Lake Norman Real Estate and Community News

Check out this latest video where we discuss financing options for self-employed individuals with one of our lending experts, Scott Hastings.


Scott Hastings
Licensed Mortgage Advisor
NMLS 926762
Licensed in FL, NC l-154648 and SC
C: 704-890-7168
8015 W. Kenton Cir STE 240 Huntersville, NC 28078
scott.hastings@angeloakhomeloans.com

Here's the full transcript!

Speaker 1:          So today I'm with Scott from Angel Oak Mortgage and Scott, I want to thank you very much for coming over. And speaking with me. So we had a, a couple of cases that we've been working with and then wanted to bring Scott in and kind of go over a little bit more detail because it is something that pre-bid coming across more in the market that it's just not getting answers and we want to get this out there to know there are answers to this problem. So first off, so Scott, can you explain to us a little bit more about what the, is the challenges a self-employed person past?

Speaker 2:          Right. Okay. So the good thing about being self-employed is that you can write off a lot of expenses. The bad thing about being self-employed and getting a mortgage is that you can write off a lot of expenses. So what we see and what borrowers have seen up until this product came out is that they would go to get a mortgage. They would the lender would look through their tax returns and they just would not have enough money to qualify or enough income to qualify for the house that they wanted. So that's been the problem. What we've come out with and you know, angel and home loans is the largest lender in America. This type of mortgage is a bank statement homework. That is only for self-employed homeowners. So what we do is we use bank statements instead of tax returns. We don't even look at tax returns.

Speaker 1:          Okay. All right. And why is it not a typical thing to go traditional for a self-employed person?

Speaker 2:          Well, I should first say that the first thing that I do is get the tax returns because the best way, of course, is to use tax returns to get a conventional Fannie Mae mortgage with a low-interest rate and minimum down payment and all that. So I will look through the tax returns see what the write-ups are, do the income calculation and basically see if you qualify. So that is definitely the best way to go. Okay. But when that fails, the only other option up until this product came around was to claim more income. So typically it's going to be a lot better off. I'm not a CPA or a financial advisor, but it's going to be a lot better off for you to take advantage of your tax deductions than to claim a lot of income and pay taxes on it just so you qualify for a mortgage.

Speaker 1:          Okay. So if this is something that a, a self-employed person comes across, they're not able to qualify traditional but they, they're making money, what do you need from it? What is the process for them to, to see if this they could qualify for sure. Okay.

Speaker 2:          So what I'll do is I request the last 12 to 24 months of bank statements. Typically that's going to be the business bank statements. I have the borrower, I usually send them like a Dropbox file or somehow get them to even bring over the physical bank statements. I'll go through them all, look at all the deposits and, you know, figure out what the income is. And then we can submit it to underwriting, we'd have an income desk that, you know, it looks through everything and basically validates what I've come up with. Okay. so going through that process or what is there, what kind of like you said, like bank statements or all kinds of things do they need? Right. Okay. So really the only difference between a bank statement loan or traditional loan is we don't use the tax returns.

Speaker 2:          So I would have somebody go online or I would send them a link on their phone and fill out an application. They just fill it out like any normal application, put their income in there. And then when I request the documentation, which I do for all mortgages, that would be instead of, usually, it's in the last two months of your bank statements. Now it's in the last 24 months of the banks. They went, that's how we do the income. You know, we would request not, we would not request tax returns. We would request a copy of the driver's license. And then when you go through the underwriting process, I would typically go to the secretary of state website, you know, pull down the documentation from when the corporation was formed. Because I will go over just a couple of things that you do have to have.

Speaker 2:          So a lot of people will ask, Hey, I formed my business last year. Can I get a mixtape? You must've been in business for a minimum of two years in order to qualify for a bank statement loan. And that two years starts the date your LLC was formed. So that's a qualifier. Another difference with a bank statement loan is you have to put at least 10% down. You know, with the Fannie Mae loan or an FHA loan, you can put, you know, three, three and a half percent down, but you're gonna have to put at least 10% down for a bank statement loan. And then unlike a lot of other traditional mortgages, you are going to have to have some reserves so you don't have to have a minimum of six months of mortgage payments and reserve after closing. Okay. I guess that kinda it going off of that with you having a reserve or what is the typical amount a person could qualify for?

