The Dome Home

fun property with functionality from cnbc.com

Take a look inside Charleston's weirdest mansion — it's $5 million and it's hurricane-proof



While Charleston, South Carolina might be known for its charming historic architecture, one of the city's most unique mansions is for sale for more than $4.995 million.

Dubbed the "Eye of the Storm," the domed home, located on Sullivan's Island in Charleston, just 230 feet from the beach, was designed to withstand deadly hurricanes. It's the brain child of George Paul, a designer and builder of dome structures, who erected the house for his parents after they lost their summer home to category 5 Hugo in 1989. The architect of the home was X Dilling, who lives in the Charleston area.

For the first time ever, the dome home is listed for sale, Patero Group confirms to CNBC Make It.

Built in 1992, the house is encased by a white shell that is monolithic (meaning there's no separate roof) and thermospheric (meaning it's energy efficient).

The side of the shell that faces the beach features large, glass windows inset from the dome shell, with views of the water and sandy shores as well as a maritime forest.

Built in 1992, the house is encased by a white shell that is monolithic (meaning there's no separate roof) and thermospheric (meaning it's energy efficient).

The side of the shell that faces the beach features large, glass windows inset from the dome shell, with views of the water and sandy shores as well as a maritime forest.

"The interior design, inspired by the curves of shells found on the beach, leads the eyes through the Great Room to every custom and thoughtfully planned area in the home," its website states.

Eye of the Storm also has an elevator, a wet bar, a skylight, an 889-square-foot deck and even a bank vault room.

The design represents "home as sculpture" and "peace of mind," Michael Royal, the listing broker and nephew of George Paul, tells CNBC Make It. "But mostly, it is — just 20 minutes from downtown Charleston — a front-row seat in a spectacular show of nature on one of the Lowcounty's most beautiful beaches, starting every morning with sunrise over the Atlantic."

There's also 526 square feet of ground-floor space in the home, with an enclosed storage room, a bathroom and two shower rooms. The Eye of the Storm is made of concrete and steel and weighs an estimated 650 tons (that's 1.3 million pounds).

Currently, there's an Instagram contest featuring the home; the first real estate licensee to correctly predict who will buy the home is eligible to win up to $50,000.

Cameran Eubanks Wimberly, a real estate agent and star of Bravo's "Southern Charm," which takes place in Charleston, recently showcased the house on her Instagram.

"This futuristic design was constructed to withstand a category 4 hurricane and give owners total peace of mind," she wrote on the post. "The views from almost 900 sqft of deck space are incredible. I have always called it the 'Star Wars' House."

6 Reasons Why Winter Is Actually the Most Chill Time to Buy a Home

considerations on buying during the winter from realtor.com

6 Reasons Why Winter Is Actually the Most Chill Time to Buy a Home

When the weather outside is frightful, trudging door to door to look at houses might seem like a fool's errand. Everybody knows spring and summer are the home-buying seasons, and winter is the time when you—and sellers—cool it for a bit and take a break, right?

While it's true that things do slow down in the winter, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Yes, it's cold. Yes, fewer homes are for sale. Yes, moving in a snowstorm is a pain no one should experience. But there are quite a few darned smart reasons to buy a home in the winter. In fact, we'd argue that this might even be the best time to buy a home—if you can. Here's why.

1. There's less competition

Not everyone's willing to look at homes in single-digit temperatures. The months of May, June, July, and August make up 40% of existing-home sales, while January and February account for less than 6%.

For sellers, that's not-so-hot news. But buyers should rejoice.

"Buying in the winter knocks out a large chunk of the buyer competition, allowing you to be a bit more selective with your home purchase," says Cincinnati real estate agent Eric Sztanyo.

Sure, more summer inventory means there's a better chance of finding your dream home. But your chances of successfully buying any home are higher when it's chilly. Fewer buyers mean fewer all-cash, over-asking offers—making your traditionally financed offer more appealing.

2. Sellers are motivated—and willing to make a deal

Most likely, sellers listing their home in the depths of winter seriously want to sell. That gives buyers the upper hand.

Many people place their homes on the market at this time of the year because they need to," says Lauren McKinney, a Realtor® in Asheville, NC. "Many sellers are looking to get out fast and will be more willing to work with you."

You'll also want to keep an eye on each home's "cumulative days on market," which you'll find on the home's listing details page. It's possible that the house has been lingering on the market—giving you more leverage to land a fantastic home for a fraction of the price you would have paid six months earlier.

"If you are buying in the winter, you may want to target houses that have been on the market for a few months, because you might just find a seller who is more motivated to accept a lower offer," Sztanyo says.

But remember: Just because a seller's eager doesn't necessarily mean you should dramatically lowball or make unreasonable demands—you can sabotage yourself if you get cocky. Instead, work with your agent to determine an appropriate negotiation strategy.

