Single-family housing starts slipped by a minuscule amount in October, just the second month of eight for which starts fell. The new construction housing market continues to show strength, which lends credence to a strong 2013 housing market forecast.

The Housing Market Is Recovering Well From 2011.

What does that mean for folks here in the Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary real estate market? When you look at our Real Estate Market for December of 2012 compared to December of 2011 - you see just how positive this is!

    • The number of sold homes in the Durham, Chapel Hill, Raleigh Market area has increased by 33%
    • Homes in parts of Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary are selling for more money (Orig list price received is up over 2%)
    • The number of Days…

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Newsweek’s annual list of the top high schools in the country was released and a total of 14 Triangle area schools were named. Four in Durham, four in Raleigh, two of Chapel Hill, three in Raleigh and Northwood High School in Pittsboro.

The N.C. School of Science and Mathematics, a boarding school in Durham serving some of the best students from across the state, was ranked 29th on the list of public high schools posted online this week. Raleigh Charter High School was ranked 34th, followed by Woods Charter School in Chatham County at 73rd and East Chapel Hill High School at 88th.

Other schools in the Triangle making the top 1,000 list are Chapel Hill High at 376, Green Hope High in Cary at 390, Carrboro High at 671, Panther Creek High in Cary at…

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This weekend the NY Times Travel section featured an article 36 Hours in Durham Why am I not surprised that they realized what those of us living here already knew; Durham Rocks!

Check out the link to see some of what their writers thought was note worthy here in Durham; then post your own comments on what they missed (a heck of a lot)...

I admit it, I’m prejudiced. My wife and I moved here from Vermont approximately 7 years ago for no particular reason. We were fortunate enough when we arrived to be able to afford to live anywhere we choose and after looking around a good bit we choose to live not far from Duke University in Durham, and we love our adopted home.

Unlike the other areas I work in as a Realtor, Durham is a true city; it’s colorful,…

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Butterfly at Museum Of LifeThe staff really care here. This place isn't just a museum where you can look and read about the subject, you actually get to participate when learning! They have live demonstrations indoors and in the outside areas, they have staff to explain the scientific principles behind the exhibits. It is a real jewel here in Durham.

“Best kid place in Durham”

We went with my two kids and my parents and spent the entire day. There were several exhibits inside that are more for older kids. There was a nice train ride outside (make sure you make an early reservation, it fills up fast) and a petting farm. The butterfly garden was well kept (and humid). There was a large exhibit for the wolves and bears in the back. My older child loved the dinosaur path. Free…

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We're in Chapel Hill, North Carolina this week while I do some research at UNC, and of course we've been dying for some good, official southern food. After going up and down the main drag of Chapel Hill and finding typical college town fare we could easily get in Philly, we heard about Allen and Son. I'd never heard of it, but it seemed pretty well thought of by the locals, and we decided to try it for lunch as we headed towards an antique mall in Hillsborough. We made a good decision.

The building itself is deceptively small, and the packed parking lot made me nervous. I envisioned a long wait for a tiny table and being packed in with impatient, hungry people. Not so! There was plenty of room inside, and we were able to walk right in and sit down…

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We're just seven short days away from the kick off of the 2013 Triangle Restaurant Week and with the opening of so many new and exciting restaurants throughout the Triangle we're all going to need to work up a powerful appetite. Here's the perfect chance to try some of the places you've been meaning to check out. From January 21 through January 27, roughly 6 dozen restaurants (so far, I expect more to come) are offering fixed price three course dinner menus for either $20 or $30 and lunches for $10. It's a great opportunity to enjoy some wonderful food, catch up with some friends, support our local businesses and simply celebrate one of the many reasons that Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh, Cary, and the surrounding area are such wonderful places to live and…

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First there was Zillow and their Zestimate, now we have Trulia offering their own online free estimate and I won't be surprised if before long before Realtor.com starts offering the same.

The public sees these “valuations” and many get confused and occasionally angry at these valuations failing to understand that this purported “data” is about as worthwhile as the answers you get from a childhood toy of mine (that's still being sold today) the Magic 8 Ball. For those of you who don't remember this toy it's a plastic 8 Ball with a small window in it. Inside it's filled with a liquid (I suppose it's water) and there's a die with pre-printed answers on it. You ask the 8 Ball a question, give it a shake and then look in the window for your answer. It's…

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If you're a Realtor, do you wish you had more closing each year? Do you find yourself wishing that the offers you made or received had a greater chance of resulting in a successfully closed transaction? With more than 20 years experience as a full-time Broker and someone who has successfully negotiated and closed on almost 1000 transactions, I would like to suggest that you will dramatically improve your business and bottom line if you prepare your buyers and sellers properly.

Have A Good Talk With Your Buyers & Sellers

Real estate agent talking to clientsTo begin with it's critical to understand that it's a huge mistake to think about real estate transactions in terms of Winners and Losers. Successful real estate transactions are Win-Win and must work for both the Buyer and Seller.…

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There are four significant economic engines that are critical to the vibrancy of Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Durham; collectively referred to as either “the Triangle” or “the Research Triangle”. In no particular order they are Duke University, UNC- Chapel Hill, NC State University and the Research Triangle Park where many a graduating graduate students and/or former employes of one of the above mentioned schools will work at one point in their career.

Since its inception over 50 years ago the Research Triangle Park's vision has remained largely unchanged, but no longer. A week ago a new master plan was officially unveiled to the public and I will admit to being excited about the planned changes that will be taking place as I firmly believe they bode well…

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There are four significant economic engines that are critical to the vibrancy of Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Durham; collectively referred to as either “the Triangle” or “the Research Triangle”. In no particular order they are Duke University, UNC- Chapel Hill, NC State University and the Research Triangle Park where many a graduating graduate students and/or former employes of one of the above mentioned schools will work at one point in their career.

Since its inception over 50 years ago the Research Triangle Park's vision has remained largely unchanged, but no longer. A week ago a new master plan was officially unveiled to the public and I will admit to being excited about the planned changes that will be taking place as I firmly believe they bode well…

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