I saw it in yesterday’s Raleigh News and Observer, a reprint of an article from the Washington Times.
Wallpaper is staging a comeback!!!
Read all about it here!

I had heard wallpaper rumblings and rumors. A year or so ago, HGTV Househunters featured a fellow who wanted a condo where he could unleash his burgeoning wallpapering talents.
And, it seems that anytime something falls as far from grace as wallpaper assuredly has, it rebounds into the spotlight again just to keep us on our toes.

I worked hard many years ago to develop wallpaper hanging skills. To cut and match and plumb and level well enough to let people see my work.
About the time I got good at it (Or so I thought), wallpaper fell completely out of favor.
And now, my skill is redeemed! Wallpaper is back!

So, you have a home to sell in Cary? And now your wallpaper is back in favor, right? Not so fast. It can be expensive to be a trendsetter out on the bleeding edge of the cutting edge.
I have yet to hear Buyers mention “Wallpaper” without wrinkling up their noses at the concept.
And a new media fad doesn’t mean that your floral 1990′s have suddenly become chic, in, old school hot, desirable, retro. Not at all. And that foil paper? Buh-bye!
Decor is a personal and volatile subject. Your delight may well be a well-qualified Buyer’s stupor. And we all know there is no excess of well-qualified Buyers.

The advice to strip and paint is going to be with us for a while, I am afraid.

Click to See Even More Photos

Easy Living in a Great Apex Condo!
424 Eyam Hall Lane, Apex, NC 27502
		Well-Kept Condo offers easy one-floor living in a secured building with covered parking. 2 Bedrooms in a split floor plan offer efficiency and privacy. Private rear porch faces the woods. Beaver Creek Shopping and conveniences are right across the street. Residents have use of Haddon Hall pool and tennis. What’s not to love?
Click to View Show
Details				Contact Info
Asking Price: MLS: Sq. Feet: Bedrooms: Bathrooms: # of Floors: HOA/Maintenance Fees: Subdivision: Year Built:	$153,000 1814512 1350 2 2 1 260 The Crossings at Haddon Hall 2004			Mike Jaquish Broker Associate Dir 919-880-2769 Email | Website Other Shows

HUD Home. Back on the Market!! 111 Sterlingdaire Drive, Cary NC

Case Number 381-848768

At $144,000 near the Heart of Cary, this home has a ton of potential!

This HUD-Owned home is just waiting for your offer. HUD requires you to use a HUD-Registered agent to write and present it.

I am a HUD-Registered agent and can show it, represent you, and write up your offer. Note: Some HUD properties are reserved for Owner-Occupant, Government Agency, or Non-Profit Bids only through a period of time.

Never register on a real estate site to search for your next home.

Try my No Hassle Property Search!!

Since the end of October, the North Carolina Museum of Art has been honored to host Rembrandt in America, the largest collection of Rembrandt paintings to ever have been exhibited in America.
The collection is on display for a few more weeks, until January 22, so you should be scheduling your visit soon.
I haven't even visited the new NC Museum of Art since construction was completed, so I am overdue to find a reason to go.

Rembrandt in America may be the perfect reason to get out and go.

Interestingly, I have been collecting Rembrandts in Cary and Raleigh for some time.   Houses, that is.  "Rembrandt" models by New Fortis/K Hovnanian Homes.

I live in a Rembrandt.  Circa 1993.
Oddly enough, my Rembrandt is in a subdivision named "Giverny."  Rembrandt in Giverny?  Maybe it should have been a Monet?  That would have been OK, too.

The Elevation "D" Rembrandt was the masterpiece of the model.  Full brick front, with half circle windows, a hip roof, and a finished bonus room over the garage all elevated the "D" to the top of the heap.  It was the model home in Giverny, and as is common, the model became one of the most popular floor plans to be built.  I belive our neighborhood is about 20% Rembrandts, of one elevation or another.
I live in a home built to Elevation "C."  The "C" has a partial brick front.  We added a front porch that makes our "C" unique in the neighborhood.

Elevation "A" was the "plain Jane," base model elevation.

