Real Estate Entropy

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Brian Miller
Realtor/Broker NC/SC
704.651.3888

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And the Survey Says……

July 15th, 2008 categories: Buyer Info, Home Inspections, Real Estate Investing, Real Estate News, Seller Info

Gameshow Television game shows are famous for using the line “…and our survey shows…” Who knows how these surveys are conducted. Does anyone ever check the results? Is the buying and selling of real estate a game show? Of course not, but there is a big deal survey when it comes to purchasing a home. Surveyor2 That is a different survey. The kind of survey done for home sales is done in a similar fashion today as it was a number of years ago.

That is using the transit and a multitude of tools to essentially measure a property to determine boundaries, dimensions, etc. I have always wanted to follow a surveyor around and look through their scopes, etc. and see what all they do. Seems fascinating to me in an geeky sort of way. Maybe one day I will get the opportunity.

Anyway…in a real estate transaction, the question of a survey often comes up in the closing process. In the Charlotte, NC area we are not required to have a survey completed to close out a transaction. Banks don’t seem to care, though they recommend a survey be obtained. (This has always sorta baffled me…more on this later)

So what is the deal with a having a survey in the closing process? Like just mentioned, a survey is typically not required by anyone to get a home sale completed. I can go out, find me a house, agree to a price with the seller, find an attorney to handle the transaction, hand the seller a check, and have the attorney record the sale at the courthouse. All this with no survey.

If you have never thought much about property lines, surveys, etc. here’s some scoop for ya. In everyday-USA–subdivision, property lines were originally established by a surveyor who was under the direction of the developer, city, county, etc. as to how the subdivision would be laid out. The surveyor went around and marked each individual piece of land and probably drove some very long steel rods into the ground to mark the corners of the property. The builder then came in and built a beautiful new home within these property lines. As a side note here: most subdivisions also have rules as to the setback lines on a property. Setback lines establish a sort of buffer between you and your neighbor. Setback lines are the closest point to the property line at which a builder can build on the plat of land. The setback distances are set as part of the rules and agreements with the builder and city/county zoning people.

So what does this have to do with buying a home? And what the heck does it have to do with me if I am buying a home already built? Actually quite a lot. The next part of the “survey-scoop” being provided here in this post: As a buyer I will be asked (hopefully) by my top notch real estate agent if I want to have a survey completed as part of the closing process. If I’ve never done this before, I will probably say “…umm, I guess so, does it cost me anything?” My top notch agent will say “oh yes, here in the Charlotte area, a typical survey will run around $400, but they will bill that at closing..”

Yikes! Another $400 added to my closing costs? I hadn’t budgeted for that, so why should a person have one done? In my opinion, a survey is like a very cheap, one-time insurance policy. When you request a survey, you will get as a finished product a map of your property. It will show very accurately your property lines, set-back lines, all “improvements” made to the property. Improvements are things like the home, fences, storage buildings, etc. This “map” will also show any easements, major natural features like streams, lakes, etc. Hopefully the survey will have no surprises like a fence drifting over onto the neighbors property.

The surprises of a survey can, alone, make this money well spent. Here’s what I mean. Say you get the survey back and you see that the neighbors fence of the place you are about to purchase drifts over across your property line by a few feet in the far back corner. This is good information because you now have the right to go tear down that section of fence and throw the pieces into his pool. (just kidding – I wanted to see if you were still reading). You do have the right to demand Mr and Mrs Neighbor be so kind (we are in the South here in Charlotte, so we are polite) as to remove that part of the “offending” fence. Wait just a minute though…

A beautiful thing about surveys is that your attorney who is handling the closing (or escrow as some call it) can also tell you specifically what your rights are regarding the survey. The best thing is to let the attorney (who probably actually place the order for the survey anyway) advise you as to your rights and recommend the best way to deal with this. Normally you will discover this before the final papers are signed and you can get the seller to deal with it. Asking the neighbor to remove the fence is probably the second easiest solution. The easiest is just to ignore the issue, get the attorney to send the neighbor a letter to notify them. You can move in with having nothing done and live with no issues for probably as long as you own the property. Probably (and an attorney can confirm for your situation) there will never be any questions about this until you go to sell. Your buyer might get pretty excited (and not in a polite Southern way) knowing that they are giving up property to the neighbor and then you will probably have to deal with it. People can be funny about this. Some view giving up a few feet in a corner of the property as a trivial thing. Others will feel they are giving a piece of their soul and are willing to fight to the death for it. If your clever, on-top-of-things real estate agent knows this, he or she should have that fully disclosed in your listing paperwork. That way the potential buyer knows this well before the survey flags it.

