Today I want to talk about how you can treat your house like you treat yourself by performing a wellness check on it.
In this business, I see all kinds of home issues every day. I could write a book with all the stories I’ve seen. However, one story from a few years ago sticks out.
The inspection process had just begun on my client’s future home, and everything was going fine until the home inspector came out of the crawlspace. In North Carolina, the crawlspace is the last place the home inspector usually checks. When he came out, he told us that 50% of the floor joist and the sill plate were rotten. He also said that the crawlspace’s main support beam was bad.
The good news was that it was repairable and the house would still be structurally sound. The bad news was that it ended up costing thousands of dollars to repair. All of this could have been avoided with a $300 vapor barrier in the crawlspace.
This story illustrates why I think it’s so important for homeowners to order an inspection before placing their home on the market. Even if you’re not planning on selling, this is still a good idea. A licensed professional will look at your home from top to bottom and alert you to any potential issues, which could save you tens of thousands in repairs, not to mention keep you safe.
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Ordering a home “well-care check” can save you tens of thousands in repairs, not to mention keep you safe.
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Home repairs are much easier to remedy when they’re caught early on. Also, it’s much more convenient to take care of such problems before you’re in the process of selling your home.
I work with a fantastic inspector named Fred Herndon and I asked him if he would do something to help out those of you who need a home “well-care check”. He said that he will knock 10% off the price of a home inspection for anyone who mentions me when they give him a call at 919-280-1682 or send him an email to [email protected].
If you have any other questions for me in the meantime, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email as well. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Instant offer companies are commanding a strong presence in real estate, and they seem to be growing more and more popular by the day. What are they offering that some sellers can’t refuse?
These “iBuyer” companies offer to buy your home outright, which can be enticing to sellers who’d like to go straight to the closing table rather than through the process of preparing their home for the market and selling it the traditional way. Opendoor, Zillow, Knock, and Offerpad are just a few of the companies that cater to these types of sellers.
This begs the question: Why would anyone want to sell their home to an iBuyer?
Some sellers need to make a quick move because they’ve had a job change and their company doesn’t offer a relocation package; others would need to spend hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars to fix up their home for the market; still others are underwater on their mortgage and just need a quick sale.
As simple as it all sounds, there is some fine print. Instant offer companies aren’t available in every market or price point—namely, the higher ranges. If your home is worth more than $500,000, for example, chances are that no iBuyer will make an offer on it.
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Part of your due diligence is to also contact a smart, skilled real estate agent who has an expert grasp of your market.
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In addition to that, these companies are comprised of very savvy real estate investors, and their main objective is to make a profit. As a result, sellers who work with an iBuyer will almost always take a hit: The offer you’ll receive is usually below market value. That could mean you’re losing out on 5%, 10%, and sometimes as much as 20% of your home’s value.
Maybe you’re still convinced it’s worth it because you’re able to skip doing x, y, or z. Unfortunately, you stand to lose even more: iBuyers also charge you a fee in the 8% range, whereas the traditional agent will charge you a 5% to 6% commission. Those two factors combined are taking a big bite out of your equity.
There are two questions you really ought to consider before electing to sell to an iBuyer: Does it make more sense to work with a real estate agent who is there to protect your interest or to work with an investor who has their own interest at heart? Second, does the bottom line number actually work for you?
Now, having the power to choose is great, so if you’re in the right market and the right price range, by all means, contact an instant offer company to see what they have to offer. However, part of your due diligence is to also contact a smart, skilled real estate agent who has an expert grasp of your market.
If you have any questions or you’d like to know your home’s value and how we at Real Estate Experts can help you get the most profit out of your sale, please give us a call. We’d be more than happy to help!
Today I’m here to bring you the numbers from our market.
The number of home showings in our market this April compared to April of 2018 was 67,507 and 77,455, respectively—a year-over-year decrease of 13%. When compared to March of this year, showings for April were also down 12%.
Traditionally, we tend to see the highest volume of showings in the month of March, so it’s not unusual to see a month-to-month drop between March and April. Be that as it may, the dropoff between April 2018 and this April is a bit more surprising.
This gives us every indication that the market is not quite as strong and fast-paced as it was last year.
Inventory was at 5,432 homes in April of this year and 5,516 homes in the same month last year, which constitutes a 2% increase. Additionally, we’ve seen an increased number of year-to-date closings.
