Top Neighborhoods in Winston-Salem 27106 Zip Code

The 27106 zip code in the Winston-Salem area had the 2nd highest average home sale price over a recent 180 period. Let’s look at some of it’s top neighborhoods.

Brookberry Farm clearly had the most activity, and had an average home sale price of almost $1 million.

Hanes Lake had the second most transactions at 26 with an average home price of $384,000.

Buena Vista and Sherwood Forest also show up as significant, but they cross over into the 27104 zip code with even more activity there.

I hope this has been helpful. If there is anything else I can help you, please reach out. Thanks

Top neighborhoods in Lewisville, NC

Today I’m going to talk about neighborhoods in Lewisville, NC - zip code 27023.

Lewisville is the top zip code in the Winston-Salem, NC area with regard to average sale price of homes at over $500,000 - based on a recent 180 days of activity.

Looking at neighborhoods, the activity in Lewisville isn’t driven by a few big neighborhoods. It seems to be spread out among many different ones.

Looking at neighborhoods with the highest average sale price - Lake at Lissara had 8 home closings with an average of over $1,000,000. Woodview Estates had 7 closings at an average of $787,000.

Sequoia Place had the most transactions at an average price of $281,000

If you’d like more information, please don’t hesitate to give me a call. Thanks!

What is the best time of year to buy a house? It depends on your goal

What is the best time of year to buy a home? It kind of depends. If you buy in the winter months, November, December, and January, you will generally have less to choose from, but you'll also have less competition and maybe lower prices.

In the spring - April, May, you will generally have the most to choose from, but more competition and higher prices.

Not surprisingly, around August - September is maybe the sweet spot in between, where you will still have a decent amount of inventory to choose from while getting some price cuts.

What is the best month to sell a house? (hint: Time to SPRING into action)

When is the best time of year to list your home? It really depends on the geographic area that you live in, but in a lot of areas, spring seems to be the best time.

I looked at the results, for the triad MLS, the area around Winston Salem, and for the past three years, June had the highest number of closings, so those would have gone under contract in May and April.

So spring sounds about right. Things start ramping up in March.

The rest of the summer and early fall are also decent months to list a home.

As far as the price per square foot that you might get - there used to be some seasonality, a dip in the winter months, but it's really not as big of a deal lately because of how tight the market has been.

What are the wealthy areas around Winston-Salem (including Lewisville, Clemmons, and Advance)?

What are some of the more expensive zip codes in Forsyth and Davy county when it comes to average home prices? No, seriously, I'm asking you, do you not know?

Well, let's see if we could find that out. Here we go. It seems that the top five are all over $400,000.

They're all roughly adjacent to one another geographically.

At the top, you've got Lewisville, 27023. Then 27106 in Winston Salem. Then 27006 in Advance, 27012 in Clemmons, and 27104 in Winston-Salem.

Now, as far as specific neighborhoods are concerned, I will try to get to those in other videos.

Not a trick or a trap, just a brochure that NC realtors are required to give home buyers and sellers

Before I show a house to a buyer, I am required by the North Carolina Real Estate Commission to give them this. It is the working with real estate agents brochure. I have to give it to them, I have to explain it, and then get them to sign at the bottom.

Now, this is not a trick or a trap. It's not a contract, and it actually shows up here.”This is not a contract. Signing only indicates that I've given it to you”. Now, the gist of the form is that you shouldn't tell me any confidential information until I represent you.

However, I could represent you under an oral agreement which would not commit you to working with me past that showing.

The only time we're required to put something in writing is if you want to make an offer on a property and you want me to help you, then we'd have to put something in writing.

Otherwise, I'm not going to ask you to sign a buyer agency agreement just for showing you a house.

Homeseller mauled by bigfoot. Are his heirs required to complete NC disclosures?

A home owner dies after being mauled by bigfoot. Are his heirs required to sign the normal seller disclosure statements?

The answer: maybe

The requirements for completion of the seller disclosures are set forth in North Carolina’s Residential Property Disclosure Act.

The Act both state that it is the “owner of the real property” who is obligated to complete the required forms.

Owner means each person having a recorded present or future interest in real estate.

If the will is not recorded with the clerk of the court or the deed has not been officially recorded in the names of the heirs, then they don’t need to sign. If the will or deed has been recorded, then they will have to complete the disclosures.

Is a home seller responsible if a home's HVAC breaks down before closing??

