Why Buying A Home Now May Be Cheaper Than Renting In Charlotte, NC.

Everyday we all hear in the news about the housing market. The latest is that housing prices are starting to trickle in an upwards direction. All of the statistics out there show that Charlotte, NC. is rebounding with the rest of the nation in home prices. But, after all we just went through is now a good time to buy? or should you still rent? I was thinking of this the other day; as I have four buyers closing this month that all were renters prior to this purchase. Ironically, all four of them are moving into larger places than they are renting now and are going to be paying less a month than they were for their rent... All of the people I have been talking to have been in the same position with their rentals in the Charlotte, NC. market. The prices are going up substantially. It is a supply and demand market for housing and rentals. Currently the demand is higher than the supply. In three of the cases I have the apartment complex notified my buyer that they already had a new tenant waiting to move in and were working off a waiting list when asked if they would not raise the rent... That sparked them to begin the process of looking for a house now; versus later and seeing what they coudl afford out there compared to what they were paying in rent. They all were shocked at what they could buy and what they could get for the same or less than they were paying in rent currently. Interest rates are at a historic low and based on history should stay there for the remainder of the year with an election coming up. Affordability is high. You can purchase a lot more home than you thought for your money now than before because of interest rates being so low. Prices are starting to inch upwards. However; we are not seeing the giant gains in prices spike like we did just before the housing collapse. It has become more of a slow and steady increase since January. I think a big reason for that is the supply is down. The housing market has seen some tough years in Charlotte, NC. where you had your pick of the litter (so to speak) of homes to buy. There were a lot of foreclosures and short sales on the market and they dominated the housing market for the past couple of years. However; now it seems that resale homes are picking up momentum and new construction is seeing it's largest gains in over 4 years. I personally think with the economy improving and the housing market stabilizing more people are trying to hold onto their homes and renters are trying to get into homes as they are watching their rents go up year after year.... So, with rental prices climbing higher(according to a study rental prices in charlotte are up 9% from last year) than most anticipated and housing prices slowly starting to climb; NOW may be the time to consider buying a home in the Charlotte, NC. market. It may be cheaper for you to buy a home in Charlotte, NC. than to rent one..... Dave diCecco Realtor/Broker www.davedicecco.com

Do You View The Neighborhood Before Buying A House In Charlotte, NC?

Do You View the Neighborhood before making a purchase on a house? This sounds like a simple question; but in reality it is not that easy. As a Realtor I am bound by certain code of ethics. I cannot guide a person to one neighborhood or another. I also cannot comment on a specific neighborhood as being safe or unsafe, bad or good... What one person idea of good is another one might think is bad. However; one thing I recommend to all my buyers; is to drive around through the neighborhood and look around. Look to see how people keep their homes, are the yards cut? is the trash receptacle out in open view? Are there a lot of children playing in the area? is it loud or quiet? The easiest way to do this is to travel to the areas on different days and at different times of the day to see what is like out there. For example, I had a client looking at a town home that she thought was in a quiet neighborhood. We looked at the house in the late morning on a weekday when all the children were in school. I told her to come back after schools got out and drive around. Also, come out on the weekend and at night. Then you will be able to get a better idea of what really is going on in the neighborhood and how it is like on a regular basis. In this case she found out that the neighbor worked on cars after work in his driveway and blasted music to later hours of the days. Also there was a lot of children running around and playing in the street in front of the unit she was looking to purchase...Working a split shift this was not an ideal situation for her to get sleep...It did not fit her needs in what she was looking for in a neighborhood. Had I not recommended she drive around on different days and times she would have never known until after she moved in and would have been miserable.... Take the time to check out the neighborhood first. Especially if you are not familiar with the area. What about your commute time and distance? Is the commute manageable for you? is it longer than you anticipated? For some people these are thing that make a difference in buying a house... he largest purchase you will make in your lifetime. Ensure you are making the right decision for you. Just because the house and the price are right; does not mean the area is right for you. Dave diCecco Realtor/Broker www.davedicecco.com

NEW LISTING: 4003 Perrault Circle Wesley chapel, NC. 28110

4003 Perrault Circle in the Winding Creek subdivision of Wesley Chapel is a custom built 3700 square foot all brick home. This custom home is being offered for only $399,900. This home has many unique features to it and the seller has done many upgrades to the interior of the house as well. Sitting on a cul-de-sac lot this house has a WOW factor about it when you enter the house. This home features 4 large bedrooms and 3 full bathrooms and a half bath as well. But it is what the seller did to the house that I think make 4003 Perrault unique. You will notice that there is no wall switches throughout the whole house. He has converted everything to a flip switch or a dimmer throughout the whole house. In addition all of the light fixtures in the house have been replaced with upgraded lighting throughout the whole house as well. he has done many other upgrades to the house from a built in fish tank behind the back staircase, to creating the ultimate in a man's cave and game room upstairs in the loft area/bonus room. The house makes great use of the 3700 square feet of space and actually feels larger than it really is. With both formal living room and dining room that are large and open the house has an independent office downstairs with a built in bookcase. The kitchen is large and open. The position of the kitchen makes it a great spot for entertaining with the dining room off of it and how it opens to the great room. With plenty of cabinets and what seems like endless amount of granite countertops makes this a cooking heaven. The upstairs features a large master bedroom suite with a separate sitting area and a customized walk in closet with built in dressers. There is large master bathroom as well with bowl sinks and tile flooring throughout. The nice features of the upstairs are the large secondary bedrooms. They all feature high ceilings and plenty of space. What I liked about the design and layout of the house was how two of the spare bedrooms have separate access to their own private bathrooms from the room as well as from the hallways. This gives the rooms the feeling of having their own bathrooms and allows for others to use them from accessing the hall. But the feature upstairs that stood out the most to me was the bonus room/loft area. This is a very large room. I was caught off guard by the amount of space it offers as he is currently divided the room into an entertainment area with a large flat screen TV that comes out of the TV cabinet and the other half hosts a pool table with plenty of room to play and you do not feel like you are encroaching on the other space. The garage has been completely finished and he put up curtains to hide the storage area of it making it like a room in itself...That opens to the outside where he has built a custom two tiered deck overlooking his back yard. The other thing I noticed when walking through the house was the amount of natural light the house gets. No matter where in the house I was with the blinds open natural light shined throughout the house and it had a nice warm open feeling about it. A plus is the location of the house off of Weddington road. It gives you a feeling of being in the country yet close enough to all the amenities you need. Because of it's location in the Wesley chapel area of Union County North Carolina it is slated for some of the best schools Union county has to offer. At the time of this blog; it is slated for Wesley Chapel elementary school, Weddington Middle School and Weddington High School. All great schools, which have a great reputation. If you are looking for something more than a cookie cutter house with space then you need to consider this home at 4003 Perrault Circle in Monroe, NC. To see a virtual walk through on this house click the link the link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fea1ur98S0s Dave diCecco Realtor/Broker www.davedicecco.com