Triangle Parade of Homes 2015

Don’t miss this fantastic display of homes located throughout the North Carolina Triangle Area. If you are looking to purchase a new home or just get some great remodeling ideas or ideas for your future dream home, the Parade of Homes is where you want to be the next couple of week ends.

The Annual Parade of Homes, N.C.’s largest open house, presented by the Home Builders Association of Raleigh-Wake County and the Home Builders Association of Durham, Orange and Chatham Counties, will run on Oct. 3 & 4, 9 – 11, and 16 – 18, 2015 from 12-5 p.m.View Parade homes listed for sale from $ 175,000 to $1.5 Million. This annual, free tour that is open to the public is the best way to view the newest homes and the newest communities throughout the Triangle. This year the parade features over 250 new homes.

Visit the following web site to get more details and view some of the parade of homes online. http://triangleparadeofhomes.com/

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Raleigh Ranked Second in Best Places to Live in US by WalletHub

Raleigh, North Carolina beats out West-coast cities like Seattle, Portland and San Francisco on a new ranking of the best places to live.

Using 31 metrics in areas such as general livability, health and education systems, economic growth and tax rates, personal financial website WalletHub ranked all cities with a population of 300,000 or more.

Raleigh ranks No. 2 overall and No. 1 in the education subcategory.

Charlotte is the only other North Carolina city on the list, ranking No. 19.

WalletHub’s top 10 best places to live:

  1. Austin, Texas
  2. Raleigh, North Carolina
  3. Colorado Springs, Colorado
  4. San Jose, California
  5. Seattle
  6. San Diego
  7. Denver
  8. San Francisco (tie)
  9. Lexington, Kentucky (tie)
  10. Virginia Beach, Virginia

Triangle Business Journal’s Rebecca Troyer manages the day-to-day process of delivering the daily digital content and the weekly print edition. Troyer also handles inquiries on news coverage and newspaper deadlines.

 

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Apex, NC in Wake County Named #1 Best Place to Live by Money Magazine

Wake County’s Small town of Apex has been named 2015’s # 1 Best Place to Live by Money Magazine.

Apex beats out 3,625 U.S. towns with populations between 10,000 and 50,000 on Money magazine’s new ranking of the ” Best Places to Live 2015.”

“Apex has all the things you’d expect in the No. 1 place to live: a charming downtown, top-notch schools, and the kind of community spirit that draws 15,000 people, or more than a third of the population, to the annual PeakFest street fair,” says Money. It also benefits from the regions’s high-paying technology jobs, and “unlike that other technology hub on the West Coast, Apex is still affordable.”

The rankings are based on multiple data sources, including housing affordability, foreclosure rates, educational interest and attainment, access to health care, arts and leisure activities, commute times and population density.

Median income in Apex is $88,558, job growth is 15.5 percent and the median home price is $243,125, according to the report.

Other North Carolina towns on the top 50 list include Harrisburg, No. 41, and Stallings, No. 46 – both near Charlotte.

To learn more about Apex, NC visit their web site: https://www.apexnc.org/.

If you are contemplating a relocation to Wake County in NC, Apex would be an excellent community to check out. To get your questions answered about the various communities in Wake County which might be considered for relocation call or text FOR HomeBUYERS at 919-219-9878. As Exclusive Buyer’s Agents, we will provide honest, unbiased information.

 

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Raleigh #1 of 25 Best Cities to Find A Job

According to Glassdoor’s newest report Raleigh, North Carolina ranks first among the top 25 best cities for jobs. The “job score* was determined by weighting three factors equally: how easy it is to get a job (hiring opportunity), how affordable it is to live there (cost of living), and how satisfied employees are working there (job satisfaction).

As part of this report, Glassdoor included each city’s median pay for employees, median home value, job satisfaction rating, number of current job openings and population.

  1. Raleigh, NC – Glassdoor Job Score: 4.1
  • Number of Job Openings: 24,146
  • Population: 1,242,974
  • Median Base Salary: $50,950
  • Median Home Value: $198,400
  • Job Satisfaction Rating: 3.3

To view the full report visit the Glassdoor article.

Glassdoor is a web site that lists jobs in the Raleigh, Durham Chapel Hill, Triangle Area that might assist with your job search. With the Raleigh jobs market ranking #1, begin your search for a job here.

When seeking employment in the Raleigh, Durham or Chapel Hill area of North Carolina, FOR HomeBUYERS, an Exclusive Buyer Real Estate Agency who works only with Buyers would love to assist in finding you your new home in the area. We can advise you on good school districts and desirable neighborhoods that meet your needs.

Contact us today by calling or texting 919-219-9878.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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5 Best Raleigh Suburbs According to Moveto

To all of us who live in the Wake County North Carolina area this declaration comes as no surprise. On this list is the following in Moveto’s ranking: Tied for 1st is Cary and Morrisville, then Apex, Holly Springs and Wake Forest.
Cary is located just off interstate 40, near RDU International Airport and Research Triangle Park and has for many years provided housing for employees in RTP. Morrisville and Apex have more recently expanded their housing availability for the RTP employees. Cary and Morrisville are also very convenient to Durham and Chapel Hill which have large universities and medical centers.

