Sean: (00:03)

Hi, this is Sean Herndon with Beacon Group Properties here with Scott Hastings from Angel Oak. Hey Scott, how are you doing, sir? 

Scott: (00:13)

I'm good. How's it going today, Sean? 

Sean: (00:15)

Doing good, Friday. Just every day is a new adventure in the world of mortgage and real estate. 

Scott: (00:26)

Well, every day is a holiday, and every meal is a feast a Marine Corps quote, I think. Not that I was a Marine. 

Sean: (00:32)

I have no idea. So basically, you know, with everything is changing and we were the Pasa, videos, we're talking about forbearance and, and there are things, and then credit came up as, as something that's evolving right now, with, mortgages and real estate. So, one I'll definitely want to learn more about, and it's got key kind of give us a little idea what it used to be and what people were kind of used to and then what has it changed to? 

Scott: (01:05)

Okay. Well, so up until earlier this year, for example, I was able to do an FHA mortgage down to a 500 credit score. If you had 10% down. There were changes in that, in before this episode with coven 19. But up until three or four weeks ago, we could still do a FHA mortgage, for example, and it'd be a mortgage down to a five 80 credit score. Well, a lot of things happened in the mortgage market. Basically not to get too deep into this, but when borrowers are allowed to have a deferment or forbearance on their mortgage, you know, obviously they're not going to be making mortgage payments to their servicer for three months, six months, what have you. Well, those servicers, they still have to pay the investors monthly for those, for there, you know, payments on their investment. 

Scott: (02:10)

So that's a major cash suck and possibly just put the services out of business. So the only way that they can really avoid this as to avoid risk, as much as possible. So what they've done is they've taken the most likely, loans too default and cut off credit to them. So it basically comes down to the banks. They're called warehouse banks. So all of the mortgage banks, when they fund a loan, they have these lines of credit for millions and millions and millions of dollars. So when you go to close on your loan and the mortgage company wired you the money, they're barring that up a line of credit. And then when they sell the loan, they'll pay it back. Well, the servicers, they're very, very hesitant and have decided they, for the most part, want advance money to mainly government back loans that are under, it could be a six 40 credit score. 

Scott: (03:19)

It couldn't be a six 60 credit score. It can be a six 80 credit score. So what I'm mainly seeing are FHA loans, VA loans, USDA loans. Anybody was under a six 60 credit score, probably not getting a loan. You know, for example, just last night, we had an update. Well, now you can get one with a six 40 credit score, but you can't have a debt to income ratio over 50%. So every day, things are changing, and the lines are changing. So, you know, another thing that's happened is jumbo loans. The jumbo loan is anything in our country over 510,000, $400. That market has kind of gone away. To tell you the truth, I think you were mentioning that you saw on the news and I saw it to chase, for example, you know, they're only offering jumbo mortgages to their current clients to have at least a 700 credit score and at least 20% down. I mean, that's kind of extreme, but you know, that's what you're seeing. So in general, everybody but the cookie-cutter w two job, great credit you know, conventional loans, yeah, could potentially have a problem getting a loan. But if you fit that mold of a borrower, this not likely to default; you can get a fantastic rate on a mortgage. Yeah. So that's the silver line. 

Sean: (04:47)

So I mean, so if you're under a six 40 are, you just give up. 

Scott: (04:54)

can be very, very, very, very difficult. Mainly what happens is they w, you know, FHA will still buy that loan. But you can't get a rate for it. So when an investor doesn't want it, they'll price it to where you might have to pay eight points to get it, which is not even illegal, you know, so it's impossible to get it, so. Right. Yeah. You might be totally out a lot. You might not get a mortgage. 

Sean: (05:22)

Yeah. So I mean, I, like I said, every day it's changing. I mean, even my parameters you talked about, you know, they dropped by 10 points. Or from your credit score from six 50 to six 40. I mean, what do you, what are you seeing in your crystal ball? Are you thinking that you know, w within a couple of weeks or a month or are you seeing it going to evolve and change, consistently or, 

Scott: (05:49)

well, I know, you know, expert and nobody knows what's going to happen in the future. I mean, what hearing and maybe what I think is that you know, eventually this will straighten out. The credit markets will not be so tight. You know, we'll get back to sort of normal lending, but I think that could be months away. And then I think if, if the government, for lack of a better word, was able to offer some, money to the servicers so they wouldn't, you know, be in danger or in jeopardy and basically going broke for advancing these payments to the investors, you know, that would definitely help as well. So I think the, probably the bigger issue is going to be people who've lost their jobs and that's going to cause some just natural bad credit events to happen, which is always a problem if you want to get a mortgage, you know, bad credit. So yeah, I think it's going to be a 

Sean: (07:02)

challenging nine months. Yeah. So it seems like, you know, from what you're saying is okay. Yeah. I mean even if you have a good credit, you know, a high sixes, low sevens, you still may have some challenges, but you have it a little bit easier to get in there than someone that's in the mid-six is low sixes. So the best thing to do is talk to a professional and cause you might be able to do some credit things to help get your credit score higher. So I wouldn't say it's complete, like if you're like in the low sixes, like, Oh forget, I can't do it. But I mean, you definitely should talk to a professional that might be able to help get that credit up. 

Scott: (07:48)

Yeah. I mean I've been, I do that fairly often actually. I have a client that hopefully will be closing next week. They were going to be okay. They were getting an FHA loan. They actually had under a six 20 credit score. I was [inaudible] I, I help them was just say get a secure credit card with a $200 credit limit that would report to the credit bureaus within two weeks just by doing that. Got their credit score up at six 42, which was enough to sweep them into a FHA loan. So yeah. Sometimes it's like landing an airplane on a pinhead, but you know, somebody who's got a lot of experience and knows what they're doing, you know, don't just take no for an answer from a, from a lender. Now the answer might be no, but at least get a second opinion. 

Sean: (08:39)

Yeah. So I guess I'm, I'm just thinking about the, you know, some individuals that just might be a little bit on hard times that might be in a high fives and you know, I mean a mom two months ago you still could get a loan, and now it's like, yeah, we're talking about sixes, I'm in a fives, you know. I would still recommend those people to talk to a professional because everyday things can be changing too. Yeah. I mean, a lot of times I do what's called mortgage planning. You know, if you have a credit score in the PAs, you're probably not ready to get a mortgage right now. But if you start working on it now, he might be ready in six, nine months a year. 

Sean: (09:24)

Yeah. Today is the day to start planning. Yeah. Well, I mean like today, just this morning, you know, you, you had some positive talk, you know, from the president, from the governors, everybody's really pushing to get us back to work, safely. Of course, they made sure that we are not going to reignite this virus. But I mean there is a lot of talk about us getting, getting back going maybe not back to normal. That may take a long time if ever get back to normal, but you know, but at least we're talking about it and getting that, that Druid positive feeling about us getting back to work. Yeah, definitely. I mean, I think that you know, before we got on the call, I said, I got two contracts in this morning, so there's still activity going on out there. People are still going to buy houses. 

Sean: (10:20)

Is there still going to be mortgages? We live in a great area of the country. People keep moving here. So, yeah, I think we're blessed. I think we're all going to be okay. Yup. Yeah. So keeping those positive vibes going out there. And I mean, and we still need people to sell their homes. I mean we, there's buyers, we're definitely got, buyers. We got people moving all the time is getting the sellers. We are still on very low inventory, which kinda is helping keep in the market from crashing. You know, because we have low inventory like unlike Oh eight and Oh nine, we had tons at event inventory. Right. And you know, everywhere I'm reading it and just supplying the man, you know, there might be this a little bit of a down on prices just because the way things are. But from if w if we are able to get back to work or able to get back out there to buyers and to come right back in and low inventory, does that send to mean the prices and there stay where they are? If not, eventually, if we inventory stays the same, it may push them to go higher. Yeah. Oh absolutely. No. Everything. Everything's going to be all right. Hopefully, that we know are not stuck in, in this situation for the next couple months. Now that's a whole nother different conversation. Yeah. So w I mean, we do need to get our economy going back again if if we're prolonged and we're still stolen our economy, that that is a whole different nother. 

Scott: (11:54)

Yeah. But

Sean: (11:56)

we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Yes. Yes. I like to stay on the positive vibes that we're going to get back to work in the next couple of weeks. That's right. And, and, and have a really good starting may into June and as and, and see how we eventually able to get. I just feel, I, I feel like the restaurants or bars are and get slammed. 

Scott: (12:19)

Yeah, I would imagine so. I'll be right here. I haven't; my life hasn't changed much. I'm a homebody man. This is awesome. So the light's killing me. 

Sean: (12:32)

Shockingly. I just had to talk to, with my, with windy, my business partner of us moving our stuff back from the office into the home office again. So once you kind of change your routine, now I'm in this routine. I don't want to get away from it. Now 

Scott: (12:49)

I know really this is a very short commute upstairs. I'm telling you, I'm saving gas like crazy. 

Sean: (12:56)

Yup. Yup. Wendy was making the comment; she goes, I have not driven my car in a month. 

Scott: (13:02)

My daughter just turned 16, and we got her car like in February. And I was like, well, away at it. But anyway, it's not get any models put on it. 

Sean: (13:13)

Nope. Nope. Hey, it's keeping his value. 

Scott: (13:16)

That's right. Absolutely. 

Sean: (13:18)

All right. Well Scott, I again, I appreciate you doing these videos with me and keeping, you know, the audience and everyone to understand what's going on. Is there any last words or any last advice before we, move on 

Scott: (13:31)

now? I would say just, you know, if you were pre-approved in the last month, you might want to get a second opinion and make sure you're still approved and, yeah, I hope everybody gets through this, with as little pain as possible. Everything's going to be alright. 

Sean: (13:51)

Awesome. Well, again, thanks a lot, Scott and everyone out there. Thank you for watching these videos. If you have any questions for Scott, just leave them in the comments below, and we'll definitely get those answered for you. Also, keep watching the videos. We're going to keep on bringing out updates about what's going on in the real estate and mortgage area. So we can, if you are looking to buy, sell, or invest in property, let us know, and we can lead you through these hard times and challenging times we're having right now. Again, as we were talking about, real estate is still moving forward. And we're not showing a lot of slow down in there. So, just let us know if there's any way we can help you. All right, so guys, have a good one. We'll see you on the next one. 

