Greenville, NC - With the current real estate market, many potential homeowners are looking towards an option of renting or leasing a home until they can get their financing worked out. Please keep in mind that this is a good option and many people find it necessary to rent/lease while building a better credit portfolio.  There are ten tips that every tenant should know below.  To search area rentals, please log onto http://www.Rent-in-Greenville.com or Click HERE.    Ten Tips Every Tenant Should Know  Know your rights when you rent a house or apartment. 1. Bring your paperwork. The best way to win over a prospective landlord is to be prepared. To get a competitive edge over other applicants, bring the following when you meet the landlord: a completed rental application; written refere... 12/08/2008

Recently received this email from trulia.... sign up for there free Trulia E-Newsletter very beneficial: It seems like foreclosure properties are on everyone's minds these days. Since we released a two-part foreclosure special edition six months ago, home owners and buyers on Trulia haven't been able to get enough of tips and tricks from foreclosure experts on Voices. Whether you're trying to save your home or thinking about buying a foreclosure property on Trulia, we've rounded up six must-reads to help you learn how to manage foreclosures, especially in today's market. How to avoid foreclosure Loan Modification Help-What about those Upfront Fees? Already struggling homeowners who are seeking loan modification help are finding out that any assistance from a loan modification company co... 12/08/2008

Now is a Great time to buy in Greenville. The market is right to make that first home purchase, rates are low and deals are good. Let our Team help you find the right condo or town-home that fits your family. No need to keep paying those high rental rates when you can purchase cheaper. We have a great list of inventory of both new construction and resale homes. For more info on inventory in the Pitt / Greenville visit us at: www.JesseAllenHomes.com   12/03/2008

Before I begin with the content of this post let me express my gratitude for those that serve in the reserves. Many have been or are to be called to active duty. Thank you for your service to our country.  Reserves as it pertains to a mortgage loan is quite simply how much money do you have left after you satisfy the down payment and closing cost. Reserves are generally measured by a number of months.  If you had to make your payments from your liquid assets how many months could you do this? Many conventional loans have reserve requirements varying by loan to value, occupancy type, debt to income, etc. Your home loan consultant should be addressing this issue with you. FHA does not have specific reserve requirements, but reserves often are viewed as a compensating factor to help streng... 11/30/2008

Every industry has its own lingo and anachronism. None more than the government, but that is a discussion for another day. Let's discuss one for the mortgage industry. PITI: Principal, Interest, Taxes and Insurance. Wouldn't payment be simpler? But you would be surprised how many, especially first time home buyers, don't include property taxes and homeowners insurance in their payment calculations. They go online plug into a mortgage loan calculator and viola; they go cruising around looking for real estate. A real estate agent shows them property in the chosen price range without verifying they have actually engaged in a mortgage consultation and the home buyer gets excited and wants to make an offer. Tell me you don't do that, please tell me. By the way, I heard this week there are so... 11/29/2008

I recently wrote a post on Fannie Mae's buy and bail policy, so I thought it appropriate to address FHA's guidance on the issue. This guidance is designed to assure the homebuyer can make payments on the full debt service (PITI) for both mortgages when vacating a property and purchasing a new one. Rental income for the vacated property can not be considered except under two conditions: •1.      Relocations: the homeowner is relocating with a new employer or is being transferred with a current employer. This must be to an area that is not within a reasonable and locally recognized commuting distance. •2.      There is sufficient equity in the vacating residence. The equity position must be 25% or greater. Required documentation when utilizing the relocation exception: •·        A fully e... 11/27/2008

When I first heard of the buy and bail concept, a few weeks (or was it months, time flies when your having fun) ago, I must confess the first thought that flashed through my mind was "who would do that"?  That initial thought lasted about three seconds before I transitioned to, "Oh yeah, I can see that happening". With declining property values, even people with otherwise good credit as saying "get me out of here". They are purchasing a new property at today's market value and then letting the home that they are underwater on go into foreclosure. What a world we live in, even in little ole Greenville, NC!  Fannie Mae has recently announced their new guidelines for converting a principal residence to a second home or investment property. Buy and Bail! If a customer is purchasing a new ho... 11/26/2008

