Parade of Homes.  The Parade of Homes, with new homes on display in Raleigh and throughout Wake County, starts on Saturday.  It will be Saturday and Sunday this week-end and Friday, Saturday and Sunday the following two week-ends.  Here are a few items concerning it that you might find interesting: There will be 366 homes on the Parade this year.  It will not actually be quite that many since homes listed in the Parade book that have been sold prior to the start of the Parade might not be available to view.  Some builders make arrangements with Home Buyers to allow them to show the home during the Parade so that the public can see the kind of work they do (which, after all, is one of the main reasons for the Parade in the first place).  However, some buyers don’t like the thought of having a steady stream of people walking through their new home for three week-ends and won’t allow it.

The most expensive home on the Parade this year is priced at $2,965,000 (page 157 in the Parade book) and was built by Jayco Construction.  It is 9430 square feet and is located in the Overlook at Chatsworth.

The number of homes, by price, on the Parade this year are as follows: $100,000 to $200,000 - 34, $200,000 to $300,000 - 48, $300,000 to $400,000 - 80, $400,000 to $500,000 - 67, $500,000 to $600,000 - 31, $600,000 to $700,000 - 23,  $700,000 to $800,000 - 22,  $800,000 to $900,000 - 22, $900,000 to $1 million - 10, $1 million to $1,500,000 - 15 and $1,500,000 to $2,965,000 - 14.  The local Plan Designers and Architects who have designed the most homes on this year’s Parade are: Design Tech with 20 and Planworx with 18.  I tried to be accurate but if I missed something, if the folks at either company will let me know I will be happy to change the figures. 

Incidentally, my previous offer still goes.  Because of demand, Parade books are hard to come by so if you are in the market for a new home and don’t have an agent let me know and I will give you one when we sign the agency forms.

The Parade is alway fun so - enjoy!

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: marvmax@mindspring.com   Web Site: www.JohnFish.com

This coming week end is the first week end of the 2006 Parade of Homes.  The center of attention, of course, is on the many new homes in all price ranges that are open for the public to see.  Because of the growth the Triangle area continues to enjoy, couples who can afford homes of $1 million and above are primarily looking at either new homes or for a lot they can build their dream home on.  That is all well and good.  However, in the process many resale homes are overlooked and surprisingly a number of them represent above average values.  I say surprisingly because the comparative value vs. either a new home or the cost of one to be built clearly favors the resale home.  If you are a local resident thinking of something different or if you will be moving to this area you might want to ask for a copy of my “Top Value Homes” (done by price range). What constitutes a “Top Value Home”?  It can be a home priced below comparables, it can be a home of high quality in an excellent area that should have sold more quickly than it has and therefore might be available at a more satisfactory price than its current listing price, etc.  These homes may be nearly new or twenty years old.  If you are interested in a copy please ask by price range: $1 million to $1,250,000, $1,250,000 to $1,500,000, $1,500,000 to $2 million, $2 million to $3,000,000, $3,000,000 and above.  Either call me at 919-696-3474 or send me an email:  marvmax@mindspring.com.  Also, if you would like my “Best of Show” picks, new or resale, just specifiy the price range you are interested in.    John Fish - (919) 696-3474   Email: marvmax@mindspring.com   Web:  www.JohnFish.com

Pittsboro, North Carolina.   Piedmont Biofuels of Pittsboro just opened a plant in Chatham County that is expected to produce 1 million gallons of biodiesel fuel annually.  The base of this fuel is - chicken fat!  Many area city garbage trucks and school buses burn B20 which is 80% petroleum diesel and 20% biodiesel. This blend sells for $2.80 to $3.00 per gallon but is only available at two gas stations in the area - both in Durham.  Two more biodiesel plants are currently going up in the state as well.  North Carolina consumers used 1.5 million gallons of biodiesel fuel in 2005.  Nationally, 78 million gallons were consumed in 2005, 300 million gallons should be reached this year and projections for 2007 are 750 million gallons.  This may only be a drop in bucket in this nation’s efforts to reduce our dependency on foreign oil but, in my opinion, any effort at all is to be commended.  Liquid chicken fat is mixed with methyl alcohol and a catalyst such as potash to change the fat into fuel.  Glycerin, a byproduct, can be purified and used in the chemical industry and for cosmetics.  I am told that if you follow a car that burns oil used to cook french fries you will be looking around to see where the fast food restaurant is.  What that translates into if you are following a “chicken fat express” I don’t know.

John Fish  (919) 696-3474   Email: marvmax@mindspring.com   Web Site: www.JohnFish.com

Durham, North Carolina.   Quatar Airways ordered 40 GE90 engines which are used on Boeing’s long range 777s.  The value of the order is $750 million and will bring the plants production of GE90’s to 170 per year.  The GE90s are the most powerful commercial jet engines being produced and since they were introduced in 2004, GE has received orders for 950 of them.  All will be built in the Durham plant.  Employment at the plant has increased from 120 in 2002 to 250 currently and newly hired employees will shortly increase that number to 274.

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: marvmax@mindspring.com   Website: www.JohnFish.com

Raleigh a top city to invest in.  Justin Ford says that Raleigh is one of the top five cities in the U.S. to invest in.  With all the talk about “bubble” areas where real estate values are declining, there are certain areas and certain cities that are running contrary to this trend and whose futures look very, very bright indeed.  Raleigh is one of those cities.  I will give you some of his thoughts in future posts. 

