All county customers must conserve water

All water customers served by the New Hanover County Water and Sewer District are now being asked to conserve water.

The county commissioners on Monday passed a resolution to expand voluntary restrictions to all county systems. Voluntary restrictions already were imposed on customers in the North System, which serves most of the county's water customers.

Now customers in the Kings Grant, Flemington and Monterey Heights systems are being asked to conserve water. Customers served in the Airport System are already under mandatory restrictions because they receive their water from the city of Wilmington, which imposed mandatory restrictions on many outdoor uses in October.

Commissioner Bill Kopp, who also is chairman of the water and sewer district, said the new restrictions will offer a clear and consistent approach across the county.

The increased water restrictions come as North Carolina, and much of the U.S. Southeast, is facing long-term drought conditions. Forecasters predict the drought to continue through the winter.

While the Cape Fear River - which supplies water to Wilmington and parts of Brunswick County - is lower than it should be, the area's aquifers have, so far, not been heavily affected by the drought. They still contain billions of gallons of water, officials say.

The county uses well water drawn from aquifers such as the Castle Hayne, Peedee and near-surface aquifers.

But it's still important to save water, which is why the county is asking residents to cut back even though pumping rates from county wells have been steadily decreasing, said Dennis Ihnat, the county's interim engineering director.

County officials ask residents to follow an alternate-day irrigation schedule. Residents with even-numbered addresses should irrigate from 1 to 4 a.m. on Mondays and Thursdays. Customers with odd-numbered addresses should water from 1 to 4 a.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Customers also should use only hand-held hoses or watering containers to water their lawns and gardens, and should refrain from washing cars and driveways.

The restrictions do not apply to private wells, county officials said.

Erosion threatens west Ocean Isle Beach

Ocean Isle Beach | Tom and Barbara Myers, who own a house near the west end of Ocean Isle Beach, were surprised during a recent walk to find that a big part of the beach is missing.

Yellow caution tape surrounded a home Thursday at the tip of the peninsula, where Tubbs Inlet meets the ocean, and contractors worked to secure a wooden walkway that was in danger of being knocked down by water.

This was not the west end of Ocean Isle Beach that the Myerses knew when they visited their vacation home in the spring.

"It was all sand dunes," Barbara Myers said, pointing to an area now covered by the inlet.

She said she was told by contractors working on the private walkway that about 280 feet of dunes had washed away.

Ocean Isle Beach town officials are accustomed to dealing with beach erosion, but mostly on the eastern end of the resort island.

"The only thing that we know that's caused this is some lunar tides," said Planning Director Justin Whiteside.

He said lunar tides bring high tides that are a foot and a half higher than normal.

High winds and Hurricane Noel, which was closest to the state's coast Nov. 2, also could have contributed to high tides and beach erosion, said Mark Bacon, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Wilmington.

He said higher-than-normal tides combined with large breaking waves are top contributors to beach erosion.

Whiteside said the owners of the house at 149 Ocean Isle West Blvd. received a Coastal Area Management Act permit to place sandbags near their home as an emergency protection step.

But the town doesn't have any relief plans for that end of the island, Mayor Debbie Smith said.

Beach nourishment projects are costly and require permits and long-range planning, she said.

"It takes time if you want to do anything like that," Smith said. "We don't do things that protect individual private property."

The town paid for beach nourishment earlier this year that provided temporary relief for residents on the eastern end of the island. But the sand that was pumped there washed away within a few months.

The erosion problems on both ends of the island are related to the unpredictable patterns of the inlets, said Jeff Warren, coastal hazards specialist for the state's Division of Coastal Management.

Tubbs Inlet, which artificially was moved in 1970, has recently migrated east toward the west end banks of Ocean Isle Beach.

"Erosion could increase," Warren said. "Inlets are very complicated areas."

Warren said the town could consider dredging the inlet. Other options include moving homes away from the water.

"The only thing sandbags do is buy you some time," Warren said.

Opportunity is knocking... Throughout

Opportunity is knocking... Throughout the financial history of our country, it is the people that have had the foresight to act as others retreat that have reaped the benefits of our monetary system. Yes it is true, that in certain parts of the United States, real estate may not be the most prudent investment at this time. However in places like Wilmington N.C and the Wrightsville beach there is a once in a lifetime situation to purchase the home you have always dreamed of at a price that you may never see again and will most certainly change much sooner than later. The federal government has finally started reacting to restore the one part of our economy that has driven our financial growth, Real Estate! The rate cut that has recently taken place, the correction in pricing, and the availability of prime locations have created an almost ÒPerfect StormÓ for the savvy investor. Over the past hundred years, real estate on the East End of Wilmington N.C has always been a solid performer. Since the growth of charlotte into the financial center , this oasis, just a short trip away, has been a Mecca for vacationers, year round residents and of course the WhoÕs who of American culture. Artists, movie stars, authors, directors, and prominent personalities of all kinds have made the Wrightsville Beach and Wilmington their playground. The quaint small towns and of course some of the worlds most beautiful beaches make this one of the most unique areas in the southeast. The next few months will be some of the most exciting we have seen in many years, ripe with great investments. Call one of the real estate professionals listed to the left and let them help you find your dream. The time is now , opportunity is knocking. Will you answer?