3. You can put the house through its paces

In most climates, winter puts stress on the home. That gives you the perfect opportunity to evaluate the property under the worst conditions possible. A home that might seem perfect during the temperate spring could look wholly different in the winter.

"You'll never know how drafty the windows may be or how weak the insulation is when previewing a house in the spring and the summer," Sztanyo says. "Buying a house in the winter allows you to put the furnace's ability to keep you warm to the test."

Plus, you'll get a better idea of what you're in for on the home's worst days: Is that driveway going to be a pain in the you-know-what to shovel? Do you spot ice dams on the roof? How does the home look with barren trees and shrubs? Just as you'd judge a first date who shows up wearing a track suit, this is your chance to be extra critical of a house you're thinking of committing to.

4. Hiring movers is usually easier

No one can claim that it's easier to move in the winter. If you've ever done it, you know it's sheer misery to move all of your possessions in inclement weather. But the logistics are simplified when you aren't competing with a hundred other moving households.

"Movers aren't booked solid like in the spring and summer months," McKinney says. "It's not a bad time to move."

You might even be able to negotiate a lower price because of the chilled demand. Just make sure to be flexible and allocate a few days' window for moving—if your moving day falls during the next bomb cyclone, you might have to reschedule.

5. You can enjoy last-minute tax savings

If you're purchasing your first home, buying in the winter gives you a few extra months of potential tax deductions.

'The holidays are your last chance to buy that home and use it as a write-off for your 2018 taxes," says mortgage banker Ralph DiBugnara.

Depending on your local laws, you can deduct mortgage interest, taxes, and points—although you should consider talking to a professional before getting too excited. The new tax law might affect your mortgage interest deduction.

6. Homes close faster

In the busy spring and summer months, your mortgage broker might be backed up days or even weeks—which is beyond frustrating when your closing is planned around your lender's schedule. But during the holidays, DiBugnara says, things slow down by 25% to 30%.

"You will be able to close your loan much faster, as wait times are much shorter during the holiday season," he says.

That means you'll be cuddling up in front of that fireplace sooner than expected. Nothing wrong with that, right?

2019 Real Estate Forecast: What Home Buyers, Sellers And Investors Can Expect

interesting considerations from a forbes.com article...

There’s no doubt about it: the 2018 housing market has seen its ups and downs.

The year started with sky-high home prices, historically low mortgage rates and a definitive upper hand for sellers. In recent months though, home price growth has faltered, rates have risen to their highest point in nearly eight years, and favor has started to shift from seller to buyer.

Will these trends continue? Will housing experience the same wild ride in the new year? Here’s what experts predict will happen in 2019 real estate market:

Mortgage rates will continue rising.

“Despite steady climbing for the past two years, mortgage rates remain lower than they were during most of the recession and below average for the type of strong economic growth we’ve been experiencing. That will change in 2019, as the 30-year, fixed rate mortgage reaches 5.8% — territory not seen since the dark days of 2008 when rates were racing downward in response to the housing crisis.” — Aaron Terrazas, director of economic research for Zillow

Millennials will keep buying homes — despite those rising rates.

"The housing market in 2019 will be characterized by continued rising mortgage rates and surging millennial demand. Rising rates, by making housing less affordable, will likely deter certain potential homebuyers from the market. On the other hand, the largest cohort of millennials will be turning 29 next year, entering peak household formation and home-buying age, and contributing to the increase in first-time buyer demand.” — Odeta Kushi, senior economist for First American

“Millennials will continue to make up the largest segment of buyers next year, accounting for 45% of mortgages, compared to 17% of Boomers, and 37% of Gen Xers. While first-time buyers will struggle next year, older Millennial move-up buyers will have more options in the mid-to upper-tier price point and will make up the majority of Millennials who close in 2019. Looking forward, 2020 is expected to be the peak Millennial home buying year with the largest cohort of millennials turning 30 years old. Millennials are also likely to make up the largest share of home buyers for the next decade as their housing needs adjust over time.” — Danielle Hale, chief economist for Realtor.com

Home buying power will decrease, but that could be a good thing.

“Most homebuyers budget a monthly payment. As rates rise, a fixed monthly payment translates into less borrowing capacity and buying power is down about 10% since the same time last year. As there are less buyers at each price point, the appropriate market response is a slowdown in sales and an easing in price momentum.” — Tendayi Kapfidze, chief economist for LendingTree

Overall home sales will drop.

“As we look toward 2019, we are anticipating home sales to decline around 2%. We’re expecting it to be another slightly slower year as buyers continue to wrangle with higher mortgage rates after contending with several years of rapid price growth.” — Ruben Gonzalez, chief economist at Keller Williams

Inventory troubles will ease — not too much, though.