Scott: (14:37)

Good weekend. 

Sean: (14:39)

All right. Bye. Bye. Bye.

Sean: (00:02)

Hi, this is Sean Herndon with Beacon Group Properties at Keller Williams Cornelius. And, today, I have Scott Hastings with Angel Oak. Hey Scott, how are you doing? 

Scott: (00:13)

I'm doing good. How's it going today, Sean? 

(00:15)

I'm doing good. Doing good. Again, I thank you very much for doing this with me, especially on how busy you are and how things are changing. Just in case some of the audience doesn't know what, who you are or what you do with Angel Oak. Can you give them a little bit of an idea of what you guys do? 

Scott: (00:31)

Yeah, so, I'm with Angel Oak Home Loans, we do basically every kind of mortgage everybody else does. So we're, based out of Atlanta, we have, yeah, a couple of billion dollars in assets. So we're very strong and doing some, you know, still doing some good lending with fast turnaround times right now. 

Sean: (00:50)

Awesome. Yeah. Right now, there's so much uncertainty of what's going on. Things are changing from day to day. As you and I are talking and one thing that I've been hearing from people is it's, do I pay my mortgage? You know, everyone's been hearing from the President and everything is like, you know, just this, this feeling like, Oh, don't worry about it. Everything's gonna be taken care of, but at the same time, it just doesn't feel right. So, right. So I wanted to get on a call with you to get your opinion as a, as the expert in mortgage and all that, you know, what your opinion is and what is the difference, truly the difference between, forbearance or deferment of your mortgage? 

Scott: (01:38)

Yeah, so there's a lot of confusion around this and, and frankly, I've been confused too, because this is all just coming out, but you're right, the messaging is, you know, don't worry about it. Just call, you know, you don't have to make the mortgage payment or for a few months, but my professional opinion is if you can make your mortgage payment, absolutely make your mortgage payment. And if you can't make your mortgage payment, make sure you understand exactly what you're getting into. So, there's basically two different terms, which have two different meanings. And I made myself a note because I keep getting confused, but a difference is where they defer the payments that you're skipping to the end of your mortgage term. So they'll put it on the end of the 30-year term. They might recalculate your annual, monthly mortgage payment to make up for that. A forbearance is where they're going to take, say they, they allow you to not make a payment for three months. Let's just say that starts in April. So that means April, May, and June, you're not going to make a payment, but in July you're going to have four payments due all at once. And if you can't make those payments, that's going to blow up. Your credit could turn into a foreclosure. It's really, really bad. So again, if there's absolutely any way to make your mortgage payment, make the mortgage payment, 

Sean: (03:07)

Yeah. You sit there, and you think you're like, well, if I, I'm trying to pay my bills, we've got to feed the family, everything else. And you know, you're like, Oh, forbearance, all right, that sounds great. I'm going to push it off. But then in three, four months, it's not like we're going to have a windfall of money that you're now going to be able to make three to four months payments in one month. 

Scott: (03:31)

Right. And that's the reason to not be surprise at the end. A lot of people are going to be very surprised. So I actually, and I know we're going to post a list of, you know, some banks and institutions that have posted some of their guidance on what they're doing around this. And some of those aren't even that clear. But, one article from a very big servicer that I read, it's a blog post from Mr. Cooper. There ain't much, unloved servicer in the United States. And they basically say right there, in the post, you know, kind of be careful what you're getting into. You know, if you're going to get a forbearance, you need to go ahead, and during the forbearance, term apply for a loan modification. And if you went through the housing crisis in 2008, '09, '10, you know, a lot of people were getting loan modifications, but also a lot of people were getting denied for loan modifications. 

Scott: (04:29)

So what I think we're all hearing in the media is that they're just going to, allow you to not make mortgage payments for a few months. You don't have to prove anything. Well, be careful because most likely during this term, if you're not going to be careful, you don't get to the end and don't get a surprise because you're probably going to have to prove that you weren't able to make the payments somehow. And during the modification days, 10, 12 years ago, that was showing tax returns, paycheck stubs, lack of, you know, profit, budgets, profit, and loss. I mean, it was massive ordeal. So, just make your mortgage payment. If it's possible. 

Sean: (05:17)

Yeah, and everyone in the audience. So, you know, that's, you know, that everyone is watching. I will have a couple, documents that Scott provided me, basically showing 23 different lenders, or you know, 23 different banks and on what they individually doing and even as we're trying to keep it as simplified as possible right here, as I was reading through it, every time I read each one, I'm thinking everyone are basically playing with the same terms and playing by the same rules. But every time you read, they're like, well, this one's a little different from this one, and this one's a little different from that one. So it gets more, I read about what each of these banks are doing, the more I got confused. 

Scott: (06:01)

Yeah. So, I think everybody's confused because they're making the rules up as they go. And I mean, can't blame them. It's a Black Swan event. So there's going to be a lot of confusion. So do your very best to understand what you're getting into. 

Sean: (06:17)

Yeah. It seems like the number one thing is call your lender directly or who is servicing your loan and talk to them directly and ask them what are all your options. And then, and, and definitely this is a time that if you think you have a dumb question, it, nothing's dumb right now. You've got to ask. 

Scott: (06:40)

Yeah. And do your best to get it in writing because mortgages are all about documentation. So if they can send you an email about anything in writing that you can get from them in case you have a credit issue down the road where they're reporting that you were late or who knows what least you have something to fight it with. 

Sean: (07:03)

Okay. No, that's great advice. So definitely talk to him directly an error than you say get it in an email form or have some type of writing, so you have something to back it up at any time down the road. So Scott from, you know, from what you're reading, I know things are changing day by day, but if truly, if someone is in a situation that are unable, you know, the, you know, for the individuals, if you could pay your loan, your mortgage, pay it, but if you're just unable to pay your mortgage, what is the, what are the steps you recommend for them to do, 

Scott: (07:40)

you know, go online or get your mortgage statement, find the 800 number with your loan number to your servicer or whoever you make your mortgage payment out to and call them, explain your situation and ask what your options are and make sure that whatever options are available at whichever one you choose, you get that in writing. You know that either they're going to tack the mortgage payments on to the end of the mortgage or they're all going to be due a couple of months from now all at once. And if that's the case, go ahead and start putting documentation together and prepare for doing a full loan modification. Because you're probably going to have to prove your loss of income at that point. You know, just like they did 10 or 12 years ago. 

Sean: (08:28)

So, so if someone needs to do a modification, is it pretty much the same paperwork that you need as when you first got the loan? 

Scott: (08:38)

For the most part? I'm trying, I mean, this has been a long time ago since I dealt with these, but from what I recall, it was gonna be tax returns. It was going to be paycheck stubs and, and also it was a budget, a profit, basically a profit and loss statement or household budget showing that you didn't have any enough money, you know, mortgage, food, electricity, whatever. It was a negative number at the bottom. So yeah, you have to prove hardship basically. 

Sean: (09:12)

Okay. So if, if anyone out there that would like to call Scott before you call them, please reach out to him, and he will, you know, talk to you. And again, things are changed day by day. So what might happen between now and then when you call, but Scott's there, he's very open, and he's very knowledgeable. And if he doesn't know the answer, he's got a whole network and a team that we can get the answer. So please reach out to him if you have any questions. Now, Scott, is there anything else you want to add? 

Scott: (09:48)

No, I just hope everybody stay safe out there. Don't go stir crazy. You know, if you have any psychological problems or anything like that from being kicked up in the house, don't be afraid to reach out for help, you know, because it's very real thing. 

Sean: (10:04)

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. You gotta, you gotta stay physically and mentally strong during this period of time, and the number one way to do that is reach out and, and even if it's through video, you know, make some type of connection. 

Scott: (10:19)

That's right. So, but yeah, we'll get through this, and we'll come out stronger on the other side. 

Sean: (10:25)

Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. So Scott, again, thank you so much for your time and going over this with us and everybody, thank you so much for watching. If you have any questions about anything around your real estate needs right now, if it's about the mortgage. Oh, I had a lot of calls and helping a lot of people with contractors cause the big storm we just had, please don't hesitate to give me a call. Whatever I could do and if you need to have someone just to talk to, we're here, and we're, we're on video, and we're talking, so thank you again, Scott. Thanks a lot again. All right. Thanks, Sean. Take care. All right, sir. You too. Have a good day. You too. Bye-bye, everybody.

Sean: (00:00)

This is Sean Herndon with Beacon Group Properties, talking to one of our business owners in the community. Hi, Maria. 

Maria: (00:16)

Hi Sean. How are you? 

Sean: (00:18)

I'm good. I'm good. So Maria is with Beyond Decadence. So Maria, could you give our audiences a little bit of, a background about you and your company just in case they haven't heard of you? 

Maria: (00:33)

Yeah, Sean. Yes. Hi everybody. I'm pastry chef Maria Kemp, and I own Beyond Decadence. I was professionally trained at the French Pastry School in Chicago and had been working in and out of the industry every since then. That was in 2007, so about 13 years under my belt and moved to the Lake Norman area. It'd be three years, exactly, on father's day. Beyond Decadence is a dessert catering company, and we started as a pop up bakery doing events all over the Lake Norman and Charlotte area, and that got our brand and our product and our presence in the mouths and the hands of people who wanted our services for their various events. So that's where a dessert catering came from. We specialize in American gluten-free and French desserts. We specialize in the bite sides minis because everybody's pretty health-conscious. So they usually want the bite, the bite-sized desserts. 

Sean: (01:28)

Okay. And now Maria, you know, we're in a very unique time period right now with the Coronavirus, and it's affected a lot of us in different ways. How is the virus, actually affected you and your company? 

Maria: (01:42)

Oh yeah, it really has. One of the first things when all this started, what, two, three weeks ago when it really became to that height and level is my corporate clients started canceling their events. You know, as they were trying to abide by Governor Cooper's orders as well. So corporate clients went first. And then the retail clients, you know, drifted off as well because everybody stopped having, you know, their celebrations and events and festivities and parties that they need, you know, special little fancy desserts for, definitely. 