City OKs money for convention center

The convention center is coming.The Wilmington City Council voted Wednesday to appropriate $55 million for construction of a riverside convention center, a climax to years of discussion, revision and litigation about the downtown project.Though it passed easily, the vote seemed headed for drama. Councilwoman Laura Padgett said that without an accompanying first-rate hotel, as once planned, the center was only half a project, far from the dream she envisioned for many years and from what meeting planners want. She proposed postponing the vote.In May developer Armada Hoffler backed out of a deal to build a 270-room Marriott high rise next to the center, saying it was no longer economically feasible to develop a hotel in conjunction with the convention center.Councilwoman Pat Delair followed up on Padgett's remarks by saying that the project was far from the original vision.Those comments drew a passionate plea by Councilman Jim Quinn, who said supporters had been working for more than six years, through numerous administrations, to make it a reality. To stop now was foolish, he said, anticipating that a hotel developer would soon follow to take advantage of neighboring space reserved for that purpose."If we build it, a hotel will come, " he said. "We've had enough vacillating and arguing. It's time to make a decision and do something."He said the center would be an economic engine for downtown Wilmington.Quinn's response apparently had its intended effect. Padgett voted "yes" with Delair the sole vote against the center.Padgett, however, did join Delair to vote against waiving a second reading, which means the matter must come up for another vote. That prevented the council from awarding a pair of contracts Wednesday for work on the pilings and parking deck.It was unclear how that delay will affect the project time line. City officials had earlier said they hoped to start work before Christmas with the entire project anticipated to be completed by early 2010.The construction and operation of the convention center is to be paid for by a tax on guests at the city's hotels. Since 2003, revenues from the tax have been building, reaching close to $10 million. The city must break ground on the project by June 30, 2008, or it will lose the money.City officials say that even in their most conservative estimates the money from the tax should easily pay for the center, even though the center is never expected to make a profit. According to the city's 30-year projections, the lowest the hotel-room fund balance will go is about $5 million.

Open House Tours Help You See for Yourself

It's no secret: There's no shortage of homes for sale. Navigating the many online listings can be overwhelming. Attending open houses is a great way to cut down your search time and get a firsthand feel for how properties compare. Create a fun Saturday afternoon out of your open house tour, and promise your companions breaks for lunch and ice cream! Online listings are a great start, yet visiting a property is the best way to see its unique characteristics. Seeing it for yourself allows you to get a true sense of the scale of the home and the lot, as well as the surrounding neighborhood. Create a loose itinerary for your tour and include four to eight properties within reasonable driving distance of one another. Be sure to allow at least 30 minutes for each stop. Bring copies of each property's online listing, taking time before your stop to note specific questions you have for the Realtor. Take notes during the open house for later reference.

Local Government and their Lust For Property Taxes

The lust of government for your money is a known fact. They tax our income, our savings, our property, and our death. Nothing is sacred to these folks as long as they get their money. But one of the biggest cash cows for local governments has been the property tax. This allows the local governments to give generous salaries and exorbitant benefits to our public servants based upon increasing property values.
If there is not enough leeway to raise the taxes then all you have to do is reassess property values and the money will flow in. For example the home I live in has seen the taxes go up from $2,800 in 2001 when we bought the home to $4,600 when they are due on the 15th of this month. (Yes, I know, I am not in an unbiased and generous mood as I write this post anticipating writing the property tax check this week.)
Here is columnist Stephen Henderson’s analysis of what is happening in Detroit these days.
Let’s just put it this way: The yearly growth in government costs (from increases in school funding to expansion in retiree health care costs to negotiated raises for employees) has historically been covered by the inflationary real estate market yielding more tax revenue. Just a few years ago, growth of two or three times the rate of inflation was nothing.But wipe that out, as has apparently happened in Oakland County, and all of a sudden the ledger doesn’t add up anymore. Costs keep growing but government revenue stays flat, or even declines. Detroit Free Press
But with the property value downturn the government will not be able to raise the assessment to pay for their cousin to pick up a nice check and a nicer pension. Detroit is facing this scenario and they are loaded with unbudging unions. Parts of Phoenix, South Florida, and large swaths of California are facing shrinking property values.
I am sure that the assessors will not be lowering the property values as quickly as they raised them over the past five years of large increases. The projects and pork must be funded. But it is the right of every taxpayer to challenge their assessments and potentially lower their property tax.
So I strongly recommend when the local tax bills in your county come out, look them over correctly. And if the valuations are out of whack, make sure you appeal with your local tax office. Because I hate to say this, but I truly believe that the largest purveyor of tax fraud in the next couple of years will be the county assessors office and your local governments as they try to maintain their status quo on the back of your falling property values.