However, when looking at inventory and closing statistics for our resale market, both have flattened out. This is a testament to the fact that the strongest source of growth in our market is in new construction.
The average closing price in our market has risen by about 5%, making it $333,000. More specifically, prices have increased by 3.7% in Durham, decreased by 7% in Orange County, increased by 6.2% in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro market, and increased by 6.3% in Chatham County.
Currently, homes are spending an average of 55 days on the market, which is a bit longer than we’ve been accustomed to lately. In Durham, homes are moving at a much more brisk pace: 29 days on average. Even still, that’s an 11% jump compared to last year.
As for Orange County, the average days on market is 43 days, which is a 13% rise. A similar effect is being felt in Chapel Hill-Carrboro, where homes are sitting on the market for 47 days, which is a 4% rise.
The average days on market for Chatham County has actually decreased to a whopping 55 days. This is due, in large part, to a large number of new construction homes under the $350,000 price range that have been springing up.
Year to date, 51% of the inventory that has come onto the market has been priced at or below $300,000, and of that 51%, 77% of inventory has gone under contract or closed.
Suffice it to say our market’s inventory is amazingly low on the whole. To break it down, the supply of inventory is as follows: 1.5 months’ worth in Durham, 2.6 months’ worth in Orange County, three months’ worth in Chapel Hill-Carrboro, and four months’ worth in Chatham County.
Price range and location are the two factors that make all the difference in the level of competition in your particular market. The North Chatham County market is a prime example of this. There, if your home is priced between $600,000 and $700,000, you’re in a much more buyer-friendly 10 months of inventory.
If you’d like to know how your home stacks up against the rest of the market, please reach out to us. We’d be more than happy to run the numbers with you and talk about the market!
When you are saying that the Cary North Carolina market has a low inventory it depends on what you are comparing it too. Are you comparing it to the number of homes on the market last year at the same time? Are you comparing it to homes in a price range? Or even homes in a certain area?
According to Reuters, “U.S. home sales fell more than expected in December as the supply of houses on the market dropped to a record low, pushing up prices and sidelining some potential first-time buyers”. They also said, A shortage of affordable homes for sale will frustrate the ambitions of many first-time buyers. First-time home buyers are forced to stay in rental market longer than planned. This information was provided by Matthew Pointon, property economist at Capital Economics in New York.
“We expect little growth in sales in 2018, given tight inventories,” said Gregory Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics in New York. Affordability is crimped by rising mortgage rates, posing an additional headwind to sales.
The Cary North Carolina market will fluctuate depending on price and area of the property. A 6 month supply of property often considered to be a balance market by that National Association of REALTORS®. When homes sell faster than 6 months it is considered to be a seller’s market. Likewise, when homes take longer than 6 months to sell that is considered a buyers’ market.
Everyone knows that supply and demand affect price. When the so called “Housing Bubble”, the demand decreased so much that the supply increased to 4 million houses or more. The prices of homes took a beating. Also, the increased inventories of foreclosures, short sales, bank refusing to loan and the home building industries lack on new housing starts all contributed to very low home prices.
“New construction has showed signs of perking up, but remains well below estimates of demand,” said Aaron Terrazas, as senior economist at Zillow. “More importantly, builders face rising labor, materials and land costs making it difficult to build at a price point attractive to entry-level buyers”.
Since that time the economy has improved, and banks have started to lower requirements, interest rates have stayed low and foreclosures have slowed. Inventory nationwide is reduced to approximately 2 million homes. When demand is at a constant level and inventory is reduced, home prices trend upwards. This is because there are the same number of buyers trying to buy less number of homes.
Mortgage rates are now climbing each week in 2018 and consumer confidence level is going up. This means that Cary North Carolina market is having an increase in demand. Buyers are now noticing that home prices are increasing.
Spring is almost here and that is the normal busy time of year. Home prices are going up and inventory is dropping. So it is time to decide what you want to do before it is too late.
After 13 years of land acquisition and planning, Preston Development is about to unleash Pittsboro’s “800-pound gorilla” known as Chatham Park. Preston Development is known locally for their high-end residential communities of Preston and the Prestonwood Country Club, MacGregor West, Wessex, Weston Estates, Camden Forest, Magnolia Woods and Stanton Place.
Chatham Park is a 7,000+ acre technological Live-Work-Play community bounded by the Haw River on the North and East, Highway 15-501 and the town of Pittsboro (pop. 5,000) on the West, and Rte. 1 and Sanford to the South. Think of it as a more integrated and “suburb-urb” version of Cary combined with RTP.
