Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Merges...

Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo said he chose to merge Hanover Realty with Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty because Sea Coast’s size and brand gives him a better reach.

“We think this was the right move at the right time,” Saffo said. He owned Hanover Realty with his wife Renee. The announcement was made at a breakfast event held Tuesday with more than 300 agents from Coldwell Banker, Hanover Realty and Stevens Fine Homes.

Hanover Realty had exclusive sales agreements on three Stevens Fine Homes communities: Mallory Creek Plantation and Grayson Park in Brunswick County and Willowick in the Masonboro Sound area in Wilmington. Those now appear behind Sea Coast signs.

Mayor Saffo said the merger doesn’t change how much time he will spend with the company and, therefore, as the mayor. “My workload will not change,” he said.

He also said no money changed hands in the transaction.

“We’ve been thinking about it for quite some time,” he said. Hanover Realty was the city’s oldest real estate company, he said. Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty is the city’s largest by almost every statistical measure.

Sea Coast President Tim Milam said the merger is a good one for his company because it puts Coldwell Banker signs in front of more homes in the community that his agents will be proud to represent.

Saffo said Hanover has about 15 agents and they will decide individually if they want to come to Sea Coast. Hanover had about seven more agents who were working exclusively with Stevens Fine Homes new communities.

Hanover Realty was founded in 1965. The company’s agents sold 69 properties for about $16 million so far this year, according to a release.

The merger also is a good deal for Craig Stevens of Stevens Fine Homes, which now gives his homes in three more communities a much more expanded network of agents and marketing presence. “We believe [this] will increase traffic at our communities and ultimately lead to more sales for our company,” he said in a release.

~Greater Wilmington Business Journal
August 18, 2010

Monday, July 12, 2010

Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty is making the home buying process easier than ever before by offering “one stop shopping” for the best in real estate services, home loans, and now, insurance.“I am very excited about the addition of RealMark Insurance,” says Sea Coast Realty president Tim Milam. “I have wanted to do this for years.”RealMark Insurance agency will operate from within Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty’s Wilmington, N.C. office, making it easy for clients and associates to get help with all their insurance needs.Milam adds that, “by offering valuable services, such as American Home Shield Warranty, Beacon Title Insurance, Alpha Mortgage at Sea Coast, and now RealMark Insurance, Sea Coast Realty is able to service its clients with more options than any other real estate company in the area.”RealMark Insurance offers home, auto, life, health, personal, commercial, and other insurance policies. “We work with multiple companies, so that we can shop around and get our clients the best deals,” says Cathy Bason (pictured with Milam), RealMark Insurance’s agent at Sea Coast Realty. Bason is uniquely suited to understanding the needs of Sea Coast associates and clients. Before becoming a licensed insurance agent, the North Carolina native and UNC-Chapel Hill graduate, practiced real estate in Pinehurst.Since the partnership began just days ago, several Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty clients have saved money on insurance with RealMark Insurance. To find out how RealMark Insurance can save you money on your insurance, contact Brett Knowles today! RealMark Insurance is an affiliate of FinMark Insurance Agency, LLC.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Senate OK's New Tax Credit Closing Date!!

The Senate has amended a bill to give homebuyers who were under contract on a home purchase by April 30 an additional three months to close the deal and claim the federal homebuyer tax credit.
Extending the deadline for closing from June 30 to Sept. 30 would allow lenders more time to clear a backlog of 180,000 homebuyers nationwide, said amendment sponsor Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.
The amendment to HR 4213, the "American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010" -- which primarily extends unemployment insurance benefits -- was approved in a 60-37 vote Wednesday. The vote was mostly along party lines, with only four Republicans in favor and one Democrat opposed.

