The Grinch who Stole Equity

Not to be rude, but I'm really hoping carolers don't stop by my house this year. It's always so awkward; me standing on the porch humming along while strangers sing to me. During the coldest time of year at that. Maybe I'll just start checking through the blinds before I answer. I'm guaranteed to walk right back inside should this crew show up.

It's easy to go meal to meal never getting hungry this time of year, that's what I'm thankful for. Finding food in our real estate office is quite possibly easier than finding coffee in the pot, so this time of year it gets on the verge of poisonous. You could sift through all the gift baskets to find the exotic chocolates of your liking, or just grab the brittle from the basket closest to you. All on your way to the computer of course. If you know where to submit the record for the fastest a Honey Baked Ham was ever consumed, please inform me. I timed and witnessed it today.

As we aim to enjoy the holidays, it's hard for the position of the economy to be ignored. So let's take a look. When things such as prices go down, consumers are merry. Except when it's a product they're selling, right? For most of our country, that cheer is stemming from our super low gas prices and bargain interest rates. That pain, well it's generated from the not so appealing lower figures. Like the fact only 20 homes inside Chapel Hill city limits closed in November. Or maybe it's from the 500k in job losses our country faced in the month of November. The economy has to be The Grinch of Christmas '08.

So what is the fed doing to improve the housing market? It has been told we may see mortgage rates drop to as low as 4.5%. This comes as the Treasury continues to halt foreclosures and attempts to revitalize the countries housing market. Low rates and government bail out don't mean immediate changes to the market. The folks getting these low rates have excellent credit history and money to put down. Problem being this is not most people, and certainly not the same people banks were loaning to during the boom. Let's take a look at what goes into a credit score.

As you can see, many first time home buyers and those with poor credit have no avenue left for purchasing property. With all the foreclosures recently, maybe that is the way the system should be designed. I personally hope that alternate but responsible avenues of credit are created, as that gives more opportunity to the lower income home buyer and average American.

With some brief news on my Alma mater, ECU won the Conference USA Championship and is off to play Kentucky for the Liberty Bowl in Memphis on January 2. I don't think I'll be making the trip, but I still don't have plans for new years. I've seen Widespread Panic play in Atlanta for every new years as far as I can remember, which I'll miss as they are out in Denver this year. I'm envisioning something low key though, as a crowded bar or party is not where I'm looking to be when the ball drops.

Tomorrow night I'll be watching the finale of The Biggest Loser. Please cheer on as friends Heba & Ed complete their journey and vie for the $250,000 first prize. I hope everyone enjoys their holidays. I myself am looking for a little snow to fall this year, as sledding never gets old. Catch back up in 2009 and we'll take a look at the year ahead. Happy Holidays!

All Aboard the Gravy Boat

I'm down at Emerald Isle now having gotten a jump on my Thanksgiving break. We have a whole lot of family down for the week and a house that accommodates. We've been doing some boating & fishing so far but I can't seem to get a fish on the end of my line. It's kind of nice that things are slow with work right now. Every family beach trip I can remember has involved me scrambling to find a fax machine and impromptu trips back home to get a contract signed.

Since I'm on vacation, my blog will take a little vacation from the normal real estate scoop as well. The current market combine with this time of year doesn't leave much to be discussed. For those waiting on the market to hit bottom, well your time may be up around here. The rates today hit an incredibly low 5.25%. I for one am looking forward to a promising 2009 market. It should be interesting competing with my Dad this coming year too, who's now licenced and ready to sell.

The house we are staying in is called "One in a Million", which it really feels like. It's on the channel right next to the inlet, making for some good boating and hopefully more successful fishing. I'm pretty bummed about the heated pool out back, it's not working and Mr. Fix It from the rental office can't seem to get it going. I've been planning on spending half my week in that thing. There is a hot tub that will have to make due, although my sisters were laughing so hard in there earlier I'm not so sure it's safe to get in anymore.

It's been a blast having my nieces & nephews around here to entertain. During low tide we have all this beach to go play on right next to the house. My sister took this picture while we were out there yesterday.