Sean: (02:13)

Now with that, what have you done to kind of survive this? Have you adjusted the way you do your, you know, promoting your company? Have you done different things and actually distributing your foods or what has changed with your company? 

Maria: (02:33)

You're actually a lot has changed. You know, you and I first talked, and things were a little bit different just to, you know, a week or more ago. But what I felt it was prudent to do for, you know, my own safety and for the safety of my customers and just trying to, you know, be law-abiding, not to sound hokey or cheesy, but to be law-abiding for what our Governor has issued, the stay at home order. It was a tough decision to make, but I felt was the right one Sunday night I posted on all my social media channels that I was stopping the same day delivery and that I was actually removing, everything is just hidden right now, all the dessert items in my online store so no one can even order any desserts. So that was a hard decision. But, I felt it was the right one to make. It was watching the revenue decrease, you know, as all this was evolving. And then the order came out, and I just said, this is what I need to do. So what I changed to instead is started ramping up my online presence from the regard. We have a lot of you know, school-aged children and teenagers and mommy's and daddy's at home with a house full of kids and they're trying to teach them, and you know, they're all staying at home and self-isolating together. So I thought where I could be of service was to offer online training. I can offer it for online baking classes for kids or adults. I started by offering it to both, but I'm going to target both because I think the kids need something to do, and sometimes the parents need a reprieve as well. Those are paid classes are only an hour. There are only $15. You get me the whole time during the class, and I'm making some enhancements so that way people always have access to me, even if they're watching it, you know, where it's already been recorded while be there online to answer questions for them in real-time. So that's the main thing that I've done. From the business perspective. I have something else I've done from a give back perspective, but I can talk about that a little bit later if you want. 

Sean: (04:36)

Yeah, actually, I'm glad you brought that up, cause I was go right into. So if you could, yeah. Let us know more about how you're doing the giveback. 

Maria: (04:45)

Hmm. Yeah. How I started doing the give back is it just, I don't even remember where it came from. You know, I just said, you know, I've got all this, this knowledge and this time and all these ingredients and there's people out there that seem to like my crazy videos, you know, we see ourself on video. We're like, Oh my goodness, who would want to watch that? But people seem to find it entertaining, so God bless them. So I started doing videos to here in my own kitchen, in my home kitchen where I picked the dessert and what I'm going to do. And I talk them through it, tell them how to do it, show him how it's made and tell them, you know, where they can find it if they want to make it themselves. We've made, we, well I've made some everything from, and they're, they're free. I do them every night, and I found doing them in the, toward the evening, probably when moms and dads are logging off from work. Then, you know, the viewership was up last night. I unveiled the second part of, what was it, no turn, wine, ice cream. I've done wine gummies, kind of like wine gummy bears, but I had them, these really cool shapes. I don't remember what else I've done. There's probably like eight or nine different videos on my business page and some of the social media channels. So those are just entertaining, and they get a lot of viewers, and people seem to enjoy them. So it's just the way I can, you know, add a little, little levity to a very serious situation. And people like watching food videos, they're really popular. 

Sean: (06:12)

Very true. I, and unfortunately, I watch them. It makes me even more hungry. Now how do you choose what you're gonna make? Or are you kinda like have a list of like your top favorites, things, or you get feedback from the audience or...

Maria: (06:28)

Well, it's kind of funny because I think maybe people are just, they've got so many different things that they're watching online because there is so much online that, you know, I've asked for feedback a couple of times, you know, for a poll, do you want to see adult desserts or kid-friendly? And I had some participation in the poll but not as much as I was hoping and say. And also, Hey, do you have any ideas, suggestions, something you want to see me make? And I haven't gotten any suggestions. I think maybe I got one, but it was something too complicated that I just couldn't do on error quickly. Cause I'm trying to find things that are quick and easy that people can do at home. So I just look around my kitchen and in my pantry and in my supplies and see what I have. And I'm always reading recipes online. I'm always online, like all of us, in looking at recipes and seeing how I can modify them or tweak them. I'm not showing recipes that already have my secret recipes that I use in the course of my business to make money and stay viable. You know, I've had people you know, well, why don't you show us how to do lemon bars or you know, flowerless chocolate almond cake. No, no, no. Those are two of my best sellers. Those are secrets I'll take to my grave. 

Sean: (07:36)

Now I those, I know those are your top sellers, and stuff are, but what is absolutely your favorite favorite dessert? If you had a choice of anything out there, what would you choose for yourself? 

Maria: (07:48)

Oh, my goodness. People ask me this all the time when you hear this you're going to think I'm crazy when I say this, but I like yesterday on air from one of my classes, I made peanut butter brownie. So they have peanut butter chips and chocolate chips because I love Reese's peanut butter cups. So if there's anything I could put those two flavors in together, then I'm all over it. Because you have to understand a lot of the desserts that I make that my customers like and enjoy. Those are, those are recipes I've been making for years or a very long time. So, you know, I'm a little burnt out on them. So I, you know, I, I just don't have the same affinity toward, you know, sitting down and, you know, eating them in large quantities because I've made them for so long. So, yeah, I know it sounds crazy, but I've got a chocolate chip peanut butter brownie sitting right behind this camera. So yeah, 

Sean: (08:46)

That's the other thing is, is that you can literally have these awesome desserts just sitting there waiting for you at any moment. 

Maria: (08:55)

Yeah. The wine ice cream is still in the freezer, get brownies, and I was figuring out what I'm going to do today, you know, and I just, but you know, I'm staying away from everybody just as you know, we're supposed to do. So I've got all these sitting here, and it's just me and like...

(09:14)

I need some help with these desserts. I can't eat them all by myself. 

Maria: (09:17)

I know, I know they were offering yesterday in the video. They're like; we'll meet you outside. And I'm like, bring wine. 

(09:26)

Best things do happen with wine. I do admit. 

Maria: (09:29)

Yeah. 

Sean: (09:31)

Oh, that's awesome. Well, Maria, thank you so much. I really appreciate this time. And if someone does want to order your video or get in one of your classes and stuff, how do they reach you? 

Maria: (09:41)

They can go to www.beyonddecadence.com and then just click on the link for the order now or the online store. Yeah, there's an order now button. There's a picture at the very front of landing page, but it will take you right into the website, and then you'll see the, I think there's five different classes there. Some of the classes have already taken place. So now, I'll post that video and then make myself available as people want to go through the classes. Because when I do the first class and that's when I actually record it. So, yeah. Yeah. So that way, people are getting me real-time. They're watching me make it in my kitchen. I just finished, you know, the all about buttercream class and I was making it while the students were on the Facebook Live session. So, yeah...

Sean: (10:28)

That's awesome. And so I'm guessing your Facebook page would be a good resource as well. 

Maria: (10:33)

Yes. The Beyond Decadence Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/beyonddecadence Absolutely. And I know there's a lot of chefs out there doing videos now. You know, all the celebrity chefs are doing them. I'm, you know, I'm here local in the community and have been for a while, so I, you know, hope people would love on and watch the free videos in the evening that are shorter. They're under 15 minutes and then also participate in the hour-long class and see the step by step instruction and have the chance to interact with me and get your questions answered in real-time. And if you want to make it alongside of me real-time, you can do that too. 

Sean: (11:04)

That's awesome. Well, you are our Celebrity Chef in this area too. Definitely seen you on some quite a few TV, news channels, and stuff. 

Maria: (11:13)

Yeah, that's been a huge blessing. I love doing that. I liked doing TV, and I like teaching, so we'll see where it takes me. Yeah. 

Sean: (11:20)

Yeah. Well, hopefully, we'll get through this quickly and, and well, with everyone. So, but again, Maria, thank you so much. I really appreciate this time with me and talk a little bit further about your company. 

Maria: (11:35)

Absolutely. Thank you for having me, Sean. I really appreciate it. 

Sean: (11:38)

Awesome. Well, everybody, I thank you again for watching our videos. If you have any questions any suggestions, please leave some comments down below in the comment section to so we can kind of get a gear. If there's someone you'd like us to talk to, definitely. Give Maria a call or set up a class with her, you will definitely learn some wonderful skills that cooking and, and right now I gotta tell you, we are cooking like crazy in our house, which is, hasn't been done in a long time. So, I hope everyone is safe and healthy, and I can't wait to see you guys on the next video. So until next time, thanks a lot. Bye. Bye.

Maria: (12:21)

Bye...

Sean: (00:06)

This is Sean Herndon with Beacon Group Properties here with Cori. She's one of our business owners in our community. Again, we're talking to small business owners and seeing how the Coronavirus is affecting them and their company. Cori Stuart is with Cori Stuart Holistic Healing. So Cori, first off, thank you so much. I really appreciate you joining me in this video.

Cori: (00:30)

My pleasure. Thank you so much for having me and sharing my information with your viewers.

Sean: (00:35)

Oh, absolutely. My pleasure. I was talking to you earlier; just I really think this is going to be a great video for people, especially in this time that we're just so stressed out with the Coronavirus. So first off, just wondering, with this Coronavirus, how is it affecting your company and what you do every day?

Cori: (00:53)

Sure. So for me, as a holistic healer, a big part of my practice is Reiki, which is a Japanese energy healing technique where, in simple terms, it's the intention of energy. So it's using your body's energy to help balance itself. It's normally a hands-on practice, so as everybody has to keep six feet away from each other. My practice has shifted to thankfully Reiki can be done by distance sessions. So it's not educating but enlightening individuals that you can stay home. And if you can find, find 15 to 20 minutes of quiet time by yourself, which I know can be a challenge with a house full of people. However, it's, you can still receive Reiki and feel a lot less anxiety and a lot less stress is when your body is in a more balanced place, your stress level goes down, which right now I think we all need and it also helps our immune systems to feel better and go back up.

Sean: (02:03)

Absolutely. Absolutely. So, you know, since the Coronavirus like you were kind of mentioning, you know, you had to kind of change your practice to make sure you stay safe and your clients stay safe. So in that situation, what would you recommend for your client, especially if they're maybe a first time working with you, what kind of like environment should they set up in their homes when they get on a video with you or call?

