I Was Framed

Good ol' Labor Day weekend. I took the opposite approach this year; stayed at home, relaxed and caught up on work. I've been on the run & out of town so much lately it was nice to stay settled and not worry about plans. I'm heading over to Umstead State Park this afternoon so I will feel like I'm out of town, at least every few minutes until a plane from RDU flies directly over.

Although I had a nice weekend, I did miss the home opener of my Alma mater ECU. I'm happy they won such and epic game but dog-gone-it I wish I had been there. I know another ECU alum that wasn't at the game yesterday, my sister Kelly. She is due this coming Friday and I'll be an Uncle for the fourth time and have a third niece, very excited about it. Here is a cool blog post my sister made recently.

With sellers scoffing at their projected sale prices lately, I've been contacted about renting their homes out for them more and more recently. I've taken on a few properties and it's been a difficult task to manage compared to selling homes. Finding tenants and showing rental homes can be time consuming with little reward.

I often kick myself for not taking on property management earlier in my career. I'll just try and forget all the rentals I've passed on over all these years and start fresh. The goal for me is to take on what I can manage and treat it as a learning experience as it grows. One thing about residential sales is you can never know it all, I'm sure the same applies to property management.

.

So last week I had a fun debacle. I'll start with a warning, those licence plate frames like the dealer puts on your car: well they are now illegal in North Carolina. I was the lucky recipient of a ticket for this after being stopped in Jacksonville, NC. Not just a fine, but a court appearance was required. See here.

I drove down early Tuesday and get their about 8:45am, I get to see the DA at 11:15am. He dismissed the charge, probably because I had a suit on and may have been the only one in that courtroom who even showered that day. One guy approached the DA with his hat and sunglasses on, I'm sure that went well for him. Let this just be a heads up to everyone, $100 fine and $150 court costs can be your next headache too if you don't remove that frame tag.

That is a disheartening story about my ride home from the beach, but this is a much brighter one and a great idea to boot. When my family visits the beach we pack the fridge like the world is ending. Way too much food is a requirement of any vacation though. That is why this man's idea of collecting items for a local Food Kitchen is such a great idea. The cars are jammed up trying to get off the island and presents the perfect opportunity. Good for that guy, his story here.

.

Well I'm off to get a long trail run in at Umstead Park. I hope everyone has a great short week. This Sunday, September 12, keep Chris Raynor's family and loved ones in your prayers as we celebrate his life one year after he passed.

Family Tides

Coming to you from Emerald Isle. I'm down with the family for our traditional summer beach week. There's twelve of us, including two nieces, a nephew, and I can't forget about a third niece on the way. Somehow I landed the bedroom directly underneath the playroom, I have just pretended sleeping in during vacation was overrated this week.

Here's Most Of The Family At The Waterpark For The Day

I brought an old box of home videos from storage that I'm excited about watching with everyone tonight. After some previews last week, it's so embarrassing to think my sisters & I would bring prom dates to the house and instantly have a film crew in our face. It was also alarming to see some of the foods my sister would feed me during the blind "taste testing game". Not sure how I ever got talked into playing that.

In real estate, The Wehmann Team had a great first half to 2010. Since the tax credit left the market, it would appear that buyers followed suit. In hindsight, a gradual reduction of the credit would of been a much more sensible approach for lawmakers to have taken. Alas, The Wehmann Team continues to list homes and anticipates the return of the buyer as summer progresses. With interest rates hovering around the low end of 4%, it shouldn't be long before they do.

My company Howard Perry & Walston is in the news again. We ranked as the #1 Real Estate Company in the Triangle and one of the top firms in the Nation. You can read more about it here on the HPW Blog.

So today is our last chance to catch a tan (or worse sunburn in my case), our time is up and it's back to reality tomorrow. We've been spending our days down at the beach. You can see from the picture, when there are kids around I have a hard time resting. These castles don't last too long before the tide comes in our my nephew Wyatt runs in to "smash it up".

With some good friends of mine living up in Morehead City for the summer, my girlfriend JoBeth and I took some time away from the family to go visit them yesterday. We had a great dinner up at the Chefs 105 Oyster Bar and enjoyed some drinks over at Jack's Waterside Bar. We also spent time at their home where we got to enjoy the company of their 140 pound bloodhound, Ori.

