The below image was take from the side of I40, eastbound, somewhere between Wallace and Wilmington. I was so struck by the beauty of these wildflowers- a sea of pink and red on a backdrop of lush farmland -that I just had to pull over and snap a photo. Never mind the semis and cars whizzing by behind me! Got to love North Carolina in the spring!

The Star-News recently reported a story about New Hanover County Commissioners offering Titan Cement–a multi-national cement company based in Athens, Greece–$4.2 million in tax incentives to build a large cement kiln in New Hanover County. Click here to read the article. Commission chairman Bobby Greer called it a “win-win” for citizens, the county, and the company. Here’s what is not being mentioned:

1. Cement kilns are enormous energy hogs, burning vast quantities of coal to fire the kilns to 3500 degrees F and significant quantities of electricity to grind raw materials and rotate the kilns. Many often serve as waste incinerators, adding shredded tires, paper, wood debris, packing material, as well as other combustibles to the fuel, even some materials classified as hazardous wastes, including paints, solvents, used oils, and other chemicals. They are major producers of sulfur dioxide and modest contributors of nitrogen dioxide, two primary components of smog. They also produce large amounts of particulate matter, an air pollutant that can have serious health impacts.

2. Cement kilns need a large local source of raw material, particularly limestone, so they are built near large quarry operations, with their associated dust, noise, off-road diesel exhaust and large truck traffic.

3. Cement kilns are one of the nation’s largest industrial emitters of mercury, a powerful neurotoxin that can cause developmental problems in young children, newborns, and children in the womb. The industry has been reluctant to install mercury controls on its plants, and the current EPA administrator has been reluctant to crack down on their mercury emissions, resulting in numerous lawsuits against EPA.

4. In a study conducted last year by Yale, Johns Hopkins, and Columbia University among others, Wilmington is one of ten mid-sized southeastern cities projected to have worse air quality from climate change induced warming alone–not including the addition of a large cement kiln in New Hanover County that would contribute to smog and particulate matter. That’s bad news for children, particularly those with asthma, the elderly, and anyone else with impaired lung function. This would be important for any community interested in attracting young families or older retirees.

5. Cement kilns are among the primary industrial emitters of carbon dioxide, second only to fossil-fuel burning electrical generation plants, and also significant emitters of methane–both potent greenhouse gases. Coastal North Carolina is among the most vulnerable areas in the United States to sea level rise from climate change. A recent study by researchers from Appalachian State, East Carolina, UNCW and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Change Research estimated that more than $200 million in New Hanover Country property could be lost due to inundation in future decades, in additions to millions in lost revenue from reduced recreation and increased storm damage. The study was based on 2007 IPCC projections of sea level rise of 15 to 24 inches by 2100, but even the IPCC now admits that estimate was far too conservative. Many scientist studying the issue believe sea level will rise at least a meter by then if not more, depending on how successful the world is in reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Whether or not you believe in local communities essentially bribing industry’s with taxpayer funded incentives, I would suggest that before our commissioners take such actions they should follow Hippocrate’s mantra: first do no harm. In this case, we might as well be offering Titan much of our beaches, much of our tourism business, much of our air quality, even the lung capacity of our children and elderly.

If you share my concerns, please write your county commissioners and voice your opinion.

A week ago, fifteen agents from our office traveled to Atlanta Georgia to join over 8,500 Keller Williams agents for our annual meeting, which we call Family Reunion. WOW. What an incredible experience… words really cannot do justice! The event totally renewed my approach to real estate, life, goals, and relationships. But most of all, it confirmed that I am in business with a truly awesome company

Attendees included everyone from new agents to the very best in the industry. The photo to the left was taken prior to a Keynote address delivered by Seth Godwin, author of many books including Purple Cow and Permission Marketing. The people were magnetic, the panels were motivating, and the information provided was both educational and relevant to today’s market. Not to mention the priceless networking opportunities!

On Wednesday morning, we attended an inspiration breakfast, which was kicked off with moving performance by Wintley Phipps, an ordained Seventh-day Adventist minister and world-renowned vocal artist. Please click here to watch a YouTube video of a similar performance. It’s very powerful! I am so proud to be a KW agent!

The following article is courtesy of Gareth McGrath Staff Writer for the Star News.

This story was of particular interest to me as I’ve been in contact with a man from Charlotte who is considering purchasing a unit at the Riggins. However, this story is about a lot more than Riggins woes. It’s about the role the beach plays in our life and how fragile this is. Beaches naturally wash away and change over time. In an area like Wilmington where we’ve built homes and lives around the coast, a change to that coastline means big changes for us.

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I grew up with sidewalks and learned after moving here that I had taken them for granted. For those who don’t know, sidewalks are a novelty in Wilmington. What’s interesting is a lot of the older neighborhoods – the historic district, Princess Place and Carolina place for example, have sidewalks where as most newer neighborhoods don’t.

On the other hand, maybe that’s not so interesting. It seems we live in an age where true quality is rare (think service, clothing, movies) and everything has been rung dry for profit. In the community where I live, there are no sidewalks and the streets are so narrow that the HOA has forbidden cars to park on them overnight. This rule makes sense I suppose, I mean, with streets so narrow that a car can’t fit through if two cars are parked on either side, you’re begging for an accident if you leave your car by the curb after dark. But why should we pay fines for parking on streets that developers intentionally made narrow to save on expenses and increase profit?

That being said, this post isn’t meant to be a rant. I simply wanted to introduce and add to an editorial I read in last night’s paper on the topic of traffic and poorly designed subdivisions. The below snippets comes from Star News September 25th page 8A.

There are plenty of reasons why people speed and few ways to slow them down.

Much of the problem around here stems from the way local government planned – or failed to plan – for today’s traffic.

