Basements in Cary NC

Cary home buyers from other regions often are shocked that many Cary homes do not have basements, and buyers agents need to do some explaining.

There are several contributing factors to that situation.

1.  Basements are not structurally necessary, so they are luxury priced.  We just don't need them.  In the north and midwest states, it is necessary to excavate footings 4 to 8 feet below grade to get below frost depth.  We only need, by code, to bury footings 15 inches below grade, so further excavation is unnecessary.  And expensive.

2.  Many Triangle areas have high water tables on site.  Water around foundation walls  is more likely to intrude into the interior of the basement. 

3.  Expansive clay soils.  Our soils will expand and contract as they get wet and dry.  This movement can stress walls, and allow more opportunity for water intrusion.

4.  Cost of finish.  It is usually more cost effective to convert attic space and finish it than to create and finish a basement.  And the home buyers benefit from being high, dry and lit by sunlight.

Yes, you can get a basement in Cary NC.  Commonly, it will be a "walk out" basement, also known as a "daylight" basement.  one or two walls will be above grade, with exit doors and windows.  And the lot will have some slope to accommodate this.  Dugout, hole in the ground, basements are extremely rare.

Cary Homes for Sale with Basements

Termites?  In Cary NC?  Well…. Yes.

One home inspection that home buyers always have performed on a Cary home is to have a licensed pest firm check for termites.  Termites are very common in the Cary area and a smart buyers agent will press the home buyer hard to have the property checked out during the due diligence period of the contract.

It is also common for a home owner to carry a termite protection contract, which usually includes a repair policy for any termite damage.  If the home seller has carried such a plan, the seller should let the listing agent know, and that becomes a selling point in the listing.  If the plan is transferable, it is even more affordable and valuable to the home buyer.

Some folks confuse a termite plan with quarterly pest service.  Those are two very different services, even though they are offered by nearly all pest and termite control firms in the Triangle area.

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.

Visitors to this site can use my new powerful home search function with more search field options than nearly any other site.

You can search residential, rentals, land, multi-family, and commercial listings. 

Options include too many to list, but school assignments, fenced yards, 1st floor master bedrooms, and lot sizes are among the most desired.

Hal and the guys did a great job of integrating it onto the site, and we will be looking at customizing some of the functions and appearance over time.

And my personal “No-Hassle” Search Guarantee is stronger than ever:

“You don’t register to search for homes on my site until you want to.  Period.”

I like it that way.  Who wants to give up personal information just to have access to widely available free information?

Search your eyes out.  If I can help you further in Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Morrisville, Holly Springs, or somewhere else in or around Wake County,  NC, just touch base with me, and we’ll see what we can do.

And we will do it “No-Hassle” Style!

It’s Azalea time in Cary!

Azaleas are loved in North Carolina.  They perform so well and bloom so brilliantly.  Whether I’m in Cary, Raleigh, or other Trangle towns, I love the azalea displays.

These shots are from 2008.  I need to get out over the next few weeks and get some fresh azalea photos.

This is rather big local news, with another local “legacy” firm selling out to a larger company.  

 York Simpson Underwood going to Prudential is a real surprise to those of us who keep our noses to the grindstone, and only surface for a brokers’ lunch now and then.  For a successful family run company, it may be a great time to cash out.

I suppose we will see some more mergers and acquisitions in the brokerage world, considering economic issues with burdening a significant number of large players.