Mecklenburg Times: News for Mecklenburg, Union and Iredell counties Real Estate, Development, Construction, and Community News in the Charlotte area and throughout Mecklenburg, Union and Iredell counties

In the classic movie Mary Poppins, there is a delightful song in which we are told that “a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.” That can be applied to real life today. Once I finish writing this article, I ...

Tagged with: sugar

Q:   What is the difference between a judicial foreclosure and a non-judicial foreclosure? Several years ago, I lent what I then called a friend some money to buy a house, and we put a mortgage on the property. He doesn’t ...

Tagged with: Foreclosure

Dear Mr. Berko: Could you please tell me what cat bonds are and how they’re different from other bonds? And could you tell me the name of the college that offers annuities yielding 10 percent? I’d like an answer without ...

Tagged with: cat bonds

This article is continued from my previously published “Part 1”, and draws heavily on the concepts and analysis of the eye-opening book Big Shifts Ahead: Demographic Clarity For Business by John Burns & Chris Porter. You may have been encouraged by ...

Tagged with: economic growth

Dear Mr. Berko: Please explain to me what a business development company is and how it works. Also, my brother, who is a certified public accountant, has recommended that I buy 1,000 shares of Main Street Capital. What do you ...

Tagged with: BDC

Q:   I am writing as I live in a condo complex consisting of 296 units and we had a meeting on March 29 to elect new board members. At this meeting two new members were elected, but due to these ...

Tagged with: association

Q:     Last July, an elderly homeowner paid an “attorney” $500 to make her President of our Condo Association. She was not a board member, nor had permission of the board to hire anyone. There was a meeting with only 4 ...

Tagged with: condo

  Every once in a while I read a book that’s just so interesting and relevant that I can’t stop talking about it.  Big Shifts Ahead: Demographic Clarity For Business by John Burns & Chris Porter is one of those books. ...

Tagged with: migration

Dear Mr. Berko: We bought $50,000 worth of the 5.3 percent Tesla bond in August 2017. Our stockbroker wants me to sell, take a tax loss and use the remaining money to buy 200 shares of Tesla stock. My wife ...

Tagged with: Disney

By Nasar. El-arabi It is not lost on anyone that a bad credit record does not bode well for people looking to buy a home. At least if you are looking to borrow from traditional lenders. Historically, a bad credit ...

Tagged with: credit