CFR News – Issue 5 – October 2009

Office Pic w/Logo

ON-Line Real Estate Scams HIT Home!

As more & more of our day to day business move online, the cyberspace robbers follow right behind. Online crime can impact our finances, privacy, moral dignity, reputation, and even our pet dog’s privacy.

So it’s no surprise that fraudulent scammers have found ways to cheat innocent people with bogus real estate deals.

Lee Alley a Real Estate agent in Rapid City SD wrote of a family he knew who owned a vacant home.  Unknown to them, the house was offered for rent by an out of town “rental agency” on craigslist. Lee happened to learn of it first, so he contacted the craigslist folks and asked them to remove the fraudulent for-rent ad. A distressed young lady called him asking how to deal with the fact she had wired $1,000 to persons unknown, out of town, to lock in the extremely low rental rate, “before some one else rents it.”

Lee also wrote of another recent incident involving a friend of his who is a real estate agent also in Rapid City. When she went to check on the vacant home for her homeseller clients, she discovered that a bogus firm had “sold” the home to an innocent victim family, then even helped them to move in!

The question is how do we confront and deal with cyberspace robbers? It is not an option to stop using the Internet to help people find homes to buy.  Here are two recommendations.

First, deal with a real estate professional, if you are at all nervous about buyers who exaggerate their mortgage lending readiness, or worried about letting the public come walk through your home to observe where valuables are stored. AND if you don’t have time or the expertise to deal with  the complex deal-Closing process at times requires several people in several governmental bodies and companies to complete several tasks on time, in the right sequence, without do-over errors.

Second, follow craigslist’s very emphatic admonitions to deal locally, never wire funds, be cautious about cashier checks, and most of all, people from out of town who connect with you over the Internet. (http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams).

Please help spread the word. Ask your friends to alert their younger and elder friends and family members the fact any online transaction can be a risk, especially if they’re acting as their own agent. Call one of our Real Estate Professionals today to assist with your Real Estate transactions.
All Connestee Falls Realty’s agents are members of NAR. Go to www.ConnesteeFallsHomes.com to learn more about the area, see our featured homes and search the Western North Carolina MLS.

Real Estate News

Bathroom Upgrades Pay Off

More than 80 percent of new single-family homes have at least two bathrooms, which occupy an average of 300 square feet of floor space, or 12 percent of the total area, according to a study by the National Association of Home Builders.

The home builder’s study reports a major return on value for extra bathrooms: “When the number of bathrooms is approximately equal to the number of bedrooms, an additional half-bath adds about 10 percent to the home’s value, and one additional bath adds about 19 percent.”

A mid-range bathroom remodel, which costs $10,500 on average nationwide, repays a home buyer at least 100 percent of the outlay when the property is sold, the home buyer study concludes.

Source: Chicago Tribune, Mike McClintock (09/21/2009)

Connestee Falls Realty
Box Score

(From Multiple Listing Service records)

Homes sold as of 10-06:      2009                2008                2007           2006
in Connestee Falls                  25                    38                   59                80

Homes sold as of 10-06:     2009                2008                2007            2006
in Transylvania County          165                 212                  355              503
Residences for Sale in Connestee Falls as of 10-6-2009 – 144

Residences for Sale in Transylvania County as of 10-6-2009 – 758

Prices of Residences sold:                  (Price)            (Price)
Range                               Median             Average
2009        $ 15,000 – $1,540,000       $220,000            $275,780

Connestee Falls
Prices of Residences sold:                  (Price)            (Price)
Range                               Median             Average   Ave.Days Mkt
2009        $142,500 – $560,000       $300,000            $309,854         246
2008        $123,000 – $845,000       $329,000            $366,000         185

2007        $159,000 – $872,999       $399,850            $419,457         108

2006          $90,000 – $800,000       $321,000            $343,151         122

In our Next Issue:

Speaking of Real Estate –
Timely Insights & Observations


Try Transylvania First – Shopping Locally Provides Many Benefits!


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