Today's Market; It Ain't Pretty

Durham Area Trends

Price Activity
Current Median Q3 201, for Durham 184,900 for the U.S as a whole $177,100
1 year appreciation for Durham .3% and for the U.S.-.6%
3 year appreciation for Durham -1.1% and for the U.S. -19.9%
3 year equity gain/loss, Durham -$2,000, and for the U.S.-$44,000

These figures come from NAR, the National Association of Realtors. Although median prices in the Durham, NC market are up slightly and are ahead of national median prices, it is important to understand that no market exists in a bubble. The Durham market is reliant on the U.S. market and the entire global economy. So, without equity as shown by the three year gain, or more accurately loss, home sales will remain sluggish simply because consumers don’t have the money to purchase homes. Consumer home equity is lost and will take years to recover.
Home owners can build faster equity in their homes if they make additional payments to principal, avoid borrowing against their properties and if they make cautious investments in enhancing their homes. Owners contemplating a home sale should gird themselves too; there should not be a presumption of appreciation but rather a presumption of a loss.
Similarly, owners considering a home sale should engage a real estate professional sooner rather than later to discuss merchandising their property, staging their property and enhancing their property so that it stands out among the competition.
Interested in doing so? Call me, Michael Sullivan, I’m always happy to walk through a property with an owner. I can also offer rental and leasing solutions to owners in a position to move in that direction.

A Passion For Real Estate and More

Passion Is Important

Day to day I have the joy of meeting and working with so many wonderful people. I have countless clients and agents who have become some of my closest friends. I am amazed that folks can go from making a call to me expressing interest in a particular home, to actively seeking and buying a home to becoming dear friends. The experience is so very personal for me as a REALTOR. You see, I see it this way; I am helping people find their place and we all need a place.

My commission is to help people find a place to call their own. A place where they will be safe from whatever the world might be throwing at them. A place where they can lay their head at night, raise their children, love, eat, grieve for their losses, celebrate victories and milestones or just be. I innately understand all of those feelings wrapped up in finding a place called…home. I understand the importance of those feelings involved with identifying that warm soft snug harbor and the fact that home, means many different things to different people.

I’ve often said, “Every fanny has a seat,” and I meant it.

Sure mansions are terrific but so are subdivision homes, condos, townhomes and trailers. As varied as we are as human beings, as diverse as our tastes in clothing, so are our desires for housing. No matter what a client is seeking I’m there to help ensure that their home is the best possible choice for them. I love guiding people through the process and sharing with them what I know after 17 years of doing this. Sometimes, I surprise myself with what I know and more importantly what I DON’T know. The key with not knowing is having the strength to say, “I don’t know but I will find out.”

How awful it would be to tell a client something not true or unfounded when it involves that person trying to find a place called home, what a sour taste that would set in a mouth. You see I believe that many in my industry don’t think about the implications of what they are doing for their clients. It’s summed up in that last statement; what they are doing FOR…their clients. Being a REALTOR is not about commission, it is about service, it is about taking care of people first and then the money, the livelihood will take care of itself and will come in countless and unexpected joy.

Wynterfield Dream Home

Michael Sullivan | MLSullivanDev.Corp | (919) 416-2254 1402 Holly Grove Way, Durham, NC Next to RTP 2BR/2+1BA Townhouse $1,085/month Bedrooms 2 Bathrooms 2 full, 1 partial Sq Footage 1,540 Parking 2 dedicated Pet Policy No pets Deposit $1,085 DESCRIPTION Light and bright end unit townhome just minutes to RTP, NCCU, Duke and UNC. Quiet location. Great space with living room, dining room, family room, two and a half baths and two bedrooms. Appliances stay with this home. Available November 1st or there abouts. see additional photos below RENTAL FEATURES - Air conditioning - Central heat - Fireplace - High/Vaulted ceiling - Walk-in closet - Dining room - Breakfast nook - Dishwasher - Refrigerator - Stove/Oven - Microwave - Washer - Dryer COMMUNITY FEATURES - Garage parking LEASE TERMS One year or more. ADDITIONAL PHOTOS Photo 1 Contact info: Michael Sullivan MLSullivanDev.Corp (919) 416-2254 Equal Opportunity Housing Posted: Sep 15, 2010, 10:03am PDT

