Charlotte Real Estate Charlotte Foreclosures

04/11/23 [email protected] 1

Charlotte Real EstateCharlotte Foreclosures

Eric Cox, REALTOR®

[email protected](704) 493-5981

mailto:[email protected]


What is the 90/10 Principle of Real Estate?

• Author Robert T. Kiyosaki of describes the rule as, “In the game of money and the game of life too, 10 percent of the players win 90 percent of the money.”

• Billionaire Donald Trump goes further to say, “Pretty soon, if we don’t start paying attention, it could reach the 95/05 ratio, or even 99/01, with 1 percent of the people owning 99 percent of the nation’s assets.”


When is the best time to purchase, for investment?

• The best time to purchase is at the bottom of the market– if it makes sense for you.

• The best time to sell is at the top of the market.

• Have you ever said something to the effect of, “If I had only bought that stock a year ago?”


But how do you know when the bottom of any market will hit?

• Mega billionaire Warren Buffet says you have to look back after a year. He also added that he was buying now.

• 2008 is predicted by many as a year many people will look back at and say, “I wish I had bought then.”


What makes now a great time to buy?

• With the financial crisis and the economic recession, 3 key factors have emerged:

High inventory of new and existing homes

Low mortgage rates

Highly motivated sellers


To gain a better understanding of how to buy a home, it helps to know how to sell a home…

• According to NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, “The most important factor driving home sales is affordability.” Accurate pricing from the start, is key to selling within your specific timeframe. Or you may be faced with having to rent out your home, or worse.

• As a seller, you must realize that our local real estate market is not the same as it was 2-4 years ago. This was a time when our real estate market was strong. Having a strong real estate market will often imply a stable, seller’s market. Home inventory was low, average days on market was low, and the concession ratio (sale price / list price) was low. This was fueled by large macroeconomic growth primarily in our financial sector along with the lowest price-per-square foot real estate in the country. In addition, new home construction remained slow.


What happened to the Seller’s Market of 2004-2006?

• Beginning early 2007, the sub prime mortgage market began to crumble as foreclosure began to rise. Builders had caught on to our market and continued to build new homes despite the weakening financial system. Prospective buyers struggled to obtain financing.

• Out of state investors purchased new homes from builders at a discount to use as rentals. Loan fraud was committed through multiple parties in which the home was sold to a person that didn’t even exist. Homeowners in the same neighborhood paid retail price and received 100% financing. Tenants began to deface these properties and the repairs needed would exceed the market value of the home. Investors began to let properties go into foreclosure and many filed for bankruptcy. Homeowners couldn’t sell their home because their competing properties were all foreclosures so they also fell into foreclosure. Local investors begin purchasing these foreclosures for the short term flip but the values of neighborhoods began to decrease as a whole. Local investors began losing too.

• Housing inventory continues to grow but the number of pending homes begins to decrease as the number of prospective purchasers decrease. Homes that did go pending don’t close due to low appraisals, lack of financing, or buyer remorse. By the end of 2008, the numbers of real estate closings are reduced by more than 50% from the same period 2 years ago.


How can I sell my house in this Buyer’s Market?

• You have to understand that today’s buyer is more educated than ever before especially given the internet revolution and the readily available information at their fingertips. Buyers understand that we are in a buyer’s market and they are all looking for a deal. They understand the market shift in that for the longest time the buyer would have to agree to the sellers’ terms. Now the seller must agree to the buyers’ terms or the seller may not sell for quite some time and run the risk of renting or even worse, foreclosure.

• Overpriced homes will stay on the market longer and suffer the consequences. First, you could price your home out of someone’s budget. Next, the buyer could perceive the seller as being unrealistic and difficult to work with and the home won’t even be shown. Third, you reduce the price but the automated MLS has an archive search that allows you to see the history of your home’s listing and any adjustments made to it. Then, you take the property off the market and re-list at a new price– where it should’ve been priced in the first place. Again with the archive search, this could indicate a problem with the home or a difficult seller. If noticed by a sharp buyer’s agent, it could be taken as a hardship for the seller and an opportunity for a buyer to make a low ball offer.

