Creating an Energy Efficient Home - Is it Worth the $$$

Understanding the Difference between Green and Energy Efficient Building

EnergyStar, ECOSelect, LiveGreen, EnergyPlus, GreenBuilding, Leeds, HERS score, these are just some of the many designations and terms homebuyers may see or hear when looking for a new home. It's easy to understand why many homeowners and homebuyers either lump them all together assuming they are one and the same or ignore them entirely. The truth is while there can be some overlap between "Green" home features and "Energy Efficient or Saving" features they are not one and the same.

Green Home Building 

In order to build green, contractors focus on four main areas, starting with materials. True "green" construction starts with materials that are natural, renewable,…

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Downsizing Smarter; Leveraging Today’s Strong Seller’s Market

My NC Homes is selling homes quicker than we can find sellers and list them. By spending the time and money necessary to properly present and market our seller’s homes, they are being sold either sight unseen (buyers have the confidence necessary because we invest in proper staging, professional photography, virtual tours including 3D walkthrough floor plans, and video) or there are dozens of appointments made typically within hours of the homes hitting the market. Final contract prices are well above asking and we are getting the absolute best terms for sellers. The market is at present strongly favoring sellers and if you were thinking of downsizing to make a move towards retirement or looking for less maintenance and more liquidity, this is an…

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Apple's $1 Billion Investment in The Research Triangle

Apple's $1 Billion Investment in The Research Triangle is an overview of the pledged investment by tech giant Apple in North Carolina and our relocation guide for those moving to the Research Triangle. As if real estate values were not increasing fast enough with the current Chapel Hill/Durham/Cary market, this announcement from Apple will witness even more demand for the already constrained local inventory. The tech industry experienced a boom in 2020 and as North Carolina benefits from the Apple investment, home owners and developers can expect increases in property values. My NC Homes explores the implications and predicts which areas will see the most growth.

Overview of Apple's $1 Billion Investment 

In total Apple is investing $430 billion…

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The 4 Top Predictions for the Housing Market in 2021

We all expected the unexpected when it came to the real estate market in 2020, it was anyone's guess how the housing market would fare. The effect of a global pandemic on markets in the digital age had consequences that are completely unforeseeable, and the boom in the housing market is one of them. Many of our contemporaries and housing economists predicted changes across the board, but few predicted the strength of the market, especially the demand for homes. We have not seen the demand of this magnitude since 2006.

As we are witnessing markets gain more stability with mass vaccines and the reopening of economies, the housing predictions are becoming more cohesive. The second half of 2020 witnessed a veritable boom in real estate, according to…

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Tips on Submitting a Winning Offer in Today's Market

TIPS ON SUBMITTING A WINNING OFFER IN THE CURRENT MARKET

Real estate reports, NAR economists, and your local real estate experts, are sounding like broken records this Spring, exclaiming “It’s a Sellers Market! According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), inventory of available homes for sale is at an all-time low – the lowest point recorded since NAR began tracking this metric in 1982 and combined with the prediction that mortgage rates are likely to increase, the market is definitely in favor of sellers. Homes are being sold at or well above asking price and contracts are often being signed in a matter of hours. In the past few years we have had buyers making offers on our listings "sight unseen" due to the detailed way we present…

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3D Printing Technology Hits the Real Estate Market, Is Raleigh Durham Next?

Do you think 3D Homes  are in the future?

A 3D printed home? How does that work? How is it built? Is it resilient? The answer to all of these is included below, we had a lot of questions too. 3D printing construction technology seems to have accelerated during the pandemic with the constricted labor market and the housing market in the US and the first 3D printed home was listed on the market in Long Island New York. This home had 1,500 square feet, 3 bedrooms, and 2 baths, and was listed at $299,000, well under half the cost of a pre-construction home in the area, and before it was even built, the foundations and plans got over 100 showings. These homes may well be a solution to housing shortages and affordability issues and this groundbreaking…

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2021 ULTIMATE FAQ FOR HOME INSPECTIONS

2021 ULTIMATE FAQ FOR HOME INSPECTIONS

In the course of our careers we have attended and reviewed thousands of home inspections. Home  inspections can take place prior to listing, as a preemptive measure by a seller to determine whether they will need to make reasonable repairs or correctly price a property for a quick sale, or home inspections will take place at the expense of the buyer to better assess a home's value and give them an understanding of issues they may need or wish to address after purchasing a property. To the uninitiated, a home inspection sounds routine, unemotional, and a formality in the transaction of a home sale, or it may also be dreaded. They can be anything but routine, as we wrote aboutherein detail, and it is very…

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2021 Home Buyer Guide to Water and Waste: Triangle Area Wells, Septic, and City Water

Which is better, Well and Septic or Municipal and Sewer? The importance of clean water and waste removal when buying a home is obvious, but the misconceptions about whether public or private systems are better, persist. Buyers may feel that the private system is less of a financial burden because it is a one-time expense, but that is not necessarily the case, and the quality of a water table is also a factor to be considered. We decided to update our comprehensive guide published in 2015, for 2021 Buyers in our 2021 Buyer Guide to Water and Waste.

Water

Municipal Water

Water quality varies dramatically depending on your municipal water table and the age, depth, and health of your well. Since we published our last blog, there has been…

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Checklist to See if Your Ready to Buy a Home

According to real estate top economists, there will be an increase of first-time homebuyers on the market in 2021. According to these predictions work from home Millennials will be looking to purchase single-family homes in mid-size cities and suburban areas that are not densely populated. Chapel Hill, Raleigh Durham, and the surrounding areas are likely to witness continued demand for single family homes and new homes. If you fall into the first time home buyer category, are considering going from apartment to single-family home, and are looking in the Triangle Area, we have some key questions to ask yourself before you start a home search in earnest, with a realtor. These questions will prepare you for the buying process and help make your offers…

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2020 Year in Review with My NC Homes

Top 5 Things We were Grateful for in 2020

2020 has been a challenge, but My NC Homes has so much to be grateful for moving into 2021. We wanted to take stock of our accomplishments, and share the things we are really grateful for in 2020. As we consider 2020 and make resolutions for 2021, we have been and remain committed to making our clients real estate transactions as easy and pain free as possible. We continue to focus on what is most important to clients, whether it's privacy, communication, school districts, timing, or anything else that clients need to feel that they are making a well informed decision. The demands and preferences witnessed in 2020 are unlike most years, but we have found solutions for our clients time and time again. Here…

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