Well I'm going to grab the shovel and get to making big castles in the sand on my last day. I hope everyone has a great weekend, thanks for reading.

Adult Swim

The one bad thing about summer is almost every day's a pool day & we have to work most of them. At least for the meantime I've put all my buyer clients under contract and will have a free upcoming Saturday or two. Pools without diving boards are such a tease to me. How many flips can I do off a pool side with no spring action, 1, maybe 1 1/2? Bring on the high dive and I won't leave that pool till it closes.

My family went out to the swim club on Memorial Day and it was a blast. My one niece Lily had yet to jump off a diving board so I got her to take her first leap. It's harder than it looks to catch a kid and swim to the side without appearing to be drowning. I also took an elbow to the head in the men's beer bobbing contest and was whistled for running only once.

.

Since my last blog the tax credit has wrapped up and I haven't heard of any new homebuyer credits in the works. Over the run of the credit I worked with 16 buyers who received over $125,000 in government tax credits. I imagine the government will take a step back and evaluate the effect these credits had and go from there. Even with the tax credit gone, there is still plenty of buyer advantages out there. Lot's of eager sellers and low interest rates should continue to drive the market through summer I hope.

So a couple weeks ago I found an old disposable camera that dated back to my ECU days. I couldn't tell you the excitement I had to get those developed. It made my day to be honest and I wished I had more, unfortunately I didn't. That is until my last trip to Charleston when I forgot my camera and got another disposable. I'm tempted to save it 10 years just to be able to have that excitement over seeing some photos again. Speaking of 10 years later, while in Charleston I got to meet up with one of my best friends from summer camp thanks to facebook. I miss ol' Camp Thunderbird.

This Friday my friends will be returning to downtown Raleigh to play at the Berkeley Cafe. Nick & The Babes are a 5 piece band (no babes, sorry guys) featuring my good friends Nick & Graham Bailey. Nick has been quite busy making music outside the band also and has been featured on some TV shows it's likely you've watched. You can read more about their group here, and Nick actually wrote the tunes that play on my website. These guys have a great sound, keep your eyes and ears out for them in the future.

F-R-E-E That Spells FREE

To set the record straight about my last blog, I wasn't attacked by squirrels or skunks. I guess I need to make my April Fool's blogs a little less believable. I had people asking me for months about horse racing last year after I wrote about being selected to train as a horse jockey. Speaking of, I still need to find a Derby party this weekend where I can sip on some mint juleps.

The tax credit deadline is 2 days away and I've had a swarm of 1st time buyers to work with lately. A good education on the buying process is important, but your in good hands once you hire me. It's the financial preparation I find is the most important aspect.

Fix your credit score in advance! You would be amazed at the money you will save and how much more you can afford with a better score. Get some credit score tips and advice on improving it months in advance at least. One important thing to avoid is new lines of credit before you get approved for a mortgage. You will see below some things I would encourage NOT buying before applying for a loan; unless you are paying cash.

It's been a crazy couple months of work and I'm excited to have a free weekend or two coming up. My days all seem to run together lately as a Realtors' job can be 24/7 sometimes. I'm looking forward to taking a trip to Charleston with some friends here in just a couple weeks. It's been a while since my last visit there and I'm all set up staying with a friend right downtown.

I've had the pleasure of spending lots of time with my family lately. We all got together Monday afternoon for a visit to a Durham Bulls game. Aside from having his eyes glued to the man with the cotton candy tower, my nephew Wyatt was lucky enough to score himself a foul ball. I still have a few of those saved from when I was younger, things like that are golden when you are a kid.

Well I'm off, have to go pick up an offer from another 1st time buyer, talk about last minute with only 2 days left. Everyone have a great week and weekend.

Crazy Critters

Well I experienced one of the wildest Mondays in recent history. Most of you know I am a bit accident prone and this week has done nothing to dispel those assumptions. While inspecting a narrow crawl space in a Durham home I came across some unsuspecting house guests. I had to glance twice when my flashlight came across what looked to be a group of squirrels. They didn't take my presence cordially and rushed at me pretty quickly; like some sort squirrel mafia.

