Triangle Area townhome sales.  Sales of Triangle townhouses exceeded 3400 during the last twelve months.  This is more than double the number of four years ago.  People trying to find affordable housing and older couples needing less room and wanting less interior and exterior matter to attend to are leaning more and more toward condos and townhomes.  The most expensive townhome sale of the year was in Cary’s Balmoral at $1,155,702.

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

Triangle Area.  Johnston County is finding out that too much of a good thing can cause a monumental case of indigestion.  In 1990 Johnston County’s population was 80,000.  By 2010 it’s population is projected to be 160,000 and long range estimates say it may reach 750,000.  All this growth means the need for more schools, roads, recreation facilities and utilities.  During the next five to six years the public schools are projected to need $235 million, Johnston Community College will need $70 million, etc.  All this is causing Johnston County commissioners to think in terms of tightening restrictions on new subdivisions.  If they lower the density rates it would limit the number of new people to the area and developers would only be able to build denser subdivisions if the could prove that enough roads, utilites, schools and recreational space are in place, or being built, to handle it.  As usual, if such restrictions are put in place the additional cost to developers will be reflected in increased home prices.  No final decisions have been made but faced with the necessity to keep up with growth the available solutions would seems to indicate that restrictions of one kind or another may not only necessary but the only way out. 

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

TRIANGLE AREA HOME PRICES.   During November home prices edged up 1.9 percent, from a year earlier, to $228,241.  At the same time 3,650 homes reduced their listing price.  This represents about 35% of the total Multiple Listing Service listings. 

Real Estate Commissions.  For those of you who may have a home on the market or are about to do so a gentle reminder - you get what you pay for.  When you discuss the commission rate with any agent/broker if might be helpful for you to know that the agent/broker, in almost every cases, is an independent contractor and has an independent contractor agreement with the firm he or she is with.  What this means is that he or she (from whatever commission they receive) pay income taxes, medical, life and dental insurance (if indeed they have any), Multiple Listing Service dues, Errors and Omissions Insurance, Dues for NAR and NCAR, Office rent, advertising and marketing expenses, state mandated continuing education courses, signs and lockboxes, office equipment, cell phone and air time, car payments, gas, maintenance and insurance, meals and gifts for clients, any specialty training and seminars, license renewal fees, any assistants or staff - AND - they they split their commission with the firm they are with on whatever fee split basis the firm dictates.  For the majority of agents that ranges from 40% to 60%. While the split between the buy and sell sides can be different (according to the area), generally speaking if the commission is 6% that means that the selling agent SIDE (not the agent) gets 3% and the buyers agent SIDE (not the agent) gets 3% and the split the seller’s agent and buyer’s agent receive, per their 40% to 60% (or whatever) arrangement with their respective firms THEN comes from that 3% and not the 6%!  I am not saying “pity the poor real estate agent.”  I am saying that a good real estate agent/broker has paid a substantial price to get into and stay in the business and over a period of years has gained experience that can and should be very valuable to the home buyer or home seller.  The so called “standard” 6% real estate commission has been in effect for many years without going up although a number of firms are now either charging 7% or adding fees of various kinds to offset their increase in expenses.  By the same token many firms have and do offer services for less than 6%; sometimes substantially less.  Most of them disappear.  What such firms do an don’t offer I won’t go into at this point.  

During the last several years airline employees have been asked to take pay cuts, sometimes very substantial cuts, in order for the airline they are with to survive and for them to have a job.  There are other such industries that have had and do have the same problems.  While I understand the economics of such situations I also am not interested in having a ”cut rate commander” in the front seat driving the bus (as it were).  I am the nut who has always felt like paying for good service.  People with good jobs can aford to buy the goods and services produced by other people who - - well, you know how the food chain works.  We continue to export good jobs overseas - well I won’t go there either.  Nuff said.  I want to wish all of you a better 2007 than you had in 2006 and a better 2008 than you will have in 2007.

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

Raleigh North Carolina. Toll Brothers Communities.   In May of 2006 Toll Brothers had the grand opening of another of their Triangle communities at The Oaks at Meadowridge in Raleigh.  The 113 acre community offers homes ranging in price from the upper $400s to over $1 million.  The area will have 73 homes of six different designs and about 30 exterior architectural designs.  The flagship of the community is the 6,500 square foot Duke Lexington model home. It features a two-story foyer, study, family rooms, huge master bedroom with private den and a gourmet kitchen.