Elevation "B" adds a rocking chair front porch.

Elevation "C" includes brick trim on the left of the front of the house, and a step down in the roof.

But interiors of these three elevations are the same, unless options were chosen to change them.

The two-story family room in the top rendering offers dramatic central height to the interior, and the rendering shows the palladian windows included in the "D" elevation.  Our "C" Elevation home has rectangular transom windows in place of the palladians.
Most commonly, buyers chose to finish a loft area into a 4th bedroom and/or to add a 5th bedroom/bonus room over the garage.
Square footages vary from just over 2200 to about 2800 square feet.

While owners have customized their homes and properties over the last 15 to 18 years, a tour around the area turns up many Rembrandts.  You can see the Rembrandt DNA in the photos, and also appreciate the pride homeowners take in personalization of their properties.

I thought this video series was worth passing on, so I embedded it here.

Case Number: 381-874952

Only $105,000. HUD Home: Cute Condo, 104 A5 Choptank Road

104 A5 Choptank Road in Cary is a cute 2 bedroom condo with great potential as a rental or personal home, and priced at only $105,000, in Chesapeake.

See 104 A5 Choptank Road on my No Hassle Property Search.

This HUD-Owned condo offers:

• 1448 Square Feet
• 2 bedrooms with a vaulted master suite and an office/den.
• 2.5 baths
• Dramatic vaulted ceiling in an open floor plan.
• 2nd level loft, Office/den, and living room.
• Large kitchen for the cook
• Great private deck with a lovely, wooded view.
• Heat pump heat
• Great location in North Cary.
• Exterior maintained by HOA
• Quiet location.
• Great Town of Cary services.

Bright Cook’s Kitchen

Dramatic open Floor plan with vaulted ceiling to open loft.

HUD Requires you to use a HUD-Registered agent to write and present your offer. I am a HUD-Registered agent and can serve you as your Buyer’s Agent and write your offer.

Call me to arrange your showing of this great opportunity in Cary.

Mike Jaquish, REALTOR^®

919.880.2769

http://caryrealestatesales.com/

Broker Associate

KELLER WILLIAMS_® Realty Cary NC

Back on the Market!! 107 Cordell Place, Apex NC

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HUD Case Number 381-895169            This HUD-Owned home is conveniently located near the center of Apex NC

At $125,000, It is full of potential!

It offers 4 bedrooms,2 baths, 1767 square feet of living space, all on a quiet cul-de-sac.

Two bedrooms on the first floor and two bedrooms on the second floor.

The quarter acre lot is partially fenced, and there is a covered porch and huge deck for enjoying the yard.

See the Buyer Full Sheet from Triangle MLS

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This HUD-Owned home is just waiting for your offer. HUD requires you to use a HUD-Registered agent to write and present it.

I am a HUD-Registered agent and can show it, represent you, and write up your offer. Bidding is open daily for owner-occupants, government agencies, and non-profits.

Read “Working with Real Estate Agents” from the North Carolina Real Estate Commission.

Never register on a real estate site to search for your next home.

Try my No Hassle Property Search!!

Mike Jaquish, REALTOR®

919.880.2769

http://caryrealestatesales.com/

Broker Associate

KELLER WILLIAMS® Realty Cary NC

HUD Case Number 381-915588

Only $265,000. HUD Home: 307 Swordgate Drive

307 Swordgate Drive in Cary is a cute 5 bedroom home with great potential, and priced at only 265,000, in MacArthur Park.

See 307 Swordgate Drive listing on my No Hassle Property Search.

This HUD-Owned Home offers:

• 2776 Square Feet
• 5 bedrooms with a vaulted master suite.
• 2.5 baths
• Only 16 years old, built in 1995.
• Family room, Office/den, and living room.
• Large sunny kitchen with smooth-top stove
• Great deck in a lovely and private, fenced back yard.
• Natural Gas heat
• 2 car garage.
• Easy care vinyl siding
• Convenient location with Daveis Drive/Davis Drive/Green Hope School Assignments.
• Great Town of Cary services.