The flip side of this is when the home you are buying has a fence or building that extends over onto the neighbors property. Again, you have the option with the sellers as how to best address this. If it is minor (at least in your eyes) you might just accept it and let it go. Of course if your neighbor sells their property and the new buyer finds your fence on his property,that fence might end up in your pool.

The point, though in all this, is that it is really in your best interest to know of any property line issues before you sign the papers. Plus if there are no known issues with your structures nor your neighbors, you have a document proving that to your buyers (assuming you don’t add anything to the property). It also is a very informative document for your own use. You will know specifically where your property lines fall and how where the various improvements sit in reference to these property lines. Therefore pay for a survey and be glad you did.

I will close this with a little survey horror story. Just this year I helped some buyers close on a gorgeous home that was only five years old. Fortunately I recommended they pay for a survey. Heeding my advice, a survey was completed. Not only was the neighbors fence encroaching onto my buyers’ property, but the builder had built the home in the wrong place! It was several feet over the setback lines on two sides. A person can’t exactly tear down a house a move it. The seller was not aware of the issue, until our survey. In the end, the seller had to spend A LOT of money in legal fees to get this cleared up. There was a tremendous amount of legal time spent trying to find out whose fault it was and how to clear up the problem. This eventually had to be brought before the city zoning board for a variance request. The closing was delayed by 7 months! If my buyers had not had the survey completed, they would have had this headache on them when the time comes for them to sell. whew!!

If I ever had any doubts about the benefits of a survey, this little incident sealed forever the importance of having one.

Happy selling and buying….

Spoken by Brian | Discussion: No Comments »

Monday Mattoid Musings - Independence Day Reprise

July 8th, 2008 categories: Monday Mattoid Musings, Off-the-Wall

Crazyguy

Definition of mattoid : Nobody is ever partly pregnant, but what about being semi-insane? If you know an unhinged genius, borderline psychopath, quirky monomaniac, extreme eccentric, deranged philosopher or restless crank, you know a mattoid. The mattoid is not quite around the bend but always has the turn signal switched on. From an Italian word for “insane”.

We just came out of one of the great holidays for our country. It’s one of the few holidays we don’t get too stuck in religon, politics, whatever. July 4 is the birthday of our great country. Of course it is three or four days past July 4 and this is Tuesday NOT Monday (yesterday turned crazy so I am late with this), but I just had to toss out my salutes to a few great performances of the National Anthem.

Maybe I’m just old-fashioned, but it drives me nuts when some celebrity sings the National Anthem and adds their “artistic intrepretation” and performs it in some barely recognizable version. I get goose bumps every time I hear this performed.

So with that said, here are three versions that I really like (no specific order):

Whitney Houston at Super Bowl XXV in 1991:

Then there is Faith Hill:

And one last one (maybe the best because of who it is):

Have a great week….

Spoken by Brian | Discussion: No Comments »

Is it a Mood Swing, or maybe A Hot Flash…??

July 3rd, 2008 categories: Charlotte Area News, Off-the-Wall, Real Estate News, Seller Info

Contemplative guy You ever just stop and think? …or maybe want to? I haven’t had to the chance lately to really do this, but I have been doing a lot of thinking regarding my blog and the direction I want it to go and how to fully engage in the incredibly world of social networking.

One thought that hit me, within the past two weeks or so, is the tone in my blog. Blogging, in my opinion is a lot of fun. It has also been surprisingly pretty hard work.

Recently my site was hacked into, and you might have seen a brief post on that. With the help of my friends over at the Tomato, we have restored things pretty much back to normal. During the up and down period, I found myself frustrated about the inability to post, and hated seeing my blog sort of operating on six of eight cylinders.

But you know, I sort of came to a point, where I just thought “..it is what it is..” things happen. Life will go on, and having a wounded blog is far from being catastrophic. One thing, though, is that it gave me some time to ponder any changes I want to make.

Lecture Perhaps the most major change I want to make is more philosophical. It’s easy to use a blog as sort of a platform to tell the world how smart you are. That’s probably ok for the most part, but one thing I find is that it’s pretty easy to start “pounding the podium” on a topic. Part of that just comes from the passion of believing in your topic, but sometimes it feels way to heavy-handed for my style.

So, my thinking is, that from now on, I am going to be especially cognizant of the tone I am taking. This blog exists to provide people with good, solid information, of course heavily slanted toward real estate. A key thing though, is that it should be fun. I love funny and/or creative things, so I am of the firm belief my blog should be that way.

