Triangle Area Real Estate News & Information

If you're reading this, then you're clearly wondering what it's like to buy or sell a home with My NC Homes.

We felt the best way to answer this was to have clients who have bought, sold, and referred friends and co-workers to us share their experience.

Stacy and her husband Jon have worked with Larry as first-time home buyers, move up buyers and first-time sellers. In 2012, just having moved to Durham from Maryland, Stacy and Jon had been in the area for less than a year when they decided to buy a house. Still being new to the area they had a lot to learn about the different neighborhoods and what to keep in mind for value, resale, and what they considered important.

How did you first meet Larry and My NC Homes?

Stacy: Larry had a property listed on Zillow that Jon and I were interested in checking out.I explained what we were looking for and what I liked about the property that he had listed. I remember having a fireplace was really important to me. I was really focused on the vision I created of being at home with Jon and what our life was going to look like living together.

Did Larry keep those wishlist items in mind as you looked at homes?

Stacy: He did keep our wishlist in mind, but he also helped us understand there is a lot more to consider than paint color or how someone had decorated their home. He had a lot of knowledge about what things you often aren’t thinking of the first time you buy a home, for example, will we be close enough to the things we enjoy without isolating ourselves? At the time we hadn’t had our children and were still hosting a lot of gatherings, but going out too.

There are so many options when it comes to choosing a real estate agents or broker. Why did you ultimately decide to work with Larry and My NC Homes for both your home purchases? 

Jon: As Stacy mentioned he really helps you consider the things you're apt to overlook when you are excited about a location or layout. I think like many home buyers, we tend to fall in love with the features of a home, Larry, Andrew and Lauren look beyond the "gorgeous kitchen" or "new hardwood floors" for example and focus on the mundane, often overlooked items like whether the roof needs replacing, is the crawlspace in good shape, are the front steps sinking, can you hear the highway, is there planned future development nearby and how might this impact the property's value.  Stacy and I are more prone to look at whether a house has dormer windows and oohing over a sunroom or a bonus room for our boys to play in, while they're focused on the big picture; taking everything into consideration. 

From our own personal experience as well as what our friends who've worked with them we can say that they aren't salesmen in the traditional sense. Larry wasn’t just trying to get us into a home so he could make his commission, we and the people we referred to My NC Homes found them to be very honest throughout the process, great communicators and doing everything possible to help us make smart informed decisions.  

Being first time home buyers when you first met, how did Larry prep you for the process  of buying?

Stacy: Larry was very communicative by email, which was great because Jon and I both work, so I didn’t have time to hop on phone calls. And I could read the emails at my pace. He laid out all the steps and gave us advice on what to expect at each phase. He prepared us for the amount of paperwork, because goodness there is A LOT of paperwork involved with applying for a loan. We realize in retrospect that the in-depth explanations about the paperwork, the process and what to expect helped keep our stress to a minimum and made the entire process much easier all the way around. 

If Jon and I got discouraged or worried he would relay his experience. He helped us understand what to expect during the home inspection related negotiations. He and Andrew both have a lot of experience as builders and the team has a lot of great contacts both in the building/home improvements community as well as with inspectors, lawyers, lenders etc. We found having someone who was available to consult with and who could point us in the right direction to be extremely valuable. 

Since that time your life changed quite a bit. You sold your first home and bought another. You asked Larry to help sell your first home. Sometimes people think a broker or agent can’t advocate well on both the buying and selling side, but your experience says otherwise. Why?

 Jon: Larry sat down with us to prepare   us for the selling experience. We were   ready for a bigger house after our   second child was born. It is amazing   how much space an infant and a toddler take up, but we also have two dogs and   Stacy works from home. We were   starting to feel very very cramped. By   this time, Stacy and I knew the area   better and had been to more   neighborhoods and fell in love with   different parts of Durham. Our lives, our priorities and our wishlist had changed.   Larry came over with data, but he also   brought his expertise. He told us what   our house would likely sell for and   about how long we could expect to stay listed as Active on the market. He turned out to be right on both counts. He helped us consider a variety of scenarios and shared his thoughts on how to best proceed in order to minimize the stress of having to sell so that we could buy. He hired a professional stager to consult with us in terms of getting the house "show shape", paid to have the house professionally photographed, had an appraiser come in to measure the house and create a floor plan for marketing, and even had a cleaning crew come in as soon as we'd moved out so that we could focus on getting settled into the new house rather than spending time cleaning the house we were selling for the buyers. 

How were the negotiations being on the selling side of the due diligence process?

Stacy: Well, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but Larry was straightforward and helped us understand what really should be addressed versus what was a nice to have. Of course there was a part of me that just wanted to shut my eyes when the home inspection report came back, but Larry helped me see the big picture and how it all works out with between leaving one house and moving into another. We felt he did a great job negotiating with the buyer’s agent on what we would fix and what we wouldn't address

You’ve recommended Larry and the My NC Homes to a few of your friends. How many worked with him?

Stacy: Four in total. Two of those friends relocated from Maryland to the Durham and Chapel Hill area. And those two friends couldn’t be more different. One is a bachelor and the other married with two kids. Their priorities and desires couldn’t be more different. They also helped two local friends buy their homes.

What one word would you use to describe the My NC Homes team?

Jon: Knowledgeable. When you first sit down with them it doesn't take more than a couple of minutes before you know they know what they are doing. You need someone that is in this for you, not just to get you in a house. And you want the person that you are working with to know a lot, not just about homes, but also about the area and can help you figure out not only what you want now, but also what you're likely to want in the future.