Toll Brothers are also adding two new communites in Cary; The Estates at Olde Carpenter and Green Level Crossing.  The Estates at Olde Carpenter is on Carpenter Upchurch Road is West Cary and will contain 65 single-family homes starting in the mid $400s and ranging in size from 2,978 to 3,695 square feet.  There will be five home designs and each will have four or five varying architectural styles. 

Not far from Olde Carpenter is Green Level Crossing.  Green Level will sport six collections of luxury single-family homes.  Green Level Crossing is located between Hwy. 55 and Hwy. 751 in Cary.

The Toll Brothers Brier Creek community is one of the most succesful in the Raleigh area and has solld more than 1,000 homes.  During the year they introduced their new collection of luxury condos at The Greenbrier Collection at Brier Creek Country Club.  The demand was so strong they had a lottery drawing which resulted in almost two of the eight 22-home buildings being sold out.

Toll Brothers knows a good thing when they see it and they see the Triangle area as a place to have a major commitment.

Another Toll Brothers community Triple Crown Estates in Chapel Hill.  In this community homes are on sites of from 3 to 10 acres with equestrian privileges and is in the Chapel Hill-Carboro City School District - one of the nations’s top ranked school districts.  Home is Triple Crown range from 4000 to 8000 square feet and in price from the $800s to well over $1 million.

For more information about these communities or other communities in the Triangle please feel free to call me or send me an email at any time.  While I sell homes in all price ranges throughout the Triangle I specialize in the marketing of homes of $500,000 and above and even more specifically in assisting couples in the entire process of finding a suitable location to build and in getting a home designed and built in the $1 million and above range.

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

AstroTurf comes to Raleigh.  Astro Turf has had considerable travels other than just under foot.  It was developed in Research Triangle Park in the 1960s at the Chemstrand Research Center a Monsanto subsidiary.   In 1983 Monsanto shut down the facility and sold the the Astro Turf business.  GeneralSports Venue has purchased the rights to Astro Turf, moving their company to Raleigh and will re-launch the AstroTurf brand.  AstroTurf has been greatly improved and business for the product is expected to be substantial.  NFL quarterback Archie Manning will be the spokesperson for the company’s advertising campaign.

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

Baby Boomers.  A survey done for the National Association of Realtors reveals a great deal about baby-boomers (people born between 1946 and 1964):  * There are about 78 million of them   * Of those surveyed most indicated they would not retire until they reached 70 and 27% said they would never retire   * Most Boomers live in two-income households.  Their median income is $64,700 which is 31% higher thatn the median for all households.   * More than nine out of ten Boomers who earn $100,000 or more are home owners.  * Of the middle-income Boomers home equity represents almost half of their net worth.   * Of those surveyed 19% are renters.   * On the short end 37% of the Boomers indicated they were just making ends meet and 17% were having financial difficulty.   * 25% of the Boomers own several types of real estate: 13% own land, 8% own rental property, 7% a vacation or seasonally occupied property, 2% commercial real estate and 3% some other type of real estate.   * 40% of those responding intend to convert their vacation home into a primary residence at retirement.   * Boomers own 57% of all vacation/seasonal homes and 58% of the rental properties.  * 3.5 million Boomer households moved during the last year.   * 75% of the Boomers surveyed said they were not financially ready for retirement and were concerned about their ability to retire.

For those you who think you are too young to think about facts like these or that you have “plenty of time” to get ready for retirement you better think again!  Has most real wealth come from investing in real estate - yes!  More about this in later posts.

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

Raleigh. Just a thought for those gentlemen who have a few more grey hairs than they would like to admit.  The joy of Christmas giving to the leading lady of your household can be increased by enclosing your gift (or gifts) in Victoria’s Secret boxes even if - - - - - - .   If time allows it is also quite interesting to walk around in a mall with several such boxes especially if you are ____ years old.  Add to your people watching fun by whistling Christmas songs as you go.  It helps if you give a little thought to your song selections.

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

A great many composers from all music venues have had the ability to turn out one symphony, opera or song after another that have found favor with the public at the outset and, in many cases, even gained in popularity over the years.  Other composers may only gain fame or acclaim for one or two compositions during their life time and some have written compositions that only gained respect and demand after they were no longer with us.  So what, you may ask, bring this to mind?  I’m glad you asked. 

