be charged the subsequent fees- unless you notify your credit card company in writing that you’d like to spend more than your limit.  So don’t spend more than your limit.

5. They will tell you on your bill how long it will take to pay off your debt and how much it will cost you, including interest, if you pay only the minimum each month.  This will be an eye opener, and a hard lesson for many.  Pay more than the minimum or you could possible pay on this card longer than your house mortgage.

6. Those under 21years old won’t be able to get a credit card unless they show proof of income or get an adult to cosign.  I think this is the smartest law of all!  When I was in college, you would sign your life away for a free t-shirt or can coozie.  All adults over the age of 21 take note…DON’T COSIGN

Scammers absolutely love to prey on the weak so it’s no surprise to see that as the number of foreclosures rise, so too does the number of foreclosure scams.

According to Stella Hopkins of the Charlotte Observer,

“The N.C. Attorney General’s Office handled 448 foreclosure-scam complaints last year, a jaw-dropping jump from 82 the previous year. In 2007, there were just seven.”

The majority of these scams appear to be in the area of firms charging upfront fees for so-called ‘foreclosure prevention help, a practice which has been illegal in NC since 2005. Last year, the NC Attorney General handed out 166 cease and desist orders to firms charging these upfront fees.

Again, according to Ms. Hopkins:

“Working out a loan modification is time-consuming and frustrating. The main federal program is cumbersome. But there’s a lot of free help. See www.fightncforeclosure.org to find a free foreclosure prevention counselor in your area. The site has contacts for other resources, too.

And remember: If you’re facing foreclosure, we want to hear from you. We’re looking this year at whether the $75 billion federal foreclosure-prevention program is really helping people. E-mail me at shopkins@charlotteobserver.com or call direct, 704-358-5173.”

According to the Rock Hill Herald Online, “This policy allows only monument-style signs that are no more than 10 feet high, featuring no more than 200 square feet of sign surface on each side. That rules out the towering pole signs and billboards that have dominated much of Cherry Road.”

The city agreed to immediately pay up to 60% of the cost of replacing non-conforming signs, with that amount being reduced over time, and none of paid in 2010.

The idea behind the policy was to clean up the commercial section of Rock Hill, but if it’s taking almost 7 years to complete, how much of an effort is the city really making?  Believe me, I’m all for doing whatever it takes to clean up anything that devalues anything about our beloved Rock Hill SC so I definitely appreciate Love’s taking down the sign, but at what point do we get serious and make a concerted effort to really make it happen?

I don’t have a list of businesses or signs that don’t comply with the policy, but it would certainly be interesting to see a list of everyone that’s complied and those that have yet to fall in line.

According to the Charlotte Observer today,

“At the worksite, at Fifth and Pine streets, workers streamed out of the tower at the shift’s end Monday, carrying an assortment of items, such as ladders, buckets and drills, which workers often leave overnight. Workers with four subcontractors, along with half a dozen Griffin employees, said they had been told that work may stop because of unpaid bills. Employees also removed R.J. Griffin signs from fences and used cranes to hoist portable toilets and other heavy equipment to the ground from The Vue’s upper floors.”

While it’s highly unlikely the work stoppage will last long simply because I seriously doubt the Charlotte city leaders want such a large real estate project just sitting unfinished, it definitely points to the fact that the regions real estate market isn’t completely out of the woods yet.

While home sales have picked up in the lower price brackets ($100-150K) things are still a little slow in the upper price ranges.  That’s not to say house aren’t selling, it just means they’re not selling as quickly as they did prior to the current economic downturn.

“City leaders approved a public financing package for Riverwalk, the 1,000-acre project that could bring new life to the old Celanese textile site at Cherry Road and Interstate 77. Plans call for an industrial park, retail shops and hundreds of home sites — which developers say could represent a $600 million redevelopment.”

While the entire project isn’t scheduled to be completed until 2028, construction could begin as early as next summer on some key components of the project. One interesting piece of the project will be the east coast’s only velodrome, which is an oval bicycle race track.  It’s one of the projects slated to begin next summer and could be completed by as early as 2012.

