Barbara Green

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Luxury Homebuilder in Charlotte Succumbs to Housing Slump

By Barbara Green(RSS)

Sep 10th 2010 @ 10:32AM

Chalk it up to the protracted housing slump: The leading home builder in the southeast won't be erecting any more houses. Charlotte, N.C.-based Simonini Builders has announced it will be closing operations by the end of the year. One of the best-known luxury home builders in the nation, Simonini was awarded Builder Magazine's "2002 America's Best Builder Award," "2005 Best in American Living Award," and Professional Builder's Magazine "2006 National Builder of the Year."
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'Sexy' Homes Spice Up North Carolina Market

By Barbara Green(RSS)

Sep 9th 2010 @ 12:20PM

A Charlotte, N.C. real estate firm says business is booming, thanks to their sexy new marketing plan that involves hiring models to pose in listings photos of luxury homes.

During the boom years of 2006 and 2007, Peters and Associates Real Estate was the No.1 seller of high-end homes in the Charlotte region. Then the market crashed and real estate sales dried up for most of 2008 and 2009. Peters and Associates owners Nick and Miriam Peters then decided to spice up their marketing and have been having tremendous success ever since.
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Real Estate Rich, Cash Poor Struggle to Stage Homes for Sale

By Barbara Green(RSS)

Aug 16th 2010 @ 1:54PM

Do you have friends that love to go out with you, but never invite you to their home? How about neighbors who are super-nice in the yard, but never let you in the house? Don't worry. It isn't you, it's them.

They are hiding a secret that has been kept for years by many homeowners, but the economic decline is causing the veneer of this life of illusion to crack. These friends and neighbors are victims of the American Dream: having the big house to prove you've "made it," but having no money left over to decorate it.

So how did so many people end up real estate rich and decor poor?

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Bankrupt 'New Jersey Housewife' Auctions Off Mansion Contents

By Barbara Green(RSS)

Jul 29th 2010 @ 1:46PM

Teresa Giudice, bankrupt New Jersey housewifeThe woman made famous by her temper-fueled table flip on the Bravo reality show "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" may have to come up with a new way to deal with her anger now that her tables and everything else in her 10,000-square-foot mansion have to be sold at auction, including her wedding ring.

Teresa Giudice's bankruptcy auction has been scheduled for Aug. 22 to relieve her and her husband, Joe, of nearly $11 million of debt, along with their home's furnishings. In June, the couple revealed that they were mired in obligations for millions of dollars of expenditures, despite an annual household income of $79,000.

Photos were released yesterday of the inventory that's up for grabs, and there has been a firestorm of commentary on the Internet ever since.
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Home Staging Virus Spreads, Decorators Cheer!

By Barbara Green(RSS)

Jul 20th 2010 @ 11:01AM

Home stagingAt a time when many companies are downsizing or closing, the home staging business is booming. Home staging was listed as one of seven emerging growth industries according to a 2009 CNN report. The growth is attributed to the stagnant real estate market.

With homes taking longer to sell, there ends up being more homes for qualified buyers to choose from, so a motivated seller is best served by hiring a home stager to make their house stand out from all the rest.

Homes that are professionally staged sell five times faster and for 5 percent more than homes that were not staged.

So what do sellers need to know when hiring a home staging professional?

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Why Move When You Can Improve? Time to Renovate Is Now

By Barbara Green(RSS)

Jul 15th 2010 @ 5:47PM

Don't let the slow real estate market keep you from having the home of your dreams. You don't have to move, you just need to improve. And this is the perfect time to do so.

Never before have all the stars been so perfectly aligned to facilitate the remodeling needed to give you your perfect palace. Materials costs have been lowered to increase sales, building contractors have reduced their fees to attract more clients, and interest rates are the lowest they have ever been. If you've ever wanted to tackle a home improvement task, this is the time to do so.

Here are five good places to start:
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Home Risks for Children Increase During Summer Vacation

By Barbara Green(RSS)

Jul 14th 2010 @ 2:25PM

Know how to childproof your home this summerAdults like to reminisce about the carefree, lazy days of summer, but for today's kids, summer vacation is anything but. And the average home isn't necessarily a refuge from danger.

According to Safe Kids Worldwide and U.S. News and World Report, summer is Trauma Season, with an average of 2.4 million children visiting the emergency room and over 2,800 deaths during that 2-month period.

Parents may think that home is the safest place for their children, but 69 percent of children's deaths were from home-related accidents. Children younger than 5 and boys are the most frequent victims. The dangers at home are universal, as illustrated in a recent Jerusalem Post article that reported a new public safety campaign uniting childhood safety advocates with interior designers and architects to come up with solutions to the risks that children face at home.

To find out where the dangers lurk in your home, read on:
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Best Investment of Homebuyer Tax Credit

By Barbara Green(RSS)

Jun 24th 2010 @ 8:30PM

The Senate recently voted to extend the $8,000 federal homebuyer tax credit aimed at stimulating sales to September 30, 2010 (it was originally going to end on June 30). So now it looks like an estimated 180,000 home purchasers who were already in the sales pipeline could benefit from the tax credit. [Update: The extension now appears dead in the Senate, after a June 25 vote on it, but the credit still applies to deals closed by June 30].

So what would these lucky new homeowners do with this lucrative windfall -- here are some suggestions for projects to improve the home:
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Poll

Rob Hahn asked, now you get to answer: What is your attitude towards owning a home vs. renting longterm?
Owning a home is still a great way to invest for the long term - it's still at the center of the American Dream9126 (66.2%)
Ownership can be overrated. It's better to rent long term than extend yourself financially just for the sake of owning a home.4659 (33.8%)

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