On June 29, 2010, Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty will launch a new version of its website, SeaCoastRealty.com.  The new and improved site with offer consumers a fresh look, customization options, live chat assistance, and powerful new features unmatched by other area real estate companies.

“We spent months designing the all new SeaCoastRealty.com and tailoring it to what consumers told us they wanted, like Google Maps with street views for every property,” said Tim Allen, Sea Coast Realty’s Director of Information Technology.

The new SeaCoastRealty.com offers a “My Property Retriever” feature that allows consumers to create a login and save their favorite properties and searches for later.  The feature is headlined by Sea Coast Realty’s mascot, a yellow Labrador retriever named Barkley, but users can customize their accounts by uploading their own images.  Consumers can even opt to receive email information about new listings, upcoming open houses, and price changes.  “My Property Retriever” is integrated with Sea Coast Realty’s mobile website, Mobile.SeaCoastRealty.com, so that consumers that save properties on their mobile phones can look at the same properties when they log in to their “My Property Retriever” accounts online. 

By creating a “My Property Retriever” account, consumers also gain access to a wealth of information for each property, including recently sold properties nearby, detailed information about nearby schools, community statistics, and maps with points of interest, like nearby restaurants and businesses.  Even without a “My Property Retriever” account, users have access to a professionally-narrated slideshow, price and property details, maps, and agent contact information for each property.  Users can even live chat with a team member at Sea Coast Realty.

For more than a decade, Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty has been southeastern North Carolina’s largest and best-selling real estate company.  It operates nine offices with more than 325 sales associates and staff in New Hanover, Brunswick, Pender, & Onslow counties.  For more information, please visit www.SeaCoastRealty.com.

Many hardworking North Carolina families don’t earn enough to afford an average-priced home in their community.  Real estate professionals with Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty recently earned the North Carolina Workforce Housing Specialist certification and learned about programs that can help teachers, firefighters, nurses, and other service workers in our community achieve the dream of home ownership. 

Brett Adams, Cathi Anderson, Carolyn Dunwell, Paul Dunwell, Tom Gale, and Amy Whetsel from Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty’s Wilmington office earned the certification.  Homes4NC, a housing foundation created by the North Carolina Association of REALTORS®, offers the certification to REALTORS® who take extra steps to learn about the federal, state and local housing programs specifically designed to help buyers that earn less than the area median income.  They also work within the community to increase housing affordability for all citizens.   

“My wife is a teacher, so I hear from her colleagues all the time about how hard it is to find affordable housing,” said Tom Gale.  “With the training we received, I know about more lending programs that can help them.”

According to Homes4NC, wages in North Carolina are not expected to keep pace with the cost of housing.  Half of the state’s future jobs are expected to pay 60% of the state’s current average earnings.

To earn the certification, REALTORS® must complete sixteen hours of educational courses that focus on national, state, and local affordable housing resources. For more information about the North Carolina Workforce Housing Specialist certification, visit www.Homes4NC.org.

Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Barbara Birkenheuer and Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty President Tim Milam

Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty is pleased to announce that it will begin work this fall on a Habitat for Humanity home.  Sea Coast Realty president Tim Milam pledged his company’s sponsorship at Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity’s 9th Annual Golden Hammer Pledge Breakfast held May 25, 2010.

The breakfast marked Executive Director Barbara Birkenheuer’s retirement from Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity after ten years of service.  In honor of her leadership, Milam announced that the Habitat home Sea Coast Realty builds will be dedicated as the “Barbara Birkenheuer House.” 

By sponsoring a Habitat for Humanity home, Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty will provide $60,000 in financial support and volunteer labor each week of the home build.  Sea Coast Realty has sponsored three other Habitat homes since it began its involvement with Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity in 1997.  Sales associates and staff from Sea Coast Realty’s Leland office also helped with construction of a Habitat home in Navassa in January 2010.  Next month, Russ May, a sales associate from Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty’s Wilmington, N.C. office, will become president of the Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity Board of Directors.