Cori: (02:28)

yeah, I said the most important thing in their environment, in general, is whether they're on a call with me or just with all the stressors going on around you try to feel calm. So there are essential oils that you can use. Like lemon is a nice cleaner way, you can diffuse it, or lavender for most people is calming. For some people with ADHD, it also energizes them. So then peppermint oil can be a good one as well. But make sure your environment is conducive for what you're doing. So if you're working from home, create your work environment. If you're going to do a session with me and do a little bit of meditation, don't be in your work environment. Keep that stressor out to the side. Find either a comfy recliner or a couch or a bed where you can either sit comfortably or lay down and really let go.

Sean: (03:25)

Oh, that's, that's great, great advice. I know there's certain things, I have A.D.D. And everything else. I know there are certain smells, and caffeine just gets me going. So I totally understand that you have these outside elements that could affect you internally like that. So, now with where we're at right now with the Coronavirus and how our community and the state we are in right now, are there any specific things you might be doing right now with your company? It might be discounts or giving back to the community.

Cori: (04:00)

Yeah, I am offering discounts on, especially on first-time sessions, as all of my sessions are being done virtually right now. So instead of just diving straight into a virtual session, I am offering free consultations, where I share some anti-anxiety tips and tricks. I've battled anxiety, since golly, I can remember. So I've got just a few year's experiences, don't want to share how many years ok maybe more than two decades. And what are things that have worked well for me and helping to keep my anxiety low as well as utilizing Reiki is as a practice?

Sean: (04:41)

All right. Well, Cori, again, thank you. I really appreciate you doing this with me and kind of getting the word out about you and your company. So if someone has any additional questions or like this schedule up a free consultation with you, what's the best way for them to reach you?

Cori: (05:00)

Sure. My cell phone is (217) 891-5161. And now, you know, I wasn't always a Charlotte person. But that is my mobile, and it's always the best way to either call or text me or cori@coristuart.com. And that's S.t.u.a.r.t. C.o.r.i., I've also got my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/thecoristuart/ if they've got any questions. I also have a tendency of incorporating crystals, which is what's in the cabinet behind me to my healing practice. And if they have any questions about those, I list a lot of the properties and why I use the crystals that I use.

Sean: (05:43)

Oh, that's awesome. Thank you so much again. I really appreciate this time with ya. And everyone, please, if you have questions or just have a thought, maybe I just need to settle and have someone guide through just meditation or just to relax. Give Cori a call. I mean, she can give you just that one little tip that can actually set that, that mood a little bit differently, and it'd be shocking how much that does help center you and help you kind of just process those moments. So please give her a call. Again, I'm so thankful for everyone that's watching these videos. And if I have not reached out to you and you would like us to do a video like this for you, please, you'd give me a call at (704) 437-6463 or reach me out on our Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/beacongroupproperties. And I look forward to seeing you guys. And again, Cori, thank you so much for your time.

Cori: (06:42)

Oh, thank you so much for having me. And it's my pleasure. We all, the beautiful part right now, is we're all continuing to come together and, and we're gonna reduce all the junk that's going on around us best we can. So at least our headspaces are moving this forward as we can.

Sean: (07:00)

Yeah, that's surprising enough as far as we seem like we're social distance that I really feel like we're getting a lot closer.

Cori: (07:08)

Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's, it can be beautiful. We've got to see the light through the dark.

Sean: (07:13)

Absolutely. All right. Well, thanks, Cori and bye, guys. I'll see you at the next one. Bye. Bye.

Sean: (00:05)

Hi, this is Sean Herndon with Beacon Group Properties at Keller Williams in the Cornelius area. And today, I am actually talking with Scott Hastings over at Angel Oak Mortgage. Hey Scott, how are you doing, sir? 

Scott: (00:20)

I'm doing good. Sean, how are you doing today? 

Sean: (00:22)

Oh, doing good. Doing good. Working from home is always the, you know, it's that new norm now. 

Scott: (00:27)

That's right. I'm working from my office slash bedroom where I'm sitting on the bed slash the guitar I used to play on many years ago. So, 

Sean: (00:38)

Well, I wanted to talk to you today because you and I were speaking before, and you were telling me how, how much things are changing on a daily basis when it comes to preapprovals and prequalifies. And, so I thought this would be a great way to kind of educate everyone on what's going on right now. So, first off, can you kind of tell us a little bit about you and Angel Oak, just a case of we have some people in the audience. I haven't heard of you before. 

Scott: (01:03)

Definitely. So my name is Scott Hastings. I'm native of Charlotte, and I've been living up the Lake for about 20 years, been in the mortgage business for about 20 years, and I've been an Angel Oak. A couple of years. So, we do all the ones that everybody else does. 

Sean: (01:21)

Awesome. Awesome. So if some individuals are out there, you're kind of just are like first-time homeowners or haven't bought a home a long time, can you kind of explain the difference between a prequalify and preapproval? 

Scott: (01:37)

Definitely. So one thing that's different is, you know, somebody may have been even pre-approved, you know, a week ago and then they're not approved today, and that's because the mortgage market's changing so rapidly. Typically the difference between a prequalification on preapproval is when somebody fills out a loan application, you know, usually they're going to do with that online. The lender pulls the credit looks at the income that they've entered and just sort of takes it as gospel. Great.

You're being qualified. As long as all this stuff is true, you're pretty qualified. A preapproval would be where they would go to the next step, and they would provide all the documentation and then preapproved would actually be, they provide all the documentation and the lenders submitted to underwriting just as if they had a home under contract and gets an underwriter writer's decision. Now what's changed is, especially in the government bond market, which would be FHA, VA load, and USDA loan; lenders, not to get too deep in the forest on this, servicers, I've tightened up on what they will lend money on. So whereas you may have been and prequalified or preapproved even or an FHA loan, for example, with a 580 credit score two weeks ago, three weeks ago, you would not get that one. Today. What I'm seeing right now is a minimum credit score, 660. Now that's again for government type loan. And, then also the debt-income ratios come down a little bit. You know, I could've gotten somebody in FHA loan with say a 600 credit score and a 56% back end ratio last month that's not going to happen today. So my advice would be if you have a prequalification letter or a preapproval letter from somebody you talked to recently that needs to be looked at again. And you need to be very competent. The lender you're talking to knows what they're talking. Because I, unfortunately, see a lot of loan officers, specifically loan officers, maybe haven't been in the industry that long. They just want to get a loan into underwriting and getting a loan into underwriting. Is easy. Getting it out of my underwriting and funded is hard. So, so anyway, be very careful whom you're talking to. It'd be very sure that they know what they're talking about.

Sean: (04:20)

Okay. Well, with that, is there a certain question that you might be able to provide an individual to ask and what kind of answer, you should get that kind of help them a gauge of this individual does know what they're doing or not?

Scott: (04:37)

I would say ask them what there a minimum credit score is currently for their loan programs. And if you know, as a borrower that you are getting, for example, an FHA loan, ask them what is your company currently allowing on government loan programs, FHA loans. If the person says, well, he says anything under 640, that's the wrong answer. Okay. Even if they do, that could change tomorrow. So just stick with your original question that that's what you're going to want to be asking. What's your minimum credit score requirement?

Sean: (05:26)

And for what, what's a good question for someone that's getting a conventional

Scott: (05:34)

I would still ask what the minimum credit score requirement is. At each lender is going to have a different answer. There's not really a clear cut answer to that. For example, I have a borrower right now I'm doing a refinance. He has a lower credit score. But, he has 20% equity. So a conventional, it's probably going to allow that, you know, with 20% down. And a servicer is probably gonna fund that it's difficult to exactly say, but if, you feel that you might be on the edge, if you feel that your credit score is on the cutting edge, you feel like you're maybe don't have, quite enough money, you know, to really afford this. It's very possible that that program is not, you want to be around. So that's what I would be looking at know every, again, every lender is going to be different. What I saw, for example, over the weekend, is Chase, which I don't work for Chase doesn't matter. But as a good example of what was going on that they are not allowing any purchased loans with under a 700 credit score and 20% down. Now, that doesn't apply to everybody. It doesn't apply to me. But that's the sort of level of fear you're seeing out there amongst lender. I would also say specifically if you're in a jumbo loan, that's very difficult to get right now. I don't have access, for example, to a jumbo loan. Probably nobody. It would be considered a mortgage banker, which would be, I won't name any other companies, but not a bank. It's gonna be very difficult. The jumbo wound right now. And specifically, it's very difficult to get a jumbo loan on investment property, probably impossible. And maybe even a second home. So it's just a very risk-averse environment right now, But the good news is if you have excellent credit and you have some money to put down, it's a great time. Rates are super low, But they only really want those borrowers that are going to. They know we're going to make their mortgage payments. Actually, not drag this out, but I have this interesting, chart, and I'll, I'll email it to Sean. Okay. And this was, I was doing a continuing education course over Christmas, and I've never really seen this. Still, it shows the likelihood of delinquency or foreclosure according to credit score bands. When you look at this, you'll understand why they're changing it. It's massive. So,

Sean: (08:40)

A just kinda, a question came to me. Which some others have the same questions. Is this different than back in '08, when we went through the finance challenges back then and mortgages, are you seeing a lot of similarities between now and then or is the programs different or are they the same?

Scott: (09:01)

Well, it's an interesting question. I am not an expert on the secondary market for mortgages, but. What that was in 2008 was a banking crisis, and it was caused by very loose underwriting standards on mortgages. That's not what's happening now. The underwriting standards had been very good and still are good. You know, what we have as a, you know, not powerful, you pandemic crisis causing a financial crisis. So, I would say some of the knee jerk reactions you're seeing from the lenders are kind of the same as they were in 2008, but it's a different, reason, and I would say it will get back to normal much sooner then what you saw back in '08.

Sean: (09:55)

And it would say you have an individual that's prequalified. You know, they got a pretty good score, you know, maybe in the mid 600, high 600. What would you recommend for them to do? They're looking for a home. They're only; they're right now prequalified what would you recommend for the next steps for them to do

Scott: (10:17)

If they're already prequalified? I would have them get back in touch with their lender and make sure that they've run them again. Through the underwriting engine. So just over the weekend, I know, today's what, April 13th as we, again, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac tightened up there underwriting engine. To more aligned with what's going on, you know, in the crisis. So you may see people that are self-employed hard time getting a mortgage. That may require more reserves. I'm on say, second homes and investment properties, maybe even primary residence or, so what we, what we don't know is what did Fannie Mae do in the system? So I'd say, have somebody run your scenario again through the underwriting engine today and make sure today it works. That's what I would say.