When residential neighborhoods are built as self-contained little worlds connected to the outside by one or two streets, those streets are going to be busy. When parallel thoroughfares remain unconnected for stretches of a mile or so, the few connector streets are going to be busy…

We can’t make people slow down merely by lowering speed limits…

What we can do is require sane traffic design in new development.

What we can do is require sidewalks along busy streets in new neighborhoods and start laying them along busy streets in existing neighborhoods. It’s dangerous enough for drivers to enter and proceed along such streets. For pedestrians, bike riders, children, and pets, it’s verging on suicidal.

So what’s your opinion?  Did you grow up with sidewalks?  Is it worth paying more for a home to get them?  Please let us know what you think!

I just got a refresher course on mortgage buydowns and am pumped about the idea. For those who aren’t familiar, a buydown is when a seller, lender, builder or buyer pays to decrease the buyer’s initial interest rate. The rate then adjusts up one point each year until it hits its final note rate (which is the rate on the note to the bank). The two most popular types of buydowns are the 3-2-1 and the 2-1. The rate does not adjust any further after the final year (which would be the end of the 3rd year for a 3-2-1 or the end of the 2nd year for 2-1). A buydown can be tacked onto any type of loan- conventional or government.

Here is a real-life example:

Buyer, who we’ll call Jane, goes under contract to purchase a home at a sales price of $146,900. Jane’s note rate is 6.625%, which is the average going rate. Jane’s wonderful Realtor negotiated to have the seller pay her buydown costs. Since we’re in a strong buyers’ market, the seller was happy to do this in order to get the home sold. Jane did a 3-2-1 buydown, which made her initial interest rate 3.625%. Such an interest rate made Jane’s payment for the 1st year just $679.99/month. Here is how it works:

This puts Jane’s monthly payment after 3 years at $954.72. Again, the rate will not adjust any further after this. Isn’t that cool?? A buydown is perfect for anyone anticipating a raise or promotion, students, buyers coming into money, or a buyer who doesn’t plan to stay in the house for more than 2 years. It is also nice for anyone who wants to save money during the first two years of homeownership.

Please let me know your thoughts and whether this all makes sense.

Tired of waiting around on the market for something to happen with your home? Has it been six months and still no offer? The truth of the matter is there’s one common denominator in real estate that causes houses to sell: PRICE!

Price will cure ANY condition in real estate, whether it’s a hole in the roof or a poor location. According to the National Association of Realtors, if a house has had over 10 showings with no offers, it’s overpriced. Additionally, if a house has not been shown in two weeks, it’s overpriced.

Is marketing important? ABSOLUTELY- but not more than price. As an example, if milk is $12 per gallon at Harris Teeter and $2 per gallon at Wal Mart, where would you buy it? Wal Mart! What if Harris Teeter put a dancing bear in front of its store and had paratroopers sky dive into your backyard advertising the milk for sale at $12 per gallon, where would you buy your milk then? WAL MART! At least that should be the right answer. If its not your answer, IM me for a discussion on economics.

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Two years ago, the City of Wilmington spent $3.7M on riverfront land and signed an agreement with developer Armada Hoffler to build a $52M convention center and hotel on the lot. Since then, the project has been held up by numerous redesigns, a lawsuit and, most recently, termination of its agreement with Armada Hoffler (after the developer said it was no longer “financially feasible” to build a full-service hotel on the site).

This has left city officials questioning whether the project should continue. Those in favor of the convention center believe it will fuel the downtown boom – making Wilmington a destination for conventioneers and a focal point for the entire region.

Critics argue that the new face of downtown (post PPD, etc) presents us with more choices than before and that Wilmington would benefit more from a public-private partnership such as a multi-use performing arts and civic center.

“We don’t need to close our eyes and pretend there’s not other options on the table,” said Councilman Jason Thompson.

For now, the city is hard at work trying to find a new developer and still plans to break ground late summer.

Let’s hear what Wilmington residents have to say! Are you for or against a new convention center?

16 Minutes This week, 16 Minutes takes you behind the scenes at RedPin, a “revolutionary” new way to buy and sell real estate… Time: 06:08

60 minutes recently ran a segment (see satire video above) about online brokers such as Redfin, Century 21 Clickit etc who offer the customer (not clients as they have no fiduciary obligation) a way to put a property in MLS and sell it themselves while saving all or some of the commission charged by a professional, full service real estate agency. Sadly, they didn’t even have a comment from NAR or other folks like myself who can clearly see the dangers presented by this so-called “discount” brokers. I thought I might point out a few of the dangers myself:

1) Liability: When you use a Realtor to list your home, it greatly limits your liability as a homeowner (at least if you choose a good one). Good Realtors have lots of training and a fair amount of experience, usually selling at least 15 homes a year; most homeowners do approximately 5-6 in their lifetime. How does using a Realtor limit your liability? Really in two ways:

a. They keep homeowners within the legal and ethical confines of a transaction that are defined by state law and the Realtor’s Code of Ethics

b. In the event that there is ever a claim against a homeowner that listed their house with a Realtor, whether its 3 months or 3 years after the transaction, the Realtor will be there with their client to assist. We even have E&O insurance to protect ourselves… most homeowners don’t.

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In a recent trip to New York, a young female Long Islander remarked, “I’ve been spoiled with cars. I’ve always owned new expensive ones.”

And, no, she was not joking.

I suppose I should also mention we were sitting in her 600 square foot apartment.

In case any of you haven’t heard, you’re supposed to buy cheap cars and expensive houses… at least that’s what Steve Weber always said. It’s in the top 5 rules of how to build wealth (somewhere between save for retirement and seek passive income). After all, cars depreciate while houses appreciate.

Just wanted to make sure all you young bucks out there new that.