From http://bbs.creaders.net/house/bbsviewer.php?trd_id=490215&blog_id=64410 1。家庭的主要电器 2。厨柜及贮藏架 3。混凝土及砖石建筑 4。厨房的台面 5。后院甲板 6。门窗 7。水龙头及用水设备 8。地板 9。基脚和房屋基础 9。框架结构系统 10。供暖，通风及空调系统 11。热水器 12。屋顶
煤气灶平均寿命最长，为15年。烘干机和冰箱约13年。寿命最短的电器有：洗碗机（9年）和微波炉（9年）。此外，造型的变化，技术和消费偏好也可能缩短它们的使用周期。
厨柜预计将能使用50年，壁橱架子可以持续一生。
混凝土及砖石建筑是家庭中最持久的组成部分之一。烟囱，壁炉及砖贴面可以持续一生，砖墙有超过100年的平均预期寿命。
天然石材，这几年由于价格降低而日益普及，可以持续一生。大理石则相反，只有约20年的预期寿命。
根据不同的气候条件，寿命可能变化显著，但在理想的条件下，应该能持续20年。
只要房子不倒，外部玻璃纤维，钢铁和木材门会持续被使用，而乙烯材料(Vinyl)门有20年生命预期。壁橱门预计将持续一生，法式门（French Door) 为30至50年。铝窗年限为15至20年，而木制窗户可用到30年以上。
厨房水槽将历时50年，水龙头将正常工作约15年。浴室淋浴外壳能坚持50年，淋浴喷头持续一生，浴缸由使用而定，耐久性从20至50年，范围相当广泛。
如果得到很好的保养，全天然的木地板，大理石，板岩，花岗岩将历时100年，塑胶地板将持续长达50年。取决于保养和使用情况，地毯会持续8至10年。
假设建筑适当，混凝土砌块以及基脚（footing)会持续一生。沥青防水涂料10年后开始发生漏水，混凝土或铸铁污水管的设计寿命为一个世纪以上。
现浇混凝土系统，木制结构房屋和保温面板都将持续一生。软木，硬质纤维板和胶合板平均为30年，而OSB板和刨花板为60年。
暖气炉空调系统需要适当和定期维修才能持续工作，但其主要部件只有15至25年时间。平均而言，暖气炉可工作15年至20年，热泵能用16年，空调可用10至15年。
Tankless热水器持续超过20年，而一个电动或燃气热水器的寿命约为10年。
板岩，铜，粘土/混凝土屋顶有50年的预期寿命，沥青屋顶约20年。当然，屋顶寿命也取决于当地的气候条件，是否正确设计和建造，材料质量如何和维修是否足够。
Parkside Town Commons, a 950,000+ sf mixed-use/lifestyle development, opening Summer 2011. The project will incorporate a main street shopping district anchored by industry leading "big box" tenants, as well as retail shops, office and entertainment.
In addition, 375 residential units and hotel facilities round out the mixed-use character of the project to meet the needs of an attractive growing community that includes area residents as well as the Research Triangle Park workers.
Parkside Town Commons will provide a 24/7 environment for shoppers, residents, visitors and employees.
Check more information at http://www.parksidetowncommons.com/
Shopping center for lease and map at http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/15858247/NC-55-I-540-Cary-NC/
Triangle Business Journal - by G. Scott Thomas Portfolio.com/bizjournals
Read more: Quality of life? Raleigh ranks No. 1 among large U.S. metros - Triangle Business Journal
Raleigh can’t match the cultural splendors of New York City, the financial clout of Chicago, or the ethnic diversity of Los Angeles. But it does have plenty of attractive qualities of its own.
Such as its high-tech industries, which have established Raleigh as an anchor of the famed Research Triangle.
And its high-profile universities, led by North Carolina State, which have cemented its reputation as an educational center.
And its status as a state capital, which has brought political prominence and economic stability.
And now you can add this: Raleigh is the major market that offers the best quality of life in America, according to a new study by Portfolio.com/bizjournals.
The study compared the performances of America’s 67 biggest metropolitan areas in 20 statistical categories. The highest scores went to well-rounded markets with healthy economies, moderate costs of living, light traffic, impressive housing stocks and high-powered educational systems. (Click here to open an interactive chart with all of the data used in the study).
Raleigh earned first place, edging out two metros that are substantially larger, No. 2 Washington, D.C., and No. 3 Minneapolis-St. Paul.
The Durham metropolitan area, which includes Chapel Hill, was not part of the study because it does not rank among the nation's 67 largest metros.
A combination of several factors pushed Raleigh to the top of the list:
• It’s growing at a rapid pace. No major market is expanding as rapidly as Raleigh, whose metropolitan population has increased by 37 percent since 2000.
• It has a vast inventory of new homes. More than half of all houses in the Raleigh area have been built since 1990. Las Vegas is the only other market above 50 percent.
• It has an impressive supply of high-level jobs. Forty-four percent of Raleigh’s workers hold management or professional positions, surpassing all but three markets.
• It has a well-educated work force. Raleigh, at 41 percent, ranks sixth in the share of adults holding bachelor’s degrees.