Grant to preserve wetlands

Another piece of the puzzle to preserve Eagles Island as a "green" buffer between Wilmington and the burgeoning suburbs in northern Brunswick County has fallen into place.The New Hanover Soil and Water Conservation District late last month was awarded a $302,000 state grant to purchase 258 acres of mostly wetlands along the western bank of the Cape Fear River.The parcel, like most of Eagles Island, serves as important habitat for migrating waterfowl and the state's only known population of the Rare Skipper butterfly.District Director Shelly Miller said she understands why some might question the need to spend scarce grant dollars on a property that's almost all wet and nearly impossible to access without a boat."But as we've seen with evidence locally, there's always the possibility that wetland regulations can change in the future and this is just too important of a habitat not to protect," she said.Citing the ongoing nature of the negotiations with the district, current property owner V.A. Creech declined to comment on the proposed deal Friday.The district, working with Leland and Cape Fear Resource, Conservation and Development, has already preserved 264 acres on the uninhabited and largely undeveloped island.Much of the rest of the island is already in public hands, with large tracts owned by the N.C. Department of Transportation, state ports and Army Corps of Engineers.But that doesn't mean those parcels couldn't be sold or developed in the future.According to the district's application to the N.C. Natural Heritage Trust Fund, Eagles Island represents the largest area of tidal freshwater marsh habitat in the state.Andy Wood, education director with Audubon North Carolina, said the island fills an important ecological niche in Southeastern North Carolina."It's a pretty spectacular network of marsh habitats interspersed with tidal creeks, so it contains a diverse array of habitat types," he said.Avian visitors to the island include herons, red-winged blackbirds, migrating waterfowl, ospreys, king rails and several songbird species. Other animals found on or around the island, squeezed between the Cape Fear and Brunswick rivers, include deer, alligator and even the occasional bear and bobcat.The marshes and creeks, some of which are old rice canals, also serve as important habitats for many spawning and juvenile fish.Along with its environmental significance, Mike Marsh said Eagles Island is important for another purpose."There's no place like that so near Wilmington that offers those types of hunting opportunities," said the full-time outdoors writer and contributor to the Star-News.Miller said the district has no plans to curtail any recreational or hunting access to the site.She added that the district's long-term vision for Eagles Island, in conjunction with other state and local environmental groups, is to create a protected area that could be a magnet for wildlife, sportsmen and, potentially, eco-tourists with a canoe or kayak trail network.

Sewage plan heads to vote

New Hanover and Pender county commissioners are each expected to vote Monday to move forward on a joint sewage plant that will provide service to the U.S. 421 corridor.It's a mutually beneficial agreement for both counties, said New Hanover County Manager Bruce Shell.The plant will be built in Pender County, along with a water treatment plant that will provide water to both counties. New Hanover will supply the sewage treatment permit that allows up to 4 million gallons per day.The permit is expected to expire in November 2011, Shell said, and the state has indicated the county may not be able to renew it.While the plant will not need to be complete by that time, now is the time to move forward, Shell told the commissioners during a Thursday meeting."We're prepared to do what we need to do," he said. "Right now, we're simply trying to legally position ourselves to move forward."Supplying water and sewer infrastructure to the U.S. 421 corridor, which runs through both New Hanover and Pender counties, will likely lead to large-scale development of the area.Bill Caster, chairman of the New Hanover commissioners, said he expects commercial development will "ramp up" once those services are provided.In October, both boards voted to spend $112,500 each on an engineering analysis and environmental study for the sewage plant.Those studies will be completed by engineering firm McKim & Creed in about five months, Shell said.Early plans call for a plant with 1 million gallons of daily treatment capacity at an estimated cost of $23 million. The plant is expected to be complete in four or five years, Shell said.Both counties have been discussing ways to partner on the project for years.Former Pender County manager John Bauer and officials from both counties were negotiating a deal to build the plant more than a year ago, but those plans died down when Bauer was fired in September 2006.In March, the Pender commissioners decided to build a county water plant at the former BASF site off U.S. 421, and New Hanover and Pender officials have been huddling for months about building the joint sewage plant on the same land.The looming potential of handing over all county and city of Wilmington water and sewer assets to the fledgling Cape Fear Public Utility Authority should not affect the project, Deputy County Attorney Kemp Burpeau told the commissioners.The project will be added to the county's list of assets and liabilities and a provision will be added to the proposed interlocal agreement which states that the project is one of the county's priorities, Burpeau said.The commissioners will vote on the agreement during their Monday meeting, which is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the New Hanover County Historic Courthouse on Third Street in Wilmington.