Sean: (11:07)

And what would you recommend for someone that is just now starting and looking for a home, and it has not gotten prequalified yet.

Scott: (11:15)

Oh well. Definitely. Get Prequalified Have your documentation ready to submit. You know, really the best, the easiest loan to verify as somebody that just has a W-2 job, they just get a paid check. Very simple. They were, and they're currently working. That's easy. So I have some borrowers now that we're having to really, Well, go out on a limb and get creative to verify their employment. I have somebody who's a professional well athlete, let's say. So maybe their season's been affected by this, we have to get a letter saying, well, what's going on? Are you still receiving income? So everybody has a unique situation. I would just make sure that your situation every fact out on the table, so you'll know. So you're actually qualified. You can buy something.

Sean: (12:15)

Okay. And if you're going through the process, you know, you're prequalified preapproved, you're, you found the home, you're under contract is, is there any surprises that can happen throughout the process that's kind of new now that would be really good for someone to understand? Not, not to get surprised about. 

Scott: (12:38)

Right. I would say a lot of times people, I tell people, and I've always told people there's no common sense in the mortgage industry. So be prepared for somebody to really dig into your business. I just saw a loan close Friday where the borrower, this is one of my loans, there's a new document I haven't even seen. They have to sign saying that they are currently working on, are not aware that they're work is going to be, you know, negatively impacted. So, in other words, they weren't told this morning that they're going to be laid off in two weeks. So, you know, just be prepared to, to really open up your life. In order to get a house right now, you know. But there's nothing new, I wouldn't say that would surprise you unless you are clear to close and all of a sudden, and you had a 620 credit score and now your lender can't do the loan. That's happening.

Sean: (13:36)

So it sounds like you, yes, the lender's going to be in there trying to find out everything you can, but you, you really need to be diligent with your employer too and being upfront with your employers saying, Hey, I'm in the process of buying home. I, my, the lender that I'm working with, it needs to ensure that I have, I'm going to have a job by the time I close this home. So it sounds like you've got to kind of manage both sides of the of it.

Scott: (14:04)

Definitely. I mean, I'm, you don't want that to be the way you find out that you're going to be laid off, but it's better to know now, thank later. 

Sean: (14:13)

Because it sounds like if you, you get down to the closing and then you now are getting laid off, it's sounds like you're going to lose the deal anyways.

Scott: (14:23)

Absolutely. I had a loan close last week. The wife actually was furloughed, and so we couldn't use her income. So I had, I find a way to do it on just the husband's income. Thank goodness. Figured it out. But If he also had been furloughed. It's not going to happen.

Sean: (14:44)

Is, is there a, do you guys, do you put it like together, like a worksheet or something for clients, or is there way that you help them throughout this process, especially since things are changing day to day?

Scott: (14:57)

I don't have a worksheet per se. I just have a very open and frank conversation with equal about exactly what's going on. And I've never been the type of person. To give anybody any sort of false hope. This isn't really about this crisis, but you know, a lot of times, clients will say, Hey, am I 100% sure I'm going to close. I've always told people, even if you have $1 million in the bank, there's not a hundred percent chance of anything, anything happened. So until you walk away from the closing table. Nothing's guaranteed, but you can make sure that everything you've done in your power to make sure that you are approvable and you haven't held anything back, is good. You know, is the best advice I could give somebody. Sometimes people feel that maybe they want to leave some information out cause you know, they think it would negatively impact their loan, but it's going to be found out anyway. You can't hide anything. So just be upfront with your loan officer.

Sean: (16:07)

So as we wind this up, is there any other recommendations or ideas to help individuals that might be in the process right now and just not getting the right information? To make sure that they do go to close or maybe an individual is starting out the process and they need to make sure that they can get through this new environment we have all the way to the closing table.

Scott: (16:35)

My advice would be to listen to your loan officer. A lot of times, nothing against realtors. I know you're a realtor Sean and I know you'd never do this, but a lot of times, you know, there's a lot of people invested in a deal that wanted to close, and they might have good intentions and they might have good feelings about this or that, but that's not the, they don't know what's actually going on with the mortgage. Listen to the loan officer, ask them if you have any questions whatsoever about anything, ask them because there really aren't any stupid questions in the mortgage process. Obviously, just like anytime, don't go open up and up any new credit accounts. Right. Keep as much money as you can. And your checking account for reserves, I mean, that's something that might possibly come up. It's typically a good idea to have at least one or two months of mortgage payments in the bank after you close as reserves. Especially if your credit score is know a little lower. When I say a little lower, maybe under 700. Because really we not, we're not sure exactly what is going to change from day to day. What will always be popular is money in the bank to make mortgage payments, especially you're going through a period where people are maybe thinking about having a mortgage payment to be deferred. A few months or something like that. That's the big fear. A months servicers is that people aren't going to make their mortgage payments because those servicers people collect their mortgage payment. They still have to pay the investor whether you pay or not. And that's what's causing a lot of fear. They may not have enough money to pay everybody's mortgage. 

Sean: (18:18)

And I, and I'm glad you brought that up cause that's actually what our next video is going to be about. We're going to sit down with Scott, and we're going to go over about all this language has been put out there by the government about having, you know, being able to suppress or, or put off your payments, which, which is not a good idea. So we're going to have a whole nother video, which we're going to dig into that. So, so Scott, thank you so much. I really appreciate your time today. And I really appreciate you sharing all this information with us. Well, thanks for having me, Sean. And everybody stays safe out there. Absolutely. Stay healthy and safe. And everyone, please make sure that you hit subscribe and hit the little bell, on YouTube to hear any of our new videos. We're going to be doing a whole series with different professionals out there in the market to try to help lead you and help you get through this. There's an interesting time that we are going through. And again, we are going to be going over what to do with your payments, and if you can't do them or if you can do them, but you want us to put them off, watch our next video on that. So until then, thank you very much. See you later. Thanks a lot again, Scott. All right. Thank you. See you later. All right. Bye. Bye.

Sean: (00:02)

Hi, this is Sean Herndon with Beacon Group Properties here in Cornelius. And today I have a Mayor, John Aneralla, with me. Hey John, how are you doing, sir?

Mayor John: (00:13)

Hey Sean, I'm doing well. I hope you and your family are healthy.

Sean: (00:17)

Yes, yes. Thank you. I hope everyone is doing well over at your home as well.

Mayor John: (00:22)

Yeah, we're all good here.

Sean: (00:24)

Awesome. Awesome. That's good to hear. I use it every day. It's like a changing, evolving thing that we're in right now, and I really appreciate you spending some time with me kind of talking about where we are right now and here in your area of Huntersville. So John, can you just in case we have some viewers that are outside of our area, can you just kind of give a little intro about yourself and the Town of Huntersville?

Mayor John: (00:49)

Sure. Well, I've been Mayor, this is my third term, so each term is two years. So it's been all about, well, this year it feels like five years, but it's been almost five years that have been Mayor Huntersville is about 65,000 people just North of Charlotte, a rapidly growing. It's probably the 17th largest town in North Carolina right now. A very diversified business space. And I think it is one of the best places to live in North Carolina.

Sean: (01:20)

Yeah, it's definitely a beautiful area and a lot of amenities, a lot. I mean, I mean you, today I just riding right now going to Viva Chicken to do my carryout from Viva Chicken and all this stuff is still going on during Sam Furr during what we're doing right now. It's amazing. So kind of, I know the Coronavirus has kind of put a lot of stops in other areas, of what's going on. Can you kinda explain to the audience how the Coronavirus is affecting the Town of Huntersville?

Mayor John: (01:52)

Well, first of all, I could never be any more proud to be the Mayor of Huntersville. It's just been an amazing experience. As bad as things are, how people have come together, how our business community is donating to food pantries. Many of our restaurants, which are really only open at a limited basis on a limited basis for take out, pickup, they're still donating food to our first responders. To the hospital. We have a hospital here, Novant. I met with the President of Novant a couple of days ago. He said his people, they're having paid for a meal in three weeks. And I think one of the keys as, as being Mayor and looking longterm at Huntersville, we're 65,000 people. Most people would say that's a city, but we want to keep that small-town feel. And I think that's what you're seeing not only in Huntersville but in Cornelius and Davidson as well. We are unique in that even though you don't necessarily know where you are any one time when you're driving around here; we're all very similar, very town, very small town orientated. And, our businesses are hurting, and there's no doubt, well, many of them are closed. I hope they would get open sooner rather than later. But for the most part, people really done very well with the stay at home and, and like I said, that the outpouring of support for those that are on the front lines, whether it's our first responders, police, and fire or doctors and nurses, it's just been heartwarming.

Sean: (03:37)

Yeah. I, it has been just an outpouring of support and love. I don't know what else to put it because I, you know, I talked to like FeedNC up in Mooresville, and I'd talked to them. I have a lot of good friends that are in the healthcare industry right now, and it just, the amount of people that are willing to just put themselves out there during this time of need, it's phenomenal. So right now with Huntersville, with this kind of effecting the Coronavirus kind of seeping in and everything, what are, what is your opinion? What do you think needs to be done? What are the next steps for us to kind of move forward? I know we're still dealing with it, and the numbers are looking good. But what do you think, what are the next steps in this?

