A Winter Wonderland best describes the scenery here on the Outer Banks last month. We had three inches of snow one week and another eight inches the following week. Temperatures were in the low teens and wind gusts up to 45 mph. We haven’t experienced weather like that since 2003. Schools were closed a total of five days making for some very happy children and plenty of nerve-wracked parents. Needless to say, our community is still recovering from this unusual storm!
January was a busy month for sales. We listed four new properties for sale, and we are enclosing flyers for each of them for your review. The number of pending sales are not as robust as we’d like to see, however. In fact, they are at an all-time low with only eighteen pending residential contracts on the northern beaches. The trend of placing homes in the under-contract-continue-to-show status rather than as under-contract is the culprit. Because of the due diligence provision in the current sales contract, agents are now refraining from placing properties as under-contract until all inspections and loan approvals have been completed. The due diligence clause allows buyers to walk away for any reason or no reason until the deadline. This is complicating matters for sellers, but when working with buyers, the due diligence clause is our best friend. We suspect that the due diligence clause will eventually be eliminated from the sales contract. In the meantime, expect the number of homes reported as under-contract to be reduced.
In other news, the flood insurance rate hike has been delayed for another four years. An economic impact study will be done by FEMA. We will continue to keep you posted.
Let us hear from you!
