It is always about supply and demand.
In May I wrote about the factors that most affect supply and demand: the availability of jobs in the market, consumer confidence, and the affordability of housing (the cost of homeownership).
Last week, The National Association of REALTORS released the July housing report showing that existing home sales were sharply [...]

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Charlotte, NC, the economic engine for the region, has seen steady employment growth over the years (55,000 to 70,000 jobs). Headquarters to many national firms, we are also becoming a nationally-recognized destination supported by a thriving convention and hospitality business with numerous restaurants and nightlife locations to chose from.  More than one billion with a [...]

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The news is pretty bad this week.  A lot of doom and gloom in the national headlines, especially with unemployment rates still in double-digits, and with employers sitting tight with no new hires.  There is however, some great news coming out of the Triad Region this week and we can only get excited about where [...]

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If you ask many loan officers, although dealing with first time homebuyers is challenging, it is easier to set the right expectations on the mortgage process as they have not been through it before.  Today’s first-time homebuyer never experienced the easy mortgage process prevalent in the late 1990’s to 2007.
The most difficult group to set [...]

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I moved to Greenville in 1998. What drew me to this great place was the quaint and charming Main Street, lined with cafes, shops and delightful restaurants.
My first job when I moved here was located in a historic building right on Main Street.  I was somehow lucky enough to have an office with a window [...]

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It is that time of year again.  The start of the craziness that is the school year.  School buses are on the road and the kids are on their way back to school.  I don’t know about you but I wonder what happens to summer.  They never seem to be long enough but at the [...]

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It’s no secret that “foreclosure” has become a hot topic.
CNNMoney recently posted a story about a decline in the national foreclosure rate, referencing recent numbers collected by RealtyTrac, the leading online aggregator of foreclosure data. The article discusses an overall 5.14% decline in the number of foreclosure filings in the first half of 2010 from [...]

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On Monday, I had the opportunity to attend Social Fresh, a conference in Charlotte that covers all things social media. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Email Marketing, Blogs and LinkedIn. The day-long, six-session, jam packed conference featured some of the best, brightest and most adventurous social media panelists including, Bert Dumars of Newell Rubbermaid, Greg Cangialosi of [...]

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Selecting an architect has become infinitely easier and much more affordable. With the advent of plan books and computer aided design known as CAD, you can now buy a ready to build set of blueprints at a very affordable price. However as we have mentioned in this series, don’t let price be the driver of [...]

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Picture this.  You sit down one morning to check your online banking account and see a number of charges that you don’t recognize—some are even out of state and you haven’t been traveling!  You also check your credit card statement and find that you have no available balance because of purchases made that you don’t [...]

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