Bright Sunny Kitchen

Master Bath has separate tub and shower, and dual vanities

Private back yard and large deck

HUD Requires you to use a HUD-Registered agent to write and present your offer. I am a HUD-Registered agent and can serve you as your Buyer’s Agent and write your offer.

Call me to arrange your personal showing of this great opportunity in Cary.

Mike Jaquish, REALTOR^®

919.880.2769

http://caryrealestatesales.com/

Broker Associate

KELLER WILLIAMS_® Realty Cary NC

I have a client telling me that the Fed is working against home sales by artificially holding interest rates down.  That people feel like they have at least two more years to watch housing, at least until mid-2013, which is the current apparent horizon of low interest rate projections from the Fed.

He says (actually, it was his very intelligent wife whom he quoted with full admiration and attribution), “Why feel urgency to borrow now, when we are clearly told that rates are going nowhere, and prices are feeble.”

Hard to argue with.  So, the Fed has drained urgency out of the housing market; the National Association of REALTORS® and REALTOR® members support that effort, and then in a disconnect, they work themselves into a lather with educational sessions and programs and seminars to learn how to “Create Buyer Urgency!”  Well, I have been hearing for 5 years that rates are going to go up.  And the Fed tells me I will likely hear it for a couple more years, as we witness ongoing record low mortgage rates.

And I am supposed to look like a goon and twist arms to “Create Buyer Urgency” because rates will go up?
Nope.  Not me.  If you are ready to buy a house, give me a call.  If not, think your way through it, and I will be around when you ARE ready.  No pressure.  No hassle.

Maybe instead of another silly 1st time buyers boondoggle, the Fed should just give us a road map plotting how and when rates will escalate.  It just might shake some money loose and get it into circulation.

“The FOMC left its benchmark interest rate in a range of zero to 0.25 percent, where it’s been since December 2008 and reiterated language from its August meeting that the rate is likely to stay very low through at least mid-2013.”

From Bloomberg By Scott Lanman and Craig Torres – Oct 13, 2011 12:00 AM ET

501 Midenhall Way Cary NC

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501 Midenhall Way is a lovely home in the Wessex neighborhood of Cary.

Wessex offers large lots, custom homes, lush landscaping and a superb Cary location.  Wessex residents enjoy easy access to RDU Airport, Downtown Raleigh, RTP, NC State University, NC State Fairgrounds, NC Museum of Art, RBC Center, Carter-Finley Stadium, and shopping and retail.  Also nearby are Lake Crabtree County Park, Umstead Park, and North Cary Park, all accessible via easy access to the Town of Cary Greenways.

Wessex is also outside the Raleigh-Durham International Airport Air Traffic Noise Disclosure zones.  There may be an airplane overhead from time to time, but plane traffic is light enough that disclosure is not required.

501 Midenhall Way, based on the award-winning John Weiland Homes Waterton floor plan, has all the features you would expect in a fine upscale home in Cary:

• Hardwood floors
• 3 Sides Brick Exterior
• Granite Countertops
• 2 Story Family Room
• Side-loading Garage
• Gorgeous Master Suite on the Main Level with vaulted ceiling
• Generous Closet and Storage space on all levels
• Circular Drive on an Appealing Corner Lot
• Large Front Porch for Relaxing and Viewing the Neighborhood
• Private and nature-filled back yard

In addition, the owners have had the home inspected and performed the repairs. They also added significant upgrades for your comfort and reliability:

• Copper water supply lines replacing polybutylene
• Hurd Low-E windows throughout, including the patio door, replacing builder-grade windows
• Complete replacement of the HVAC systems with Lennox SEER 13 equipment, including all ductwork, electrostatic air cleaners, and humidification on the lower level.
• 75 gallon water heater in the Garage, with hot water circulator.  Never run out of hot water
• Security System
• Built-in Sub-Zero freezer in the huge laundry room

View the Triangle MLS Buyer Sheet for 501 Midenhall Way, MLS#1801212

And this home LOOKS great.  See the 501 Midenhall Way Slideshow:

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