Mike Jaquish Cary, NC, Real Estate

"I just want to see foreclosures."  Whoops.  Someone may have been watching a little too much TV, TV from outside our local Cary/Raleigh real estate market at that.  When someone is asking for foreclosures, it rapidly becomes clear that one of two likelihoods is certain.

Either, they are an experienced investor and have a reasonable grip on the local foreclosure market and significant cash reserves.  Nothing wrong with that scenario.

Or, they may be a home shopper of limited means, with little working capital. They may think that foreclosures are the easy path to homeownership at bargain prices.

This is one time when the investor may be the more desirable client for an agent who knows houses and the local Cary/Raleigh market.  They should be working with discretionary funds, not the next month's rent money.  Investors should have a little experience in housing issues, and should know that foreclosure deals are seldom cookie-cutter transactions.

"I just want to see foreclosures."  Really?  Around here, you often have difficulty getting habitable foreclosed properties.  And that means you may well not be able to get a loan.  More and more foreclosure listing agents  disqualify offers to purchase that indicate the buyers are using FHA or USDA loans.  See, they know that FHA and USDA funding will not be available when the home has health and safety issues, particularly structural issues.  And they know that the banks will not be doing those repairs.

Some of the cheapest homes around may sell FHA, FHA 203K, that is.  With rehab funds built into the loan for utilization by the Buyer after closing.  Unfortunately for the buyer on a tight timetable, and without any knowledge of housing renovation, these loans may not be the answer.

But, for the investor paying cash, with no worries about habitability, it is a very active market right now.

"I just want to see foreclosures."  For the homebuying neophyte, I think that is like walking into Best Buy during their biggest sales of the year, and walking past the $1500 refrigerator that is marked down to $1100, so you can look at the $1500 refrigerator in the scratch and dent section.  The one that is reduced to $1095.  The one that doesn't have the features you want. That's a false bargain.

Let's go look at the undamaged merchandise as well as the scratch and dent.  Many homes are good values, in good repair, and not foreclosures. Let's look at the whole market and see what works best for you.  It just may NOT be a foreclosure!

I'm calling out for staging.  That may amaze some people, that I would want to see houses staged for my buyers.  But, I'm starting to think that I really want to see garages staged.  With vehicles.  One per space, as marketed.

The fact is:  A 19'x19' garage is only a "2 car" garage if you are talking 2 Smart Cars.

2 average crossovers?  Won't happen.

We see a lot of these in Cary, where the garage has a 16 foot door that leads you to believe it has parking for 2 cars.  Too often it is "All Hat.  No Cattle."  That 19'x19' space will hold a Ford Focus, a two door, at that.  You can add the optional fair amount of junque, if you like.  But you won't get another average-sized car in there.

It is a real shame for folks to assume they can park under roof, and then find out that they can't get two vehicles in without banging doors into the other car, or the walls.  The  shopping routine might need to include pulling a car or two into the garage.  If the Seller doesn't have it full of decluttered stuff from the house.

Yep.  Staging is the real deal.  Show me a garage with two Hummers, or two F150's in it, and I would get stoked!

Who wants a great view of the throne from a formal area? Who wants a "powder room" that opens into the grand foyer? Or into a food prep area? Or into plain view of the dining or formal living areas?

Appetizing? Nope. Enchanting? I don't think so. Common? Oh, yeah. Way too common, I think. I can understand when a 1050 SF 2BR/2 1/2BA townhome has to make compromises in location. there is only so much space to work with.

But, the other day, I showed a 2900 SF single family home in Cary. The powder room opened directly into the first (formal?) living area, offering a full view of the available facilities. Ouch. One of the deal breakers.

Last winter we stopped into a 3800SF custom built Raleigh home. Beautiful in many ways. Grand foyer with angled staircase. Multiple sight lines of delight when you took one step into the foyer. And the powder room toilet so close... Well, it was an intimate setting, if that is what you like. Clients didn't like.

And a while back, I was previewing another Cary home, a tract-built 4100 SF SFR with a friend. We got to the kitchen, and at the far wall, I turned around. Whoa! I paced it off. 45 feet away we had a clear shot of the powder room toilet, through the kitchen, the breakfast room, the family room, and a very short hall. In 4100 SF, the designer was unable to find a place to tuck it away. What's up with that? My friend said, "Well, Mike, evidently you are not a stay at home Mom potty-training a 20 month old..." No I am not. But it is good to see a national builder reaching out to serve all the niches...

But, in a league of their own are the homes where the toilet compartment opens into the kitchen. My English clients were aghast. Horrified. I tend to agree. What the heck are people thinking?

Little things, like powder room location, matter in a house.