Back in Chapel Hill last week, there wasn't a moment when I didn't have a Turkey lunch or dinner to attend. Whoever said there is no such thing as a free lunch obviously never sold real estate. I did find a break to volunteer with the Fix-A-Home project put on by the Chapel Hill Board of Realtors. The homeowner couldn't of been a sweeter old lady who showed her appreciation by the expression on her face every moment we were there. She did have a dog penned up in the smallest cage ever out back, I wish we could of spent half the day fencing in her back yard for it.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving. If your hitting the road, Travel safe. And if you get to choose pick fried turkey over baked. Mmmm I can taste it now.

Campaign '08

If your looking for my opinion in the race for the White House, you won't find it here. Staying neutral on issues like politics have been a very important aspect of running my business. A party sticker on my car is going to alienate one client of mine or another, it's just not worth it. Voting is tomorrow however, and I encourage everyone to get out and cast theirs.

A recent survey taken by Zillow.com shows that one candidates supporters have more confidence in their home values than the others. Their survey also concludes 74% of homes have lost value across the nation in the past 12 months. 49% surveyed think their home has increased in value, so like Mark Twain said, "Denial ain't just a river in Egypt". Triangle agents are seeing their listing agreements expire day after day, with many not selling simply because of unreasonable expectations.

This is why I am campaigning for these expired and withdrawn listings. Many agents compete for a listing by trying to put the biggest price tag on it, an unethical and narrow-minded way to approach selling a home. I am working to get these sellers down to earth, put a reasonable price tag on the home and adjusting their inflated expectations. This is just one reason I consider myself a "consultant" rather that a "salesman". I want to give these sellers a realistic education on our market and let them make educated decisions. If they prefer to list with another agent who will price the home beyond the value I see, so be it. I prefer not to have my sign sit in a yard for 180 days anyways.

Because of the Triangle's strong Economic foundation, I don't think a lot of the disillusion is coming from here. Although for the first time in decades we are a "buyers market" with 15% more inventory than last years, that is gradually changing. Our market is not full of over-priced homes, but the ones expiring are good evidence of some that are. Over the next several months I am hoping my campaign will capture some of this business from sellers who are now deciding to take a more realistic approach.

Hi dee ho Neighbor! I hope everyone had a great Halloween. Chapel Hill scaled back it's festivities this year, but it sure felt the same. I was dressed as Wilson, the friendly neighbor from Home Improvement. I received some recognition, however I heard guesses ranging from "defense" to "Are you on the fence about voting?"

I hope lines at your polls are short, and that your candidate wins. Until next time...

Carolina On My Mind

I took a trip to the State Fair yesterday. The weather could not have been better and the crowds weren't as bad as expected. I won this big ol' moose by throwing a ring around the neck of a bottle, piece of cake. We went on plenty of rides and saw sights like the eight-legged spider woman, who weren't all that weird in comparison to some of the folks you'll see at the fair. The food was good as always, I even went as far as trying the fried Snickers which was a delectable treat.

The rest of the weekend seemed to fly by. Saturday I spent watching some ECU football and it's good to see they are back to their winning ways. That evening we went to a haunted house put on by the Raleigh Jaycees. It had it's moments and was worth the admission, even someone as big & tough as me flinched a few times. After that it was off to a surprise party for my friend Chris Raynor. We had a swell time and even ended the night with a limo ride thanks to Chris' girlfriend.

So one question a lot of agents have been getting asked recently is "what are you doing to keep yourself busy?" It's a valid question, as the number of buyers and sellers is down significantly. Other than keeping my current clients as happy as can be, I've been working a million different ways to improve my business. I'll give you a look into just a few of the things I've been working on.

New Look for my Business

So I'm finally making my way out of the standard issue products everyone uses here at my office. That ranges from our company issued business cards to photography I use for marketing. I'm working on branding myself a little more, taking the focus off "Fonville Morisey" and putting it on myself. I've recruited the help of John Paredes, a graphic designer and photographer in Chapel Hill. He has created a design that looks great and I'm really excited about. With that & my new photographs he took I'm looking forward to having a new image for my business.

