Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Spring, summer could be busy in housing market




We've seen a lot during this recession, including a devastating housing crisis. But local realtors and builders say they're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Spring typically tends to be a busy time for realtors, but buyers should know that time is running out to take advantage of a federal tax credit that could help them keep some cash in their pocket. The beginning of 2010 marked the countdown to an April 30 deadline. That's when a federal tax credit for first-time home buyers and current homeowners expires.

First-time home buyers can receiver a tax credit of up to $8,000, while qualified repeat home buyers can receive up to $6,500.

The Cape Fear and Wilmington Home Builders Association says it's helping to build momentum.

"It's been tough out there for our builders, in particular," said Donna Giradot, CFWHBA executive officer. "Our suppliers, realtors, bankers, closing attorneys, it's been tough. But our folks are starting to feel some traction. I think we are gonna continue to see very good progress and momentum through the spring and summer."

According to the Wilmington Regional Association of Realtors, spring and summer are typically the busiest times of the year. The Cape Fear and Wilmington Home Builders Association says the time to buy and build is now.

If you qualify for the home buyer tax credit your home must be under contract by April 30. You must close on your home by June 30. Military members have a one year extension...

For more information, go to www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com

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Ken Keegan
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Social gathering in St James at the home of Attorney Gina Cecil
on Sat Mar 27,2010. The picture is of Ola M. Lewis, Senior Resident
Superior Court Judge on the left and Pauline Hankins, Candiate for Clerk
of Superior Court. I support Pauline Hankins and wish her luck with her
campaign.

Ken Keegan
Real Estate Broker
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Monday, March 29, 2010

Leland goes wireless

Leland town officials cut the cord today making way for a new wireless network throughout the community.

The Opterics wireless network is stronger than regular WiFi and can handle more data. The high speed wireless coverage will be available everywhere in Leland and some parts of Belville.

With the new network Leland Police will be able to view traffic cameras and surveillance monitors and access a complete records database.

"All of the things that they're able to do at the headquarters building on a desktop, we wanted to move that into the vehicles, so that while they're on mobile patrol, they can spend more time in the community," Leland Police Chief Tim Jayne said.

Right now the wireless network is only for police and town officials. Leland plans to roll out phase two for residents and businesses next month.


Ken Keegan
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Company to add 25 sites to historical survey

Landmark Preservation Associates is planning to add 25 more sites to its historical survey of Brunswick County. The additional sites will cost the county another $5,000 on the $50,000 study that already includes approximately 470 sites. These new sites could include notable historic cemeteries, according to an amendment to the original contract.

The contract for the survey was approved by the county commissioners last year after the Historic Wilmington Foundation put all of Brunswick County on its Most Threatened Historic Places List in 2007. The survey is expected to be completed by June.

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Ken Keegan
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‘Shovel tests’ reveal long-buried artifacts in Southport


Before Southport was Southport – even before it was Smithville – Fort Johnston brought life and a little bit of action to this small piece of land near the mouth of the Cape Fear River.


And recently, graduate students with East Carolina University uncovered another part of its colorful history with a tiny treasure trove of historical artifacts.

In May, the town approved a plan to move its branch of the N.C. Maritime Museum to the Fort’s property. This meant improvements would have to be made to the old building and a couple of new buildings, connected by a covered cement walkway would need to be built. Any time construction is ordered on a site of historical significance, a survey must be done to ensure nothing of great historic value is disturbed.

For curious locals, this is more than just a precaution. It’s an opportunity to see what has been hidden all along.

With the guidance of ECU professor of archaeology Charles Ewen, students Dawn Luker, Greg Pierce and Joey Roberts dug “shovel tests” in the area where the cement walkway is to be built. Ewen said they kind of knew all along that they might encounter some artifacts. According to old maps, a seamstress’s quarters were located nearby in the 1800s. Various shops could have been in that area, too, during the fort’s more than 260-year history.

Luker and the other students began digging test holes about 10 feet apart in a 30 x 30 foot area. Although the team had to fight with about 3 feet of clay fill that had been brought in during recent history, the work soon paid off.

