The press is consumed with a short list of topics: the presidential race, Brittany’s level of psychosis, and the state of real estate. And it’s a toss up as to which of the last two are the most screwed up.

No doubt that the real estate market in many areas is struggling. And in some places prices are dropping precipitously. But not everywhere. Not here in Greensboro, NC.

As I’ve written several times, our market has generally enjoyed steady but modest increases in prices over the years. It has been good, sustainable growth. Since we didn’t see double-digit jumps in values as did some markets (California, Florida, Nevada) we aren’t going through a “correction”. Our prices, for the most part, have continued to increase, even midst the dire reports in the news.

Of course, there are - and always have been - exceptions. For those properties that are in foreclosure, the price may be lower than others in the neighborhood. But not always. And some large volume builders have started offering incentives to lower their inventory. But not all builders.

In general, homes in the Greensboro area continue to sell at about 95%-97% of their asking price. This can difficult for buyers coming in from other parts of the country to accept. And really hard for those who have bought into the idea that all sellers are ready to get rid of their homes at fire sale prices. It just ain’t happening.

All that having been said, it is certainly a Buyer’s Market. What that means in this area is that there is more inventory on the market than there was 18 months ago and that homes are remaining on the market longer. And interest rates are great.

Does this mean that the seller whose property is listed at $245K will knock $15K off the price, pay $5K towards your closing costs, throw in a fridge and baby-sitting for year? Well, you can try. But be prepared to so irritate the seller that they refuse to negotiate with you. You may end up paying more for the house than you would if you had made a reasonable offer in the first place.

Best advice is to connect yourself with an experienced Realtor who can provide you with some guidance, comps, etc., and then listen to that person!

If your goal is to get someone to come off their price by 15% or 20%, then just look at overpriced houses. If you want to buy a house that you’ll be happy to come home to every day and that’s worth what you’re paying, look at the properties that meet your criteria, take advantage of the low interest rates, and be happy that you can take advantage of having so many good choices.

There. I feel much better.

Now, will somebody please help Brittany get herself together!?

I’ve had many questions over the years about property taxes in Greensboro and how they’re figured, how they relate to market value, how a homeowner pays them, etc.,

Seeing as how I’m getting ready to pay our property taxes for this year (gulp) I thought it was a good time to write about the topic.

[I'll be writing about how property taxes are handled in the Guilford County, North Carolina market. Your mileage may vary]

Property taxes are figured by multiplying the tax rate by your property’s tax value. Both of these numbers are determined by the county and/or city. Within Guilford County, as with most places, there are different tax rates depending on location, municipal services available, fire district and various factors. The tax rate can be and usually is adjusted every year and is determined by the city and county budgets. The powers that be figure out how much will be spent on services and so how much must be charged in property taxes.

The tax value is determined once every 8 years. Yes, that’s 8 (e-i-g-h-t) years. That’s the maximum number of years allowable by North Carolina law and Guilford County uses every bit of them. What happens is that appraisals are done on representative properties throughout the county and the surrounding properties are adjusted based on the subject property. Thus is born the tax value.

What can be deceiving to buyers is that the tax value can be pretty far afield from the market value. This is because the tax value is “updated” only once in eight years. Fortunately, in Guilford County, market value (what people have been paying for houses based on market conditions) has steadily increased. You might see a home that sells for $210,000 and the tax value is $168,700.BTW, this is a reason that sites like zillow.com and others don’t necessarily reflect accurate market values on homes. The data is pulled from tax records and Greensboro tax records will show what a municipal appraiser valued a house at in about 2004 or so. You can see properties that have actually sold recently as well. Just be aware that some of the data should be used as a tool in determining the price range of a neighborhood - not the last word on it.

In Guilford County, the city of Greensboro has the highest tax rate. For this, we have trash pick up, city water and sewer services, complete fire and police coverage, street maintenance and various other services. The more remote or rural the part of the county, the lower the tax rate. And for this, properties in the outlying areas may be on well and septic systems, have to pay for trash removal, may have different fire coverage, and so on.

