Brunswick Development To Include Age-qualified Community

By Cece Nunn, posted Mar 29, 2016

A new age-qualified neighborhood of single family homes is on its way to an established northern Brunswick County development.

Master planned devlopment Compass Pointe and Wilmington-based home builder Hagood Homes recently announced the upcoming start of The Pointe Club Cabanas, an active adult community within Compass Pointe that will be restricted mainly to buyers who are 55 years old and older.

“Our research has shown that 20 percent of the 55-and-older market is specifically looking for an age-qualified community, and Brunswick County has appealed to that demographic for many, many years,” said Kevin Hine, vice president of sales and marketing for Hagood Homes, on Tuesday.

The 109-lot segment of Compass Pointe will start with the construction of four model homes, expected to begin in the next month and be finished in late summer, Hine said. Prices are expected to range from the high $300s to mid-$400s.

The Pointe Club Cabanas will come with exclusive amenities, according to a Compass Pointe news release, including a separate pool and clubhouse, outdoor living arena and walking trails.

Hagood Homes built a similar neighborhood, completed around 2014, in a different part of the state.

“We did a community up in Chapel Hill called Chapelwood, which is about 67 home sites, that were phenomenally successful,” Hine said.

He said The Pointe Club Cabanas is expected to be one of the only age-qualified single-family communities in the region that includes Wilmington and Brunswick County.

RiverLights, a master planned community on River Road in Wilmington, is also planning an age-qualified neighborhood of single family homes for buyers 55 and older. The national builder that will create the RiverLights age-qualified portion is expected to be announced in mid-May, with construction on about six model homes set to begin soon after the announcement, said Livian Jones, vice president of operations for RiverLights developer Newland Communities.

Jones said the first phase for the age-qualified community consists of 140 lots, with 540 total lots planned. RiverLights, planned on 1,400 acres, is expected to include 2,500 homes at full build-out. She said the builder will likely start pre-sales this summer.

While RiverLights is within Wilmington city limits, Compass Pointe is situated on 2,200 acres off U.S. 74 in Brunswick County.

“We’ll be coordinating with the Compass Pointe marketing team,” on selling The Pointe Club Cabanas homes, Hine said. “They have a very aggressive marketing campaign in the Northeast [U.S.] corridor.”

That marketing campaign for the new neighborhood will also incorporate something a little different, he said.

“We feel like there’s a lot of interest in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area for this product, people who may have moved to the Triangle area due to their employment 15, 20 years ago and are ready for a change,” Hine said.

He said more age-qualified options in the area, like RiverLights, will help the entire local market for the product. 

"We would love to see another age-qualified community in Brunswick County," Hine said, because potential buyers of such homes are "more likely to visit the area, if they have choices, and choose the community that’s right for them."

Report: Brunswick County Home Sales Surge In Spring

By Cece Nunn, posted Apr 12, 2016

Home sales in Brunswick County jumped more than 20 percent in March this year compared to March 2015, according to a news release from the Brunswick County Association of Realtors.

The county's residential real estate sale statistics continued to show steady and seasonal increases in March compared to the previous year’s and month’s sales numbers, the release said. The numbers were also up in the first quarter of 2016.

In terms of dollars, total home sales increased about 14 percent between March 2015 and last month, from $55.6 million to nearly $63.7 million, and 47 percent over February’s sales of $43.4 million.

The number of single-family homes sold rose 21.3 percent, from 221 to 268, between 2015 and 2016, and listings jumped 25.7 percent, from 439 to 552.

“Spring selling season is definitely gearing up in Brunswick County,” said Cynthia Cumbie, CEO of BCAR, in the release. “Our Realtors are working hard and seeing positive signs of an active spring and summer in residential sales.”

Sales dollars in the first quarter of 2016 increased 18 percent over the first quarter of 2015, from $125 million to $147.5 million, while the number of units sold rose 27 percent, from 168 to 213. The average number of listings jumped nearly 28 percent between 2015 and 2016, from 394 to 504, while the average sales price dipped.

BCAR's statistics are based on the N.C. Regional MLS, covering all of Brunswick County. 

