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.

30 days of Real Estate Closing in Cary, as of August 17, 2011

Numbers are pretty stable in Cary real estate.  As of today, we closed 123 residential sales in the last 30 days.

Days on Market were 93 for those 123 listings.

Cumulative Days on Market, meaning that the property was listed more than once, were 115.

On July 17, those numbers were 87 and 114.

I pulled out three of the highest DOM properties, and the remaining 120 homes showed 86 Days on Market,
and 102 Cumulative Days on Market.
Fun with numbers…

Average selling price was 0.962 of final listing price.

One to Buy, Two to Sell  

Often conversation with homesellers can become awkward when the topic of marriage arises, as in, "Have you been married at any time while you  have owned this home?"

When I am talking to ONE Seller, things can become quickly complicated when they say something like, "Yes, but we are separated/divorced."  Or, "I owned the house before we were married, and he/she didn't help pay for it.  He/she has nothing to say about the sale."

Well….  It depends.  In North Carolina, we are a "One to buy, Two to sell," meaning that a long-lost spouse or ex-spouse may have a financial interest in the property.
Horror stories of shock and surprise abound…..

One of the responsibilities of a Listing agent is to attempt within reason to ensure that the Seller can actually legally SELL the property.  No one wants to list a home for sale, and find that there is another Seller who is not on the listing agreement, and then have an irate Buyer and Buyers Agent.
And, it is important to note, I am not an attorney, and cannot offer legal advice.  But, often it is necessary to access a legal opinion as to who must approve the sale.  I have spoken with divorce attorneys, and have received "Free Trader" agreement copies, and either way has put my mind at ease that I can market a property with confidence that it can be conveyed.
And sometimes, the former spouses have to bury the hatchet long enough to consummate a real estate transaction.  That process can be unnerving to all involved.

The topic seemed worthy of a 60 Seconds in Real Estate vlog:

Buyers Agency Agreements? Do you need one in North Carolina?

Yes, if you are going to work with a REALTOR® or licensed agent to represent you.

It is the law. An agent cannot represent you in a real estate transaction without a written agreement.

The North Carolina Association of REALTORS® provides members with a form that describes the relationship and establishes expectations for the parties.

Absent a formal agreement, the default assumption is that the agent is working for the Seller, not for the Buyer.

The Buyer agency agreement serves a valuable purpose for the Buyer. The Buyer becomes a “Client,” rather than a “Customer.” When the Buyer is a Customer, the Agent’s loyalty is with the Seller, and the benefits of advocacy remain with the Seller. We sell to Customers. We consult with Clients, and the legal responsibilities are more detailed in that relationship.

Some folks are hesitant to formally engage an agent for a variety of reasons:

• Sometimes they are afraid they will be tied down to the agent, even if the relationship is just not working. I always give the client, and myself, a “Get Out Of Jail, Free” card. All my Buyer Agency agreements include the provision, “Either party may terminate this agreement at any time prior to location of a suitable property.” I want people to be at ease as we work together, and in the client/agent relationship of their free will.
• Some folks do not understand how agents are paid, and that makes them nervous to sign a document. To make it worse, some agents are uncomfortable or inarticulate when it comes to discussing compensation. Agent compensation is dealt with in the agency agreement, but should always be open to conversation. We are fortunate in the Triangle MLS, as Buyer agents typically have no problem collecting co-brokerage fees from listing agents, and this simplifies the compensation conversation.
• Some people just don’t like paperwork, and will sacrifice security for convenience. But, for sure, there will be tons more required documentation before a home is bought. Meetings where we are writing offers, discussing purchase terms, and exploring property values are much easier if we don’t have to spend valuable time going over a Buyers Agency Agreement that should have been reviewed days or weeks prior.

And I did a 60 Seconds in Real Estate video touching on some of these topics:

The requirements and responsibilities are fairly simple:
1. Sellers, don’t fib.
2. Buyers, do your due diligence. Investigate and confirm the Seller’s disclosure, as well as other issues.

New construction home sellers, foreclosure home sellers, lease/option home sellers, and a few other excepted transaction sellers are not required to use the disclosure form.

It just came across in an email:  "$2000 Realtor Bonus on Move-in Ready Homes"
How does that benefit my Buyer clients?  If I am given a financial inducement "or bribe" to drag them out to a new home neighborhood, am I taking them out because the property suits them, or because the bonus suits me?
Should they wonder about it?