Maybe this all sounds a little melodramatic or self-serving, but it’s not intended that way. Just the contemplative mood I find myself in this morning. Maybe, like the title says, not a mood swing but something else. Who knows…

By the way – it’s Fourth of July weekend…!! wooo hoooo… what a great country we have.

Happy Fourthing to you….

Spoken by Brian | Discussion: No Comments »

Monday Mattoid Musings

June 30th, 2008 categories: Monday Mattoid Musings, Real Estate News

Crazyguy

Woo hoo…here it is. Another Monday in Center of the Universe, aka Charlotte, NC. Weather is plenty warm, but actually not bad for practically-July. Here are a few of my Monday Musings (real estate related and otherwise):

Luggage Ok, first of all, can the airline industry be more messed up right now? Seems they are screaming that they can’t make money, don’t seem to care about customer service, etc. etc. Yet I traveled this week and every flight on every leg was slammed full. I know, it’s summer vacationers, or at least so they say. There just seems to be this sense of “…don’t bother me, we will probably be bought or merge with someone soon, and it will change anyway..” mood among employees. Not sure that I blame them, though.

I was supposed to arrive back in Charlotte at 8:41 pm and actually got here at 2:15 am. Was in bed by 3:30 am. That was fun. One more last vent on this – what is up with charging for any checked bags? Is it just me or didn’t the airlines used to complain constantly that passengers were bringing WAY to much carry-on luggage and WANTED us to check it? Of course, now in our post-911 travel scenarios, checked bags in security means more hassles in the security lines. This will make security better? I don’t think so… Here’s my armchair-airline-CEO solution – raise all the ticket prices by $10, then give everyone a discount of $10 if they don’t bring any carry-on baggage except briefcase and purse.

Here is my real estate advice for the week – BUY NOW !! I’ve seen it and heard it from numerous other agents. It seems that buyers are hesitating about making a purchase right now. There is a big fear that they will buy, then home prices will drop, and they will be left holding the bag. Speaking only for the greater Charlotte market, and that includes Cabarrus, York, Union, Lancaster Counties, etc. our prices are very stable and have been for a while. No doubt the market is slow, but slow means something different. Our prices have not dropped significantly if at all. Houses are sitting on the market longer, but the selling prices remain strong

Yes, if you only plan to buy today and sell in one year, then chances are you will struggle to see a financial gain. Unless the market is steamy hot, that is almost always true in normal markets. Today interest rates remain at near record lows. A buyer, right now, can go out and find a great deal on many homes. A great deal doesn’t mean getting 50% of asking price (although of course that is a great deal, but not too realistic). A savvy buyer today can take their time, research and view homes and find a great home at a good price. While there is never a guarantee, chances are that home will appreciate in value quite nicely. I happen to know a great realtor who can help you with this….

Speaking of home prices. Let me know if you want an update sent to you regularly on home sales activity in your area. I have a great new tool that lets me set you up, then you will get a report every so often. You can determine what “every-so-often” means. And like I ALWAYS say – no obligation, no pressure. Just good solid information. You will see more about this soon here. Still a few technical difficulties with my blog (more on that this week). Stay tuned….

Happy Monday to ya….

Spoken by Brian | Discussion: No Comments »

Banging a Noisy Gong…

June 2nd, 2008 categories: Buyer Info, Charlotte Area News, Real Estate News, Seller Info

The past few weeks have had me starting the week with Monday Mattoid Musings, but today felt compelled to share a story�

I wasnt sure if to write on this or not, and if so, should it be another topic, but here it is anyway. Boxing kid I took a body shot yesterday sort of unexpectedly. Earlier this year I had been working with this great couple, who had found me via my web site (always a good thing). We seemed to click well, and they are some of those folks you enjoy showing properties to because they are nice, pleasant, etc.

They were considering downsizing, and looking primarily at nice condo/townhomes. We had found one that they liked but was well above what they wanted to pay. We looked at it twice plus others in the complex. The really liked it, but kept saying it was more than they were going to pay. The wife particularly liked one unit. There were some other issues surrounding the unit, but at the risk here of breaching some confidentiality, better leave alone and not mention specifics. Anyway, we left the complex. We had some other discussions about the location, possibly moving on. I needed to do some investigation on some of the issues.