So, what ARE taxes in Guilford County?

For 2007, the top property tax rate is $1.32640/$100 of value. That means if a house is valued at $100,000 and it’s taxed at the City of Greensboro rate, the annual tax bill will be $1,326.40.

If the house is in, say, the Whitsett community (northeast of Greensboro) the annual tax bill will be more like $754.00

You can get more information and detail about all this at the Guilford County tax department site.

And remember that in most cases, your mortgage bill will include your property taxes (and homeowners insurance). In the case of the Greensboro house noted above, your mortgage payment would include 1/12 of the annual taxes, or about $113.

That’s the “T” in the phrase “P.I.T.I“, which is mortgage-speak that the mortgage payment will include Principal. Interest. Taxes. Insurance. The mortgage company collects money throughout the year and when the bill is sent out, they pay it.

All of this can seem confusing if you’ve never had to think about it before. Post a question or email me if you like. And remember that, while only death and taxes are certain in this life, paying taxes is the preferable burden!

Wow. The economic news couldn’t be weirder.

What usually happens is that the real estate market follows whatever the heck is happening in the economy in general. That means, if the economy has taken a hit due to stocks, gas prices, war…whatever….the housing market may follow. But what is happening now is that the real estate market is impacting the economy.

This is bass-ackwards.

But it’s true.

As with many other aspects of modern life, we live in interesting times.

Fine. What does this all mean to you? All you want to do is buy a house. You just want to own the place you’re paying for every month.

What all this means is…..

…Almost nothing. At least, not if you’re intending to buy a house in MOST of the country that isn’t southern California, Florida, Arizona, Michigan and a couple of other places where housing values have dropped in the last few moths.

Greensboro, NC and the surrounding areas have been stable. We’re always stable. We’re pretty boring. And right about now, when real estate drama is making headlines, boring is cool.

There’s plenty of inventory.

Interest rates are awesome (about 6%-6.5%)

Sellers are more freaked than you could possibly be as a buyer.

This is a classical “buyer’s market”. These don’t come along all that often. This is historic.

And it’s in your favor. So go for it.

If you have a job, pay your bills on time and want to own your own home, there have been few better times to try.

Witness proof that you can still buy a house and smile when it’s all over.

This is Angie & James. They are newly married, and decided they wanted to think about buying their own home. They’d both had enough of renting.

But who can buy a house these day? After all, the news is all about how there’s a credit crunch, the sub prime lenders and borrowers have jacked it up for all the rest. The real estate bubble has burst. Right?

Well, look at these two. They don’t have any special secrets, didn’t listen to late night infomercial tricks about getting rich in real estate. They just did things the way that have always worked. That is, they talked with a good lender, looked at all the homes that were within their price range, had some good guidance (excuse me while I blush) and ended up with a great home.

So, if you’re in the market for a home - especially in or around Greensboro, NC, take heart. Interest rates are STILL in the low 6% range and if you have a job, a decent credit history and feel like you’d rather pay your own mortgage rather than someone else’s (and don’t fool yourself, if you’re renting, you are paying a mortgage…It’s just someone else’s and they’re getting the benefit) then contact me. Or contact another Realtor. Buying your own home continues to have the same intrinsic value it always has and it’s well worth the effort.

Look at these two. They’re thrilled.

They honored me by inviting me and my husband to their house warming party. James had already built a 400 sq. ft. deck, a privacy fence and painted a very pink bedroom to a more James-friendly hue. Angie had made every room her own with just the right touches. And she said to me the best thing she could. She said she never wants to leave that house.

Now, I’m sure they will both want to move one day. And I hope they call me when they do. But the whole point of buying your own home is that you’re happy to go there at the end of the day. Your job may irritate you. Your boss may treat you like a moron. Traffic might make you scream. But if you feel better being at home than anywhere else, it’s all good. It’s what “home” is all about.

Always has been.

I got an IM from Patrick Beeson this morning with a link to a NY Times article about how the current housing drama has some prospective home sellers wanting to list their houses for more than the market will bear right now. There is reference to how this is some odd human trait in times of market downturn. Well, I m here to tell you, ain’t nothing new about it at all.

