All about a unique brewing company in our community called NoDa.
Have you ever heard of NoDa Brewing Company? They craft beer, offer food and drink, and host great community events! They even have a very popular running club. Today I am excited to tell you more about what they offer and how you can get involved.
You can watch the video above or skip to specific topics using these timestamps:
0:00 — Introduction
1:24 — How things got started
2:34 — Information on classes
3:15 — The impact on the community
4:00 — How this trend originated
4:42 — My review of one of their workout classes
5:34 — Other activities happening in our area
6:36 — Wrapping up
You can find out more about NoDa by visiting their website here. Otherwise, don’t hesitate to reach out to me for more information on this business or on real estate! Call or email me anytime, I would be happy to hear from you.
How you can beat back the banks and save money on your mortgage.
Does it feel like the banks are gouging your savings away with their mortgage requirements? The truth is that banks only lend you that money to make a profit off your interest. Fortunately, there are some easy tricks you can use to beat the banks at their own game and save yourself a ton of money in the process. For all the examples I’m about to show, we’ll assume you have a 30-year, fixed-rate, $475,000 mortgage at a 7% interest rate. Here are three mortgage hacks you need to know:
Make an extra payment every year. In this example, your monthly payment is $3,160. The total interest paid over the life of the loan, if you go all 30 years, is $662,000. If you make just one extra payment every year, it takes the life of your loan down to 24 years. You cut six years off of it, and you save $156,000 with that one extra payment.
Make bi-monthly payments. Instead of paying one large amount every month, you’ll pay half that amount every two weeks. Since most months have more than 28 days, you’ll actually pay your mortgage down faster this way and save tons of money on interest. The total life of your mortgage will go down to 24 years too.
Round up your payment. Instead of paying $3,160 every month, you could pay $3,200. It seems like a small change, but it will save you $32,483 over the course of the loan.
If you have questions, we have loan officers on staff who can help you through the process. We’ve done this for almost two decades now, and all you have to do is call or email us. Reach out to us. We’ll see you at the closing table!
From our team to your family, we want to wish you a happy holiday season.
Happy holidays to you!
The holiday season has officially arrived. We hope you enjoy this wonderful time of year and make some fantastic memories.
We wanted to take a moment to thank you for your continued support. We love helping people make their real estate dreams come true, so thank you for working with us and supporting our business.
This may be a busy time of year, but we are always here to help you and answer any questions you may have. Give us a call or email, we’d love to help you.
In case we don’t hear from you until 2023, have a happy New Year!
If you need a fun fall activity, look no further than disc golf.
What is there to do in Charlotte in the fall? If you can’t already guess by my location in the video above, my recommendation is disc golf. This activity can seem a little strange if you’ve never played it before, but trust me: You only need to play once to get hooked.
Many don’t know this, but Charlotte is actually a mecca of sorts for disc golfers around the world. The world championship was held here just a few years ago, and there are plenty of unique courses to try out.
There’s a bit of a stereotype that disc golf is a sport for hippies, but this perception has been changing recently. The pros spend a ton of time perfecting their craft, and they work up a big sweat doing it!
“You only need to play once to get hooked.”
Disc golf started back in 1927 in Canada, where people used frisbees in trash cans. Now, things have evolved to be much more sophisticated. Whatever you do, don’t call a disc a frisbee; the disc golfers will chew you out.
One course you might want to check out is at Eastway Park in Northeast Charlotte. There are nine- and 18-hole courses, plus a lake you can choose to throw over. Winget Park is another fantastic course in our area. It has 18 holes, is mostly in the woods, and is home to some cool old ruins.
What’s your favorite disc golf course? Do you have any favorite winter activities you’d like us to talk about? If so, call or email us. We’d love to hear from you!
The truth behind Zillow Zestimates and how helpful they really are.
A lot of people ask me about a third-party website called Zillow. You’ve probably heard of it. That website offers a Zestimate, which is how much they estimate a home to be worth. People will tell me about the Zestimate on properties they’re wanting to either sell or buy. That’s why today I want to share a quick little explanation with you of what a Zestimate is and where it comes from.
There are some good things about it, like how it’s a guide to what’s going on in the area. However, Zillow employees have never been inside that property, so they don’t know what upgrades have been done.
I have seen many estimates come in very high, and they were actually based on what the neighbors had done to their properties. When you pull permits and upgrade your property, you must report it to the county. However, the county is then going to tax you on that upgrade since your property has gone up in value, so there are many people that don’t do this properly.
If you’re thinking about buying or selling and want an accurate estimate, don’t use a third-party website.
That’s why I recommend reaching out to a professional real estate broker, like myself, who has access to the multiple listing service. That isn’t a third-party website; instead, it is a first-party website, which is where all the action happens. Then we as agents can determine whether the neighbor up the street has done work to the property.
If you’re thinking about buying or selling and want an accurate estimate, don’t use a third-party website. Instead, reach out to us by going to our website. We’ll see you at the closing table!
