Here are the main reasons why our market is so crazy right now.Everyone knows we are living in boom times as far as sellers are concerned. It’s increasingly common for sellers to find themselves in a multiple-offer situation, and prices keep going up. Naturally, this has a lot of people asking, “When is the market going to crash?” Buyers are unders…

First-time homebuyers with student debt may qualify for FHA loans now.Today we’re talking about the Federal Housing Administration and some changes they’ve just made to help first-time homebuyers. About 40% of first-time homebuyers have student debt. Over the last five years, mortgage brokers and mortgage banks have had to factor student debt into …

Oleh Jay White

Oleh Jay White

The world has been trained to think that spring and summer are the best times to sell a home, but is that true? While more sales do happen during these seasons than fall and winter, there are a few reasons why selling during the holidays is also a great opportunity. First, off-season buyers are more serious than peak-season buyers. These buyers nee…

I was having lunch with my grandmother recently and she told me about how she had bought her home for $37,000 in South Park in 1966. That same 2,500 sq ft. colonial is now worth $600,000 in today’s market. That’s an incredible increase in value with relatively little work done on the home after all these years. This got me thinking about how much h…

In today’s real estate market update, let’s compare the numbers from August 2019 to August 2018 to see how things have changed in the last year and what that could mean for our market’s future.New listings: 2018—5,699 2019—5,616 Net decline: 1.46%Homes for sale: 2018—11,416 2019—9,916 Net decline—13.11%Pendings: 2018—4,300 2019—4,796 Net growth—11.…

As you know, we host a series of real estate seminars, and today we want to invite you to join us at our next one on September 12, 2019. This seminar will focus on investors. We’ll not only teach you how to acquire and manage investment properties, but we’ll also go over the pros and cons of owning them. Afterward, you’ll truly know whether investi…

Throughout the year, we run a couple of different real estate seminars for our clients and community members. Coming up on September 12 at the Carolina Ale House, we have a buyer seminar series called “Tips and Tricks for Today’s Homeowner,” and you’re invited. Check out the event details at www.WhiteGroupEvents.com. We hope to see you there!“”…

Hi, I’m Kevan Cohn from Southland Real Estate and I have some exciting news to share: I have officially partnered with the White Group of the Keller Williams Ballantyne area! The reason I’m so excited about this is that it means so much more for you-our clients. The White Group has world-class service, and I’ve already learned so much from them. In…

What does our Charlotte market look like as we close the books on May? Let’s look at the year-over-year numbers comparing this month to May of 2018 to find out: The number of homes for sale dropped from 2,768 to 2,752 The number of homes closed increased from 2,104 to 2,175 The average days on market increased from seven to 11 days The median sale …

In the last 10 years, real estate has become a hot subject for reality TV. These programs can be fun to watch, but they tend to miss the mark as far as accurately portraying the real estate process goes. There are four main trends that appear often in reality TV, but should never transcend the screen and show up in reality: 1. Tacky staging. Making…

Keller Mortgage’s new Zero Plus Program is here, and we’re going to tell you all about it today. So what is the Zero Plus Program? An alternative to traditional mortgages, Keller Mortgage’s Zero Plus Program allows buyers to secure a mortgage without origination fees or lender fees. A recent client of ours saved $4,200 using this Program instead of…

If you’re a real estate investor, are you managing your own property? Most people who manage their own property don’t do so because they enjoy it—they do it to save on the management fee. Through our marketing techniques, we’ve been able to increase rent up to 9.5% on average, which puts money back into your pocket. To learn about these marketing t…

Congratulations—it’s almost closing day! However, before congratulations are fully in order, and before the keys are handed over to you, there are a few things you need to do in order to be prepared for the closing table.Clients often ask what needs to be done to schedule their closing. We encourage our clients to take time off from work on the day…

When a buyer drives past your home, the first thing they’ll see is your front door. This means you want it to make a good first impression, and the best place to start is with the door’s color. Let’s go over the three primary options you have when choosing the color of the door: Traditional. Black is a basic but striking choice for your door’s colo…

If the concept of moving sounds exhausting in advance, it could be that you haven’t been using any of the following five tips for simplifying your next move. If you do these before you even receive the first offer on your home, your future move will already be easier than it has been in the past.1. Sort your belongings into groups. You should have …

By now, you’ve probably all heard that the government has entered a temporary shutdown, prompted by President Trump’s concerns about building a wall for border security, among a few other factors. It’s a politically charged moment generally, but how will the shutdown impact the real estate market? Today I’ll explain a few things that buyers, seller…

With the technological advances of the past few years, 3D modeling has provided many industries with tools and opportunities for advancement. Real estate is no different: Using 3D models to give buyers virtual tours of homes has been tremendously successful.How does it work?We use a camera that spins around on axis inside a property, taking multipl…

If you really want to boost buyers’ interest in your home, you’ll want to make sure it’s staged. Here are three simple ways to make sure your home is well-staged and ready for showings: Paint in the kitchen. Stained and dated kitchen cabinets can be a turnoff for buyers. Don’t empty your wallet to have them replace; repaint them instead! Simplify t…