“Days on the market did not show any large increases in the first quarter,” Cumbie stated. “The real estate market in southeastern North Carolina continues to get stronger as we move into spring and summer.”

Brunswick continues to see a steady supply of new homes under construction. Cameron Moore, executive officer of the Wilmington-Cape Fear Home Builders Association, said in a presentation Monday that Brunswick County's single-family construction permit numbers remained steady even during the Great Recession.

Moore, who was sharing information related to a housing report presented in conjunction with the Wilmington Regional Association of Realtors, said in an average year, his association expects to see around 480 single-family permits pulled for Brunswick, many for home sites in the northeastern section of the county.

For New Hanover County, single-family home sale numbers also remained on the rise in March and during the first quarter in comparisons to 2015, according to statistics released Monday.

Brunswick County Real Estate

Brunswick County Association of REALTORS® releases real estate statistics for February 2016
 
Brunswick County’s residential real estate sales continued to show increases in February compared to the same month last year, according to the most recent statistics from the Brunswick County Association of REALTORS®.
 
Total home sales jumped 24.8 percent between February of last year and this past month, according to BCAR, going from $34.8 million to $43.4 million. In part due to more accurate reporting from the new regional multiple listing service, the number of listings jumped 47.9 percent, from 363 to 537.
 
“I believe the 47.9 percent increase is a reflection of the Regional MLS enabling us to pull statistics on all sales that occurred in Brunswick County, rather than statistics limited to sales through a particular MLS,” BCAR CEO Cynthia Cumbie explained.
 
The number of units sold also increased by 25.7 percent in 2016, going from 152 to 191, while the average sales price dipped slightly, dropping from $229,066 to $227,411.  Cumbie indicated that the average number of days on the market is around 200.
 
“These numbers show continued slow, steady and healthy growth and a trend towards being a sellers’ market,” Cumbie concluded.
 
Brunswick County
Single Family Sales -- Listings

• February 2015:  363
• February 2016:  537
• Change:   47.9%

Single Family Sales -- Units Sold

• February 2015:  191
• February 2016:  152
• Change:  25.7%

Single Family Sales -- Average Sale Price

• February 2015:  $229,066
• February 2016:  $227,411
• Change:  -0.7%

Single Family Sales -- Total Sales Volume

• February 2015:  $34,818,061
• February 2016:  $43,440,000
• Change: 24.8%

Bladen County

• Units Sold: 6
• Average Sale Price: $83,000
• Total Sales: $498,000

Columbus County

• Units Sold: 16
• Average Sale Price: $128,291
• Total Sales: $2,050,000

Robeson County

• Units Sold: 23
• Average Sale Price: $89,920
• Total Sales: $2,070,000.

I hope you are having a great week! The birds are chirping, flowers are starting to bloom, and Spring is right around the corner…we are all very excited!

Real Estate wise, we have lots of folks looking at homes – especially families wanting to move to the island! We also are seeing lots of folks from Raleigh purchasing second homes and rental investments.

When a couple agrees it’s time to move (or buy a second home), does that mean the couple has the same proeprty in mind? Here’s a simple exercise for making sure you and your partner share a vision for your next home before the search begins.

It starts innocently enough one Saturday morning. Maybe you find yourself wishing you could host family at your house. Maybe you’re already dreading the long Monday morning commute. You look up at your partner and say: “You know, maybe we should think about moving.” To your surprise you hear: “I’ve been thinking the same thing. Let’s start looking tomorrow!”

Not so fast! Knowing that you and your partner want to move isn’t enough to begin your home search in earnest. Before you jump the gun and a start going to open houses, it’s a good idea to determine what’s behind the desire to move. Is it the neighborhood? Is it the commute? Is it the lack of space? If you don’t have an idea what’s behind your urge for a new house, you could end up house hunting with mismatched priorities.

Without a mutual understanding, you can end up wasting a lot of time looking at homes which don’t have a hope of satisfying your needs. Without articulating your needs to one another, you could end up disagreeing without knowing why. Worse, you might decide to spend more than you can afford in order to accommodate each disparate desire. 

