Triangle Home Wizard Real Estate Blog

Ok I am going to have a bit of a chore tying this one in as Cary newsworthy - but I am definitely a java head/coffee addict/accept-no-decaf sort of guy. Please! - no syrups, sprinkles, milk, creamer (gasp!), or boiler-burned coffee. Just say no! I definitely like *good* coffee. Yes, I think I had too much this morning… can you tell? Anways, its Caffeine Awareness month. Thanks to my equally addicted friend Alex for finding this one.

Here comes the tie in. On my way back from Carolina Preserve, or any of the northwestern Cary developments and neighborhoods, I like to swing by Crema Coffee. Kevin gets it. He has one of the best shops in Cary. When you come in to Crema Coffee, you are immediately warmly greated by the smell of roasted coffee - which Kevin roasts himself. Can you say fresh? The shop and bathrooms are extremely clean, the sitting area adjacent to lots of windows which gives you the choice of light, or you can sit further back in one of the comfy leather couches.

It’s a great shop with great coffee. Ask Kevin about coffee, or how he found the shop. Good stuff! It’s another great local Cary business I am proud to support and recommend. Check them out on the web - a map is here.

Wow! What a find. My good friend Bob (another KW agent in Portland OR) linked me over to Teresa Boardman’s Blog - http://www.stpaulrealestateblog.com - quality work! And another KW agent to boot!

Go on over and check her site out. I hope to have the same kind of informative, exciting blog in the upcoming year.

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This is the second half of the post about Carolina Preserve in Amberly - Cary NC. If you missed the first part, click here.

Carolina Preserve is a plush, outdoor-oriented (think resort) with lots of facilities for enjoyment year-round.

1300 single-family and villa stye homes are planned in 5 phases. Phase 1 is sold out. Currently, Phase 2 is underway. When I spoke to Rob Williams, he relayed that the VIP demand on Phase 1 had to spill over to Phase 2. The schematic I saw showed remarkable progress on Phase 2. Demand is very strong.
Residents will enjoy Bradford Hall - an approximately 30,000sf club house with an indoor pool, small gym, aerobics room, billiards, craft, and even a Wall Street room. Bradford Hall is expected to be completed in Fall of 2007. The ‘Artist’s rendering’ shows a dynamic scene with bocce ball, fun outdoor splash pool for the grand kids, walking trails around, and lots of sun deck and sitting areas.
There are also fitness and wellness programs created in partnership with UNC Health Care.

Now, more about the house options in Carolina Preserve: [Read more →]

Click here for updated articles on Carolina Preserve.

*UPDATE - - If you are interested in renting a brand new home in Carolina Preserve, please visit Carolina-Preserve.com. It will be available to move in by August 11, 2008.

I am working with the parents of a young couple who moved from California. They have a home on a lake in Michigan, but are ready to live a simpler, warmer, closer-to-family life here in Cary.

After sampling townhomes, condos, and single family homes all over the Triangle area, they were almost out of time for their brief search before driving back up to Michigan. Even though I had mentioned Carolina Preserve right off the bat, they weren’t ready to go see what an Active Adult 55+ development was like.

The daughter nudged them on the last day to just go take a look. They were quite impressed! [Read more →]

I met with a client today who hails from northeastern Ohio.  On their way down to vacation in Hilton Head, they went out of their way to see what is cooking in Cary.  He mentioned that from his research into the area, UNC Chapel Hill was the #1 public college value.  They have 2 kids approaching college age.  What else?  Well, we also know that Money named Cary the #5 Best Small Town, Raleigh the #4 Best Big City, and Raleigh again the #2 Best To Do Business.

What were they looking at?  The Twin Lakes KB development.  Unfortunately Martha wasn’t taking my calls - she wasn’t at the door waiting with a pan of expertly decorated brownies.  But they liked the homes anyways.
What else do you need guys?  Any headhunters out there looking for a sharp entrepreneur who has a proven track record in business?  Send me an email and I will blast his resume over to you!

According to the North Carolina Turnpike Authority, citizens can come get additional information and offer feedback tonite at the Apex High School cafeteria.

The section currently under review stretches from I-540 from NC 55 near Research Triangle Park south to NC 55 Holly Springs Bypass. How much is this 12.7 mile of stretch of pavement going to cost to build? Estimates range from $405 million to $725 million. Thats up to $57 million per mile (pretty good with the math, huh?).