“We definitely found some brick and mortar. We also found a couple of buttons, what looks like a lady’s pin or broach, the thimble, a Civil War bullet, which was really cool … bottle fragments and a lot of ceramics,” she said. “It was amazing … It’s neat to see all the years come out.”

The earliest artifacts date from the early 19th century.

Now that the information is collected, Ewen said it’s up to state archaeologists and N.C. Maritime Museum officials to decided what they want to do next.

Mary Strickland, manager of the Southport museum said no decision has been made yet as to the construction or whether the artifacts will be on display in the museum’s new location.

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Ken Keegan
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Homebuyer's tax credits providing local real estate boost

The first-time home buyer tax credit is making a difference in local real estate sales.


Mary Martin, an agent with Network Real Estate and president of the Wilmington Regional Association of Realtors, said an estimated 30 to 35 percent of area home sales involve either first-time buyers or qualifying current homeowners taking advantage of a $6,500 tax credit to upgrade into a new house.

“We’re trying to get the word out that the credits are out there,” Martin said.

The Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009 was recently extended by Congress through April 30. It provides for a tax credit of up to $8,000 for qualified first-time buyers purchasing a principal residence. In cases where a binding sales contract is signed by April 30, a home purchase completed by June 30 will qualify.

February sales of single- family homes in New Hanover County totaled 278, at an average price of $240,000, according to the WRAR. That compares to 252 in February 2009, at an average price of $234,000.

Some potential first-time home buyers held back during the first phase of the tax credit program because they were locked into leases, Martin said. When the tax credit was extended in January, more renters could take advantage because their leases were up.

Others who may not be considered typical first-time home buyers also used the tax credit. One example is David and Joyce Toppin, a retired couple who recently purchased a home in the Carriage Hills subdivision.

David Toppin said other factors were also in play, in particular the city of Wilmington’s participation in the Home Ownership Pool program, which offers qualified parties in low- to moderate-income households the opportunity to become homeowners. The Toppins received an interest-free loan that paid for 30 percent of their new home through the program, which is overseen by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“The $8,000 was an indirect incentive. The incentive for us was to be able to partake in the (HOP) program,” David Toppin said.

The Toppins rented for more than three years in Wilmington after moving here from another state.

The tax incentive helps first-time homebuyers with expenses like closing costs and fees, Toppin said.

“It’s a good plan, but I don’t see it as making it possible for first-time homebuyers such as ourselves to purchase a home,” he said.

Woody Hall, senior economist with the Center for Business and Economic Services at the University of North Carolina Wilmington Cameron School of Business, cautioned the tax credit may create unforeseen challenges for some first-time buyers.

“The concern I would have with any kind of tax credit is it reduces the purchase price of the house,” Hall said. “Any time you make something cheaper artificially, you take on more obligation than you probably should.”

But an offsetting factor is the difficulty nonqualified home buyers have in obtaining a loan.

“Easy credit is a thing of the past,” Hall said.

Though Martin says the incentives for home buyers have helped spur sales, Hall thinks the long-term effect isn’t clear yet.

The original tax credit and the extension “probably stole some sales in the future,” Hall said. “I think the real question is what happens when the stimulus goes away.”

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Ken Keegan
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Sunday, March 21, 2010

Traversing the Brunswick Nature Park

If you’ve been to the Brunswick Nature Park, you have seen the vastness that makes up this new ec0-recreation. So I asked Brunswick planner Kristie Dixon to give us a map. She sent me the phase 1 site plan so we can see what is there now and the master site plan so we can have a glimpse of what will be.

There will likely be changes to the master plan and the projected horse, mountain bike and hiking trails could be even longer than projected. Looped trails are in the works. If you go to the park, you will see gravel roads, a picnic shelter, parking and a kayak launch. There are also existing trails that were created over time by ATV riders and hunters. There is a trail from the kayak launch that goes west and a trail from the overlook at the bank of the creek that goes east. But you’ll have to walk back because they don’t loop.

The county commissioners recently passed an agreement with Cape Fear Southern Off Road Biking Association who is now in the process of walking the park and planning trails. SOBRA will build the trails and the county is trying to get grant money to help. Officials also plan to sit down soon with SOBRA and equestrian officials to come up with a plan for trails. Dixon said the bikes and horses might have to share some parts of the trails but most of them should be separate.