“While sponsoring three homes in the Wilmington area, we have learned how valuable homeownership is to those who thought they would never own a home,” said Milam.  “I cannot think of a more worthy housing organization.”

Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity is one of 76 Habitat for Humanity affiliates in North Carolina and is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization.  For more information about Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity, please visit capefearhabitat.org

Grand Opening! Thursday, June 3, 2010

Join Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty this Thursday, June 3, 2010, 5-7pm, for a FREE, fun-filled, family-style event to celebrate the grand opening of our newest office in Hampstead, NC. 

The fun will include:
* Burgers and ‘dawgs from the Sawmill Grill
* Inflatable bounce house & slide
* Prizes
* Games
* Hula hoops

Sponsored by Alpha Mortgage.

John O’Connor says he joined Sea Coast Realty’s Southport, NC office because of the training, technology, and strong Coldwell Banker brand. However, he says that it’s the people and the positive environment there that have really been key to his success. “It really does come back to having an environment where everybody is supporting you to get to the goals that you’re trying to achieve,” says O’Connor.

For more information, please visit www.seacoastrealty.com or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/seacoastrealty.

VA Appraisal

Everyone wants to get good value for their money when they make any type of a purchase, especially if the purchase is several thousand dollars!  To ensure that a veteran is not paying more for a house than what it is worth, the VA requires a VA Appraisal.

The VA will not guarantee a home loan unless the property is appraised (for value) by a VA-assigned fee appraiser.  The required VA Appraisal can be requested by the buyer, seller, real estate agent, or lender (normally, the lender is the requester) by completing and submitting a VA Form 26-1805, Request for Determination of Reasonable Value.  Upon completion of the appraisal, the requester pays for the appraisal according to a fee schedule approved by the VA.  This VA Appraisal estimates the value of the property. 

The VA Appraisal is not an inspection and does not guarantee that the house is free from any defects.  A home inspection can be completed by a qualified home inspector to determine what, if any, problems or defects exist.  The VA only guarantees the loan, not the condition of the property.

Closing Costs

When purchasing a home, closing costs must be paid in cash for such items as the title search, recording fees, hazard insurance premiums, and prepaid taxes.

If I want to refinance, do I still have to pay these costs in cash?
Normally when refinancing a VA loan, closing costs may be, but are not required to be, included in the loan amount, as long as the total amount of the loan does not exceed the value of the property.  A loan with the purpose of reducing the interest rate on a loan may include closing costs and include a maximum of two discount points.

Points, sometimes called “discount points”, are a form of pre-paid interest.  One point equals one percent of the loan amount.  Borrowers can offer to pay points as a method to reduce the interest rate on the loan, thus obtaining a lower monthly payment.  For each point purchased, the loan rate is typically reduced by 1/8%.

Law requires that a VA funding fee also be associated with a VA guaranteed loan.  The fee is intended to enable the veteran who obtains a VA home loan to contribute toward the cost of this benefit, and thereby reduce the cost to taxpayers.

Required Occupancy

One requirement for eligibility for a VA home loan is required occupancy.  That means that the veteran (or the spouse of an active duty service member) applying for the loan must certify that he or she intends to occupy the home as a primary residence.  However, when refinancing a VA guaranteed loan to reduce the interest rate, only prior occupancy must be certified.

H.C. “Hutch” Hutchison, Ed.D., retired from the U.S. Army in 1991, after more than twenty-two years of active duty.  Since then, the former helicopter test pilot and aviation maintenance officer has earned his third post-graduate degree and taught under-graduate and graduate courses.  In addition to practicing real estate with Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty, Hutchison is active in national, state, and local leadership organizations and local chapters of the Vietnam Veterans of America, Veterans of Modern Warfare, Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and United States Army Warrant Officer Association.

ColdwellBanker.com will debut a new look in June, including a video featuring Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty sales associate and vlogger extraordinaire Jessica Riffle Edwards.  Check out the video below for a sneak peek.

