How Changing Jobs Affects Buying a Home

Salaried Employees

If you are a salaried employee who does not earn additional income from commissions, bonuses, or over-time, switching employers should not create a problem. Just make sure to remain in the same line of work.  Hopefully, you will be earning a higher salary, which will help you better qualify for a mortgage.

Hourly Employees

If your income is based on hourly wages and you work a straight forty hours a week without over-time, changing jobs should not create any problems.

Commissioned Employees

If a substantial portion of your income is derived from commissions, you should not change jobs before buying a home. This has to do with how mortgage lenders calculate your income. They average your commissions over the last two years.

Changing employers creates an uncertainty about your future earnings from commissions. There is no track record from which to produce an average. Even if you are selling the same type of product with essentially the same commission structure, the underwriter cannot be certain that past earnings will accurately reflect future earnings.

Changing jobs would negatively impact your ability to buy a home.

Bonuses

If a substantial portion of your income on the new job will come from bonuses, you may want to consider delaying an employment change. Mortgage lenders will rarely consider future bonuses as income unless you have been on the same job for two years and have a track record of receiving those bonuses. Then they will average your bonuses over the last two years in calculating your income.

Changing employers means that you do not have the two-year track record necessary to count bonuses as income.

Part-Time Employees

If you earn an hourly income but rarely work forty hours a week, you should not change jobs. There would be no way to tell how many hours you will work each week on the new job, so no way to accurately calculate your income. If you remain on the old job, the lender can just average your earnings.

Over-Time

Since all employers award overtime hours differently, your overtime income cannot be determined if you change jobs. If you stay on your present job, your lender will give you credit for overtime income. They will determine your overtime earnings over the last two years, then calculate a monthly average.

Self-Employment

If you are considering a change to self-employment before buying a new home, don’t do it. Buy the home first.

Lenders like to see a two-year track record of self-employment income when approving a loan. Plus, self-employed individuals tend to include a lot of expenses on the Schedule C of their tax returns, especially in the early years of self-employment. While this minimizes your tax obligation to the IRS, it also minimizes your income to qualify for a home loan.

If you are considering changing your business from a sole proprietorship to a partnership or corporation, you should also delay that until you purchase your new home.

In depth interview with Anne Marie Howard, Charlotte Real Estate Market

Please click the link below to listen to Anne Marie Howard talk about the current Charlotte Market.

http://charlotte.news14.com/content/in_depth/635557/in-depth–anne-marie-howard

Sign Documents on the IPAD

Close Anywhere, Anytime

iPad applications can streamline your business and help you get to closing quicker.

Since Apple Inc.’s iPad hit the market last spring, more than 3.5 million units have sold, beating the market’s expectations for the product demand by 162 percent, according to the manufacturer. The 1.5-pound device has also beaten the expectations of many real estate pros, allowing them to show listings, schedule appointments, sign documents, and ultimately get to closing more easily.

Users say you have to be realistic about the iPad’s capabilities. “You need to think of it as a consumption device, and not necessarily for writing documents,” says early adopter Bill Lublin, CRB, CRS, CEO of Century 21 Gold Advantage and a partner with the Social Media Marketing Institute, both in Philadelphia. So while it may not replace your laptop or smartphone, the iPad can help improve your relationship with clients. Here’s how.

Schedule on the spot. ”I survive in down markets because I never let a client leave without booking another appointment,” says Lublin. These days, after buyers have looked at three properties and come up empty-handed, he brings out the iPad. “I have a large visual way to show them my free times, and we pick a slot.” A built-in application called iCal syncs the device with an iPhone or Mac. For those looking to connect with Google Calendar or Outlook, there’s an app called SaiSuke ($9.99), which works with all three of those scheduling systems and also connects with social networking calendars such as those on Facebook.

Have listings at your fingertips. Although MLS capabilities vary, many are now accessible through an iPad. “I was able to get information on the road for my last two buyer clients without too much trouble. I know they appreciated that I had the data on hand,” says Atlanta-based Tim Maitski, a sales associate with RE/MAX Greater Atlanta. Maitski accesses his MLS through an application called LogMeIn. “A couple of taps, and I’m showing clients what they wanted to see.” Some MLSs have their own application; expect others to debut in 2011.

Don’t just tell, but show. Loreena Yeo, SFR, a broker with 3:16 Team Realty in Frisco, Texas, bought an iPad last spring with the primary intention of using it for listing presentations. “Before, I think my clients somewhat grasped my marketing plan, and I always followed up with an e-mail with links.” Now, while she’s making the presentation, she can search for terms on Google to show her SEO power and demonstrate her neighborhood and property videos. “The key is for them to understand that I do what most agents haven’t even begun to realize yet,” she says.

Get their autograph. DocuSign and other electronic signature applications have helped to streamline the closing process, but an iPad can take it one step further by allowing clients to sign on location. Although the device is designed to be a touch screen, clients can use an electronic stylus pen (around $10 at electronics stores) to put their John Hancock on documents. “It’s saving me lots of paper and time,” says Michael LaPeter, a sales associate with Resonant Properties in San Francisco, who has used this method about 12 times with clients. “They appreciate the ease.”

