Topsail Island and The Oaks at Boca Bay Townhomes, It's a Saturday Garden Party!

The community of Boca Bay Surf City, NC     This weekend while you are out showing property, be sure to stop by the clubhouse in the community of Boca Bay, located in Surf City on Saturday, April 9th, from 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM.  There will be food and drinks, units open to tour, and informational packets to take with you.   Clubhouse is located at: 101 N Boca Bay Lane Surf City, NC 28445 Click on the photo below for a virtual tour: Click on the photo below for a virtual tour: Website                     Directions    202A N Boca Bay Lane, Surf City ~ OPEN HOUSE ~  Saturday, April 9th 11:30AM - 1:00PM MLS#: 85340, 418449 Sales Price:$429,900 Bedrooms:  4 Baths:  4 Sq.ft:  2400 Description:  Great location and fabulous sound views! Walk over to the beach for a swim or go for a swim at the community club house and pool. Well designed home allows for the perfect mix of natural light to make this home bright and airy and add to your beach experience. Relax on one of the many decks. Outdoor storage and hot/cold shower to rinse off after a day at the beach.     131A S Boca Bay Lane PRECONSTRUCTION Stop by the Clubhouse Saturday, April 9th 11:30AM - 1:00PM MLS#: Jacksonville:113784, Wilmington:452550, Topsail:92340 Sales Price:$339,900 Bedrooms:  4 Baths:  3 Sq.ft:  1803 Description:  Bird Watcher Floor Plan in the gorgeous pristine and secluded community of The Oaks at Boca Bay in Surf City. Savor remote, private-island living, with the tranquil waters of the sound embracing the entire community. Go for a swim in the community pool or walk to the beach. Don't miss your opportunity to capture coastal seclusion for yourself. This is a pre-construction listing. Clubhouse & Pool: You've explored the Topsail Island beaches, perhaps spent some time on the ocean, or even the greens. Now it's time for a refreshing dip in the Boca Bay community pool. The pool's clubhouse fits pleasingly into the resort-like feel of the neighborhood and offers a comfortable meeting room and changing facilities. Beach:  You get the best of both worlds at The Oaks at Boca Bay.  The beauty of the sound and Intracoastal Waterway views from your home and the beauty of the beach within walking distance of Boca Bay.  Stroll over to the beach and spend the day and return to your home to watch the sunset over the sound. Day Dock: The waters of the sound invite you to explore its life. The proposed day dock at The Oaks will allow you to drop in your kayak and glide along the marsh's smooth surface. Or remain on the dock where a spacious proposed gazebo makes the perfect setting for gathering with friends and family over a glass of exceptional North Carolina wine. Rand Burchfield 910.352.1414 randburchfield@seacoastrealty.com www.randburchfield.com

$500 Investments for Your Home Improvement

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  Invest a Tax Refund in Your Home: $500 Projects

  Here are five great ideas for investing a tax refund in your home if you receive $500 or less back from the IRS this year. Read

Visit houselogic.com for more articles like this.

Copyright 2011 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

Anyone with miles to go before they sleep will appreciate this IPad app

Keyoobi is the first iPad application that lets users see their day’s appointments as a route using Google Maps.  It shows users the amount of travel time they’ll have between appointments, displays the best route to get there, and identifies clients or prospects in the vicinity that may be scheduled in along the way.
Keyoobi will:

• Integrate with Contacts, Calendar and Maps
• Work for Enterprise users who synch their calendar and contacts with Exchange servers or Gmail
• Display appointment times and Color code routes based on travel time and appointment time
• Group Contacts with customizable pins and categories that are shown on the route map
• Route your next appointment in real time based on current location.

As a real estate agent – I could see using this to plan out appointments with clients, to plan a route for Broker’s Tour or even to plan a route for taking clients out to view property.I also really like that it maps your route most effectively – saving you time. Who doesn’t like to save time?!

Keyoobi retails for $9.99 and is available for download now in the App Store.

Wells Fargo study finds new kind of homebuyer on the way: Millennials

Wells Fargo study finds new kind of homebuyer on the way: Millennials

Friday, March 25th, 2011, 10:47 am

The still struggling housing industry might actually be scraping the surface of the largest home-buying opportunity in generations: the Millennials.

According to a study from Wells Fargo (: ), there are 51.5 million potential first-time homebuyers born between 1979 and 1991. Roughly 6 million more of these Millennials are reaching the prime homebuying age than baby boomers did in 1977.

Often characterized as hoodie-wearing college kids strapped to iPods and iPhones, this generation is the most diverse, more technology driven and actually more inclined to trust institutions than their predecessors, the Gen Xers and baby boomers, according to a Pew Research Center study.

In fact, when Wells surveyed more than 3,000 Americans, it found attitudes toward homeownership are still optimistic, especially in this younger crowd.

