Diane's Wilmington NC Real Estate Thoughts: March 2008

On Monday, North Carolina Education Lottery Officials announced that a new daytime drawing game called "Carolina Pick 3" will begin March 31, 2008.  The top prize will be $500 and will follow rules for the similar nighttime drawing that started in October 2006.  You can purchase your first tickets on March 30, 2008, at participating retailers.  The drawing will be held at 3:00 in the afternoon Monday through Saturday, but will not be televised.  You will be able to get the winning numbers off of the website or during the evening news broadcasts of several television stations.

In August 2005, Gov. Mike Easley signed into law the North Carolina State Lottery Act (H. 1023) and the 2005 Appropriations Act (S. 622) which established the North Carolina Education Lottery.   The State Lottery Act describes guidelines as to how each lottery dollar will be spent. Retailers receive a 7% commission for selling tickets. Up to 8% may be spent on administration. At least 50% will be paid out in prizes and as nearly as practicable 35% will be transferred to the Education Lottery Fund at the Office of State Budget and Management. 100% of the net proceeds of the North Carolina Education Lottery go to education programs. 

For more information on the NC Education Lottery, you can visit their website at: http://www.nc-educationlottery.org/ and for more information on the Wilmington area, please feel free to visit my website at:  http://thekeytowilmington.com/

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a tip to get your Economic Stimulus Rebate quicker...sign up to get your 2007 Tax Refund via direct deposit directly into one of your bank accounts!  The agency announced Monday that  "direct depositors" and people whose social security numbers end in low digits (i.e. 04)  will be among the first to get their rebate checks. 

Taxpayers who are going to receive refunds or those who have to make a tax payment through direct deposit will begin to receive their rebates in early May (beginning on May 2^nd).  All of those deposits are expected to be made within two weeks.  Then beginning May 16^th the rest of the payments will start going out through US mail.  The final rebate checks should be mailed by July 11, 2008.

This is not only good news for Wilmingtonians, but for all Americans.  Hopefully, these "found dollars" will help stimulate the economy over all.

We all know today's savvy consumers are constantly looking for ways to save money.  I thought I would pass along some helpful tips to slash your electric bills.  Using some or all of these helpful tips should help you cut your electric costs.

•1.       Turn off lights you aren't using.  Obviously, this seems simple, but I bet if you walk around your house right now, you could find a few lights to turn off.  This is a key step to cutting costs.

•2.       Cut back on lights you use, both indoors and outdoors.  Indoors, you can install dimmer switches to control the amount of light you use or decrease the bulb wattage.  You can also concentrate on "task" lighting rather than room lighting.  You can replace standard bulbs with fluorescent bulbs.  They use 1/4 to 1/3 of the electricity of standard bulbs.  While initially, the cost is somewhat greater than standard bulbs, they last up to 13 times longer.  So, coupled with the longer life and the reduction in electric use the savings can be substantial.  Outdoors, you can install motion sensors on lights so they are only used when needed and solar lighting can also be beneficial.

•3.       Adjust your thermostat.  In the heat of summer, set your inside temperature to 78 degrees or higher so the air conditioner will run less.  You can also install a programmable thermostat so you can set the temperature to be higher when no one is home or at night, when the temperatures are cooler.

•4.       You can set the air conditioner to run on "fan only" cycle.  This will re-circulate the air already in the house throughout the house, keeping it comfortable.  Another tip concerning the air conditioning system is to clean or change your system filters frequently to keep the system running at peak performance.

•5.       Your refrigerator can gobble up electricity to regulate itself.  First, be sure to set it to the manufacturers guidelines for efficiency.  Plan your trips to it and open it briefly to maintain the internal temperature.  Vacuum the coils to remove excess dust.

•6.       Use electrical appliances less...only run the washer and dryer with full loads; try using the microwave for cooking instead of the electric stove and/or oven; run the dishwasher a few times a week with a full load instead of every day half full.  Run big appliances at night to conserve even more.

•7.       Lower the temperature on an electric hot water heater to 120 degrees, so it is not continuously running to keep the temperature at a higher setting.

•8.       During our warmer, lighter months, use natural lighting from the sun to light the inside of your home.  The longer days allow "Mother Nature" to light your home.  You can use your blinds or shutters to angle the incoming light to bounce off of the floor or the ceilings to help illuminate a room or entryway.

I hope your find these tips useful.  I truly believe that by using them you will see an impact on your monthly electric bill.  Keep in touch.  I would love to hear your success story.

Listed below is a breakdown of single family homes currently on the market in the 28411 area, including Ogden and Porters Neck.  The pending and sold properties have gone under contract or sold since March 1, 2008. 

To view homes for sale in Wilmington, or to check out area information, visit www.thekeytowilmington.com.

The above information is from the Wilmington Regional Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service.  It is deemed to be accurate but not guaranteed.

Diane Parker, Broker,Realtor,e-PRO,CNMS, CNRS, CNAS

In preparation for purchasing a home, there is more to do then just searching through listings and setting your own buying criteria.  A savvy homebuyer will take a look at their credit history long before they begin the process of searching for a new or dream home.   If your credit is rock solid, you will be eligible for better loans at more affordable rates.  If there have been some problems in the past credit history, you shouldn't give up hope.  It is just time for some proactive behavior.

You need to take a look at the credit scores your lenders will be looking at BEFORE the process begins.  Most lenders use Equifax, Experian and TransUnion to check your credit history.  It is imperative that you check your credit history before the lenders do.  It would be a good idea to check all three in a three to six month period before you plan to look for a home and begin the mortgage process.  Under a new Federal law, you have the right to receive a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months from each of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies. To request your free annual report under that law, you must go to www.freecreditreport.com, fill out a short questionnaire and you can see what your lenders are going to see.  This proactive step can allow you to take steps to correct any missteps or mistakes on these reports.

How can you improve your credit scores?  There are a few simple steps that you can take to keep your credit in good standing:

•·         Pay your bills on time

•·         If you have missed payments, get current and stay current (the longer you pay your bills on time, the better your score).

•·         Be aware that paying off a collection account, does not remove it from your report and lenders may still use these issues in evaluating past credit patterns.

A little amount of work before beginning your home search will make things easier in the long term.  Of course, for more information on Wilmington and surrounding area homes, please feel free to visit my website, http://www.thekeytowilmington.com/.