2011 North Carolina Offer To Purchase & Contract

Finally the new North Carolina offer to purchase and contract a la 2011 version for residential real estate is out for preview. Hold tight though, it’s not out for use just yet; a bit of a teaser preview. Truly I have been giddy with anticipation and I can’t wait to use it. Oh if we could use it today that would be wonderful.

Stunningly and startlingly alternative one and alternative two are GONE, blown away by the tides of change, a bad idea whose time has come and whose time has sunk into the vestiges of time. Very few of us ever used alternative two, which for a few more months; is a buyer’s option contract. Buyer still has the option of alternative one, the typical real estate deal with earnest money, investigation, re-negotiation of deficiencies and inevitable squabbles over earnest money with sellers when repairs cannot be agreed upon. Or they can still choose the alternative two stepchild; this alternative allows the buyer to put down both earnest money and option money, option dollars are paid right to the seller and if for ANY reason or NO reason by the end of the option period the buyer doesn’t buy the house, then the seller keeps the option money and everyone walks away no foul. Please insert sarcasm (here!) Folks still squabble and squawk over earnest money.

Well at least let’s hope that’s the case. I was listing agent on a property here in Durham on Camden Ave. and an agent with a company whose logo is a blue rock, brought a buyer and we agreed to an alternative two contract. The option time came and went with a flurry of inspections, investigations, repair requests, negotiations and agreements, etc. etc. etc. Then a somewhat lengthy delay to closing and here’s where we hit ballyhoo. The closing attorney a Mr. Booger (name slightly modified) out of Chapel Hill, well after the option period, for ANY and ALL investigations, where the buyer for ANY or NO reason whatever may terminate and walk away from the contract; decides that late in the game that he was going to order survey, title work etc. to whit he discovers that the subject property’s fence is partially on the neighbor’s yard, just a few inches and in this day and age, easily ignored by everyone. Not that I think this ignorance is a good idea; but it is what we do on the caveat that if in the future the neighbors say move the fence…well then the new owners will move the fence.

Well the good attorney Booger starts to make waves. He even goes so far to say that he doesn’t care what the contract says, that if the seller wants to sell then the fence must be moved. He’s always done his title work late in the game and this is just the way it is. Well so much for an officer of the court upholding the letter of the contract and the law. He was so terrible, so awful and so was the big, blue rock agent; that we on the seller’s side took the fence down so that the property would close, that opened a whole new can of worms; but tough noogies to the buyer, their beef was with THEIR attorney and AGENT. So, I digressed didn’t I? Ah yes the new offer to purchase and contract.

Gone are the days of house systems and structures “functioning the purpose for which intended and not in need of immediate repair.” The buyer now has a “due diligence” period to investigate the property and during that period, for ANY reason or NO reason may terminate the contract and the seller may keep the due diligence fee; take note Mr. Chapel Hill attorney, this includes surveys too. There can still be earnest money, but this needn’t be the case; there can be due diligence money, but this also needn’t be the case. GONE is any discussion about specific systems and inspection. Essentially the process is made easier, buyer comes alone, buyer offers, buyer writes a due diligence check to the seller, buyer prescribes a diligence period and investigates. Buyer may make a repair request but seller doesn’t even need to respond and if buyer isn’t happy with that then they may terminate the contract; but it is gonna cost them the diligence fee; if they move ahead and close, they get a credit for the fee.