• When pricing your home, take note of expired or withdrawn listings as these are often examples of what not to do. If your home’s price falls similar to comparable homes that did not sell, you may need to rethink your list price. Once you have your home priced appropriately for this market, refer to my “Handouts for Home Sellers” handout for additional tips and advice on selling your home quickly and efficiently. closings are reduced by more than 50% from the same period 2 years ago.


Home Buyers:

There couldn’t be a better time to purchase real estate!

• High inventories of new and existing homes, low mortgage rates, and motivated sellers make now the perfect time to find a deal that will substantially increase your wealth over the next 5-10 years.


But with the credit crunch, how will I get financing?

• A common misconception due to mainstream media is that money is no longer available. This is absolutely false although the lending guidelines have been

strengthened. What this means is that you need to be prepared to come up with at least 3.5% of the price for a downpayment. You will need to have a job where you receive a regular paycheck or are able to prove through tax returns that you make x amount per year on a steady basis for the past 2 or 3 years.

• Another misconception that ties into this is that you have to have excellent credit in order to qualify. Again this is false as FHA guidelines allow for a borrower to

qualify with a credit score as low as 550.

• If you believe your score is lower than 550, any reputable mortgage broker or banker can tell you what you need to do in order to bring up your score. The effort needed to raise a score over 550 is generally low and can be accomplished in as little as a couple of months.


Homeownership: A piece of the American Dream

• There are numerous incentives to purchase a home and even more benefits of owning a home. There are tax credits and down payment assistance available out there. There are numerous tax benefits that allow you to pay more per month and actually save money in the long run on your yearly taxes. My personal favorite is the pride you get from owning your own home or condo and reaching the status of “Homeowner,” and being able to have a place of your own.

• The money is available and you can qualify. The dream of homeownership is not as far fetched as the media may lead you to believe. The only thing stopping you from making one of the soundest financial decisions of your entire life, is you.

• Once you make the life altering decision to stop throwing away your money in monthly rent and become a homeowner, check out my “Handouts for Home Buyers” handout to learn about the process.


Investors: Don’t Stop Now!

• Back to Basics– You purchase at the bottom of the market and sell at the top.

• I’ve seen 1000’s of investors who were buying like crazy when the market was hot.

• Then the market gets cold and everyone stops buying and tries to cash out.

• These investors who were supposedly making money in real estate are now accepting losses to retain any cash invested and justifying their actions with the tax benfits of their loss.


What are true investors doing?

• The strong investors and investment firms have come out of the woodwork to purchase property and pad their real estate portfolios. They have been purchasing properties in bulk.

• When I say bulk, I mean “Tapes” of properties from banks in increments of $10MM. These properties are purchased at a discount of 40-60% of their retail value. These are completely site unseen by both the investor and the bank. The bank just wants these non-producing assets off their books. The investor sends out multiple power teams of contractors and real estate agents to either fix and flip or fix and rent.

• Skeptical? At least 3 websites have been developed recently to link investors of this caliber to banks with excess inventory they need to dump. There is one site that allows investors to search over 1000 listings, assemble a package, and make a bid. There are 2 that sell packages assembled by sellers, to investors.


But not everyone is in a position to spend 8 digits on tapes of properties

• Most of us have to but one at a time to accumulate our wealth. If you are seeking real estate for the short term investment, you stand a high risk of loss. On the flip side, if you do your homework and are handy, you stand to make a lot of money through short term real estate investments.

• I just had an investor buy a property for $50k, update and improve it for less than $20k, and has just sold it for $107k. This all happened within 3 months. You do the math, it’s possible. If you are considering this, I would advise that you stay near this price point as the majority of homes sold are being sold to first time homebuyers for less than $150k. Also, it’s better to purchase with cash so that you won’t kill yourself with holding costs

• The true value of real estate is best realized over the long term. Due to an increase in lending guidelines coupled with negative media, buyer confidence is suffering. Then you have homeowners who have been foreclosed on and now have bad credit. The need for rental housing begins to soar.


The key is Cash Flow

• When the market was hot, home prices made it difficult for investors looking for rental properties to make the numbers work. Generally speaking, you need to rent for 125% of your total PITI payments. The reason for this is that lenders will take out 25% of your monthly rental income as a maintenance and vacancy allowance.

