Jeff Gerber
Monroe,NC
704

What to do in Mint Hill?

Dear Rich -

I am looking at moving to a beautiful home in Mint Hill NC and would like to know what there is to do in the area. My wife and I like to hike and walk, and spend time outdoors. I know you are familiar with this area and any advice on where to go, or places to visit would be appreciated!

Mel
Mint Hill, NC

Hi Mel -

You are right–I am very familiar with the Mint Hill area! I have been fortunate to assist many buyers and sellers in Mint Hill in the last few years and I am always happy to recommend this area. Mint Hill is one of the hidden gems in the Charlotte area and I am glad you have found a great new home to make your own.

There are many great parks and greenways in and around Charlotte. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Parks and Rec website is a great resource. In Mint Hill itself there are two parks, Fairview Park and Wilgrove Park.

Fairgrove is located at 8850 Fairview Road in Mint Hill. This park is over 55 acres in size with amenities for all ages. There are two soccer fields surrounded by an asphalt bike/roller blade path. There are racquetball and tennis courts, beach volleyball courts, and a nine-hole disc golf course that winds its way through the park. My favorite park it the nature trail with plants and trees native to this part of the North Carolina. Fargrove Park in Mint Hill also has a concession stand, and restrooms.

Wilgrove Park is located at 7750 Jim Harper Lane off Wilgrove-Mint Hill Road. Wilgrove Park has a softball field, four tennis courts, and natural walking trail that circles the perimeter of the park.

I also definitely recommend doing the Movies on the Lawn too. It is a nice evening out–for a couple or a family.

Enjoy living in Mint Hill–and please let me know if you need any more information on living in Mint Hill or the Charlotte area.

Rich Ferretti
Mint Hill & Charlotte Buyer’s Agent

Want more information about the Charlotte area real estate market? Check out www.richferretti.com

Posted by Rich Ferretti Charlotte NC at 8:18 PM 0 comments Links to this post

Labels: Charlotte NC, mecklenburg county, Mint Hill, movies on the lawn, moving, parks

The real estate downturn has spread across the country ever since the credit crisis first began eight months ago. But there are some areas where that seem to be immune to the crunch or at least resilient—places like Charlotte, NC.

This is a natural cycle and right now we have a healthy buyer’s market as well as positive property value growth. This area has done really well, because it never got over-inflated, the economy here is strong and there are many great places to live.

While there have been changes, less new builds and increased sale sell times, Charlotte continues to show promise as a city which can not only survive but grow in the coming months.

So what if you aren’t looking to move? Smart investors can get in on some great opportunities right now. Since Charlotte remains a hot-spot people are still moving here at a record-pace. That said, many are coming from areas of the country where they are having problems selling their homes. This causes an increase in time a house here will be on the market and will lower the sale price. As the market strengthens around the country, there will likely be an influx of newcomers in the coming years. An investor who can sit on or rent out a home may stand to make a tidy profit.

Charlotte is one of the best cities to live in the US. The economy is good, the weather is near perfect and the people are welcoming—and it is still a great place to buy (and sell!) real estate!

Read more about bust-proof real estate markets.

Want more information about the Charlotte area real estate market? Check out www.richferretti.com

