Real Estate Information

Submitted by Judy Burrell:  When flying out of Raleigh Durham Airport (RDU), you may have to deal with parking.  The Airport Authority had built an extensive amount of parking right at the airport, that is great for short trips as it is right at the terminal.  The Airport Authority also has lots of parking at remote lots.  However, a good option for airport parking is at Preflight Parking.

Preflight Parking is located at 9600 Lumley Road in Raleigh.  As you enter the secure parking lot, the attendant tells you in which row to park your car.  In a couple of minutes the small Preflight bus comes by and picks you and your bags up right at your car.  Yes, they even load your suitcases into the bus for you.  Then they deliver you to the curb at your airline’s terminal, and unload your bags for you.  When you return from your trip, the bus picks you up and takes you back to their secure parking lot and drops you off right at your car.  Again, they will carry your suitcases for you.  This is especially convenient if you are a woman traveling alone, as I have been on several occasions. 

Another convenience is you can arrange for Preflight to do certain maintenance items on your car while you are one your trip.  They will do safety inspections, tune ups, car washes and other things.  If you have a safety inspection due for your car registration, this is particularly convenient.  Also, they will put your car at the front of the parking area, and drop you off first, if you have work done.   

The cost of the remote Park and Ride lots at RDU is currently $6 per day and if you park in the big parking structure between the two terminals, the cost will be $10 per day.  However, if you print out the Preflight coupon at www.prelight.com, the cost of parking at their secure lot where they pick up and deliver you directly to your car is only $6.25 per day or $41 per week.  What a deal!!

Here’s a tip.  You can make a reservation for your car so that you can be assured the lot will not be full when you arrive.  This is especially important during busy holiday times, as they will turn you away if the lot is full and you do not have a reservation.  You can also join a Frequent Parker's program that will let you park there even if the lot is full.

Preflight’s phone number is 919-782-6230, and for more information click here

from Tim Burrell:  When you move, all the networks you had at your old home are gone.  When you come to the Triangle, you need to get someone help you get re-established and give you the connections and tips that make life easier.  A short story will illustrate the point.

I renewed my drivers license yesterday.  When I drove up to the Division of Motor Vehicles office, I could see the line extend out the door, where 8 people were standing in the sun in 94 degree heat.  Inside the line snaked back and forth twice along the length of the the waiting area just to get to the first contact with a government representative.  One those waiting got past there, there were rows of chairs, all full, that they had to wait through.  Once they worked their way to the front of the chairs, when their number was called, they could actually start the process of getting a new license.  It would take hours for the those who do not know the system to wait through the line.  The new laws about Homeland Security make the process much more difficult and time consuming.

I had an appointment.  I went past those sweating in the sun, skipped the snaked line, when to the desk, got the next number, bypassed all the chairs, and went to the next available examiner.  From the time I parked my car to the time I walked out of the office with the new license was 28 minutes, most of which was taking the test and waiting for my picture.  The trick is to know how the system works to make it as easy as possible on you.  In this case, the trick is the appointment.  It is unfortunate that the Division of Motor Vehicles does not tell people that it is much easier with an appointment.

When you deal with families that move into town that need to re-establish their life all the time, you learn the ways to make their lives easier.  Drivers licenses is one example. Dealing with Utilities is a second example.  School information and procedures is another.  Special needs and medical requirements is a fourth.  Connecting to religious organizations is a fifth.  I could go on and on. 

When I started in real estate, Realtors had value because they knew the homes for sale. Now,  I put all of those on the Internet for everyone to see.  The value of service, and a broad range of service,  is much more important today.     

By the way, you can find what you need for a drivers license in Wake County by clicking here .  It has the basic information, not the tips that come with experience.  If you want more general information about other parts of driving, go to http://www.ncdot.org/dmv/

from Tim Burrell: Realtors have been trained to try to avoid Mortgage Insurance, frequently called PMI (for Private Mortgage Insurance), MIP (for Mortgage Insurance Premium) or MI (for Mortgage Insurance).  It is the insurance a lender requires a buyer to purchase when the amount of the loan is more than 80% of the value of the house.   The reason for the insurance requirement is that it reduces the lender's risk that the buyer will not make the payments, as the insurance steps in if the buyer defaults on the payments.   Loans of 80% or less do not need that insurance, as it is less likely that the borrower will walk away from the loan, and a better chance for the lender to get their money back in the event they need to foreclose.

The reason we avoided it is that the payment was not deductible from your federal income taxes.  If we structured a purchase so that you had an 80% first loan, and a 10% to 20% second loan, there was no Mortgage Insurance as the first loan was only 80% of the value of the house.  Then, the interest on the first and second loans was deductible.