Download more to do more. As iPhone and now Android smartphone users have learned, an app exists, or is in development, for just about any function you can think of. Real estate practitioners, for example, may enjoy photo editing apps such as Amopic and Crop Suey (each under $10) for making quick crops to photos before sending them buyers. Even the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® has gotten into the act with NAR Express, an app that provides quick access to the latest headlines and market statistics. And NAR’s newest offering, MIDCalc, helps users quickly calculate the value of the mortgage interest deduction.

Article by Katherine Tarbox http://www.realtor.org/rmotechnology/articles/2011/1101_technology_ipad

The History of Eastover Neighborhood in Charlotte

The Eastover neighborhood was begun in 1927 by Charlotte’s E. C. Griffith Company.  Its earliest curving drives were the work of Earle Sumner Draper, perhaps the premier urban planner in the Southeastern United States in the early twentieth century. From its founding to the present day, Eastover has been the home of many of the financiers, cotton brokers, lawyers, and other leaders who have directed the growth of Charlotte and the surrounding Piedmont industrial area.

Eastover is located southeast of the center city, across Providence Road from the earlier prestigious neighborhood of Myers Park. Eastover occupies a very gently rolling hillside which slopes down to Briar Creek. Except for the city’s Mint Museum of Art, the Eastover Elementary School, a pair of multi-family buildings, and a single church, the neighborhood consists almost entirely of large single-family residences, some 550 in number. Though the fine dwellings that once lined Providence Road itself have given way to commercial development since World War II, the rest of the neighborhood retains its well-kept residential character.

Cherokee Road forms the neighborhood’s backbone, a gently undulating curve that sweeps out from Laurel Avenue near Providence Road and eventually curves back to Providence several blocks south. Cherokee Road, parallel Colville Road, and intersecting Eastover Road are the sites of the neighborhood’s largest early residences. Secondary streets — Biltmore, Scotland, and the first block of Hempstead, among others — are lined with two-story upper-middle income dwellings on slightly smaller lots.

The early architecture of the Eastover neighborhood is overwhelmingly red-brick Georgian revival, with scattered examples of Tudor Revival. Unbuilt sites remained in the neighborhood into the 1980s, slowly filling with houses similar to the earlier residences, though a few examples of modern architecture can be found. Newer blocks of the development, including Twiford Place and parts of Museum Drive and Hempstead Place, are lined with substantial one-story Ranch style houses and one-and-a-half and two-story traditional dwellings.

The development of Eastover can be traced to four separate yet interrelated phases of growth. Beginning in 1927, the E. C. Griffith Company developed land to the north of present-day Eastover Drive, which included portions of Cherokee and Colville roads and Fenton and Hempstead places. This was the original Eastover subdivision. In the 1940s and steadily continuing into the 1950s and 1960s, the area to the south of Eastover Drive, including the remaining blocks of Cherokee and Colville roads and Hempstead Place, and the newly platted Cherokee Place and Lewellyn Place, was developed by the Griffith Company as an extension of the Eastover subdivision. ²

Contemporary with the earliest Griffith development in Eastover was the growth of Pharrsdale. ³ Identified on a 1929 map as the “subdivision of property of Miss Sarah Pharr,” Pharrsdale was developed by Lex Marsh, Jr. The design, by Earle Sumner Draper, continued Colville and Cherokee roads to Providence Road, and added Scotland Avenue and Biltmore Drive.

Between Cherokee and Providence roads is a series of straight streets lined with smaller bungalows and cottages for middle-income buyers. Each of these streets — Avondale Avenue, Cottage Place, Middleton Drive, Perrin Place, Huntley Place and Bolling Road — occupies a long, narrow strip of land that was originally a tenant farm. Each one of these streets was developed individually; Cottage Place, the oldest, predates Griffith’s Eastover and was platted in 1921.

(Courtesy of http://www.cmhpf.org/kids/neighborhoods/Eastover.html)

Check out all the Homes that are currently for sale in the Eastover neighborhood below.

http://www.allentate.com/scottbrowder/DesktopDefault.aspx?pageid=109&pagealias=ATWAgentSearch&AgentSavedSearchCriteriaID=17866&NewSearch=true

Homes for Sale in Barclay Downs

Barclay Downs is a thriving community of over 300 homes near South Park Mall, one of the best malls in the United States. Within walking distance of the neighborhood are some of the best public schools in the nation and a great swim and racquet club, a library and tons of shopping opportunities. Visit www.southpark.com to see all the available stores. Pops in the park is all summer long providing live music within walking distance from Barclay downs. Visit www.barclaydownshoa.org  to check out what the homeowners association is up to. See all homes that are for sale in Barclay Downs below.

http://www.allentate.com/scottbrowder/DesktopDefault.aspx?pageid=109&pagealias=ATWAgentSearch&AgentSavedSearchCriteriaID=17506&NewSearch=true

Business Planning for 2011 with Template

This year I started my business plan with a vision statement, a competitive analysis, and a detailed marketing strategy. I plan on offering my clients property ads of people enjoying themselves in their home that is for sale. What better way to show potential buyers what it would be like to live there once they purchase the home, than by putting people in the photos, enjoying themselves.
I also plan on taking videos of my clients homes and uploading them to YouTube so that you can see all angles of the home. The Small Business Administration of the United States offers a free small business planner at www.sba.gov. Here is an example of the plan below.