Finding the Silver Lining in the Foreclosure Statistics

While most pundits are wringing their hands over the latest foreclosure numbers, Emily Friedman is ahead of the curve and seeing the silver lining in the real estate market. The suffering of those that either made bad borrowing decisions (both lenders and buyers) in the past have created an opportunity for those that have shown some patience.
The foreclosure market of REO properties has to move and the volume that is coming due is tremendous. For those who are positioned correctly, the buying now will be a once in a lifetime opportunty.
And in 5 years time odds are you will run into someone on the golf course who made their fortune in this downturn.
And because lenders want to avoid the cost associated with holding on to an empty home for months, they are more willing to lower the asking price in order to sell it quickly. In turn, buyers are finding firesale prices at foreclosure auctions. “There is some positive in the whole doom and gloom of the housing market, in that buyers who have been shut out of the market in the last five years now have an opportunity to buy a home and realize the dream of ownership or upgrade to bigger homes,” Wright told ABCNEWS.com. “And nobody likes to see a home on their block sit empty.” via ABC News

Baby Boomers Thriving on Real Estate

America's first "baby boomer" filed for Social Security benefits last week, and 80 million more are expected to follow over the next two decades. As they begin to reach retirement age, new research shows that the majority of boomers are financially stable due in part to high rates of real estate ownership.The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the overall rate of home ownership among Americans is 69 percent, but nearly eight in ten boomers own their own home. What's more, over 25 percent own at least one other piece of property, according to a study commissioned by the National Association of Realtors, "Baby Boomers and Real Estate: Today and Tomorrow."These investments are helping give baby boomers unprecedented financial stability. Their median household net worth is $149,500, two thirds of which can be attributed to home equity. Boomers say real estate is a key to securing their futures, with 96 percent of respondents touting home ownership as a good financial investment.The majority of baby boomers surveyed rely on Realtors to help with the home buying process, especially to represent their interests and explain the closing process from beginning to end. Take heed from "the greatest real estate generation"

Homeownership Down 1 Percent From It’s Peak In United States

Here is an interesting stat that came from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Homeownership rose from 64% in 1994 to 69% in 2004. Since 2004 the rate of homeownership has declined nearly a point to 68.2%.
The combination of upward mobility and easier credit opened many doors to owning ones own home. However, back in 2004 the focus was on greater opportunity for new homebuyers, now with tighter credit many are caught in a crunch.
Many analysts have pointed to easy lending as a contributor to the housing boom, but the Atlanta Fed paper may be the first to quantify its effect in a rigorous way. Using math-heavy macroeconomic analysis, the authors conclude that the availability of new mortgage options accounted for 56% to 70% of the decade-long increase in the U.S. homeownership rate, while demographic changes accounted for only 16% to 31%. Although the paper cites lowered downpayment requirements as the biggest factor in raising ownership, co-author Carlos Garriga of the St. Louis Fed says a forthcoming paper will attribute more of the effect to “teaser” loans with low introductory payments that appeal to young and lower-income buyers. via Business Week
The homeowners on the bottom end of the rung, those that comprise the homeowners in the 64% to 68% range, are obviously the ones that have the greatest risk in homeownership. What will be interesting to see is since loose credit was a primary reason for them to become homeowners and now we are facing tighter credit again, what will the downside be to the national housing market?
And with fewer potential buyers and the speculators gone, what will the larger market use to find the bottom since there is pressure with both high inventory and more foreclosures on the horizon?

Wilmington Named A Best Performing City

Most Wilmington residents can easily explain why they choose to call the Port City home: pristine beaches, the historic downtown and that distinctive Southern charm. Now, Wilmington is winning applause for its bottom line: an outstanding job market and economic growth.Wilmington jumped from 59th to No. 2 on the Milken Institute's 2007 Best Performing Cities Index, compiled by the independent economic think tank that ranks U.S. cities based on their ability to create and sustain jobs. Local experts are touting the growth as well. Dr. William Hall Jr., senior economist for UNCW's Center for Business and Economic Services, predicts the Cape Fear region will end the year with a growth rate of about 5 percent " more than double the forecasted growth rate for North Carolina and the nation. This above-average growth is expected to continue into 2008. Hall expects a flourishing job market, increased consumer spending and an upswing in the real estate market to drive Wilmington's economic growth in the coming year. There's no doubt Wilmington-area residents enjoy an unparalleled quality of life. The time has never been better to relocate to the up-and-coming Cape Fear region