There has been a change in the laws that allows Mortgage Insurance to be dedcutible on homes purchased this year.  Those who predict Congress' behavior believe that law will be extended for next year, and for following years.  However, it does apply for homes purchased now.

So, if you have an opportunity to purchase a home with a loan that is over 80% of the value of the home, and you are working hard to avoid the Mortgage Insurance, you do not have to work so hard if you are buying it in 2007.  As always, consult your tax advisor before you sign anything concerning financing, as the taxing authorities have a nasty habit of having complex regulations, and changing those regulations frequently.

from Tim Burrell:  Forbes magazine studied the major cities around the United States to see which were Sellers Markets and which were Buyers Markets.  Their conclusion:  Raleigh is the top Seller's Market in the United States.

In short, in ranking sellers markets Raleigh is Number 1, San Francisco 2, Austin 3, San Antonio 4, St. Louis 5, Houston 6, Portland Oregon 7.

Here is what Forbes had to say about Raleigh "This scenario is also playing out in Raleigh, N.C., the No. 1 city on our list. Moderate growth and disciplined building over the last five years prevented the market from developing a significant glut. Additionally, a strong local economy has helped contribute to the city's healthy 1.6% vacancy rate.

What's more, the rate of home sales against home inventory was healthy in Raleigh; in this category, it ranked fifth best of big cities, according to Moody's metrics. Even though the market has low vacancy to begin with and displayed strong construction restraint during the housing boom, Raleigh still has the eighth best rate of tightening."

The low vacancy rates in Raleigh is more impressive with the increase in properties owned by investors that are available to rent.  It is also surprising that the inventory ranked so well, as we have a 23% increase in the number of new homes for sale this year compared to last year.

The way they judged a buyer's vs. a seller's market is a simple supply vs.demand analysis of housing stock: At the current rate of sales, how long would it take to sell off the inventory? If that measure comes back high, it is a buyers market, generally over 6 months of supply. If it is low, under 6 months, it is a seller's market.

Click here to take a look at the Forbes Sellers Market Article.

From Tim Burrell:  I started as a Realtor 27 years ago, when every Realtor tried to be everything to the clients.  You prospected for clients, showed them homes or listed their home, handled advertising, held open houses, wrote up offers, negotiated, got papers signed, handled the details from contract to closing,  went to inspections, took care of the follow up paperwork, handled the termite work, dealt with the closing attorney, did the walk through, attended the closing, and did everything else, even cleaning the house when necessary.  No one knew any better.  There was a lot less to do, as the Multiple Listing Service was a book with one picture, there was no Internet with virtual tours, and no one communicated by email, text message and podcast, there wasn't voice mail so you called until you connected, the sales contract was two pages long and there was almost never any problems or litigation after a sale.  Clients had to wait for me to finish one task before I could help with their needs.

My Team now has eight members.  Each one is a specialist, and expert at what they do.  I list and sell homes, representing Sellers.  Liz helps with the listings, doing a great deal of the graphics, Internet marketing, trips to the houses and follow up.  Anthony, Danyelle, Suzanne and Mary represent Buyers, helping them to buy homes.  Melanie handles the sales for our buyers and sellers from the point that contracts are signed until the sale is closed.  Each one of us provides much more service, as the checklists for each specialized job is longer than my original checklist for an entire transaction.  The clients are much happier, as there is a lot more "manpower" providing more service more quickly.  If I do not answer an email within a couple hours, my clients wonder what happened.  Most replies to email come back from me in minutes.  If I do not return a call the same day,  I have told my clients there are two possibilities (1) I did not get the message or (2) I died.

No one person has the range of talents to do all these jobs as well as our specialists, even if they had the time.  My personality is dramatically different from Melanie's.  She loves to pay attention to detail, make lists and check off each item as it is accomplished.  I prefer the big picture, developing the strategies and negotiating my way through the issues.  She is perfect for the detail from contract to closing, while I would not do as well multi-tasking all the details.  I am better at developing the strategies to get a home sold and negotiating everything until the concepts are set in place to get an agreement.    Each of us is doing what we do best, and the client gets a better result because we are the right person for that portion of the job.

An easier way to understand this is to relate it to baseball.  The pitcher has different talents from the catcher.  The first baseman would not be the best center fielder.  This analogy makes it easy to understand the difference between our Team and a solo agent who tries to do everything alone.  We have an entier Team to cover all the bases, right field, center field, left field, pitching and catching.  The solo agent tries to have one person cover the entire field and play all the positions.  No one agent can provide the level of coverage, service and protection of our Team.