For $725 million, they will be incorporating a car wash system at the toll boths and offering hot coffee in the morning to busy commuters, and sweet tea in the summer evenings. Additionally, they will sell the naming rights to each toll plaza. Turnpike officials hope to raise $50 million per toll plaza. Commuters heading to RTP in the morning will be motivated by seeing Cisco Config (T)oll and IBM Information Superpayway.

Personally, I think tolls are the way to go. I would rather see the road be built sooner and choose to pay, then to sit and wait another decade for it to be finished.

According to the Turnpike (seriously this time), every state along the East Coast except North Carolina and Connecticut uses toll facilities (hey that makes it a great reason, right?)

Here it is folks. The stats for the 2006 home values in the Triangle. Based on the statistics provided by the North Carolina Association of Realtors, every MLS area in the state rose except one. Which one? Take a guess. Don’t worry, prices for Cary real estate did just fine.
Ok, I won’t keep you in suspense that long. The Triangle saw home appreciation at 5%. The Outer Banks saw the number of units sold drop by 44%, and the change in average cost dropped by 8%.

What does this all mean? It means you should take a home equity line out on your Triangle home, buy a beach house, and invite me down for some kiteboarding.

You know I’m kidding, right? Well, mostly. If you aren’t a big beach fan (did I just call you a big beach fan???), there are other great real estate investment property options for you. I personally invest in college rental properties by NCSU - The Trailwood Hills, Trailwood Springs, Trailwood Glen neighborhoods. I think they are great investments. I helped an investor recently who was able to get 100% financing, find good tenants in a week based on free advertising on the web, got the deposit and first months rent, and is cash flow positive, *including all money down*, before he even made the first mortgage payment. Cash on cash returns exceeding 20% are possible - I’ve got the numbers to prove it.

Interested in residential real estate income properties around the Triangle? Give me a call - 888 969 8989 or send me an email. For the fastest response, sign up for investor information at my website here.

THE MARTINI FACTOR

THIS WEEK (1-22 to 1-29-07)

This week will be a slow news week (as it relates to economic reports). PLEASE NOTE: anytime the planned economic news calendar is thin, Traders will pay more attention to other types of news and headlines, trends from other markets, and technical factors often step up to play a larger role as well.

Bond prices moved slightly lower, but enough to fall through a “floor of support” last week - and if the trend continues this week, it could cause home loan rates to rise.

It is my opinion , the item of most interest this week will be New and Existing Home Sales data. I truly believe the housing market nationally is stabilizing, so the numbers on average sale prices, inventory and volume of sales will be closely analyzed by the Traders. It is my thesis that the housing market hit bottom in August 2006…and home loan rates remain very low - so if you or someone you know has been considering the purchase of a home, now may be an excellent time to make a move forward.

Kevin Martini - Mortgage Banker - kmartini@HomeBanc.com

i am currently working with a client from new york who is considering moving to cary. she is bringing a friend down in early march, and had a very normal request - could i recommend a nice hotel and spa in cary. thankfully, the goodnights have been hammering away at the brand new umstead hotel and spa. up until this month, i wouldnt have had a decent response.
as i havent actually seen it with my own eyes, i now have a perfectly good excuse to go up and check out the place. the website does a great job of marketing the place. here is the site for the restaurant - herons.

i dug a little deeper and found that the goodnights may be up to even more. the harrison square shopping center, home to sams club and other ho-hum retailers may soon become another high end mixed-use retails development. wow, more unique and interesting shopping please!

here is a google maps view of the area.  the view is still a bit old, as the satellites dont even show the arboretum as being built!

well it was a great home to live in.  we moved from california out to the country so we could ride our horses right off our property into wonderful nc game lands.  surrounded by jordan lake.  alas, the thousands of feet of fencing, acres of mowing/seeding/weedeating/fertilizing/hay stacking/stall mucking/horse shoeing became too much for this family of 2 young kids and two professionals.  yes, we sold the property.

why am i writing this in a blog post that should be more about cary real estate and less about horse farms by jordan lake?  well, i put up a website - 285bigoak.com when we were selling the property back last summer, and i am *still* getting hits to the website.  so i am going to direct folks here.

i can definitely help you buy a horse farm around the triangle area, but just not that one.  it was a very nice place, and luckily the folks who bought it still let my wife board her horse out there.  so i still have my equine connections.  but these days i am much more likely to be helping folks relocating from california to cary for jobs at cisco, synopsys or ibm.

want to get plugged into the horse scene?  give me a call - i know who you need to talk to.  want to talk tech?  talk about the median home price in santa clara county ca (over $700,000!)? compare traffic on 101 to the beltline or 540?  im your cary nc realtor.