The theme is integration and harmony of work, home, and social life. Clusters of multi-use structures offer the convenience of residential living (22,000 homes) in close proximity to retail, restaurants and other amenities. The development will be broken up into four or five villages that are made up of neighborhoods. A new bridge over US Hwy 64 Bypass connects the North Village Phases now under construction.
Thale’s Academy, a K-12 private school emphasizing strong character in its students, and with campuses in Raleigh and Apex, is now under construction. Swimming pools and fitness facilities will also be in the mix. Green features include Smart-meters (for electrical-use monitoring), purple pipe for recycled water, car charging stations, and park-like open spaces. Build-out is planned over the next 12-14 years.
The Vineyard is the first residential area of North Village beginning sometime in 2018 with approximately 650 single-family detached homes and townhomes. Among those first offerings will be 25 traditional single-family homes with prices starting at $375,000, along with 31 cottages (850– 1,250 square feet) starting at $225,000. To date, only the cottages have been officially approved by Pittsboro for construction and builders have yet to be designated. This enclave of homes comprises the heart of the Park, and is walkable to downtown Pittsboro. (See Map)
Eco Group, a joint venture of John Fugo of Montgomery and Kirk Bradley of Lee-Moore Capital Company, is developing MOSAIC, the commercial phase of Chatham Park. The master plan for MOSAIC will encompass an $800 million, 350-acre mixed-use development featuring restaurants, grocery store plus other retailers, banks, a movie theater and a 120-room Hampton Inn.
It will also have 320 apartments, 120 of which will be for residents 55 and older. Construction will take about 3 years for this commercial phase. Fritsch Milling and Sizing, a German tech/manufacturing company, has chosen Chatham Park as the home of their new United States office and represents the first technology business to commit to the Park.
Preston has already constructed a 25,000-ft. office building on Grant Street, housing several tenants, including Chatham Park, R. B. Fitch, MHAworks Architecture, and WithersRavenel Engineering. UNC Heatlhcare has also constructed a building near the northern entrance to the Community in cooperation with Chatham Hospital and UNC Hospice.
Penguin Place, developed by Ron Strom of Chapel Hill, will open soon near the intersection of Hwy 15-501 and Hwy 64 Bypass, across from the entrance to Northwood High School. Penguin Place consists of over 14,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, including The Root Cellar Restaurant’s second location.
Some Chatham County residents say they are still worried about all the changes happening around them, including the effects on water, open space and traffic. A group called Pittsboro Matters raised about $100,000 to sue the town of Pittsboro over Chatham Park, but a judge dismissed the case. Elaine Chiosso, Haw Riverkeeper, and member of the Haw River Assembly, is still sharing her concerns about the loss of thousands of acres of forested land. “It’s an enormous impact on the Haw River and Jordan Lake to have a new city built on the watershed and this close to the Haw River and Jordan Lake.” (Kay Trogdon – N&O – 7/17)
A professional realtor is your best ally in buying or selling a home, no matter what the season. When it comes to the real estate market, we stay on top of the numbers and we want you to be knowledgeable too. Check out the update to date market stats on Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough, Durham, Pittsboro, Raleigh, Wake Forest and Cary, Apex and Morrisville
If you are interested in learning about available properties in the greater Triangle area, visit us online. Call us today at 919-928-5131 or e-mail us at [email protected]for additional information.
When you are saying that the Cary North Carolina market has a low inventory it depends on what you are comparing it too. Are you comparing it to the number of homes on the market last year at the same time? Are you comparing it to homes in a price range? Or even homes in a certain area?
After 13 years of land acquisition and planning, Preston Development is about to unleash Pittsboro’s “800-pound gorilla” known as Chatham Park. Preston Development is known locally for their high-end residential communities of Preston and the Prestonwood Country Club, MacGregor West, Wessex, Weston Estates, Camden Forest, Magnolia Woods and Stanton Place.
Penguin Place, developed by Ron Strom of Chapel Hill, will open soon near the intersection of Hwy 15-501 and Hwy 64 Bypass, across from the entrance to Northwood High School. Penguin Place consists of over 14,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, including The Root Cellar Restaurant’s second location.
A professional realtor is your best ally in buying or selling a home, no matter what the season. When it comes to the real estate market, we stay on top of the numbers and we want you to be knowledgeable too. Check out the update to date market stats on