• The down payment assistance available is $7,000.
• To qualify for the Forgivable down payment option, a 1 person household’s income in YORK County cannot exceed $37,250 and $42,550 for a 2 person household.
• Must live in the home 5 years in order for the loan to be completely forgiven.
• The Home price is up to $208,000 in YORK county.
• 640 minimum credit score
• The interest rate is 5.125% on a 30 yr fixed rate.

Call me or email me for more information on this program. sharon@SharonSellsCarolina.com

Foreclosure: What is it?

Bank foreclosure, or just foreclosure as it is more commonly referred to, is a process which is initiated by the mortgagee or a lien for the purpose of having the court order the debtor’s real estate sold to pay the mortgage or other lien. In case you fail to pay your bank this installment regularly the bank will start initiating a process to recover this loan by selling your property for which the bank will start legal proceedings to obtain a court order to sell your home for clearing the outstanding mortgage amount and this process is referred to as Bank foreclosure, or more commonly as just foreclosure.

Foreclosure is a very common problem, as many people go into the home buying process thinking that they will be fine, only to find out one they are actually in it that they have so many other bills or bought a house that was too expensive and they are simply unable to make their mortgage payments

Many people do not want their purchased homes to be sold by foreclosure because of sentimental issues and also because you will find that you have to put a lot of effort in purchasing a new home; in addition you will find it extremely difficult to get finances for your new home because of your poor credit rating.

Tips

There are a few tips in particular that will help you avoid foreclosure on your home. Prepare a household budget of your household income and expenditures and the income should include that of all earning family members. Make a list of your household expenses, both essential and nonessential and compare the total expenditure with that of your total household income. It is best to write out the amount that you and your partner are making each month, as well as the total amount of all your bills.

Set your bills in order of priority, making your mortgage one of the most important of course, so that you can see where your money is going and make sure that it is getting to the right places first. Analyze this list to eliminate or postpone expenses so that there is a balance between your income and expenditure.

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.

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.

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.”

Love’s Plaza, located at the corner of Cherry St. and Mt. Galant Rd, is the latest business to comply with a 2002 policy aimed at cleaning up Cherry St.  The Rock Hill City Council approved a plan in 2002 that would require all businesses in the city limits along Cherry Road and Saluda Street to comply with tighter limits on signage.

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.

Do you own a home and are looking to sell it fast? If you do you probably cannot imagine that you would actually be able to sell it at or above market value. But the truth is that you can! Additionally, you can do it rather quickly if you approach the sale of your property in the right way. The problem is that too many people make common mistakes when trying to sell their home; mistakes that cause them to sell their homes for prices much lower than what their home is truly worth.

If you are saying to yourself, “I want to sell my house,” be sure to steer clear of the common mistakes sellers make. The one common mistake that too many people make when it comes to attempting to sell their house fast is to use a real estate agent. Using a real estate agent will generally prolong the sale time of your house and may ultimately be unsuccessful. There are numerous reasons for this.

Many people assume that using a real estate agent is the fastest and most convenient way in which to sell property. However, using a real estate agency can actually add weeks or even months to the actual sale time of your home. This is due in part to the fact that the majority of real estate agencies deal with thousands of homes at a single time. They have to show these houses to potential clients and then have to attempt to sell them.

When you use a real estate agency you cannot expect to sell your house fast. Actually, you should prepare for extended waiting periods. Even when they find someone interested in your house, they generally have to wait for the person to get approved for a loan before they can actually produce the sale.  Therefore, you could be waiting for months before your home is actually sold and before you actually receive the funds.

The best way to sell your home fast is to use a company that does business by buying homes directly from homeowners. These companies will purchase your home immediately and don’t work like real estate agents. They will simply buy your home upfront, and then will work on selling your house to potential clients. This means that you receive instant money and don’t have to deal with the hassles and wasted time that can result from using a real estate agency.

If you need to sell your house or are selling property to stop repossession, or as a result of a divorce or due to financial difficulties, these types of companies are the strongest and fastest methods that you can use to sell your house quickly. Additionally, these types of companies can provide you with instant quotes in less than 48 hours. You won’t have to wait around for weeks to get an offer. 
Also, when an offer is made payment is received quickly. You really will get money fast and can take care of everything you do in one fast deal!  This is great for people who need money fast and don’t have time to wait for a real estate agent to sell their home or property.

It that time of year where the spirit of Christmas is everywhere you turn.  If you are looking for a family friendly event to take in the joys and wonders of this time of year definitely don’t miss Christmasville in Rock Hill.  It starts today December 3 through Sunday December 6th.  Admission FREE!!!

It is located in downtown Rock Hill, and the days are filled with events and fun.

Check out their website for more www.christmasvillerockhill.com