Join our Condo/Townhome VIP Buyer's Program and Beat Other Buyers to Hottest New Greenville Listings.....    Receive INSTANT E-Mail Notification of All New Condo/Townhome Listings That Match Your Home Buying Criteria FREE of Charge Without Obligation  Here's how it works... We mail you new listings (complete with pictures) of ALL MLS properties that match your home buying criteria. So instead of having a realtor drag you from house to house wasting your time showing you many homes that don't interest you... Our exclusive Buyer Profile System allows you to pick which homes you want to view before other buyers even know about them. As a VIP buyer: You get weekly updates of all new Condo/Townhome listings that match your criteria FREE of charge. You get first pick of homes that interest yo... 11/15/2008

Greenville, NC - Over the past couple of weeks I keep getting the same two questions 1)Whats the best loan for me?   2) Has the rate's reached bottom yet!  These are two great questions but very hard to answer! Best loan - USDA 100% financing no PMI is Great for first time buyers but not all buyers qualify and not all homes qualify. Then you have FHA, conventional, ..... and the list goes on. Let us sit down with you and your lender and help find the right loan for the right house in the right area for you! We take pride in helping our clients find the best deal not only on the home but also the loan. Always shop for the best deal. The second hard question, have rate's bottomed yet? When I hear this question I think of a past client who told me the first house they purchased in the late... 11/15/2008

Greenville, NC - Now is a Great Time for Move UPbuyers! The recent market slump in the area has slowed down new construction building and left a lot of Great homes out there on the local Market. If your out growing your current home don't let this great buyer's market pass you buy. Its a great time to get help with closing cost and at the same time purchase more room for less money. Buyer's have to look at the long range plan.... you put your current "starter" home on the market at a reduced price for quick sale. Then find the move up home with more family room and space at the current discounted price,  so in all reality your just swapping equity but your moving into a larger home and neighborhood. Once the market rebounds your home equity will grow even larger. Don't get caught sittin... 11/15/2008

Beginning January 1, 2009 the minimum investment requirement for an FHA mortgage will change. Currently a borrower is required to have a 3.0% minimum cash investment. At least 2.25% of this amount must go toward down payment. The remaining 0.75% could go towards closing cost. As of the first of the year the minimum cash investment will increase to 3.5% all of which must go toward down payment.   What does this mean?   Take for example an FHA buyer is purchasing a home for $150,000. Under the "old rules" the minimum cash investment required would be $4,500.00. Of this amount $3,375.00 was required for down payment and the remaining 1.75% or $1,125.00 the minimum required investment could go toward closing cost.   When the new rules go in to effect on the same $150,000 house the minimum c... 11/13/2008

     Greenville, NC- We hear it daily from the news media how the market is falling both here and around the Globe. We are seeing investors selling off large blocks of stocks taking new positions in the market. We keep asking ourselves over and over where should I be at in the market. The old strategy of buy in the market and wait for a specific return is fast fading...."Put your money where you Know it is Solid", not where you "Hope it will Work Out". Its times like this we follow the trends of the 70's where investors began to put money in "HARD ASSETS". What better hard asset than LAND or REAL ESTATE, because it is a rock solid investment and has proven over time to be not only a safe place to put your money, but an incredibly lucrative place to invest in as well. Don't wait for Wall... 10/23/2008

  For the last half-century, Hollywood has idealized the American Dream - owning a home with a white-picket fence. But these days there's a new definition of "home sweet home," reports CBS News correspondent Sandra Hughes. Lynn and Luke Maxcy's dream is to rent a nice apartment in Los Angeles. "I don't know if the American Dream is to rent forever, but definitely it works for us right now," said Lynn. During the first quarter of this year, the percentage of households headed by homeowners had its sharpest decline in two decades, while the number of people choosing to rent soared. Right now, renting is red hot. "We'll call on a place and somebody will say, 'Yeah, we'll show it to you' and then we'll call back the next day to set it up and they say 'Oh sorry, we've already rented that,' "... 10/18/2008