So as always the devil is in the details, as a listing agent I am going to push my seller clients to accept just a diligence fee and NO earnest money and this way if the buyer terminates everyone walks away. I love it; gone will be the days of a buyer agent just throwing it all against the wall, of low balling, of recommending inept inspectors who will scuttle a deal. In reality I see all parties getting very serious when a home is under contract. Hopefully the days of willie, nillie walking away from a binding contract are numbered; of course we’re always going to have to deal with the odd ball attorney who doesn’t believe in following the written contract…but hopefully they too will become fewer and further between.

Want to learn more...call or text me 919-608-2372
Email me MSullivan@fmrealty.com
Visit my web site TeamMichaelSullivan.com

Red shoes...red home...find it...buy it...

Red Shoes….
You need a pair of red shoes to go with that outfit. You go to the mall, you go to your favorite store, you find a pair of red shoes. You try them on, they fit perfectly. They sparkle, they shine, they are brilliant. The price is right, the fit like butter to your feet. Do you buy them, no of course not, you go to every other store in the mall looking for a better shoe and then ultimately come back to the first pair hoping that they are still there.
This is not the way to buy a home, in this market or any market. National news media has been howling for months that it is a buyer’s real estate market. Well that is and isn’t true. It might be a buyer’s market in Nevada where one in fifty four homes is in foreclosure. Here in Raleigh/Durham that is not the case and if one is looking for a home outside a mc subdivision it is difficult to find the right home, at the right fit and at the right price. My advice to buyers, once you have found the right fit….buy it or it may not be around tomorrow.

707 Beckett Street Durham NC 27712

707 Beckett Street Durham NC 27712

Just a short drive north on Guess road, a mere fifteen minutes from downtown Durham you’ll find 707 Beckett Street in Canterbury Estates and serenity now.
This well cared for ranch style home sits on over six tenths of an acre and is nestled behind a stand of trees. Inside is an absolutely huge living room, with vaulted ceiling and a fireplace and a door to a rear deck, which overlooks a fully fenced rear yard.

The kitchen is updated with new 42 inch cabinets and Corian counter tops. The range, refrigerator and microwave oven stay with this home, as does the dishwasher. In addition to the eat-in- kitchen there is a formal dining room.
This home has three nicely sized bedrooms, a master with its own private bath and ample closet space. The bathrooms have been updated too.

You will love the low county taxes and the seller paid home warranty which is offered for buyer peace of mind.

To see 707 Beckett Street, phone or text Michael Sullivan at 919-608-2372 or email MSullivan@fmrealty.com you may also visit Michael on the web at TeamMichaelSullivan.com or TeamMichaelSullivan.net to learn more about his listed properties.

23 Prestwick Place Durham NC 27705

23 Prestwick Place in the Walden Pond neighborhood is just five minutes to Duke University, Duke Hospital and the VA Medical Center. This lovely townhouse is light, bright, open, airy and well kept. It is also very tastefully decorated and will compliment any décor.

On the main level is a modern, full equipped galley kitchen with modern appliances. There is a nifty pass through which could be converted into a breakfast bar if so desired. Beyond the kitchen is a large living room/dining room combination with a wall of windows at the rear and a wood burning masonry fireplace tucked into the corner of the room. The main level also has a half bath which has been nicely updated. At the living room a door leads to a brand new tree top deck.
Down one level is a full laundry space, a ceramic tiled bath and what could be a third bedroom, a family room, a home office, game room or bonus room. This space has a door to a large ground level patio.

The second floor offers two spacious bedrooms, a full ceramic tiled bath and lots of closet space.

23 Prestwick Place Durham NC 27705 is move in ready. A one year H.S.A. Warranty is offered on this property. The roof has been recently replaced as have the front and rear decks. The current owner has also had the Polybuteleyne piping removed from the property.

Interested in seeing inside? Call Michael Sullivan at 919-416-2254 or 919-608-2372 mobile/text or email him at MSullivan@fmrealty.com. You can learn more about Michael’s listings by visiting TeamMichaelSullivan.com