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Golf course to officially open at Brunswick Forest next month



Cape Fear National announced Friday it plans to open doors to the public at 9:30 a.m. April 19 with a grand opening of the golf course at Brunswick Forest.

The event is open to the public and will include an appearance by golf course designer Tim Cate, an interactive demo day with Callaway, Ping, Nike and Titleist club testing, a $1 million charity hole-in-one opportunity for five local television personalities and local charity representatives and a driving range demonstration and clinic by former PGA tour winner and TV golf analyst Bobby Clampett, according to a release from Cape Fear National.

The course opened in November for preview play. For more information, call 383-3283.

Ken Keegan
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Brunswick Community College's new Leland campus designed to attract businesses

Sample itinerary for a business executive visiting Brunswick County:

Arrive at Wilmington airport. Ride 12 miles to Brunswick Community College's Leland campus, off U.S. 74/76. Watch a presentation on why Brunswick would be ideal for a new branch of the company. Get information about work-force training and business counseling on the campus. Tour the area's several industrial parks, where the new branch could locate.

These points of interest are now conveniently close, and all this can be done in a few hours. But they were scattered before, with the Brunswick County Economic Development Commission giving business presentations at its Bolivia center, BCC giving business counseling at its Supply campus and the work-force training conducted at the Leland campus.

Because much of the growth in Brunswick is focused in its northern end, the college and development commission decided it made sense to bring these services together there, and joined forces to make it happen. They hope more convenience and the attractiveness of the newly renovated Leland campus – known as the Center for Economic and Workforce Development – will give companies an extra push to come to Brunswick.

The $450,000 renovation is part of a $30 million bond voters approved for construction at BCC, said Velva Jenkins, the college's assistant vice president for economic and workforce development. Current plans for the Leland campus also include moving BCC's Small Business Center there from the main campus in Supply.
The Leland campus project, which should be completed this week, includes new wall colors and carpeting, more classroom and office space and a new presentation room with a flat screen TV and conference table.

“First impressions are so important,” said Jim Bradshaw, executive director of Brunswick's Economic Development Commission. “We want to give these businesses a great first impression of Brunswick County.”

Bradshaw said despite the sputtering economy, 17 industrial companies are considering coming to Brunswick right now. The county development commission plans to use BCC's new presentation room this week to talk to three of them from out of state, two of those connected to port business.

Conveniently for them, straddling the Brunswick-Columbus line on U.S. 74/76 is the International Logistics Park, a future distribution center for the state port at Wilmington. Companies that settle in the 1,000-acre park are eligible for a state incentive of $12,500 per job created, higher than elsewhere in Brunswick County, Bradshaw said.

Across the highway is another new option – the similar-size Mid-Atlantic Logistics Center, which plans to have rail service. Also on U.S. 74/76, the Leland campus itself is located in the Leland Industrial Park, which has been around for a while but still has 56 acres of undeveloped land, Bradshaw said.

BCC's Leland campus has watched over the years as developers began to discover the area's many possibilities, in terms of nature and geographic proximity to the port, the airport and the more urbanized Wilmington. For 20 years, the campus has provided work-force training for companies such as Dupont and Rampage Yachts, and let businesses use its office space as needed, Jenkins said.


The 28,000-square-foot campus also hosts some curriculum courses, GED and English as a Second Language classes and law-enforcement training, Jenkins said.

For more information on the Leland campus and its offerings, call 755-7380.

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Ken Keegan
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Thursday, March 18, 2010

Arboretum idea blossoms

As spring approaches and things start to bloom, Oak Island is focused on trees, with a seedling giveaway to celebrate Arbor Day and plans for an arboretum in the works.

The Tree City USA Advisory Board hosted its annual tree seedling giveaway Friday with the help of Chuck Daniels, Town of Oak Island urban forester, and financial support from the Oak Island Beautification Club.

Corey Klamut, a forester with the N.C. Forest Service, also attended the Arbor Day celebration and handed out a Tree City USA award — the 13th for the town. He also gave the town a “growth award,” which recognizes environmental improvement and a high level of tree care.

