Stu Barnes

With Raleigh NC becoming a more and more popular place to buy Real Estate, many people are now wanting to know what there is to do here. Even folks who have lived here for years are not aware of certain activities that exist in the Triangle Area.

The obvious and most advertised is the Carolina Hurricanes, but not many people realize we have a rugby team, two minor league baseball teams and a professional soccer team. The area boasts six major shopping malls/outlets, not to mention the ever so popular farmer's market which by the way, has the best and cheapest fruit and vegetables you will find anywhere around here. Aside from sports and shopping, museums is a popular draw for people of all ages. Raleigh has over 7 museums; and not many people that live here know that.

You can find out about EDUCATION, HOSPITALS, SPORTS, GOVERNMENT and just about anything going on in Raleigh by visiting our site. We hope this helps and hope to see you soon.

When someone is considering to sell their home, the amount of commission they pay is a concern. Some may want to interview Discount Realtors. Barnes McQuade Realty is a Full Service Real Estate Firm covering Raleigh, Cary, Holly Springs, Fuquay, Apex and the remainder of Wake County and parts of Johnston County NC. Our company policy is to list homes for 3.5% total commission. This fee covers both the listing firm and the selling firms commission.

Barnes McQuade Realty has a marketing plan that puts your home in front of millions of potential home-buyers. Over 86% of home buyers search on the Internet for their next home before even contacting a REALTOR to help them make the purchase. Our marketing plan focuses on putting your home on all local Real Estate Firm sites that participate in IDX (sharing information) as well as national home search sites. Visit us today and find out how we can help you.

www.RaleighOpenHouse.com

In the past I have written a blog on whether the Raleigh area was a buyer's market or a seller's market. When it posted we were currently a balanced market, which means buyers were about equal in number to sellers. Well things change and currently it is safe to say the Raleigh area Real Estate scene is in a buyer's market. How do you determine? Well, like anything in Real Estate you may have a few professional opinions differ, but most opinions on this subject should be fairly close together.

Absorption Rates are determined through various equations to figure out how many homes on the market are being "absorbed" or sold within a given period of time. Let's take a year for example to make it easy. First you would have to determine the number of homes that sold in the 12 months you are measuring....let's say Jan-Dec. Take that number and divide it by the number months...which is 12. That should give you the per month absorption rate. Take that rate and divide it into the current number of listings and that will give you the months supply of homes. Supply of homes is a way professionals will determine a market to be favorable to a buyer or a seller. If supply is 6 months it is considered to be balanced. Anything over 6 months is a buyer's market, anything below six months is a seller's market. Right now the Raleigh area is just over 6 months in supply so we are considered a buyer's market. BUT it can change, so stay posted. For more information visit us here.

As 2008 has begun we (anyone interested in Real Estate) keep hearing doom and gloom when we tune into the news channels...OR we hear of a fruitful year if we listen to the NAR or any other advocates of THE Industry. It depends on who you listen to, but always think for yourselves and do some of your own research, knowing that both sides have an agenda. The Real Estate Industry is going to admit that 2007 was tough, but there are many signs that 2008 is a recovery year and many agents are going to post record numbers....AND vendors of the industry are going to try to pump up sales saying "you need us" to make this year better. The media is going to say the sky is falling and many people will lose their homes (which may be true) and agents will starve and firms will go out of business and rates will be higher than ever and homes will start to depreciate and so on and so on (run on sentence).

Here's the deal. The NAR reports the facts as they gather it to keep a positive light on the situation for it's members. The media seems to only report bad news, just look at your local news web page and count the positive headlines versus the negative...amazing isn't it? Fear sells!! Who is to blame...not the media, it's human nature to blame. For some reason we love to hear bad news as we think it warns and prepares us at the same time. The fact of the matter is that Real Estate is local and when people in my market read the headlines of other (bubble) markets, they automatically think we are doomed. Some markets have had it rough, but things will get better. The Raleigh/Durham market is actually very good, not as good as it has been, but a lot better than it has been.....get it.....things change and you have to roll with it whether you are an agent, homeowner and/or investor.

The only real problem our market has had in the past year or so is clients are having a hard time selling their homes in certain other markets. Other than that, rates are still low and the appreciation rate is a safe 4-6%. Our market has experienced healthy appreciation compared to others, but we have not and will not be facing depreciation like some media outlets have suggested. Real Estate is still one of the safest investments you can make so don't let anyone tell you different. For more information visit us here.