Congratulations! You’re under contract on your new home. Now, it’s in your best interest to have a home inspection on the property by someone who knows what they are doing. How can you make sure that you hire the right home inspector? Here are five tips: 1. What are their qualifications? What did they do before real estate inspecting? Were they a b…

Your appliances are a vital part of the functionality and general feel of your home. Here’s how to keep them in good shape for as long as possible. Today I have a few tips you can use to keep your home appliances in great working order. Extending their lifespan as much as possible will save you time and hassle later on down the road. Be sure to kee…

Buying a home isn’t cheap. Here are six different costs that you may not know about that are essential to any home purchase. When you’re in the process of buying a home, there are six essential things that you need to think about before making an offer on a property:1. Loan pre-approval letter. You’ll work with your lender to get this. They will ch…

Today we’ve got three tips to share that will help out homebuyers in today’s market:1. Make sure you’re set up for instant property alerts. Not all websites are created equal because not all websites have direct access to the information on the MLS. It’s important for you to work with an agent that has the information from what we call an IDX feed.…

Strategically staging your home can help you achieve a faster sale and a higher price, and there are a few key tips our team recommends when taking on this task. 1. Boost your property’s curb appeal. Changing out hardware, sprucing up your yard, and painting the exterior of your home can go a long way in making your property stand out. Each of thes…

“Avoid doing any of these things when making an offer.”As a buyer, there are six ways you can scare off a seller when making your offer: You’re not pre-approved for your mortgage. 2. You ask for too many contingencies. 3. You request a long list of home repairs. 4. You’re working with a shady or unknown lender. 5. There are too many red flags about…

At some point, your agent is going to ask you to commit to the professional relationship you have with them. Keep in mind that when they ask this, they are also promising to make a commitment to you. So why is this in your, and the agent’s, best interest?It has long been said that you get what you pay for, and this is true in real estate. If you ar…

Here are four cost-effective tips that will help prepare your home for the market and boost its value in the eyes of buyers. First, improve your landscaping. Curb appeal is crucial to a buyer’s first impression when they pull up to your home, so freshen up the bushes, mow and remove weeds from the yard, and plant some brand-new flowers. Second, cle…

So you’ve decided to sell your home. Most sellers think that the work is done at this point, but many are rudely awakened by a more stressful experience than they expected.What can you do to reduce seller stress?With any luck, you’ve recruited a great Realtor. A truly great Realtor has the responsibility of carrying the stress for their sellers; we…

Here are some home repairs that you can’t skip out on if you’re a homeowner who is trying to maintain the value of your home: Caulking showers and tubs. Caulking windows and doors. Changing out your HVAC filters. Looking into any water-related issues on the roof or with the plumbing. Looking for peeling paint around the interior and exterior of you…

Interest rates can have a direct impact on buying power. Today, I’d like to explain how this works.In January, interest rates were at 3.98%. Today, they are at 4.5%. Even having only risen slightly more than 0.5%, this constitutes a big change in buying power.Let’s take the example of a home priced at the current market average of $260,000. In Janu…

At some point, an agent is going to ask you to commit to them. Of course, this also means they’ll be committing to you. This exclusivity comes about when you and your agent sign a buyer’s agency agreement.Agents who don’t work exclusively for you are less motivated. However, an agent who has committed to your transaction through a buyer’s agency ag…

After you purchase your home, at some point you’ll need repairs, maintenance, and perhaps even some remodeling work done to it, and we can help you with that.We close on a property once every two and a half days, which means we’re in touch with a lot of vendors who can take care of these things for you, including plumbers, electricians, interior de…

There are a lot of ways to succeed when selling your home, and just as many ways to fail. Today, I’m going to list three common seller mistakes to avoid when listing your home.“Setting your home’s sticker price too high may make it very difficult to close.” Asking too much. While the goal of your home sale is to get as much money as you can for you…

Today I wanted to answer a few commonly asked questions I get about buying a home. If you’re thinking about buying a home anytime in the near future, listen up. This is important information for you to know.How long will it take to buy a home?It depends on the buyer, but we know that once we get a home under contract, it typically takes 30 to 45 da…

Thinking about buying a home in 2018? If you are, now is the time to start preparing. Here are the things you need to do first:1. Check your credit score.2. Avoid opening any new credit cards or making any big credit purchases. You could increase the total price you’ll pay for your home in the long run.“Rates might increase more than once.”3. Keep …

Here are five great tips that will help keep your home warm and save on energy costs this winter:1. Use the earth as a natural heater. While it’s best to close south-facing windows in the summertime to keep sunlight out, if you open them in winter, the natural sunlight will help heat your home.2. Insulate your home’s north-facing windows. Use heavy…

Here are a few issues that are nearly impossible to identify in an online listing.1. Don’t trust the size of the rooms. Photographers can use tools like wide angle lenses and photo editing software to enhance the property.2. Things aren’t always clean as they appear. Sometimes sellers move stuff from one room to another while a photographer is taki…

Something magical happens the first day your home hits the market—like the new kid at the high school dance, all eyes are on that property. At that moment, buyers and agents alike make some rapid judgments.Is the home overpriced? Is it in good condition based on the photos? Is it in a great location?The first impression will affect how many showing…