While residents picked up seedlings of many varieties, they could also donate to the committee’s newest project — an arboretum planned for the southeast corner of Middleton Avenue and Oak Island Drive.

The town will apply for a $10,000 grant for the arboretum through the N.C. Urban and Community Forestry Program. Matching funds are required, but Daniels and the committee hope to raise the town’s share through donations. There already has been a $1,000 donation to the effort.

The arboretum would be planted next to the sewer station on the corner, and some of the landscape would be used to camouflage electric boxes.

While waiting for news of the grant, committee members are gathering information on materials cost and working out details for fundraising.

Committee member Phil Venis has created a design that includes a gazebo open on both sides along the path across the corner property. There’s also room in the plan for “understory” vegetation, like dogwoods, ground juniper and other trees and shrubs. There could be a rain garden, and the committee is working with the town’s stormwater director as well.

The design includes a path constructed with pavers, and the committee hopes to sell the pavers that could be engraved with a family name or dedicated as a memorial. The committee is also considering soliciting donations for memorial trees and benches.

The plan takes into account that the arboretum will be seen not only from Oak Island Drive, but also by residents and visitors coming onto the island via the second bridge.

“This is a chance to educate the public and beautify the island,” Daniels said. It’s also a chance to promote the wide variety of native vegetation.

“I love crape myrtles and live oaks, but we have other trees,” committee co-chairperson Jane Kulesza said.

Daniels said he would like to see the arboretum completed this year.

Daniels has done a complete survey of municipal trees and growing areas along public streets, and catalogued a total of 7,521 trees. He also assessed trees and categorized them by the type of maintenance they required.

The arboretum could be used to help Daniels teach residents proper tree care, such as pruning techniques. Trees and other vegetation could be labeled, and Kulesza said that people walking though the arboretum perhaps would learn something new.

“Somebody may walk through and see something in bloom and stop,” she said.

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Ken Keegan
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No new fees, no new taxes

Realtors in Brunswick County may be hopeful that improved numbers the first two months this year signal an upward trend in the market, but they’re also asking state legislators to give the market more room to recover by not placing additional taxes or fees on the real estate industry.

The message came during the Brunswick County Association of Realtors’ (BCAR) legislative action and media presentation luncheon Monday at the organization’s facility at Supply. Association president Mary Ann McCarthy shared statistics showing residential sales were up 22 percent in January over last year and 57 percent in February.

“We’ve got a trend here,” she said.

Those in the industry are reporting more activity and more traffic, she added, though foreclosures continue to be an issue, with 1,623 in 2009 compared to 891 in 2008.

McCarthy also remarked on the cold weather many in the northern United States have experienced this winter.

“I hate it for them, but I think I like it for us. For buyers who are able, this winter could be a tipping point for us,” she said.

But the 802-member association is also asking for help from state government in giving the market room to grow.

BCAR chief executive officer Steve Candler presented the group’s legislative platform that opposes any increase in the state’s privilege tax. Though a plan to increase the fee Realtors pay for doing business from $50 to $200 did not go through, BCAR still wants the state legislature to leave the fee alone.

The association also opposes implementation of any tax on real estate services, including taxes on related services like home inspections and landscaping, as well as real estate transactions themselves.

The third goal is to endorse terminal groins for use at beach inlets. The N.C. Coastal Resource Commission (CRC) will have one final public hearing before presenting its recommendation on the issue. The CRC will hold a public hearing at Sunset Beach next Wednesday at 5 p.m.

“Please, if you want to see your beaches saved, your tax base preserved, you need to go to the CRC meeting and tell them you want to see terminal groins up and down the North Carolina coast,” Candler said.

Elected officials including state Sen. R.C. Soles, who received a standing ovation, state Rep. Frank Iler and county commissioners Bill Sue and Marty Cooke attended, as well as candidates for some of those same offices.

On the local level, Candler said BCAR wants to work with Brunswick County on the 2011 property revaluation, be involved in annexation reform discussions to help preserve private property rights, support the county’s and local municipalities’ efforts to preserve natural vegetation, and support a fair distribution of sales tax revenue in Brunswick County. The association will also hold candidate interviews and continue meeting with state and federal representatives.