Portfolio.com/bizjournals analyzed the 67 metropolitan areas that have populations of 750,000 or more. The raw data used in the study came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2006-2008 American Community Survey. Details of the criteria for the rankings are in Metro Quality of Life: Methodology.
These markets are the 10 best in terms of quality of life:
1. Four reasons for Raleigh’s No. 1 rank are listed above. Others include its large percentage of young adults, its historically low unemployment rate, and its impressive array of big houses.
2. Washington, D.C., leads four categories. It has the lowest poverty rate for families, the largest concentration of management and professional jobs, the highest share of big houses, and the best percentage of college-educated adults.
3. Prosperity is a key to Minneapolis-St. Paul’s high rating. It has the third-lowest poverty rate of any major market, and its median household income of $66,281 is the ninth-best.
4. Bridgeport-Stamford, Conn., is unusually stable. Eighty-eight percent of its residents have lived in the same house for more than a year, a rate second only to New York City. Its median household income ($83,492) ranks third.
5. No market has a lower jobless rate for workers between the ages of 25 and 64 than Salt Lake City. Only Washington has a larger share of homes with at least nine rooms. One-fifth of Salt Lake City’s houses are that size.
Read more: Quality of life? Raleigh ranks No. 1 among large U.S. metros - Triangle Business Journal
For people just relocating to Cary/Raleigh/Apex area, there are several executive level neighborhoods in this area:
1. Cary Preston Country club neighborhood: houses range from 2000 to 4000 sqft, With the prestigious Prestonwood Golf Course established in 1988, the neighborhood is in the heart of Triangle has the easy access to RTP.
2. Raleigh Brier Creek Country club is a luxury golf community developed by Toll Brothers, also next to 800K sqft shopping centers, featuring big box retailers, shops, restaurant and WakeMed hospital. Easy communte to RTP, RDU airport but not under noise contour.
3. West Cary: Southbridge, Copperleaf and The Green Level Crossing. These new developed communities have short commute to RTP and UNC, featuring 22 acre Cary Park Lake area and baseball park. The newly built elementary schools (Mills Park, Highcroft) and Panther Creek High has achieved excellent performance scores among Wake County public school system. There are also many other custom homes neighborhoods. In county plan, there will be a new shopping center, UNC recreation center and other facilities set up in this area.
Just 45 days into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Orleans Homebuilders Inc., of Bensalem, said Wednesday that it had executed an agreement valued at $170 million with NVR Inc., of Reston, Va., for the purchase of what the company called "substantially all" of Orleans' assets.
The agreement is meant to establish a floor price that Orleans chief financial officer Garry P. Herdler said the company hoped would lead to "other, better, and higher bids."
Orleans, in a motion filed Wednesday in Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, asked for bids to be due June 16.
NVR is the parent of Ryan Homes, which has 14 communities in Philadelphia's Pennsylvania and New Jersey suburbs, Trenton, and in Lehigh County.
As NVHomes, the company, which is traded on the New York Stock Exchange as NVR, builds in Delaware and Pennsylvania. Its stock closed Wednesday at $749.43, up 3.16 percent, or $22.93.
In 2009, NVR's revenue was $2.7 billion and its net income was $192 million, its annual report shows.
Orleans trading on the American Stock Exchange was suspended March 5.
In the 60-page motion, Orleans said NVR agreed to pay $17 million, or 10 percent of the purchase price as earnest money - half of which is now in escrow.
In announcing the agreement and the motion, which awaits approval by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Patrick J. Walsh, Orleans emphasized that NVR was not the buyer involved in the nonbinding letter of intent its 17-lender consortium had rejected in February.
That decision, and the fact that the builder was unable to obtain an extension of its $350 million credit facility, led Orleans to file voluntarily for Chapter 11 protection March 1.
A hearing on the motion to approve the asset purchase agreement, as well as establish auction and bidding procedures, could be held May 4, Orleans said, if Walsh approves.
The deadline for objections is April 27 at 4 p.m.
In the motion, Orleans asked for authority to consider "bids from multiple parties" interested in acquiring fewer than its four regions of operation - North, South, Florida, and the Midwest.
In a footnote, Orleans said that, in addition to the prepetition party with whom the builder had signed the nonbinding letter of intent, the court had received a "letter of interest" from Traditions of America L.P., an active-adult builder based in Philadelphia.
If the motion and the bidding timetable are approved, the auction could take place as early as June 24, with the sale closing June 29, Orleans officials said.
Under the agreement, NVR would acquire substantially all of Orleans' land, work-in-progress home construction, and "intangible assets" for communities in the four regions. The exception would be 200 lots and units under construction at two developments in New York state.
Orleans has 4,300 lots and homes under construction.
NVR would also assume certain liabilities, including the assumption or replacement of an aggregate of about $52.6 million of bank letters of credit and external surety and other performance bonds related to those communities.
The assets to be sold exclude Orleans' community-property-management subsidiary; its mortgage-broker affiliate or income-tax refunds ($18.2 million has been received and an amended 2008 return could reap an additional $3.5 million).
The agreement provides for homes to be built and closed. Both builders would "honor the backlog contracts on homes under construction with home buyers throughout the process, including escrowed customer deposits," the motion states.
Your Research Triangle Park (RTP) Connection, entrusted real estate advisor.
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