Building Relationships

Knowing people in the community has to be the most important part of building a referral business. Lately I have been trying to get my tail to every networking event I can. I have been building my BNI group, which has grown beyond everyone's expectations so far. You'll find me at the local Chamber leads group and every Business After Hours event they host. I am attending all the Realtor workshops, serving on our boards' membership committee and planning young Realtor events. If there is someone out there I don't know, it will only be a matter of time.

Discovering New Products

New real estate products are coming in everyday, most of them web-related. Our IT department has been great in helping me target these new sites. I have been looking into all the sites that get the most consumer traffic, creating profiles and posting my listings there. This gives me and my homes the extra exposure I can use. For example I recently joined Zillow.com, which has some great tools for me as an agent. Millions of consumers are using this site to search for real estate, and even though I find their "zestimates" to be very flawed information, it helps to put these consumers and agents like me together. Now when I sit in for a listing appointment, are you going to list with Billy Bob who advertises in the paper or an agent that will spread your listing across all the major real estate sites?

So that's just a glance at some of the things I'm doing to improve business, I can't have you knowing everything I do. Plus I need to pack my things and head up to the UNC campus soon. James Taylor is playing a free concert this evening I'm pretty excited about. Live music has to be one of my favorite things, I can't imagine life without it. It surely wouldn't be as sweet.

Economy Woes & TV Shoes

Howdy everyone. I hope your having a great day. I have been so far, just got done playing a round of golf at The Governors Club with my boss and some other agents. It has to be one of the nicest courses I've ever played. I am pretty darn bad at golf but I enjoy playing. I trumped my normal goal of getting one par on the day, with a whole two pars. That called for some celebrating at the clubhouse after the round.

Speaking of achieving goals, many of you know my friends Heba & Ed are on The Biggest Loser this season. I went to the viewing party they hosted Tuesday and got to see them win an RV! I think everyone see's them as a big threat for how many challenges they have been winning, let's just hope they can keep it up. Tuesday nights at 8:00, make sure you are cheering on the orange team.

So last time I wrote I was going on about ECU football. Well that has taken a turn for the worst if you hadn't noticed. I really hope we can get it together and win the rest of our schedule, I'd hate for us to be some early season flash in the pan. I had to skip the game in Greenville this past weekend. Between showing houses and dog sitting for my old pal Delilah I couldn't make the trip. I was living with my friend Matt at the time he got her and for 2 years after, so it was fun getting to spend a weekend with her.

Right now my business is still moving, but the market is not making it an easy job. I am working with one buyer at the moment looking at foreclosures. There are plenty of these on the market right now, with a handful of them being good opportunities. The home we ended up pursuing is a short sale. The way a short sale works is a bank owes more than they are selling it for, they simply want to cut their losses. These tend to be better investments than other foreclosures. There are lots of situations where banks have given 1st & 2nd mortgages for close to the value of the home. When prices were increasing, this made sense. Now with prices stalling or falling, there is no way for the banks to recoup all their money; with no real investment opportunities in these homes they will sit on the market with the rest.

With all the money banks now have tied up in these homes, there is a limited amount of funds to lend. With the economic bailout plan set to be voted on today, the goal will be to put these funds back in place for the American consumer to borrow. It is a harsh reality to see now what has occurred, and the economy has learned a tough lesson. I suggest reading this article from 1999, which shows some seeds being planted that spurned this mortgage crisis.

I have seen some pretty creative ways to sell a property in recent months. Real Estate raffles seem to becoming quite popular with homeowners. I may buy a ticket for this house, $50 seems like a good price for a waterfront home. Other homeowners who can't sell will have to face the reality of foreclosure. I've sat with many of these homeowners where there is no solution in site. I find most people are more concerned with what their neighbors think thank their own financial future. In other news of note, I've recently put in my application to do some substitute teaching. I have a pretty flexible schedule so I look forward to being able to do this once or twice a week. I went by my old elementary the other day and let all my past teachers know, I'm pretty excited to be going to back to Ephesus Elementary now and then. Have a great weekend.