DSM Pharmaceuticals, Pitt County's largest manufacturing employer with about 1,200 workers on Wednesday announced that it will be reorganizing operations with a target of reducing its work force by 15 percent to 20 percent, or as many as 240 positions. A news release said the decision is due to demand changes for services at the Greenville facility and reorganization is expected to be completed by the end of the year. DSM Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a business unit of DSM Pharmaceutical Products, which provides custom manufacturing services to the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries in the areas of steriles, orals and topicals, including dose form manufacturing, scheduled drugs, clinical manufacturing, fill finish manufacturing, and lypholization services. "The decisions concer... 10/16/2008

Paint it Purple this Weekend Join our CREW @ 8:00am Sharp! to Tailgate with the best! All Hands on Deck Pirate Fans.  You either are to be tailgating and attending the game this weekend OR buying/selling a home with us @ Coldwell Banker Coastal Rivers Realty .  No surrender! The ECU Student Government Association, Student Pirate Club and ECU Athletics Department are calling all Pirates to wear their favorite purple ECU shirts, jackets, pants and hats for "Purple Out" at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium this Saturday for the Pirates opening C-USA Eastern Division game against Memphis. Currently, only student-tickets remain available for the game. Should any tickets remain available Friday, all remaining tickets will go on sale Friday morning first, come, first serve through the ECU athletic ticket... 10/16/2008

Two college fairs are planned in Greenville. A Pitt County College Fair is planned from 6:30-8 p.m. Oct. 21 at the Greenville Convention Center. More than 50 public, private and community colleges will be represented at the fair from North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The College Foundation of North Carolina also will answer questions about preparing and paying for college and offer financial aid workshops at 6:30 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. And, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) will hold a college fair from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 22 in the Family Life Center of Cornerstone Missionary Baptist Church, 1095 Allen Road. The fair, designed for grades eight through junior college, will include college and military recruiters, scholarship information, entertainment, door ... 10/13/2008

Pitt County's government and business leaders have long said the community is recession proof given the continuing growth of East Carolina University and University Health Systems. Wanda Yuhas, director of Pitt County's Development Commission, is no longer making that claim. With a diverse manufacturing base, the university and area hospital, the conventional thinking has always been if there is trouble in one business area, others will be steady. "Six months ago we would have said we were virtually recession-proof," she said, "In our current economic climate we may not, be able to say that with confidence." Yuhas said hospital officials have said that with an already large indigent patient base, a dramatic rise in unemployment and suffering in other sectors of the business community co... 10/13/2008

Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks rallied, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its biggest point gain ever, on a government plan to buy stakes in banks and a Federal Reserve-led push to flood the global financial system with dollars. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rebounded from its worst week in 75 years with its steepest advance since 1987, and the Dow climbed more than 700 points. Morgan Stanley soared as much as 90 percent after sealing a $9 billion investment from Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. jumped more than 8 percent, while General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., the largest U.S. automakers, rose more than 20 percent each. The S&P 500 added 82.4, or 9.2 percent, to 981.4 at 3:37 p.m. in New York. The Dow increased... 10/13/2008

Are you ready to place your home on the market?Do you understand the process and details of selling a home? Be as informed as possible so you can make the absolute best business decisions. After all, the sale of your home is a business decision! Let me help you learn about this process. Visit my website for some helpful tips on selling your home or, better yet, give me a call. I'd be happy to answer any specific questions that you may have. Vist my website at: www.JesseAllenHomes.com       10/10/2008

  The Pitt County Fair opens Monday at the Fairgrounds on Route 264 in Greenville. The gates open at 5:30 and the Midway opens at 6:15. The fair runs through Saturday, October 4th. Message from the Fair Manager The Pitt County Fairgrounds has already been busy this year with concerts, Boy Scouts Fund Raiser, Animated Car Show, circus, Pirate's Beach Fest, and yard sales. Now it is time for the most important event of the year - The 2008 Pitt County American Legion Agricultural Fair. Our fair theme this year: "Together at the Fair", sets the tone for the exciting things the fair staff has in store for you at the 89th Annual Pitt County American Legion Agricultural Fair. The most exciting news we have is twofold. First, we are again offering Playworld Amusements for your enjoyment and ent... 09/28/2008