“The wave of first-time home buyer demand will be met by somewhat higher inventory levels than in 2018. However, while the days of multiple offers and bidding wars may be history in some markets where inventory is increasing, inventory will likely still remain tight nationally through 2019." — Kushi

“In the majority of markets, the number of homes being put on the market or newly constructed has increased slightly, while the pace of sales has slowed slightly, which has helped stop the inventory decline. But the inventory increases or slowing price increases necessary for a more widespread sales gain are not forecasted to happen in 2019. While the situation is not getting worse for buyers, it’s also not improving notably in the majority of markets.” — Hale

Home price growth will continue to slow.

“Right now, for 2019, we believe home price appreciation will likely slow to near 3%. This is based on the assumption that the recent pattern of increasing inventory levels will be sustained in the upcoming year.” — Gonzalez

Buyers will see less competition, but that might not help first-timers.

“Buyers who are able to stay in the market will find less competition as more buyers are priced out but feel an increased sense of urgency to close before it gets even more expensive. Their largest struggle next year will be reconciling wants, needs and budget versus the heavy competition of 2018. Although the number of homes for sale is increasing, which is an improvement for buyers, the majority of new inventory is focused in the mid- to higher-end price tier, not entry-level.” — Danielle Hale, Realtor.com

National rents will rise, but apartment construction could ease renters’ pains.

“As higher rates limit the number of homes that potential buyers can afford, some would-be buyers will be too financially stretched to buy and will continue renting. As a result, recent (and very slight) drops in rent will reverse and turn positive again. The shift will be muted, however, by continued steady investment in apartment construction, which will prevent rent growth from shooting too far above income growth.” — Terrazas

NYC rent hikes will continue — thanks to Amazon.

“Overall, I think the beginning of 2019 will be relatively flat, with price increases in Q3, Q4 and into 2020. The period between the old 421A and the beginning of affordable New York was a window of time where there wasn’t a tremendous amount of rental development. During that time it was difficult to build rental developments due to the escalating land and construction costs, no tax incentives, etc., creating a shortage of new product. Today, not only have some regulations changed, but the economy is doing well, unemployment rates are down, a lot of jobs are being created here in New York – not only by Amazon but everything that comes along with Amazon and all of the corporations looking to be close proximity to their headquarters. When we see the economy doing well, we can expect rental prices to increase.” — Andrew Barrocas, CEO of MNS

Individual and institutional investors will battle it out.

“Well-funded institutional buyers have tremendous advertising budgets and their spend makes it impossible for the average real estate investor to compete. It takes a serious financial investment to fund a marketing campaign that accurately targets and identifies acquisition opportunities.

That alone gives institutional investors an instant advantage. Additionally, interest rates are increasing, which not only impacts buyers who cannot afford to move, but also individual investors looking to borrow money to buy and hold rental properties. Their cost to borrow increases while inventory decreases and competition grows. This type of combination middle-market is one individual investors do not want to see.” — Brian Spitz, founder of Big State Home Buyers

Commercial property managers will hop on the shared space bandwagon — or bring in top amenities to make up for it.

“As co-working continues to be a disruptor in commercial real estate, the largest traditional landlords have opened their own flexible and co-working options to compete, such as Sage Realty's Swivel and Boston Properties' Flex. Landlords who are remaining or returning to the traditional commercial office space are facing increased demand for amenities like sleek lobbies, tech services, etc. To meet these demands and gain a competitive edge, landlords
are opening up to fintech/insurtech solutions like replacing security deposits with surety bonds to make tenants lives easier.” — Julien Bonneville, CEO of The Guarantors

Technology will continue to disrupt the industry.

“Technology disruption of the real estate industry driven by Silicon Valley and institutional investors will reach a point where it’ll threaten the traditional real estate industry. Technological innovation is here and rapidly advancing in the real estate industry and preparing for disruption. iBuying, blockchain, artificial intelligence and machine learning are changing the ways buyers, sellers and investors interact with each other and the properties they are interested in.” — Spitz

The Moral of the Story

All in all, housing is set for a slow-down next year, but as Kapfidze explained, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

“The medium and long-term prospects for housing are good because demographics are going to continue to support demand,” he said. “With a slower price appreciation, incomes have an opportunity to catch up. With slower sales, inventory has an opportunity to normalize. A slowdown in 2019 creates a healthier housing market going forward.”

How the Government Shutdown Could Affect Housing

from National Association of Homebuilders...interesting considerations...

Due to a dispute over border wall funding, President Trump failed to agree to a continuing resolution passed by the Senate that would have averted a partial government shutdown and kept the full federal government running through Feb. 8, 2019. House Republicans later passed a bill that included $5.7 billion funding for the wall, but the measure failed in the Senate.