Purple Haze

Well I couldn't of predicted this a couple weeks ago. Two of the best football games I've ever attended were back to back, and the Pirates came out on top of both. Holding the #8 team in the country WVU to 3 points was something special, but the excitement of the last minute win against Virginia Tech was exciting as it gets. The Pirates now hold a #14 ranking in the AP Poll and Coach Skip Holtz has just signed on to another six years at East Carolina!I have to admit, it sure was fun to be back in Greenville. I've got some friends that still live there that are nice enough to put us up for the weekend. With the success of the football team this year, the hotels are getting booked faster than the ECU students who rushed the field.

So when I haven't been engulfed in football this past couple weeks I've been working. My BNI group I wrote about last week is taking off, we had 7 new visitors this week that are all interested in joining. One moving to the area so hopefully we'll be out looking at some homes soon. It really is a great time for people to be home shopping, the interest rates just made another drop as well.

But what do you do if you are stuck in a home that just won't sell? There is something you'll see more of in the future, but it's been around for ages, Auctions. I don't want to call it a trend or say this form of selling real estate will take over, but I do feel there are properties out there that will benefit more from this type of sale. In some countries this is the primary means of selling real estate. I've seen some around Chapel Hill recently, so I signed up and took a course offered by Auction First North Carolina, Inc. It was a 4 hour course on just the fundamentals but what I learned was really eye opening.

First of all, it is amazing the response a AUCTION sign gets over the regular listing sign. As well as the online response from all over the world, auctions seem to attract a whole different breed of buyer. A home on Franklin Street here in Chapel Hill was listed with 3 agents over two years and no sale. They hired an auction company and were offered over their last listing price, and the buyer was from China! I really feel that real estate auctions will only find success in hard to sell and unique homes, but it is a great option to have for my buyers and sellers. Regular real estate licencees such as myself are working with buyers and sellers in these auctions, now I too am armed with all this information. I'll be interested to see where auctions go in the future, but with homes sitting on the market so long here in 2008 don't be surprised to see a sign near you.

I'm currently serving on the membership committee for the Chapel Hill Board of Realtors. My responsibilities are to head up a social function or two through out the year. I'm in the process of planning the 2nd Annual Young Realtor event to be hosted by The Franklin Hotel in downtown Chapel Hill. Last year the 35+ crowd felt a bit left out, so this year the theme will be more based on if you "feel young". I do, so I'll be there. I also have my friends Whitney Long & Rob Hale sponsoring the event, it's easier to attract a crowd when you're giving out a few free drinks.

Kicking Up Business

Almost a month since my last update on here, there's no excuse. Maybe I've been watching just too much of the Olympics which is finally over. August has moved pretty fast for me, I kicked off the month with a birthday. I'm 27 now, I can already tell I'm looking much older than when I was 26. I've started playing in a kickball league this month. That's right, kickball. Raleigh has an organization for adults that runs co-ed sports from flag football to dodgeball. I would rate it better than finding a slinky on top of a tall staircase.

I've spent this past weekend working with some old friends from high school. They are living up north but see the opportunity for investments here in the Triangle. They are Chapel Hill guys, so trying to show the places I liked in Durham was a hard sell. I think they agreed after seeing downtown that there is too much revitalization going on to be ignored. The growth in Durham and it's support from it's neighbors will only help our area as a whole. Durham has a stigma that for some people is hard to shake, but I feel I'm doing a good job of disproving it with every client I get out.

As a self employed professional you have to always be looking at ways to improve and grow your business. Networking is a key to being successful in real estate, if no one knows you then good luck drumming up a sale. I've been attending the local Chamber events and visited their leads group on occasion, but never got the feel it was greatly improving my business. Two minutes with someone drinking a glass of wine at a 6:30pm Chamber event is not catapulting my career. The odds are they will talk to 8 other Realtors before they leave too, we seem to be everywhere.

I was recently invited to a Durham BNI leads group as a guest of another Realtor. She was the only Realtor there, in fact there was a rule that limited it to one person from each field. This was a leads group that met for an hour once a week. They passed referrals back and forth, one after the other. They had gotten to know each other well and were comfortable with who they were giving leads to. The agent I attended with does several transactions a month from her group alone. That's all I needed to hear and see, I along with a friend have the ball rolling on our own, and the first, BNI group in Chapel Hill. We have about 10 members and they are a really good group of folks. I was somehow appointed President so I'll be busy increasing the size of our group and my business over the next few months.