Mayor John: (04:26)

Well, I think the next step, and I'm not an expert epidemiologist and certainly not in the medical field. Still, I think the business community and the electeds need to be at the table as decisions are being made going forward. And I think we are starting to have those discussions, you know, so what, what does it look like to get started? Again, prime the pump, so to speak. I believe everybody understands that there are small businesses that are just dying right now. Many of those businesses typically compete with a lot of the big boxes or the current retailers that are open right now. And they were all open because they do a service that's deemed essential. However, you still can buy a hundred or a thousand other products. So I think we need to have that discussion right now. Okay. If X, Y, Z company can be open, and you can buy anything from bubblegum to Christmas cards or any kind of cards. And what have you, then why can't a similar retailer probably much smaller be open to selling those products as well? And so I've had discussions, numerous discussions with the Governors, people with business leaders, some electeds about being at the table while the discussion is being, had because I don't know if some of these companies will ever recover. I don't know how much longer they can handle it. And it's to me inherently unfair that you can go to one of these big box stores and well, for example, unfortunately, we've had a couple of deaths in our family, and we wanted to go out and buy, sympathy cards. Well, we couldn't go to a card shop, right? We only have to go to two, wherever Walgreen or the supermarket, what have you. And I just think it's unfair that if the Hallmark store or the card store wants to be open and they could adhere to the current restrictions would, are fairly restrictive. You only allowed 20% of capacity in your store or five people per thousand. I could almost make it a good argument that a lot of people would rather go to that small store and the go-to the large store where there are hundreds of people there even though that's less than 20% of capacity. So we're having those discussions

Sean: (06:54)

That you make a good point on that. And then also I think I was like, well that business owner has got to go, okay, I can, I can open my doors, but I'm restricted to so many people that get-go in. And so that's own, I only can receive so much money per day because of the restriction and then my expenses on that. And they got to make a judgment for themselves. But if you are open, and I mean I, you know, you go to any restaurant, I, you go to, you know, like Fresh Chef or you go at some of these restaurants, there's lines of cars out front picking up their food. Cause there's been so much support in our community, just the help, and just go out there and, and you know, there is a sense of wanting to help the little guy and that whole community, the key though that money in our community. So I can totally understand that.

Mayor John: (07:49)

Yeah. Sean, you know, when you, when you think about it, that business owner has so many more decisions to be made. One under the restrictions. Can I even, it does benefit me to be open to, Two can I get an employee to work Three, I have to adhere to face mask or gloves or whatever it is. We have to have the discussion before we say, okay, everything's good to go. You know, it's like anything else. You have to have the plan in place. And I think we went into the shutdown. It wasn't necessarily a plan of how we got out because we knew we had to get into it. I think people have conditioned themselves fairly well. If you go around and I've gone to take out or walk in the neighborhood or bike or what have you, I think people are going to be pretty in tune with who is standing next to them and how close they are. Wow. If I don't feel well, I'm not going to go out. I think you're going to get that continued stay at home mindset but at least let these other businesses open and make, let them make the decision.

Sean: (08:57)

Okay. Now, do you have any timeline that you are thinking that the, that we will have this progressional open or is it still pretty much, you know, too cloudy in the crystal ball to really try to put a date on it or an idea?

Mayor John: (09:15)

Well, I think it has to be, there has to be some consensus about that. I don't want certainly Huntersville to open up and Davidson, Cornelius, and rest of Mecklenburg County not be open. Obviously, the state has their own guidelines right now. Mecklenburg counties are more stringent. Oddly enough, Mayors have, or discretion right now under the state of emergency. So I'm a or can actually have some more weight in a decision right now. But that's why it's so important that we have these conversations and have the business community sitting there with the healthcare community. I don't think that, no, can't, they can't possibly be a perfect answer, because we don't know what the future will be. But I think we all have a great sense that the longer this goes, there are a lot of things that we don't know now will be negative. And I'll give you a perfect example. Besides the fact that the business community is going to have a hard time getting started. And then us psychologically getting back into the flow, so to speak. But the healthcare community is going to be dramatically change because I've talked to a number of healthcare providers, and they're not seeing a lot of the typical patients they would see. So you most likely have people that are postponing almost the inevitable in terms of their disease that will be sicker six months from now or three months from now than if they had gone to the doctor or the hospital in a normal state. So, I think everybody wants to get back to normal as quickly as possible, but I think it's just going to be such a long term approach that we have to get started. So I'm more in favor of sooner, probably sometime in May, or only May to at least get the retailers open and then look at other industries that are what I would call your high touch industries, like restaurants and beauty parlors and nail salon and have different criteria for them before they can open. And then certainly like a lot of guys, I want sports back on. So I'm willing to just watch them instead of going to see them. But eventually, that will be something down the road where, you know, 60 or 80,000 people can get together. And I'm fine with them if they're willing to and they want to participate in baseball, So

Sean: (11:44)

yeah. Now from all your talks with the health care and your community and everything, is there anything you would recommend for an individual that wants to do something or help out? Is there anything that you come across that you're like, okay, if they, this has the most impact right now?

Mayor John: (12:04)

Yeah, most impact right now is food pantries. Any, you know, lot of people, especially in North Mecklenburg, perceive, Oh so highly. It's a wealthy community. And that's true, but we do have an underbelly of poverty in our society. Also, many people are now all of a sudden finding themselves in a position where they don't have access to food very quickly. So I would go, there's a website, https://charmeckresponds.org/ has a number of links to different charities and how you can get involved. So they need help or how you can volunteer. And then also some that I haven't heard too much, but, we need blood; obviously people aren't going, blood drives have been canceled, or they're just not going out. So American Red Cross, they're doing mobile, so you don't have to go to the hospital and that that would be another significant need that I hear from the healthcare community.

Sean: (13:09)

Okay. Well again, John, thank you so much. I really appreciate you doing this with me. Is there anything else that you would like to add or something I didn't ask?

Mayor John: (13:19)

What I'll reiterate is that I am so proud to be the Mayor of a town that has pulled together and does some great things for people and as evidence of that of numerous restaurants that are really devastated by the lack of revenue but yet are donating consistently food to our first responders and our hospital hospitals or doctor's offices. And, it's just, it's just really an amazing thing, and that's the kind of feel you want to keep with Huntersville as it grows. Cause we'll be 80, 90, 100,000 people someday. And we hope to keep that small-town feel.

Sean: (14:00)

And those are the exact reasons why I live here. I absolutely the you, we have a lot of people in these, these, three, towns, but it has such a small-town feel at the same time. And we'd definitely come together when we all really need to. So again, thank you very much, John. I appreciate your time and everything and everyone, please, if you have any questions, you can go to the Town of Huntersville website; https://www.huntersville.org/. If you have any questions you'd like to get to John, just put them down in the comments below. I'll definitely make sure we get those answered for you. And if there's anything we could do to assist and help you definitely reach out. You do not want to be at home and let it fester. Reach out. If you need any help physically or mentally, just let us know, and people will be there to help you out. So again, guys, thank you so much, and we'll see you at the next video. Thanks a lot. Bye. Bye, sir.

Sean: (00:02)

Hi, this is Sean Herndon with Beacon Group Properties, talking to our business owners in the community of the Lake Norman area. Today I'm speaking with Pat with Wagz' N Whiskerz. Hey Pat.

Pat: (00:16)

Hey Sean. How are you?

Sean: (00:18)

I'm good. I'm good. Well first off, Pat, thank you so much. I really appreciate you spending this time with me and talking to me about your company and letting the community a little bit know more about you and what's going on with the Coronavirus. How it's affecting you guys. Just in case someone hasn't heard of you or Wagz'n and Whiskerz, can you give us a little idea of what you guys do there?

Pat: (00:43)

Sure. We are Lake Norman's local in-home pet sitting service. So what we do is we go into our client's homes and care for their, their pets when they're awake, whether they're working all day and their dogs might need a walk or a break. We also care for our clients' pets when they go away, if they're on a trip or vacation, we come in, we feed, we walk, we play, we clean up, we give medication, we, basically do try to do everything we can to keep the pets routine as normal as possible. So that they're safe in their own home and our clients can go and do and enjoy what they went away to do.

Sean: (01:34)

I have to admit what you do is so important because I did, I had a senior, black lab. He was our oldest fur child 15, and it was to a point that we were just pure worried. And we had a service just like yours. And I tell you, they were so valuable during that time to know that there was someone there that was coming and, and spending time with them. And he was just, you know, towards that end, you know, it just, unfortunately, falls apart sometimes really quick. And it was a; I'm so thankful for services like yours. So now, with the Coronavirus, I am affecting everyone and all different kinds of ways. So how's the Coronavirus affecting you Pat and, you at Wagz'n Whiskerz?

Pat: (02:31)

Well, the biggest impact has been that people aren't going away. And, this all came up right in front of one of our busiest seasons, spring break, Easter time. And we've had lots of cancellations. We're probably; our business is down 50% for the month of March. We're looking at 65% down for the month of April, and, very helpful. That may turn around. So I haven't forecasted any losses for that month yet, but, and then we've because we have lost business, I've had to, I can't hold onto as larger team as I had. So we had to basically inactivate some of our, our pet sitters and dog walkers because they had no work to offer them. So it's been pretty, what's the word? Crazy. Big impact.

Sean: (03:40)

Absolutely. It's been crazy, and it's been quite a challenge, with the shifting of what the business world right now, of just amalgamating your company to, to the market, Now how are you with the Coronavirus and kind of again, adapting to the way things are going. What are you guys doing to help protect yourselves and your clients?

Pat: (04:07)

So, we do actually still have some clients, some who are still working. We have some healthcare professionals that we care for their pets, so they're away working. And their pets still need care, which is one of the essential businesses. It's spelled out in the stay at home order as issued by Mecklenburg County and the state of North Carolina. We also have clients who are working from home but are actually still working, doing phone calls, meetings, and Zoom meetings like this. And, so even though their home, their pet, their dogs not getting the walking exercise that they normally would if they were in the office. So, we, we were, we've instituted the basic safety protocols that the CDC and the world health organization recommends is frequent hand washing. We're washing our hands when we go eat and to a client's home washing after, you know, right before we leave, we're using things, to barricade touching doorknobs and keypads, rubber gloves. The one thing that I learned is that a clean poopy bag works as a great barrier for doorknobs and keep keypads if needed. If you don't have anything else, we highly recommend it's clean as opposed to not. And then we're also limiting who has access to each client's home. Generally, if I have someone who is assigned work but isn't available, maybe they're out sick, or they can't work that day because I have a team. We can usually then someone as a backup to the regularly scheduled sitter. However, because of the Coronavirus, we're finding that that's not necessarily the best idea. So we are canceling visits. If we can't have the person who's been there or normally goes there, well, we'll cancel the visit just to keep things safe. Many of our, sitters do, have any, you know, we're, we're also an allergy season right now, which is really bad and so if there's any sniffles or coughs or anything, I'm asking them to stay home just to be on the safe side cause we don't want to cause any alarm with our clients who may be there when we arrived. So, and just at home, just, you know, limiting where we're not doing one of the services we provide as pet taxi where we can pick up dogs from the vet or drop them off at groomers. We are offering a limited-service there. Sometimes clients will want us to give them a ride as well. We're not doing that anymore because we, for this time being just, you know, to keep things safe and make sure we're doing the social distance, protocol as well.