Elements of a Business Plan

1. Cover sheet
2. Executive summary (statement of the business purpose)
3. Table of contents
4. Body of the document
   1. Business
      1. Description of business
      2. Marketing
      3. Competition
      4. Operating procedures
      5. Personnel
      6. Business insurance
   2. Financial data
      1. Loan applications
      2. Capital equipment and supply list
      3. Balance sheet
      4. Breakeven analysis
      5. Profit and loss statements
      6. Three-year summary
      7. Detail by month, first year
      8. Detail by quarters, second and third year
      9. Assumptions upon which projections were based
      10. Pro-forma cash flow
   3. Supporting documents
      1. Tax returns of principals (partners in the business) for last three years, personal financial statements (all banks have these forms)
      2. Copy of franchise contract and all supporting documents provided by the franchisor (for franchise businesses)
      3. Copy of proposed lease or purchase agreement for building space
      4. Copy of licenses and other legal documents
      5. Copy of resumes of all principals
      6. Copies of letters of intent from suppliers, etc.

2011 Changes to the North Carolina Offer to Purchase and Contract

The biggest change facing Buyers, Sellers, and REALTORS® in North Carolina is the form’s introduction of the Buyer’s “Due Diligence” process. During a negotiated due diligence period, the Buyer must complete all of the inspections, surveys, and appraisals typically performed by a diligent Buyer. In addition, the Buyer needs to be satisfied with the documents governing the home, the availability and affordability of insurance for the home, and their own ability to be approved for a mortgage. Should the Buyer not be happy with the investigations…or if they simply change their mind about completing the purchase…the Buyer will be able to unilaterally terminate the contract and be entitled to a return of their earnest money deposit, assuming notice of termination is delivered to the Seller prior to the expiration of the due diligence period. After that expiration date, the Buyer loses their ability to terminate the contract and receive a refund of the earnest money deposit (except in the case of a Seller’s breach) and the power of the contract shifts to the Seller.

The new Offer to Purchase and Contract allows for a negotiated, non-refundable fee to be paid by the Buyer directly to the Seller in exchange for the amount of time associated with the due diligence period. While the “due diligence fee” is not a requirement of the Offer to Purchase and Contract, it will serve as further evidence of the Buyer’s sincerity in pursuing the property. The “due diligence fee” is not refundable to the Buyer except in the case of the Seller’s breach. The fee will serve as a credit to the Buyer should they complete the purchase.

Please click on the link below to see the changes to the 2011 offer to purchase and contract.

OTPC – New vs Old

Charlotte Homes for Sale, Royden

Royden is 10 miles south of Downtown Charlotte and gives homeowners the feeling of solace in this stunning neighborhood.

The homes in Royden were built-in the late eighties early nineties and offer large lot sizes for those who want a great yard. You can have a ton of space and still enjoy the amenities of urban living. Houses average between 1400 square feet and up to 5000 square feet.

Shopping is just around the corner with a Harris Teeter. Southpark Mall is close by and perfect for shopping and entertaining guests.

http://www.allentate.com/scottbrowder/DesktopDefault.aspx?pageid=109&pagealias=ATWAgentSearch&AgentSavedSearchCriteriaID=17780&NewSearch=true

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION – Just listed Myers Park Lot with YouTube Video

Check out this fabulous lot with mountain views right off of Sharon Road. Build your dream home minutes from downtown and Southpark. 2820 Briarcliff Place is a hidden gem in Myers Park that not many people think to drive down. See this amazing lot on my website and on YouTube. SHOW, SHOW, SHOW this awesome opportunity to your family coming into town for the holidays.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soRgUH1zay0

http://www.scottbrowder.com/

4327 Castlewood Road Under Contract in Madison Park, Myers Park Schools

Beautiful Updated Ranch Style Home in Madison Park. New Roof, New Refinished Hardwood floors, All New Kitchen Cabinets, Counter tops, Sink & Appliances. New tile floor in kitchen and sunroom.  Bathrooms Updated. Fenced yard, New Concrete Driveway and Sidewalk, New Gutters. Freshly Painted Interior of the home. Excellent School District. Check out this home below on my website.

http://www.allentate.com/scottbrowder/DesktopDefault.aspx?pageid=108&pagealias=ATWAgentListingDetail&ListingID=1884189&ListingPosition=5