Archive for March, 2009

Spring Selling Season Is Here!

Kathy Riggs March 15th, 2009

Last week we jumped forward into Daylight Savings Time and I’m still looking for my lost hour of sleep. One of my clients told me I wouldn’t find it until next October so I have resigned myself to wondering what we are accomplishing by playing with Mother Nature’s time clock.
Then the alarm went off..we always spring forward at the same time the spring selling season gets into high gear. The powers that be must have had us hard-working real estate agents in mind when they decided to give us an extra hour of sunlight this early in March…that’s an extra hour after normal business time that buyers can arrange to see the home that you want to sell…if it’s on the market that is!
Spring will officially be here Friday, March 20 and after this winter I can’t wait. In fact, I’m getting a head start on the spring celebration by cooking my traditional Irish corned beef brisket on Saint Patrick’s Day, Tuesday. Don’t forget to wear green. Remember it’s the same color as money.
Spring has traditionally been the real estate market’s holiday season. Why is spring the best selling season? Because most buyers and sellers have families and it is easier for families to schedule moves around the end of their children’s school year.
Also, the longer days make it much easier for working couples to schedule late afternoon or early evening showings. So if you have been contemplating selling your home, why wait? Interest rates are low and the $8,000 tax credit is luring a number of buyers who needed that extra push. If you have been thinking about putting your home on the market it’s time to spruce up and spring into action. Time flies quickly..if you wait too long people will be thinking about Christmas.
P.S. Did you remember to change the batteries in your smoke detectors when you changed your clocks?

…on the lighter side
…if both Democrats and Republicans don’t want deficits, why do we have deficits?

SHAMELESS PlUG
If you are ready to sell give me a call, and you can be included on my site www.kathyriggs.com

There’s a Light at the End of the Tunnel

Kathy Riggs March 8th, 2009

There is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Kinston finally caught a glimpse of spring this weekend. Temperatures are warm, Bradford pears are beginning to bloom and the yellow daffodils signal that winter’s end is near.
Winter’s end should pull us away from the the 24-hour gloom and doom as the national media projects. While I hope the government’s efforts to rescue the economy don’t take as long as it took me to unscramble a Rubic Cube in the 1970s (a task still unaccomplished), let me share a little real estate sunshine with you.
First, foreclosures are down – nationally, statewide and locally. In January national foreclosures were down 10 percent compared to the previous month and according to the North Carolina Association of Realtors foreclosures in N.C. decreased 29.3 percent from the same month a year ago. Officials at the Lenoir County Clerk of Courts office even tell me that local foreclosures are down from a year ago. Think perception vs. reality.
Second, home prices are the most affordable since the National Association of Realtors began its housing affordability index in 1970. Did you know in 2008 for every 100 people that left North Carolina 180 relocated here? The Tarheel state (and Wolfpack Country and Pirate Nation) offers some of the most affordable housing in the country? And some of the most reasonably priced homes are right here in Lenoir County? 2009 might be the best year to invest in the American Dream. Interest rates are low and the NAR estimates 900,000 additional home sales in 2009 will be stimulated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Read my previous post about the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit.
Yes, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

…on the lighter side
If you want to know exactly where the property line is, just watch YOUR neighbor cut the grass.

SHAMELESS PLUG
Visit my website at www.kathyriggs.com and open the door to Kinston area listings.

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