Foreclosures In Winston Salem NC and How to Buy HUD Foreclosure Real Estate Foreclosure homes in Winston Salem are a good deal when they can be purchased in such a way as to realize built-in equity "at the closing" table.  Everyone knows that having equity in one's home means that your financial statment reflects that equity, thus providing greater net worth!  This can apply to the First Time Homebuyer as well a someone looking for a great rental property, a second home, or your primary residence.  There are literally hundreds of web sites that claim to have current lists of foreclosure homes for sale all over the country.  Most of those sites have outdated information and require a fee to join.  One site that will usually NOT have out of date listings and is FREE to use is HUD... short... 09/20/2009

First Time Homebuyers in Forsyth County, NC $8000 Tax Credit Deadline Approached! Whatever monitoring device you use, such as Microsoft's Outlook Calendar, Facebook's CountDown Feature, or just a plain old "Wall Calendar",                                        NOW is the time for First Time Homebuyers to mark the ending date of NOVEMBER 30th.   There are efforts being made by The National Realtor's Association to impress upon our government to extend that cut-off date, but if it is not extended, First Time Homebuyers are encouraged to locate the home they wish to purchase and "get under contract" with the seller prior to October 15th.  By heading towards October 15th, the first time homebuyer will be in position to have the sale closed by the November 30th DEADLINE! To qualify for this... 09/08/2009

Home Sales are stabilizing in Winston Salem, NC!  I was out walking my dog, “Winston”, a two year old male Schnauzer, the other day and struck up a conversation with another fellow from the adjoining neighborhood. He asked me what I did for a living and I told him I was a REALTOR®.  I naturally referred him to my "easy to remember" web site:  www.callDOUGnow.com Then he made the comment, “I read in the Winston paper that  home sales are stabilizing in Winston Salem.” “Hold On,” I replied! “A statement like that about Winston Salem (and Forsyth County as a whole) is a little misleading.”   “How so,” he asked.  So I proceeded to share my thoughts on the real estate market …you know... like most of us in our industry can tend to do from time-to-time!   Generally speaking though, North Caro... 09/05/2009

The following numbers are the New Listings/Current Actives for July 2009 Source - Triad MLS County New Listings Current Actives Guilford 768 4195 Forsyth 619 3383 Davidson 207 1235 Randolph 130 728 Davie 27 431 Stokes 58 289 Surry 53 455 Yadkin 26 148 Alamance 58 335 Rockingham 76 521 The following numbers are the sold homes in each county for July - 2008 vs 2009 Source - Triad MLS County SOLDS July 2008 SOLDS July 2009 Guilford 519 383 Forsyth 417 257 Davidson 127 82 Randolph 66 62 Davie 41 16 Stokes 30 13 Surry 42 22 Yadkin 6 5 Alamance 40 27 Rockingham 45 34 08/27/2009

The following numbers are the New Listings/Current Actives for June 2009 Source - Triad MLS County New Listings Current Actives Guilford 746 4203 Forsyth 536 3365 Davidson 196 1205 Randolph 151 689 Davie 59 442 Stokes 41 284 Surry 62 436 Yadkin 56 135 Alamance 72 353 Rockingham 72 530 The following numbers are the sold homes in each county for June - 2008 vs 2009 Source - Triad MLS County SOLDS June 2008 SOLDS June 2009 Guilford 619 412 Forsyth 467 310 Davidson 141 88 Randolph 91 49 Davie 48 30 Stokes 33 35 Surry 37 23 Yadkin 11 13 Alamance 54 19 Rockingham 53 55 07/05/2009

The following numbers are the New Listings/Current Actives for March 2009 Source - Triad MLS County New Listings Current Actives Guilford 785 4254 Forsyth 680 3414 Davidson 185 1217 Randolph 108 686 Davie 59 429 Stokes 46 282 Surry 65 395 Yadkin 20 102 Alamance 58 315 Rockingham 76 564 The following numbers are the sold homes in each county for March - 2008 vs 2009 Source - Triad MLS County SOLDS Mar 2008 SOLDS Mar 2009 Guilford 470 292 Forsyth 352 225 Davidson 110 62 Randolph 90 60 Davie 28 16 Stokes 24 13 Surry 30 21 Yadkin 12 7 Alamance 41 22 Rockingham 44 30 04/15/2009

