While foreclosures themselves can be nasty monsters to deal with by themselves, they’re unfortunately, not the only ugly animal that homeowners facing foreclosure have to deal with. Along with the hassles and frustrations of an impending foreclosure, homeowners also have to be wary of those preying on their weakened financial position.
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.”
Filed under Carolina Business News, Foreclosed Houses, News Reports by 
This past weekend Rock Hill and Fort Mill SC experienced the 3rd winter storm in as many weeks. It’s been my experience that we typically get one storm per winter season, but not this year! This year, we’ve had at least 5 and who knows how many more could be on the way before it’s all over with!
At any rate, I absolutely LOVE how pretty snow is and certainly enjoyed this past weekends snow fall.
This photo comes courtesy of the Rock Hill Herald.
Filed under Fort Mill SC, Fun Stuff, Life In the Carolinas, Rock Hill SC by
If you’re looking to buy a lakeside home at a huge discount, right now might just be the time to act! Of course, that’s if you don’t mind living in north Charlotte NC on Lake Norman.
A recent story run by WCNC news station talked about the glut of lakeside homes that are available in Lake Norman, and many of them are listed at steep discounts. For example and as quoted in the Charlotte Observer,
“It’s 7,000 square-feet,” said broker Jason Noblitt as he looked at pictures of a waterfront foreclosure in Mooresville. “It was on the market for approximately $1.7 million.”
The 5-bedroom, 4 1/2-bath house is under contract now and Noblitt thinks it’ll sell for under $1 million. That’s a $700,000 discount.
“In our current market you absolutely are not going to get what you did in 2006 or even 2007. We need to look at where prices were in 2004 and 2005,” he said.”
And it’s not as if there isn’t competition either. An MLS search showed 470 lakeside homes listed in the Lake Norman area, which means it’s a highly competitive housing market.
Of course on the flip side, if you’re looking to purchase a lakeside home, now is certainly a great time to act!
Down here in the Fort Mill SC area, it’s still most definitely a buyer’s market, but as I’ve always said, if your home is marketed and priced correctly, there’s absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t expect to get a fair value for your home.
To learn more about the Fort Mill SC or Rock Hill SC housing market, contact me today and I’d be more than happy to show you exactly what the Fort Mill SC real estate market looks like.
Filed under Charlotte NC, Home Buyers, Life In the Carolinas, Market Trends, News Reports by
With unemployment still at near record highs, the fear is that many looking for work won’t be able to keep up with their mortgage payments.
This is definitely an unfortunate situation, but it is by no means indicative of the situation we face here in the Fort Mill SC area. We’re very fortunate in that people are continuing to move to the Charlotte area and when they do, they’re quite frequently deciding to move across the border to Fort Mill.
I certainly expect this trend to continue, which means a strong Fort Mil SC real estate market.
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Filed under Foreclosed Houses, Market Trends, News Reports by
