Real Estate Information Archive

When you go hunting for a house, one of the first things that you will notice is that after looking at two or three properties in a given day, the features of the houses seem to blend together. It becomes difficult to remember which house had the beautiful tan carpeting and which house had the wonderful deck overlooking the woods. An easy way to overcome this confusion is to maintain a scorecard which lists the features of each individual house. Not only will it make your search easier, it will help immensely when it comes time to eliminate potential choices.

Every home in which you have an interest should be "scored". When you have 10 or so "scorecards" for homes, you should develop a recap sheet, which will make your comparisions much easier. The recap gives you a chances to rank each house subjectively according to your needs and wants.

We have a great inventory of homes in the Raleigh, Garner & Johnston County areas to choose from.  Give us a call and we will be glad to assist you.

This is a great time to take advantage of home ownership while rates are low, prices are competitive and buyer's incentives are high.

First-time buyers are more flexible to enter the market without concern of selling an existing house, as well as having the benefits of low home prices, plentiful supply and affordable interest rates.

Forbes Magazine has named Raleigh #5 on the country's list of recession-proof cities.  With a median home price increase of 4%, Raleigh continues better off than most of the nation where the real estate bubble has bursted.

Cary ranked #5 in growth among the nation's cities with population over 100,000 according to US Census Bureau findings reported in the July 10th News and Observer while Raleigh ranked a respectable 13th - the only other North Carolina city listed among the fastest growing.

Among the fastest growing North Carolina town's, Wake County's Rolesville ranked #1; Holly Springs, #3; Knightdale, #4; Wake Forest, #5; and Fuquay-Varina, #6.

The Raleigh/Cary real estate market has just been forecast as the #2 strongest market in the country by Veros Real Estate Solutions, a California company that has covered the nation's residential real estate market for five years. The Triangle market is the only one of the top five areas not in the Midwest.

If you're in the market for a new home, please search through our inventory and we will be glad to work you, to make your dreams a reality.

$8,000 First-time Home Buyer Tax Credit at a Glance

• The $8,000 tax credit is for first-time home buyers only. For the tax credit program, the IRS defines a first-time home buyer as someone who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase.
• The tax credit does not have to be repaid.
• The tax credit is equal to 10 percent of the home’s purchase price up to a maximum of $8,000.
• The tax credit applies only to homes priced at $800,000 or less.
• The tax credit now applies to sales occurring on or after January 1, 2009 and on or before April 30, 2010. However, in cases where a binding sales contract is signed by April 30, 2010, a home purchase completed by June 30, 2010 will qualify.
• For homes purchased on or after January 1, 2009 and on or before November 6, 2009, the income limits are $75,000 for single taxpayers and $150,000 for married couples filing jointly.
• For homes purchased after November 6, 2009 and on or before April 30, 2010, single taxpayers with incomes up to $125,000 and married couples with incomes up to $225,000 qualify for the full tax credit.

The $6,500 Move-Up / Repeat Home Buyer Tax Credit at a Glance

• To be eligible to claim the tax credit, buyers must have owned and lived in their previous home for five consecutive years out of the last eight years.
• The tax credit does not have to be repaid.
• The tax credit is equal to 10 percent of the home’s purchase price up to a maximum of $6,500.
• The tax credit applies only to homes priced at $800,000 or less.
• The credit is available for homes purchased after November 6, 2009 and on or before April 30, 2010. However, in cases where a binding sales contract is signed by April 30, 2010, the home purchase qualifies provided it is completed by June 30, 2010.
• Single taxpayers with incomes up to $125,000 and married couples with incomes up to $225,000 qualify for the full tax credit.

Give us a call and we will be glad to assist you with questions regarding this credit and help you search for your next property in the Raleigh, Clayton, Fuquay Varina areas.

Before you embark on your search for the perfect house, it is important that you make a realistic "shopping list" in an attempt to narrow your choices of properties. Hunting for a home can be a time consuming process, especially if you have not determined in advance the parameters of your search. Many home buyers make the mistake of misinterpreting a WANT as a NEED. As a result, they often dismiss homes that perfectly fit their needs in search for one that has their wants. This is not to say that you cannot have what you desire in your home--just that you must be able to differentiate between what you truly need and what you would like to have. Your budget must be the determining factor here, not a "wish list." Note, also, that in the examples below, many WANTS can be changed in a particular home (if the house doesn't have that feature now, you can change it later).

