Here are some of the statistics that they are reporting:

• There were 2,170 closings in the month (up 15.3 percent from 1,882 in April 2011)
• Average sales price increased to $214,779 (up 5.6 percent from $203,442 in the same month last year)
• Median sales price increased 4.6 percent to $159,995 from $153,000
• The average listing price in April was $272,358 (up 9.2 percent from $249,500 in the same month last year
• There were 2,317 pending contracts (up 7.8 percent over 2,150 in April 2011)
• Inventory was down 18.7 percent from April 2011 (leaving the Carolina Multiple Listing Services region with a 9.7-month supply of homes for sale, down from a 13.7-month supply during the same time last year)
• Average number of days a property was on the market from the time it was listed until it closed was 145 (a decrease of nine days from 154 in April of last year)
• 4,526 new residential listings (an increase of 1.5 percent from 4,460 the same month a year ago)

For those looking to sell or refinance their homes in 2012, these statistics prove that Charlotte continues to be a city in demand and the list of reasons are endless. Click here to see if you agree with this CNN article about why Charlotte is a fantastic place to live and vote for our city.

As always, if you have any questions about how Fairway Independent Mortgage can help you buy your first home or refinance, call one of our talented loan officers today.

No matter where you are in the Home Buying process – file your taxes.  Even if you are just starting to look at new houses around Charlotte.

Why?  All Mortgage Lenders in Charlotte are required to get a transcript of your tax returns from the IRS before they can close your loan.  The IRS can get us, at Fairway Indpependent Mortgage in Charlotte, a transcript of your tax returns in as little as 21 days if you e-filed.  However, the IRS cautions that it could take a long as 8 weeks to get a transcript put back together.

If your Charlotte Mortgage Lender can’t get a transcript of your 2011 taxes from the IRS, your closing may get delayed, or your loan could even get denied.

Don’t delay your Home Purchase – if you haven’t filed your taxes yet – please do it now!

Emergency Funds prevent bankruptcies and foreclosures – and reduce stress, too 

Prior to 2008, most people who lost their home did so because of an illness or job loss that prevented them from earning the money they were used to earning.  An un-official study by a bankruptcy attorney a few years ago found that 90% of his 2,000 clients would not have had to declare bankruptcy if they had only had $10,000 in the bank when a crisis hit them. 

One of the most important things you can do in order to Own your home safely is to have a few month’s living expenses in a readily available place. 

Knowing that you have some cash that can carry you through a short term setback like a job change, illness, or major home repair will reduce stress and worry as well.

How big does your Emergency Fund need to be?

It takes a few minutes, but there is a really simple way to determine how much needs to be in an emergency fund:

1. Determine how much you currently spend each month. Look at your last 3 checking account statements and find the total withdrawals for each month.  the average over three months is how much you are currently spending each month.
2. Subtract from that average the money you save each month in regular savings or retirement savings. (In an emergency, you likely will stop saving money for a short period of time).
3. Decide how many months you could possibly go without income.  Simply divide the money you already have by the money you spend each month.
4. Set a goal (I prefer written goals) to save a full emergency fund and then find a place to put the money.

Where to stash the money

Consider placing your emergency fund in a different bank than your every day checking account.  This shields your money from you, separating your day -to-day checking account activities from your emergency fund, but, it’s still liquid enough to get to when you need it.

Bottom Line: Set an exact figure for your emergency fund, chip away at the goal regularly, and keep it in an accessible place where you won’t be tempted to dip into it for frivolous spending.

For many of our clients, when they refinance their mortgage they can get a great start on an emergency fund – either by taking some cash out at closing, or by using a skipped mortgage payment and the refund of their escrow account to build their emergency fund.  If you are looking to refinance your home loan, be sure to ask your loan officer about helping to fund your emergency savings.

If you have a VA Guaranteed Home Loan on your home in the Carolinas, you are likely getting 3-4 pieces of junk mail each week about refinancing your VA Mortgage.  Most of these mailers are deceptive and will cost you a lot more money in the long run. 

Learn the truth about refinancing your VA loan from a 22 year Vet of the US Air Force and the NC Air National Guard.  I have a VA loan on my house in the Charlotte area and I get the same junk mail you do every day. 

Here are the basic tax brackets for your taxable income:

There are two important things to know about your tax bracket: 

1. What does it cost you to spend money?
2. If something is tax deductible, what does it really costs you, and how much does the government pay?

