This Boiling Springs SC real estate blog is designed to maximize your time understanding Boiling Springs real estate. 

You can search the MLS for Boiling Springs Real Estate with the results updated daily. So search real estate with the company that won the JD Power & Associates Award for “Highest Buyer Satisfaction” 3 years running! Subscribe to Boiling Springs Homes For Sale by Email.

Visit Our Main Sites at: Spartanburg Homes For Sale and Search Real Estate SC,     Spartanburg County Foreclosures

 

30 Year Trend of Interest Rates By Year

Here is a chart of 30 year mortgage interest rates for the past 30 years dating back to 1981.  In case you had any doubts about if now was a good time to lock in a low rate this chart should pretty much answer any of those questions.  Even if house prices trend down another 7% or so locking in a low fixed rate at the current 4.31% will still save a homeowner more than a lower price will.

Feel free to call if you have any questions about buying a home.  My lenders have been getting buyers with scores as low as 590 fixed rate 30 year loans!

Search for a Boiling Springs area home

 

FREE Television Advertising for Your Home Sale

Rarely do I run any special offers but we are always trying to new things, measuring our existing programs, and tweaking our marketing tactics as results are available. With our current internet advertising plan producing extraordinary results, we are going to test some television advertising tactics that have been identified.  We are currently ranked the #1 Keller Williams Spartanburg List and sell real estate team!
If you know someone considering selling their home forward this coupon to them so we can see if they qualify for the program.

With residential real estate levels near historic levels the environment to sell your home is as competitive as ever. This offer expires on January 1, 2012 and restrictions apply. Participation includes our full suite of real estate marketing, administration, and negotiation services.

Where Should You Invest Tomorrow?

With countries facing debt levels never seen before in modern history things are about to change.  European countries are facing debt problems that are just beginning to become main stream news.  Greece is capturing the headlines today but Italy and Portugal are right behind them with France and others not far behind. We all know that the United States has to keep printing money just to make the debt payments on the money we owe.  Our country is NOT living paycheck to paycheck anymore.  We are borrowing money just to make our next debt payment!

Change is coming. You can count on that.  However with all the turmoil surrounding us in the news some things just don’t seem to change.  Here is a chart showing the return real estate has made over the last 10 years starting from January 1, 2000 to August 1, 2011:

What? I thought real estate was a bad investment you say? The facts speak for themselves. Yet most people hold most of their wealth in paper assets like stocks and bonds.  A good real estate investment provides you monthly cash flow from day one and almost always rises in value over time.  Of course all residential and commercial real estate is NOT created equally so it’s important to follow key principles to maximize your safety and return.  I have been investing in real estate for over 12 years in the Spartanburg and Boiling Springs surrounding areas. If you would like to learn more about investing in real estate feel free to call me.  There are strategies you can choose that puts you as hands on or as hands off as you would like.  Just call me at 864-621-7900 before your stocks drop too much! Read more..

Mortgage Rates Fall To Lowest On RECORD!

WASHINGTON (AP) — The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage has fallen to its lowest level on records dating to 1971.

The rate on the most popular mortgage dipped to 4.15 percent from 4.32 percent a week ago, Freddie Mac said Thursday. Its previous low of 4.17 percent was reached in November.

The last time long-term rates were lower was in the 1950s, when 30-year loans weren’t widely available. Most long-term home loans lasted 20 or 25 years.

Few expect even record-low rates to energize the depressed home market. Over the past year, the average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage has been below 5 percent for all but two weeks. Yet prices and sales remain unhealthy and are holding back the overall economy.

Five years ago, the average 30-year fixed rate was near 6.5 percent. In 2000, it exceeded 8 percent.

Most homeowners are paying rates more than a full percentage point higher than the current average. The average rate on all outstanding mortgages is 5.3 percent, Freddie Mac said, citing data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Many would-be buyers can’t take advantage of the low rates. The unemployment rate is 9.1 percent, few Americans are getting raises and many are struggling to shrink their debt loads.

