Two of the Top Triangle Real Estate Firms Merge

Number's Don't Lie!

Many buyer's are first time homebuyers, a group that NEEDS to buy right now ($7500 tax credit, lots of choices, low interest rates)
· 98.83% of all mortgages in the US are current; foreclosures are up 64%
o 1 in 6 homeowners would be upside down if they HAD to cash out now but they don’t HAVE TO cash out
o The percentage growth in foreclosures is large because the overall number is small
· The Triangle has had 29 consecutive months of inventory growth but the pace has slowed to less than 10% growth the last 2 months
o 63% of all price points have an oversupply
o Overall MLS supply is 11 months
o In our 4 major counties (Wake, Durham , Orange , Johnston) our supply is 8 month; national average is 11 months
· Our average appreciation is 4%
o the national average is -4.8%
· Our MLS shows more listings with price drops
o our sellers are listening
· 2008 was the 6th best 3rd quarter on record for number of closings
· While we currently do not have net job growth in the region, we have added over 100,000 jobs in the last 5 years; we have a very resilient economy
o Projection is for 30% job growth between now and 2030
· Our job pipeline is good; the region had the biggest summer ever with over $1 Billion in new investment
· Raleigh is the second most educated city in USA
o Can you guess which city is #1?

Real Estate and Crisp Fall Air

Hello all who have found my little blog on the great city of Raleigh! I apologize for my lack in posts and promise to keep it up from here on out, so enjoy!

Lets discuss the business first - our real estate market! I think that from this point we can only go up! (Well, in home sales but not in home list prices.) Sellers are having to drop the price of their homes lower. It doesn't mean that the homes on the market are no good, it just means that sellers are realizing that their homes are not what they were worth this time last year. But, slowly but surely, I do think that things are getting better and I can tell you one thing - it is a great time to buy a home!

You probably laughed at that last sentence, but I am not kidding you. Sellers are dropping prices because they want to sell, interest rates are down, there are so many homes to choose from and many other reasons. Please take me seriously, I would buy a house right now if I didn't already have one that I love.

That brings me to my house. As I mentioned above,I love my house. We are located in Midtown - one of the quickest appreciating areas in all of Raleigh, North Carolina. I love Real Estate in this area of town. My house is far enough away to be nice, quiet and well established, but close enough to enjoy all that Midtown has to offer. For example, my family and I have a weekly tradition of walking up to Panera at North Hills every Sunday morning for breakfast. We sit outside and watch the people go by, starting their days with coffee and treats from either Panera or Starbucks. I must say that this short period of time is my favorite of the whole week. Its so enjoyable to be about to get out and enjoy this beautiful fall weather! Another thing to take me seriously on, get out and enjoy this beautiful weather!!! Its not be be missed. You can kill two birds with one stone and we can go look at houses in this weather! :)

On that note, its time to end this for now. I hope you all have a great week - take my advice and get some fresh air! Please comment on my blog if you like it!

Real estate in Raleigh

Hello all. Thank you in advance for reading my blog. I have been hearing from people while out and about in Raleigh that the mortgage business is frozen and no one is buying and selling homes. I promise you, this is NOT true. In the Raleigh market, we had a much better month of home sales in September than we did in August. The average list price is up, the average sales price is up in our area. Now, don't get me wrong here - its not all great like it used too be. In order to get a mortgage, you need some money down and decent credit. We have great lenders that can help you with that process.  If you have extra cash laying around that you are not sure where to invest it, now is a GREAT time to invest in real estate.  This is the time when people can make fortunes!

Lets hope that whatever our government decides to do, whether it be the buyout or not doing the buyout, that they make the right decision. My Broker-in-Charge gave us some great advice at our sales meeting on Tuesday. She told us to limit our time spent watching the news to 30 minutes a day so that we don't get discouraged by the media.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we pull through this. Keep on truckin' Raleigh... More later when I have more to report!

PS - Don't forget to give me a call or shoot me an email if you have questions or need help buying or selling a property - THATS WHY I AM HERE!!! 

First timer...

Hello all. This is my first ever blog, so bear with me. I'm hoping that as I grow my business selling real estate in the Raleigh area, I can blog about it and keep everyone informed of the market. We just made a BIG switch. We are now with Allen Tate Realtors. We still have our team - The Alderson Group and still have the same website, which is www.thealdersongroup.com. All of the team are so excited to be at Allen Tate and are looking forward to what the future may hold for us. 

I do have to admit that I am a bit nervous about our economy these days. I have my fingers crossed that things take a turn up.  My hopes are that in November when we have a new president things will start to make an upward swing. I'm not going to get into politics in this blog, but I think a new president (either one) will jump start all of us.  It is kind of like when you have that old pair of jean that is frayed and has holes in them - you like the jeans but you are in need of a new pair. When you finally go and get that new pair of jeans you realize how great you feel in them and have a new outlook on things and feel more confident. 

I feel so lucky to live where I do. Our housing situation pales in comparison when compared to the rest of the country. People are buying and selling still. Foreclosure rates are higher, but nothing like in other areas. This is such a great place to live, people aren't leaving. Businesses are still trying to come to our area. 

Give me a call or drop me an email if you have any questions about real estate!! 

So in conclusion of my first short blog,  heres to you Raleigh!