Each of the five noted communities are very family oriented with many parks, good schools and excellent shopping. Holly Springs and Wake Forest are more accessible to outdoor activities being located closer to larger wooded areas. Falls Lake is convenient to Wake Forest while Jordan Lake is near Cary, Morrisville and Apex.

Should you decide to relocate to Wake County and the Raleigh, North Carolina (NC) area any one of these 5 communities would be an excellent choice. You will love the friendly people you will meet and they will make you feel welcome and a member of the community in no time.

If you would like more information about these areas or other locations in the Raleigh area, you may Call or text 919-219-9878 and speak with Allen Shaver, Broker-in-Charge of FOR HomeBUYERS, an Exclusive Buyers Agency working only for you, the home buyer.

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Real Estate Home Sellers Beware of Scam

FOR HomeBUYERS is providing this especially disturbing article to caution those in a real estate transaction about this apparently new form of theft by hackers. We want sellers to be aware of this scam so that they might take all precautions to protect themselves.

Hackers make off with $200,000 in real estate sale funds in savvy scam

Amanda Hoyle

Staff Writer – Triangle Business Journal 

Both the North Carolina State Bar and the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office have sent out warnings across the state about a group of hackers involved in a scam to steal money from seller accounts involved in real estate closings.

In one such case, the scammers made off with $200,000, according to the AG’s office.

Here’s how it went down, according to a fraud alert sent to all N.C. State Bar members earlier this week:

  • The law firm on a Friday received both an email and a phone call from a lady claiming to be one of the firm’s out-of-state sellers. She requested the firm wire her funds to her bank account.
  • Having fulfilled the law firm’s two-level confirmation process requiring both an email and a phone call response, the funds were wired to the bank account.
  • The firm learned Monday, however, that the seller’s email had been hacked and “bad actors” had pretended to be the seller on the phone call.
  • It was only after the funds had been wired that the lawyer noticed that that the email address of the hacker was different from the actual seller’s email address by one letter.

“We attempted to retract the wire and we learned yesterday that the bank did not retract the wire and will not communicate further without a subpoena,” the letter stated.

The State Bar and the AG’s office are recommending that attorneys and others who handle real estate transactions initiate the phone call to confirm the emailed wiring instructions and using only the number in the client file.

Report possible scams to the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division by calling 1-877-5-NO-SCAM or filing a complaint online at www.ncdoj.gov.

Amanda Hoyle covers commercial and residential real estate. Follow her on Twitter

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How to Choose the Best Raleigh Real Estate Buyers Agent

All North Carolina real estate Buyers Agents are not the same!

Most Raleigh Real Estate Buyers Agents work for Real Estate Agencies that list homes for sale. These agents may also take listings for their company, which in this case, they also work as Sellers’ Agents. If you call this agent on one of their listings, they must work for you as a “Dual Agent” (representing both the Buyer and the Seller at the same time)

Some Buyers Agents work under a “listing agent” and then works with prospective buyers who call about the homes for sale by the “listing agent.” NC real estate law refers to these agents as “Designated Agents.”

Neither of the above types of Buyers Agents are real 100% Buyers Agents. To learn more view the NC Real Estate Commission’s “Working With Real Estate Agents” brochure.

Buyers Agents who work for an Exclusive Buyer Agency are the only ones who can guarantee 100% exclusive buyer representation from the beginning of your home search to the end of your transaction. FOR HomeBUYERS was established in 1991 and was the first and only Raleigh Exclusive Buyer Agency in Wake and most of the surrounding counties. Our 23+ years of service speaks for itself along with our many, many satisfied client testimonials.

Here is what an Exclusive buyer’s agent is in a nutshell: Think of the Acromym, “PNAR”.

P Your Protector. This licensed agent knows how to help you avoid getting harmed in real estate purchases (paying too much, getting a house with hidden defects, etc) and how to protect your best interests. In most states of the US, they can also opt to be a transaction broker or faciitator all of the time, or under certain circumstances. You are best protected if you sign up to work with a licensee as a buyer’s agent.

N Your Negotiator. A good buyers agent is an excellent negotiator. Negotiation skills are quite different from the skills of a salesperson. Buyer’s agents should be available to you to not “sell” the property to you, but rather be outstandingly proficient in the area of negotiation.

A Your Advocate. During the entire process of looking for and negotiating on your behalf for a property, your buyer agent should be an advocate for you. They should know the positions to take and the clauses to write up in your offer to help get you the best price and terms.

R Your Representative. North Carolina offers various ways consumers can choose to be represented. Doesn’t it make sense to pick a representative relationship that would most benefit you as a buyer? A skilled representative will interact with the other side of the table in a way that makes your motivation and highest acceptable price invisible to the other side.

Not all buyers agents are alike, and it is very smart to carefully interview and select the best. It is after all, the biggest financial transaction most of us are likely to make in a lifetime. Agent interview questionnaire.

