510 Duluth St Durham, NC

I am looking for investment homes not far from by stomping grounds of Brightwood Trails and came across 510 Duluth St in Durham, NC.  Now this was a little further away but with the house being all brick and REO property it sounded interesting.  

Overall the house on 510 Duluth St was OK but I found the crawl space to be a bit more wet then I prefer in a home.  After talking it over with my investor he decided to pass.  One of the items we agree on moisture.  It is hard to fix and the damage done is often hidde or takes years to notice.  It looked like most of the homes in  Westwood Estates had crawl spaces.  

If I would have the right type buyer this house would have been great with a 203 K rehab loan and my HomeTown Hero program.  If you are looking to buy a home in Westwood Estates or another area of Durham call me as I have you covered.

Wake Up and Read in Wake County

The 2016 WAKE UP AND READ book drive for Wake County has started.  The drive however is far short of its goal of collecting 110,000 books that it needs to give to diasadvantage students.  If you want to help there are many ways and you can start by going to this link WAKE UP AND READ

The web site for WAKE UP AND READ has the information for donating books as well as how to donate your time which is always in short supply with these type of drives.  Volunters are needed now and through June 9, 2016 to help students select books that are appropriate for them.

I know my grandchildren love to check out books from the library but these books are different.  How are they different?  They are different because a child gets to choose a book and take it home with him.  Sometimes this is the first time a child owns a book.  Imagine the joy and look on the their face as the realize that is a book they can keep and read over and over again.  

Remember you don't have to volunter for the whole time period just for what you can.  The children of Brentwood Estates in Raleigh would be very happy for your donation of time and effort as would I.  There are a total of ten elementary schools where these books are going and Brentwood Elementary is one of them.  Remember even if you don't live in this area you can still donate books and time.

4017 Baker St Durham, NC

From my homebase in Brightwood Trails I look for investment properties.  One of the potential properties is 4017 Baker St.  Looking at the MLS sheet would leave you to believe that the house just needs a "few" upgrades to make it a great place to live.  After all it does have a great location and the subdivision of Forestwood is very affordable.  



  

4017 Baker St Durham, NC  is listed at close to market value which would be ok if it didn't need a full rehab.  The little room is the master bath shower.  The roof, HVAC, siding, carpet, paint, vinyl, cabinets and so on.  Well you get the picture.  

I talked my investor into making a verbal offer (he wouldn't bother with a written offer) even though I told him he was much better off with a written offer.  The seller did not take the verbal offer.  Now I am not sure if they just didn't want the low offer or if they have a higher mortgage then what was offered. The house has been on the market for 247 days and is vacant.  

At a lower price this home would be great for one of my buyers interested in a 203K loan as that would allow them to purchase the home and fix it up to their tastes.  the home would be perfect for my HomeTown Hero program as well.  The rehab of 4017 Baker St would benefit the subdivision of Forestwood as well as provide my buyer a great house to live in.  Hopefully the seller will come down on the price and let someone rehab this nice home.

Muscle Pain In Brightwood Trails

I was out showing homes in Brightwood Trails and ended up with some muscle pain so I went to the Brier Creek Commons Walmart and looked for some muscle rub.  I came upon something called Pomada Dragon.  It had more menthol in it then most brands and another ingrediant called Methyl Salyciate.  Most brands had 10% but this had 30% and was inexpensive as muscle rubs go.  I later found out Methyl Salyciate is also in Thera-Gesic Plus but has twice the strength.  Of course ingrediants and price don't matter if the product doesn't work and this one absolutley does work.  Is it the best thing out there for muscle pain?  I am not sure but it is the best one I have used in a long time.    

Buyers are used to us agents running around all day showing houses but even we end up with muscle pain sometimes and this is a great product to use once you are done showing homes in Brightwood Trails.

 

Homeless in Durham, NC

Homeless people in Durham, NC you say.  Well of course there are homeless people in most all cities but the people of Durham are working on the problem.  Citizens gathered recently in the downtown office of Healing with CARRE ( a nonprofit that serves the homeless and those in financial need) to prepare to go out into the community to count the homeless.  This gives everyone a snapshot of what is going on in the community.  

The idea of groups that are formed is to go out and not only count the homeless but also get an idea of where they live and work.  They also handed out small bags with food and water to those that wanted them.

Durham receives money from HUD to help with the homeless and therefore has to conduct a yearly count of the people in shelters and such.  Every other year the city is required to count those people plus people that are not in shelters.  That is what is going on this year.  The information is then compiled and used by various agencies to plan and provide services to help people get back into permanent housing.

One of things buyers should look for in a community is how they treat homeless and those in need of financial assistance.  If you are thinking of moving to the Durham/Triangle you now know that this community has a plan and is working to move these people into permanent housing.  

Don't forget to give me a call to help you on next move.  I know what is going on in my community and am proud of the effort put forth by the volunters.  Many of these volunters will benefit from my HomeTown Hero program as well.

5816 Sandstone Dr Durham, NC

I as recently showing properties in Bluestone Estates and one of the properties was a tri-level home at 5816 Sandstone Dr in Durham, NC. The listing has since expired and is not on the market at the moment.  I am not a fan of tri-level homes and this one reinforced my ideas about them.  

From the outside the house looked like your typical Real Estate Owned (REO) property.  Rundown, in need of yard care and so on.  Inside it started to really take on a REO look as well as the incumbant problems with tri-level homes.  The issue I have with them is that the lower floor is usually below grade.  When the walls are below grade they are usually damp and this one was in several different places.  With the dampness comes mold, smells and of course the requisite termites.  The real concern is that unless you know of the issue it could go unoticed for a period of time and then you have big problems.  As you all know us agents can't see behind walls but you know if you can see or feel the dampness there is a whole lot more on the other side you can't see or feel.

Although I am not a home inspector I feel it is my clients best interest to let them know some of the issues that come up with tri-level homes so they can make an informed decision to purchase one.  If  you are familiar with NC you can have a home inspection during the due diligence (DD) period but if the buyer terminates the contract during the DD period the buyer looses the DD money.  

If you are a buyer in the Durham area of NC look me up so that you can purchase a home with some one who is knowledgeble not only in finding homes but also in pointing out potential issues with homes.  Don't get stuck on home inspections for issues that can be avoided in the first place.  As always this home works real well with my Hometown Hero program.

DRUPE Dialer for Android

Yesterday I found a great dialer called EXDialer that allowed me to view groups that I have made in Google+ but it was just a dialer.  Today I found another dialer called DRUPE by Mobi. 

DRUPE is a dialer that allows you to hide it so all you have to do is swipe across your screen and your contacts show up.  Once on a contact you can slide it over to an icon for dialing, texting, Facebook, mapping and several others.  It is really cool can be customized in many different ways.  I have mine so that you can't see the dialer icon on the screen. You just swipe and it shows up.  Once on the contact I want I can double tap and it will make a phone call or I can move the contact over to the text or Facebook or Email icon.  

This is a very simple elegant solution to a problem I didn't know I had.  Now I have three dialers on my phone but use this one the most.  Its only downfall is that it doesn't show the groups that I have made in Google+ so I still need EXDialer.