The clips of Jessica shown in the video are part of a longer video that she produced for Coldwell Banker’s You Tube channel.  In the video, she talks about why she came to Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty and how the brand power of Coldwell Banker helps her business.

The VA Loan Entitlement is the basic amount for which the Veteran’s Administration will insure or guarantee a loan.  The loan entitlement is based on an applicant’s income.

The VA Guaranty Amount varies with the size of the loan and the property location with the VA guaranteeing 25 percent of the principal amount, up to the maximum guaranty.  For the United States (excluding Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands) the guaranty amount is the greater of 25% of $417,000 or 125% of the area median price of a single family residence.  It’s a good idea to check with a lender for current figures.  However, the guaranty amount cannot exceed 175% of the Freddie Mac limit for a loan on a single-family residence in the county where the property is located.  In 2009 the maximum loan amount was $1,094,625.

The initial step in purchasing a home using a VA loan entitlement is to obtain a Certificate of Eligibility (COE), a VA-provided document that certifies your eligibility for a VA home loan guaranty.  There are two ways to obtain a Certificate of Eligibility: online or by mail.

Online:
You can obtain a COE online by first registering at the Veterans Information Portal.  There are instructions for applying for your COE online, but the process can be daunting if you aren’t familiar with all the jargon.  However, try WebLGY first because approximately 56% of attempts result in an immediate COE.  If you find the Internet a little overwhelming, then I recommend working with a lender that has access to the VA’s WebLGY system.  A lender can help walk you through the process and may be able to issue your COE in minutes.  A quick call to a lender can tell you if that lender has access to “WebLGY.” 

As you shop for a loan, don’t limit yourself to just one lender.  Visit three or more and let each lender know you are “shopping,” because competition can result in offers of more competitive loan packages. 

By Mail:
Sometimes the VA does not have sufficient data in its online records.  In that case, you must apply for the COE by mail.  A veteran can obtain a COE by completing VA Form 26-1880, Request for a Certificate of Eligibility, and mailing the form to: VA Eligibility Center, P.O. Box 20729, Winston-Salem, NC 27120.  Just remember, you are dealing with the VA.  It may take time for the VA representative to receive, process and then approve (or reject) your request and then return the COE to you.

Once you receive your COE, you have completed Step 1 of the 7-step process to purchasing a home.  Step 2 is finding a home you wish to purchase.  We will look at that step in the next blog entry.

H.C. “Hutch” Hutchison, Ed.D., retired from the U.S. Army in 1991, after more than twenty-two years of active duty.  Since then, the former helicopter test pilot and aviation maintenance officer has earned his third post-graduate degree and taught under-graduate and graduate courses.  In addition to practicing real estate with Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty, Hutchison is active in national, state, and local leadership organizations and local chapters of the Vietnam Veterans of America, Veterans of Modern Warfare, Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and United States Army Warrant Officer Association.

REAL Trends 500

Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty is among the country’s largest and most successful residential real estate companies named in the recently released 2010 REAL Trends 500 report.  The list is released annually by REAL Trends, Inc., the residential real estate industry’s leading source of analysis and information.

The REAL Trends 500 report ranks the country’s top residential real estate companies by closed transactions and by sales volume.  In 2009, Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty closed 2,799 sales, ranking #151 in the list of “The 500 Largest Brokers in the U.S.” ranked by closed transactions.  Sea Coast Realty closed $579,520,735 in sales volume in 2009, ranking #162 in the list of “The 500 Largest Brokers in the U.S.” ranked by sales volume.

Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty ranked #23 out of more than 1,074 Coldwell Banker affiliated companies in the U.S.  Coldwell Banker was ranked as the country’s #1 real estate franchise again this year, closing more than $128 billion in sales and almost twice as many sales transactions as the next leading real estate franchise. 

Locally, Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty performed similarly well.  In 2009, it closed more than twice as many sales as the next leading company.  Sea Coast Realty has claimed the title as southeastern North Carolina’s top selling real estate company for ten years in a row.