Now, in North Carolina, it is required for a REALTOR® to disclose any compensation in addition to that predicted in the Buyers Agency Agreement.  That disclosure must be done prior to writing an offer, and preferably when initially showing the property.
We REALTORS® even have a document to document the disclosure, Form 770.
It isn't a matter of tripping over nickels and dimes, but of additional compensation in the form of bonuses, high Buyer Agent co-broke commissions, and spiffs like Ipads, points that let me build a higher commission for multiple sales or earn a cruise, or other attractive inducements.
It all seems to present great opportunity for conflict of interest for the agent.

The cure?  Bonuses and other inducements are here to stay.  So, I think it is incumbent on real estate brokers to be transparent regarding their compensation, comfortable in discussing it, and willing to answer client questions regarding compensation. 

And Earl is a powerful Category 4 storm, having pounded Puerto Rico with 125 MPH winds today.

The current worst-case storm track shows possible landfall near Cape Point on Hatteras Island, and even crossing the Pamlico Sound. That track would bring significant impact to the Raleigh Cary NC area, as well as most of Downeast North Carolina.

NOAA offers pretty good tracking of hurricanes, and is even warning us about Hurricane Fiona, which is expected to follow Earl fairly closely, albeit a little further east. No guarantees.

So, get down to the Food Lion. Fill the car with potted meat, toilet paper, beer, bread, and take other usual precautions. Really, nothing to be taken lightly here.

It adds “Military” as a noise that must be disclosed.  Further, it offers the opportunity for a Seller to disclose issues, and attach expert reports as explanation in lieu of a written explanation.

The larger news is that it is effective July 1, 2010, and must be given to Buyers who go under contract after that date.  Listings that are on the market prior to July 1 will need to have the Property Disclosure updated to the new version.

News and information from the North Carolina Association of Realtors.

 The interactive form, available on the NC Real Estate Commission website.  The form is mandatory for all home resales in North Carolina, except foreclosures.

 The interactive form on the Real Estate Commission site is easy to complete and has full instructions.  When completed, it can be printed for signature.  Alternatively, the Sellers can “print” the form to a pdf writer, like free CutePDF, and save it.   Then they can email it to me.  I can prepare it for electronic signatures, and return it to them.  When I get it back, digitally signed by the Sellers, I can upload the form to the Triangle MLS.   The form never has to be printed unless a Buyers’ Agent for some reason doesn’t offer their clients digital signing.

However it is signed, the new NC Residential Property Disclosure Statement is coming soon to a listing near you!

The easiest way to do this is to complete the form on line, at the NC Real Estate Commission site, and to print it off.

This yields the crispest original, and gives us a form that will survive multiple scans and faxes better than most hand-completed forms.  The Listing Agent can then upload the completed form to the MLS listing attachments, so Buyers agents have access to it. 

Easy, efficient, effective!

Exceptions to disclosure requirements include foreclosures, new construction that has never been lived in, lease/option transactions.

But, for resale, the homeowner should plan on completing the form.  Agents do not fill out the disclosures, as it is the Seller’s role to tell what they know about the home.  as the instructions on the form indicate, Sellers really do not have to disclose much.  They legally cannot deny problems if they know they exist, but they have the alternative to mark “No Representation.” 

“No Representation” is the weakest form of disclosure, and can affect market value.  It can be used legitimately when the Seller has no knowledge of the property, as in an estate sale.  But it can also be used when Sellers would rather not disclose an issue.   It is not uncommon for Sellers to mark “No Representation” when the home has polybutylene piping, as that is a negative for many Buyers.  A fully completed disclosure with “No Representation” in a few key areas can therefore be a red flag to an alert REALTOR® or Buyer.

NC Turnpike Authority page with discussion

As the Turnpike Authority says, “Please note, these alignments are conceptual and have not been officially selected for the project.” 

They note that the corridor is subject to change, as it was created without environmental study.

It is quite possible that environmental considerations will require NC DOT to move the corridor or the highway, but this corridor study is a “must see” for anyone considering purchase in that area of Wake County, North Carolina.

If looking at a home in SE Cary, Apex, Holly Springs, Garner, SE Raleigh, or nearby unincorporated areas of Wake County, this information must be considered by smart home buyers.

Updated 11/15/2011