I've never seen squirrels behave this way. Like most of you, I'm used to seeing them scatter away up a tree when you come within 10ft. Heck, I've almost wrecked my car on several occasions trying to avoid them in the road. Well after sustaining some minor bite and scratch wounds to my legs I was able to scuttle out of there & immediately called animal control. They discovered over 12 squirrels that had been nesting in there and what they estimated was over 25lbs of assorted nuts. I gathered them up and will likely give them to the buyers as a closing gift.

It was hard explaining my days' events to clients I was meeting later that day. They are working on a short timeline however and weren't letting my squirrel bites get in the way of seeing a few homes that evening. At our last stop of the tour, we venture out in the backyard to peer in this large rustic shed. As I peel the barn style doors open, I'm hit with a spray that had an indescribably awful smell. I catch a glimpse of a little skunk running off and the damage was done. My clients who were right behind me at the time were now almost to the car at full sprint.

.

I was lucky that the spray hadn't gotten on my skin sparring me the ketchup bath, but it did lay some good coverage on the suit I was wearing. The only solution at that point was quite unfortunate for me. After a quick discussion with my clients from across the yard, I dumped the suit in the trash bin and made the awkward drive home in my boxer shorts and undershirt. If your looking for a Brooks Brothers suit with a slight odor, let me know & I'll get you the address.

I'm hoping my future showings are less adventurous and don't involve hostile little critters. I hope you have a great week and of course, don't let yourself get tricked today, it's April Fools.

Here Comes The Sun

The first real signs of Spring have arrived this week and my favorite time of year is almost upon us. Good ol' daylight savings starts Sunday. That means the light doesn't start peering through my blinds for another hour in the morning and when I run in the evenings I can lose the 5lbs of reflective gear my Mom bought for me to wear.

Speaking of running, I am on the Board of Realtors committee that has put together a 5k Run/Walk on March 27th. It will be hosted in the Winmore neighborhood of Chapel Hill, first 100 to sign up receive free t-shirts. It's only $15 and you can sign up through this link. We'll have face painters and bounce houses for this kids, plus the full size Re Max hot air balloon will be on site taking passengers on short rides into the air. If you think I'm full of hot air, come see for yourself.

.

I've been in real estate over 5 years now, and one thing I've found is buying a home isn't the best thing for everyone. It can be smarter to rent sometimes, if you're unsure of job status, family plans, or just happy as could be with the place your in. But most people don't know I help with rentals too. I have a lot of experience working with some great rental companies, and some of the worst. I know ways of getting deposits back, finding the deals and negotiating some cheap rents.

.

Now I can't spend an entire weekend showing out of towners rentals, but I am more than happy to get these folks some local information, set them up with a good rental company, and point them to all the good rental searches online. Most of the hidden gems are on local sites, don't fight the mass at craigslist. So what do I get from all this? When that renter sees how hard I work for them and gets a taste of my local knowledge, they will no doubt come back to me when they are ready to buy or know someone else looking for a great Realtor.

Work has consumed me these past few weeks, all my first time buyers are scrambling to get that tax credit before the April 30 deadline. I have had some time for things of my own, for one I starting doing is reffing for Rainbow soccer, a Chapel Hill league I grew up playing in. I had my first game on Saturday and avoided being yelled out for any bad calls. I hope to find the time in coming years to coach a team but it's too much time commitment, for the time being I'll spend Saturdays blowing the whistle.

For all of you reading, enjoy all the extra sunlight we'll be seeing from now on. I know I'll be out & about, maybe I'll even dust off my old rollerblades. OK maybe not.

Getting My Kicks At Dorthea Dix

My fondest memories of growing up are of snow days in the neighborhood. From trotting around in my over sized cross-country skis to building jumps that would leave us bruised and battered. Nothing some hot chocolate and another day off school couldn't fix, but these days are different. I'm self employed; snow prevents me from working and explaining a broken bone as result of a "sick jump" is hard to tell my clients.

.

It is hard for me to hide the kid inside sometimes. I found a few good hills on my days off, and Dorthea Dix took the cake. I found myself surrounded by a bowl of hills with a grinning face. My girlfriend JoBeth seemed amused by my excitement, and as a school teacher naturally had more fun watching all the kids than sledding herself. It brought back old memories and I rediscovered that although another year older, sledding is still as fun as it ever was.