After the meeting, Buddy Rudd, vice-president of Margaret Rudd & Associates and chairman of BCAR’s legislative committee, said new fees and taxes on Realtors could force even more of them out of work. He also said new taxes on services and transactions could make it harder for people to buy a home.

“Before long, you’ll price everyone out of the market,” he said.

Candler said though he knows the state budget needs help, tacking costs onto real estate would have a detrimental effect on the market. Lenders have already tightened their grasp on available money and North Carolina voters have clearly shown they do not favor a transfer tax, he said.

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Ken Keegan
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Monday, March 15, 2010

Photos from the Corvette Museum




Ken Keegan
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County employees to “Dress Down for Relay”

This St. Patrick’s Day Brunswick County employees will get to pair their green with their jeans. On Wednesday the county complex is participating in Dress Down for Relay, a fundraiser for Relay for Life. Employees can buy a $5 sticker that says, “I’m dressed down today for a good cause.” Relay for Life is an American Cancer Society fundraiser. It will be held at West Brunswick High School on April 30.

Brunswick County employees may also find themselves a little more comfortable at the office in April where every Friday is Jeans for Justice. The District Attorneys Office has announced employees will wear jeans every Friday of Sexual Assault Awareness Month and the DA is encouraging other county employees to do the same.


Ken Keegan
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Brunswick's commercial fishermen favor cooperative marina

Brunswick County’s commercial fishermen have spoken, and the majority favor a proposed cooperative marina near Oak Island that would give them a much-needed place to dock their boats.

But for that to become a reality, the fishermen will have to work together.

Commissioner Scott Phillips plans to discuss helping the fishermen acquire land for the marina at the board’s meeting Monday night.

But the county likely won’t have a hand in the logistics of the project, which would include docks, a fueling station and more, Phillips said.

“That’s going to be left up to them,” he added, referring to the fishermen.

The commercial fishermen met March 6 in the commissioners chambers with Phillips and the county Marine Fisheries Advisory Board to gauge interest in building a cooperative marina.

Of the 46 full-time commercial fishermen who voted during the meeting, 44 were in favor of the cooperative marina.

The fishermen are interested in building the co-op on land owned by the state and leased by the Army Corps of Engineers just west of the new Oak Island bridge. A basin already exists there, where dredge spoil was pumped out to nourish area beaches.

Phillips said the commercial fishermen are willing to pay into the cooperative so that it would be self-sustaining.

Since the meeting, Marine Fisheries Advisory Board Chairman Bill Hickman said he has received several phone calls from area fishermen.

“It’s been overwhelming support for it,” he said.

Phillips said after the meeting he received a call from a fisherman in Pender County who is losing his dock space for his 68-foot shrimp trawler and is interested in the cooperative marina.

“It’s gotten some publicity and some interest from other folks,” Phillips said.

Hickman has said the commercial marina could be open to more than just Brunswick County fishermen.

Phillips plans to tell the other commissioners what happened at the meeting and let the board decide where to go from here. The next step would be to contact the state to see if obtaining the property would be an option.

The property is also adjacent to land owned by The Coastal Companies, and the project would need an easement for access.

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Ken Keegan
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Friday, March 12, 2010

County to consider mountain bike trails for Brunswick Nature Park!

The area could soon have another place for off road cycling enthusiasts to spin their wheels. The Brunswick County Board of Commissioners will consider an agreement Monday night with Cape Fear Southern Off Road Biking Association to build mountain bike trails at the Brunswick Nature Park.

The Cape Fear SORBA was formed after the Cape Fear Cyclists became chartered under the International Mountain Biking Association. The group has worked with New Hanover County in the past to develop the Blue Clay Bike Park. Volunteers with the group would solicit funds and build the trails. Any community members who wants to volunteer would need to become a member of SOBRA. The volunteers are covered under a liability policy for the nation charter.

The commissioners will consider the agreement during their regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday in commissioners’ chambers.


Ken Keegan
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Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Corvette






















In 2006, I picked up my new Corvette Z06 from the Corvette Museum & Plant in Bowling Green, KY. Photos will be coming soon!