Posted by Rich Ferretti Charlotte NC at 9:26 PM 0 comments Links to this post

Labels: buyers market, Charlotte NC, foreclosure, investment property, recession

- Real Estate Update - Home & Family - Buyers & Seller’s Corner - Home Improvement - Wine 101 - Health & Fitness - Recipe of the Month - Technology Corner - Forward to a Friend June 2008 7 — Family Day 8 — Write to Your Father Day 13 — Friday the 13th 14 — Flag Day 15 — Father’s Day 18 — Go Fishing Day 18 — Full Moon Day 20 — Summer Solstice Charlotte NC Housing Market You may be surprised to find out that there are some cities, Manhattan, Austin Texas and our own Charlotte North Carolina that have been weathering and even growing in the current market. The real estate downturn has spread across the country ever since the credit crisis first began eight months ago. But there are some areas where that seem to be immune to the crunch or at least resilient—places like Charlotte, NC. This is a natural cycle and right now we have a healthy buyer’s market as well as positive property value growth. This area has done really well, because it never got over-inflated, the economy here is strong and there are many great places to live. While there have been changes, less new builds and increased sale sell times, Charlotte continues to show promise as a city which can not only survive but grow in the coming months. So what if you aren’t looking to move? Smart investors can get in on some great opportunities right now. Since Charlotte remains a hot-spot people are still moving here at a record-pace. That said, many are coming from areas of the country where they are having problems selling their homes. This causes an increase in time a house here will be on the market and will lower the sale price. As the market strengthens around the country, there will likely be an influx of newcomers in the coming years. An investor who can sit on or rent out a home may stand to make a tidy profit. Charlotte is one of the best cities to live in the US. The economy is good, the weather is near perfect and the people are welcoming—and it is still a great place to buy (and sell!) real estate! Read more about bust-proof real estate markets.   Want more information about the Charlotte area real estate market? Check out www.richferretti.com   Blogs are growing all the time. Next time you are looking for information regarding real estate, check out Active Rain. It’s one of the best blogging  sites to gain info on a particular area. Here’s my Blog; www.ActiveRain.com/RichFerretti Let me know your thoughts. The things taught in schools and colleges are not an education, but the means of education. — Ralph Waldo Emerson     Second Half of 2008 Poised for Improvement Home sales and prices throughout most of the country are poised for improvement in the second half of 2008, and the recovery will vary by market, said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun at a recent meeting. Middle-America cities that performed evenly over the past few years — like Cincinnati, Milwaukee and the Kansas City, Mo., area — are likely to experience home price gains in the 20 to 30 percent range over the next five years, while markets like Miami, Las Vegas and Phoenix could see prices go up as much as 50 percent during that time period, according to Yun. Yun blamed most of the softening of the housing market over the last year on the "subprime mess," where consumers with blemished credit records got loans they couldn’t afford when the interest rates reset to higher levels. Yun urged the Congress and White House to enact NAR-supported legislation to modernize FHA programs, reform regulation affecting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, establish a first-time home buyer tax credit, and make the temporary increases to the conforming loan limits established by the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 permanent. "These measures would quickly stabilize the housing markets and get fence-sitters into the market to buy homes," said Yun. "There are many reasons for people to get into the housing market today, and very few reasons not to. With the plentiful supply of homes for sale at affordable prices, interest rates approaching 40-year lows, and the strong track record of housing as a good long-term investment, conditions are ripe for buyers." TOP Learn as much as you can while you are young, since life becomes too busy later. — Dana Stewart Scott     How-To Teach Your Child to Ride a Bike Don’t let your child miss out on the fun biking provides. Yes, it can be difficult to teach a 5-year-old to ride, but the effort is well worthwhile and provides a healthy activity and a lifetime of smiles. Following are a few tips to get you rolling: The ideal bike for learning to ride is a bike that is "too small" for efficient riding. Borrow one if you need to. Make sure the bike is in good working condition, bolts tight, chain oiled, brakes working, air in tires. Remove the training wheels. Adjust the seat so your child can firmly plant both feet on the ground. Get a helmet that fits correctly. Leather gloves and knee pads are a good idea too, especially if you’re learning in an area with gravel. Practice in an open and flat or gently-sloping area; grass makes for a less-painful fall. The primary difficulty with learning to ride a bike is that the child is expected to learn two skills at the same time: balance and propulsion. Instead of trying to teach both skills at the same time, focus on balance and steering first (without trying to pedal). Let your child simply sit on the bike and push himself around to get use to the feel. After your child is comfortable with this, either give him a gentle push or find a gentle-sloping hill so he can practice coasting without touching the ground. After your child can coast comfortably for about 25 feet, it’s time to add propulsion to the equation. Hold the bike upright and give a gentle push to get your child moving. Do not hold the handlebar or seat as this will only hinder his ability to understand balance. In addition, if you plan to run alongside and hold your child up, do so by holding them at the shoulders. The process may be slow at first, but within a few hours your child should be able to ride about 50 feet without touching the ground. As your child’s balance and propulsion skills get better, you may want to raise the seat and handlebars or move up to a bigger bike. The small bike is only used to teach balance and propulsion skills. Once they master these, a size-appropriate bike will be easier to propel and steer. Most children will figure out how to start pedaling from a stationary position without assistance after they’ve been peddling for a few hours. TOP Between saying and doing many a pair of shoes is worn out. — Italian Proverb     Take the Time to Check Out the Competition It’s pretty much standard for the listing agent to prepare and present a home evaluation to a home seller before they place the home on the market. This evaluation often includes comparable homes for sale, pending and sold home prices, average number of days on the market, and more. While this evaluation is good, it doesn’t always give you the whole picture. So, before you put your home on the market, you may want to consider spending