2010 April | Bull City Real Estate

Archive for April, 2010

Three Yard Sales You Shouldn’t Miss This Weekend

Friday, April 30th, 2010

Last week seemed to be a slow week for yard sales, which was probably good since it was fairly chilly too. This week seems to make up for it with not one, not two, but three big community yard sales. Set your alarm clock now, it’s going to be an early morning!

Starting in the west, Garrett Farms is having their community yard sale this Saturday from 7AM to Noon. In past years, this has been more of a “lots of people hold a yard sale at the same time” kind of sale, but they have done a great job of getting you to all the sales including a map you receive at the entrance to Garrett Farms, which is on Garrett Road, just west of NC 15-501. Here’s a map.

The Auburn community is also having a community yard sale this Saturday at their clubhouse. every year they have a good turnout, and I expect to see 40-50 booths set up this year as well selling a wide selection of items. The Auburn community is at the intersection of Woodcroft Parkway and Barbee Road. Use this map to get to their clubhouse.

Finally the Parkwood Community Yard Sale is this Saturday. The Parkwood sale has a very long pedigree, so I expect this sale will be very popular. this always seems to be the yard sale I spend far too much money at! Parkwood is just west of the NC 55/NC 54 intersection. This map will get you to the Library parking lot where the sale is held.

That’s it for the yard sale roundup this weekend. hopefully I’ll see you out enjoying the good weather and the great deals!

Tags: yard sales

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Come Visit My Open House This Sunday!

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

If you’re out and about this weekend dodging thunderstorms, please come and visit me at my Open House! This Sunday from 3PM to 5PM I’ll be at 2715 Tanglewood Drive showing this beautiful home to everyone who stops by.

This beautiful 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath home has everything one could ask for. Just under a half-acre of land at the end of Tanglewood means your new home would be quiet, but you’re still just minutes away from South Square, Downtown Durham, RTP and Chapel Hill. Inside, this home has granite counter tops and stainless appliances and is completely move in ready. Don’t forget that the $8,000 Federal tax credit ends next Friday!

Here is more information about this beautiful home. Also, as my small encouragement, I’m digging into my stash of Girl Scout Cookies to welcome all visitors. I hope to see you on Sunday!

Tags: open house

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Durham Foodies Make the New York Times

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

Our Fair City got some nice press in the Food section of yesterday’s New York Times. While I could sniff at the “so-called Research Triangle — Chapel Hill, Raleigh and Durham” — which is like referring to the 5 boroughs as the “so-called New York City” — the article was a pretty fair discussion about the revival of downtown Durham and the overall trend towards local produce. Read it for yourself — here is the main article and here is the accompanying slideshow

Tags: Durham

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SEC Files Charges Against Goldman Sachs — About Time!

Saturday, April 17th, 2010

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil charges against Goldman Sachs yesterday alleging that Goldman Sachs fraudulently promoted and sold a series of mortgage instruments without telling buyers it had been deliberately set up to fail. The details of the alleged scheme are well reported in this News & Observer article.

Here is the basics: Paulson & Co, a hedge fund, went to Goldman Sachs, for help in creating an investment vehicle based on mortgages Paulson owned. Paulson selected the mortgages used in the security by pulling together subprime mortgages it believed would fail. Goldman then sold the securities to others without telling the buyers that the securities were set up to fail.

Paulson then sold the securities short — it bet on them to fail. So when they failed Paulson made its money back on the shorts, and the buyers were left holding the bag.

To put it in layman’s terms, suppose you knew your spouse was sick, but no one else did. Then suppose you went out and purchased a large life insurance policy on your spouse. Shortly afterwards, your spouse dies. you collect on the policy, and the only person harmed is the insurance company, which would have never issued the policy if it knew your spouse was sick.

If that is the case, Goldman should be fined. And honestly, Paulson should come under some scrutiny, although I’m not sure for what. One of the problems with the economy in the last few years is that there has been no penalty for bad decisions and misbehavior — companies get bailed out, management gets it golden parachutes, and everything goes on pretty much like before. Without a penalty for failure, there is no reason not to take risks. That has to change.

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Come Visit My Open House This Sunday!

Saturday, April 17th, 2010

With the Federal tax credit expiring in just two weeks, I wanted to invite people over to my Open House this weekend. On Sunday, April 18 from 3PM to 5PM I’ll be at 12 Innisfree Dr. showing off this beautiful townhome. This 3 bedroom, 3 bath home has all the advantages of a detached home, but without all the yard work and exterior maintenance. Plus, you’re just minutes from Duke, UNC, Southpoint and downtown Durham.

