A great way to meet new people while engaging and learning about your community is to volunteer. There are many volunteer opportunities available in the Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill area. Triangle residents are immensely proud of the wide variety of interests and passions that make up the different communities. Keeping Durham Beautiful, a nonprofit that works with Durham County to conserve and the appearance of Durham, notes that properties average a nine percent to 10% increase in value when there is an added presence of landscaping, trees, and green space. Volunteering is one way to contribute to the value of your neighborhood and participate in acts of service.

It can be difficult to figure out where to start or select from the list of

Demand for homes in active adult 55+ communities is on the rise. Behind this are the baby boomers, who account for about a quarter of the U.S. population. Born between 1946 and 1964, baby boomers started hitting retirement age a few years ago, and in the next decade, they'll drive up the number of retiree households by about 10 million.

If you're retiring soon in North Carolina, you may be wondering how to navigate the crazy, retirement home real estate market. According to seniorguidance.org, the U.S. average cost for assisted living is just over $3,600 per month, and Durham Area, NC's assisted living is lower than the national average, at approximately $2,800 monthly.

The History of Croasdaile Farms

Living in Durham offers a little of

This is the Year of the Smart Home

You come home from a long day’s work to your empty home, but it’s ready for you. The thermostat is set to your favorite temperature, all of the lights are dimmed, and the dishwasher is quietly running. The sprinklers are watering your lawn and the dog is sleeping in his bed after being fed by the automatic dog feeder.

This may sound like a scene from a movie, yet this could be your reality if you join the smart home trend.

According to CNBC, 2017 will be the year of the smart home, with over 80 million smart home devices being delivered worldwide. These products include devices for the kitchen, living room, bedroom, home security, and even the yard.

Popular Smart Home Products To Watch For

With

Today, more people than ever are working from home, and the trend shows no signs of slowing down. According to Forbes, “68 percent of U.S. workers say that they expect to work remotely in the future."

But in order to be productive in the comfort of your home, you must have an organized office space. Here are some quick and simple tips to help make your home office a model of organization:

Dedicate a Space

One of the drawbacks of working from home is all of the distractions. Other members of your family want your attention. Household chores are never ending. And sometimes the TV, refrigerator, and sofa are just calling your name.

There is no way to eliminate these distractions, but you can minimize them by dedicating a room only for your

Luxurious amenities are a lure for homebuyers in new communities. New construction neighborhoods are developing all over the Triangle region, delivering dozens of new communities throughout the Raleigh-Durham area. You can find everything from lush green spaces to fun mini water parks for adults and kids alike. The journey to homeownership will force you to weigh the long-term value of not only the household, but the community amenities as well. It's important to consider that homes with nearby amenities make living there more enjoyable, which is great while you're living there and also a terrific asset when it's time to sell.

As you start narrowing down your list of “must-haves," here are a few neighborhood amenities you may want to consider.

Downtown Cary’s revitalization is nearly complete and has transformed what had been a relatively ho-hum town center into a vibrant cultural center with much to do for the whole family. Since the beginning of the downtown revitalization project, many unique restaurants and businesses have opened their doors and much has been done in terms of beautification.

The Beginning

One of downtown Cary’s first renovations was the 2011 transformation of the former Cary High School into the Cary Arts Center, where a variety of classes and performances now take  place. Pieces of artwork were placed around the downtown area  as well, giving it a sense of character. The Jones House, a  property originally constructed in 1896, was purchased and  renovated by the

It’s rare for a new home community to hit the nail so squarely on the head when it comes to delivering a high-quality, convenient, luxury development. For Briar Chapel homes, homeowners not only get the amazing benefit of living in a premium new construction home, but they also gain access to the incredible amenities and features that come with living in Chapel Hill.

The Neighborhood

We know Chapel Hill as an idyllic little big town, home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Scattered throughout city are gems and hidden hot spots that make the city such a great place. Additionally, Chapel Hill is known for being a nature lover’s dream come true. With exceptional parks and green space, you will never run out of things to do in

In the Triangle and throughout the Southeast, water is a plentiful resource. Still, for some homeowners, especially those with green thumbs, a rainwater collection system may make sense.

About 46 inches of rain falls each year in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area, giving residents a reliable source of water for in-home use as well as for lawns and gardens. Although a rainwater collection system isn't a necessity in this part of the country, it can lessen your dependence on municipal water and reduce some of your utility costs.

Here are some of the benefits of a residential rainwater collection system for Triangle homes:

Automatic Irrigation

Most people who have a rainwater collection system in the Triangle use it to keep their flowers

Just minutes from the busy downtown Durham lies Croasdaile Farms, a residential development that offers quiet, country living with easy access to all the city has to offer.

Croasdaile Farm was built on the site of a sprawling 1,100-acre dairy farm of the same name, established in the early 20th century. Over the decades, while the farm continued to operate, the city of Durham grew up nearby, and the area took on an increasingly urban and suburban feel.

To meet the needs of a growing community, the farmland was subdivided and development began in the 1980s. However, a strict set of architectural and community-wide standards were established to preserve the rural feel and natural beauty of the land.

Today, Croasdaile Farm is a planned

The Triangle area is known for a lot of things; college basketball, Research Triangle Park, and barbecue, to name a few.

But there are a lot of lesser-known things about this area that make up its culture and flavor. Here are eight fun facts about the Triangle:

 On the forefront of healthcare.

 Durham is home to a large number of medical-related companies. In fact,  there are more than 300 of them, and they have a combined annual  payroll of more than $1.2 billion.

 Cradle of technology.

 Research Triangle Park (RTP) is two miles wide and eight miles long, and is home to 136 companies involved in research and development. They employ 37,600 people in fields such as nanotechnology, pharmacology, biotechnology, information technology, and