After years of soaring real-estate prices — not to mention periodic bidding wars for third-rate properties — inventories of homes for sale are rising in many parts of the country. As a result, some buyers are regaining long-lost bargaining power. That gives buyers in many markets more room than they have had in years to push sellers to sweeten the pot. Buyers are asking for, and often getting, concessions ranging from help in paying their closing costs to money for repairs or redecorating. (more…)

Do first-time home buyers understand the true cost of ownership?

Here is a fine article on property taxes.
Property tax is an ad valorem tax that an owner of real estate or other property pays on the value of the thing taxed. The taxing authority performs or requires an appraisal of the value of the property, and tax is assessed in proportion to that value. Forms of property tax used vary between countries and jurisdictions. (more…)

Creative and industrious candidates needed to steer Chapel Hill growth.

Extraordinarily progressive town seeks wonkish citizens with a grassroots base to lead the way through an unprecedented period of growth as UNC-Chapel Hill prepares to develop the 963-acre Horace Williams tract into a high-tech campus called Carolina North. Job requires finding and implementing complex plans for affordable housing, transportation, broadening the commercial tax base, and stopping further loss of economic and racial diversity. Must be able to keep up with colleagues who are experts on every topic from soil and water quality to urban design to transportation corridors. (more…)

Misrepresentation

A statement by one party in a transaction that is incorrect or misleading. Most misrepresentations are deemed intentional, and thus may constitute fraud. Others, however, some are rendered through simple mistakes, oversights, or negligence.

Proving that incentives work….

North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad offered the “whole package” of financial incentives, a central location, a ready work force and an eager political and business community, Dell computers executive Kip Thompson said recently.

“They had all the factors come together,” he said at a conference of economic development officials and real estate executives in Las Vegas.

Texas-based Dell Inc. opened the plant earlier this month with plans to employ 700 people by the end of the year and 1,500 within five years.

Dell was aggressively courted by state and local officials wanting to bring in high-tech jobs. As part of the deal, the company received a $318 million incentive package - the largest in state history.

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Kannapolis, N.C. The next RTP?

Then there’s Kannapolis, N.C., which hopes to transform itself from a textile mill town to a biotech hub with the help of David Murdock, a California financier who plans to spend up to $1 billion to develop a research park at a former Pillowtex plant.

This initiative is unique because the key player is a private individual rather than a government. Murdock, who owns Dole Food Co. and a real estate development firm, has pledged to establish a $100 million venture capital fund to attract biotech firms to his park, which is about 40 miles northeast of Charlotte.

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Over the years, the FICO score has become integral to a lot of other consumer-financial transactions, from renting apartments to buying insurance. Its role has evolved from a simple tool helping lenders make a loan decision to a more complicated equation, in which the score is used to set the rates and terms under which credit is offered.

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The demand and prices for Lake Norman Real Estate is unprecedented. Condominium, Single Family Home and Lot sales have soared. Prime units and homes are being sold within hours of being offered. There is a convergence of interest from the Northeast, Deep South States, the Shore areas, as well as the Western States.

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Phil Kraus, a commercial real estate broker with Maus Warwick Matthews & Co. in Wilmington, recently launched InvestWithPartners.com, a Web site designed to help average investors pool resources to purchase properties with significant income potential.

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