Fran Park's Real Estate Blog - Lake Norman Homes

Lake Norman Treasure Hunt

Fran Park — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:49:33 +0000

Open houses are a favorite pastime of mine. I will gladly do one in most any listing I have. I really believe that they can produce a buyer for the home. I have had success more than once using open houses. But I just did one last weekend that had an unusual turn of events. [...]

Job Fair Tomorrow

Fran Park — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:35:12 +0000

Looking for a job in the Lake Norman Area? Tomorrow might be a good day for your search. HOHT, Helping Others Help Themselves, is holding its first job fair on Tuesday, January 10 in Huntersville. It is being hosted by Heather Valeri of Flair Creative Group between 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM at her office, [...]

Charlotte: A Best Value City!

Fran Park — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:01:31 +0000

According to a recent Kiplinger article, Charlotte, NC ranks second among a list of US cities when it comes to being a best value for living. Since the Lake Norman area is just north of Charlotte, and it’s communities support the Charlotte businesses and employers, it’s a safe bet to say that the surrounding towns [...]

Lake Norman Real Estate Update

Fran Park — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:56:06 +0000

This post is not designed to provide market analytics on fancy spreadsheets, or charts showing market conditions. It is my anecdotal observations of the real estate market in the Lake Norman area as 2011 winds down. The fourth quarter is usually considered to be rather slow for buying or selling homes, but that is not [...]

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer

Fran Park — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:23:33 +0000

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Why am I participating?

I suspect that every one of us, if we pause for a moment, can recall a friend, relative or acquaintance that has dealt with breast cancer. For me, it was my sister-in-law, Yvonne. In 1982, when I was looking for a new start ,Yvonne opened her [...]

Real Estate Market Recovery

Fran Park — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 16:38:00 +0000

According to a recent article in the National Association of Realtors® online magazine, Realtor®Mag, The National Association of Home Builders is debuting a new economic index that highlights metro areas that are seeing the most improvement in their housing markets. The First American Improving Markets Index reveals 12 metro areas that have seen a turnaround [...]

Synthetic Stucco

Fran Park — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 20:03:48 +0000

If you live in the south or the southeast, and are in the real estate business, sooner or later you will encounter a home for sale that is sided with synthetic stucco, or as it is also referred to, EIFS. EIFS stands for Exterior Insulation and Finishing System. This product has been around for at [...]

The Importance of a Title Search

Fran Park — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 20:01:14 +0000

What is a title search, anyway? Why do home buyers have to pay an attorney to perform this task before they close on a property? Title searches are done to determine the answers to three important questions:

1-Does the seller have a saleable interest in the property? Hopefully, the listing agent for the property will have [...]

Renting Versus Buying A Home In The Lake Norman Area

Fran Park — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:55:32 +0000

Should I rent, or should I buy? People have wrestled with that question ever since they decided that caves were no longer suitable abodes. Depending on when, or where, the question has been posed, the answer is not always the same. Trulia, one of my favorite consumer home search sites, has just released their Q2 [...]

Bank of America Planning Layoffs

Fran Park — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 17:54:31 +0000

The mortgage mess continues to affect employees of Bank of America. According to a recent article in the Charlotte Observer, 3500 employees can expect to lose their jobs in the next few weeks. By fall, the number might be upwards of 10,000. Now, BofA employs over 280,000 people, and with the recent poor performance of [...]