For the last three years, the mortgage industry has been mired in problems throughout the process. Poorly written loans taken out by homebuyers who could not afford them on the origination side drove foreclosure levels to new heights, overwhelming servicers, who quickly found themselves embroiled in investigations and new stricter regulations.

The result has been a growing shadow inventory of foreclosed homes needing to be sold, reaching as high as a 10-year supply in New York, according to Standard & Poor's. Meanwhile, home sales plummeted as recently as February to its lowest rate since the Commerce Department began measuring the statistic.

Between 1980 and 2000, membership at the National Association of Realtors hovered around 750,000. But by 2006, that number grew to 1.36 million. Since the collapse, membership fell to about 1 million, according to NAR.

Of the Realtors still in the business, 40% reported gross income of less than $25,000 in 2010.

The upcoming qualified residential mortgage could dry up home sales even more. The QRM rule could force lenders to retain 5% of the risk after securitization on any loan written without 20% down. What the rule will definitively say is still speculation at this point. In a letter written to regulators, NAR and the National Association of Homebuilders said it would take a family earning a median income 14 years to save the 20% necessary for the down payment on a new home.

Despite all these setbacks, homeownership is still a destination. More than 70% of those surveyed by Wells Fargo still want to own a home. Millennials even responded to more rigorous credit requirements favorably, describing them as beneficial to their goal of remaining in the home once they make the purchase.

Roughly 26,000 real estate agents attended a Wells Fargo presentation Thursday shown in 100 theaters nationwide. Brad Blackwell, executive vice president at Wells Fargo told the audience this wave of Millennials will be the new lifeblood for the industry.

"We're going to have to figure out how to reach them," Blackwell said.

Lisa Zakrajsek, another EVP at Wells and the leader on the study, told HousingWire after the presentation the bank will begin putting together homebuying workshops aimed at the younger crowd this year. The banking giant also plans to make changes to its website for this more tech-savvy generation.

"We've invested hugely in this infrastructure," Zakrajsek said. "We're making great enhancements to meet the needs of younger buyers."

Write to Jon Prior.

Follow him on Twitter @JonAPrior.

3.21.11 McDonalds Update.m2ts

How to Buy a House - Closing the Deal

Take a deep breath. All the work you (and your agent) have done over the past weeks is about to result in the keys to your home.

The sales contract prepared by you and your agent has been signed, initialed and dated. Your formal loan application has been approved. The performance dates in the contract have been met. Home inspection and any other inspections that you feel were necessary, have been done. A time for closing and the place of closing has been scheduled.

Just before closing, the final walk through of the house will take place. If there were repairs noted in the contract as needing to be done, now is the time to see if they have been accomplished.  If they haven't, the seller (having agreed to the repairs, of course) must get this done.

So, now we are at the closing table. Once all the necessary documents have been signed by all parties involved, and you have handed over your check, you will be the owner of your new home. A word of caution. Until the deed is recorded for your new home, it is not actually yours. Normally, this is done the same day as closing, so the earlier you can schedule that time, the better.

Congratulations, homeowner!

How to Buy a House, Part Six

Remember that list of needs and wants that you compiled? It's time for you and your real estate professional to begin narrowing down the choices. You've found just the right neighborhood and there are several houses in which you are interested. Believe me, unless you are keeping track, you'll forget that the house on Smith Drive had that wonderful kitchen but you weren't so keen on the backyard. Your agent will provide you with a flier that normally has a photo of the house on it, along with the address of the home, the city it is in, the subdivision (if applicable) and other pertinent info about the house itself. Use the reverse to make notes as you move through the house. Take a few photos and when you get home, print them out and attach them to the flier.

Once you've found a house that you'd like to make an offer on, you and your agent will sit down with a comparative market analysis. This will tell you what houses similar to the one you are offering upon have sold for within the past six months. You'll be able to base your offer (what you are willing to pay for the house) on this information. Your real estate agent will go over the Offer to Purchase with you and together you will address each one of the items. Once the offer is initialed, signed and dated, then your agent will to present the offer to the seller's agent.

It will then be up to the seller to accept it (congratulations!), reject it, or make an counter offer. A rejection simply means that your first offer was unacceptable to the seller, so you'll have to begin again. A counter offer means that while the amount of your initial offer was not enough in the mind of the seller, the seller has provided you with a number that would be. This is just a starting point for both of you in the negotiations. Often, there are multiple offers on a house and you must be careful not to become swept up into a competition. Sure, you might get the house but pay more than you should. Remember your plan. You have a set amount that you are willing to spend. You know what comparable homes have sold for in the area in which you are interested. You are fully and completely prepared. You have a professional on your side. While your agent will guide you through the negotiation process, you must be prepared to walk away if the price of the home cannot be negotiated to a price comfortable for you.

Tomorrow. We close the deal.