Raising Commission Paid To Buyers Agent May Sell Your Home

If I were to sell my home tomorrow I think I know how to do so. Instead of going on the cheap on the commission with a discount broker trying to save some of the difference in housing prices from the peak, I would go the other direction and prey on human nature. I would offer a higher commission to the buyers agent.
Now there are some nay sayers that will say, “Tom, you are such a homer for the real estate agents, of course you will say raise the commissions.” And you would be completely off base.
When the real estate market was rocking I was calling for lower commissions. Selling a home was like shooting fish in a barrel and thus commissions should be lower. But the real estate world is not rocking, it is hurting. Hurting bad as they say in the south. There are real estate agents waiting tables like actors it is hurting so bad.
So sellers should prey on human nature. If a real estate agent is having a bad year but has a buyer, don’t you think their is the slightest chance they may look in the MLS and sort homes for sale by buyers commission? And if your home has an extra incentive in it for them that they may just happen to show your house even if it is not the perfect fit in a down market? I have never seen a home sell without a buyer, have you?
I am not glorifying the real estate agents with this post, but I am recognizing they are human. And if it takes a little motivation to get your home shown in a down market, then good for you. Here is an example of this from an article in the St. Petersburg Times.
With home sales less than half of what they were during the 2005 peak, you would think commissions would shrink. Underemployed agents are chasing a dwindling number of sales. But just because you can bargain hard on commissions doesn’t mean you always should. Think of it this way: A commission is prize money. All things being equal, a buyer’s agent will show a home paying a 6.5 percent commission to one paying 4 percent.That’s why I sweetened the pot by offering an extra 0.5 percent for the buyer’s agent. Compared with other homes for sale in my neighborhood, my commission was the highest. Less than two weeks after my agent and I signed the contract for 6.5 percent, we had a deal on my house. An acquaintance living nearby who offered 4 percent hasn’t sold his house in a year.via SF Gate
Now for a little math to help you decide this may be the right way to go. Let’s say you are selling a $250,000 dollar home. The commission at 6 percent is $15,000. If you added a 1% bonus to the buyers agent the commission would be $17,500, a difference of $2,500. But it would also put you at the top of the chart on buyers commission paid in your community and odds are you house would be shown a great deal more than others in your price range.
If you sold the home a month quicker you would be very close to breaking even at a 6.35 percent mortgage and typical utility and tax costs added in. And you would have a home sold in a down market which in itself is no mean feat.
So my advice to motivated sellers. Sweeten the buyers agent commission. Prey on the greed of the real estate agents. You are not being taken by the real estate cartel by offering a better commission. Instead you will be putting yourself ahead of the other homesellers and may have a better chance in selling your home in a down market.

