The Pope Scholarship is designed for students whose studies are directed towards the mortgage banking or mortgage-financing field (i.e., real estate, banking and economics). Applicants must apply and state why they are seeking the scholarship and what mortgage banking goals have been set.

Applicants must currently be a rising junior in a 4 year accredited college or university in either North Carolina or South Carolina.

Applicants must reside in either North Carolina or South Carolina. They may attend a school not necessarily in the same state as they reside, so long as it is a North Carolina or South Carolina college or university.

The need for the scholarship will not be the basis for the decision of the committee. A grade point average of 3.0 has been established, but the committee considers grades only a part of the total review of each applicant.

Applications must be in the hands of the committee by April 15, 2013. The scholarship will be in the amount of $1,500 per year and will be for two years.

Call Rhonda Marcum at (704) 557-0204 or email rbm@mbac.org with questions. Be sure to tell Rhonda that you read about it on SC Real Estate News.

Tijuana Flats Burrito Co., which occupies spaces of 2,000 square feet to 2,500 square feet in urban areas and mixed-use, power, regional and strip centers, is looking to open 45 locations in Florida and the Carolinas over the next three years, according to DealMakers.net.

The restaurant’s typical lease runs 10 years with two, five-year options, according to the site. Matthew Livingston in the firm’s Maitland, FL office is the company’s contact person for its expansion plans.

The residential real estate market could be stabilizing, with pockets of the country starting to see home prices appreciate, according to executives with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.

Conditions in the Carolinas’ housing market, meanwhile, are “excellent” and “very solid,” they also said.

Around 100 local Realtors gathered at Regal Cinemas Stonecrest Thursday to listen to Wells Fargo executives talk about the housing market and ways they could improve business in 2012. The event, called CineMeeting, was broadcast in real time to 100 movie theaters across the country. The goal of the event, the bank’s fifth annual telecast, is to educate and inspire agents, organizers said.

The Observer also spoke with two bankers before the presentation to get their feel for the regional and local markets.

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The retail market in the Carolinas is one of recovery and creative possibilities. That theme will resonate at this year’s ICSC Carolinas Show in Charlotte, currently underway at the Charlotte Convention Center.

Cities in the Carolinas that lead population growth are beginning to attract investors from more overbuilt markets in the U.S. and from larger cities where competition has driven down returns. Key cities in the Carolinas attracting retail investors include Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Chapel Hill and Charleston.

The South Carolina retail market has experienced substantial activity following the last economic downturn, as many of the big boxes left vacant during the recession have since been filled. The vacancies left dark by national closures such as Linens ’n Things, Circuit City and Goody’s provided a unique opportunity for retailers to pursue a flight-to-quality at what would be considered a value price.

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7-Eleven Inc. is under contract to acquire 55 Sam’s Mart stores in North and South Carolina. The closing is penciled for February.

Sam’s Mart is being advised by Robert L. Valentine of Trefethen Advisors LLC. Garth K. Dunklin of Wishart Norris Henninger & Pittman is the seller’s legal counsel.

The deal marks 7-Eleven’s return to the greater Charlotte market, which it exited in 1988 following a 24-year run. The deal with Sam’s Mart LLC is part of the Dallas-based chain’s accelerated growth strategy, which resulted in the opening of 650 stores last year in the U.S. and Canada.

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