Enjoy nature, get some exercise, visit these mountain state parks in the Piedmont Triad, lots of hiking and gorgeous views, just north of Winston Salem.Hanging Rock - Less than an hour from Greensboro and Winston-Salem, Hanging Rock is the triad's best nearby hiking getaway. Within its 6000 acres are more than 18 miles of maintained hiking trails that lead to vistas, waterfalls, caves and ridges.Pilot Mountain - Pilot Mountain is capped by two prominent pinnacles. Big Pinnacle, with walls of bare rock and a rounded top covered by vegetation, rises 1,400 feet above the valley floor, the knob jutting skyward more than 200 feet from its base. Big Pinnacle is connected to Little Pinnacle by a narrow saddle. Visitors have easy access to the top of Little Pinnacle where the view encompasses h... 04/05/2009

A long night of basketball ended with favorite Wake Forest getting manhandled by Cleveland State 84-69 in the first round of the NCAA tournament.  Cleveland State started strong taking a 9-0 lead it never lost.  Wake Forest hung around as good teams do, but the senior laden team of Cleveland State wouldn't let them back in.  Wake Forest has no seniors in it's starting lineup. A disappointing finish to what many consider the start of a new era at Wake Forest.  Sometimes you just don't have it.  Congratulations to Cleveland State and good luck going forward.   It is football season yet?   With 15+ years in the business, licensed with the North Carolina Real Estate Commission and the North Carolina General Contracting Board.  Certified Mortgage Consultant, E-Pro.  We provide the most compr... 03/20/2009

  We all seem to want to think that we have it tough in this world, jobs going away, money problems, it never seems to end.  But think about the ones before us.  My mom is 80 years old.  She worked in a factory for just a few dollars an hour and raised four kids.  She has lived through world wars, famine, hard times and more.   She also found the time to make sure my family had a meal to come home to each day.  She pushed us in school, all of us graduated with two of us with college degrees.  There wasn't 401-k money or large bonuses but we made it through.  She found the time and money to make sure I had sneakers and a glove to play sports with.  Many times my friends fogged up the car with our sweat after practice.  But she never said a word.  Just continued to push and clean my dirt... 03/03/2009

We all love to hear about free money.  But the truth of the matter is nothing is free!  That holds especially true when it comes to the current stimulus language being floated on Capitol Hill.  With rates floating in the 5-6% range, one wonders what impact subsidizing a further drop in rates will have?  Most people looking to buy right now are not on the fence because of payments.  They are on the fence because they are uncertain of the market as a whole and whether or not now is the time to buy. They are concerned about their job security and whether they will be able to make payments on an ongoing basis. If the difference of 30-50 dollars a month is a decision maker, then you should really reconsider whether buying a home is for you.  These types of decisons are part of the reason the... 02/10/2009

The following numbers are the Pendings/New Listings/Current Actives for January 2009 Source - Triad MLS County Pendings New Listings Current Actives Guilford 293 778 4146 Forsyth 208 555 3122 Davidson 62 171 1174 Randolph 47 131 669 Davie 14 61 396 Stokes 14 37 280 Surry 17 60 366 Yadkin 5 18 112 Alamance 38 55 312 Rockingham 26 83 517 The following numbers are the sold homes in each county for January - 2008 vs 2009 Source - Triad MLS County SOLDS Jan 2008 SOLDS Jan 2009 Guilford 359 174 Forsyth 260 145 Davidson 66 51 Randolph 51 40 Davie 26 14 Stokes 17 9 Surry 32 10 Yadkin 6 6 Alamance 15 13 Rockingham 40 27 02/03/2009

These days not paying your taxes gets you a cabinet level postion.  Only two weeks into the Obama adminstration we already have numerous scandals.   Our new Treasury Secretary didn't pay taxes on income for working at the World Bank.  His excuse, didn't know he owed it!  This man now oversees the IRS.   Want to earn millions by being an unregistered lobbyist (something that should be looked into) for the health care industry?  Go ahead and when the time is right, you get nominated to be the head of Health and Human Services! I thought that change was coming.  I guess it is Bush's fault. 02/02/2009

Happy New Year!  I decided to start my new year off with a bang and really challenge myself.  The challenge is to see if I can stay out of craft stores for 60 days.  I am addicted to craft, thus I spend a lot of time and money in craft stores, much to my husband's dismay.  So, I began looking around my workshop, which my husband affectionately calls "AC Moore".  I have so many supplies and a number of unfinished projects.  I decided that in honor of trying to incorporate as much eco-friendly decorating into my design as I can, that I would challenge myself to stay out of the craft store for at least 60 days.  You may not think that is a long time, but it is an eternity for me.  I challenge myself to use what I have to create for the next 60 days.  That means no more glue, paper, supplie... 01/01/2009