Here’s a simple exercise to ensure you share your home priorities with one another:

Step 1: Set time aside to separately make lists of the factors which inspired you to consider moving (or buying a second home). List your motivating likes and dislikes. Write them down, and don’t share these with each other yet.

Step 2: List everything you’d like to have in your next property. Again, do this separately. Be free, list everything. Be specific. Don’t hold back. Let it rip to get the ideas flowing.

Step 3: Look at your list and draw a box around what you consider a NEED. After that, draw a circle around everything that’s reasonable to WANT. Again, do this alone.

Step 4: Rank your needs in order of importance. Rank your wants from highest to lowest.

Step 5: Once you’ve created your list, get together with your partner and compare lists. It’s unlikely everything will match up perfectly. Talk it out. See where you can compromise.

Step 6: Make a third list together of ranked NEEDS / WANTS. Congrats! This is the home you’re really looking for.

The final step? Get in touch with us to help you find that home! Call 910-458-9119

Expect Results:

Your Real Estate Market Report is provided by Justin Donaton of Coastwalk Real Estate. Any data provided, unless otherwise noted, is courtesy of the Wilmington Association of REALTORS MLS and/or the National Association of REALTORS.

Justin does not just "list" properties, he sells them! To get your home SOLD for the highest possible price, call Justin at 910-352-0998. Justin has SOLD the most real estate on Pleasure Island  since 2007. He has the highest dollar volume of sales, and has had the most number of closings. His business is built on hard work and high-impact marketing. Coastwalk Real Estate has the #1 Sales office on Pleasure Island too. Please visit:  www.CoastwalkRealEstate.com for more info.

If someone asked you how much equity you have in your home right now, could you answer them? Understanding your home’s equity is an important part of judging your overall financial health. Here’s a brief guide to determining your equity position in your home.

The dream of home ownership is about more than just a stable place to live, exempt from the whims and decisions of landlords. For many, home ownership is a piece of the wealth building picture, essential to a future retirement or financial independence. The idea is pretty basic: You purchase a home and pay it down while hoping the value of the home increases over time. Generally speaking, this is what happens over a long enough period of time. As you go, you build what’s called “equity.”

Equity is defined as “the market value of a homeowner's unencumbered interest in their real property—that is, the sum of the home's fair market value and the outstanding balance of all liens on the property.” If you were to sell your home and pay off the balance of the mortgage (and any other debts, such as home equity credit lines or liens), the cash you would have leftover is your equity. Your “equity position” changes over time due to a variety of factors.

As you’ve probably noted, the biggest variable in your home equity position is the home’s true market value. A variety of factors can influence your home’s value, including: Market demand for homes in your area, local amenities, schools, your home’s particular features, upgrades you’ve made, condition issues, and quite a bit more. So how can you tell your equity position?

First, you need to know what you owe on your home. This is as simple as checking your mortgage statement to see what your principle balance is on the loan. This number can differ slightly from your actual payoff amount due to closing dates, interest, and other issues determined during the sale, but generally speaking your principle balance is the number you need to know. If you have any other debt on the home, you need to add the value of this debt to the principle balance. This might include credit lines, liens, or second mortgages, for example.

Next, you need to know the value of your home. While there are sites such as Zillow and Trulia out there which will tell you what your home’s value is, these “automated valuation models” are generally not very accurate when it comes to your home’s value, as they exclude many crucial factors. Often they come in quite a bit higher. They can, however, give you an idea of general changing trends in your market over time.

Hiring an appraiser is one way to determine your home’s value from a more bank-like perspective. While an actual sale may be above the appraisal, this thorough, conservative option is a good way to go. The downside? You may have to pay up to $500 for the appraisal.

Of course, I’m happy to help you get a handle on your home’s current value with a comparative market analysis (CMA). Just get in touch today by calling me at 910-352-0998.

Expect Results:

Your Real Estate Market Report is provided by Justin Donaton of Coastwalk Real Estate. Any data provided, unless otherwise noted, is courtesy of the Wilmington Association of REALTORS MLS and/or the National Association of REALTORS.