You will find me quickly getting on the bandwagon about quality, service, follow-up, etc, but I dropped the ball here. For lots of reasons, excuses, whatever you might want to call them, I didnt get the necessary information as quickly as I should have. Nearly two weeks elapsed before I got the necessary information. At the time there were valid� reasons, but bottom line I could have and should have done infinitely better. To make a long story short, the sales numbers were recently released on this specific complex. Want to take one guess who purchased that condo directly from the listing agent? Yep, and at a sales price of over $500,000. You do the math on how much money I left on the table.

Before you ask, no I did not have a buyers agency agreement. I have argued and will continue to argue a long time about the benefit of these agreements. I am a firm believer in firing an agent who does not uphold their end of the deal. In this case I didnt and would have been fired. Would they have fired me if I was on top of things like I should be, and used that as a means of getting a lower price? Possibly, but somehow Im doubtful. I let myself get too comfortable.Even a thick-headed person like myself can sense somethings up when calls and emails dont get returned, so of course

Crazy muscian2 It is easy to sit here and go on all day about taking care of clients, etc. yet if I dont follow through with my preaching�, Im nothing but a crazy man banging a noisy gong. Right now Im quite frustrated with myself, and frankly, a lot embarrassed. I thought about not even posting this, as Im not sure if I will get a lot of lectures on improper paperwork, looking like a fool, or whatever. Hopefully others can learn from my mistake. Its guaranteed I learned yet another lesson. In hindsight I can see all sorts of places where I should have had my eyes and ears open better. Maybe I should quit banging the gong, so I can hear the important stuff.

So there it is as embarrassing and painful as it is. To Lee and Sally (not their real names but if they read this will recognize the similarities), my apologies.

Happy Monday anyway to everyone�

Spoken by Brian | Discussion: 2 Comments »

Mattoid Musings for Memorial Day

May 26th, 2008 categories: Monday Mattoid Musings, Real Estate News

Crazyguy

I ran across a great definition of myself from a fun site called f2.org.

The site gave this definition of mattoid : Nobody is ever partly pregnant, but what about being semi-insane? If you know an unhinged genius, borderline psychopath, quirky monomaniac, extreme eccentric, deranged philosopher or restless crank, you know a mattoid. The mattoid is not quite around the bend but always has the turn signal switched on. From an Italian word for “insane”.

My random thoughts for this Memorial Day weekend First of all it is Memorial Day. A day to remember the brave men and women who have given their lives in the service of our country. Often I think about my level of maturity, point in life, etc. when I was at the age many of our soldiers are and were when they died. I cannot begin to comprehend how it would have been for me to attempt military duty at that age. My prayers are out for the families who have lost loved ones and those currently serving. Thank you, thank you.

Im reminded of an excellent book The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw. It is a collection of stories of people during the World War II days. Incredible stories of ordinary people doing incredible things in service of our country.

I was struck by the mind set of this time. How folks just rose to serve because it was what you did. It is a different time now. Would we do it again? I hope so�

Speaking of Memorial Day You considering moving to North Carolina? What are you waiting for? This weekend we have nearly perfect weather. We are enjoying perfect temperature evenings on our decks with the grills burning and burgers sizzling. In a few weeks the heat will be too much, but for now? wow�.surely no place in the country is this nice.

Memorial Day is also race weekend here in Charlotte, with the Coca-Cola 600 being a highlight. I watched the Indy 500 from my couch. I dont follow racing all that closely, but there is something about the Indy, that I have always loved. Did you see Danica Patrick storm down pit row looking for some conversation� with Ryan Briscoe, the driver that took her out of the race with a mistake in the pits?

Track officials diverted her off before she reached her destination, but Im wondering if a woman comes up to a fellow male competitor, and shoves him in anger, what happens next? Not a good situation for either�

Interest rates are still really low and there are some great house deals out there. Lets talk�.

Spoken by Brian | Discussion: No Comments »

Monday Mattoid Musings

April 28th, 2008 categories: Monday Mattoid Musings

Crazyguy

Luggage Ok, first of all, can the airline industry be more messed up right now? Seems they are screaming that they can’t make money, don’t seem to care about customer service, etc. etc. Yet I traveled this week and every flight on every leg was slammed full. I know, it’s summer vacationers, or at least so they say. There just seems to be this sense of “…don’t bother me, we will probably be bought or merge with someone soon, and it will change anyway..” mood among employees. Not sure that I blame them, though.

