Lake Norman Real Estate and NC Homes for Sale

I must admit that the “green” movement as it relates to real estate and homes in our beautiful Lake Norman area has been a bit under the radar screen when compared to such Eco-friendly communites as Ashville NC and many others throughout the country. 

But, this year, with the creation of the Lake Norman Home Builders Associations’ Green Building Council, the certification of Brian Robinett of LKN builders as Lake Norman’s first certified green “rater” and the completion and home tour of Project Live Green by Jenny Pippin of Pippin Home Design, it feels like Lake Norman is beginning to embrace green homes.

My own interest in the Green movement inspired me to get my “EcoBroker” Certification, join the Lake Norman Home Builders Association’s Green Building Council and create an exciting new blogsite “Lake Norman Green Homes". 

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LAKE NORMAN RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE HOT SHEET

September 12, 2008 

My fifth bi-monthly Lake Norman Friday Hot Sheet is here! 

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Darn that S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Index.  And you, Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, with your numbers showing that Charlotte area home prices rose 5.2%.  Can we talk?  First of all, both of you are talking about a 12-month period ending June 30th.  A  lot has changed in our housing market in the past two months, so exactly how valuable is a 12-month report dated June 30th?  Second of all, one of you doesn’t include “subprime lending, many government-backed loans and the largest mortgages."  Aren’t these kind of important in this current real estate market?

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Today The Charlotte Observer ran yet another front-page article about our housing market “Home prices soften anew….Sales and building permits also fall, but the Charlotte market is still healthier than many in the U.S."   It’s not a bad article.  It even breaks down the sales % decline and building permit % decline by county.

However, I can’t stress enough the importance of every home buyer asking their real estate agents to do comprehensive research about the specific listing (and even subdivision if feasible) before they make an offer on a home.  Think of it as a background check of the home and its Lake Norman housing community.

For the sake of this article I am going to use Lake Norman’s Crescent Homes Community:  The Farms.  However, you can do this exact analysis on any home and community throughout the Lake Norman area and I assume throughout the country depending on the MLS data available.

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Effective July 1, 2008, there have been numerous small and more significant changes/additions/deletions to the standard North Carolina real estate forms jointly approved by the North Carolina Association of Realtors AND the North Carolina Bar Association.

As a home buyer or seller in the Lake Norman area, there are several things you should do or know if you are currently thinking about or in the process of buying or listing a home:

• Always make sure that the forms you are provided by your Realtor are the most current form available.  Our four most commonly used forms, the Offer to Purchase and Contract (Form 2-T),  The Additional Provisions Addendum (Form 2A11-T), The Exclusive Right to Sell Listing Agreement (form 101), The Exclusive Right to Represent Buyer Agreement (Form 201) as well as many others were revised on July 1, 2008.  At the very bottom of each form you will find the Standard Form number and the date adopted.  Check to make sure it says:  Adopted 7/2008.
• Have your REALTOR explain the changes in the forms, especially if you have used the old forms recently.
• There is a 60-day grace period to transition to new forms.

Here is a very brief summary of the most notable changes to these 4 forms.  *This is general information only.  Please note, I am NOT an attorney.  If you have any questions regarding these changes please consult a real estate attorney.  I would be happy to provide you with names and phone numbers for several in the Mooresville Lake Norman area!

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