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

Coldwell Banker On Location, Coldwell Banker’s YouTube channel focused on listing, community and agent profile videos, continues to redefine the use of video in real estate. Just 11 months after launching in May 2009, Coldwell Banker On Location has drawn 1 million channel views.

Since Coldwell Banker Real Estate launched their brand channel on YouTube to debut Coldwell Banker On Location, the site has more videos on its YouTube site than any other real estate brand.

“We believe that video plays a major role in the home buying and selling process,” said Michael Fischer, senior vice president, Marketing, for Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. “There is no other medium that can showcase the personality of a home and agent more effectively than video. And our agents, from all corners of the world, have responded by posting more than 11,000 videos to date. Clearly, Coldwell Banker On Location has set a high bar for video use in our industry, but more importantly home sellers are starting to expect video as a part of the marketing portfolio of a home.”

Recognizing the power of video, Coldwell Banker Real Estate recently unveiled a new commercial featuring Coldwell Banker On Location.

“Consumers searching for homes have so much information available to them,” said Fischer. “But data and photos can only do so much. We have clearly come a long way from when a picture was worth a thousand words and the only visual a potential homeowner could utilize. Video is now a mainstay in real estate and consumers are proving this to be true.”

Click on the video titles listed below to see some of the Coldwell Banker On Location videos produced by Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty:

• Buying Foreclosures and Bank-Owned Properties
• Carolina Beach, NC - Tips from the Locals
• Ginger Harper on Southport, NC
• Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty Moves Jacksonville, NC
• Michelle Gurrera on Wilmington, NC
• Pat Maloney Says “Test Drive” Your New Home
• Sharon Zak on Boiling Spring Lakes, NC
• Ken Keegan on St. James, NC
• Sean Skutnik Explains Why You’ll Love Leland, NC

Readers of Wilmington’s Encore magazine have voted Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty as Wilmington’s Best Real Estate Company in their “Best of Wilmington 2010″!

Thanks go out to everyone that voted for for us.  Though this isn’t our first “Best of Wilmington” award, we’re still thrilled by this honor.  Our more than 300 agents and staff take great pride in the fact that every year for the last decade, we’ve sold more homes in southeastern North Carolina than any other real estate company.

Check out the nice things Encore had to say about us:

BEST REAL ESTATE AGENCY

The local and national housing markets may have taken a hit due to the recession as of late, but Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty is soaring high above the rest with their win for Best Real Estate Agency. Serving the cities of Wilmington and Jacksonville; the coastal communities of Carolina Beach, Topsail Beach, Surf City, Wrightsville Beach, Figure Eight Island, North Topsail Beach, Kure Beach, Bald Head Island, Oak Island, Ocean Isle Beach and Holden Beach; and coastal communities, including Porters Neck, Southport, Sneads Ferry, Leland, Scotts Hill, Hampstead, Holly Ridge, Camp Lejeune, New River, Bolivia, Shallotte, Boiling Spring Lakes and St. James, Sea Coast is without a doubt a leader in its industry. In fact, it is the number-one real estate company in southeastern North Carolina, selling more properties than any area firm for the past eight years.

With 300-plus agents and seven convenient locations (two in Wilmington, on Military Cutoff Road and at Porters Neck) Sea Coast is more than equipped to satisfy anything their customers desire. They can handle relocation needs, from start to finish, and even offer a 100-percent Satisfaction Guarantee. In an ever-changing real-estate climate, Sea Coast has remained true to its roots and continues to offer first-class service with a reputation clients have learned they can trust. Their easy-to-navigate Web site, www.seacoastrealty.com, only adds to what Wilmington recognizes as dependable, up-to-date and quality service.

If you are thinking about buying or selling a home in New Hanover, Brunswick, Pender, or Onslow County, North Carolina, shouldn’t you have the “Best of Wilmington” working for you?  Visit us online at www.seacoastrealty.com or call us at 1-800-522-9624.

Normally, the winter months are a pretty slow time in the real estate business.  While the weather has been cold outside this year, the real estate market has been getting hotter and hotter. 

In January 2009, homebuyers toured Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty listings 2,757 times!  That’s a whopping 72% increase from the previous month.  The number of showings is expected to grow even more over the next few months.