I'm very much looking forward to this Labor Day weekend. As many of you know I'm an ECU grad and they will be playing football in Charlotte this weekend against Virginia Tech. I'll be staying with a friend there who just got a new boat, which means Sunday will be spent on Lake Norman. Hopefully the weather will hold out for us as I'll be outside 90% of the weekend. I got season tickets this year, which translates into several trips back to Greenville. It's nice to have gone to school so close, I always look for excuses to get back for a weekend and now I've got 3 or 4 of them. Go Pirates!

How Free It Is

I am moving in on my favorite days of the week, finally. I have a closing at noon today, which kick starts my weekend on the right foot. Last week I was on vacation but that didn't stop me from having to work quite a bit. My family had taken a week off down at Emerald Isle, it was nice to relax and play with my nieces & nephew. We also got the good news my Mom & Dad both passed their real estate exams. They have no plans to use them as of now, but I know first hand how hard that darn test is so I was proud.

I had to rush home from the beach Thursday to get back into the office. I was really looking forward to that weekend as my good friends Matt & Andrea would be getting married. We got in a round of golf with the groomsmen Friday, then it was off to the rehearsal dinner. It was held in the Pope Box above Kenan football stadium. The music, food, company and view made it a great event. They tied the knot Saturday, had a grand reception at the Farrington House and are enjoying a honeymoon in the Mayan Riviera as I type.

My clients that have a closing today asked me a funny question a few days ago. We are looking over the closing statement and they asked, "Where does it say what we pay you?" I was working with them as buyers and they fell under the misconception I've dealt with many times before. "You don't owe me a dime" I said. They gave me a funny look like I had screwed something up so bad I was not charging them, luckily that wasn't the case.

In most cases, the seller is paying both sides of the commission. When an agent lists a home for sale, that commission they charge is going to be split in two. The agent selling the home will receive half, the agent who brings the buyers will receive half. Now this isn't the same in all areas, or with For Sale by owners for example, but this is the common practice. It is something the public should be more educated about, how many buyers drive around aimlessly looking for homes when they could be riding with an agent for free?

Although I should always make that clear on day one of working with a buyer, I've yet to have someone complain when they find out at the end. I know the folks today will be happy to write a smaller check. After today's closing I have to return this guy pictured below. Sammy here has been staying with me for the week while his family is off on vacation. I'll miss having her around, I've been wishing I could get my own dog. I'm just out of the house too much that I think it would be unfair.

Even though we have my favorite days coming up, it's mostly work for me this weekend. Going to see the new Batman movie at the iMax theatre tomorrow night which I'm looking forward to. Sunday is looking pretty good as well, get to see the Embers play live while I float around a pool, not bad. Somewhere in the middle of all that I'm putting two new homes on the market as well. Don't forget it's my birthday next Friday, you may send any gifts to 1520 E. Franklin St, Chapel Hill, NC. Have a great weekend.

Good times aren't far away

Howdy, I hope everyone survived their Monday. It has to be my least favorite day of the week, as I'm sure is everyone else's. This is a week of getting organized for me. When I am busy concentrating on my current clients, the rest sits in the shadows a bit. I'm essentially running my own business, so being on my own I can get backed up with all the little things at times. My parents are taking their real estate licensing tests next week, so maybe I'll have two new assistants :) They'll have to pass the test first!



So the new iPhone was released just a few days ago, making my original even more ancient. Luckily the phone loaded the new software when I plugged into itunes, so I've been distracted with it all day. The 100's of applications they make available are amazing. It has to be the best business tool ever invented, I could go camping for a week and still get all my business done with that alone. I'm getting addicted to applications like these, Learning Rocks!

So if you haven't heard the bad news about the economy right now you may as well be living under a rock. There is one factor that is really slowing the housing market, the mortgage crisis. The government is now bailing out Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac, which are private companies but with big government ties. They account for about $5 trillion in loans, many of which should have never been given out. Chances are when you got your loan, Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae bought up this loan. If they were to go under, hardly anyone would be getting a home loan and the economy would sink deeper. Luckily the government is smart enough to prevent this from happening.

