Beautiful Wilkes County NC Timber Frame Home and Mountain Property.

MLS Number: 51166, List Price: $898,500

2 Bedrooms, 2 Baths, 2 half baths, 2 car attached garage, full basement, and a barn on 5 acres of land.

These terms are used to describe thousands of homes and yet some things just can’t be described, they have to be experienced. This is one of those homes that really has to be seen to be appreciated.

This majestic Timber Frame home of the Bob Timberlake genre is not just another house, it provides a feeling of home that is not about walls and floors and windows and doors. It creates a feeling of the flow between your outdoor and your indoor environment that is seamless. Everywhere you look there is a view. Everything you touch feels natural and beautiful in a way that cannot be described, only owned.

Contact Elizabeth Carter, 336.973.5594 or Greg Stikeleather, Broker, 704.880.5247 or email eacarter@charter.net

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The ugliness in today’s housing market is claiming a new class of victims — customers of insolvent home builders. What a builder’s troubles mean for its customers can vary depending on factors such as state law, contract terms and how long it takes to get the project back on track. In some cases, buyers may lose all or part of their deposit or wait a year or more for their house to be completed or the builder’s financial troubles to be sorted out. Homeowners who’ve already moved into a new development can find themselves living near a half-finished house where work has been halted. (more…)

search for : customers of insolvent home builders

Major mortgage lenders have made it tougher for all types of customers to get loans over the past three months, according to the Federal Reserve’s quarterly survey of bank lending officers. This summer’s credit squeeze prompted an unprecedented tightening in lending standards at major banks. As credit standards toughened, demand for loans also fell, the Fed reported Nov. 5, providing some fresh details on the fallout from the credit crunch. Residential mortgages were harder to get than at any time in the 17-year history of the Fed’s survey of banks’ senior loan officers, the Fed said. The survey covers 52 domestic banks and 22 foreign banks, which together account for a majority of bank lending in the country. (more…)

search for : mortgage lenders, tightening in lending standards

Fair market value is generally what a buyer is willing to pay for a property whose owner is not selling under duress. This is real estate’s version of that time-honored trading axiom, “what the market will bear.” Factors such as market demand, a home’s condition and “location, location, location” do play large roles in determining fair market value in residential real estate. Most real estate agents can calculate a reasonably accurate price based on “comps,” short for a comparative market analysis. You can create your own “comps” based on information from your local property tax office and perusal of Internet and newspaper sale ads, but this strategy probably won’t give you as accurate a picture as actual recent neighborhood sales in your price and size range. (more…)

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Contractors generally agree that cost-per-square-foot is a terrible way to budget for a home, because there are so many variables involved. Do you insist on top-of-the-line cabinets and appliances for your gourmet kitchen, or will mid-range ones do? Are you planning to side the house with cheap vinyl or expensive stone brick? Is the house going to be one story, or two? (The latter is generally cheaper because the foundation is smaller.) Will you have simple, rectangular rooms that minimize the materials and the labor required for framing, or unusual shapes like octagons with vaulted ceilings? (more…)

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The National Association of Homebuilders, a trade group whose members build about 80% of the country’s new homes each year, say the Green Building Council’s criteria for a “green” label are too impractical and costly. They are developing their own standards, which they say are flexible depending on the region and include easier-to-achieve green home certification in order to appeal to first-time buyers. A new draft will be available for public comment next month, and the standards should be finalized by February.

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search for : National Association of Homebuilders, Green Building Council, green home certification

When you purchased your home, you should have been given a small map, typically just a photocopy of one portion of a larger map, that showed the size of your lot. Known as a plat map, it typically shows the length of each side of your lot, the name of the streets that border it, the tax lot number, and perhaps the legal description. If you were not given a map, or if you no longer know what became of it, you’ll want to obtain a new one. Most title companies can provide you with one, or you can get one through your city or county assessor’s or surveyor’s office — it’s something you really should have a copy of for your records. (more…)

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Beautiful Wilkes County NC Log Home and Mountain Property.