Our real estate professionals say that there are lots of homebuyers hunting for homes earlier than usual this year, so that they can take advantage of the homebuyer tax credit before the April 30, 2010 deadline.  First-time homebuyers are eligible for an $8,000 tax credit.  Homeowners that have been in their current home for the last 5 years are also eligible for a $6,500 tax credit.  In addition, real estate agents say that there are lots of investors and folks looking for second homes out looking for great properties at a bargain price.

If you are considering selling your home, it’s smart to contact a Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty agent today.  Our real estate professionals in New Hanover, Brunswick, Pender, and Onslow counties will expertly market your home, so that it will get the attention it deserves and sell for the most money.

Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty has been southeastern North Carolina’s top home seller for the last 10 years!  Find out more at www.seacoastrealty.com.

Sixteen associates and staff from Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty’s Leland, N.C. office recently took time out from selling homes to build one. The real estate professionals joined other volunteers in painting a home for Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity Saturday, January 23, 2010.

Howard Bailey, Julie Bass, Scott Bowser, Bruce Brown, Linda Cline, Peter David, Kari Essig, Brenda Freckleton, Doug Jackson, Linda Killian, Denise Kinney, Peggy McKay, Leslie Morgan, Karen Schwartz, Regina White, and Ophard Willis spent the day painting the primer coat on a new Habitat home in Navassa. They were joined by the homeowner, her family, Lam Nguyen from Alpha Mortgage, their friends and families, and other Habitat for Humanity volunteers.

“Throughout the day, we shared laughs and splattered paint marks on our faces,” said Denise Kinney, managing broker of Sea Coast Realty’s Leland office. “Volunteering for Habitat for Humanity was an amazing experience. I was so proud to see the Leland office supporting our community by lending a helping hand. We have a great team.” Since 1997, Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty has been involved in the construction of several homes for Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity.

Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty associates, staff, and their families pitched in to help volunteers build a Navassa home for Habitat for Humanity January 23, 2010.

“Raising walls, Raising spirits” for Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity are (left to right): FRONT: Julie Bass, Linda Cline, homeowner Carrie, & volunteer Lindsay Bass. BACK: volunteer Stephanie, Peter David, Lam Nguyen of Alpha Mortgage, Peggy McKay, Leslie Morgan, Howard Bailey, volunteer Corey, Bruce Brown, Doug Jackson, volunteer coordinator Julie Hale. Not pictured are: Scott Bowser, Kari Essig, Brenda Freckleton, Linda Killian, Denise Kinney, volunteer Trace McKay, Karen Schwartz, Regina White, volunteer Eddy Wilkinson, and Ophard Willis.

Over the last 40 years, Bruce Brown has been a teacher, counselor, freelance writer, real estate professional, business coach and small business owner. 

At Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty’s Leland, NC office, Brown puts his talents and experience to work helping home buyers and sellers.  He is also vice-president of the North Brunswick Chamber of Commerce and frequently attends networking events to promote and support other local businesses.  His enthusiasm and willingness to share his wisdom energize the business community and Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty.

Brown is also the owner of his own business coaching company.  He shares his passion in “31 Days to Networking Event Mastery,” a book he’s written with a month’s worth of daily tips for making the most of networking events.  He will share networking tips and plan for business success Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010 at the Brunswick County Association of Realtors, located at 101 Stone Chimney Place in Supply, NC. 

Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty agents were on hand at this weekend’s first annual Cape Fear Italian Festival in Leland.  The festival organized by the Italian Heritage Society of Wilmington featured live entertainment, games, wine tastings, cooking demonstrations, booths, and lots of terrific food.

Agents Tom Schoaf and Don Scrime manned a booth for Harbor Bay, a new home community in Holden Beach, NC.  Agents Karen Stant and Ashley Pagliughi joined Mark Whitmarsh at a booth representing the Brunswick County new home communities of Lennon Hills and Lanvale Forest.

Brunswick County in North Carolina is home to many beautiful coastal cities like Southport and Leland. Leland is a very interesting town with a very interesting history. Early plantations around the Cape Fear and Brunswick rivers brought settlement in the Leland area. Due to the proximity to the river, it served as a transportation center in the early times. In modern times, the access to river has given Leland real estate a lot of homes with beautiful views. Oak Island real estate, a town nearby that includes Caswell Beach, also offers plenty of coastal properties at bargain prices.