Take a few minutes to develop your own list of NEEDS and WANTS. You can print out scorecards and recap sheets here that you can use as you begin to evaluate homes. The goal is to put the emphasis on finding a house that includes all of your needs and as many of your wants as is practical--yet remains in your budget. Once you have a clearer view of what your house will need to have, the next step, actually looking for a home, will be a great deal easier!

Give us a call when you're ready to search for that house that fulfills your needs, at 919-779-3113 or visit us and look over our inventory of homes in the Clayton, Raleigh & surrounding areas.

The Raleigh metropolitan area has been named the "Best Place for Business and Careers" for the third straight year by Forbes.com.

Forbes reviewed the 200 largest metropolitan areas in the US and examined 11 different criteria: colleges, cost of doing business, cost of living, crime rate, culture and leisure, educational attainment, income growth, job growth, projected job growth, net migration and subprime mortgages.

The Raleigh Wake County region is strengthened by its outstanding colleges, strong job growth (both past and projected), low business costs and highly educated workforce. Forbes.com points out while Raleigh cannot fully escape the impacts of the current recession, it will be one of the places to lead the nation's economic recovery.

Forbes also has released its list of the top 5 cities where Americans are relocating and Raleigh was again at the top of the list, followed by Austin, Charlotte, Phoenix and Dallas.

If you are interested in relocating to the Raleigh area, we will be glad to make that search easy and painless. Contact us at 919.779.3113 or visit our website to search our large inventory of homes in the Raleigh, Clayton, Fuquay Varina & Research Triangle Area.

BusinessWeek magazine, one of the world's leading business publications, recently ranked the country's top 25 best schools, in the most affordable zip codes.   

We are thrilled to say that Clayton (in the Johnston County school district) was named in the 10th position in the U.S.   The magazine singled out East Clayton Elementary, Riverwood Elementary & Riverwood Middle Schools as the area's best. 

The article continued to say "Clayton, located 20 minutes from the state capital in Raleigh, is close to the thriving Research Triangle area. It is home to three golf courses, a 600-seat auditorium, and the Harvest Festival, which draws artists and craft makers from throughout the state. About 26% of households in the Zip Code have children, and the median household income is $84,005

"BusinessWeek is pointing out something that people here have known for a long time: That Clayton is a great place to live & raise a family", said Mayor Jody McLeod.  "Our schools are awesome.  Our people and our town are awesome, too".

The article continues to say, residents in Clayton get it all--good quality of life, affordability and top schools.

If you are considering Clayton (or any of the surrounding areas) as your future home, give us a call and we'll be glad to help you make that dream come true.

According to Triangle Multiple Listing Service Statistical Resources (August '09), low mortgage rates and the federal first-time home buyer tax credit are spurring an uptick in home sales in the Triangle regional housing market. January through May of this year saw pending sales lagging behind 2008's pace by 23.1 percent. In the last three months, however, pending sales have been only 3.9 percent behind last year's activity.

The median sales price in August was $187,000, down 5.3 percent from last August. While that means a challenging environment for sellers, soft prices mean improved affordability, which is good news for buyers.

The Housing Affordability Index for August was 169, which means that the median family income in the region is 169 percent of what's necessary to qualify for the median priced home. That's an improvement of almost 30 points from a year ago.

The first-time home buyer tax credit ends Nov. 30 and the rush is on for  buyers to make their decision within the few weeks to be sure there is time to close the deal and reap the benefit.

Let me give a quick example:

You buy a house for $140,000 using an FHA loan. You are required to put 3.5% down which is $4,900. You can expect between $3,000 and $3,500 in closing costs which will bring your total out of pocket to about $8,400 to close on your new home. When you file your taxes, you can get an $8,000 credit to reimburse yourself! We can even negotiate for the seller to help with your closing costs which means you could actually make money by buying a new home!

Are you ready to get moving?  We have a great inventory in the triangle area to choose from.

 If you are considering purchasing a new home in Raleigh, Garner, Clayton and surrounding areas, contact us at 919-779-3113.