a weekend or two checking out the competition. This includes existing homes and new home developments. A good listing agent will be happy to show you a few "comps," and you can go to open houses on your own. You only need to see a few similarly-priced homes in similar neighborhoods to get a feel for your competition. You can preview new homes, of course, at the development during their regular business hours. This research will help you determine the best sales price at which to list your home — a key ingredient to get your home sold fast and at top dollar. You don’t need to go out and buy new furniture to look like a model home, but it’s important for you to see what potential buyers see. TOP The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself. — Benjamin Franklin     5 Easy Steps to Repairing a Small Hole Moving furniture, installing a HDTV, hanging shelves, a broken door stop, all these things and more can lead to a hole in the wall. Fortunately, repairing a hole in drywall is fairly simple. Most smaller holes can be repaired within a few hours. Here’s what you need: Joint compound Fiberglass mesh tape or peal-and-stick drywall patch Putty knife Utility knife Medium grit sandpaper Primer and paint Here’s how you do it: Wipe away any dust or debris around the hole. Cut a piece of fiberglass mesh tape, leaving about a half inch excess over the hole. Trim away any extra. Apply joint compound over the mesh tape using a putty knife. Smooth out joint compound so there is no excess. Let the compound dry, then lightly sand until the surface is smooth and edges are even with the wall. Prime with flat white paint, let dry, then paint with matching wall color. TOP It is a good divine that follows his own instructions. — William Shakespeare     Wine 101: Old and New World Wine Did you ever wonder what it means when someone refers to a wine as an "Old World wine" or a "New World wine"? In short, these expressions refer to where the wines were produced. Old World wine refers to wines produced inside of the traditional wine growing areas of Europe and North Africa; and New World wine refers to wines of newer producing regions, such as the United States, South Africa, New Zealand, Chile, Australia and Argentina. Since New World vineyards are generally in warmer climates than those of Northern Europe, the grapes tend to be riper and produce wines that tend to be correspondingly more alcoholic and full-bodied. Some wine critics have influenced New World producers and consumers towards a fruitier style, with more use of new oak. In recent years, however, there has been a reaction against some of the overly oaky, alcoholic styles that were common a few decades ago. TOP A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. — Herm Albright 4 Exercises to Tone Your Arms As the weather improves and you break out your summer wardrobe, here are a few exercises to tone up your arms. Bicep Curls — Stand with your legs shoulder-width apart, abs tight, shoulders squared and elbows tight against your rib cage. Grip the dumbbells with your palms facing forward and slowly curl the weights until they’re at shoulder level, then slowly drop back down. The movement should be slow and controlled. Triceps Kickbacks — Using dumbbells, bend forward so your upper body is parallel to the floor, abs tight, feet flat and knees slightly bent. Bend your elbows so they’re even with your back. Keeping your arms close to your rib cage, slowly raise the weights until your arms are straight behind you. After your arms are fully extended, squeeze your triceps, then lower your hands, returning to starting position. Overhead Press — Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, abs tight and chest out. Bring the dumbbells to shoulder height, just to the side of each shoulder, palms facing forward. Now, slowly lift the weights overhead, bringing them toward each other as you extend your arms, pause a second, then return to starting position. Push-ups — Place your hands under your shoulders with your palms on the floor. Curl your toes upward so the tips of your feet touch the ground. Keeping your legs straight, raise yourself using your arms until they’re fully extended, pause a moment, then lower yourself until your chin nearly touches the floor. If you just want to tone your arms, use lighter weights so you can do 12 to 15 repetitions before your muscles tire, rest, then do two more sets. If your goal is to bulk up, use heavier weights that tire your muscles after eight reps, take a break, then do two more sets. TOP Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first. — Ernestine Ulmer Fish Fillets with Olives and Oregano Ingredients - Serves 4+ 4 thick pieces white-fleshed skinless fish fillets, such as halibut (6 oz each) 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 4 very thin lemon slices 1/2 cup dry white wine 1/3 cup pitted brine-cured green olives such as picholine, halved lengthwise (2 oz) 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh oregano Directions Put oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat oven to 450°F. Pat fish dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sear fillets, skinned sides down, until browned well, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer, seared sides up, to baking dish (reserve skillet), then top each fillet with a slice of lemon. Add wine to skillet and bring to a boil, scraping up any brown bits. Boil 30 seconds, then pour around fish. Scatter olives around fish and bake, uncovered, until fish is just cooked through, 8 to 12 minutes. Transfer fish to a platter, then whisk lemon juice, oregano, and remaining 2 tablespoons oil into cooking liquid in baking dish. Season sauce with salt and pepper and spoon over fish. Wine Pairing San Osvaldo Pinot Grigio DOC 2006 TOP Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment. — Rita Mae Brown Easily Make Posters From Your Digital Images If you’ve ever wanted an easy way to turn a digital image into a poster, consider PosteRazor. This free, printing utility produces PDFs of your large image across several pieces of regular printer-sized paper, eliminating the need for a wide-format printer. Simply load your image in PosteRazor, tell it how many sheets of paper you want it to span, and the program will produce the appropriate number of PDF file pages. Print out the resulting sheets and put them together to make your poster. This is a great solution to make posters for your kid’s birthday party, graduation, office presentation, or artwork for your home. Of course, a high resolution image produces the best results. PosteRazor works with most image formats and is compatible with Mac, Windows and Linux. It’s easy to download and use. Check it out: http://posterazor.sourceforge.net. TOP   Click here to unsubscribe. Rich Ferretti 10801 Johnston Road, Suite 216 Charlotte, NC 28226 This eNewsletter contains information, facts and opinions from various individuals and organizations. This eNewsletter is provided on an "as-is" basis without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. I/We are not responsible for any errors or omissions. Consult with your doctor, fitness consultant, attorney, accountant, or other professional advisor when necessary. © 2008 eNewsletterSolutions.