• So if you are paying $900/mo in payments to the bank and are receiving $1000/mo in rent, you’re achieving $100/mo in positive cash flow, right? Well the bank sees this as you are only receiving $750/mo in rent so you are actually taking a $150/mo loss. This should be important to you because this $150/mo debt can hurt your chances of purchasing additional properties in the future.

• As a true investor, you should be focusing on cash flow. Appreciation should come only as an added bonus. However, you can buy in this market and achieve both, maximizing your returns both short and long term.


Property Recommendations?• The ideal rental property would be a newer home that would lessen your out of

pocket maintenance costs. You should also look for at least 3 or 4 bedrooms and 2 full baths. This is considered the bread and butter property that anyone can live in. Also you want to stay as close to the low end of the middle market as possible to keep rents affordable to your target demographic. Before buying, you may even want to ask yourself if you would live in the property.

• Condos are an entirely different animal. You have to make sure you are factoring in the HOA dues. Your competition increases here with apartment complexes. If you were to buy a preconstruction condo you can get a reasonable price, and bank on the developer doing what they say they’re going to do. Be careful because the developer will always put clauses into their contracts that give them the upper hand and the ability not to sway from their spoken word. However, sometimes condos are easily manageable in larger numbers because the maintenance and common areas are covered for you.

• Whichever type you decide to go with, make sure that you are purchasing in a good area. You want to be near transportation, schools, shopping, etc. You may even look for pride of ownership within the community. With that said, don’t buy in a distressed area unless you know something that no one else does. Also, don’t take on too many properties at once as you stand a good chance of getting in over your head. This is not some simple numbers game. You have to be ready for anything and you need a team of reliable service providers at your fingertips.


What happened to the days of 100% no document investor financing?

• These days have passed and probably won’t be back for quite some time, if ever. In this day and age you are going to have to put down 20-25% for an investment property. But there are alternatives and creative alternatives.

• If you are trying to flip properties or buy and make repairs, you can always go the hard money route. There are some hard money lenders out there that will lend up to 80% of the after repair value (ARV) of a property and at an interest rate as low as prime plus 5%. There are loan costs of 3-5 points for these loans and they are short term loans of about 6-12 months. These loans can be very beneficial to a new investor looking to get his start but doesn’t have any cash accumulation yet.

• Another excellent source would be to purchase through a home equity line on a primary or 2nd home. You may be able to qualify for a loan but cannot come up with the down payment required. This could be your source for a down payment, repair costs, and reserves for holding costs. Use caution with this method as you could be jeopardizing your family’s home in the event of a bad investment experience.

• Another source would be through a 401k or a self-directed IRA. If you think this is a possibility, contact me as not all companies will allow you to purchase real estate through their company. Why? –Generally your financial planners don’t make money on real estate deals.


Have you exhausted all efforts?

• If you have exhausted all efforts to locate suitable financing to purchase and fund your investments, now may not be the time for you to purchase.

• Don’t get your feelings hurt as not everyone is in a position to purchase or own multiple properties.

• In a year or 2 down the road you could be in the ideal position to purchase investment real estate.

• The deals may not be as good as the ones you can find today but the basics of investment analysis don’t change and there are good deals in every market.


Charlotte Foreclosures: The Hot List

This list is updated on a daily basis.Contact me by email for the most

current and up to date version with additional photos and information.


CALL FOR ADDRESS

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East Charlotte

Pineville; Across from Light Rail


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3mi to UNCC; 4mi to Uptown Charlotte

West Charlotte; 3mi to Uptown Charlotte

Sold for $127k in ‘07


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East Charlotte

3mi to UNCC; 3mi to Uptown Charlotte

Concord


CALL FOR ADDRESS

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East Charlotte

East Charlotte


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Monroe

Northwoods

Short Sale



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Highland Creek

2-Story + Basement

Sold for $249k in ’05

Retail value of $300k+

Mooresville


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Salisbury

Piper Glen

Sold for $578k in ’03



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South Charlotte


Providence Country Club



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Piper Glen

Concord


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Lake Norman

Appraised for $1.34MM

Lake Wylie

Appraisal of $1.2MM


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Lake Norman

Sold for $1.21MM in ‘06

Ballantyne



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Waxhaw


Waxhaw

Sold for $2.1MM in ’07

Gated Community


Just a Taste

• Those 24 properties are only a small percentage of the deals in our market

• The list of homes that I have personally selected is actually much larger

• Homes that fit your specific budget, criteria, or pro forma may be much more plentiful