Home sellers very often want more for their homes than they re worth. They also think their houses have more square footage than they actually do, forgetting that the 1850 square place they bought cannot become 2100 square feet without a bunch of construction people hanging out at their home for weeks and weeks. Only our waist lines increase in size over time without us knowing. Our houses do not.

This brings up a common question: How much is a house worth if I paid “X” to purchase it, spent “Y” on remodeling the kitchen and “Z” on a state of the art irrigation system?

The quick answer is, it’s worth what someone will pay for it. Your total money invested is your issue, not the buyer’s.

Likewise, if you inherited the house and paid nothing for it, you wouldn’t expect to give it away.

So, pricing a house properly is key to having a happy outcome. This is the same whether the market is hot, ice-cold, or nicely temperate, as it is in the Greensboro area.

And when buying, remember that one day you’ll most likely be selling. Make a mental note of the square footage. It won’t be changing unless you make it happen. (But keep an eye on your waist line!)

Many of us prefer to live in blissful ignorance of certain facts of life: the effects of gravity on the human form, how many calories are really in three slices of deep dish pizza with the works, what our parents did with each other to bring us into this world.

A really easy thing to avoid thinking about is our credit score. It can seem really scary to find out what some faceless entity has determined our credit worthiness is. Even worse, it can be frightening to own up to the fact that we pretty much create our own credit score. Who needs to face that bit of reality?

We all do.

And there is nothing to fear, really. Really. If the news is better than you expect - say, FICO score of 730 - hazzah, hazzah. Pat yourself on the back and keep doing whatever it is you’ve been doing.

If the news is more sobering - a score that looks more like a batting average - then swallow hard, look at how you got there and make some changes.

What can be done? First of all, don’t think you’re the only one. Managing your relationship with money is like any other in your life. It takes work. Lots of it. And diligence. And compromise. And sacrifice. And a sense of humor for when things are rough. Many, MANY people don’t have the credit scores that they want. Folks with plenty of money as well as those who have less disposable income. Medical doctors, bricklayers, financial planners, restaurant owners and even Realtors (yikes!) can struggle to manage their money.

So, take heart. It isn’t a badge of shame. It’s just where you are right now. And a few changes over a few months can make a big change in your scores.

Here are some suggestions:

These are just a very few suggestions. If you’re finding that you must use credit each month to cover your expenses, scale back on your lifestyle. Obviously, there are circumstances that can make this very difficult - health issues, for one. But many of us have come to see luxuries as necessities. Again, successful relationships require sacrifice at times. And if you can make your relationship with money and your finances work, you’ll find that so much of the rest of your life seems easier.

[I've created a permanent page with real estate terms that I add to as the mood hits]

Like most industries, there’s a lot of jargon in real estate. It’s easy for those of us who use the terms every day to forget that most people rarely use these words, or haven’t heard them at all.

What follows is a simple and not nearly complete list of some words and phrases across which you may come in the process of looking for and buying a house. Feel free to request others or for clarification:

FICO Score

This stands for Fair Isaac & Company. They compile data about consumers and assign a “score” to each person based on calculations regarding debt/credit ratios, payment history and other factors.Lenders use a person’s FICO score to determine whether or not to extend credit.

What is considered a good score? That varies from lender to lender, product to product and can change depending on market conditions. The maximum score one can have is 850. Generally a score above 700 is considered quite good. A score below about 600 might be considered “sub prime”. (I hate to even use the word now).A FICO score is not the only factor a lender uses to make a decision about a borrower. It is a strong indication of how one manages money so will be looked at closely. Talk with a good lender to find out where you stand.

Escrow

Technically, escrow means when something of value is help in trust during a transaction by a third party. In parts of the country a property is said to be “in escrow” when there’s a purchase contract. In my area of Greensboro, NC, that same situation is called being “under contract”.