Speaker 2:          What I typically see is people have plenty of income when you use bank statements to qualify. The way we do that is we take 50% of the deposits into the bank statements, and that's your income. So if your business has $50,000 a month, then average deposits, then you've got $25,000 a month in income. So really the debt income ration isn't the issue. The issue is if there is one the down payment. So that's basically it. I mean, people can have a lot of vet and qualify for a bank statement loan. Okay. So anyway. Okay.

Speaker 1: What're some of the things that could stop someone from getting one of these kinds of loans?

Speaker 2:          Credit score, of course, you have to have at least a six 40 credit score. Okay. You know, time in business, you have to have been in business for at least two years. And ownership, you have to own at least 50% of the business.

Speaker 1:          That's basically it. Yeah. How long is the process to find out? You do qualify for something like that? It's the same as any other mortgage. So we're just looking at banks things instead of paycheck stubs and for to do income calculations. So someone has their bank statements readily available. You said back 24 months, 24 months, but the best interest rate is going to be 24 months. Okay. So at the best 20 the best interest rate, 24 months had that out and you can within a day find out what they could qualify for. Okay. And if you already tried to traditional and it did not work out for ya, I had to just do this process within the day to find out what this is an option for you. Especially since you already found out you can't go any further on the traditional side. So from the cases, you've had up to now and that one debt may work together with some of the feedback from the individuals at the end. When they come to you,

Speaker 2:          The feedback is fantastic because most people have been renting their houses, didn't realize that they could get a mortgage so they didn't even know this product existed, that it's not readily known that this product exists. So we're trying to get the word out there that it does. You know, people are very happy with it. Yeah.

Speaker 1:          Excellent. So Scott, how could someone get ahold of you if they want to find out if they qualify? They can go to my website at https://mortgagesbyscott.com/

Speaker 2:          Or always of course call or text me (Scott Hasting) at (704) 890-7168 or email scott.hastings@angeloakhomeloans.com 

Speaker 1:          Scott and I work together very closely, so we'll be able to have this as smooth as possible of a process for you. If you need to get ahold of me. Again, Sean Herndon with Beacon Group Properties at Keller Williams. If you have any questions at all, you could get ahold of Scott or if it makes sense to take that next step. Just get a hold of us and we would love to go over the options for you. Thank you, and I hope you have a good day. 

Thank you for watching our video and/ or reading our article. :) Please leave us a message below! We will answer back ASAP. Love it, hate it, have questions, or have ideas for a video; message me below, email, or sent me a text.  

At last!  Fall has arrived here to Lake Norman and I have to admit, these cooler temperatures have been a nice change!

Despite moving into the end of the year, we are still adding new buyer clients every week.  It remains an excellent time to buy a home, considering increased inventories and record low interest rates.

Sellers, it is still a great time to sell your home.   Many sellers decide to wait until Spring to put their home on the market - but consider the fact that competition is LOWER in the 4th quarter.   

Check out the video where I discuss our local market, and the table below with more statistics for towns and key neighborhoods.  If you don't see yours, just send me an email at wendy.atherton@beacongroupproperties.com or text me at 704-575-5730

We are fortunate to have many excellent restaurants, bars, breweries, and drafthouses throughout the Lake Norman area.  And, many of these establishments are locally owned and operated.

One of our "go to" places is Harvey's in Cornelius.  Located in Jetton Cove, Harvey's never disappoints!  The staff are courteous and attentive, and the food is very good.

The owners, Charlie and Josh, are friendly and very engaging, always stopping to say hello.  We stopped in Harvey's earlier this week and ordered a "snack", which was this giant pretzel.

And yes, it tasted as good as it looked!

If you haven't been, check them out!  

https://www.harveyslkn.com

August has arrived, and with Summer coming toward a close, it's a good time to review the Lake Norman Real Estate Market statistics as we move into Fall.