Get the Hot List

Contact me via email for Today’s Hot List which will also include past properties still available

Contact me via email with your specific criteria for an automated MLS search

All contact will be through email unless you call me or request that I call you


Your Property Wish List

Portions reprinted from REALTOR® Magazine Online by permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®Copyright 2005. All rights reserved. www.REALTOR.org/realtormag

For more information, contact:Eric Cox– (704) [email protected]

Prioritize each of these options into: Must have Would prefer

Yard (at least_________)

Garage (________cars)

Patio/Deck

Year Built (______________)

Bedrooms (number________)

Bathrooms (number________)

Style (Ranch, etc) (____________)

Fireplace (number_________)

Spa in Bath

Master Down

Eat-in kitchen

Granite and/ or SS Appliances

Basement

Fenced Yard

Waterfront

Dockable

On Golf Course

Pool or Hot Tub

Other Criteria:

• How close do you need to be to: (a) public transportation _______

(b) schools _______ c) airport _______ (d) expressway ________

(e) neighborhood shopping ________ (f) other_________________?

• What neighborhoods would you prefer?

• What school systems do you want to be near?

• What architectural style(s) of homes do you prefer?

• Do you want a one-story or two-story house?

• How old a home would you consider?

• How much repair or renovation would you be willing to do?

• Do you have special facilities or needs that your home must meet?

• Do you require a fenced yard or other amenities for your pets?

While your opinions on the type of home you want to own may change during the homebuying process, use this easy checklist to help you prioritize and make the shopping process less time consuming.

mailto:[email protected]


Eric Cox, REALTOR®

Commercial & Residential Investment ExpertBiography:

Former Marine combat veteran Eric Cox made Charlotte his home in 2004 and quickly established himself in the Uptown nightlife scene as a bartender at Can’s and Phil’s Tavern. Cox then branched out as a REALTOR® where he was nominated for the Vane Mingle Rookie of the Year award following his inaugural year and continues to evolve as a top commercial and residential investment broker. At Southgroup Real Estate, Cox has formed a partnership to help Charlotteans sell or purchase their next home, to help investors make money in real estate, and to help newcomers call Charlotte, Home. In his spare time Cox can be found networking at Charlotte’s newest hot spots, relaxing while painting abstract paintings, or authoring his first book, which will recount his personal experiences during his time in Iraq.

Specialties:

Multi-family properties have proven to be the safest and most secure investment to build long term wealth and monthly residuals.

• Purchasing foreclosures and short sales is another great strategy to boost your equity in real estate holdings.

• This may also be a way to make a quick buck by flipping or wholesaling. Proceed with caution utilizing this method as the true value of real estate is best realized in the long term. • Commercial property is another great investment such as medical offices, warehouses, and strip malls to name a few. • Other forms of real estate investing may include pre-development land, pre-construction condos, capital raising ventures, or even creative lending. • Through experience and innovation, I can be as creative as needed in order to coordinate and see the deal through in order to meet your objectives and/ or pro forma.

Honors & Achievements:

• Charlotte Style Magazine– Top 25 Most Stylish People in Charlotte (emphasis on career and success)• Inducted to the Southgroup Real Estate Investments Team based on a track record of success• Top producing agent and partnership of the Investments Team• Multi-million dollar producer and Rookie of the Year nominee after inaugural year of real estate

Groups & Organizations:

• Charlotte Chamber of Commerce• Charlotte Real Estate Investor Association • Metrolina Real Estate Investor Association • Carolina Multiple Listing Service • Charlotte Regional REALTOR® Association • National Association of REALTORS® • NC Association of REALTORS®

Business

Charlotte Real Estate Charlotte Foreclosures