A large effect this is having is how it's portrayed in the media. It scares consumers into buying homes, more scared to have to sell their home. What the mortgage fiasco has essentially done is supply loans recklessly for the past several years, and it's all catching up now. There are still great loans available, you are just going to need better credit and more money down. It probably is a good thing the days of 100% financing is over, as we have seen many of these homeowners fall into foreclosure.

I've spoken with many people recently who are looking to buy a home but want to put it off. There is a lot of fear in America's consumers right now. I have read articles recently telling homeowners to take any offer they can get, reduce their prices to what they can afford to lose. The market isn't in shambles around here, so I won't be telling my sellers that anytime soon. The economy and housing market could use a nice boost though, and neither of those historically seem to happen quickly. Let's just hope it's sooner than later.

In better news, I'm excited to be heading up to Portsmouth, VA to see Widespread Panic this Saturday night. The pavilion there has to be one of my favorite venues. It's all general admission so you can easily get right up front, it's right on the water and they even have water taxis over to the show. This makes my 5th time seeing them play there, and at least the 30th+ time I've seen them altogether. It gets better just about everytime, especially because it's not quite as often these days. I'll be sad to miss their 2 night run in Charlotte next weekend, but I imagine I'll be having a better time at friends Matt & Andreas wedding here in Chapel Hill. Until next time...

Breaking Stereotypes

The 4th of July is just but a day away. I'll be heading towards the coast for a few days of vacation. My clients who planned on coming in for the weekend have opted not to come until Tuesday, so I couldn't be happier about that. I'm sure I'll still be busy on my phone & laptop, but at least it will be in the sun. The destination is Topsail Beach, then a day or two of Wilmington to visit a friend.

I've been staying pretty busy for the season. The summer is typically a bit slower for most agents, but then again the past year has been too. With 2 closings already scheduled for July and a full month ahead, I'm feeling great about the second half of this year. During my final stay at our companies kiosk, I actually managed to pick up some good leads. I'm still feeling a bit odd about sitting in the mall though, so I plan on keeping myself off the schedule.

Kelly & my nephew Wyatt stopped by for a visit, then back to shopping

I was never too aware of the stereotypes associated with real estate agents until I got started. Many of them are exaggerated, especially in films like this, but I wanted to touch on just a few that affect me. The median age of a Realtor is 52, exactly double my age. Many folks are out of their corporate jobs taking a chance on real estate. Right away they are labeled with more experience because of their age, when I have sold two or three times as many homes.

I have been told on several occasions, "we really like what you offer but have decided to go with someone a bit older." In some cases they have just chosen someone who works "part time", may follow up on a call from the sign out front, and if you are lucky get an ad in the local paper. I am available 24/7 for my clients, I follow up every lead, and I'm proficient in the internet where 95% of homebuyers are starting their search. The list goes on, but this may give you an idea. It feels like being the best player on the team but starting behind the coaches son.

The only other stereotype I'll have time for is that real estate agents "only care about making a sale". There are agents out there like this, which helps in feeding the stereotype. A new agent just retired from the corporate world, wants more time with the kids and will sell a house from time to time. This is what hurts our image the most; a home will be most folks biggest purchase in a lifetime, and there are some incapable agents out there looking to "sell you a house and get their check."

I have dealt with a few agents who return calls 2 days later, ignore multiple offers at the thought of all that work, and overprice a home just to get the listing. All these things I have picked up on the past few years really irk me, but they help me in improving my business. I get a thrill in negotiating the best deals for my buyers, and getting the most for my sellers. It makes it that much easier when on the other side may be a part time realtor looking to make a quick sale. Now don't get me wrong, there are lots of great agents out there, many of whom I learn a lot from each transaction. However the amount of incompetency in this business can be a little bit scary, something my clients won't ever have to worry about.

I hope everyone has a great 4th of July weekend!

It's good to be #1

Well it sure was nice to be home this past weekend. After several weeks on the road I finally got to stay put and spend some time around Raleigh. It's nice living in a town so close to where I went to school, in only two nights I saw a lot of faces that I haven't seen in a while.

This past Saturday was our season ending Lawn Wranglers cookout. That's the softball team I was playing on for those wondering. At first I was pretty disappointed I couldn't be in attendance because of a day long open house. In a way that couldn't of worked out any better, I got the house sold on Friday and was back in control of my weekend.