MLS Number: 50863, List Price: $359,900

Bedrooms: 3, Full Baths: 2, Half Baths: 0, Est Total SqFt: 2600, Type/Style: Log Home, Area: Area 6, Middle School: Cntrl Wlks, High School: Wlks Cntrl, Construction: Log

Foundation: Combination, Roof: Metal Roof, Floors: Carpet/Hardwood/Tile, Garage/Carport: None-Garage, None-Carport, Interior Features: Master Bedroom, Main Level, Large Master Bedroom, Walk-In Closet(s), Hardwood Floors, Fireplace(s), Great Room, Exterior Features: Double Pane Windows, Wooded Lot, 1-5 Acres, Hot Tub, Subdivision: N/A, Lot Size: 2.47, Apx SqFt: 2600 - 2800 SF, Basement: None

Contact Elizabeth Carter, 336.973.5594 or Greg Stikeleather, Broker, 704.880.5247 or email eacarter@charter.net

click here for more information

It would be emotionally draining to have your home on the market for more than 10 months. But it probably wouldn’t be a financial disaster, so long as you’re still in the house and you can comfortably cover the mortgage. However, maybe you have an adjustable rate loan that’s no longer affordable. Maybe you’re trying to sell a vacation home. Maybe you moved cross-country for a new job, but your old house still hasn’t sold. Sellers are sometimes loath to cut their asking price, which is the reason prices have barely budged. People focus on what their home was worth two years ago, or how much they’ve sunk into it, or on their desire not to bring a check to the closing,” notes financial adviser Bert Whitehead, author of “Why Smart People Do Stupid Things With Money.”

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search for : adjustable rate loan, sell a vacation home

The NIMBY movement is a force to be reckoned with. Not Republican nor Democrat, not much more liberal than moderate or conservative, and with no single staunch geographic base, the NIMBY (the acronym for the controversial “not-in-my-backyard” movement) crowd is comprised of people from all walks of life who have a common goal — to send virtually all developers packing. Apparently, when all is said and done, the sentiment is largely bottom-line oriented. NIMBYs have been criticized as an I’ve-got-mine gang of elites, but the 2007 Saint Index found that 78 percent of Americans want to zero out all new development in their hometown. That’s up from 73 percent last year. What’s more, one in four say they actually took part in some action against a project.

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Many homeowners are expressing outrage to subprime mortgage bailouts, whether they involved tax dollars or not, after Countrywide announced good deals for bad loans. Countrywide said it will refinance or restructure loans or reduce interest for hybrid ARM borrowers whose rates are scheduled to reset. And no one will have to pony up prepayment penalties for retiring loans early. Countrywide then announced it will rework loans, prime and subprime alike, for any troubled borrower, adjusting payments to reflect what individuals can afford. The company will administer the program with non-profit community advocate, the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA). Some troubled borrowers will escape with refinanced loans as low as 5.25 percent. Why should help be given, and possible taxpayer money spent, to home owners in trouble? (more…)

search for : subprime mortgage bailout, restructure loan

According to a report released Thursday, foreclosure filings climbed during the third quarter of 2007 with no relief in sight. RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosure properties, filed a report showing that the number of filings rose 30 percent from the previous quarter and nearly doubled from a year earlier. With the number of loans due to reset through the middle of 2008, and the continuing weakness in home sales, experts are expecting foreclosure activity to remain high and even increase over the next year in many markets.

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Lightning safety experts, endorsing common sense, have long advised that indoors is the safest place to be during an electrical storm. The National Weather Service recently adopted the slogan, “When thunder roars, go indoors.” But the spread of high-tech devices, including laptops and videogames, means there are new ways in which people can suffer injuries or property losses, even in the relative safety of their homes. A division of Sony Corp., Sony Computer Entertainment America, the maker of PlayStation products, says it hadn’t heard of incidents like this and says its devices come with safety instructions about lightning. Activision Inc., which makes the Guitar Hero game, advocates staying off electronics during storms. (more…)

This one-of-a-kind lakefront lot is truly unique within the Malone Bay community. It is one of the most desirable, if not the most desirable lot among the few remaining properties with waterfront access to W. Kerr Scott Lake.

Malone Bay features 18 lots at W. Kerr Scott Dam & Reservoir. 14 are Lakefront and meet private dock requirements. This is a gated community with Lots ranging from 2.3+- acres to 6.8+- acres On the Hwy 421 side of the lake just off South Minton Road, Wilkesboro, NC 28697

Main Channel Views.
300 feet of waterfront.
Dock with boat slip and 2 jet ski slips.

2.86 acres.

MLS Number: 51155
List Price: $359,000
Lot Size: 2.86 ac.
Apx Acreage: 2.86
Type: Waterfront
Area: Area 2
Suitable Use: Residential

Topography: Rolling
Utilities: Underground Utilities
Road Frontage: Private Road
Restrictions: yes
Water/Sewer: Public Water
Miscellaneous: 1-5 Acres
Location: Malone Way

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search for : Malone Bay, W. Kerr Scott Lake, W. Kerr Scott Dam