An unexpected decline in mortgage rates is largely a result of the recent financial turmoil in Europe.  Money from other countries is flowing into the United States seeking a safe haven from the volatility overseas.  The rates are back near 50-year low levels.  Click here to see the full story in the Wall Street Journal.

Pricing your home ahead of the market will exponentially increase the chances of selling your home.  As the graph below depicts, you could potentially waste a lot of time and money if your home is not priced appropriately in the beginning.  There are several factors influencing the sale of a home; the most powerful of which is pricing.    Intracoastal Realty has some of the most educated and knowledgeable agents in the business.  They know the greater Wilmington NC real estate market and can help guide you through these choppy waters.  Think all real estate agents achieve the same results?  Think again.  Intracoastal Realty agents settled over $2,000,000 worth of properties per business day in April.  $46,621,405 in closed sales for April.  That's a lot of reasons to consider listing your home with Intracoastal Realty.  

 6 [Easily Fixable] Mistakes Homebuyers Make　 1. Not knowing your credit score 2. Buying a car before a house 3. Skimping on home inspection 4. No lawyer 5. No contingencies 6. Not budgeting for insurance     Buying a home is one of the biggest purchases most people will ever make. Most homebuyers go into the process blind. Here are 6 of the most common, and costly, mistakes homebuyer make. If you plan to buy real estate now or in the future review these mistakes so you won’t make one.   1. Not knowing your credit score Even if you are toying with the idea of buying a home, you must find out exactly what your FICO score is. If you find it is less than ideal, work to raise it. Too many borrowers ignore this step and get surprised when they get interest rate quotes. Once you've looked over your credit history and corrected any errors, yo... [More]

Intracoastal’s Technology Day – "Technology Works Spring 2010" – is under way today. Our training and conference rooms have turned into classrooms to learn about technology related subjects with emphasis on "Social Media". This all day event features our own esteemed agents as the instructors.　 Agents have the opportunity to learn more about Facebook, twitter, virtual assistants and more!! Times have changed from the days of relying solely on newspaper ads and yard signs to sell real estate. It’s now the age of facebook and smart phones. (Did you know that 91% with cell phones have the phone within 3 feet of them 24/7- WOW!) We’re not being left behind- but forging ahead learning about the latest technology to keep our agents on top. You may ask, just how important is social media??? Very! This diagram is from Metcalf’s law…the formula is ... [More]

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index shows that nationwide housing affordability closed out the year near its highest level since the data series began 18 years ago.  The index showed that 70.8% of all homes sold in the 4th quarter of 2009 were affordable to families earning the national median income.  This is up from 62.4% from the same period in 2008, and close to the all-time high of 72.5 set in the first quarter of 2009.

The real estate market, like other markets, is driven by the economic principle of supply and demand.  Simply put, the absorption rate is the measure of today’s housing, or demand, versus how many months will it take to absorb the current supply of inventory. The formula uses the past 12 months of unit sales to establish how many houses are selling each month on average, divided into the existing inventory to calculate the months of supply available. In real estate it is generally thought to be a balanced market when there are 5-6 months of inventory on the market. A key point to keep in mind: fewer months of supply result in a seller’s market and puts pressure on prices to increase. Higher months of supply result in a buyer’s market and puts pressure on prices to fall. A seller’s market was evident locally, in the period of 2000-2006 as demand was high... [More]