If an HVAC system is working when an offer is made, and during the final walkthrough, it’s discovered that it isn’t working - what are the implications?

Paragraph 11 of the standard offer to purchase states that if the property isn’t in substantially the same condition at Closing, the buyer has a choice of terminating the contract or proceeding with it.

If the buyer decides to terminate, they’re entitled to get their due diligence fee and earnest money deposit back, but not the due diligence costs.

If the Buyer does NOT elect to terminate this Contract the buyer would have the right to the proceeds of any insurance claim filed by Seller.

Lastly, if the seller wants the deal to go through, they have to be given the opportunity to repair the HVAC unit, and if they do, the buyer couldn’t terminate the contract without losing their deposits

VA / FHA loans and low lender appraisals

IWith FHA or VA loans, are Additional Earnest Money Deposits refundable if a property doesn’t appraise?

If an appraisal comes in below the contract price when the buyer is pursuing an FHA or VA loan and the home buyer has agreed to pay an Earnest Money Deposit? Is that refundable?

Yes.

The FHA/VA Financing Addendum (Form 2A4-T) states that for both VA and FHA loans, a buyer shall not be obligated to complete the transaction or “incur any penalty” by “forfeiture of earnest money deposits or otherwise” unless the subject property meets the applicable appraisal amount.

For an FHA loan, the applicable appraisal amount is determined by an appraiser provided by the lender. For VA loans, the applicable appraisal amount is set by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

They will however lose their due diligence deposit.

To avoid a termination of the offer, the buyer can try to renegotiate with the seller.

Can a Home Seller Deny Access to Home if Buyer Doesn't Pay Due Diligence?!?

If a home buyer doesn’t pay the due diligence fee, can a seller deny access to a home for inspection?

The answer: No.

If standard offer to purchase 2-T is used, it does obligate the buyer to pay the due diligence when the contract becomes effective, BUT it also obligates the seller to provide reasonable access to the property - - it is not conditioned on receiving the due diligence fee first.

That said, with regard to the due diligence fee, if the buyer does not pay on time, the seller does have remedies available.

The seller may deliver a written notice to the buyer demanding payment of the fee within one banking day.

If the buyer does not deliver the funds in a timely manner, the Seller shall have the right to terminate this Contract upon written notice to the Buyer, AND the Seller will still be entitled to recover the Due Diligence Fee, and pursue other remedies outlined in paragraph 1d).

Can a home buyer assign their offer to someone else?

Can a home buyer who is under contract assign their offer to another party?

They can, but it’s complicated.

Paragraph 15 of the standard offer to purchase 2-T states that the contract to purchase a home may not be assigned without the written consent of all parties except in the case of a tax-deferred exchange.

There is no standard form to handle this because it is fairly complicated from a legal perspective.

For example, it’s important to address whether the original buyer is still liable. The person who the offer is being assigned to should make sure the original buyer has the right to make the assignment.

The bottom line is that assignments are complex legal transactions and should be handled by an experienced attorney.

A low home appraisal can cost a home buyer money and much more!!!

A low home appraisal by a lender could kill a deal for a home buyer to purchase a home and cause the buyer to lose their due diligence.

A lender will only loan up to the amount of the appraisal. If the offer amount is for $300,000 and the appraisal comes in at $280,000, the buyer will need to come up with an additional $20,000 in cash to complete the transaction.

If they don’t have the additional cash, they could lose their due diligence and earnest money deposit (depending on the timing) if the seller won’t renegotiate.

That’s why it’s always important to do a thorough offer analysis of recently sold comparable homes before making an offer.

Home Buyer Wants Their Agent To Withhold a Material Fact

A buyer’s agent must communicate inability of home buyer to sell their existing home

A home buyer has to sell their existing home in order to complete the purchase.

The buyer gets word that the person purchasing their existing home has terminated their offer.

The home buyer does not want their real estate agent to inform the seller of the termination. Can the real estate agent withhold this information?

No.

Real estate agents are duty bound to communicate material facts to the other party.

There is ample guidance that establishes the inability of either party to complete the transaction is a material fact, and the inability to obtain a loan or a buyer’s inability to close on a home without selling a currently owned home are specifically mentioned.

Home Buyer Not Acting Good Faith

In North Carolina, parties to a contract have a duty to act in good faith and make reasonable efforts to perform their obligations under the contract.

In order to complete the transaction to purchase a home, a home buyer must sell their existing home. They learn that the buyer of their existing home has terminated their offer.

