Dawn Brenengen

I posted earlier this year about a short sale listing I was selling in Caraleigh Mills earlier this year. If any of you have ever bought a home that was being short sold, then you know it can be a grueling process. Fortunately for me, the buyers of this condo were patient, and they had a good agent, Peter Rumsey, to help them understand the process.

I listed the home on May 27th. I received my first offer from this couple on June 21st. There were two banks involved with approving the sale, Wells Fargo held the first mortgage, and Suntrust held the second. We waited patiently as the banks mulled it over, ordered Broker Price Opinions and made up their minds. In the meantime, I had two more offers come in and two more buyers who wanted to write offers but couldn’t find a bank willing to lend to buy a unit in Caraleigh Mills. The condo project was 52% rented, and most banks don’t like to see more than 50%.

The first offer was countered by the bank at 210k (original list price was 220k). The buyer accepted that counter offer. Finally! On November 10th, I was able to change the status to “pending” in the MLS. That’s right, we waited a full 4.5 months to get an offer turned into a contract.

The next month was spent running around trying to meet the demands of the bank to get little pieces of paper signed, re-appraisals done, affidavits signed, HUDs to match, etc. It was a mad dash to closing. It finally happened on December 15th, and the buyers got a new, awesome condo for Christmas.

A little patience can go a loooong way, and everyone involved did a great job of keeping their heads cool and doing their part to make the sale happen. If I weren’t pregnant I would have downed a few bottles of wine along the way. ☺

I'm a person who is constantly on the go. I move fast, and I completely over-schedule my days, making me late for everything. This is something I am working on, and it has been a New Years Resolution many times over to allow for more time for things. However much time I think I need to allow for something, I should double. If I think it's going to take 15 mintues to get somewhere, I should give myself 30. If a client meeting will probably take an hour, I should allow for two. I'm also a chatty person, and I tend to work with chatty clients. That does NOT help the problem.

The biggest part of this problem is that I'm always in a hurry. Apparently, I was in so much of a hurry the other week that I ran a red light. I don't even remember doing it, but apparently, I did it. They have proof, and I am now $50 less rich. We are in our cars so much, I think we could all use a reminder to drive safely and within the law.

Every Monday I go to a restaurant in North Raleigh, NC called Lynnwood Grill for their amazing wings. They have a great .35 wing special that entices me to drive clear across town to gorge myself on chicken. The wing sauce is so good, I literally lick my plate clean. They have a bunch of different flavors to choose from, but my favorite is the "Special Sauce."

One of the drawbacks to Monday nights at Lynnwood Grill is the wait time to be seated. I try to get there are early as I can to beat the crowds, but that typically turns out to be 6:45, and the wait time by then is about 30-45 minutes. They don't allow for call ahead seating, either. But, to impatient me, these wings are well worth some downtime. Hopefully, this will change on June 1st. This is the old Lynnwood Grill, which was just a small space in strip mall:

They have been working hard for months on a new building that will offer some additional seating inside plus a rooftop loft. They have pushed the opening back twice now, but June 1st is looking pretty probable. This is the new Lynnwood Grill, which is right across the street from the old one. I can't wait for it to open. I'm really hoping it reduces the wait time, and I think they all deserve to be in a nice, new space.

A law went in to effect at the beginning of 2010 in NC that all residential rental properties must have a carbon monoxide detector on each floor of the home if it uses fossil fuels or has an attached garage. That means if ANY of the following are true, you must install these devices:

1. The home has an attached garage

2. The home has a gas fireplace

3. The home has gas appliances, water heater or HVAC

These potentially life-saving detectors are inexpensive to buy and install. I went the easy route in my own properties and used the plug-into-an-outlet kind. They ran a little over $50 each, but I didn’t have to hire anyone to put them in.

Carbon monoxide is an odorless and colorless gas. Symptoms of CO2 poisoning are similar to those of the flu, and since most of the poisoning cases happen during the coldest months of the year, symptoms may be mistaken for the flu.

A friend of mine moved across the country to live the life on a house boat off the coast of Washington. He left behind a beautiful home in the golf course neighborhood, Eagle Ridge, which he put on the market for sale in February of 2010. Eleven months later, he was over it. He had never been a landlord before and was hesitant to be one now, but his home was becoming a financial drain. We discussed his options and how turning his home into a rental property could be a great choice for him.

We signed a listing agreement near the end of January and NINE days later I had a fully executed lease. The new renters moved in, not even three weeks after the decision was made to rent the home. Now, I call that a success story!