Essex Homes Sells 42 Homes in February

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Pinnacle Ridge Community in Columbia Essex Homes is excited to announce that its Columbia division sold 42 homes during February. As the shortest month of the year, February can be one of the slowest months for home sales. Despite the cold weather and post-holiday budgeting, Essex Homes is proud to have had a great month!

The Essex Homes sales team did a phenomenal job selling these 42 homes across several communities in the Columbia division. The hard work of the dedicated team members prior to February resulted in a successful month.

As warm weather continues and the spring buying season gets underway, housing experts agree that the real estate market will continue to improve nationwide. Not only is the warmer weather a factor, but low mortgage interest rates and pent-up demand make this season a perfect time for new home buyers in South Carolina.

“We are certainly seeing market improvement here in Columbia,” stated Kathie McDaniel, CGP, CSP, MIRM, Columbia Division Sales Manager of Essex Homes. “We also saw a 20 percent increase in our website traffic after hiring Marketing RELEVANCE to handle our public relations and social media, which clearly drove new traffic to the site. Our new online sales representative has also had great success, with one sale and 15 appointments in her first week in the position!”

Home buyers looking for a new home in Columbia or Charlotte are invited to check out what Essex Homes has to offer. With some of the most up-to-date, energy-efficient home designs available on the market, Essex Homes will make your dream home a reality. To learn more about Essex Homes, visit www.EssexHomes.net.

Double Your Tax Return with Essex Homes

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Essex Tax Promotion Every year, people dread a five letter word – taxes. For many, filing taxes is an unwanted chore that often results in frustration over the amount received from tax refunds. This year, if you are looking to purchase a home in Columbia, South Carolina, you have the opportunity to double your tax return up to $5,000* with the purchase of a new home from Essex Homes.

“Paying taxes and filing your tax return is no fun. Our Essex Homes tax promotion makes it a more rewarding experience,” explained Mike Cancilla, division manager with Essex Homes. “Stop by any of our communities today and find out how you can take advantage of this offer and be in a new home this spring.”

To take advantage of this great opportunity, buyers must provide a copy of their 2014 tax return and sign a contract on a new Essex home by April 30, 2015. Essex Homes has a plethora of newly built homes in more than 25 communities around Columbia. With a variety of different floor plans to choose from, families will be able to choose a home and prices ranging from the low $100,000s to the $500,00s, buyers can select a home that will meet their unique criteria.

Each beautiful Essex home has been carefully completed by the builder’s award-winning design team. In addition, the builder makes buying a home easy, and it will allow buyers to be involved in the entire building process.

With so many options to choose from, make your tax refund twice as nice in 2015 when you purchase your dream home with Essex Homes.

For more information on Essex Homes tax incentive, call 844-456-202 or click here.

*Double your tax refund up to $5,000 by providing a copy of your tax return at time of contract.  Total incentive cannot exceed $5,000 and cannot be used in combination with other offers, incentives or discounts. Certain conditions and restrictions apply. Offer valid only on new homes in the Columbia, SC market. Purchase agreements must be written by 4/30/15. Prices, rates and terms subject to change without notice. See your Community Sales Manager for details.

North Carolina Cities Named Next Biggest Boom Towns in U.S.

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Starkey LogoTwo of North Carolina’s biggest cities, Raleigh and Charlotte, are destined to get even bigger according to a new study published by Forbes magazine. Forbes recently named the next biggest boom towns in the United States, with Raleigh taking the No. 2 spot and Charlotte tying for No. 8. According to Forbes, these cities “are destined to grow and prosper in the coming decade.”

Forbes, with the help of Mark Schill of Praxis Strategy Group, took the 52 largest metro areas in the country and ranked them on various data points that indicate past, present and future vitality. These data points included job growth and a range of demographic factors, such as family formation and population growth, as well as the city’s attractiveness to immigrants as places to settle, make money and start a business. Together, these data points created Forbes’ list of The Next Biggest Boom Towns in the U.S.

According to the data, Raleigh has it all. The city boasts a high rate of immigration, including that of educated workers, and it has seen a healthy increase in population and the number of children. Raleigh’s job creation record is also among the best in the nation. In fact, Raleigh experienced the second-highest overall population increase and the third-highest job growth over the past two decades in the U.S.

Raleigh has also been named the No.1 city for raising a family by Forbes. This can be attributed to its low crime rate and low cost of living relative to the area’s rising level of income. In addition, the city’s affordable housing opportunities and short commute times are particularly attractive to recent college graduates and millennials who are looking to start families.  Starkey Mortgage (WR Starkey Mortgage, LLP NMLSR #2146) has recently explored the millennial generation housing trend, which you can read more about on the National Builder Division blog.

According to Zillow, the median list price for homes in Raleigh is $210,000, while the median sale price is a little lower at $191,800. Currently, the median household income is $46,612, which is slightly better than the national average.

