Everyone is moving to North Carolina

It appears that North Carolina will be home to the infamous Bernie Madoff, who was delivered to the State Facility in Butner NC today July 14Th.

While I'm sure he had little say in the matter, there are worse places he could have gone and probably should have. So whats Butner NC like? I hear you ask!

Situated about 30 miles north west of Raleigh NC, it has a population of approximately 6000. It has a nice prison, and was once considered a contender by the Dept. of Homeland Security to build a $450 million 520,000-square-foot Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility. The median house value in 2007 was $135,264 while in North Carolina it was $145,700. It is right next to beautiful Falls Lake and probably 20 minutes to Durham.

While Bernie gets to live rent free in Butner, North Carolina is known for it's affordable housing which despite the easy money flying around in past years, did not experience the run up in prices that other places around the country did did.

We are however not immune from the fall out and the number of home sales compared to a couple of years ago is staggering.

The triangle area which now encompasses a lot of fast growing towns is still on the move, all be it at a slower clip. recently the town of Apex, North Carolina was ranked 3rd in the country of places to move to by Forbes magazine. Cary, North Carolina was the 3rd fastest growing city in the country from 2007-2008 while Raleigh came in 8th.

Again the factors that drive the growth are, good jobs, affordable housing, more house for your money, good schools. We have a lot of folks retiring here because of their kids moving here and because of the mild climate.

The triangle is mid way between the ocean and the mountains which makes it a great place to live also.

Beautiful condo in downtown raleigh!

Apex ranked third best place to move to

Forbes magazine has ranked Apex North Carolina third in it's list of best places to move to. Apex is located near Raleigh NC and has a population of approx 33,000 it has been growing along with most of the other towns in the area. Fueled by affordable housing, jobs, good weather, towns like Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, Clayton, Garner have all seen huge growth in the last number of years.

30 Mins to North Hills

So yesterday I drove from Southwick Farms in Clayton to North Hills and it only took 30 mins. I went at 3.30pm so traffic was not an issue but it just goes to show that you can live in a great subdivision like Southwick where homes are still reasonably priced - $150's to $220's, great schools etc. and still be that close to everything.

Clayton growing...

The town of Clayton NC has grown from an estimated 14,868 people in 2007 to an estimated 15,841 in July of 2008 according to the latest data from the census bureau. This is a 6.5 percent increase.
Clayton is the 11 th fastest growing municipality in the state of North Carolina.
Reasons for the growth, affordable housing, small town community, good schools, a working infrastructure. Among the major employers are Talecris Biotherapeutics a high tech manufacturer of pharmaceuticals. Novo Nordisk an international manufacturer of insulin and related products. Caterpillar and Johnston Memorial Hospital which is opening a new hospital in the fall of 2009 are also large employers.
The proximity of Clayton to Raleigh and Research Triangle Park a large source of jobs is another reason, not to mention you can be at the beach in a little over two hours from here.

Mudcats at Five County Stadium in Zebulon.

What a great night at the Mudcats last night. My father in law Jim , and my two boys Conor and Rory and myself headed off to the stadium. If you don't know where it is, it is literally thirty mins. from Archer Lodge, forty mins. from Clayton and from Raleigh you can be there in no time with the new highways.
Being Monday night we had our pick of the seats.. so we picked right behind home plate! You digging it? The weather was great, the game was exciting with the Mudcats beating the Tennessee Smokies 8-1 with the help of a couple of homeruns.
The Mudcats have great deals like $ hotdogs on Wednesdays and $ beers on Thursdays, here is a link to their website, check it out. http://carolina.mudcats.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=t249
It is a great time out and it won't break the bank. You can watch us here.
http://www.youtube.com/user/davidorealtor#play/all/uploads-all/0/32TM8jrBlkA

Archer Lodge July 4th Fun Day

We live in the soon to be incorporated town of Archer Lodge, we have a Clayton mailing address so most people are not aware of this amazing community
We went to their great parade which was followed up by Carolina bbq sandwiches from the pig cook off, bought our t-shirts, raffle tickets for a John Deere tractor (we did not win), headed home for naps and the pool at The Pineville Club which we just joined. At 8.30 it was back down to the community center for the fireworks, people come from all over for these fireworks as I believe they have been doing them for a while. We parked on the side of the road...everyone does and watched a fantastic fireworks display. We hopped in the van and we were home in 5 mins.
Great job Archer Lodge we had a great 4th of July... Thanks for all your work!
Video to follow.