There is also the case when the your lender holds funds in an escrow account in order to pay property taxes and home owners insurance premiums when due on your house. Typically these funds are collected with your mortgage payment each month and when the bills for property taxes and insurance go out, they’re delivered to the lender who then pays them. There will also usually be funds collected at the time of closing in order to start funding the the escrow account.

PITI

Stands for “Principal, Interest, Taxes & Insurance”or what is usually one’s mortgage payment. When you are looking to buy, you need to clarify with your lender what your total monthly payments will be. There are calculators online that will tell you what the principal and interest payment would be if you financed ‘x’ number of dollars at an interest rate of ‘y’. But that would only be part of the story if you’re not putting down at least 20% down payment. If you put down less than that, you’ll most likely be required to pay monthly installments into an escrow account held by your lender. These funds will be used to pay your annual property tax and home owners insurance premium. So, the “TI” part of PITI will vary and must be taken into consideration when looking at what you can afford.

PMI (or MIP for FHA)

Mortgage insurance that is paid by the borrower when they have less than about 20% equity in their property. Most lenders require PMI to help cover any loss that may be incurred if the borrower defaults on their loan. PMI is not the same as home owner’s insurance, which covers that actual structure. PMI covers the loan.

If it seems that the borrower pays an insurance premium to cover someone else - the lender - you’re right. Clever how the lenders worked that out, eh? But it is what it is. Unless you’re willing to put more money in the transaction, thereby reducing the chances you’ll let it get away from you, you’ll need to pony up the PMI. The premiums for this vary. Check with your lender.

Equity

The difference between what your property is worth and what you owe on any mortgages you have on that property. The more you have, the better. And once you have about 20% equity (usually determined by a certified appraisal) you may be able to drop any PMI premiums and may be able to stop escrowing your tax and home owner’s insurance.

(ex: Your house has a certified appraisal that says it’s worth $200,000. You owe $150,000 on your first mortgage and $10,000 on an equity line. You’re total property debt is $160,000, meaning you have 20% equity. Call your mortgage lender and see about removing that PMI!!)

Per Diem Interest

Daily interest paid on your mortgage. You don’t usually need to think about per diem interest except in regards to your closing day. Lenders charge the interest on mortgages in advance. So, at closing time, you’ll be charged interest for each day from the date of closing through the last day of that month. If you close on the 10th, you’ll pay 20 days interest at closing. If you close on the 20th, you’ll pay 10 days. If you close on the last day of the month - yippee! - you only pay 1 day’s interest. This money can mean a great deal if you’re watching your up front costs.

Debt/Credit Ratio

How much you owe on your open lines of credit in relation to the maximum amount of credit available to you. It’s a good thing to have plenty of lines of credit. It’s not a good thing to “max out” those lines. It looks like you’re living on credit rather than managing your finances. A good rule of thumb is to keep your debt/credit ratio below about 30%. That means, if you have a credit line of $1000, try to stay below $300 on your balance.

Buying a home usually requires getting a mortgage. Great. According to the news, that’s nearly impossible now.

Hardly. When you look past the information about the barn door closing after all the nasty sub prime horses got out of the stable, getting a mortgage is not any different now than it has ever been. To put it in today’s vernacular, lending now is not unlike computer programs. If we’ve just entered the world of Web.2, mortgages are in Lending.v.1 Back to basics, baby. It always made sense. Still does today.

So, if you want to qualify for a mortgage, you want to look at some fundamental concepts of your finances. Lenders will want to to know that:

1. You have a source of income

2. You have a track record of paying your bills on time

3. You have some residual cash to cover expenses

It’s all really pretty simple. And for all the real and dire news about loans that were made for the wrong reasons to the really wrong people, the fact is that if you’re a qualified buyer, the interest rates are good and you will be able to get a decent mortgage.

I’m not saying that the news is histrionic. The economic reports aren’t making this stuff up. Things are really wild out there. REALLY wild. But, like Clemenza says in “The Godfather”, referring to the upcoming war between the families - these things have happen every 10 years or so. This “correction” is particularly harsh, but things will get back to normal.

In the meantime, those who keep their heads - and who’ve been paying their bills on time - are the people reputable mortgage lenders want to see coming through their doors.