The city of Charlotte’s high ranking can be attributed to its commitment to building infrastructure, such as roads and cultural institutions, which are primary components to future growth. The city is also home to a bustling airport that serves major national and international routes.

Charlotte also boasts low housing prices and short commute times. The median list price on Zillow for homes in Charlotte was $189,000, while the median sale price was $201,000. The median household income was only slightly higher than that of Raleigh’s at $46,975.

If you’re ready to begin your home search in North Carolina, Starkey Mortgage can help you begin the loan approval process now. For more information on obtaining a new home loan, please contact Debra Watt, Senior Vice President and Regional Manager (NMLSR #346277, NC License #I-149994), at 704-246-0132 or dwatt@starkeymtg.com.

Equal Housing Lender. 10800 Sikes Place #110, Charlotte, NC 28277. Branch NMLSR #93518, Branch License #L-112550-102. SC License #MLB-93518. Phone: 704-246-0132.

Raleigh Named Second Fastest-Growing City in America

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Starkey LogoThe city of Raleigh was recently ranked No. 2 on FORBES’ annual list of America’s Fastest-Growing Cities. As part of the Research Triangle, the area offers its residents an exceptional quality of life. More and more Americans are realizing this fact and rushing to call the beautiful city of Raleigh home.

The state of North Carolina was ranked by FORBES as the fourth best state in the country for doing business, and it is evident that many companies agree with this ranking. The popular Research Triangle area is home to more than 170 companies, including IBM, Cisco and GlaxoSmithKline. The state’s relatively low cost of doing business is bringing even more businesses into the area, which is creating more jobs for local residents. In addition, the wider area is home to several major universities, including North Carolina State University in Raleigh, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University in Durham.

This combination of job opportunities and educational institutions means that the local population is highly educated. Nearly half of the area’s residents aged 25 to 65 have a college degree, and many graduates choose to remain in the Research Triangle after they’ve completed their education.

According to FORBES, the influx of business to the region has caused Raleigh’s job rate to rise 2.44 percent year-over-year, while the population climbed an estimated 2.15 percent in 2013. This rise in the population helped the city of Raleigh to climb from its No. 4 spot on the 2013 list to the No. 2 spot on this year’s list of America’s Fastest-Growing Cities.

“It’s exciting to be at Starkey Mortgage because we are positioned to execute in both the current and future market conditions,” said Jonathan Hayward, Regional Builder Services Manager, East Region. “We are engaged in hiring and opening new offices for future growth.”

If you are searching for the perfect location to call home, the city of Raleigh and the entire state of North Carolina are an excellent place to move. With great education opportunities, a low unemployment rate and a great quality of life, now is the time to make Raleigh your home.

For more information on obtaining a new home loan in North Carolina from Starkey Mortgage, please contact Debra Watt, senior vice president and regional manager (NMLSR #346277, NC License #I-149994) at 704-246-0132 or dwatt@starkeymtg.com.

Equal Housing Lender. WR Starkey Mortgage, LLP NMLSR# 2146, 10800 Sikes Place, Suite 110, Charlotte, NC 28277, Branch Phone: 704.849.2125, Branch NMLSR#93518, Branch License #L-112550-102, SC License #MLB-93518.

 

Is Purchasing a Home in Cash Always the Best Choice?

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Hands holding piggy bank and house modelMany home buyers throughout the Carolinas may wonder whether paying for their home in cash or securing a mortgage makes more sense, particularly with rates still at historic lows. If you can afford it, paying for your new home in cash may seem like the obvious choice. However, for many buyers, that may not always be the best option.

There can be many advantages to financing your home with a mortgage company, such as Starkey Mortgage (WR Starkey Mortgage, LLP NMLSR #2146).

Having a mortgage means that you will have liquid assets that will allow you to secure cash if something unexpected occurs, such as a natural disaster or sudden illness. Most experts recommend that you have enough liquid cash available to support your household for up to six months in case your cash flow suddenly and unexpectedly stops.

By purchasing your home with cash, you will have fewer resources available to invest elsewhere. If you financed a portion of your home and invested that money somewhere else, it may be able to outperform the money you’re saving on a mortgage, therefore becoming a better investment option for your money.

Mortgages, especially fixed-rate mortgages, can act as an effective hedge against inflation. As inflation makes the dollar less valuable over time, your monthly payment will actually become more valuable as it doesn’t change over the lifetime of the loan.

For more information on whether securing a mortgage for your new home purchase is the right option, contact Starkey Mortgage’s Senior Vice President and Regional Manager, Debra Watt (NMLSR #346277, NC License #I-149994) at 704-246-0132 or dwatt@starkeymtg.com. For more information on Starkey Mortgage, visit www.StarkeyMortgage.com.

Starkey LogoEqual Housing Lender. WR Starkey Mortgage, LLP NMLSR# 2146, 10800 Sikes Place, Suite 110, Charlotte, NC 28277, Branch Phone: 704.849.2125, Branch NMLSR#93518, Branch License #L-112550-102, SC License #MLB-93518.