It is a great deal more expensive to provide a Team than to be a solo agent.  Yet, we get the benefit of repeat clients and new clients who are referred by our past clients.  Also, we love the thank you notes, letters and emails.  While it costs a lot more, it provides a lot more, and the business grows because of the additional service.  You have seen my other posts about discount real estate firms, and they are a choice for some consumers.  Some consumers would ask their General Practitioner Doctor to do a heart transplant if it saved them money.  I want a heart transplant specialist, along with the Team that the specialist has trained.   If you are a person who enjoys full service, the security that goes with it, and the higher level of success in your purchase or sale, you would prefer being represented by a complete Team. 

By Tim Burrell.  Downtown Raleigh real estate is going through a great transformation.  A new Convention Center is under construction, along with a major Marriott hotel across the street to provide rooms for visitors to the conventions.  This will provide business and visitors for downtown.  But, this is not the most important change, which is the new style of living downtown.

By October of 2008, there will be 3,000 new condominiums completed or under construction in or near downtown.   For example, the RBC Plaza is a 33 story mixed use building on Fayetteville Street where the first floor is retail commercial, the next 7 floors are parking, floors 9 through 22 are parking, and floors 23 to 33 provide 173 condominiums.  These properties command premium prices from the high $200,000's to $760,000 for a top floor corner three bedroom condo with about 2,000 square feet.  They have a great website at  http://www.rbcplazacondos.com .   Another example is West at North, as the name implies located on the corner or North and West Streets.  It is a 17 story building that provides 170 condominiums, with one and two bedrooms.  Some of the two bedrooms have a den with a closet, so they could be three bedrooms.   For more information, visit  http://www.westatnorth.com/

This type of skyscraper condominums is new to Raleigh, so you may wonder if there is a big demand for them.    The RBC Plaza has every unit reserved with back up reservations, so they expect them all to be sold when they start taking non-refundable deposits in the next few weeks.  West at North is just barely past the foundation stages, and they have already sold 60 units, so they are about to increase the sales prices.  One of the completed projexts, the Hudson located on Fayetteville, has 64 units and only 9 remain for sale.  The Hudson has 1 and 2 bedroom units, with one parking space per unit.  To give you an idea of how different this product is, the price per square foot ranges from around $200 to $450.  By comparison, the average price for single family homes selling in Raleigh is $112 per square foot.

Who is buying these properties?  The majority are singles, with ages between 30 and 40.  Many of them come from other big cities, like New York, Boston and Miami.  Another large group of buyers is from Eastern North Carolina, with ties to various places downtonwn, like NC State or that appreciate the arts, museums and other downtown activities.  They are buying these properties for a home base, and a place to entertain,  when they are in town. 

Downtown Raleigh will become an even more vibrant place to visit, and a place live for many of those who like Urban Living.   For more detail on what is happening downtown, visit http://www.DowntownRaleigh.com

By Tim Burrell -  In most areas of the United States, 10% of the Realtors sell about 90% of the houses.  It is a variation of the 20% do 80% rule that applies in many other industries.

I stay in touch with Realtors all over the United States, with several networks.  While Real Estate is a local business, and you need to know the local market, you have to watch what is happening in other parts of the United States.  Why? If they cannot sell their house in Maryland, they cannot buy a house in the Triangle.

For example, you might enjoy Brett Ellis, an old friend in South West Florida.  You can meet him at http://www.topagnet.com .  He tells me that the market their has declined in the past, bottomed out, and it is starting to look better.  To see the information directly, go to http://www.topagent.com/housestat.htm . 

So, if you are thinking of moving to any other area in the United States, you can try to find a Realtor to help you by yourself.  The statistics say you have a one in ten chance of getting a top agent.  Or, you can send me an email at tim@TimBurrell.com and I can find a good one for you.

Submitted by Tim Burrell :

Clients always ask, is it a Buyer's market or a Seller's market?  In the Triangle, that depends on the price.  A Realtor's rule of thumb for the line between a Buyer's market and a Seller's market is when you have a six months supply of homes.  In other words, if homes keep selling at the same rate, if it will take more than 6 months to sell all of the propeties currently on the market, then it is a Buyer's market.

If you have a home priced over $400,000 in the Wake Forest area, there is a 14 month supply of competition, creating a strong Buyers market.  If you have a home priced from $150,000 to $250,000 in the Cary/Apex area, there is a two months supply for a strong Seller's market.

But, what is it like overall?  Balanced between a Buyer's and Seller's market.  For the four county area, there are 11,521 active listings, an increase of 10.7% from last year.  Most of the increase is in new homes for sale, with 23% increase, while resale homes have increased by only 4.4%.  At the rate all the homes are selling, there is a 6 months supply of homes.  Last year, there was a 5 months supply.  So, the market on the average has shifted, but you do not buy the average, you buy only one home.

So, the price range determines whether you are operating in a Buyer's market or a Seller's market.