Shannon had some mint growing in her garden so we drank mint juleps, cooked on the grill and played some yard games. We also surprised Lars with a gift the girls made him for coaching this season, a gold shiny cape. He will certainly be the only pitcher wearing one on the mound next year, but after this season it will be tough surprising any teams with our dress code. From BK Knights, to jean shorts & yellow jump suits, we may not have been the best team but it sure was fun.

Over at the office, a Triangle newspaper recently had it's readers vote Fonville Morisey as the #1 real estate company in the triangle. It was no surprise either that Kiplinger's has just rated Raleigh as the #2 place to Live, Work, & Play. Their rankings involve criteria like local economy & activities, but also what potential they see in a city. With all the downtown revitalization going on it is clear why it made the list. I was a little skeptical of it all when I saw Fayetteville at #7, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

I have seen our local market making some nice improvements over the last few months. The average home is selling in a weeks less time than when the year started. As other markets have battled depreciation and foreclosures since 2007, we have seen about a $6,000 increase in the average sale price. However, in May of last year about 1,000 more homes were sold, and in 10 fewer days. There is plenty of room for improvement and I see these changes starting to happen. I can say that I am open and ready for business, and glad to see it's coming in.

I wanted to say congratulations to good friends James & Brooke Kirkpatrick who were recently married. They had a splendid wedding & reception in the bride's hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. Best wishes to you both.

For those of you wondering where the koozies are, don't fret. They got off the press as of about an hour ago and should be arriving in you mailboxes in no time at all.

Fore!

Hope everyone is doing well. It's time to get back to work for me. I've had the benefit of being able to visit the beach the past couple weekends; it's so hard to get in the car and leave on Sundays. I'm usually with clients on the weekends so it's nice to get some time for these things. This past weekend I was down in Myrtle Beach with a group of friends and I spent Memorial Day weekend down at Topsail Island. Talk about two different places.






We had perfect weather for golf this past weekend. The squirrels at this course were especially friendly, this guy rode in our cart for the back 9. I've played quite a bit of golf lately, I hit an eagle a few weeks back and thought I was on my way to being a decent golfer. I proved to myself this weekend that I was mistaken.

We had our company golf tournament not too long ago and it was a blast. There were plenty of trophies given out, but none to our foursome. All the proceeds for this event went towards MS.

So here is the new place, a good size bigger than the old cottage. I've got a lot of work along with a lot of moving to do this week. We got the truck unpacked on Wednesday but took off for the weekend so the place is still a mess. It doesn't quite feel like I moved yet, I've barely spent anytime there so far. I will say it was nice to go 1 minute up the road for Char-Grill burgers & shakes the other night, food doesn't come much better than that.

Up until now, I've spent plenty of time in Raleigh but this is my first time living here. I'm excited to start spreading out my business. I'm going to remain based out of the Chapel Hill office for the time being. I really like the people there, and we have 13 other Fonville Morisey offices I can use. I'll have to tour some of the other offices soon and see which one I'd like to make my regular stop. My goal for the time being is to learn a little more about the Raleigh market, and just how to get from place to place for that matter.

I wanted to also give a quick mention to my new roommate and attorney at law Rob Hale. I had a closing scheduled with him last week and the lender botched things beyond belief. We thought the closing was never going to occur, but Rob got us in his office last minute and made it happen. It was the type of service I couldn't have gotten anywhere else, so he'll be getting a lot more of my business in the future.

Oh, almost forgot, I'm at the Kiosk today. Maybe it's just a slow day, but I'm pretty sure this was a waste of time for me. No one even seemed to approach the darn kiosk, oh well.

Attention Shoppers...

Welcome back. This past weekend seemed to fly by as usual, it always seems to when there's a lot going on. My folks took off for the beach Saturday, so I spent Friday with Mom & the rest of the family. The rest of the weekend was spent showing houses and celebrating some friends' graduations. Congrats again to my friend Andres, good luck out west!

So my company has decided to get a kiosk over at Southpoint Mall. Of course I signed up at the first opportunity, I think I'm going to be there for some 3-6 afternoon sessions in the coming weeks. I'm not sure what to think of it, but I figure it's worth a try.