I have been listening to the talking heads on TV recently talk about the economic crisis and many of them are proposing the need for the government to embark on a huge spending program somewhat like the new deal of yesteryear.  The spending would be for many things and in essence would provide jobs and jumpstart the economy. But part of my confusion is that the average American family did exactly that, spending its way into debt.  Of course, the result is the problem we are now facing. The citizens of America have seen a reduction in real ages over the past 20 years and have had to us credit and debt to keep up with the modern lifestyle.  Millions have used real estate as a means to create wealth just like the millions who invested in the dot.com bubble.   And the result was the same. S... 12/28/2008

The housing market in America has fallen to such a point were in many areas, the number of foreclosures on the market, literally make up the local market.  These foreclosures have destroyed the values in the areas affected and have caused millions of Americans to live in homes that have lost tremendous value and may even be underwater as to the mortgage. The simplest way to stop the carnage would be for all lien holders to reduce the principal and interest rates on all distressed properties.  This would allow homeowners the option of staying in homes that are underwater and would help stop new foreclosures. But banks have been reluctant to handle their problems this way.   They would rather foreclose, then sell the property at a reduced price, take the loss and move on.  Regardless of t... 12/28/2008

The buzz on the financial and news channels is the 50 billion dollar Ponzi scheme that has caught up many rich people, charities, and endowments.  The government agencies that are tasked to keep these things from happening have vowed to investigate.   But what if the ones investigating are part of a Ponzi scheme themselves? The government is always looking for new investors (taxpayers) to help provide the capitol required to pay the returns demanded by the earlier investors.  The new investors are promised all sorts of returns from social security payments, healthcare, etc.  As the pay outs continue, it gets harder to meet them unless the number of new investors increases, hence our governments lack of desire to halt illegal immigration.  And if the number of new investors can't contrib... 12/28/2008

As we see more banks fail, the concern by the media and talking heads is misguided in that they focus on the deposits of the citizens in the failed banks.  Of course the deposits are protected by the FDIC and most Americans do not have more than $250,000 in liquid deposits.   The long term concern should be the lack of  competition for financial products and the costs to Americans for those products going forward.   With less competition prices will go up for us further padding the banks profits.  Also the relationships between the remaining banks and financial services companies will cause pain to consumers.  The Federal Reserve will ultimately be controlled by just a few mega size members and this will also cause problems for Americans in the future. 12/28/2008

All last week the buzz was about the auto makers and their proposed bailout.  in the end, the Senate refused to give them money based on an incomplete business plan.  Most Americans are against the bailout thinking that the unions are making too much money and costing the companies their ability to survive.  The big argument is that thousands in not millions of jobs would be lost.  But any plan that makes sense for the companies surviving involves cut backs in production so the jobs would be lost anyway.  The real losses will come from suppliers, they have no voice and the union does.  So, in the end the entire bailout is about union jobs.  But why is the job in Detroit more important than the suppliers job in another state.  Or how about the dealerships across the country?  We cannot a... 12/14/2008

I bet there are millions of people that are currently wondering what the heck is going on.  I mean, just a few months ago, things weren't all that bad, most had good years before last year and now, feel like they got slapped in the face.  If this is you, let me pose this question.  How are you supposed to act when the system is rigged against you?    You work hard and expect fair play from your government and others.  But what should you do when you have no voice in things?  Your government wastes money on special interests, your rights are reduced and in the end you are afraid of your government?     This post is about taking back your rights.  Should a bank be able to charge you upwards to 30 percent interest on your credit cards but get reduced interest from your government?  Should ... 12/05/2008

The real estate industry has seen a tremendous change in the last few years, and it seems that many real estate professionals still are focused on the "market."  But what other things have happened to dramatically alter the way we do business.  If we look back at history, we could clearly see that going forward the industry is going to have to change to meet the demands of the consumer.  I would like to point out items that now are coming back to haunt the profession.  First off, the basic framework of buyer representation that was enacted a few years ago has allowed for more control of the marketplace dollars by fewer people.  Instead of truly being the advocate of the buyers of today, we have created a unique system in which the buyers agent is paid by the seller.  In many places, new... 12/03/2008