Cautiousbuyer

I definitely think Wrightsville Beach would leave a nicer impression. I 2nd all of the answers already given.

I live close to Carolina Beach though, so when my family visits they prefer to be near me. My mom actually stayed at a hotel near the Carolina Beach boardwalk one year and was not impressed whatsoever! It was party central. So in the future I think she will try Kure Beach. - Sun Aug 17 2008, 21:00

I just googled "charlotte tax records" and found the website right away.

This should give you a lot of information! Good luck!
http://meckcama.co.mecklenburg.nc.us/relookup/ - Tue Aug 5 2008, 20:05

Actually it would cost you money to have a buyer's agent. You are the one bringing the money to the table. The seller is simply taking 3% of that and handing it over to the agent. They would probably want to add the agent's commission to the sales price so you are paying a higher price!!!

It is possible to buy a house without an agent. First of all if you want to know how much houses nearby have sold for recently, go to realtor.com. Where it says "what's your home worth?" type in the street address and zip code. It will give you sale prices of homes close by. It is easy to get in your car and drive past the houses on the list to gauge how how similar they are to the house you want to buy.

The tax value and price the owner paid for the house is PUBLIC RECORD! You should not have to pay for this service. I know New Hanover County has a website in which you can find all that info. You just type in an address and it gives you the owner's name, tax districts, past sales data (back to the 1970s), square footage, permit data...basicly everything you need to know about the house.

I don't know where you would find that info in Charlotte, but I'm sure a quick phone call to some govt agencies would point you in the right direction.

Of course, if this is the first time you are buying a house, you may feel more comfortable getting a buyer's agent to help you with this purchase (a major purchase at that). But make sure you find a good, honest one. You don't want someone that is going to tell you that you need to pay more than necessary just so they get more commission (b/c the higher price you pay, the more their commission is).

I will say that I have looked at numerous houses FSBO & houses for sale through a realtor, and 95% of the time the FSBO house is overpriced when compared to the rest. So be careful. Definitely take the time to do your research! It's worth it! - Tue Aug 5 2008, 19:48

Yes I agree....you never know if there are deals unless you ask. I have found some houses I like, but I guess after making one offer and being disappointed at the results, I haven't made any more offers even though I've found houses I liked and wanted to buy. If the list prices were lower I'd be more motivated to make more offers. I don't want to overpay for a house - especially the ones I have been looking at that need some work & updating. I'm a single parent and need to stay as low as possible in my house purchase price - not buy the maximum amount the mortgage broker tells me I can get a loan for.

It would be really nice if house prices in Wilmington reflected the pay scale a little better. It is still much cheaper to rent a house in the Wilmington area than to buy one, since rents are usually more reflective of salaries in the area. - Mon Aug 4 2008, 09:49

Yes the $7,500 is a benefit. But it's going to take a lot more than a little $7,500 interest-free loan that the buyer will not receive until next year to get buyers out there. In the Wilmington market sellers are still trying to list their house @ 2006 prices. Until list prices go down, buyers are just not motivated. It is still significantly cheaper to rent a nice house than buy it.

Just an example:
I saw a few houses in Monterey Heights listed @ $165,000?!?!?! Are these people on drugs?!?! Have they driven in their own neighborhood & seen how run down it is? I wouldn't pay more than $110,000.

Also you have to keep in mind that as of October 1st, these 1st time buyers will not be able to get the downpayment from the seller anymore (via an inflated price). So that means people will actually have to have MONEY SAVED IN THE BANK for the 3% downpayment! In our debt society that will take a while for many people. - Fri Aug 1 2008, 16:01

Realtor.com - in the middle of the page it says "what's your home worth?"
Type in your street address and zip,and it will give you a list of sales prices for the "closest homes". You can also click on the tab that says "most recent sales" if you want more recent data. It's very accurate, as I have verified the information on my local county website.

The information isn't as detailed a realtor as far as square footage, # of bedrooms, etc, but it gives you an idea. And it's not hard to get in your car & drive around the block looking at the homes on the list to get an idea of what they look like and the size.

When working with a realtor I've noticed that the realtor.com list didn't match theirs (somehow the cheap homes were not showing up on my realtor's list because a realtor is going to show you what they want you to see). - Wed Jul 30 2008, 14:13

You would probably save a LOT of money by simply renting. - Wed Jul 30 2008, 14:05