Endless Possibilities! Spotlight on Winston-Salem

Lisa and I have listed some fantastic homes in the last few weeks in Forsyth County, all in different price points and meeting different needs.

1005 Somerset is a WONDERFUL starter home in a location convenient to everything -- shopping, Forsyth Hospital, WFU-BMC, I-40, 421, etc. The owners have lovingly maintained it and as an added bonus pulled up some carpeting to expose gorgeous hardwoods and updated most of the fixtures. 2 of the 3 bedrooms are HUGE, and it has a wonderful fenced yard and roomy kitchen with lots of cabinets. Click here for a photo tour.

1154 Folkstone Ridge is new construction that is move in ready. It has an open living room, breakfast, kitchen plan with granite countertops and all bedrooms upstairs. It is located off Peters Creek Parkway and is yet another example of a killer location as it is in a nice neighborhood but is moments away from all you need. It even has that "new home" smell... check it out here.

Finally, 135 Almont Forest is tucked away in one of Clemmons' prettiest hidden neighborhoods. Whitmore Place is a quiet, tranquil community with a small community pool that is peaceful and affordable. It feeds to the new Morgan Elementary and has a versatile floorplan with upper level bedrooms, an open main level with wonderful updated kitchen overlooking a private backyard, and a finished lower level that accomodates a variety of needs. Click here for a tour of this move in ready home.

December Stats for Forsyth County

We have just compiled statistics for sold homes in December 2009 -- only 24.67% of the homes that sold in December in Forsyth County were $200,001 and up! 69% were below $100,000. What does this tell us? For those homes over $200k, pricing, condition, and readiness are KEY... call me for helpful insights into getting your home ready and making it stand out from the crowd.

A Warning!

According to the Mortgage Bankers' Association and RealtyTimes, 1 of every 308 housing units nationwide received a foreclosure filing in August '09. At the end of August, there were 1,957,073 foreclosures nationwide, with 358,471 of them new in July. Interestingly, only 33,515 sold in July, so that shadow inventory is becoming a real issue as more and more home sellers find themselves competing with foreclosures. The average sales price nationwide for foreclosures is $202,566.

On a brighter note, Forsyth County is 367th in the nation for foreclosure activity.

Surprisingly, conventional loans are 1 in 3 of new foreclosure filings -- thus the importance of offering Job Loss Protection on your listings!

Finally, a word of caution -- if you are attempting a loan modification with your lender, and they tell you you are not responsible for your payments as they make the decision, make the payments anyway and document them! Some people are being foreclosed on due to lack of payment during this decision period, when the lender is who told them to stop in the first place.

Are Home Sales Up? -- part 2

Here is a chart that shows the trend noted earlier regarding homes sales v. median price. Median sales price for June '09 in Forsyth County was approximately $135,000 (down $40,000 from 24 months ago). While this chart is Forsyth County specific, Forsyth County is pretty indicative of what is happening in surrounding counties as well.
What does this mean? Homes are selling, but price is key. The less expensive the home, the more likely it is to sell.