When you are looking for anything, you most likely grab your phone and look it up online first. We would like to make the case for not conducting a home search online, even though you are reading this online! I doubt anyone who has spent any amount of time on the Internet will be surprised to learn that it's filled with misinformation, some of it intentional some unintentional. The internet is really the last place you should be looking for a Realtor or a house. Listing information can be outdated. Zillow's "Zestimates" and every other automated valuations (including ours) provide rough valuations at best. While "Best Realtor" websites are deceptive, and more. This week we are going to discuss when the internet is and is not your friend in real…

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Rents are skyrocketing, and while the labor market is strong, salaries are not keeping pace with inflationary pressures combined with ever increasing rents. Whether you're looking to buy for the first time and saving for a downpayment or those looking to sell and then rent, the challenge of renting is unstable housing  costs. Ideally you could budget a specific amount of money per month for housing however volatile rental costs are making this extremely challenging. Below we review the state of the market and offer some common sense ways to stabilize housing costs through homeownership.

State of the Market


According to the ATTOM Data 2022 Rental Affordability Report, owning a home is more affordable than renting in the majority of the…

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Are you part of the 19% of home buyers that are waiving inspections? We would like to speak directly to this audience in The Triangle. As a buyer of an existing home or a new construction property, a home inspection is critical to protecting your interests. We know buyers are burnt out and sellers are not going to likely consider any inspection related requests for consideration and that buyers are currently forced to accept this or lose many tens of thousands of dollars should they decide to terminate their offer due to what they've learned from a quality home inspection, we still believe there's never a good reason time to forgo home inspections, even if it's just for your informational purposes.

What is the risk of forgoing inspections on…

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We have been experiencing constricted inventory for nearly three years here in the Research Triangle area and buyers are becoming increasingly anxious as mortgage rate increases are on their minds. Doing everything they can to win multiple offer situations from making sight unseen offers, waiving appraisal contingencies, making their offer "As-Is", and granting seller possessions after closing for free. Simply being truly "Pre-Approved" or offering cash is standard practice and expected. However none of these accomplish much if you are outbid. The best strategic advice for buyers in looking in the Chapel Hill, Durham and Raleigh NC area, is to shop below budget. Here are the reasons why.

Bidding Up

It can be very deflating news to read that you…

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You can't watch TV or read the news without wondering with rising global temperatures what the impact of weather, storms and droughts can be expected and what the implications are for our homes.

Should I move?

According to a report by Realtor.com, 78% of buyers took incidences of natural disaster into account when choosing where to buy their home. Further, it reported that 34% of existing homeowners have considered selling their houses and moving to a new location because of the changing climate. While we do not need to go into the devastation of the fires in 2021, we know that many of our new transplants from Silicon Valley came here for a combination or reasons including the threat of fires and drought. You cannot completely remove your risk…

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There is no doubt that the lifestyle on The Triangle is hard to beat. We are regularly ranked in top places to raise a family and achieve work life balance. We have great restaurants, and much more, however certain areas are not for everyone. My NC Homes have been Realtors in Chapel Hill for many years and the three of us have more than 60 years of collective experience, we have a knack for knowing what area suits what buyers. To help, we have compiled this list in particular for Chapel Hill. If you are looking for Chapel Hill Real Estate, please click here! If you are looking for Cary, Pittsboro, or Durham, we are also experts in this area, so click on the links.

Food

Bon Apetit Magazine ranked Chapel Hill as one of the foodiest small towns in…

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Are you sitting on a large holiday bonus? Have you had a windfall financially and are considering paying off your mortgage early? This is a common question our clients ask us and many are often a little surprised to hear us tell them that it isn't always the best idea and that depending on a variety of individual factors it may not be in their best interest to focus exclusively on paying off their mortgage. There are a number of consideration when considering whether you should pay off your mortgage particuarly if they have other debts besides their mortgage.

Considerations

Prepayment Penalties

Did you know you can be penalized for prepayment? Lenders count on the interest of your loan, so paying off early to save on the interest may require…

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It occurred to us as we head into the holiday season, that our recent market coverage content is similar to A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. A cautionary tale for the Seller waiting for prices to rise another 15-20%. While home prices continue trending upwards right now, they are decelerating or slowing as the Fed has made it clear that it intends to raise interest rates in the next few months. For those looking to sell their home and buy another, sooner may be better than later before rates start to increase. But you do not have to take our word for it. This week, we assembled the top real estate expert predictions for the housing market in 2022.

In our research we came across a wide array of “expert” opinions on the real estate market. Which…

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The past two years have presented a number of unpredictable conditions for the housing market, confounding experts, and novice housing observers. What do you get when you add global supply shortages, labor shortages, a rapid shift in buyer preferences, to a housing market in short supply? Moreover, what also should we expect with regard to inflation and mortgage rates? Is the recent surge in demand and pricing indicative of a boom or are we in for a big bust? Should I buy or sell right now or wait this out? In this Blog, we are going to take a look at the past to give insight to the current housing market. Be sure to check out the link below to last weeks Blog to see what we believe the future holds for home prices here in the Triangle

What are…

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We are seeing home after home sell quickly to buyers making offers well over the asking price, often without contingencies, and with great terms for our Sellers. Buyers continue going to great lengths to ensure that their offer is sufficient to win in multiple offer situations; or are buying new construction homes, depsite the lack of flexibilty that builders are offering and the uncertainty of delivery date due to supply side issues. From 2020 on we have seen month after month of price increases which begs the question, will we have an adjustment in The Triangle and if so; what will it look like. We have compiled information from the leading sources on inflation, mortgage rates, and what the market did in October to help explain prices. Let’s look at…

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