The average rate on a 15-year fixed mortgage, which is popular for refinancing, fell to 3.36 percent, also a record low. It’s the third straight week of record lows for the popular refinancing option. Freddie Mac’s records date to 1991, but analysts believe the new low on the 15-year mortgage is the lowest ever.

Borrowers who qualify have rushed to refinance and take advantage of the low rates. Refinancing accounted for 70 percent of mortgage applications in the first half of the year, Freddie Mac said. Refinancings tend to provide less benefit to the economy than home purchases do.

Mortgage rates typically track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. Economic fears have drawn investors to the safety of Treasurys, driving down the yield on the 10-year note to barely above 2 percent. That helped lower mortgage rates.

 

As always,

 

May god bless you and lead you where you need to be in the coming years,

 

Rob

Search For Homes In Boiling Springs

 

How Many Homes Have Lead Based Paint?

Prior to 1978 homes were painted with paint containing lead in it.  However, contrary to popular belief, not all homes built before 1978 were painted with lead based paint (LBP).  Here is a graphic I found at a Sherwin Williams paint store on Hwy 9 today while buying 26 gallons of paint.

Therefore as we see in the chart only 24% of homes built between 1960 and 1978 actually were painted with lead based paint!  The percentage goes higher with older homes.

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the main potential concerns with LDP in homes:

Home Owners are in Denial About the Value of Thier Homes

Homeowners, especially those who bought their houses after the real-estate bubble burst, are still having trouble accepting just how much the values of their properties may have fallen, says a new report from the real-estate site Zillow.

Current sellers who bought their homes in 2007 or later, an analysis of the site’s home listings shows, are overpricing their properties by an average of 14 percent.

Sellers who bought their houses before the bubble, and those who bought during the big run-up in home values, also are overpricing their homes, but not by as much. Those who bought before 2002 are pricing their homes roughly 12 percent over market value, while those who bought from 2002-06 price them about 9 percent over market value.

In the analysis, Zillow compared the asking price of one million homes for sale to the homes’ previous purchase price, then factored in the change in the Zillow Home Value Index for the respective ZIP code, to determine an estimate of that home’s current market value. Read more..

Premium Residence Exquisitely Crafted with Architectural Details

Gorgeous! Meticulously maintained cottage style home dressed with hardi plank and stone exterior on beautifully landscaped yard. Prepare to be amazed by the well thought out details of the interior! The stunning front door and stone porch are just the beginning as you walk up to the home. Enter into the spacious foyer crafted with wood flooring, your eyes will move to the beautiful stone fireplace surrounded on both sides with bookcases, the impressive wooden beams across the ceiling, and expansive windows in the living room. The gourmet kitchen is absolutely a dream with granite counter tops, a down draft gas stove in the kitchen island, stone column, crown molding on cabinets, and on…Wall oven, microwave, and refrigerator remain. Enjoy looking out the walls of windows while eating or sipping your morning coffee in the breakfast area. Step over to the formal dining area with impressive ceiling, gorgeous chandelier, and windows. The master bedroom is spectacular. It has stacked tray and dome ceiling with pot lights. The master bath still oohs and ahhs with jetted tub, separate tiled shower, double sink and granite top vanity. The architectural details of this home are endless. This is a truly must see!  3040 English Cottage Way Virtual Tour

 

 

 

 

Red Fox Farm Home Sells Above 2 Other Realtor Suggested Selling Price

A former mortgage broker who knew many Spartanburg Realtors only considered listing his home with 3 agents.  After interviewing the 3 agents, 2 had suggested he list his home for sale at $139,900 or less.  I suggested $149,900 based on the last 2 comparable sales in the subdivision that coincidentally I had sold.  Within 3 weeks the home was under contract for $146,000 and closed within 4 weeks.

As a result I netted him more dollars than the other 2 top realtors suggest he even ask for!