In the Arts and Entertainment section of Sunday’s Raleigh News and Observer (12/17) there is an excellent article by Matt Schudel of the Washington Post.  In it he discusses the making of the TV program “A Charlie Brown Christmas“  and the composer of the program’s music Vince Guaraldi.  The producer of the program, Lee Mendelson hired Vince to do the music because he wanted adult music with a jazz flavor that would fit the various moods of the program’s theme and establish a music identity for each of the characters (Charlie Brown, Lucie, Lynus, Snoopy, etc.) and not the mindless cartoon sound effects that are usually used in such productions.  Lee had heard a tune Vince had done that had gained some popularity called “Cast Your Fate to the Winds” and felt that something of a similar nature would translate well for the Charlie Brown program.

It should be noted that the CBS network execs, with customary exec brilliance, were certain it would be a failure.  In fact Matt reports that during the screening for the execs the program was greeted with silence.  One of the animators was also in attendance and was evidently somewhat in his cups.  He stood up and said, “You guys are crazy.  This is going to be around for a hundred years.”  It isn’t reported whether he was around much longer or not. 

For me the music from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and as played by the Vince Guaraldi trio captures all of the many elements of Christmas and the Christmas season in ways as few other selections do.  It is quiet obvious that Charles Schultz always knew what Christmas was all about, Charlie Brown found out what Christmas was all about and Vince Guaraldi created music with a depth of feeling and understanding that was, and is, truly unique.  So, if the music from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is all Vince is ever remembered for I think that will be a substantial statement and one any composer could be very proud of.  I suspect that Matt Schudel feels the same way about “A Charlie Brown Christmas” or he would not have written this piece.  Thanks Matt.  Incidentally, if you don’t have a CD of the music from the program it is still available so you shouldn’t have a problem getting one.

Speaking of Christmas music, if you enjoy the brilliance and power of a brass section without equal and a richness of orchestration that is second to none I recommend another CD to you that also stands the test of time; it is Stan Kenton’s - Kenton Christmas.  You won’t find it in local stores but you can look it up and order it through www.cduniverse.com.   I wish all of you a very merry Christmas.

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

A client has asked me to do a current thumbnail sketch of new North Raleigh homes in the $500,000 to $600,000 range. In doing this for them I included Wake Forest as part of the north Raleigh statistics and I included listings of homes listed as built in 2005 and 2006.  A few of these homes are, therefore, resale homes.  For those of you not familiar with the Raleigh, the area I used was from the inner beltline north through Wake Forest but does not include the so called inside the beltline area (given as area #1 on agent maps).  I thought the results of this search were worth passing along to others and I may do a series of these thumbnail sketches; especially since the North Raleigh portion of Wake County represents the largest number of any price gouping of homes in the $400,000 and above range. The search for new homes, 2005 and 2006, in the north Raleigh area in the price range of $500,000 to $600,000 produced 69 listings.  Obviously a price range of $100,000 can somewhat skew the figures, especially toward either end of the range but they are of value none-the-less. 

First of all, the average finished square footage of these homes is 3,633 sq. ft.  Of these 2 are three bedroom, 47 are 4 bedroom and 20 are 5 bedroom.  There are 41 main floor masters and 28 second floor masters.  One home has 2 full baths, 39 have three full baths, 27 have four full baths and 2 have five full baths.   Of the 69 homes 6 have unfinished basements (partial or full) and only 3 have finished basements (partial or full).  As to garage space, 52 have a two car garage, 16 have a three car garage and 1 has a four car garage.  As to heating systems, 56 have natural gas, 10 have electric heat and 3 have LP gas.  As to types of homes, 1 is one story, 3 are 1.5 stories, 62 are two story and 3 are 2.5 stories.  As to exteriors in this price range, 21 are fibre cement, 18 are some combination of fibre cement, shake, stone or brick, 1 in vinyl, 2 are hardboard masonite, 20 have brick fronts (the balance usually being fibre cement), 2 have at least two sides brick and 2 are listed as all brick, 1 is stone, and 2 are fibre cement and stone.  All of this information comes from this areas Multiple Listing Service listings and I do not vouche for the accuracy of it.  It is, however, close enough to provide a pretty accurate picture of what you can expect to get, new construction wise, in that price range in North Raleigh.

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

Raleigh Real Estate - In November Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada purchased five North Raleigh office buildings from Castle & Cooke for $34.7 million.  Only a year ago Class-A office space in the Triangle was going for about $150 per square foot (an increase of approx. 25% vs. 2004).  Recently several office buildings in the Triangle have sold at $175 per square foot and one sold above $200 per square foot.  This makes the per square foot prices paid by Sun Life look like very good investments indeed.  Triangle office building sales this year should be the largest total dollar amount ever, exceeding $360 million.

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