The home buyer wants their agent to tell the sellers that if they don’t refund the due diligence fee, the buyers will delay termination of the offer until the very end of the grace period.

What should the buyer's agent do?

They should advise the buyer to seek advice from legal counsel about pursuing this strategy. Legal counsel will likely advise them that in North Carolina, parties to a contract have a duty to act in good faith and make reasonable efforts to perform their obligations under the contract.

Attempting to get the due diligence fee back could be seen as a violation of that duty.

If the agents assists them in that effort they could expose them to liability and violate both the License Law and the Code of Ethics

NC Home Buyer Can't Sell Existing Home

What are buyer rights under form 2-T if they can’t sell their existing property

If the buyer indicates in paragraph 5 of for 2-T that they need to sell their property first - - and then they can’t, can they terminate the offer and get their earnest money deposit back?

The answer: no - they cannot. It is spelled out later on in paragraph 5b, and also in paragraph 4c).

Paragraph 5 does not create a contingency for the buyer to get their deposit back.

It’s there primarily to enable the seller to better assess the strength of the buyer’s offer. It adds some transparency to the offer.

To avoid losing their earnest money deposit, the buyer should try to sell their home before the end of the due diligence period, or at least be reasonably sure they can sell their existing home before the settlement date.

Home Seller Fails to Disclose Material Home Defect

In North Carolina, a home seller is ordinarily not required to disclose facts about their property - even if there are material defects in the property.

The exception is that a seller must disclose material facts when there is a defect on the property only known to the seller, and the buyer cannot discover the defect through reasonable diligence.

If a seller fails to disclose a material defect related to the property, the home buyer cannot terminate and get their Due Diligence Fee back.

I recommend that as a general rule, I think it’s best for buyers to assume they will not get their due diligence back if a material issue is found.

If they have uncertainty about the condition of a property, they should consider not making an offer.

Home Seller Dies While Under Contract

If a home seller dies while they are under contract with a buyer, is the contract still binding on their heirs?

The answer: yes

This is spelled out by paragraph 17 of Standard Offer To Purchase Form 2-T, and is also supported by North Carolina General Statutes.

If the buyer chooses, they can compel the contract to be honored.

If the heirs are unable to complete the transaction within 7 days of the settlement date, they would be in breach of contract, and the buyer would be entitled to remedies spelled out in paragraph 23, which would include recovery deposits and any inspection and loan costs.

Getting legal access to a landlocked property

Does North Carolina law give the owner of a landlocked property legal rights to access their property?

The owner of the landlocked property does NOT necessarily have legal rights to a public right-of-way under North Carolina law simply because the property is landlocked.

If you run into this situation, you should contact an attorney for advice.:

There are possible avenues to pursue for obtaining right-of-way access, such as:

establishing a “cartway” or claiming an implied easement by necessity.

but there is no guarantee

The best course of action is probably to request a formal easement for legal access to a public right-of-way from the owner of the larger tract.

Can a home buyer stop the seller from selling to another buyer?

If a home seller is under contract with a buyer and tries to sell to someone else, what can the first buyer do?

If the seller is able to complete the transaction with the second buyer, there is nothing that the first buyer can do to get the property. They would be able to recover their deposits and any other costs however.

If the original buyer wants to stop the sale to someone else, they can use an attorney to file suit against the seller for specific performance, and also file a notice of lis pendens (which means “pending suit”).

If a court decides the first buyer is entitled to specific performance, the second buyer would be bound by that ruling.

The filing of a notice of lis pendens would make it difficult for the seller and Buyer #2 to close on their contract because the existence of the lis pendens notice would be a cloud on title that would make it difficult, if not impossible, for Buyer #2 to obtain title insurance on the property and/or get a loan.

Does the home buyer or seller have to satisfy a lien?

Just before closing, a home buyer learns that the water heater is not owned by the seller - it’s being leased. The seller asserts that the buyer needs to assume the lease and the lien on the unit.

The water heater is not mentioned as an exception to fixtures conveyed in paragraph 2 of standard offer to purchase 2-T.

Is the buyer obligated to assume this loan, or does the seller need to pay off the lien as part of the sale?

ANSWER: The seller

Paragraph 2(a) in Form 2-T clearly states fixtures are to be part of the sale, free of liens.

The seller has to convey the water heater free of liens to the buyer.

If the seller does not, then the seller risks being in breach of contract.