Prospective buyers may make a judgment on your house if you haven’t taken the time to modernize—and that is to your detriment. While it may be just as easy for the new owner to do this things, it is always a good idea to do the work yourself if you can. I have seen buyers walk away from a perfectly good house, just because of decor or the fixtures–it just makes the house look “old” - and no one likes “old”.

So here is what I recommend: If you have already put a fresh coat of paint up, and decluttered then consider some new fixtures. New drawer handles or knobs can cost little as $2 each—less even if you buy them in packs. So check your bathrooms, kitchen, built-ins, etc. for places you can update. Remember to keep it simple. Clean lines, and simplicity sell.

And while you are at it, check the sink and bathroom faucets, sinks and toilets. These may be another easy update that will keep buyers interested. In my experience, you will always make your money back (and sometimes then some…) on updates to kitchen and bathrooms! So think of it as an investment. Feeling especially handy? You might also try updating any ceiling-mount light fixtures or doorknobs—but again, keep it simple!

Rich Ferretti
Buyer’s Agent - Charlotte
rich@richferretti.com

Want more information about the Charlotte area real estate market? Check out www.richferretti.com

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REALonomics.net advocates that the industry open up the property information portals to consumers and upgrade its approach to how it is interacting with the consumer by implementing more social networking such as www.CityBlogUSA.com, a community blogging network for every city in the USA.

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