Can The Seller Cancel The Contract In North Carolina?

A question was posed to me the other day from one of my sellers whose home is under contract. She wanted to know if we could cancel the contract? She had some reasons for asking the question and thought it did not hurt to ask. Initially i took the listing on as a short sale. but after digging through some legal books and searching the internet I found a loophole that removed one of the liens off the house. Of course after I found this out I consulted an attorney who looked it up and said "WOW you are right" i did not know that law existed. So, now we were no longer doing a short sale. (Though this process took about three months to officially get it cleared up). we revised the contract to put in a due diligence period and a close date that I felt comfortable meeting. We asked the buyer to proceed forward with the loan so we could close on time. It became apparent that the buyer's agent and the buyer felt no urgency with this; since it took days to get updated from them on the process and where they were at. I kept everyone informed of the progress i was making and assured them that we would be meeting the timeline for closing with no issues. Do to the lack of response from the buyer my seller wants to cancel the contract. She asked can she cancel the contract since the buyer seems to be dragging her feet and may not make the close date? Unfortunately, i told her that we have a set close date and we have to honor that date or we would be in breach of contract. Then the buyer has 14 days from that date to close on the house if they show diligence in getting their loan approved. After those 14 days the seller has the right to cancel the contract and keep all the earnest money as liquidated damages. or they can extend the buyer if they so desire. But, she cannot prior to that without good cause cancel a contract on her house.... If you are selling a house be wary of the close date and prepare for the unexpected today. Too many deals I have seen lately are not making the close date because of one issue or another. And the buyer has that 14 day window to proceed forward with if they are showing diligence in getting the loan approved. Dave diCecco Realtor/Broker www.davedicecco.com

New Construction Plus A Buyer's Agent Equals A Happy Buyer

There are a lot of people out there that buy a new home without any representation, except for the one provided by the builder. And that person works for the builder in their sales center. Most of the objection is that I can get the price I want and I do not need a buyer's agent. Or the builder's sales representative is an honest and fair person looking out for my best interest. And my personal favorite is that without a buyer's agent I can get a better price because they do not have to pay the commission to the Agent. All of the above are false... There are multiple reasons to ensure you are protected when you purchase a home. There are questions you do not know to ask. There are negotiating tools an experienced Realtor will use that the builder will not tell you. I just, the other day had a client who referred me to his parents to sell their house. When they told me they were going to build a new home I said where? they said we already picked the lot out and are going to sign the papers tomorrow.... I was able to get them to hold off until i could review the contract and talk to the builder's representative. After a week of bantering back and forth with the builder's representative; we agreed to have the buyer meet with the design studio for options. Now, we got the complete price and package deal we wanted. The options came in substantially higher than my buyer thought. The builder was providing a $15,000 credit but the upgrades cost over $42,000. So, that had to be added back into the price of the house. So, after taking all the numbers and having the buyer contact a third party mortgage professional for payments and pre-approval we knew where they were at a month. I also knew what they wanted to spend a month. Those numbers were $47,000 apart. After weeks of negotiating the builder agreed to a price. it was a little more than the buyer's wanted. However; by having a buyer's agent they saved $34,500 off the price that they would have paid for the house. Or they would have given up options they really wanted in their retirement home. We signed yesterday and put the deposit down on the lot. As we were leaving they were astounded at how more complicated it was to buy a new construction than they thought. Without me they said they might not have bought the house or gotten in over what they were comfortable with... There is a lot a builder will not tell you. We do this every day; but the average homebuyer only buys a home on average once every seven years. So, the moral of this blog is that; if you are buying new construction make sure you have representation. it costs you nothing and can save you thousands of dollars.... Dave dicecco Realtor/Broker www.davedicecco.com

Market Report--NoDa/The Arts District Charlotte, NC. February 2012

NoDa or also known as the Arts District is a suburb of uptown Charlotte. Conveniently located 2 miles from uptown it is home to art galleries and various southern cuisine restaurants. People love living here for the old world charm it still has. An old textile mill area of is a thriving area of Charlotte. Below is the market trends over the past three years for the area from February 1st to february 28th. 3 years ago there were 44 homes that sold for an average sale price of $242,835. They were on the market for an average of 110 days. 2 years ago there was 21 homes that sold for an average of $214,638. They were on the market for an average of 132 days. Last year there was 30 homes that sold for an average of $191,374 They were on the market for an average of 123 days. Currently there are 20 homes actively on the market for an average asking price of $246,630. They have been on the market for an average of 185 days. There are also 16 homes under contract. These homes have not closed yet. They have an average asking price of $197,492 and were on the market for an average of 85 days. Based on the current market conditions inventory levels are leveling off in this area. A six month supply of inventory is considered to be a blanced market. Currently there is just under 9 months of home inventory on the market. This favors the buyer. Dave diCecco Realtor/Broker www.davedicecco.com