Homeownership also provides attractive tax benefits. People who take out mortgage loans to buy homes can deduct the points paid to obtain a mortgage when they bought their home and they also may deduct mortgage interest payments and property taxes each year.

Despite the advantages, buying a home is a major financial decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly. If you are buying in a market where real estate prices run in cycles, the timing of your purchase will be very important. If you buy during a rising price bubble, the value of your home could plummet when that bubble bursts.

In the mid-to-late 2000s, tens of thousands of people lost their homes to foreclosure when overheated housing markets went through major corrections. People who sat on the sidelines and rented during the rising market were able to buy homes at much lower prices once the bubble burst.

If you become a homeowner, generally you will need to have deeper pockets than a renter. Renters typically spend less of their monthly income on housing costs. Some investors prefer to rent homes so they can use the money that otherwise would have been spent on down payments.

If you know your way around the stock market, it may be possible to earn more from investing than you would from home equity growth, particularly during a housing market downturn.

Don’t fence me in

Once you purchase a dwelling, your mobility is likely to be restricted. If home prices drop below the amount you owe on your mortgage, you won’t be able to sell at a profit until values rise. If you have to relocate during a market downturn, you will face selling at a loss or becoming a landlord and renting out the home.

There also are lifestyle issues to consider when your status changes from renter to owner. After you buy a home, much of your time will be taken up with maintenance. If the roof leaks or you need a new water heater, it’s up to you to take care of the problem.

Unlike a renter, you can’t pick up the phone and report the matter to your landlord. If you neglect the home, it will decline in value and your investment will be in jeopardy.

On the plus side, a homebuyer with a fixed-rate mortgage has relatively stable housing costs. Unless you enter into a long-term lease agreement, rental rates can go up at any time.

One way to measure the benefits of buying versus renting is to look at your price-to-rent ratio.

To get the ratio, divide the price of the home you are interested in buying by the estimated annual cost of renting a similar one.

If the cost of the home equals 15 times the annual cost of renting, the ratio will be 15. Many experts say you should consider renting instead of buying when the ratio is 20 or less. For a detailed comparison of buyer and renter costs, you can find many “buy vs. rent” calculators online.

Source: MortgageMatch.com (5/10/2011)

Here are the Area’s Toughest Private Golf Courses:

1. Firethorne Country Club.

2. (tie) NorthStone Country Club.

3. (tie) The Palisades Golf and Country Club.

4. Charlotte Country Club.

5. (tie) River Run Country Club.

5. (tie) The Point Lake and Golf Club.

For the rest of the Top Private Golf Courses, including slope and course ratings for men and women, pro yardage and the names of the courses’ general managers and golf professionals, see the May 6 print edition of the Charlotte Business Journal. The full list contains 28 courses in the region, including Quail Hollow Club, host of the Wells Fargo Championship.

Source: Charlotte Business Journal (5/6/2011)

Here are the Area’s Toughest Public and Semi-Private Golf Courses:

1. Springfield Golf Club

2. Verdict Ridge Golf & Country Club

3. Edgewater Golf Club

4. Rock Barn Golf and Spa, Robert Trent Jones Jr. course

5. Carolina Lakes Golf Course

For the rest of the Top Public and Semi-Private Golf Courses — including slope and course ratings for men and women, pro yardage and the names of the courses’ general managers — see the May 6 print edition of the Charlotte Business Journal. The full list contains 29 courses from Shelby to China Grove to Indian Land, and points in between.

Source: Charlotte Business Journal (5/6/2011)

Charlotte-based Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) tops the list of local corporations, ranking No. 9 nationally, with $134.2 billion in revenue. The bank ranked No. 5 on Fortune’s list a year ago.

Lowe’s Cos. Inc. (NYSE:LOW) of Mooresville ranks No. 50 on the latest list, with $48.8 billion in sales. The home-improvement retailer was No. 42 in 2010.

Charlotte-based Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE:DUK) is No. 173, with sales of $14.3 billion. Its ranking is up from No. 181 last year.

Nucor Corp. (NYSE:NUE) of Charlotte is No. 157, with sales of $15.8 billion. That’s up from the steel manufacturer’s No. 206 ranking last year.

Matthews-based Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE:FDO) is No. 302, with sales of $7.9 billion. It was No. 305 last year.

Goodrich Corp. (NYSE:GR) of Charlotte is No. 337, with sales of nearly $7 billion. The aerospace company ranked at No. 334 in 2009.