I was supposed to arrive back in Charlotte at 8:41 pm and actually got here at 2:15 am. Was in bed by 3:30 am. That was fun – NOT. One more last vent on this – what is up with charging for any checked bags? Is it just me or didn’t the airlines used to complain constantly that passengers were bringing WAY to much carry-on luggage and WANTED us to check it? Of course, now in our post-911 travel scenarios, checked bags in security means more hassles in the security lines. This will make security better? I don’t think so…

Here’s my armchair-airline-CEO solution – raise all the ticket prices by $10, then give everyone a discount of $10 if they don’t bring any carry-on baggage except briefcase and purse.

Happy Monday to ya….

Spoken by Brian | Discussion: 1 Comment »

Announcing a New Weekly Feature - Monday Mattoid Musings

April 21st, 2008 categories: Buyer Info, Charlotte Area News, Monday Mattoid Musings, Off-the-Wall, Seller Info

Crazyguy

I ran across a great definition of myself from a fun site called f2.org.

The site gave this definition of mattoid : Nobody is ever partly pregnant, but what about being semi-insane? If you know an unhinged genius, borderline psychopath, quirky monomaniac, extreme eccentric, deranged philosopher or restless crank, you know a mattoid. The mattoid is not quite around the bend but always has the turn signal switched on. From an Italian word for “insane”. Ha � I�m afraid this is me.

So my Monday Musings are just a few random comments, thoughts, ideas, you name it on all sorts of topics that come to mind. So with that here goes my inaugural �Monday Musings� -

First thing that comes to mind today is what seems to be that a hacker has managed to get into my blog site and deleted a bunch of postings�grrrr. I have two or three of the most very recent that can be re-posted, but I�m afraid the rest are lost forever. It sucks too, because I know some of the �incredible� posts were linked back from other sites. Now those links will not work, even if I have the article reposted�.grrrrrrr.

Oh well, what�s done is done, I will deal with it. Now on a much more positive note. I was privileged the other day to attend the 80th birthday party of one of my dear neighbors. Her husband had invited family and friends to a nice dinner. As everyone was finishing, the husband stands up to thank everyone for coming and to say a few words about his wife. As he finished someone else stood up and asked to speak.

This person said a few nice things, then another person did the same. It was a beautiful, spontaneous, expression of love and caring for a wonderful person. As I watched and admired how she had impacted so many people, I literally had tears in my eyes thinking of how so much in life really doesn�t matter.

Coincidentally, I had just heard on the radio the day before about one of those feel-good emails that circulate. I hadn�t seen this one, but I wish I had.

It asked the question of do you remember who was the MVP in this year�s Super Bowl? Last year�s? Who won Best Actress this year? Last year? Who won the Nobel Peace Prize? The next question � what teacher impacted you in school? what friend stepped in for you? what stranger said a kind word?

The point was that we can strive to be famous, become wildly wealthy, collect awards, etc. Nothing necessarily wrong with that, but maybe our impact on this world is within a much smaller sphere. And maybe the the impact is far more powerful when we do impact our own circle, no matter how small it might seem.

As I listened to all the people stand and pay tribute to my neighbor, I was thinking � outside this room, hardly anyone knows her name, yet look at how powerfully she has had an effect on these people. It really made me stop and think and slow down.

Happy Monday to ya�!!

Spoken by Brian | Discussion: 1 Comment »

Repairs Needed??

April 20th, 2008 categories: Buyer Info, Charlotte Area News, Home Inspections, NC Mortgage News, Off-the-Wall, Real Estate Investing, Real Estate News, Seller Info

Repairs needed? On a home? No, unfortunately, I�m talking about my blog�.

I discovered this morning that a ton of my posts have been deleted. It seems that everything posted since last November has vanished?

My friends at The Tomato will surely help me resolve this. Right now I�m posting this for a few key reasons: a) to those who do come here to read my blog � THANK YOU, and please come back soon. b) if this happens to be your first visit, I really do update my blog more than every 6 months� c) this is a sort of test post. I hope I can post normally and there are no problems there�.

It is really scary to think at this minute that all those posts since November, may be lost forever. I have never thought about saving them on another file somewhere. I mean, won�t they always be here�?? Perhaps a hard lesson�

Stay tuned�..

Spoken by Brian | Discussion: 3 Comments »

Did You Put on Your Clean Underwear�?

March 26th, 2008 categories: Buyer Info, Real Estate Investing, Real Estate News, Seller Info

Your mother ever tell you that? �Make sure you always have on clean underwear. You never know when you might be in an accident�� Ideally it had to be clean and free of holes, etc. I guess the thinking here is that if you are injured, you don�t want to have people seeing something you�d [�]

Spoken by brian | Discussion: No Comments »

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