Justin does not just "list" properties, he sells them! To get your home SOLD for the highest possible price, call Justin at 910-352-0998. Justin has SOLD the most real estate on Pleasure Island every year since 2007. He has the highest dollar volume of sales, and has had the most number of closings. His business is built on hard work and high-impact marketing. Coastwalk Real Estate is the #1 Sales office on Pleasure Island. Please visit:  www.CoastwalkRealEstate.com for more info.

Wilmington NC Economic News

Sales of new homes hit their highest level in 10 months, while lay-offs saw a sizable decline, and GDP continued to grow, but at a slower rate.

New Home Sales

Sales of new homes got a shot in the arm in December, with completed transactions of new single-family homes growing a healthy 10.8 percent to hit an annual rate of 544,000, according to last week’s report from the Census Bureau. Compared to a year ago, this was 9.9 percent higher than December 2014’s rate of 495,000.

This was the highest rate in 10 months, and many housing market watchers chalked it up to December’s relatively mild weather. All told, 2015 saw 501,000 new homes sold, which was 14.5 percent higher than 2014’s total of 437,000.

“This is a promising sign for the housing market as we move into 2016,” Genworth Mortgage Insurance Chief Economist Tian Liu told the New York Times. “We expect the strong increase in new-home sales to continue as the fundamentals in the housing market remain strong and newer vintage homes are in short supply.”

Looking at price, the median sales price of new homes sold in December was $288,900 and the average sales price was $346,400. In terms of inventory, there were 237,000 new homes for sale at the end of December, representing a 5.2-month supply at December’s sales pace.

Initial Jobless Claims

After a couple weeks of growth, lay-offs finally dropped back down. First-time claims for unemployment benefits filed during the week ending January 23 fell to 278,000, a sizable decline of 16,000 claims from the preceding week’s total of 294,000, the Employment and Training Administration reported last week.

This was welcome news, as lay-offs were skirting near the 300,000-claim mark that economists generally consider the difference between a growing job market and a stalled-out job sector. Claims weren’t back to the four-decade lows they were at six weeks ago, but the numbers seem to be evening out.

“The holiday and bad weather may have complicated things,” 4Cast Inc. Senior Economist David Sloan told Bloomberg. “There’s no sign anything has changed dramatically. I don’t think companies are rushing to lay off workers.”

The four-week moving average — considered a more stable measure of lay-offs — dipped to 283,000 claims, a decline of 2,250 claims from the prior week’s average of 285,250.

Gross Domestic Product

The advance figure for real gross domestic product for the fourth quarter grew at an annual rate of 0.7 percent, according to last week’s report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. This was slightly short of analysts’ expectations for a 0.8 percent increase, and was off-track from the third quarter’s 2 percent gain. All told, the economy grew 2.4 percent for 2015, which was the same rate as 2014, according to the bureau.

The bureau chalked up the increase to a combination of personal consumption expenditures, residential fixed investment, and federal government spending. Those factors were offset by poor performance in private inventory investment, exports and nonresidential fixed investments.

Early GDP numbers are based on incomplete data and subject to revisions. More solid numbers will come in during February and March.

“It has been clear for a while that the first estimate of Q4 GDP would be sluggish, but the unreliability of this data means the primacy of the labor market data in the Fed's thinking is unchallenged,” Pantheon Macroeconomics Economist Ian Shepherdson wrote in a note to clients.

For more information on local real estate, contact Coastwalk Real Estate at 910-458-9119.

Negotiating Offers

Wilmington NC Real Estate

Your agent is required to bring you any and all offers made on your home, so once and a while you’ll receive what’s known as a “lowball” offer. Lowball offers are buyer offers which far fall below your asking price. Sometimes they’re so low that they only serve to make you angry.

Don’t get angry! While selling your home is an emotional process, there are rational, effective strategies for dealing with the lowball offer. Sometimes the lowball offer can even turn into the right price if you handle negotiations the right way.

1. Remain calm. Your urge may be to tell the buyer to go #*&@! themselves, but there’s nothing to be gained in making enemies.

2. Understand that sometimes buyers aren’t familiar with true market value. They may be from somewhere where homes are much less expensive, or they could be first-time buyers who have been counseled by friends and family to begin with lowball offers.