Just so I'm not next to the kiosk where they try and re-use that sand stone on your hands when you walk by. Otherwise I will be forced to voice my opinion on the sanitation issues related with their whole marketing strategy. The folks at the massage kiosk seem pretty dedicated to their craft. Maybe I'll be next to them.

I talked in the last blog about listings & having home owners wondering why in the world their place won't sell. Aside from the fact that showings are down, I feel many agents are actually expecting the same thing. Put the house in the MLS, let it show & sell. I don't feel there is ever a time for that, especially now.

You could sell real estate for 40 years and have trouble explaining exactly what sells a house. I was selling one home some folks came to see & passed. The owners put in new switch plates all over the house in the time being. When the buyers came back a couple weeks later they decided to make an offer, "because the recent upgrades looked great" their agent went on to say.

This is what makes selling homes such a challenge and each one unique. For the long list of strategies I use and all the different marketing I'll put out, you rarely know what exactly captures each buyer. This is one way I've been trying to separate myself from the competition. I'm using every tool I have to market my listings and reaching out to every buyer that walks through that door.

As for the Land Transfer Tax I urged you folks in Orange County to vote against, well the results are in and it was overwhelmingly rejected. Still shaking my head that the council spent $100k of our tax dollars promoting it. http://wral.com/news/local/politics/story/2830778/

Unfortunately I will be ending on a sad note. Our family dog Murphy passed away recently, she was a week shy of 15. We are all grateful she

lived such a long & happy life. She truly was a miracle dog that gave us a few good scares over the years but just kept on truckin'.
You'll be missed Murphy.

A Blog is Born

Well hello there. Here goes my first blog, even though I'm not quite sure what a "blog" is supposed to be. I know with the industry I work in it is highly encouraged, anything to get peoples attention I guess. Hey and if your reading this, I guess that's a good start.

I'll try to catch you up on my year so far. I've been living in a one bedroom cottage right in downtown Chapel Hill. It's the first time I've lived alone, and it's not as bad as I anticipated. I thought it may be a bit boring, but I think it actually forces me to get out a lot more. For example, last year I went to the gym maybe 3 times. So far this year I've been running & at the gym about about 3 times a week. Truth be told, my real motivation has been to hit a homerun in our co-ed softball league. Sadly, I don't think this is going to happen. Our record is 1-5, so I probably need to just try and get some base hits.

2008 started quite slow for a lot of Realtors. Our market has seen good numbers in 2007 while other markets tumbled, however 2008 has started with one of the worst first quarters in over a decade. Some way or another during this time I became busier than I have been in the past couple years. I have been listing homes here in Chapel Hill, but a large portion of buyers I have been working with are in the Wake County area. That trend along with a need for some change has led me to plan on a move to Raleigh. Don't get me wrong, I love Chapel Hill and anticipate a return in the not so distant future.

There is a phrase in real estate that "If you list you last". In my opinion, right now if you list what you have is a lot of sellers getting impatient and not a lot of answers. The inventory is growing, and the number of showings & closings is lower. Our area home prices are staying strong however, increasing in many areas of the Triangle. We have an increase in job growth here, and the interest rates are low, so why aren't homes selling?

In my opinion these other markets are the factor. You bought a house in Depreciationville, FL and you are dying to move to our area, you've heard so much about it. But wait, the house you paid $525,000 for is listed at $500,000, it's been on the market 5 months and you haven't received an offer. I could list many reasons, like the fact we'll be facing $4 a gallon this summer, but home sales outside our market play a big factor. So pat your local realtor on the back for pricing homes with some sense over the years, providing our market a long history of solid but steady appreciation.

You can vote early, so please do.
In Orange County, please Vote No on the Transfer Tax. http://www.newsobserver.com/news/orange/story/1048063.html This tax would force very few to pay for the benefits of so many. It has strongly been opposed, but the City Council has an agenda of it's own I guess. I bet the guy who steals my business cards off the table at Peak Fitness will vote yes, because he obviously isn't thinking clearly (don't let me catch you guy).

Should have a new entry every couple weeks, thanks for reading.