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Raleigh in Top Ten Cities for First-Time Homebuyers

Nick Wallace, Mar 18, 2015, Smart Asset
As we move into spring, many potential first-time homebuyers will be eyeing their local housing market and trying to decide if now is the time to make the leap to homeownership. For most, it is the financial decision of a lifetime—a home, after all, is not only a place to live, but a significant investment in the sometimes volatile housing market. New homeowners, who usually have shorter credit histories, smaller savings accounts and lower incomes, need to be especially sure that they are making a good decision.
Among the most important factors to consider when buying a first home, however, is location. Some markets provide the affordability, accessibility and stability that are so important for new entrants into the housing market, while others may be too risky or too expensive for first-time homebuyers.

The Raleigh real estate market which also encompasses Cary, Apex, Holly Springs, Wake Forest, Morrisville, Knightdale and Garner, NC has not only affordability but a very high quality of life, an abundance of jobs, good schools and universities and medical facilities. Raleigh First time home buyers have a relatively easy time in the Raleigh real estate market acquiring a loan to purchase their first home. FOR HomeBUYERS Realtors specialize in working with first time home buyers and spend time educating the buyer on the things to look for and the things to avoid when purchasing a new home. Contact Us at 919-878-1110 to learn how an Exclusive Buyer Agent will guide and protect you throughout the home buying process.

Raleigh placed #10 on the Top Ten List. To view the methodology and the list of Top Ten Cities for First-Time Homebuyers visit: https://smartasset.com/mortgage/top-ten-cities-first-time-homebuyers
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Triangle Real Estate Inventory Low – Good Sellers’ Market

Triangle home sales edged up 1 percent in January but the market continues to give little indication that inventory levels are finally poised to rise.

There were 6,018 homes on the market in Durham, Johnston, Orange and Wake counties at the end of January, down 12 percent from the same period a year ago, Triangle Multiple Listing Services data show. The number of existing homes on the market declined 17 percent, while the number of new homes for sale increased 3 percent.

January was the sixth consecutive month that the Triangle inventory levels declined on a year-over-year basis.

“Inventory’s just very, very tight,” said Frank DeRonja, owner of Frank DeRonja Real Estate in Raleigh. “The list of people who are looking, for me and my folks, is getting longer and longer. There are buyers out there who are just waiting for the houses to come.”

DeRonja said multiple offers on properties in desirable neighborhoods of the Triangle have become fairly commonplace. He’s even started to see more backup offers, where a seller negotiates a second contract with a second buyer in case something happens and the primary deal falls through.

“It’s great for the sellers, but the sellers may or may not let the primary contract know that they’ve got a backup,” he said. “It gives the seller a lot of leverage in negotiating repairs and the contract-to-close.”

“The reality of it is I can only imagine we will see more of this unless there’s a huge influx of listings coming on the market.”

Agents hope that rising home prices will eventually entice more owners to list their properties for sale, though some assumed that would have happened by now. Many homeowners who bought during the boom have yet to see prices recover enough to where they can sell.

The average sales price of the homes that sold in January was $244,000, down from $250,000 during the same period in 2014.

As expected, showings began to pick up in January as the spring selling season gets closer. Showings were up 14 percent in January compared with January 2014, and up 58 percent compared with the prior month.

FOR HomeBUYERS, a Triangle Real Estate Exclusive Buyer Agency, will be happy to answer any questions about the homes for sale in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill Real Estate market. Call us at 919-878-1110 or text 919-219-9878.

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Why Choose a Raleigh Real Estate Buyers Agent

With all the tools and advice available today you might think you can purchase a home without the help of a real estate professional.

The housing market, like politics, is basically local, and each state, city, and even neighborhood has a thicket of local laws or customs that you need to understand. For that, it helps to have a professional to guide you, preferably, a Raleigh real estate Exclusive Buyers Agent.

You might want to start by finding an agent who can represent your interests in the search. This is not as simple as it sounds. Sure, 85% of sellers list their homes through an agent – but those agents are working for the seller, not you. They’re paid based on a percentage, usually 5 to 7% of the purchase price, so their interest will be in getting you to pay more. If you choose a Buyers Agent who works for the company that has the home listed you may encounter a conflict of interest.

That is why you need what’s known as an “exclusive buyer agent.” Sometimes buyer agents are paid directly by you, on an hourly or contracted fee. Most often they split the commission that the seller’s agent gets upon sale. A buyer’s representative has the same access to homes for sale that a seller’s agent does, but his or her allegiance is only to you.  FOR HomeBUYERS is a Raleigh real estate Exclusive Buyer Agency. We never have a conflict of interest because our agents are Exclusive Buyers Agents and never take listings or work for sellers.

To complicate matters, there are hybrid agencies called either single-agency or dual-agency brokers. In both cases, an individual agent in the firm may represent either sellers or buyers, sometimes both, in the same transaction. Potential conflicts of interest abound in this situation, so if you are seeking a buyer agent but no exclusive buyer agent is available, make sure to ask the agent about conflicts of interest. Use our Agent Questionnaire to determine the agent’s loyalty in representing you.

For more information on Exclusive Buyer Agents and the level of representation you will receive Contact Us or call 919-878-1110, text 919-219-9878, or email Allen@ForHomeBuyers.com.

FOR HomeBUYERS serves the entire Triangle of North Carolina which includes Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, NC.

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