Please stop by and take a look at everything this home has to offer. for more details about this home, take a look at our extended listing

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Follow the Signs — Yard Sales and Open Houses

Saturday, April 10th, 2010

As some of you know, I like to go to yard sales on Saturday morning. The weather was really nice this morning, so my son and I went out to see what we could find.

There were a lot of signs along the main roads [Woodcroft Parkway, Revere Road in Parkwood, Roxboro Road in Hope Valley Farms]. When we saw a sign, we would turn into the development to find the sale. All too often we would drive down to the end of the road and not see anything. That’s right, the address on the original sign was supposed to guide me all the way to the “big sale.”

Open Houses are a lot like yard sales. They are both “one time only” events that largely depend on signs to bring traffic in. A key element of the Weichert recipe is eight directional signs with balloons. We put them on the main road and make sure there is a part of signs that leads you right to the big event. For example, when I hold an Open House in Woodcroft, I put a sign at each end of Woodcroft Parkway [at Fayetteville Road and Hope Valley Road], a couple signs at the traffic circle, and a sign at every intersection between Woodcroft Parkway and the listing I was selling. I imagine you could get lost along the way, but it would have been really hard — we did everything but roll out a carpet for our prospects.

If you would like to hear more about a Weichert Open House, or just about how Weichert can help you sell your home quickly, for the most money, and the least hassle, please email me. Our Neighborhood Expertise is waiting to work for you.

Tags: sellers

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Friends of the Durham Library Book Sale This Weekend!

Saturday, April 10th, 2010

For those readers who can never have enough books, the Friends of the Durham Library Spring book sale is this weekend. The book sale is a great way to find gently used books to add to your collection. You can find this treasure trove at the Main Library [300 N Roxboro Street] during the following times;

- - Saturday, April 10, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Everyone welcome.
  - Sunday, April 11, 2 – 5 p.m. Everyone welcome. $7 Bag Sale.

Come find some great books and help your local library all at the same time.

Tags: Durham

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March Housing Stats for Woodcroft, Parkwood and Elsewhere in Durham

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

We know that January and February were rough real estate months in Durham. I’ve predicted that March would be when we turned the corner. Let’s see if I’m right.

For all of Durham County there were 2,435 homes listed for sale at the end of March – an increase of almost 20%. 216 sales closed in March, which doubles the closings in February. That means that it would take 11.3 months like March to work through the current housing inventory. This brings us back much closer to a stable market — remember the rates for January and February were well into the teens – but we’re not quite there yet.

For the 27713 zip code there were 539 homes listed at the end of March – another 30% increase in listings. 50 homes sold during March, more than doubling sales in February. The combination of increased listings and increased closings puts the adsorption rate at 10.8 months — exactly half of the February total.

It’s worth noting again the staggering increase in total listings every month this year. Let’s put those numbers next to each other [county wide listings/27713 listings]

July: 2,046/427
December 1,774/286
January: 1,896/335
February: 2,070/410
March: 2,435/539

So in February we already matched the inventory from the height of last summer, and March posted significant gains in both areas. Sales are there, so once we burn through the new listings flooding the market, things look promising. It’s certainly possible
that the jump in listings relates to the timing of the Federal tax credit — we’ll see how true that is over the next two months.

Here’s a look at the communities we’re tracking. If you would like to see data from your community, please let us know in the comments.

	Total Available Listings	Total Closed Sales	Adsorption Rate	Avg Sale Price
Woodcroft	87	12	7.3	$107,700 98% of list price
Hope Valley Farms	75	1	75.0	$262,000 99% of list price
Woodlake	21	2	10.5	$326,250 95% of list price
Parkwood	19	3	6.3	$135,383 86% of list price
Chancellors Ridge	19	4	4.8	$213,10098% of list price
Wynterfield	18	0	-	N/A
Grandale	10	1	10.0	$325,000 88% of list price
Wellington Forest	5	0	-	N/A
Audubon Park	15	2	7.5	$217,000 98% of list price
Colvard Farms	12	0	-	N/A

[As a side note, there are a lot of subdivisions with one listing. 82 different subdivisions in the 27713 area code have at least one listing]

As you can see, the rebound is uneven. Woodcroft and Parkwood, for example, have shown quite a rebound while Hope Valley Farms is still in the doldrums. I can’t believe, however, that will be a long term trend

Watch for the effects of the Federal tax credit to intensify over the next two months as buyers scramble to get a home under contract by the April 30 deadline. Expect to see the number of listings level off as it is almost too late to list now and sell before the credit expires. closings, however, will continue to rise through June, then level off for third quarter 2010.

Tags: housing stats

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