Booming Leland-area growth crowds Belville Elementary

As Shaunita Wallace teaches her Belville Elementary School class geology, earth moves outside.Bulldozers bellow.New housing construction literally surrounds the school, and several other developments have broken ground nearby along N.C. 133.That means more families, and more students for the already crowded Belville Elementary. School officials are worried that Wallace's modular classroom and the seven others at the school will be inadequate to handle spillover after the spike in enrollment expected for next school year.So they will be taken away, and a building with eight classrooms will go where the school playground is now. In turn, the playground will be moved to where the modular classrooms are, said Stephen Miley, the schools' executive director of operations.The Brunswick County Board of Education recently approved the fixed classroom additions, which are designed to hold a total of 192 students, with 24 per classroom. That's 32 more students than the modular classrooms can hold altogether, Miley said."I'll miss it," Wallace said of her classroom. "But I'm glad we're getting the additions."She calls her modular classroom her "home away from home.""I love being out here, and it being so new," said Wallace, a fourth-grade teacher.Belville Elementary is the county's most crowded school, with a population of 826 students. That brings the school 42 students over its capacity of 784, including the modular classrooms, school system data show.Miley expects the new classrooms to be completed by August, in time for the next school year. He projects enrollment at the school to climb to 913 then.And that's just for starters. Finding additions alone will not be enough to serve the area's soaring population, the school system plans to open another elementary school in the northern part of the county in August 2009.6,775 new homes comingWrapping around Belville Elementary is Hawkeswater at the River, known better, perhaps, for the graves recently unearthed there than for the 455 homes to be built within the next several years. This and another five developments already approved along the northern section of N.C. 133 will have a combined 6,775 units by the time they are finished, according to data from Leland and the county government.All those homes will emerge along a stretch of road about five miles long, most of them in Leland. That does not include the town's Brunswick Forest, which, with a planned 10,000 or so units, has its entrance nearby on U.S. 17."They're being proactive," Joyce Beatty, principal at Belville Elementary, said about the school system.Regarding the additions in the works for her school, Beatty said parents prefer classrooms inside a building because of "inclement weather." She and Miley prefer them, too; Miley said "the learning environment is much better" in them.For Wallace and most of her students, letting go of the modular classroom might prove bittersweet."I was the first person to use the modular, so it's got my own feel to it," Wallace said. "Kids helped me decorate it."In a show of hands, 17 out of 20 students in Wallace's class indicated that they'd rather be in a modular than a fixed classroom.Some said they like that the teacher can change the temperature herself when it gets hot in the modular classroom. They also like being close to the nature outside and isolated from the noise people make in the main building. But one girl said she'd rather be in a classroom inside a building because it would keep her safer from possible floods and terrorist attacks.Addition, new site plannedThe new building will have a total of 13,000 square feet and cost between $2.1 million and $2.2 million to build, according to a recent presentation by MHAworks, the architects designing it. The Durham-based firm designed similar additions for Jessie Mae Monroe and Supply elementary schools, and each of those took about a year to finish, Superintendent Katie McGee said.Right now, only one fourth-grade and one fifth-grade class are in internal classrooms at Belville Elementary; the modular classrooms hold four classes for each of those two grades, Beatty said.The school has seven kindergarten and first-grade classes, six second-grade classes and five third-grade classes, the principal said, emphasizing the school ought to be ready as that student population moves up into fourth and fifth grades.Belville Elementary is one of two elementary schools serving the northern part of the county. The other one is Leland's Lincoln Elementary, which is also crowded.The newly christened Town Creek Elementary, to be built on a 22-acre site by Town Creek Township park at Winnabow, is expected to be ready to share the burden of the county's northern population boom by the 2009-10 school year.It will have capacity for 650 students and cost more than $15 million to build.

SCHUMACHER HOMES WILMINGTON NC LOCATION GRAND OPENING

SCHUMACHER HOMES WILMINGTON NC LOCATION GRAND OPENING
WILMINGTON, NC – February 21, 2007 – Schumacher Homes, an on-your-lot custom homebuilder, is pleased to announce the GRAND OPENING of their Custom Home Design Center in Wilmington, NC. They build custom homes on their customers’ home sites in Bladen, Columbus, Brunswick, Pender, Onslow and New Hanover Counties from 1350 sq. ft. to 7000+ sq. ft. at prices ranging from $120,000 to $750,000+.
“We know that buying a home is a really big decision. That’s why we work harder to make sure our customers have all the support and information they need to make the very best choice every step of the way,” states Paul T. Schumacher, CEO and founder of Schumacher Homes. “Our commitment has been unwavering to provide An Unbeatable Price, Value and Experience in Custom Homebuilding.”
Schumacher Homes is committed to a straightforward custom homebuilding process and is the first homebuilder in the country to use Smart Board™ technology in the design and pricing of their custom homes. They have developed Front Door™, a state-of-the-art price quote program that presents more than 200 standard and optional features available, showing all pricing, descriptions, and images of the selections made. They have also developed Front Door At Home™, which provides exclusive access for customers to make their selections on-line.
By providing customers with quality, value, selection and service, Schumacher Homes has earned various industry awards including the Owens Corning National Master Builder of the Year and #1 Design Center in America presented by National Association of Home Builders. Most recently, Schumacher Homes was awarded the coveted Diamond Builder status by 2-10 Home Buyer’s Warranty. Only 46 builders nationwide hold the Diamond Builder status. This designation is awarded to builders who have demonstrated building superiority and excellence in customer service.

The GRAND OPENING of the Wilmington Design Center will be held Tuesday, April 10, 2007. The ribbon cutting ceremony will be at 11:30 by Paul T. Schumacher, and the Mayor of Wilmington, the Honorable Bill Saffo. For more information, visit their Design Center, open daily M-F 10-6, Sa 10-5 and Su 1-5, at 6801 Parker Farm Drive, Wilmington, NC in Mayfair Community Center. You may also call 910-256-6390 or 866-690-6390 or visit their website, www.schumacherhomes.com.

Wilmington buyers enjoys the great weather

Well looks to be another great weekend for fro the Wilmington NC real estate area. The weather will be perfect for Wrightsville Beaches annual triathlon, with temperatures reaching the upper 70’s and not a cloud in the sky the athletes can not ask for mother nature to cooperate any better. Simultaneously the area schools green team are having there beach cleaning program going on. All the children and some parents will be walking the beach cleaning it up to help out our environment. What a better day can we ask for, so grab the wife and go check out some open houses in the Wilmington real estate arena.

