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Do Not Sign an Exclusive Buyer Agency Agreement
There is no Law that says you have to sign an Exclusive Buyer Agency Agreement before an agent can help you with real estate. A Non-Exclusive Agency Agreement works and does not force unwarranted obligations on you.
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On this site you can search all of the real estate for sale in the Outer Banks towns and villages from Corolla and Duck to Southern Shores and Kitty Hawk including Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills plus Colington, the town of Manteo and all the villages on Hatteras Island. If it is for sale, you can find it here.
Whether you are looking for a beach house, a rental house or a home to live in, it's all here plus the information needed to make an educated decision, including articles for sellers and buyers with ideas to help you achieve your goal.
Has the Real Estate Market Reached the Bottom?
Probably not, but it is getting real close. The only way to really know for sure if the real estate market has bottomed out is through hind sight. When we see prices starting to go back up we will know for sure where the bottom was. Those who wait too long will find themselves on the other side of the curve facing rising prices and rising interest rates.
New 2013 County Tax Assessments Are Out
What does this mean? Not much really, but it might be a shock to some buyers when they find out the tax assessment on the house they want to buy is lower than the fair market value is. The Counties only assesses the tax values every 8 years and the last time was at the height of the real estate boom. So, for the past 8 years the tax assessments were higher than properties were selling for, which gave buyers a sense of increased value. Now that the tax assessments have been readjusted, it doesn't look like properties are such a great deal. But, the tax assessment does not have any bearing on the value of a property. The tax assessment only influences how much property tax is levied against a property. A low tax assessment can be a good thing.
THE BANKS ARE NOT CLOSED
THE BANKS ARE MAKING LOANS. The banks are making loans the way they used to and the way they should be making loans. If you have a down payment, good credit and can afford the payments then you can buy whatever you want at incredibly low interest rates. Just make sure the property will appraise because there are a lot of overpriced houses out there that will not appraise.
Sold Statistics
TOTAL SOLD RESIDENTIAL UNITS
Outer Banks NC Association of REALTORS MLS
- 2012 Median Price $312,750 - Total Units Sold 1,324
- 2011 Median Price $280,000 - Total Units Sold 1,181
- 2010 Median Price $310,000 - Total Units Sold 1,299
- 2009 Median Price $295,000 - Total Units Sold 1,120
- 2008 Median Price $335,000 - Total Units Sold 1,043
- 2007 Median Price $365,000 - Total Units Sold 1,226
- 2006 Median Price $395,000 - Total Units Sold 1,235
- 2005 Median Price $427,000 - Total Units Sold 2,082
- 2004 Median Price $386,000 - Total Units Sold 2,348
- 2003 Median Price $325,000 - Total Units Sold 1,952
- 2002 Median Price $290,000 - Total Units Sold 1,971
- 2001 Median Price $205,000 - Total Units Sold 1,648
- 2000 Median Price $185,000 - Total Units Sold 1,498
The number of sales is up even with the downtime caused by hurricane Sandy and the national elections.
In addition to the 1,324 residential properties sold there were 389 lots sold in 2012.
When you factor in the 231 residential properties which are currently (1-6-13) under contract with buyers in the process of closing and the 85 lots under contract it looks like the sales activity is back to where the market was just prior to the real estate boom. Plus, the median price is where it was during the early part of the boom.
These numbers reflect the residential sales in Dare and Currituck Counties only and not the inland counties serviced by the Outer Banks Association of Realtors.
Drive By List of Properties For Sale
The reason that there is so much inventory available on the OBX is because there were a lot of sellers who were waiting for the prices to reach the peak before selling. Once the real estate prices reached the peak in 2005 all of these sellers decided they were ready to sell and have flooded the market. A lot of the inventory on the market right now is for sale by sellers who don't need to sell and refuse to adjust their price for today's real estate market. In reality they are not for sale.
With enough sellers wanting to sell it means shopping for real estate is a lot easier now than it was in 2005. There are more houses for buyers to choose from which means sellers will have to fix things that they wouldn't fix 2 years ago and buyers can shop for the perfect home without the fear of losing it to someone else. The sellers have to compete for the limited number of buyers.
The difficult part of a real estate transaction now is getting the financing. There is still plenty of money being lent to people with good credit but everything has to be just right. Appraisals are getting harder and lender requirements are getting stricter all of the time, the way it should have been all along. For those with the ability to make it happen, now is a good time to start investigating a real estate purchase.
Let us set you up with a map and a list of properties that are for sale and then you can leisurely drive around and see if there is anything that might interest you. It is also a good way to learn the different neighborhoods. After all, the Outer Banks does cover an 80 mile skinny stretch of northeastern NC.
Plan Your Trip to Meet Your Needs
Now that the summer tourist season is here it has become harder to look at homes for sale. Vacation beach houses are likely to have renters in them so the only time they are available to see is between 10am and 2pm on checkout day. more
Traditionally, spring is the busiest time of the year for real estate sales on the Outer Banks. Spring is also the time to get your foot in the door and have all of the prepaid rental reservation money refunded to you at closing. more
In the fall the sellers have collected all of the summer's rental income. There will be no more rental income until next year and no help paying the bills over the winter. This is when a seller is in their best position to make a deal. more
Shopping for real estate is fairly easy in the winter. The hotels and motels are all empty all over the OBX so you can come and go as you please. All of the rental houses are vacant so you can look at them without having to worry about vacationers not letting us in. more
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Real Estate Stuff
Errors and Omissions Insurance
We have it, does your agent? It is hard to believe some realty companies do not carry Errors & Omissions Insurance. Don't purchase your home or land from an agent who does not have it. This is just one more reason why our clients keep coming back.
1031 REALTY EXCHANGE
Avoid the capital gains tax and the 25% depreciation recapture tax by utilizing the IRS code 1031 Tax Deferred (Starker) Exchange. Swap investment land, condos or homes for any kind of investment property within 6 months. Call Greg for details.
Contrary to what many people think, it DOES NOT COST ANYTHING to have an agent work for you in North Carolina. We get paid by commission from the sale. All of the sellers in the Outer Banks Association of REALTORS MLS have agreed to pay that commission to us, regardless of what company has the property for sale. This is what you can expect:
- We will not make you sign any commitment, long term or short.
- NC Buyer Agency DOES NOT require a contract.
- If you find yourself only looking at houses with your agent’s company’s signs, be careful. Chances are that agent is not working for you.
- We will show you only properties that fit your requirements. There are over 4000 different pieces of real estate for sale on the Outer Banks right now. One of them is just right for you.
- We will use our MLS computer capabilities to search for all of the properties that fit your needs.
- We will provide you with information about the SOLD houses that are comparable to what you are considering. How else can you decide how much to offer?
- We will negotiate on your behalf to get the best possible price.
Questions about selling? Don't listen to the doom and gloom stories that are going around. Once you understand how the absorption rate affects sales and see what advertising we provide and where we will put your property on the internet, you will see that now is still a good time for sellers even if you are selling out of state.
Just curious? Sign up to find out Your Home's Value, complimentary of course.
Helping you buy or sell real estate on the Outer Banks (OBX) of NC.