The Parade of Homes starts this week-end.  Hopefully, I will have my supply of Parade Books shortly.  Most are already spoken for by past and present clients.  However, if you are looking for an agent let me know.  Once we have an agency agreement in place a Parade book is yours.

For all of you Bogart Fans, Thomasville Furniture has brought out a line of art deco styled furniture with the Bogart name.  It can be purchased a piece at a time, by the room or an entire home.  To check it out visit www.thomasville.com

John Fish - (919) 696-3474   Email: marvmax@mindspring.com     Web Site:  www.JohnFish.com

On September 29, the new ‘Flyboys’ video game will be released.  However, you don’t have to wait until then to preview it.  A free download is available at flyboysgame.com.  IEntertainment Network of Cary is colaborating with MGM in a deal that will see the producers spend $50 million to promote the ‘Flyboys’ move and which will let IEntertainment Network fly along with it.  While the success of the game depends to a considerable extent upon the success of the movie, the movie’s producer, Dean Devlin, has previously had winners with ‘The Patriot’ and ‘Independence Day’.  Thus, IEntertainment’s CEO J.W. Stealey is confident that ‘Flyboys’ will be another winner and that both companies will benefit by its success.

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: marvmax@mindspring.com   Web Site:  www.JohnFish.com

Your home is not your parents home.  On the fifteenth of this month I talked about what’s hot and what’s not in the current housing market.  Taking that a bit farther the Census Bureau has released comparisons of new 2005 homes vs. new homes in 1975.  Central Air Conditioning - Homes built with central AC increased from 46% in 1975 to 89% in 2005.  100% of newly built homes in the South came with central AC in 2005.  Bathrooms - In 1975 - 5% of new homes were built with 3 or more bathrooms.  In 2005 26% were built with 3 or more bathrooms.  In 1975 41% of the new homes built had 1 1/2 bathrooms or less while in 2005 that declined to 4%.  Bedrooms - The percentage of new homes built with two bedrooms or less declined only slightly during the last 30 years from 14% to 12%.  The greatest percentage of new homes are now built with 3 bedrooms but the portion of homes built with four or more bedrooms has increased from 21% in 1975 to 39% in 2005.  Fireplaces - The portion of new homes with at least one fireplace has increased just slightly from 52% to 55%.  Ceiling height - 15% of new homes in 1975 had a ceiling height of 9′ or higher while in 2005 58% do.  Furnaces - Warm air furnaces accounted for 72% of the heating systems in 1975 while in 2005 their share of the market was down to 67%.  Improvements in heat pump systems have caused their use to increase, particularly in the South.  Use of warm air systems in the South fell from 82% to 47% and heat pumps now command 53% of the Southern market.  The size of the average home has increased substantially during the last 30 years from 1,645 square feet to 2,434 square feet.  The Northeast has the highest average square feet at 2,556 while the Midwest has the lowest average at 2,310.

EXTERIOR - The proportion of one story homes declined to 44% in 2005 from 65% in 1975.  Two story homes have increased from 23% of the market to 55% of the market.  Split level homes have declined from 12% to less than 1%.  Because of labor costs, homes with 4 sides brick have declined from 32% to 20%. Stucco exteriors have increased from 10% to 22%, wood exterior have declined to 7% form 36% and vinyl siding homes have increased to 34% from 22%.  Speaking of vinyl siding, it is particulary popular in the Northeast where 83% of newly built homes are all or partially vinyl clad.   LOT SIZE -  Since 1990, the average lot size has declined from 10,000 square feet to 8,500 square feet.    GARAGES - Since 1991 the percentage of homes with 3 or more car garages has doubled from 10% to 20%.  PATIOS & DECKS - From 1992 the proportion of newly built homes with patios has increased from 37% to 46% while homes with decks declined from 37% to 27%. 

John Fish  (919) 696-3474   Email: marvmax@mindspring.com   Web Site: www.JohnFish.com

Wake Student Population Explodes.  Projections for the Wake County student population are exceeded every year.  This year is no exception.  This year’s projection was 127,767 which is 7,263 more than last year - and - 254 more than projected.  Superintendent Del Burns says that at this rate next year’s enrollment could be 135,000.  In North Carolina, Charlotte-Mecklenburg counties school enrollment is the only one that is larger - but not by much.  Their number is 128,300.

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: marvmax@mindspring.com   Web Site: www.JohnFish.com

ConAgra grows in Garner. is closing five factories in various locations in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas and Quebec.  However, they will add 30 jobs to thier plant it Garner, North Carolina.  ConAgra currently employs 650 people in the Garner plant.  The plant makes Slim Jims and Pemmican brand meat snacks.

John Fish  (919) 696-3474   Email: marvmax@mindspring.com    Web Site:  www.JohnFish.com

Zebulon, North Carolina.  U.S. Foodservice will spend $16 million to add 98,000 square feet to its Zebulon, North Carolina distribution center.  The increase will bring the center’s size to 373,000 square feet.  The center supplies food, kitchen equipment and related products to area restaurants, hotels, schools and hospitals.  The center currently has 600 employees and services some 4,000 eastern and central North Carolina customers.  The facility puts out 110 delivery trucks every day. 

John Fish  (919) 696-3474   Email: marvmax@mindspring.com   Web Site:  www.JohnFish.com