To understand this better, let’s consider someone who is in the 25% Federal Tax bracket.  For a married couple filing together, this means their taxable income is between $70,700 and $142,700.  To spend money, you have to pay taxes first on your income earned – so in this bracket, you have to earn enough to pay 25% Income Tax, and still have enough left over to buy what you want. 

If this couple spends $1,000 a month on rent for an apartment, they need to earn 25% first to pay income taxes.  The way to calculate this is to divide $1,000 by (1- the tax rate, or 1-25%, or 0.75).  To pay $1,000 in Rent, this family needs to earn $1,333.  ($1,333 – 25% = $1,000).

Of course, that’s not the whole picture – you also have to pay:

• Social security tax – 4.2% for 2012, normally 6.2%
• Medicare tax – 1.45%
• State Income Tax - 7% to 7.75%  for North Carolina Residents

If you add these up, the family now has a total income tax burden of 25% + 4.2% + 1.45% + 7.75% = 38.40%!

In order to pay $1,000 in rent, you really have to earn ($1,000.00 X (1-38.40%) = $1,623.38.  OUCH!  But, to keep things simple, let’s just use the Federal and State income tax, which means you have to earn $1417 to have $1,000 left to pay rent.

This is the first key point to understand about Income Taxes – you have to earn enough to pay the tax man first, and still have enough left over to spend money on what you want to, or need to spend money on.

Now, what if we are looking at spending money on something that is tax deductible?  Two common examples are Mortgage Interest and Charitable Contributions.  If the family in the example own a home with a mortgage rather than paying rent, they won’t have to earn the income to pay income taxes on the mortgage interest. 

The math is a little more complex than a blog post allows, but the bottom line is that a family in the 25% federal tax bracket only needs to earn $1,108 to pay Federal and State taxes and have a $1,000 mortgage payment – a savings of $309 each month, or over $3,700 a year.

On a mortgage, Interest is generally tax deductible, so a family with a mortgage only needs to earn enough to pay taxes on the money that goes towards principal and not the interest payment.

The Income Tax code is designed to enourage some behaviors and discourage others.

For example, the income tax code encourages home ownership because you don’t pay income tax on mortgage interest, while it discourages renting as you have to pay income tax on all the income that goes towards a rent check. 

The second key point to know about your income tax bracket is how much things really cost – if you have to earn enough to pay taxes on some things and not others. You pay far different amounts for some items compared to others – like rent versus home ownership.

Currently, the tax code encourages home ownership by not charging income tax, or allowing you to deduct interest on mortgage interest and property taxes, and it discourages renting as the tax code forces you to pay tax on all of money you would earn before you write the rent check.

Bottom line – what to do about your tax brackets:

1. Know how much you need to earn in order to have money left over to spend!
2. Recognize the true cost of things – including whether something will be tax deductible or not, when you are making financial decisions, such as owning your home or renting an apartment.

There is a ton of information out there on “Why it is a great time to buy a home in Charlotte“, but that is a different question from, “Are YOU ready to buy a home?”

Overall, home prices are lower than they have been in several years, and interest rates remain at the lowest they’ve ever been so, it is a great time to buy a home. But, not everyone is ready – maybe you are.

Here are the key things to consider:

• Is your income steady? If you have been working in the same job, or same line of work for at least two years, your income should be reliable enough to handle a mortgage payment.
• Do you have a good record of paying your other bills on time?  Being on time with Student Loans, an Auto Loan, Rent, or credit card payments for at least the past year is a good indicator to both you and a Charlotte Mortgage Lender that your credit history makes you a good credit risk for a mortgage.
• Do you have any savings?  While there are a few options to get a mortgage with no down payment, it’s still a good idea to have some money in the bank after you buy your new Charlotte house for unexpected surprises.  You do NOT need to save 20% of the home price as a down payment, despite what many people are saying  – you may need 3.5% to 5% as a down payment, however.
• If you were to change jobs, or need a new job, would you likely stay in Charlotte, NC, or would you have to move to Alaska?  If you work in a field that has opportunities in Charlotte, then changing jobs in a few years isn’t a big deal.  However, if your career field is very specific and a job change also means a move, you might want to be really sure of the time you will stay at your current job.