Wilmington water ban brings out tattletales

The historic Latimer House turned on its sprinklers Wednesday, and heads turned with them.Neighbors called, a board member stopped by, then came an inquiry from the city and questions from a reporter.“There has been a lot of reaction to that 20 minutes,” said Candace McGreevy, executive director of the Lower Cape Fear Historical Society, which runs the museum.It’s a sign of the times. In the week since the city of Wilmington implemented water restrictions, more than 200 people have called the city’s conservation hot line with complaints about water use, including calls about the Latimer House, whose perch on Third Street makes it highly visible.Looks can be deceiving, though. The Latimer House runs its own well, McGreevy said, putting it outside the city’s ban on irrigation. Still, McGreevy said they were doing all they could to conserve water. The front sprinklers were turned on Wednesday only because of a plumbing emergency that required turning on that part of the system, she said.“I am glad they’re paying attention,” McGreevy said. “We certainly don’t want to waste water.”Such public vigilance seems to be paying off in the city’s water conservation efforts as the state deals with a prolonged drought. On Oct. 16, the day before the city council adopted the restrictions, Wilmington gulped down 19.7 million gallons of water. A week later, use had dropped more than 20 percent to 15.2 million gallons.Much of the savings has come through cuts in irrigation. The University of North Carolina Wilmington, by far the city’s biggest consumer of water, has turned off its sprinklers with exemptions for new landscaping paid for by a state bond, said Jacqueline Major, who leads the city’s water conservation effort.“We are hoping that between now and the real cold weather, we get enough rain to get through winter,” said Robert Warren, superintendent of landscape services at UNCW.From July 2005 to June 2006, UNCW used 92 million gallons of water, more than double the city’s next thirstiest client, New Hanover Regional Medical Center, which downed 42 million gallons.With only herself and another worker taking calls, Major said response to the city’s hot line has been inundating. She estimated they had received several hundred complaints and more than 70 questions from people wanting clarification on such things as whether they can powerwash (no), wash their cars (only at a car wash) or use sprinklers on freshly laid sod (with tight limits).“It’s got to be kept to a minimum and only on brand new sod,” she said.So far, city workers have been following up complaints with phone calls, provided the caller leaves an address that allows them to look up the number. Some alleged offenders are startled by the call, but usually come around once they hear the reason, Major said.“The majority of people we have been calling or have been calling us are extremely cooperative,” she said. Until Nov. 5, violators face only a warning, Major said. Then they risk $500 fines.To speed the process, callers leaving complaints will not receive return calls, although their messages will be followed up, Major said.The Star-News is among the potential violators identified by the hot line, although callers might have been responding to sprinklers running before the ban. Terrie Millard, the newspaper’s financial services manager, said the company turned off its irrigation system on Oct. 17, the day the city council adopted the limits.

Housing Slowdown Good For Wall Street? For Now Folks, For Now

The fortunes of the national housing market and Wall Street have had an inverse relationship over the past decade. When the tech boom was occurring at the end of the 1990’s, investment in housing was stagnant. Then the combination of 9/11, the ending of the internet boom and subsequent stock market created the recent surge in housing that lasted through 2005.
Sales of existing homes plunged 8 percent in September to the slowest annual pace in nearly a decade. The report did not bode well for the overall economy, and at first stocks dropped on the news.But the data also bolstered hopes that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates again when it meets next week, making it easier to borrow money. Just the possibility of a cut was enough to erase the morning’s declines and send the Dow Jones industrials to a flat close.It is still far from certain what actions the Fed will take at its meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday. A resilient job market, a narrowing trade deficit and strong retail sales all point to an economy that is weathering the subprime mortgage crisis and may not need federal intervention. via New York Times.
The stock market broke out of it’s slump in 2004 and has been tracking upward since, just as investors we running from the housing market and interest rates started to climb. Now Wall Street has been seeing historic highs as the housing market is in the depths of depression. Where will the investors go?
My bet, they will stay in the stock market till housing hits it’s bottom. Then, as interest rates and housing prices have declined, they will return to the housing market and stabilize the inventory. You have to remember that the overhang of inventory in the housing market was built for the investor class to trade, not for the demand in housing units to be lived in.
The investor class in the United States has grown tremendously over the past few decades. Instead of a small part of the population able to make investment bets, a large part of the population now has cash and assets that can be invested in their 401k’s and other saving plans. This money moves quickly and is not reliant on a few fat cats making big moves.
So when the trend is to get out of the stock market and into housing as everyone was saying in 2001, the masses did. Then conventional wisdom said to get out of real estate and back into stocks. The housing market slumped as Wall Street roared.
One of these days the word will go out, Wall Street is dangerous and housing is where the deals are. Then the tide will turn and the new investor class will buy up all the REO properties, pricing will go up pulling those on the edge in bad loans out of their troubles, and every real estate agent will be proclaiming their genius as homes will be selling like hotcakes.
Real estate is not just for living in now, it is part of the economic market for the American investor. That means we will see greater swings in valuation for both the homeowner and investor. We are just living in a new paradigm and yet to recognize it.