Sonic Automotive Inc. (NYSE:SAH) of Charlotte ranks No. 339, with revenue of $6.9 billion. It was No. 345 last year.

SPX Corp. (NYSE:SPW), also of Charlotte, ranks No. 460, with annual sales of $4.9 billion. The industrial manufacturer ranked No. 427 last year.

Ruddick Corp. (NYSE:RDK), owner of the Harris Teeter Inc. supermarket chain, ranks No. 498, with sales of $4.4 billion. The Charlotte-based company was not on the list last year.

Also, San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC), which has its East Coast operations based in Charlotte, is No. 23, with revenue of $93.2 billion. It was No. 19 last year.

And Raleigh-based Progress Energy Inc. (NYSE:PGN), which is being acquired by Duke Energy, ranks No. 240, with sales of $10.2 billion. The utility came in at No. 239 last year.

Topping the overall list for a second consecutive year is Wal-Mart Stores Inc., with revenue of $421.8 billion. The retailer (NYSE:WMT) is based in Arkansas.

Source: Charlotte Business Journal (5/10/2011)

From new roundabouts to turn lanes, these projects are expected to make life a little easier for drivers around Huntersville, even if relief on the interstate is still several years away.

The N.C. DOT is examining several options for I-77, including high occupancy toll lanes, but any work likely would not begin before 2015. Widening the road north of Exit 28 could come even later, because causeways around Lake Norman increase widening expenses.

In the meantime, here’s a list of specific other road projects in the area. The projects have varying start times, from 2012 to 2016.

Project Location: Beatties Ford Road and McCoy Road

Action: Possibly add a roundabout. The town is expected to send a request for design proposals in May.

Expected Start Date: Fiscal Year 2013 for the design portion, FY 2014 for the construction

Estimated Cost: $325,000

Project Location: David Kenney Farm Road

Action: Connect the road to Birkdale Commons Parkway

Expected Start Date: FY 2012

Estimated Cost: $150,000

Project Location: Ranson Road and Stumptown Road

Action: Possibly add a single lane roundabout to improve the flow of traffic at the intersection

Expected Start Date: FY 2014 for the design portion, FY 2015 for the construction

Estimated Cost: $600,000

Project Location: Beatties Ford Road and Gilead Road

Action: Add left and right turn lane from Gilead onto Beatties Ford Road as well as add a left turn lane from Beatties Ford Road southbound to Gilead.

Expected Start Date: FY 2014

Estimated Cost: $300,000

Project Location: NC115 and Stumptown Road

Action: Add left turn lanes with signal

Expected Start Dat e: FY 2013

Estimated Cost: $650,000

Project Location: N.C. 73 and Ramah Church Road

Action: Add left turn lanes and signal at the intersection

Expected Start Date: FY 2016

Estimated Cost: $400,000

Project Location: Hambright Road and North Mecklenburg High School entrance

Action: Possibly add round-about

Expected Start Date: Undetermined. The town is still working on securing all necessary right-of-ways.

Estimated Cost: $500,000

Source: CharlotteObserver.com (5/4/2011)

Many of these variables depend on your individual financial situtation and lifestyle.

Owning a home can offer financial advantages, dependent on your situtation.  Home owners may be able to deduct mortgage interest, points, and property tax if itemizing tax deductions.

Depending on when buyers purchase during the real estate cycle, home owners can expect an appreciation in price which has been a traditional way to accumulate wealth. In other words,ideally you buy when prices are low and hold on to your property until you see a profit. Taking associated costs into account, home ownership provides financial benefits at or about six years. Fixed mortgage costs may not vary as much as rent which can be expected to rise annually due to inflation.

If you buy a home, you will be able to make physical changes which you cannot make in a rental. You can customize your home’s colors, change the kitchen or bathroom, or remodel.

While a home can accrue value, affording home owners the opportunity to “trade up” or use equity for education or retirement, renting a home may be more financially advantageous to some. Renters generally pay less of a percentage of income for housing costs. Renters may pay renters’ insurance and security deposits which will total less than the associated costs of home ownership which include property taxes, buying and selling costs, mortgage interest, home owners’ and mortgage insurance, maintenance, and utilities. If a home is in good condition, annual maintenance costs can be expected to total approximately 1 % of the home’s value. Additional costs of home ownership may include Homeowners Association fees.

Renters will not need to invest the time, energy, or cash into maintaining a home. Renting can free up capital for other investments which is referred to as “opportunity costs.”  In other words, the savings put towards a down payment can be invested in the stock market or other investments. Renters can also be more mobile, moving to a new neighborhood or city for a job opportunity or other reasons.

