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.

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.

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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Comps, Competition, and Compelling Pricing

Everyone wants to see "Comps," comparable closed sales when fixing a price for a new listing.

I agree.  We have to begin with the end in mind, and the "End in Mind" is a closed sale.  A contract price MUST be supported by market activity, specifically recent, comparable sales that have closed.

However, a smart seller and smart listing agent will also consider "Competition."  And that will include properties outside the specific neighborhood where the home to be listed for sale is located.
See, while the neighborhood activity must support the sales price for appraisal purposes, Buyers have myriad choices outside the neighborhood. 
A home worth $400,000 must compete with and draw attention away from other $400,000 choices.  We just cannot tell Buyers that they can only shop one neighborhood.

So, Sellers have to be competitive across a broader area, perhaps a school district, or a local geographic area in a county or town.
In Cary, and Wake County, NC, the Wake County Public School System manages all public schools at the County level.  Town boundaries do not indicate school assignments, and it is not uncommon to see a neighborhood, all or part, reassigned to another school
So, parents will shop various school assignments, attempt to grasp stability in assignment, and affordable neighborhood options. To do so, they may look in a ten mile radius, or farther.  That search may take them out of Cary, and into Morrisville, Apex, Raleigh or any other local municipality. 
That is why it is smart to consider a wide area of competitive Active listings when pricing a home.

Comps, Competition, and Compelling Pricing, via 60 Seconds in Real Estate, Cary NC:

SunTrust Doctor Loan Program

My favorite mortgage banker, Kevin Martini of SunTrust Mortgage, passed the flyer above about SunTrust Mortgage’s Doctor Loan Program to me this week.  This program has some awesome real estate lending guidelines, tailored to the medical professional.

No down payment financing?  Possible.

Limits as high as $650,000 with 100% funding?  Possible.

Fixed or adjustable rates?  Interest only?  Possible.

And, to enhance the offering, this Doctor Loan Program is offered from one of the most professional mortgage bankers in the Triangle,

Kevin Martini of SunTrust Mortgage in Raleigh.  Kevin has helped many of my buyers in the Cary and Raleigh area with funding for their home purchases.

Take a look at the flyer, and give Kevin or me a call, and let’s see what we can do for you.

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.

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

Link to the RDU site page for Composite Noise Corridor maps.  Click the links under Noise Disclosure. 

The original size of the map is 90 inches x 35 inches.  That allows the RDU Airport Noise folks to give us detail right down to street level, as to what subdivisions may be affected by air traffic noise.

The good folks at Staples Print Center estimated I would pay about $220 for a printed and laminated copy.

And the map extends from the north and west side of Apex to Cary and Morrisville, and well into Durham County and North Raleigh and northern Wake County.

It is the most up to date rendering, having been released in January 2010.

As a bonus, it clears up a lot of mystery regarding the proximity of the 540 freeway project to subdivisions and area features.

Here are a couple of sites that visitors and residents in the Raleigh Cary area will find helpful and interesting.

 The National Weather Service in Raleigh and WRAL TV offer a wealth of historical data on weather events.  NWS/Raleigh has data and reports for those with a need for great depth of data and a strong meterological bent.  For the layperson, WRAL has photos  and news reports on their site.

 You can see information on hurricanes, ice storms, heat waves, thunderstorms, tornadoes, ad infinitum.  It is amazing to look at that list while reflecting on how our day-to-day weather in the Triangle is actually very agreeable.

My “favorite” (torturous) weather event was the 24 inches of snow we received on January 18-25, 2000.  At that time we lived on the “2″ in the “24″ in this Snow Accumulation Map from the National Weather Service in Raleigh and NC State University.  That storm and the resulting state of emergency even made the news on CNN.

At first my sister in Asheville accused us of “stealing” their snow.  When we got to two feet, she was quieter about that.  We lived with that snow for three weeks, and constantly worried about losing electric power.   And we had moved here in 1997 to get AWAY from these things.

Particularly with young first-time home buyers, I like to ask, “What are your plans if something should happen to both of you?”

Usually I get a pause and slightly blank look.

“So, who gets the new house and the kids?  Do you have wills?”

Too often the answer is, “We don’t.  We know we need to get that done.”

The closing attornies I usually introduce clients to in Cary or Raleigh also can help them with that service.  And I defer to the attorney to explain that when parents pass away intestate, the kids become wards of the State of North Carolina.  Without a will in place, the parents should recognize that someone they may not have chosen may become guardian of their lovely kids.

The final piece of control a parent should desire is to know that if their children are tragically orphaned, they will be raised in a loving and stable home, one that is compatible with the parents dreams and philosophies.