Please call me when considering selling your home.  It’s just too big an investment to let anybody handle.

 

211 Red Fox Lane sold above what 2 other Realtors gave as a suggested selling price.

 

 

 

Homeowner Foreclosures on Bank of America

In what appears to be a large US financial institution getting a taste of their own medicine, a couple foreclosed on a Bank of America branch in Naples Florida!  Like a former business partner of mine once said, “If the people treated the banks the way the banks treated the people they would have been bankrupted long ago”.

You see, we used to own and run the largest Short Sale bank negotiating company in the state of SC. We have sat down at middle class family’s kitchen tables hearing the same story over and over again. “The bank said that if we sent them $3,000 they would put the remaining balance on the back of our loan and allow our normal payments to proceed.  We sent them everything we had.” said our clients. Only to find the banks collect the $3,000 and then require the remaining delinquent balance ASAP or face foreclosure. Sounds unreal I know. In fact we would tell people about how the banks treated people just like you and me and they could not believe it. They always thought we were exaggerating. We were not, and we have much worse stories we can tell.

Here is the article straight from Yahoo News.

By TARA-NICHOLLE NELSON – Mon Jun 6, 4:50 pm ET

In a modern-day evocation of David’s slingshot triumph over Goliath, a couple of foreclosed homeowners in Naples, Florida reportedly foreclosed on a Bank of America branch last week, their attorney actually having moving trucks pull up in front of a Naples branch to execute a foreclosure judgment against the bank.

What must have seemed to observers like a scene out of a parallel universe – you can see some video here – was actually the fair and logical conclusion to a situation which, the court had ruled, had an unfair and illogical start. In 2009, retired police officer Warren Nyerges and his wife, Maureen Collier, paid $165,000 cash for their 2,700 square foot home in the Golden Gate Estates subdivision, and never took a mortgage out on it. So imagine their surprise when, in Februrary of 2010, Bank of America initiated foreclosure proceedings against them. The Nyerges hired an attorney, Todd Allen, to defend them against the wrongful foreclosure, and the Bank eventually abandoned the matter.

But not before the Nyerges incurred $2,534 in attorney’s fees, which they requested informally from Bank of America multiple times before resorting to the courts, which ordered the bank to make the couple whole. When B of A still had not paid the judgment after five months of phone calls and letter writing by Allen and the Nyerges to the bank insisting that the court order be obeyed, Allen took the next step in the legal collection process, obtaining an order of foreclosure against the bank.
To continue reading the article visit Yahoo News

Spartanburg Agent MLS Ranking Through April 18, 2011

I’ve received more than a few messages asking me  “where the heck have your posts been over the last 6 months or so”.  Well, beyond watching the price of silver sky rocket to over $40/oz. I have been selling real estate and a lot of it.  I am currently the #3 Residential List & Sell Realtor in Spartanburg County and the number 8th ranked Realtor overall out of over 500 Licensed agents!

I hope this does not come across as bravado as I have humbly worked very hard for my clients this year and have put their interest first in my business dealings.  However, not only have we ranked as the #3 List & Sell Realtor year to date through April 18, 2011 but we have sold homes with a VERY HIGH list to sell ratio in this weak market!

Yes, I am proud of these results and thrilled to be able to share this with you.  I guarantee you we earned it with hard work and a level of marketing knowledge that only a 17 year corporate career in marketing with Fortune 100 companies can provide.

When selling  real estate it’s important to understand that you are paying an agent a LOT of money to help you sell your home and what you are actually paying for is that agent’s knowledge and mastery of marketing and negotiating principles. Using a part-time agent to sell one of your largest assets, especially in a buyer’s market, might not be the best strategy to take.  Heck, people use Full Time money management professionals to help them manage far less funds then their home is worth.

If you know of anyone considering buying or selling real estate we would be grateful if you decided to refer us to them.

Now, back to work.

God Bless and keep looking up!

Rob Turchetta

864-621-7900

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