3. Have your agent communicate that while you’re happy to work with them as buyers, you’ll need an offer which is somewhat more competitive and at a level you could consider seriously.

4. Consider countering for a small amount off your asking price to signal your willingness to negotiate, but reiterate that you will need to hear something more in line with market value to continue negotiations.

5. Alternately, if you really are in a hurry to sell, counter with your rock-bottom offer. This number may not be close to their lowball, but it could be substantially less than your listing price. This may make the lowball buyer suddenly reconsider their position, tempted by the opportunity to purchase the property at what they consider to be a “substantial discount.”

6. Ask the buyer to justify their price. If they truly believe their offer is genuine and fair, they should be able to point to reasons why your listing price is inflated. Make them show their homework. If they haven’t done it, you’ll know soon enough.

7. Don’t fall for the “but we can’t afford more” pity play. Sympathize with their financial situation, but in no way let it sway you from the true value of your home.

Of course sometimes a stream of lowball offers can indicate that the home is priced too high. Occasionally agents will “buy the listing” by assuring sellers they can get the higher price, only to take a lower offer much later down the line. It’s not a sound strategy. If you’re looking for the honest market value of your home, get in touch with me today at 910-352-0998.

Expect Results:

Your Real Estate Market Report is provided by Justin Donaton of Coastwalk Real Estate. Any data provided, unless otherwise noted, is courtesy of the Wilmington Association of REALTORS MLS and/or the National Association of REALTORS.

Justin does not just "list" properties, he sells them! To get your home SOLD for the highest possible price, call Justin at 910-352-0998. Justin has SOLD the most real estate on Pleasure Island every year since 2007. He has the highest dollar volume of sales, and has had the most number of closings. His business is built on hard work and high-impact marketing. Coastwalk Real Estate is the #1 Sales office on Pleasure Island. Please visit:  www.CoastwalkRealEstate.com for more info.

Carolina Beach Real Estate update

#1 in Sales in Carolina Beach

It’s been another great Real Estate year on Pleasure Island.

I would like to thank my family, friends and clients for their support, trust and confidence! I take my responsibilities seriously.

As a result of this, for the 7^th consecutive year, I have been recognized as the Top Selling Agent in Carolina & Kure Beach. In 2015, I had the most number of transactions as well as the highest dollar volume of sales!

While I am proud of this accomplishment, the greater accomplishment is the success of my clients. They have some amazing stories to tell, many of which can be read on our website at www.CoastwalkRealEstate.com.

What I love about Real Estate is that I am able to meet all sorts of people, from all walks of life, with a myriad of goals and objectives. Every day is interesting, different and fun!

The majority of my business stems from repeat clients and referrals. I am able to focus my time and resources on selling their properties, rather than just chasing down new business.

As a firm, Coastwalk Real Estate was also the Top Performing Firm on Pleasure Island, with 232 sales transactions. Coastwalk also had the highest sales-to-agent ratio in Carolina / Kure Beach, and the second highest sales-to-agent ratio in New Hanover County!

What does this mean for you?

If you are looking to buy or sell in 2016, we would love to earn your business. We are happy to provide references, and share our complete marketing program which results in a great home selling experience! Whether you are new to selling, or want to give it another shot, we can help!

So what’s new for 2016?

We are expanding our advertising, with additional geographic focus placed on Raleigh, Greensboro, Charlotte, Northern Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Florida and California.

We also offer Home Staging & Interior Design services! Exclusive to Coastwalk Real Estate clients, our in-house designer will help prepare your home for market, by providing recommendations on furniture placement, color schemes, interior design and more – at no cost to you!

Thanks a ton for reading, and thank you for your support. As we prepare for the 2016 selling season, please call Coastwalk Real Estate anytime, for any reason. We are here to help, and look forward to doing so!  Call 910-458-9119.

Wilmington NC Real Estate Information

Helpful tips for Wilmington residents

Even if you haven’t winterized your pipes for the cold months, there are steps you can take to prevent your pipes from bursting during the coldest cold snaps. Here’s how!