The House passed an earlier version of the bill in December, and the Senate approved its own version in March. The Senate is currently working on resolving differences between the two bills.
The National Association of Realtors supports the amendment, saying Realtors have reported that as many as one-third of qualified applicants have been told by lenders that their loans will not close before June 30 because of the sheer volume of loan applications in the pipeline.
The amendment does not extend the deadline for homebuyers to qualify for the tax credit, NAR said in urging lawmakers to approve it, but simply extends the deadline for closing transactions already in contract.
"Since these applications were already in the pipeline and figured into the program's cost, the extension of the closing deadline should not incur any further government costs," NAR President Vicki Cox Golder said in a statement.
There has been some speculation that some homebuyers will attempt to submit fraudulent claims for the tax credit by backdating documents showing they were under contract by April 30, and that extending the deadline for closing would expose the government to more fraudulent claims.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Home Buyer Tax Credit Extended for Military Personnel

The popular Home Buyer's Tax Credit has expired for all Americans, except for three very deserving groups: the brave men and women of the uniformed services of the U.S military, members of the Foreign Service of the U.S., or employees of the intelligence community who are actively serving outside of the U.S. on "official extended duty." Official extended duty is defined as any period of extended duty outside of the United States for at least 90 days during the period beginning December 31, 2008 and ending before May 1, 2010. That's right. Thanks to the Worker, Home Ownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009, which was signed into law by the President on November 6, 2009, qualified military service members have one extra year to take advantage of The Homebuyer's Tax Credit of up to $8,000 for first-time buyers and up to $6,500 for certain repeat buyers. This means qualified military members must be under contract on a purchase by April 30, 2011 and close on the deal by June 30, 2011. Qualified military buyers can also utilize this tax credit along with other available benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), making this dollar-for-dollar tax credit extremely financially attractive with today's lower home prices and lower interest rates. That's because the VA allows qualified military borrowers to purchase certain homes in certain areas with no money down and no private mortgage insurance. To be a qualified first-time home buyer and receive a tax credit of up to $8,000, the buyer and his or her spouse cannot have owned a home in the last three years. Unlike the Home Buyer Tax Credit for civilians, however, the maximum purchase price of a home is $800,000 under this program – anything over that and the tax credit is invalid. The credit phases out for individual taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) between $125,000 and $145,000 or between $225,000 and $245,000 for joint filers. To be a qualified "repeat buyer" or non first-time buyer and receive a tax credit for up to $6,500, a buyer must have lived in his or her current residence for five out of the last eight years. The rest of the requirements are generally the same as the $8,000 tax credit. You served your country, let us serve you. If you or someone you know is looking to purchase a new home and may qualify for this incredible opportunity, please don't hesitate to give Brett Knowles a call right away! 910 279-3000

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Congratulations....

Ted, Amanda and Baby Claire. We hope you enjoy your new home!!

Sea Coast Realty Ranks High Nationwide!!

Sea Coast Realty Ranks Highly Among Nation’s Top Real Estate Companies
Posted: 18 May 2010 09:05 AM PDT
REAL Trends 500
Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty is among the country’s largest and most successful residential real estate companies named in the recently released 2010 REAL Trends 500 report. The list is released annually by REAL Trends, Inc., the residential real estate industry’s leading source of analysis and information.
The REAL Trends 500 report ranks the country’s top residential real estate companies by closed transactions and by sales volume. In 2009, Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty closed 2,799 sales, ranking #151 in the list of “The 500 Largest Brokers in the U.S.” ranked by closed transactions. Sea Coast Realty closed $579,520,735 in sales volume in 2009, ranking #162 in the list of “The 500 Largest Brokers in the U.S.” ranked by sales volume.
Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty ranked #23 out of more than 1,074 Coldwell Banker affiliated companies in the U.S. Coldwell Banker was ranked as the country’s #1 real estate franchise again this year, closing more than $128 billion in sales and almost twice as many sales transactions as the next leading real estate franchise.
Locally, Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty performed similarly well. In 2009, it closed more than twice as many sales as the next leading company. Sea Coast Realty has claimed the title as southeastern North Carolina’s top selling real estate company for ten years in a row.

Monday, May 10, 2010



Open House
Saturday May 15, 2010
11:00am -1:00pm
917 Greenhowe
PINE VALLEY - $225,000
MLS #446881
3 Bedrooms - 2 Baths
South College Rd. to left on Greenhowe. Home is on the left.