CLICK HERE FOR A PDF REPORT OF EACH TOWN AND POPULAR NEIGHBORHOODS!

Let's start with Cornelius!

Cornelius sits at 3.3 months of supply, which is up 10% over the last rolling twelve months.  But, keep in mind that this is still a low supply level, which means we are still in a sellers' market.   

Here's where supply gets interesting though - supply is actually down for homes over $400K.

In fact, homes between $400-$500K are down 33% in availability.   Between $500K-$1M, inventory is down 17%. Over 1M, inventory is down 10.7%.

Not surprisingly, the higher price points have also seen a decrease in average days on market.  

Davidson has 4.8 months of supply, but similar to Cornelius, the 500K+ market has seen a decrease in inventory as well.   One thing to note about Davidson, is that, on average, homes are selling at 96.7% to list.  This is a decrease over the last rolling 12 months. The most elasticity is on the lower end of the market (under $500K).  So - if you are a buyer in this price range, you may want to be more aggressive with your offer price. And, if you are a seller, it's becoming more important to have an agent who can negotiate and position your house as effectively as possible.

In Denver, supply has stayed pretty flat compared to last year.   On average, it takes 16 showings before a house is under contract.  The number of showings needed to get under contract jumps to an average of 20 in the 500K - $1M range.  Certain neighborhoods, like Treetops, need an average of 26 showings.  It’s no surprise, but sellers have the best chance of selling their house when they have as many eyeballs as possible looking at their property!

Huntersville continues to have the lowest supply of homes in our area, at 2.8 months.  Supply under $400K continues to be challenging with only 2.2 months. 

On average, homes are on the market for 47 days, which is up slightly over the past 12 months.  But, it’s worth noting that homes on the higher end of the market have seen a decrease, while homes are on the market LONGER in the under $400K market. 

Mooresville has seen price per square feet increase by 2.5% on average, though for homes over $500K, price per square has actually DECLINED.  Thus, sellers should be hiring an agent with experience marketing homes at these higher price levels!

In all, we continue to operate in a healthy market here in Lake Norman!

If you'd like to discuss the specifics of your home - either selling or buying - click below to schedule a consultation!

https://calendly.com/wendy-atherton/15min

 If you aren’t familiar with Lake Norman, it’s located about 20 miles north of uptown Charlotte, and it encompasses the towns along Lake Norman, which is the largest body of man-made water in North Carolina and reaches for about 34 miles.  If you’d like to learn more about the Lake, click here and check out that video where I go over interesting details about Lake Norman.

Well, today I’m going to talk about the reasons I like and don’t like about living here, so let’s get started.

Let's start with the bad ones first. Number one, the heat. There's no way to like pussyfoot around this issue. July and August are really hot. It's just how it is. Luckily, air conditioning was invented back in 1902, so everyone spends their time in their nice Air-conditioned house, then in their car, and then at work.  And, you can hop in the pool or take a spin on the boat to cool off on your downtime.  It’s tolerable, but summer can definitely be hot.   

Number two, traffic.  So this has been a controversial topic here in our area.  I won’t get into the details, but I-77, which is the main highway that goes down to Charlotte and beyond, was becoming extremely congested.  Recently, toll lanes opened here.  I have used them a few times and it makes a big difference during high traffic times.   Beyond I-77, there are numerous initiatives to improve and expand access in the various towns around the Lake.  So far, my impression, especially here in Cornelius where we live, has been that the town is very proactive in their planning.

Number three.   Bugs!  We run two Dynatraps at our house, which seem to help, and we load up on bug spray when we are outside during the summer.   The good news though is I haven’t noticed any ticks on our pets since moving here and living up in Boston that was a big deal.   Bugs are pesky, but some good pest control and bug spray make it manageable.

Number four.  Bad boaters!  Lake Norman is a beautiful lake, but it gets really busy in the Summer on those nice days.  It can get crowded out there during peak times, and not enough people take the time to learn the basics of boating safety.  The good news, though, is that the police do a good job of promoting boat safety, and they are actively on the lake enforcing the rules.