Ken Keegan
Real Estate Broker
(910) 523-0903 mobile
Email Me
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2010 Snowstorm Photos























































































Ken Keegan
Real Estate Broker

Home Loan Demand Nudges Higher in Latest Week

U.S. mortgage applications nudged up last week, reflecting increased demand for home purchase loans even as interest rates trekked higher, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

If demand for purchase loans, a tentative early indicator of home sales, continues to climb it will bode well for the hard-hit U.S. housing market, which remains highly vulnerable to setbacks and heavily reliant on government intervention.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications, which includes both purchase and refinance loans, for the week ended March 5, increased 0.5 percent.

The four-week moving average of mortgage applications, which smoothes the volatile weekly figures, was up 0.8 percent.

Bill Emerson, CEO of Quicken Loans in Livonia, Michigan, said the lofty level of homes either on the market for sale or about to hit the market through foreclosures and short sales are the biggest threat to the U.S. housing market.

"This inventory will pressure prices, so many people are sidelined right now, waiting for prices to fall further," he said.

The MBA's seasonally adjusted purchase index increased 5.7 percent, while its seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications decreased 1.5 percent.

"While many people have already refinanced over the past year, there is still a huge amount of borrowers who can benefit from it," he said. Many mortgages, however, are "under water," he said.

This negative equity has been one of the biggest banes of homeowners, making many unqualified for home loan refinancing and preventing some from selling.

Borrowers in negative equity, meaning they owe more on their mortgage than their home is currently worth, are more prone to defaults and foreclosures.

Stricter lending standards, higher fees, and declining incomes have also made it tougher on borrowers. Unemployment and underemployment is another huge problem.

The Labor Department last week said the U.S. unemployment rate held steady at 9.7 percent in February.

The MBA said borrowing costs on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, excluding fees, averaged 5.01 percent, up 0.06 percentage point from the previous week.

Interest rates were also above the year-ago level of 4.96 percent. An all-time low of 4.61 percent was set in the week ended March 27, 2009. The survey has been conducted weekly since 1990.

Mortgage rates are expected to rise when the Federal Reserve — the U.S. central bank — stops buying mortgage-related securities at the end of March.

"The Fed will likely take a step back to see if the private sector steps up and starts purchasing the bonds," Emerson said. "If they do not, mortgage rates could move significantly higher."

The lowest mortgage rates in decades and high affordability helped the hard-hit U.S. housing market find some footing in 2009 after a three-year slump. Recent data on new and existing home sales, however, point to a sector that is still struggling.

"It is a slippery slope right now in the housing market," he said.

The MBA said refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 67.2 percent of total applications from 69.1 percent the previous week.

The adjustable-rate mortgage, or ARM, share of activity increased to 5.1 percent from 4.8 percent the previous week, the highest since November 2009.

The MBA said fixed 15-year mortgage rates averaged 4.32 percent, up from 4.27 percent the previous week. Rates on one-year ARMs increased to 6.80 percent from 6.77 percent.

Full Article

Ken Keegan
Real Estate Broker

Monday, March 8, 2010

Southport Spring Festival

Friday, Apr 2 10:00a
at Franklin Square Park, Southport, NC

The Downtown Southport Inc. and the Southport-Oak Island Kiwanis Club celebrate the arrival of Spring and the flowering of the azaleas with the 26th Southport Spring Festival with over 100 crafters and an exciting variety of food. This free event is from 10 to 5 on Friday and Saturday. Saturday features the annual Chili Cook-off Contest prepared by locals who know how to make it best competing for $2,000 in prize money. read more

Event Website

Ken Keegan
Real Estate Broker

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Brunswick County looks at adding development rules to ensure amenities built!

Brunswick County officials are considering tightening rules on developers to make sure the promised swimming pools, clubhouses and other amenities that lured buyers actually get built.

After the economic crash, many property owners in the county were left with expensive lots in subdivisions that look more like deserts than the luxurious communities they were promised.

The county already requires developers to put up a performance bond or other guaranteed financing for basic infrastructure such as water, sewer and roads if well and septic aren't available. But there is no such requirement for amenities.