Sean: (07:28)

Yeah, that's totally understandable. Understandable on how much we have to kind of shift everything. And now with that, it no, are, have you guys done, have you putting different types of programs together to kind of help offset this as well maybe for the community or different things that you're doing? The us discounts and stuff?

Pat: (07:54)

Yeah. I mean I, have always been very involved in the rescue community, on each of the different communities have lost and found pages and we also, so I'm staying involved in that. One of the things I'm doing since I have time Oh now is that I'm actually fostering a senior dog for one of the local rescues. That gives me something to focus on, and I can be a step in that pet's journey to a forever home. We're also offering to our clients from the Wagz'n Whiskerz perspective is a buy now use later package where clients, our clients can buy a number of visits to be used later. Anytime they won't, they will not expire. So once, once we do get a chance to get away, and I really believe that we're going to be swamped when that happens. And then we're giving a discount to our clients who purchase those packages. So that helps our cash flow and, and my, my intent is to be fully up and running when our clients need us. And so if I can, you know, bring, bring some money in to pay bills while we're going through this, we'll be ready to go. Once we get the all-clear and people start leaving town again.

Sean: (09:29)

I think that's an ingenious idea because of I kind of adequate that to what's happening with the real estate world too. We still have demand. There are still people moving to our area every single day. But, you know, with the viruses kind of slowed things down. But if you're able to kind of do exactly what you're saying, you know, purchase, you know, these visits now, and then you're able to use them later, and there's, and they don't expire. So you're going to use one that you're going to use them. I mean, then you're, you're getting a discount on Talbot that's it's a win-win.

Pat: (10:13)

Yes. Yeah. We, we, we've had a very good response where initially we launched it, about two weeks ago and we were, planning on, having that offer ends today actually the 31st. But because we had such a great response, we've extended it now through April and, so just to, you know, give our clients the ability to take advantage of a sale, which we usually never have. Our margins are generally pretty low, so we don't normally discount. But we know that in this, you know, in this time, if there's something we can do to help our clients and help the business, then, like you said, win-win.

Sean: (10:57)

Absolutely. So, Pat, so if someone does want to order, you know, these future services or maybe your services right now, what's the best way for them to reach you? Do you have a website and stuff like that?

Pat: (11:12)

Absolutely. We're were all over the place. There's, there are many ways to reach us. We have our phone number you can call is 704-615-6566. You can call or text that number. We also have a website or website is https://wagznwhiskerz.com/ and, there's a Z where there should be an "S" Wagz'n the end of Whiskerz. We're also on Facebook Wagz'n Whiskerz. You can send us a message through Facebook as well https://www.facebook.com/WagznWhiskerzPetSitting/ and/ or email us at info@wagznwhiskerz.com. Anyone of those is a direct line to our office, and we'll be able to help you out.

Sean: (12:01)

Awesome. Well, again, thank you, Pat, so much. I really appreciate this time.

Pat: (12:07)

Thank you, Sean. I really appreciate the time you're putting in to help support our Lake Norman businesses cause I have found it's an amazing community and, just very, fortunate and blessed to be a part of it.

Sean: (12:23)

Awesome. It's absolutely my pleasure. I always want to bring a voice to all our businesses in our area here in Lake Norman because the more we can work together and survive through this period of time, the stronger in a B at the end. So everyone, yeah. So everyone, please reach out to Pat if you have any questions for if you love to purchase one of her kind of prepaid visits right now. Reach out to her. If you have any questions for me or if you'd like me to do a video like this for you as well, at no charge. Please reach out. We are always looking for ideas too. So I've sat down with Mayor Woody a couple of times. They get his insight. I am reaching out to the other commissioners as well to get their insight about what's going on in our area. So if there's anyone you'd like me to go and interview and talk to, you know, kind of give you more insight about what we can do to get through this, let me know. But until then, until we all get the go out again and see each other because we're going to have to throw a big party at the end of all this. So, Pat, I'll bring the dogs and she'll be pet sitting. So have a good one and thank you for watching. Bye-bye. Thanks so much. Bye. Bye.

Sean (00:04):

Sean Herndon with Beacon Group Properties out there talking to our small business owners in our community, seeing how the Coronavirus is affecting them and their business. So Susy and Kristin, thank you so much for joining me today.

Susy (00:20):

Exactly.

Sean (00:21):

Yeah. So Susy is with Ghostface Brewery and Kristin is with Davidson Pizza too. My favorite, favorite things and I think a lot of us favorite things out there to do. So, basically Susy and Kristin, just in case someone hasn't been the Ghostface or Davidson Pizza, can you guys kind of go over what you guys do there?

Susy (00:44):

Sure. We have a really unique situation. We're kind of like a perfect marriage here. We got a beer and a pizza all in one building. So my husband Mike and I or the owners of Ghostface, Kristin and Chuck own Davidson Pizza company and we just, we make magic happen here every day.

Kristin (01:02):

It's a Brewery and restaurant in one, So you get your craft beer, some awesome food items to go with it. And it's a very family-friendly environment. We have a lot and we serve the local community helps a lot of families that come in. Absolutely.

Sean (01:13):

Oh, awesome. Awesome. So with this Coronavirus, kind of affecting everyone right now, so how is it affecting you and your company?

Susy (01:24):

Well I mean we require people traffic all the time. That's just, that's how our business works. So obviously everybody needed to keep the distance and stay in place. It's definitely taken a big toll on both of us.

Kristin (01:36):

We had to shut down, taproom, we had to shut down our dining area. We had to quickly reinvent and start canning a new way, getting us out, get beer to go, or strictly take out curbside and delivery now. So we added delivery to it.

Susy (01:52):

Absolutely. And you know, just trying to keep our community safe, keep ourselves safe, our employees, absolutely. The staff that we were able to keep. Yes, absolutely.

Sean (02:01):

Oh, awesome. Now with these current buyers where we're all kind of changing the way we're doing business right now and just, so what are you guys doing to keep yourself safe? The staff safe and your clients safe?

Susy (02:15):

I'd say daily cleaning is not even like momentarily cleaning every transaction cleaning. Absolutely. We only let one person per transaction clean that area as soon as they're gone and welcome in. And another guest, thankfully for us with, you know, you're making, we have a lot of sanitation items here, so we have, you know, we clean and sanitize after every transaction, all our tables or chairs, not the people that are even sitting, but just to keep everybody just in case, you know, all the counters, the POS system, pretty much anything anybody could possibly touch doors, handles. It's a daily, momentarily occurrence.

Sean (02:55):

Yeah. I don't know about you, but I, it's like I even after I my hands, I will turn off the spicket to the water and I'm like, ah, do I have to wash my hands again? I know. It's like you almost start overthinking about it, but that's, but right now that's a good thing.

Susy (03:14):

Yeah. So what we have to do. Yes.

Sean (03:17):

Yeah. So now with, with these different changes that you're doing, are you, are you guys doing anything, differently, to do business day today? You know, maybe, different ways you're doing delivery discounts, things with the community, stuff like that?

Susy (03:32):

Yeah. Well, so we normally, yeah, I do delivery. And that's something we've brought out for this situation. And on top of that, we do it for free. So we have a delivery every day for four to eight and on Saturdays and Sundays, we do it all day. So 12 to eight, Oh, we have $30 minimum. And we're just, we're happy to do whatever we can to, we know what it's like to be stir-crazy at home too and to not want to cook. So anything we can do to help people out, we're happy to do it. We also have an app that you can download and order through our app, and you get a 50% discount. So that we're trying to encourage that so that people have less interaction, which is obviously better. We're also aware of the toll that it, it's taken on the community at large. So we've been offering $10 large, she's buys through this free slices to students who might be hungry. And then we're always asking if anybody knows anybody in need or if they're in need to reach out to us, we can share resources.

Sean (04:25):

Wow, that's fantastic. I now feel like you're going to be swamped by college kids (must by 21 of age and up) and you get it delivered to your home for free too. If it's $30 or more, giving $30 where the beer ain't that hard to do, especially since we're all stocking up on everything between toilet paper and meat. So now, Susy, I know you went over, I like your, the app and area thing, but I just didn't get, you know, please let us know what Susi Christen, what's the best way to contact you, to order these things out? You know, what's the mean of that app and stuff like that?

Susy (05:09):

Yeah, so if you can download the app, it's from custom apps. So you download the Ghostface Brewing app. That's the one, there's two out there. So make sure you get the custom app that isn't the number one method. It's just going to be the easiest, safest for everybody. Obviously you can go to our website. Yes. And you can order online through our website to pay online and come and pick it up. You can call in 704-799-7433 is our phone here. So you can call an order in that way. You can request curb curbside, you can request delivery, take care of you that too. And then we do ask if they'd pull up. If you're going to come in, we just try to limit it to one person at a time coming in. So not a whole family, just, just mom or dad. Yeah.

Sean (05:52):

And if you ever need to know what that looks like, just go by ABC liquor and yeah. And, I heard that they're staying open through this time too, so everyone can stay. A lot of people are homeschooling right now, People that need it right now. Absolutely. So Susy, Kristin, thank you so much. I, yeah, I appreciate this time with you. I look forward to doing this again with you after we're on the other side of all this and I'll be there, with as many people as I can to bring it and make sure we get you guys going.

Susy (06:31):

We're really happy to be able to get our word out. So thanks for doing this for the whole community, not just as absolutely.