So let’s move on to the things I love about living in Lake Norman. 

I love the people.  We have a great sense of community here.  People who have lived here for a long time are very welcoming to newcomers.   We moved here in 2015 and have been very fortunate to make many friends.   There are SO MANY people who have moved here from other places!  We have bars where the Buffalo Bills fans go to hang out, a great Boston bar, and the list goes on. 

We are close to SO MUCH.  You can be in uptown Charlotte in 20 or so minutes.  You can hit up a Panther's game, or attend one of the baseball games (the  BB&T ballpark is AWESOME).  Charlotte has many outstanding restaurants and great places to listen to music.  

You can be in Asheville in about 1 ½ hour.  Asheville offers so much – the Biltmore, which is a great day trip, is a great walk back through history.  Asheville has a really cool music/art scene, and they are THE PLACE for craft beers.  If you like to ski, there are great ski resorts about 2 ½ hours away.

If you love the ocean, well, in about 3 ½ hours you can be at the beach.   There are many great coastal beach towns in North Carolina and South Carolina!    Plus, you can be in Charleston in 3 ½ hours – and Charleston has SO MUCH to offer.

The other thing I loved – when I first moved here, I traveled every week for my job.  The flight availability out of the Charlotte airport is excellent.  And, I can park and be right in the terminal in just a few minutes.   Charlotte is a really busy airport, but with TSA precheck I have never waited in line at security for more than 5 minutes.   It’s about a 35-minute drive to the airport from my house here in Lake Norman.

If you love an active lifestyle, Lake Norman offers a lot.   All the water activities – wakeboarding, skiing, stand up paddleboarding, sailing.   Plus, we have lots of great parks, running and biking trails. 

If you like working out, we have it all.  Yoga, pilates, the YMCA here is great.  We have two OrangeTheories, a cycle bar, kickboxing, CrossFit.  

It’s still very affordable here.   You can get a condo on the lake in the 250K and up.   You can buy a great 3/2 house with a yard for 250K.   In Cornelius, the combined rate (Mecklenburg and Cornelius) is 1.1137 per $100 – so a 250K house would see a $2,785 tax bill, approximately.  In Mooresville, the combined rate is 1.065, so a 250K house would see a lower tax bill.  

So now you know all the reasons that I love Lake Norman. Hey, I had a few things that are not perfect about Lake Norman.  Every place has its pros and cons. Are you thinking of moving to Lake Norman? Do you just let me know if there's anything that I can assist you with!

If you plan to buy or sell a home, you will want to be aware of recent changes here in North Carolina, specifically as it relates to those who need to sell a home as part of their ability to purchase, as well as sellers whose buyers need to sell.

Prior to July 1, if a buyer needed to sell their existing home to complete the transaction, they would attach a Contingent Sale Addendum.   This addendum essentially stated that if their home did not sell, they could get their Earnest Money Deposit returned, even if after the Due Diligence Period.  This was good protection for buyers, but wasn’t ideal for sellers. 

Effective July 1, this addendum has been eliminated.    This means that once the Due Diligence Period has expired, you will forfeit your Earnest Money Deposit even if your existing home does not sell.   Buyers will want to work closely with their Broker to set adequate Due Diligence Periods and make sure to understand the likelihood of their existing home selling within a certain time period.  

As part of the Offer to Purchase Agreement, the Buyer must now disclose whether or not they need to sell or lease an existing property.  They must also disclose if the property is currently under contract, or if the property is listed.   Sellers should take this information into consideration when considering whether or not to accept an offer.

As always, make sure you are working with a Broker who understands and can explain all the relevant standard provisions that comprise your offer! 

You can also watch my video where I discuss these changes by clicking here!

We continue to see favorable levels of inventory for buyer clients throughout Lake Norman.   If you haven't already seen my latest market report, you can click here to watch it or here to read more.  

Ok, let's get to this week's featured Property Picks!