Any Charlotte Mortgage lender is going to look at your Income, Savings, and Credit History when deciding to approve your mortgage application.  As someone who is considering buying a home in Charlotte, you should look at the same things.

Yes, it is a great time to buy a Charlotte Home – but, make sure you are ready to do so.  Buying a home when you are not ready to be a home owner can be a different kind of dream than the dream of owning your own home.

At Fairway Independent Mortgage, our Path 2 Buy Home Ownership Coaching service is a free plan we offer Charlotte renters to put them on the Path 2 Buy their first home.  If you would like more info about the Path2Buy, call us at 704-541-1172 and ask to speak to a Certified Path2Buy Coach.

For Charlotte Home Buyers and for people that are renting in Charlotte, the American Dream is still alive.  Contact a Certified Path 2 Buy Coach today to get started and re-kindle your American Dream.

 Charlotte renters, especially, should make this the year to buy their first home.  The combination of lower house prices, low mortgage interest rates and a stable job environment in Charlotte make this a great opportunity for those renters who have been waiting to buy their first Charlotte Home.

Click here to watch the video:

The CNN segment highlights two main reasons for buying a house in 2012:

1. Home Prices are forecasted to stabilise in 2012.
2. Interest Rates will remain in a low range throughout the early part of 2012.  In fact, recently the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee said they planned to keep short term rates low through late 2014.  This should keep mortgage interest rates, auto loan rates and credit card rates low as well.

At Fairway Independent Mortgage, we offer a free Home Ownership Coaching Program that will help renters overcome the 7.5 reasons why Renters are failing to make the decision to buy a home (even when they would be better off buying a home).  To learn more about the Path2Buy in Charlotte, watch this 9 minute video.

With our Path 2 Buy program, we have discovered the 7.5 reasons why Renters are failing to make the decision to buy a Charlotte House today.  Our Charlotte Path2Buy program is an educational system that discovers the obstacles to home ownership and creates a plan to overcome each obstacle.  There are only 7.5 obstacles to a Charlotte Renter that are potentially keeping them from buying a house.  What is stopping you?

Watch this short video for an overview of the Path2Buy for Charlotte Home Buyers:

After watching this video, the next step is to contact one of our Certified Path2Buy Coaches and schedule a free Path2Buy Home Ownership Coaching Session.  At this 45 minute session, you will review the 7.5 reasons and discover what is keeping you from fulfilling your dream of home ownership.

1. Visit www.optoutprescreen.com. When you visit the website, you will be asked to provide certain personal information, including your home telephone number,
   name, Social Security number, and date of birth. The information you provide is confidential, and will be used only to process your request to opt out. Don’t enter any personal information until you have checked for indicators that the
   site is secure – a lock icon on your browser or a web address that begins https.Opting out of prescreened offers does not affect your ability to apply buy a home in Charlotte or from refinancing the mortgage on your Charlotte house. Your opt out request will be processed within five days, but it may take up to 60 days before the prescreened offers stop coming. If you have a joint mortgage, both parties need to opt out to stop the prescreened offers.
2. Put your phone number on the federal government’s National Do Not Call Registry to reduce the telemarketing calls you get at home. To
   register your phone number or to get information about the registry, visit www.donotcall.gov. You will get
   fewer telemarketing calls within 31 days of registering your number. Your number stays on the registry for five years, until it is disconnected, or until you take it off the registry.That said, the FTC wants you to know that many companies use other tools to identify marketing prospects, and that the Do Not Call Registry won’t shield you from all telemarket­ers.  Even if you opt out of prescreened offers and put your number on the National Do Not Call Registry, you can expect some unsolicited offers.

The Credit Bureaus, Transunion, Equifax, and Experian, have decided to make a few more bucks by selling your information to marketing firms when your credit report is run.  This is known as a “Trigger Lead”.  Unscrupulous mortgage companies have been know to buy these trigger leads and then call Charlotte home buyers posing as mortgage lenders that were asked to take over your loan application.

If you get a random marketing call about refinancing your Charlotte Mortgage or buying a house in Charlotte, you might expect that a Credit Bureau put your name on their trigger lead list.  Using OptOutPreScreen.com and DoNotCall.com to keep this from happening.

For the best mortgage experience for Charlotte Home Buyers or Charlotte Home Owners looking to refinance, be sure to deal only with a local, dedicated, mortgage professional such as Fairway Independent Mortgage.