Category Archives: Buyers

Maintenance Free Luxury Living

182 Arabella Court in Cary NC 

Tryon Villas in Cary North Carolina Where Classic Styling Meets Modern Luxury Living !                

Walk to shopping & dining or stroll around the 11- acre lake. European inspired stone and brick exterior provides an old world charm to this exclusive luxury community.

Beautifully appointed maintenance free energy star luxury residence. Each of the 4 bedrooms is an en-suite.

Designer kitchen has granite, detailed custom cabinetry, range hood and tile backsplash. Family room features a stacked stone twilight fireplace that opens to a covered porch with remote controlled screen system.

The first floor guest bedroom with a full bath can double as a office/study.  Spacious master suite has master spa, oversize shower and expansive walk-in closet.

Entry into home (at front door and garage door into house) is a 36″ space and some other doors offer 36″ entry.

Lock and leave convenience is ideal for residents that travel or have vacation homes.

Home Safe Home

Home Safe Home …..  Home is a place you should feel safe and secure. Sometimes, we take it for granted and unfortunately, we do need to remain vigilant about things we do that could compromise our safety. Here are a few tips to consider:

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  • Everyone loves an inviting home including burglars. Make sure it looks occupied and is difficult to break in.
    • Always lock outside doors and windows even if you’re only gone for a brief time.
    • Lock gates and fences.
    • Leave lights on when you leave; consider timers to automatically control the lights.
    • Keep your garage door closed even when you’re home; don’t tempt thieves with what you have in your garage.
    • Suspend your mail and newspaper delivery when you’re out of town or get a neighbor to pick it up for you.
  • Posting that you’re out of town or away from home on social networks is like advertising your home is unprotected.
  • Equally dangerous could be allowing certain social network sites to track your location.
  • Don’t leave keys under doormats, in flowerpots or the plastic rocks; thieves know about those hiding places and even more than you can think.
  • Trim the shrubs from around your home; don’t give criminals a place to hide.
  • Use exterior motion detectors and yard lighting.
  • Have an alarm system and use it when you leave home and go to bed.
  • Put 3 ½” deck screws in door plates and door hinges.
  • Have good deadbolts on all exterior doors.
  • Exterior doors should be solid core.
Attachments area

7132 Capulin Crest in The Park at Westlake, Apex NC

You’ll be impressed with 7132 Capulin Crest in The Park at Westlake.

A Parade Of Homes Gold Winner, The “Lillypad” is a 4-bedroom, 3-full bath and 2-1/2 bath home built by L and L of Raleigh, Inc.

Gleaming hardwoods greet you in the foyer and continue thru the living room, dining room, family room, staircase and upstairs hallway.

The property offers a transitional floor plan that delivers a striking living room with a coffered ceiling, an impressive dining room with a tray ceiling and an inviting family room with a fireplace with gas logs flanked by built-in bookcases.

The master suite is huge with his-and-her walk-in closets and a master spa.  All of the secondary bedrooms are also spacious and each has a walk-in closet with wood closet systems and brand new carpeting in all bedrooms.

The gourmet kitchen has tile floors, granite countertops, stainless and a good size pantry.

First floor guest en-suite is perfect for visiting parents or friends.

Great storage with both a walk-in and walk-up attic.

Arches, detailed woodwork and ceilings thru home.

For additional images please check out the property website:  7132 Capulin Crest and for more information about the neighborhood please visit The Park at Westlake.

Rent vs. Own

Would-be to Should-be

Some would-be buyers have emotional reasons to own a home like having a place of their own where they can raise a family, feel safe and secure and enjoy their friends’ company. Other buyers’ dominant reasons might be financial in nature such as building equity or lowering their cost of housing.

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Regardless of what might be motivating people to want their own home, it is easy to justify that now is a good time to purchase. Let’s look at a $250,000 example using a FHA loan.

The total payment will be about $1,835 dollars a month. If the payment is lower than the rent a person is paying, that should encourage a person to continue investigating.

In this example, when you consider the monthly principal reduction, the monthly appreciation and the tax savings, even with money added for monthly maintenance, the net cost of housing is less than half the total house payment.

Considering all those advantages, the would-be buyer is spending over $1,100 per month more to rent than it would be to own. In a year’s time, they would lose close to $14,000 which is more than the down payment of $8,750 required on this price home.

Most would-be buyers understand that a home is a big investment but they may not understand the advantage of the leverage caused by the low down payment mortgage. The benefits extend beyond a return on the down payment but to the value of the home.

In this example, the $8,750 down payment grows to an equity of $73,546 in seven years based on 2% annual appreciation and normal amortization on a 30-year loan. If you calculated that as a rate of return, you’d be challenged to find anything that could compare with it.

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To see what your numbers might look like, check out this Rent vs. Own. If you need any help or have any questions, contact us. Part of our greatest satisfaction is helping would-be buyers understand why they should-be.

Featured Neighborhood in North Raleigh

inmanparkMy Current Featured Neighborhood is the Inman Park Community.  

Inman Park is a planned community of 156 single-family custom homes, 96 townhomes in an area called The Enclave.

The Inman Park Community Association exists primarily to maintain a swimming pool and cabana, street lighting, architectural standards, and the landscape on common property. The Enclave Association performs the same duties for the townhomes. The two Associations maintain the swimming pool jointly.

Inman Park is a thriving community located in the Midtown area of Raleigh, near the Crabtree Valley Mall and North Hills shopping and entertainment district. Only a 5 minute drive to Rex Hospital and 20 minute commute from both downtown Raleigh and Research Triangle Park, Inman Park residents enjoy the convenience of close amenities without the hassle of a long commute.  The subdivision was developed from 1990-2006 and consists of 252 units including single family dwellings and town homes. There is a community swimming pool and kiddie pool and an access trail to the Capital Area Greenway System.

To learn more about living in Raleigh in general or Inman Park specifically, contact me, Joann Samelko, today.

Please contact me when you’re ready to list your current property in this community. I’ll help you at every stage of the home selling process, starting with helping you determine the true value of your home.

View the Current Listings in Inman Park

 

Proof of Purchase

Proof of Purchase

People who experience a property loss are usually asked by their insurance company for proof of purchase which can come in the form of a receipt or current inventory of their personal belongings.

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Even the most organized people might find it challenging to find receipts for all the valuables in their home. If the inventory isn’t up-to-date, a homeowner might forget to add some items to the claim and may not recognize the omission for long after the claim is settled.

The inventory can serve as a guide to make sure a homeowner gets compensated for all the loss.

Photographs and videos can be adequate proof that the items belonged to the insured. A series of pictures of the different rooms, closets, cabinets and drawers are helpful. When video is used, consider commenting as it is shot and be sure to go slow enough and close enough to things becoming recorded.

For your convenience, download a Home Inventory, complete it, and save a copy off premise. Good places for your inventory could be a safety deposit box or digitally, in the cloud if you have server-based storage available like Dropbox