Downtown Raleigh, North Carolina on a Fall Sunday Morning

Raleigh North Carolina on a Fall Sunday Morning.

This is North Carolina State University's campus on a recent Sunday where my wife and I go and have coffee. It's beautiful and there are days when we won't see another soul for an hour. I imagine it has something to do with a football game the day before and possible a beer or two.

Also on Sunday Raleigh was the venue for SPARKcon SPARKcon is a showcase of creativity,talent and ideas of "the creative hub of the south," the Triangle NC.




There was some great chalk pavement drawings on Fayetteville Street, music, poetry readings and ...
this guy.

More about him later!

Johnston County Real Estate Market Update August 2009

Johnston County Real Estate Market Update August 2009.


Well,the numbers for August are probably not what anyone was looking forward too. There were 347 new listings down from 477 in 2008. That is a drop of 27.3%! Closed sales for August were 171 down from 199 in 2008 a 14.1% drop. Average days on market went from 104 in August 2008 to 120 in 2009 an increase of 15.5%

The median sales price went from $164,950 in August 2008 to $154,000 in August 2009. Average sales price went from $186,612 to $169,711 a drop of 9.1%

Inventory of homes for sale was 2074 in August of 2008 and 1642 in August of 2009, percent of original list price received at sale was 97.4 % (this figure does not account for seller concessions).

Johnston County Parade Of Homes Realtor Tour 2009 Part 2

Johnston County 2009 Parade Of Homes Realtor Tour Part 2

OK we then arrived at 500 Avocet Lane in Broadmoor Subdivision, this is in the Cleveland area. This is a custom built four bed three and a half bath home with approx 3226 sq ft. The home is an all brick house and is currently listed for $424,900.
A downstairs master and a luxurious master suite are just some of the features in this house and how about a faucet in the shower for shaving...guess what guys...it's not for us!!

Hardwood floors, granite counter tops,stone fireplace are just some of the many features in this house. Irrigation system for the lawn.

Another home in Broadmoor was 126 Balmoral Street, a 3460 sq ft three bed, three and a half bath custom brick home. Semi circular driveway leads to extensive hardwood and tile floors, granite counter tops.





Next stop was Cleveland Springs Subdivision where Terramore Homes are building 16 Crest Circle a 2151 sq ft four bed, two and a half bath. There is an additional unfinished walk up third floor of approx 578 sq ft. Currently listed for $199,999

There is also a pool and playground in this community .

Terramor Homes is also building a townhome section and they have a 1574 sq ft two bed two bath open floorplan available. Granite counter tops and ceramic tile in the kitchen. Currently listed for $160,684

Four Hundred more jobs coming to the Triangle of North Carolina.

Four Hundred more jobs coming to the Triangle of North Carolina!

Computer maker EMC Corp. the maker of data storage computers, plans to add almost 400 high paying jobs to to its operations.
EMC which has an existing research facility in Research Triangle Park, and a manufacturing plant in Apex, will build a $280 million data center in Durham.
Of the approx 397 jobs 292 will be at the data center in Durham and will pay average annual salaries of $73,325. The Triangle is home to a large skilled work force, cheap electricity, affordable homes, good transportation and good schools.
Katharine Neal spokeswoman for the N.C. department of Commerce said the department has been getting more calls from companies interested in new economic development projects that had been delayed because of the down economy.
These jobs come on the heels of Deutsche Bank's announcement that it would be creating 300 jobs in Cary. Highly skilled technology jobs paying average salaries of approx $88,000.

Research Triangle Parkis a 7000 acre park that is home to over 170 companies who employ over 42000 knowledge workers and 10,000 contract workers. RTP is home to a wide range of companies, from Fortune 100 multinational research and development operations to university spin-offs and start up operations.
The Triangle is an area comprising the cities of Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill but has expanded to include many more towns like Cary and Clayton, Apex and Wake Forest, Fuquay-Varina and Holly Springs.

Johnston County Parade of Homes Realtor Tour 2009 Part 1

Johnston County 2009 Parade Of Homes Realtor Tour, aka, Parade Of WOW!

Yep it's that time again, Fall is fast approaching and builders are eager to showcase the hard work they've been doing all summer. The Parade of Homes in Johnston County North Carolina is amazing because you get to see beautiful homes in great subdivisions, all while being driven around in a van full of Realtors!
I am always struck by how much of Johnston County is still beautiful farmland filled with soybeans,sweet potatoes, tobacco, lots of horse farms and old barns. Yet there amongst all that, is new schools, highways, bypasses, shopping centers, and subdivisions. Of course this year was a tad smaller than previous years, I enjoyed it more, you had more time to spend at each house and discuss with the Realtors the pros and cons of the homes.

We started at 209 Gardner Lake Drive in Willow Spring, a beautiful three bedroom, two and a half bath, 2900 sq ft home in Gardner Lake subdivision. Beautiful Hardwood floors downstairs and an amazing bonus room upstairs very unique! It is listed at $309,950.