Source: Move.com (5/10/2011)

One of the nation’s most famous celebrity renters has bought a home.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg reportedly paid $7 million for a 5,617-square-foot home in Palo Alto, Calif., an easy commute to the new Facebook offices in Menlo Park – though not quite as close his previous rental home was.

Zuckerberg’s new place has five bedrooms, five baths and two half-baths, a saltwater pool, a spa and a gazebo with a fireplace.

He paid considerably more than the $5.85 million asking price. Real estate is expensive in Palo Alto, the home of Stanford University. According to the real-estate website Trulia, the median sale price from January to March 2011 was $806,500 and the median asking price in the last week of April was $1.62 million.

The Facebook founder turns 27 this  month, an age at which many people still rent their domiciles. He lives with his girlfriend, Priscilla Chan.

According to Palo Alto Online, the house is the second-oldest house in Palo Alto, though it has been extensively remodeled and added on to over the years. The last renovation was in 2007.

The house was built in 1866 as a Victorian cottage for Palo Alto pioneer Dr. William A. Newell. The house sat empty for 15 years after the Newells died, and Dr. Alexander McIntyre rebuilt it, using some of the original materials in 1906. State Sen. Marshall Black bought the house in 1909, then spent three years in prison for embezzlement.

The house is on a 17,117-foot lot surrounded by a wall, set back from the street with lots of trees. The estate was advertised as “offering the ultimate in privacy.” Among the home’s features are a home office with dual work stations and floor-to-ceiling windows.

The Los Angeles Times interviewed one of Zuckerberg’s new neighbors, Kenneth Regenos, a retired aerospace engineer who has lived on the street for 45 years, who said, “We’ll be happy to have him here.” Neighbors are friendly, but not too friendly, he told the Times, saying the last block party was in 1976.

Source: LISTED (5/6/2011)

The 100 residents of Plato, Mo., celebrated a milestone today: They are living at the population center of the United States.

Or pretty close to it. The exact center of mean population, as declared by the Census Bureau based on the 2010 Census, is in a farmer’s field 2.9 miles mile east of Plato, which is in the Ozarks in south-central Missouri, about 150 miles due south of Columbia and 62 miles northeast of Springfield.

The Texas County town of Plato celebrated its newfound fame with a gala ceremony featuring music, speeches and visits from such dignitaries as Robert Groves, director of the U.S. Census Bureau, and Juliana Blackwell, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Geodetic Survey. A survey marker, set in Missouri red granite, was unveiled downtown to mark the occasion.

“We’re proud of our village,” Village Chairman Bob Biram told the crowd. “As one of our students said, ‘We’re in the middle of nowhere; now we are in the middle of everywhere.’”

The Census Bureau calculates the mean center of population as “the place where an imaginary, flat, weightless and rigid map of the United States would balance perfectly if all 308,745,538 residents counted in the 2010 Census were of identical weight.”

The weight has been shifting west since the first census in 1790 and began shifting south in 1920.

Plato took the title from Edgar Springs, Mo., about 23 miles northeast, which was declared the mean center of population for the 2000 census. Missouri has been the site of the population center since the 1980 census.

Biram was interviewed by The New York Times last week. He told The Times that the town had ordered 100 postcards made up to commemorate the honor and had immediately sold out, at 50 cents apiece, and ordered 200 more.

While much of Texas County is agricultural, Plato is about 40 miles from the Fort Leonard Wood Army base, which makes its population more diverse than a typical country town, Kristen Hare reports at the St. Louis Beacon.

Elizabeth Frisch, who has made Plato her home for 11 years, after living in New York and California, was happy to see her town get its 15 minutes of fame.

“It gives a little recognition to the Midwest as a whole,” Frisch, who is the loan officer and vice president of Legacy Bank and Trust, told Hare. “It just shows that, hey, there are people here, too. Having lived on both coasts, I think you forget about it.”

Source: LISTED (5/9/2011)

1. 14 bed, 27 bath Los Angeles, CA home listed for $150,000,000: The fountain and light show greet you at the front door. The grand, artistic staircase beckons you inside. And the architectural details of the lit crown molding and arched floor-to-ceiling windows in the sunroom invite you enjoy the lush, garden views.

2. 9 bed, 11.5 bath Stateline, NV home listed for $100,000,000: Stateline is home to five casinos, four of which qualify as resorts, but this 38,000-square foot, resort-style home comes with a game room, wine cellar and indoor pool for a getaway, every day.