Residents say traffic relief long overdue

If you build it, they will come.Residents of the Windemere neighborhood off Eastwood Road knew this years ago, before crews ever broke ground on Mayfaire. They even formed their own group, the Windemere Residents Association, to push the city of Wilmington for relief from the extra vehicles they anticipated the development would bring to their neighborhood.Mayfaire Town Center has been open for more than three years and construction on Military Cutoff Road has been a fact of life almost since day one. Residents of the nearby streets say the city might as well have fired a starting gun when the shops began operating, and they're upset officials haven't done more to help them."Traffic increased 20-fold when Mayfaire opened," said Richard Veit, who has lived on Tanbridge Road for 20 years and was co-chairman of the residents group before it became inactive. "You no longer see children playing in the street. I think more parents are driving their children, even to the school bus stops, because it's unsafe. You see fewer people walking their dogs because there are no sidewalks."The neighborhood was outside city limits when it was planned, built and later annexed, so sidewalks were never required.Almost three years ago, city officials proposed a speed-limit reduction and several traffic-calming measures for the neighborhood, including mini-circles and speed humps. Since then, the only actions taken were in 2005, when the city lowered the speed limit to 25 mph and implemented pavement markings to help define the travel path for motorists, a city official said.But Jim Flechtner, transportation manager for the city of Wilmington's Development Services, said Friday that relief for Windemere is immiment. The proposed traffic-calming measures for the neighborhood were considered long-term solutions when they were developed in March 2005, he said. After Charlotte-based LPA Group designed them, they went to the state to be reviewed for permits, including storm water, Flechtner said. The city received the necessary permits within the past month, and in the next two weeks the project will enter the bidding process, he added.He said it will take 60 to 90 days to award a bid and sign a contract, allowing construction to begin. Construction should be complete within 120 days, Flechtner said."We've worked with the residents," he said. "We had two public meetings to find out what their comments were to come up with the solutions. It's something we do collaboratively with the neighborhoods."Veit said Wednesday that Wilmington officials should have acted more quickly in finding relief for him and his neighbors. He said he's been unable to get answers about when the traffic-calming measures would be implemented and why they have taken so long to complete."The city has abandoned us," he said. "All of the traffic-calming measures they promised us, not one of them has been installed. We've been seduced, ignored, abandoned. We were promised by both the city staff and Mayfaire that they would prevent Windemere from being used as a route for non-neighborhood traffic. It was a lie all the way around."As the Military Cutoff Road project enters its final, most labor-intensive stages, traffic through Windemere has gotten even worse, Veit said."It's picked up since summer started," he said. "I thought it was just a tourist thing, but as the fall comes on it really hasn't died down much."Veit said he expects the completion of the road, slated for next month, will alleviate some of the volume, but he still thinks traffic-calming measures will be necessary for Windemere's safety.Last month, a Star-News reporter clocked speeders using a hand-held radar gun along several Wilmington streets, including Tanbridge Road.There, 96 percent of vehicles checked were speeding and 36 percent were going 10 mph or more over the limit. It was the worst street for both measures out of all 10 neighborhoods visited.Speeding citations on Windemere and Tanbridge roads peaked in 2005 at 17, up from 2 in 2003 and 10 in 2004, according to statistics compiled by the Wilmington Police Department. There were 5 each in 2006 and for 2007 through the first three weeks of October, statistics show.Lt. Jeff Allsbrook of the police department's Patrol Services Division said he gets more traffic-related complaints from Windemere than any other neighborhood in the two districts he oversees."It's a big task," he said of enforcement efforts. "It takes a lot of man hours and a lot of personnel, and we do the best we can. They're trying to find measures other than traffic enforcement."Flechtner said Windemere's traffic problems were similar to many others in the growing city. "I don't think it stands out any more than any other neighborhood," he said.But Sue Bulluck, who has lived on Tanbridge Road for 31 years, said Windemere has yet to see the worst, citing plans for Autumn Hall, a 236-acre mixed-use project on Eastwood Road."Will any calming device ever be sufficient to control the increase in traffic based on adjacencies to two commercial areas? Probably not," she said. "I'm certainly hopeful that the changes will improve things, but I don't have a lot of confidence at this point."