Overall, the project is expected to attract around 4,000 new jobs which is certainly good news for both Rock Hill SC and Fort Mill SC.  With the real estate activity already picking up, knowing this project is coming along with all of the associated benefits I can only expect it will continue to help the housing market.

“The number of initial unemployment-insurance claims fell last month, and the year-to-year increase was just 5 percent – compared with a 76 percent year-to-year jump in June, according to N.C. Employment Security Commission figures released Monday.”

While this is certainly good news to use locally in the Charlotte NC area, it mirrors information from across the country that the recession does appear to be slowing down. While there were still some 274,000 jobs lost in July, the unemployment percentage actually fell by .1% from June, which is the first time that number fell since April of 2008.

Obviously, this informatio boads well for the Rock Hill SC and Fort Mill SC areas as well as people continue to look to York County for an alternative to Charlotte NC and seeing the number of job losses slow down certainly helps our real estate market.

And in spite of all the bad news nationally, we’ve always enjoyed a relatively strong real estate market here in the Rock Hill SC – Fort Mill SC area and I don’t expect that to change any time soon!

As published in the Yahoo! Real Estate news report:

“[Yahoo's] rankings looked at the 200 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S., which range from the New York metro and its 11.7 million people to Olympia, Wash., with a population of 241,000. We examined each on 11 different criteria. Economic research firm Moody’s Economy.com supplied data on job growth over the past five years and projections through 2011. Economy.com also provided business and living cost data as well as income growth and migration trends.

We also turned to Bert T. Sperling, city researcher and co-author of Cities Ranked & Rated for some labor supply and quality of life information. Sperling furnished data on college attainment, crime rates, local colleges and cultural and recreational opportunities in the area.”

So even though our area has been hit with numerous after-effects of our flagging economy, it still looks as though Rock Hill SC, Fort Mill SC, and all the surrounding areas are positioned quite nicely.  And once things start turning around, we’ll be that much better off!

]]> http://sharonsellscarolina.com/274/the-credit-crisis-visualized/feed/ 0 http://sharonsellscarolina.com/241/ikea-finally-opens-and-a-bunch-of-crazy-people/ http://sharonsellscarolina.com/241/ikea-finally-opens-and-a-bunch-of-crazy-people/#comments Wed, 18 Feb 2009 23:18:32 +0000 SSCadmin http://sharonsellscarolina.com/?p=241 Yes, it’s true.  The Charlotte area IKEA store finally opened today!

The new Swedish-based store is located in the Northeast side of Charlotte near UNC Charlotte and Harris Blvd.  There’s been a lot of news coverage about it and today was no exception.  Especially since there were lots of crazy people that camped out overnight (some for several days) for an opportunity to be one of the first 100 people in the door because they were given a free Poang chair.

That's me on the left.

Well, when I say “crazy people” I it with complete affection because….well, I was one of those crazies!

Yep, that’s right.  I camped out last night, in the cold and rain I might add, for a chance to be one of the first 100 people through the door.  I arrived at 10pm last night and was informed shortly after arriving that I was number 101.  Bummer!!

Fortunately though, 2 people left during the night and as I result I moved up to #99 and was lucky enough to get a free chair.  Yeah!

Anyway, even though my husband thinks I’ve gone completely off my rocker it was a ton of fun, I made some amazing new friends, and it’s a memory I’ll remember for a long time to come.  Especially as I’m relaxing in my free chair!

According to today’s Charlotte Observer, the Design Center was “envisioned as a blend between traditional Home Depots and the chain’s EXPO Design Centers, which are high-end stores aimed at big remodeling jobs. Unlike traditional Home Depots, the Design Center had no lumber, building materials or garden center but gave more display space to items such as containers, lighting, mirrors and flooring. It was designed to appeal more to women, who often make households’ decorating decisions.”

It’s certainly some sad news, not just for those of us that LOVE home decorating, but for those that found out today they’d be looking for work, as well as the rest of us that will feel the economic impact of the decision.

On a lighter note, home sales are still holding strong here in the Rock Hill and Fort Mill SC areas, so don’t let today’s bad news discourage you if you’re considering buying a new house or selling your existing home!