.

All the homes I was scheduled to show my clients this weekend got postponed, I've been trying to get everyone caught up this week. One client I have wants to be convenient to everything, but not right in the middle of downtown. I pointed her to this site, http://www.walkscore.com/ It rates your address to what is in walking distance, from grocery to bars to eateries, then pushes out a score. It can be useful when relocating to an unfamiliar town, or looking to move within your own city. They also have an iPhone app called Walk Score that calculates your area's walkablity and shows the nearby amenities.
.

One home I showed yesterday had a little scare tactic planned. Unfortunately it was intended for mice but got the best of me. They put a fake rubber snake in front of the refrigerator to scare off mice, but it had me running straight for the door. My clients weren't far behind once I told them what the snake was there for. Not the best marketing piece I've ever seen for a home.

.

There are lots of deals on the market right now, but the best I can find for you is $10. You might need a little luck with that $10, but that will get you a shot at a Chapel Hill town home and a donation to The Parker Reese Foundation. With a second prize of $50,000 and third place $25,000, this is one raffle I think I'll give a try. Check out the website here, if you win and don't want to move, don't fret, I'd be glad to sell the town home for you.

.

I hear in the Triangle we should be getting some more snow this week. That will probably generate some moans from residents here, the kids aren't even back to school yet here. I wonder if the slow street clean up has to do with department budget cuts. I can imagine if their department wants to express frustration over these cuts, a slow clean up is a good public demonstration. Enough of my street sweeper theories though, it's time for me to head over to Chapel Hill for a lunch appointment.

.

Freddie Mac indicated rates could climb to 6% by the end of 2010 or sooner. Right now they are hovering around 5%, so if your thinking of buying get on the ball. Don't wait for higher rates and the tax credits to expire. Thanks for reading!

The Running Realtor

Right now I am sitting at the front desk of the Coldwell Banker office and the phones are ringing again! I've been getting referrals left and right these past couple weeks and can feel this real estate market coming back from the depths. I'll have less competition this year too, many agents couldn't survive the crash and moved on to new careers. Not the Wehmann Team, we set records for 2009 and plan on dominating in 2010.

Outside the office I am making big changes for myself in 2010 too. There are several things I'm set out to do in 2010 I've never done before. Here is a look at just a few, I'll let you decide which ones I'll be taking seriously:

So I couldn't of chosen a worse time of year to train for a marathon, I'm convinced of that much. This cold has been relentless, I've been looking forward to the forecast of it getting up to the 50's this weekend. I survived my longest run of the training so far, a twelve miler this past Sunday. The nice thing about the cold is I focus more on my frost bitten limbs than the fact my knees are giving out with each stride.

In the glamourous world of real estate, I have sat down with too many sellers latelty who want to move, but they bought in 2007 and their values have dropped or stayed the same. "I can't afford to lose $10,000 on the sale, I'll wait until next year once the market has recovered." This has been the reality and many listings I have to walk away from. But not before I give these home owners a realistic option.

.

Take a look at how low interest rates are now and how soft the market it. Say you are moving up, selling your $200,000 home to buy a $300,000 home. You don't want to take a price cut of $10k so you'll wait until next year. But let's say next year the market's recovered, buyers aren't getting the same kind of deals and interest rates are back up. So much for that $10k you "thought" you were saving. Here's a look at the math:

Loan $300,000

Today's Rate: 4.875% 30 year

Monthly Payment $1,589

But you wait until next year and the interest rates are up-

Loan $300,000

Possible Rate: 6.0% 30 year

Monthly Payment $1,798

With these comparisons, you are paying $75,969 more in interest over the life of the loan. That isn't factoring the deal you can get in todays market, or the $8,000 or $6,500 tax credits available. You don't need to see much more to know that NOW is the time to buy, even if it means selling for less than you want. Thank you to Susan Trimmer for these #'s.

If you have read this far, you might be in luck. The first person to answer this question correctly and post the answer in the comment section below gets a $10 Starbucks gift card sent to you, by me.

Q: What James Taylor song reminds first-time buyers to obtain hazard and flood insurance?