I recently represented a buyer in the purchase of this oceanfront second home on Topsail Island, pictured above.  The house was originally listed for $599,900, features beautiful ocean views and is tucked away in a quiet, private are of Topsail Beach, NC.  I was able to negotiate a sales price of $510,000 with some seller paid closing costs. The key to negotiating this transaction was understanding the market, how many homes are available, how long the property had been on the market.  Special thanks to the listing agent for being a real professional and collaborating with me on getting the deal done!

To read what the buyer had to say about my services, CLICK HERE.

Unbelievably the first quarter is already over!  Here’s the Wilmington area market by the numbers:

• 1066  is the year of the Battle of Hastings, but for the purpose of this blog, it is the number of transactions (including land, multi-family, and boat slips) closed in the first quarter 2012.  This represents a 9.56% increase in the number of transactions closed in the first quarter of 2011

• 497 homes (these are single family residences only) were sold in New Hanover County during the first quarter

• 5.46% increase in the total volume sold in the Wilmington market

• $210,490 is the average sales price for the market, representing a 3.74% decrease compared to the average sales price in First Quarter 2011 ($218,664.62)

• 403 Realtors sold anything, which represents approximately 25% of the total board population

The meaning behind these numbers is important.  The increase in number of transactions and volume indicates that we have seen a turn in the market.  It doesn’t necessarily mean that we are at THE bottom, rather that the market is turning and we are consuming inventory.  Consumption of inventory is massively important in getting back to a balanced real estate market.

The relatively small percentage of agents that have sold anything is a good indicator of who is really in the business and who’s just along for the ride.

Hope this snippet is helpful and, of course, please let me know if you have any questions!

So, as a quick update, here are the “11 for ’11.”  I’ll be adding more and commenting on these as we go forward.  Enjoy and please feel free to contact me with any questions!

1)      The Average Sales Price fell another 4.58% from $231,119 to $220,534

2)      The Median Sales Price fell another 5.69% from $183,512 to $173,063

3)      The total number of homes sold rose 3.59%

4)      The total volume of real estate sold in the area fell 1.16%

5)      The average days on market for 2011 were up 16.3% (from 128 to 153) from 2010.

6)      There were 47 houses that sold for $1MM or higher

7)      The largest discount on one of those 47 houses was 51%- 1808 Starfix Terrace was originally listed for $3.8MM and sold for $1.85MM after 351 Days (CLICK HERE for the Zillow Profile)

8)      On average, houses over $1MM sold for 75.8% of their original list price

9)      The most expensive sale in the MLS was for $2.895MM- 26 Island Drive (CLICK HERE for the Zillow profile)

10)   Of approximately 1800 Realtors in the local board of Realtors, only 907 sold ANY homes

11)   Of Approximately 1800 Realtors, only 342 sold more than 5 homes in 2011

In light of all the questions and uncertainty in the real estate market today, I thought I’d share a quick success story that worked out being a real Win-Win for buyer and seller.  I recently helped put together a 2 year lease purchase for one of my buyer clients.  This was a real win-win because the buyer’s income from a new (and successful) business couldn’t yet be counted for mortgage purposes.  The seller’s house was sitting vacant and empty and the seller was making payments.  The result: seller has a pretty strong guarantee of getting their home sold in the future, buyer has a place to live, seller is no longer coming out of pocket to make house payment.

So, exactly how does this work?  Well, here’s the insight:

• The buyer pays a lump sum fee up front (in some areas this may be considered an “Option Fee” which effectively buys them the right to purchase the house for some time into the future.  In this case the fee was around $3000 and my clients are “under contract” on the house, and must close by 12/31/13
• The buyer and homeowner execute a lease for the same period of time, agreeing on monthly rent payments and other details surrounding the buyer/tenant occupying the property

That’s the gist of what’s needed to take care of this transaction.  Of course there are always pitfalls, so I’d suggest consulting with a professional attorney or lender.  Here are few other precautions that should be taken.  A major precaution to protect buyer and seller is to record a memorandum of contract.  This provides public notice that there is a contract for the purchase of the property and will give the highest assurance possible that the seller/owner can’t sell the property to another buyer.   A local attorney can take care of this.

In today’s market, it pays to be creative and look for the win win- hope this gives you some ideas!