Sean (06:37):

It's, my pleasure to do it. So again, everyone, thank you so much for watching these videos. We have been getting 500 to 2000 people looking at these. We are boosting them. We are getting the word out. So please support our small business owners and leaders in this area because we just gotta get through this hump cause we have a lot of energy, this area. We are very strong and I know that once we get on the other end were going to explode. So if you have any questions or anything, reach out to Susy and Kristin, then I'm here to help you out as well. If you have any suggestions or ideas of someone you'd like me to talk to, we've got special videos coming out very soon, that we can get some answers, some behind, some of these things. But again, thank you so much. You guys have a good one and thanks. Bye. Bye.

We are in unprecedented times, and many of our buyer and seller clients have questions about our local real estate market.

You can read the latest market update here.      I am going to outline a few important facts that might help you as you consider your specific circumstance.  You can also schedule a consultation with me here.

The Impact of the COVID19

The impact of this pandemic has been felt around the world.  I am going to speak specifically to the real estate market, but clearly the impact is far beyond only real estate.  In no way am I attempting to gloss over the human impact.  I am not a healthcare professional and thus I am not qualified to write about the health consequences, treatment possibilities, vaccines, etc.   

I do, however, have expertise in the area of real estate.  And, I have spent my career focused in the areas of underwriting, investing, data analytics, and risk assessment.  I do have qualifications to opine on this topic.

First, let’s discuss what is happening (or not happening) right now.

North Carolina deemed real estate an essential business.    Generally speaking, Realtors are not holding open houses.  We are practicing social distancing with respect to showings.   But, buyers can still visit a house listed for sale, and the essential functions (appraisals, inspections) are still happening.  

This is not the case in Mecklenburg County.  Mecklenburg has a stricter standard.  In Mecklenburg, only vacant homes can be shown.  For occupied homes, we cannot have photographers onsite for your listing photos, nor can we have our measuring services onsite.   Showings for occupied homes are limited to virtual showings. 

Should I list my house for sale?

Here’s the facts.   Right now, we have about 50% of our typical inventory.  Lots of sellers are sitting on the sidelines.   But, there are still buyers.   Interest rates are still very low.   

Here’s my advice to sellers:

• Hire an agent who is really good at online marketing.  You want the best pictures and the best video tour possible.   You also want an agent who can get eyeballs on your house virtually.  
• Require that any buyers who tour your home produce a preapproval prior to allowing a physical showing.   This ensures you have qualified buyers walking through your home.
• Price your home properly.   No, this doesn’t mean giving your home away.  But I wouldn’t recommend listing your home with some aspirational price in hopes of getting the perfect buyer.  If you are looking for top of the market comps, you should wait.
• Have your agent provide supplies at your front door for buyers (booties, masks, hand wipes). 

Is this a good time to buy?

YES.  This is a great time to buy for qualified buyers!   Interest rates are extremely competitive, and there are sellers who NEED to sell.   We’ve seen quite a few deals fall out of contract.   It’s unfortunate for the sellers, but many existing buyers have seen circumstances change.   These sellers need to sell, and you have an opportunity to negotiate a great deal.  We are running “back on market” property lists for our buyers.  Let us know if you’d like to be included on these distributions.

How do I protect myself in the transaction? There is so much uncertainty.

A few things to keep in mind.  First, your agent should be working with you to discuss your specific circumstance.  We can recommend excellent real estate attorneys who can also draft specific language for your offer to purchase and/or contract. 

The NC Association of Realtors has released an addendum specific to COVID19.   Essentially, it offers protection regarding a buyers Earnest Money for job loss or other issues related to COVID19.  It also allows for a delay of closing.   

This addendum may or may not make sense for your specific circumstance.   You can schedule a one on one discussion with me by clicking here.

Will the market get back to “normal”?

This is where I wish I had a crystal ball!  Here is what I know to be fact.

1)      We had a healthy underlying market prior to this.   You can read my market report here.   Interest rates were low, inventory had edged up in most areas, though it remained very low.  And lenders weren’t doing crazy things like circa 2008.  THIS IS NOT 2008.

2)      Many people have taken big hits in the stock market.   Those who are relying on those funds to purchase their next home may scale back their purchases, or wait altogether.   Generally, these are the buyers of more expensive homes…..will we see a softening in this price segment?  Perhaps.

3)      Lending requirements have changed.   There has been significant tightening.  Jumbo loans are nearly non-existent.    Will this reduce the number of buyers in the market?  Yes, it will.   But, as the economy recovers, will lenders modify their criteria? Yes, very likely.

So What Should I Do?

The bottom line is that there is no one answer.   It may make GREAT SENSE for you to buy or sell based on your specific situation.  Or, it might be a terrible decision for you to buy or sell right now.   This is why I recommend selecting the best advisors possible.   Make sure you have a Realtor who can help you navigate through this, and who can recommend quality lenders, real estate attorneys, and other professionals.    I am happy to help you analyze the data specific to you and help you make the best decision for your family.

If you'd like to discuss, you can email (wendy.atherton@beacongroupproperties.com) or call me (704-575-5730), or schedule a time here

Lake Norman Real Estate Market Report – March 2020

We hope you and your family are staying safe and well during this truly unprecedented time!

A few things about this analysis.  This market report is based on all data reported by the Multiple Listing Service as of March 31.   For purposes of this summary, I show the information at the town level. 

If you are a buyer or seller (or will be in the next 12 months), I would suggest you look at data specific to your circumstances.  I would be happy to do this for you.  For example, if you are looking for a 2 bedroom waterfront condo in Davidson, it’s important to know the market for that type of property, versus more generalized data.

You can also view neighborhood-level detail by clicking here.   And, you can see an updated home valuation for your property by clicking here.   And, if you would like to read more about the impact of COVID19 on our real estate market, you can click here.

Ok!  On to the details.

Prior to this pandemic, the real estate market in Lake Norman and Greater Charlotte continued to perform as a Sellers Market.   Interest rates were at historic lows, and available inventory remained very low.   Overall, we saw strong appreciation and we were heading into a busy spring market.

Inventory Levels

This chart shows the supply of homes over the past three years.   Better stated, months supply of homes is a measure of how much inventory we have in the market to satisfy the current buyer demand.  

This chart shows the supply for the Greater Charlotte market.  As of March, we would “run out” of homes in 2.9 months for the current amount of buyers.    Six months is considered a “fair market”.   Less than six months of inventory is a Sellers Market, and more than six months of inventory is a Buyers Market.

Let’s take a look at our local towns around the lake.  You’ll notice inventory levels were very low even during December, January, and February. 

Cornelius

As we moved into March, our supply was lower than 2019 Summer levels!  In fact, our inventory is near an all-time low at 2.9 months of supply.  

Davidson

There is more supply in Davidson at 4.5 months, but it's also worth noting that over the past three years, the inventory range in Davidson has remained very consistent.   

Denver

Denver has grown in popularity with buyers, and the decline in supply demonstrates this fact.   However, in 2019 inventories started to rise.  We saw a level off in the early part of 2020.

Huntersville

If you are looking at year over year data, you'll notice that Huntersville inventory has increased.  However, it's important to note that absolute levels remain under 3 months of supply.  

Mooresville

Inventory in Mooresville has been on a steady decline.   In fact, it is at an ALL TIME LOW.  Sellers, don't buy in to the myth that homes don't sell during the winter.   You can see that isn't the case.   

Stanley

Stanley has seen a decline in inventory levels, similar to Denver.   

Days on Market

Days on market is another important metric we analyze to gauge market trends, and to develop strategies for our clients.    There are a couple of ways to measure this information, and it’s VERY important to look at this specific to your neighborhood and/or property profile.    I like to watch the median days on market and the average days on market.   For simplicity, I am showing the average days on market in this report. 

Cornelius

Interestingly,  Cornelius saw an increase in average days on market last summer, but we were seeing this statistic continue to decrease.   

Davidson

Average days on market runs longer in Davidson by comparison.  Also, the mix of houses at any given time can account for fluctuation.  

Denver

Inventory started to increase in 2019 and days on market followed suit.   

Huntersville

We saw a small bounce in average days on market, which is not surprising given the increase in inventory.  

Mooresville

With declining inventory, we've seen average days on market fall.

Stanley

Stanley has seen average days on market come down consistent with inventory levels.

Closed Sales

You can read more details about the impact of COVID19 by clicking here, but the biggest question I am getting right is, “Are people buying houses?”    

Keep in mind that closed sales in March were likely under contract in February or sooner before this pandemic really took hold.   But, this data gives us some insight into overall market health.  

Cornelius

Cornelius saw more closed sales compared to same time last year.

Davidson

Davidson saw its highest level of closed sales over the past three years!

Denver

Denver has it's highest number of closed sales!

Huntersville

Huntersville has seen more inventory and higher days on market, but closed sales in the first quarter were still consistent with prior year.

Mooresville

Mooresville is consistent with same time last year.

Stanley

Stanley saw an increase compared to same time last year.

Average Price Per Sq Ft

There is often debate regarding price per sq ft as a pricing metric.   When we advise clients, it is just one of many metrics we utilize in an overall pricing strategy.   Using Price Per Sq Ft as your sole pricing methodology is flawed for many reasons.   However, you can draw some general conclusions by looking at the trend.   If you’d like a detailed analysis of your property, including its specific appreciation in value, you can schedule a consultation by clicking here.

Cornelius

Cornelius saw a 6.9% increase in PPSF over the last 12 months.

Davidson

Compared to same time last year, PPSF declined 2.9%.  However, the mix of properties (condos, single family) and size of homes needs to be considered.   

Denver

On average, PPSF has increased 8.3% compared to last year.

Huntersville

Huntersville has been steadily climbing.  PPSF grew at 3.1%

Mooresville

Homes in Mooresville saw a +2.9% increase.

Stanley

Homes have been appreciating nicely in Stanley.  Up 9.5% on a PPSF basis.  Again, I caution that you would want to evaluate your specific property for the best indication of actual growth.

Conclusion

Data through the end of March showed a strong first quarter overall.   In many areas, we saw reduced inventories, but yet plenty of buyers.   Demand for homes is strong throughout the area, and average price per square foot is indicative of this fact.

What will the market look like once shelter in place ends?  Keep following us for updates about the lending environment and more.