3. 13 bed, 23 bath Windermere FL home listed for $100,000,000: Surrounded by sand bottom lakes, this French Provincial estate sits on 10 acres and has private lake frontage and its own boathouse. Not all of the 66,800 square feet is completely built out, but is yours to customize as you wish.

4. 12 bed, 17 bath Alpine, NJ home listed for $68,000,000: The U.S. Open-worthy tennis court, NBA indoor basketball court and Olympic-size pool provide plenty of exercise and entertainment for the lucky new homeowner and their guests.

5. 9 bed, 6 bath Del Mar, CA home listed for $61,000,000: With this lot it’s all about the views! Build your own vision of paradise atop 5.5 acres of bluffs and include plenty of floor-to-ceiling windows to capture the splendor and wonder of mother nature.

Source: Move.com (5/9/2011)

However, even if the passenger rail plan never materializes, the line boasts a rich history, while still playing an important role in local commerce.

Each weekday, diesel locomotives coupled to freight cars traverse the 17 miles from Charlotte to Cornelius, bringing valuable cargo to a trio of large companies and a number of smaller customers.

The lines major customers are:

Gerdau Amersteel, the second largest mini-mill steel producer and steel recycler in North America.

Pactiv, which manufactures the Hefty brand products including waste bags, slider storage bags, disposable tableware and disposable cookware.

Foamex, a producer of foam products for the home, healthcare, electronics, industrial, personal care and transportation markets.

“This was and is a vital line and its history is rich, ” said Ben Lee, regional vice general chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineer and Trainmen.

Lee, 58, who lives in Wadesboro and occasionally still runs trains along the line, has four generations of railroading in his family.

“I remember the days when this line would sometimes handle 150 to 200 car freight trains making their way to and from Charlotte.”

According to Lee, passenger services were discontinued in the early 1980′s and the tracks between Mooresville and Statesville were removed. Signs of the line’s right-of-way are still evident in Troutman, where the downtown depot and Richardson Walkway occupy spots along where the rails once were.

However, the line’s history goes back the middle of the 19th century, according to historian Bill Schafer.

“The line, known officially as the Atlantic, Tennessee and Ohio Railroad Subsidiary of Norfolk Southern, was completed in 1860.

“During the Civil War, its rail was pulled up and used in constructing the Piedmont Railroad between Greensboro and Danville, Va., which was more critical to the war effort. After the War, the AT&O was rebuilt and reopened in 1871, ” said Schafer.

A second line connecting Winston-Salem and Mooresville was completed in 1899. Passenger service was offered until the 1950s, but the most important use of the line was to provide a conduit for freight trains operating between Winston-Salem and Charlotte and Asheville and Charlotte.

“Every night until 1979, a long freight train departed Asheville headed for Charlotte with many of its freight cars filled with furniture from the Hickory-Lenoir area, ” said Schafer.

“It also carried finished textiles from the many mills along the way.

“About the same time, a different freight train departed Winston-Salem for Charlotte, pulling boxcars filled with tobacco products, ” said Schafer. “Both trains used the same line that runs through Cornelius and Huntersville into Charlotte. ”

The importance of the line declined once a new freight sorting yard at Linwood opened in 1979.

Today, the line usually has one train per day that runs from Charlotte to Cornelius.

There are currently no regularly scheduled trains between Cornelius and Moorseville, according to Norfolk Southern spokesman Robin Chapman. Trains travel slowly, 10 mph maximum speed, and crossings are protected by gates and crews.

The line’s customers count on that one train.

“The rail line has been a great asset to the mill since it was first built 50 years ago, ” said Casimiro Liborio, vice president and general manager of the Gerdau Ameristeel mill near the Charlotte/Huntersville border.

“We depend on it heavily for delivery of scrap metal, which we melt to make steel, and we still ship out a sizeable portion of our products this way. ”

Looking ahead, officials from the Lake Norman area, Charlotte and the state continue to ponder future options for the line, including both freight and passenger train operations.

Charlotte is a major rail freight shipping center. Some believe a plan to upgrade the line for dual passenger/freight use could attract funds to make needed improvements quicker.

Freight customers like Liborio admit the addition of the commuter line would impact their business by requiring night time freight operations.

However, they appear ready for the change.

“We will be able to adjust easily if that happens and the additional mode of transportation would be a tremendous benefit to the community, ” said Liborio.

Even in its current configuration, railroad veterans and its customers agree the line is an important cog in North Carolina’s freight transportation network as well as its history.

Source: CharlotteObserver.com (5/4/2011)