County Commissioner Marty Cooke recently sent an e-mail to county staff asking them to look into the feasibility of bonding amenities.

“My concern is our development ordinances are not strong enough to ensure a person buying a lot in a development, often investing their life savings to start a new life, only to find that a year or two after they have moved here the amenity package is little more than a dream,” he said in the e-mail to County Manager Marty Lawing and Planning Director Leslie Bell.

Bell said his staff is researching the potential pros and cons of tightening rules on developers.

“We have to look at, do we cross the line? In other words, is that more of a private issue between the buyer and the seller?” he said.

Left in the lurch

It's a common story throughout the county. Seller markets property with lush amenities like pools and beach access. Buyer feels confident as times are good. Market crashes and contractors, companies and banks founder. “Buyer beware” clauses in most contracts state the amenities were never guaranteed.

Property owners are left with devalued lots and turn to legal action.

Enter Bradley Coxe, the attorney representing property owners in San Rio. The once-envisioned Caribbean-theme development of more than 2,000 homes sat abandoned for more than a year.

“The amenities were a very big reason that they moved out there,” Coxe said of his clients, adding most were lured by the promised beach access.

Though Coxe's clients have filed a lawsuit against the developer, the property has since been put into receivership by the court.

Landtech Receiver Services LLC was appointed by a Brunswick County Superior Court judge in September to handle the San Rio project after Wachovia Bank sued the developer, Sandler at Shallotte LLC, for defaulting on its approximately $22.3 million loan.

Landtech plans to finish the basic infrastructure, start on the amenities and possibly sell more lots this summer. And some of the property owners and Coxe recently sat down with Landtech and the original developer to talk about possible settlements, Coxe said.

But the amenities will likely never be built to the scale that was initially promised.

Though San Rio is in Shallotte's jurisdiction, not the county's, Cooke said in his e-mail he has talked to several property owners facing the same problem.

“I don't know if this is a feasible plan or not. I don't know if this will place an undue burden upon developers, but I do know that as of late we've seemingly had a laundry list of developments which were never completed,” he stated.

But the county has been quick to help developers, offering extensions on bonds that come due and compromising over sewer plans.

A risky line to cross

Bell said he has not yet found a nearby county that bonds amenities. In a time when it can be a struggle even to recoup the bond money for the basic infrastructure, bonding amenities could be risky.

Bell said developers have only so much debt capacity.

“You've got to ask yourself where is the county better off: bonding the amenities or bonding the infrastructure?” he said.

The county is currently in the middle of a legal battle with the bonding company for a defunct subdivision called Avalon on N.C. 211.

Chris O'Keefe, planning director for New Hanover County, said the county offers a high level of bonding for basic infrastructure but not for amenities.

“I see some risks involved with doing that,” he said.

If the developer doesn't come through, then the county is left liable for the project, he said.

But Chris May, executive director of the Cape Fear Council of Governments, said although he has not heard of other counties requiring bonds for amenities, considering the situation in Brunswick he can see why officials might want to.

“It might help,” he said, adding it could legitimize projects if buyers know the county will make sure they get done.

Full Article

Ken Keegan
Real Estate Broker
(910) 523-0903 mobile
kenkeegan@seacoastrealty.com
www.KenKeegan.com

Monday, March 1, 2010

St. James Plantation Real Estate Statistics

Here are some important statistics on Real Estate Activity in St. James Plantation for 2009:

  • 51 Homes SOLD
  • Average List Price: $461,767
  • Average Sale Price: $439,201
  • Homes Sold On Average At 95% Of Their List Price
  • Minimum Sale: $149,900
  • Maximum Sale: $1,498,000
  • Average Days On Market: 237 Days
  • 4 Homes Sold In 0-30 Days
  • 3 Homes Sold In 31-60 Days
  • 7 Homes Sold In 61-90 Daus
  • 5 Homes Sold In 91-120 Days
  • 32 Homes Sold In 120+ Days
Currently There Are 133 Homes Listed For Sale In The Neighborhood!

Ken Keegan
Real Estate Broker
(910) 523-0903 mobile
kenkeegan@seacoastrealty.com
www.KenKeegan.com