..It just feels that way.

I’ve been a Realtor since 1987 - with the odd break for childbirth and one ill-advised foray into the corporate world - and I’m here to say that I’ve never seen a scene like I’ve seen in the last month or so. It’s a site! A hot mess.

So, what does this mean to erstwhile home buyers? That buying a home is a risky endeavor? That the chance has passed you by? That you were silly for even thinking that buying was for you? That owning a home is for Grown Ups?

The answers are, in order: yes, no, no and yes.

Yes, home buying is risky. So is car buying. And iPod buying. You lay your money out and encounter risk. But the ridiculous lending practices that wormed their way into our otherwise conservative financial culture notwithstanding, buying your own home remains a good idea.

Why? For one very good reason, one has to pay to live somewhere. One might as well pay for one’s OWN mortgage. Because - believe me - if you’re paying rent, you’re paying someone’s mortgage. A landlord undoubtedly has a mortgage. And the tenants pay it.

The other is that there is really a great feeling to walking into your own home. Your own walls. Your own floors. If you want to paint your bedroom you can go ahead and do it. Feel like planting hydrangea in the front yard? Go for it. Do you love pale green shag carpet? Install it. (Then look at the calendar and realize it’s no longer 1972, but install it all the same)

The nauseating news about huge mortgage companies going belly up has nothing to do with the benefits of home ownership. It has to do with poor lending practices and fraud. An ugly word, but accurate.

The old, boring standards for what it takes to make a mortgage work for you still stand. There are sensible lending requirements that any good, reputable lender will look for. And that you should require of yourself - it just doesn’t make sense to live beyond your means - and if you can meet those requirements things are not so scary. Interest rates for conventional loans are still really good - around 6.5% - and all the tax benefits and emotional benefits of home ownership still apply.

The news is wild. But home buying isn’t. Exciting? Yes. But “wild” it doesn’t have to be.

We do things differently in the South. We call off school when snow has been predicted anywhere within a 50 mile radius. We have a very successful restaurant chain whose menu is totally centered on buttermilk biscuits and we drink our tea iced and pre-sweetened.

We also conduct real estate transactions with a minimum number of attorneys. Like - one.

I have never sold property in other parts of the country, but I’ve worked with many folks who’ve moved here from all parts. New England, the midwest and even the true foreigners: Californians.

It seems that when you buy or sell a house in many areas of the United States, everyone brings an attorney. The buyer. The seller. The banker. The candlestick maker. And many times an escrow company conducts the closing. Things are a lot simpler ’round these parts.

A short synopsis of what happens in a routine real estate transaction is that, once the buyers and sellers have agreed to terms, an amount of time passes while the buyer’s loan is processed and the seller packs up. In this time, the closing attorney who, in Greensboro, usually is chosen and paid for by the buyer, conducts a title search to make sure the property can be conveyed to the new owner free of encumbrances. Assuming all is clear and the loan goes through, the lender sends their “package” of closing documents and instructions to the attorney who in turn makes sure all the paperwork required by the lender is prepared.

The closing attorney often also prepares the deed. (This is technically the seller’s responsibility and will be charged to the seller but is usually done by the closing attorney as a matter of convenience. The seller can opt to have the deed drawn by another attorney and provided at the time of closing).

Closings are traditionally conducted at the office of the attorney but this can vary depending on whatever is agreed to by all parties.

Once at closing the attorney instructs all parties who is to sign what, collects the appropriate funds from the buyer and sometimes the seller (eek!) and then also is responsible for distributing funds back out to the appropriate parties - the seller, the holder of the seller’s existing mortgage, payoff of any liens, real estate commissions (my personal favorite). The funds are not distributed until the deed has been recorded at the courthouse but this is almost always within a few hours of the closing.

Here in Greensboro it is usually at this time that the buyer gets the keys to their new home and can take possession. Of course, there are always exceptions to the norm. Many variables can be agreed upon by the parties.

This is just what is considered usual and customary for this area. Easy-Peazy.