From there we moved on to Millstone Ridge where we saw an all brick ranch with four beds two baths and 1675 sq ft.This house is priced at $191,354

We moved on to 61 Carriage Creek Drive Unit in Smithfield a three bed, two bath 2031 sq ft home. A Darryl D. Evans Inc. home comes with Stainless Steel Appliances The sweet thing with this house is the 1090 sq ft of unfinished space with the sheet rock in place ready to be installed at your leisure.

If you would like to get any information about any of the homes on the tour give me a call.


Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this blog are the opinions of the writer, the information in the blog is time sensitive and may not reflect the current situation. The writer has no control over certain posts by other readers and they do not always reflect the opinion of the writer

Johnston County Homes, North Carolina, qualify for 100% financing through the USDA

Johnston County Homes, North Carolina, qualify for 100% financing through the USDA (edit/delete)
Homes in Johnston County, North Carolina qualify for 100% financing through the USDA.
The entire county qualifies for the loan program through the USDA which allows home buyers to do 100% financing. Certain credit restrictions apply and there is an income limit depending on how many people will live in the home.
So if you think you would qualify, then now is the time to act as this loan program combined with the $8000 tax credit and historically low interest rates make this one of the best times to buy a home.
There are numerous subdivisions in Johnston County in every price range. Some of the towns like Clayton and Smithfield, the 40/42 community, offer subdivisions ranging from starter homes up to estate homes.
The window for the $8000 tax credit is rapidly closing as the loan must close by Nov 30 2009, that means that you must find the house you want, get all the inspections done, and get the loan approved and paid by the 30Th. There are new rules governing loans that might delay the process so not a good idea to leave this to the last minute
If you would like to speak with a mortgage professional about this or any other loan programs, give me a call or send an e-mail and I will be happy to provide you with that information.
The Johnston County Parade of Homes is currently under way so there are some great homes to check out, see the post I am doing on the Parade or if you need more info about homes let me know.

New Jersey Real Estate Agents Who Want To Learn about Wetlands.

New Jersey Real Estate Agents who want to save the planet! Now is your chance to learn a bit about the environment, get some great knowledge about wetlands and boast to your clients of your new found knowledge.

So if you are searching for valuable training or pursuing a new career? Enhance your skills and marketability in the environmental industry with The Swamp School’s Wetland Delineation Training.

The wetlands field camp is a week long adventure of wetland delineation.

Course Agenda
Introduction to wetlands and wetlands history,
US Army Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineations Methods,
Wetland Hydrology,
Hydric Soils,
Rapanos Decision

Wetlands Field Camp Includes
All inclusive lodging and meals (five night accommodations),
3.8 CEUs (continuing education credits),
US Army Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual,
1989 Federal Interagency Manual,
Certificate of Training

Supplies Required
Soil Auger,
Munsell soil color chart,
Plant ID guide,
Notebook

The Class is held on Sept 28th-Oct2nd 2009, Cost is $1200,

The Class is held at The New Jersey School Of Conservation in Branchville NJ.

For more information click on the link for
The Swamp School

Beautiful Home in Fuquay-Varina - over 3000 sqft for $315,000

This beautiful 3000 sq ft house in Fuquay- Varina is for sale for $315,000.

7213 Winter Pond Way has one of the best floor plans out there! The home, built only in 2008 in Elliot Landing is situated on a great private lot at the end of a cul-de-sac. It has wonderful curb appeal as you pull up to the curved walkway with stone and hardiplank siding, nice landscaping and a canopy of hardwood trees that make up part of the private acre lot.

The home features three bedrooms, a downstairs master, three bathrooms large finished bonus and an additional finished area upstairs. Upon entering the home from the wide porch you immediately notice the open floor plan of the downstairs living area and the craftsmanship of the local builder.Beautiful hardwood floors cover the family room, dining room, and kitchen which features granite counter tops, 42 inch cabinets .The Kitchen is great for entertaining as you can see through to the living room, dining and breakfast rooms. The breakfast area looks out onto the nice wooded area at the rear of the property.

One of the many really nice features in this home is the enormous screened in deck with a cathedral wooden inlay ceiling and wood burning stove, great for the cool fall evenings we love here in North Carolina.

The spacious downstairs master suite has 9 foot double trey ceilings, large walk in closet, separate shower and two person jet tub, double vanity sinks.

This is the house that keeps going and going and... so we'll move up to the second floor where the large bonus room with space for an office, home theater, work out room, you name it.

Up a few steps and you have an amazing space completely finished that could have any number of uses. The current home owners are using the space as bedrooms giving the house five bedrooms ( however the septic system is only permitted for three).

You have to see the house to really appreciate all the house has to offer at this price of $315,000.

If you would like to get more information or schedule a showing please call me at

(919) 601-2268 or send an email to odohertyd@hpw.com

You can visit my website at davidorealtor.com

Disclaimer: The information in this blog is the opinion of the writer,and while the information is deemed to be accurate it is not guaranteed. The information is gathered from multiple sources and is time sensitive so changes could have occurred in regards to the contents or topics in this blog.