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Mike Jaquish Cary, NC, Real Estate

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North Carolina Zoological Park: A great day trip from Cary, NC

11-08-09
Mike Jaquish Cary, NC, Real Estate

We had a great time at the NC Zoo, and the weather was perfect for taking pictures. We get there in about an hour and 15 minutes from Cary.

 

I really get a kick out of shooting snapshots ofgiraffes and zebras, but the rocks and trees of autumn were also attention-getters.

 

North Carolina has the 2nd largest zoo in North America in acreage, and the most developed walking zoo. Our favorite approach is to take a tram or shuttle from the end we enter, all the way to the far entrance. We then walk back, having lunch somewhere along the way.

 

I was delighted with the crowd at the zoo on a November Saturday, considering there were very important college football games, initial college basketball games, and other entertainment options.

 

I put together a little slideshow including a few of the photos I shot.

 

 

The NC Zoological park is about 8 miles south of Asheboro, NC, and about 65 miles west of Cary, NC, being an easy drive along US 64 from Cary. We have Zoo Society memberships each year, so we support the maintenance and expansion of habitats even if we don't get out to the zoo. Right now, the zoo is about 60% through a fundraiser to add a new improved polar bear habitat, and additional polar bears.

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Speechless Sundays: Bamboo at the Zoo

11-08-09
Mike Jaquish Cary, NC, Real Estate
Bamboo at the Zoo
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Wordless Wordless Wednesday: Fall in Cary, NC

11-04-09
Mike Jaquish Cary, NC, Real Estate
Fall, 2009, Cary, NC
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MLS Foreclosure Search? Maybe some day...

10-29-09
Mike Jaquish Cary, NC, Real Estate

We get the calls routinely, "Can you help us find foreclosure listings?"

More often than not, the questioner means they would like to hear about homes upon which the lender has foreclosed, that are entered into the Triangle MLS when the bank is ready to sell them. They often are looking for foreclosures in hopes that they can gain more affordable housing around Cary, NC. Whether foreclosures make for more affordable homes is debatable, but one thing at a time........

I always want to say, "Yes," and I always catch myself and say, "Well, kinda... Sorta..."

See, there is no provision in our Triangle MLS rules that require a listing agent to identify a home as in the foreclosure process, or as a bank-owned foreclosure, "REO."

Some try. Some don't try. Some try to obscure the status so they can semi-pocket the listing and get the Buy side commission, I think.

Triangle MLS has taken a recent measure towards gaining clarity. A "Special Conditions" field will go live on the MLS on November 3, 2009. And in that "Special Conditions" field, it will be required to indicate if a home is a short sale. The field also offers listing agents the option to indicate if a home is in the foreclosure process, or if it is already bank-owned.

Frankly, I don't get it. I understand the Short Sale requirement. If the list price is inadequate to cover outstanding liens and pay costs of the transactions. That is a material fact that will impact the Seller's ability to convey title.

What I don't understand is: Who is served by providing confusion regarding "In Foreclosure Process," or that fact that a property is an "REO?" With these two options being, well Optional, we will be in the same circumstance. Unable to build a search for one of our hottest commodities currently: REO's.

The intrinsic value in an MLS is the data, and the integrity of the data. Providing opportunity to obscure data, and to corrupt the integrity of the data diminishes the value of the Listing Service. It makes that data unreliable.

I'm hoping that this is an incremental change that foreshadows a move by the Triangle MLS directors to at some point make these fields mandatory, so we can search by In Foreclosure Process and REO statuses and gain reliable information.

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Affordable Home Initiatives in Cary and Wake County NC

10-29-09
Mike Jaquish Cary, NC, Real Estate
Cary, NC, is well known as a town with expensive housing and some lack of affordable homes. This results from a very desirable location and a very high economic demographic. Advanced degrees are a common denominator in Cary.

Cary has an Affordable Housing Initiative in place to encourage offering of affordable homes to Cary residents.

It is noteworthy that many town employees and other service industry employees are commonly unable to afford a home in Cary.

On October 31, 2009, Cary residents are invited to sit in on a Wake County Affordable Housing Project design workshop, which will be held at the Page-Walker Arts and History Center, 119 Ambassador Loop, Cary, NC 27513.

Cary, NC, Page-Walker Arts Center

It should be interesting, with graduate students from NC State's School of Architecture holding forth. Arguably, Town of Cary policies help to inflate the cost of residential construction in Cary. Can professional design overcome artificial pricing effects of policy?
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