The first property is located in the Macaulay subdivision in Huntersville.  This is a 5/4 house that sits right at 3500 square feet.   This has an open floor plan and the owner has made many updates, including newly refinished floors.  Additionally, this home has been pre-inspected, with issues being addressed.   Nice corner lot.  Check out the information here

The second property is located in the Wynfield subdivision in Huntersville.  This 4/2.5 house is just over 2500 square feet, and it features a master on the main floor.   2 story ceilings in the living area and an open floor plan give the home a spacious feeling.  Large deck space and a fenced in yard!  Check out the pictures here

The third property is in the Surfside Estates subdivision in Mooresville. This 2/2 house waterview lake home features exposed beams and a custom kitchen.  Great price for the location and waterview. Check it out here

You can schedule a showing on any of these properties, and you can also set up your own custom search.    Please follow us on Facebook and Youtube, as we regularly post content about Lake Norman!

The real estate market here in Lake Norman continues to remain strong, as does the greater Charlotte area.   Sales prices continue to appreciate, and inventory levels remain low overall.

Often times, people will speak of the real estate market very generally.   They may be speaking about the real estate market across the United States, or even perhaps a major city.   While this greater context may be helpful, it’s very important to realize the degree of variation that can occur as you drill down to very specific areas.   My market updates focus on major towns within Lake Norman, and I also regularly look at specific neighborhoods.  

Let’s start with Cornelius.

Cornelius continues to see a low inventory – 3.4 months worth of supply.  This is up slightly from same time last year, but it’s also worth noting that current inventory is also down – 232 units in June compared to 268 same time last year.  Additionally, average sales price rose to $300K, compared to $277K same time last year.    Sellers can expect see their home on the market for 54 days on average, which is up from 48 days last year.

Davidson continues to be very popular as well.   Inventory rose slightly – 4.8 months of supply compared to 4.5 last year.   Prices have appreciated nicely on average - $366K is the average sales price compared to $337K last year.   Sellers can expect 68 days on market, which is up from 61 days.    Davidson had 214 units for sale, compared to 183 in the prior year.   

Denver continues to grow in popularity.   Inventory is the highest in Denver – 5.3 months of supply.  This is flat compared to the same time last year.    Raw number of units was lower, however, at 337 compared to 386 prior year.   Days on market in Denver has decreased to 70 days, compared to 81 days last year.   Sales prices in Denver were $319K compared to $300K last year.  

Huntersville has the lowest supply of homes at 2.8 months, which is up slightly from last year.   Sellers should expect 47 days on market, which is up from 46 last year.   While months supply is flat, units of inventory is down to 390 versus 429 last year.  Huntersville also continues to see appreciation.  Average sales price of $314K compared to $305K last year. 

Mooresville is the only town where months supply fell – 4.7 months.  Days on market also declined – 67 days compared to 76 last year.  Sales price remained nearly flat at 290K.

To see a complete breakdown by town, as well as certain popular neighborhoods, click here.

I hope everyone had a great fourth of July!   We continue to operate in a competitive market here in Lake Norman.   Also, be sure to follow us on Youtube!  You will want to check out our latest post about changes to the contingent sale addendum if you are considering listing your home or, if you are a buyer who has a home to sell.

I have three houses to suggest this week!  If you’d like to see these homes, or any other homes, please let me know. 

1)     3/2 in The Hampshires – Mooresville (MLS 3526434)

           A convenient location in Mooresville – near plenty of shopping.  This home is vacant and ready if you need a                 quick close.   Owners have recently remodeled the bathrooms, and the roof was replaced in 2017.  Check out               all the details here.

2)      5/3 in Birkdale – Huntersville (MLS 3524245)

This home sits on a nearly half acre fenced lot on a cul-de-sac.   Great deck, home theater system, new AC systems.  New hardwood floors.   This home is one worth checking out.  Check out all the information here.

3)      4/3/2 in Skybrook – Huntersville (MLS 3483521)

John Wieland home with a large 2 story family room.   Large master with private sitting area.  Large deck and screened porch.  Take a look at all the details here.

Have a great week!