Leigh Brown Featured on WFAE 90.7

The "starter castle" Leigh discusses with WPAE 90.7 reporter

We’re excited to tell you that last Thursday, Leigh Brown, the best Charlotte agent and best Concord agent, was featured on Charlotte radio station WFAE 90.7. The topic? A unique kind of distressed real estate here in Charlotte: luxury short sales and luxury foreclosures.

Leigh took the reporter inside one of the many foreclosed properties in Weddington, one she calls a “starter castle.”

From the article:

“We are in what I like to call a starter castle, which were the houses that were built in the height of the real estate boom… with a little French influence, a little German influence, maybe a little Swiss influence, maybe some Italian and Spanish all tossed into the same house. This particular community has been hit really hard by mortgage fraud, which caused prices to not just fall in relation to the rest of the market but to really tumble,” Brown said.

The foreclosed starter castle is a perfect example. Brown said it sold for about $1.3 million in 2007, but it will probably sell as a bank-owned property somewhere around $650,000.

The lesson here is that for buyers, Charlotte and the surrounding areas are ripe for the picking. Even first-time buyers and low-budget buyers can afford some of the most beautiful homes this area has to offer because the country’s economic woes have caused real estate values to drop.

So, if you’re dreaming of a millionaire’s home on a pauper’s budget, Charlotte NC might just be the place to make your dreams come true. With lots of high quality bank-owned and short sale listings, not only will you have the luxury to choose between many different elegant-but-affordable properties, but you’ll also get one of the best real estate deals you’re likely to see in your lifetime.

On the flip side, if you’re thinking you have all the time in the world, you might want to think again. Yes, inventory is high right now, but the real estate market appears to be strengthening and may continue to do so over the long term. The stronger the housing market becomes, the quicker listings will sell, and the brisker the mousing market, the higher the prices will go.

In other words, the time to buy is now, while there are still lots of amazing deals to be had.

Read the full WFAE 90.7 article here.