As a result, roughly one-quarter of the government ran out of funding and was forced to close at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 22. The shutdown impacts several federal departments, including HUD, Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Homeland Security, Interior, State, Transportation and Treasury.

One positive development and important victory for NAHB occurred when lawmakers agreed to extend funding for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for five months through May 31, 2019. NAHB pushed hard to make sure the program would not lapse and we continue to work with Congress to achieve a long-term reauthorization of the NFIP that will keep the program fiscally sound and let builders provide safe and affordable housing.

However, while the congressional intent was to keep the NFIP running for the next five months, FEMA on Dec. 26 notified insurers and insurance agents that it cannot sell or renew flood insurance policies backed by the program because of a lack of government funding. This means that new or renewing federal flood insurance policies will not be written.

NAHB is working with federal lawmakers to get more information and to attempt to resolve this issue.

While the shutdown will affect housing and home builders, it is still unclear how long it will remain in effect. In most cases, the short-run impacts will be minor. A long-term shutdown, lasting several weeks or a month or more, could have significant impacts on mortgage accessibility and reduce housing demand.

In general, NAHB members should expect delays for any housing-related federal government programs that are still operating and plan accordingly. NAHB continues to monitor the situation closely and is calling on federal lawmakers to act quickly to reach an agreement with the White House to fund the government.

Compiled by NAHB and based on the best information available at this time, the following is a list of government programs that could affect home builders and housing stakeholders under the current shutdown:

Department of Housing and Urban Development
FHA-insured single-family loans can still close during the shutdown but that decision will be determined by each individual lender. Contact your lender to verify.
Lenders will be able to obtain an FHA case number from FHA Connection, which provides FHA-insured lenders and business partners with direct, secure online access to HUD’s computer system. However, FHA staff will not be available to underwrite and approve single-family loans during the shutdown.
FHA multifamily insured projects with firm commitments and scheduled closings may go forward, although no new firm commitments will be issued.
HUD will make payments under Section 8 and Project Rental Assistance Contracts (PRACs) where there is existing budget authority, multi-year funding, or where there is budget authority available from prior year appropriations or recaptures. This includes processing Section 8 and PRAC renewals for expiring contracts and processing amendment funds for non-expiring Section 8 contract renewals.
No Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) inspections.
CDBG, HOME and other block grant funds will be dispersed in cases where failure to address issues result in a threat to safety of life and protection of property.
Authorized drawdowns for approved CPD program activities (homeless assistance programs, CDBG, HOME, HOPWA) using pre-FY2018 program funds will continue uninterrupted unless it is necessary for a HUD employee to approve a voucher or lift a system edit prior to a draw down.

Department of Agriculture
Most Rural Development programs will not continue without appropriation.
The Section 521 Rental Assistance, Section 542 Rural Housing Vouchers, and Single Family Section 502 Guaranteed Loans will continue until funding is exhausted.
A shutdown of more than two weeks is likely to have a significant impact on rural development programs.

Department of Homeland Security
E-Verify, the Internet-based system that allows businesses to determine the eligibility of their employees to work in the U.S., is unavailable due to the government shutdown. While E-Verify is unavailable, employers will not be able to access their E-Verify accounts.

Small Business Administration
The SBA will not initiate new loan guarantees during the shutdown.

Department of the Interior
Businesses who seek permits from the Fish and Wildlife Service could be affected. New permits or applications currently under review will not be processed during the government shutdown, which will increase costs and delays.

Internal Revenue Service
Some lenders require home borrowers to file IRS form 4506-T to verify the mortgage applicant’s income and Social Security number. With the IRS shut down, this could result in major delays in some mortgage application approvals.
Taxpayer services will be suspended, meaning taxpayers will not be able to phone the IRS for advice and no refunds will be issued during an extended shutdown.

Economic Data
Future reports on items like the monthly jobs report, housing starts and new home sales could be postponed.

separately from the above article, here are a few other considerations from a real estate website called active rain.com:

IRS Tax Transcripts

Since the IRS may cease operations during a shutdown, obtaining a 4506T (request for tax transcripts) may become impossible. And most loans require these prior to being funded. When a shutdown occurs, we sometimes have a transcript in our file already, because it had been ordered and processed before the shutdown, but while the IRS is on ice, the strategy shifts to waiting until they re-open.

Social Security Administration (SSA) Verifications

Like the 4506T, many of our loans require verifications of social security numbers. Fortunately, past shutdowns have seen the SSA operate as usual.

FHA, VA and USDA Loan Processing

Recent experience has shown that the FHA and VA continue to operate during a shutdown, albeit with a skeleton crew. Turn times can be impacted and delays are to be expected. Conversely, the USDA has often closed entirely.

Verification of Employment (VOE)

Verifications of employment are required on most files and if the borrower is a government employee, obtaining this may be difficult or impossible until normal operations resume.