The town of Chapel Hill has added six new spots downtown where you will be able to connect to the internet for free. Hopefully more spots will be coming soon so we won’t have to compete with so many students for a place to sit down and surf. FYI- there is no tech support if you can’t connect so look for a friendly face to help you out.The hotspots, which show up on wireless devices as “TOWNofCH-WiFi,” are located at the following: U.S. Post Office, 179 E. Franklin St.;  Old Town Hall (IFC Shelter), 100 W. Rosemary St.; Town Parking Lot 5, 108 Church St.;  Hargraves Center, 216 N. Roberson St.; Chapel Hill-Orange County Visitors Bureau, 501 W. Franklin St.; and  411 West Restaurant, 411 W. Franklin St. Users within 300 feet of a hotspot should be able to connect.

There are plenty of things you can do to help you sell your house at a better price and in a shorter amount of time but nothing may be more important than “staging”. Staging is more than decorating, it’s decluttering, it’s creating a sense of spaciousness, it creates an image that appeals to most people. I like to see elegance and minimalist combined so the prospective homeowner can envision there taste and their furniture. Check out the link below for more ideas and staging suggestions.

http://realestate.msn.com/selling/Article2.aspx?cp-documentid=5797784>1=10729

close to town yet private and serene

Incase you may know someone who’s looking for a house, this one is a great opportunity if you like views of nothing but nature and the sound of birds and leaves rustling. Originally built in the 1990’s the owners hired a Boston architect to design a major addition and added a fabulously open and bright family room, a new master suite and a second family room. It’s tucked into a cul-de-sac with expansive views of woods, nature and a meandering creek. It’s slightly under 3,000 feet and is offered at $438,000. Showings begin in less than a week so call me or email me if you’d like to be first. 919-929-2005. More photos will appear shortly.

If you have not driven through Winmore lately you should do so. The site for the pool and club house is marked by a large map on the street, trees have been planted and beautiful homes are reaching for the sky. My clients are building a Dixon-Kirby house and it’s even more beautiful than we imagined back at the concept stage.

Is there a state contract that agents and builders use for new construction as a standard practice? The answer is “no”. We as agents, have a new construction contract and addenda from the North Carolina State Bar Association which we can use but ultimately it’s the decision of the builder which contract he will accept. Many have their own company contracts that have been written by their own attorneys. Others will use the new construction contract and still some will use the standard Offer to Purchase and attach addenda. You should be able to discuss any of the contracts with your agent and of course an attorney is always recommended. I’d like to suggest two more ideas you might like; try to give your deposit in two to three increments. The dates should follow the builders construction schedule and he can tell you at the initial meeting (when the contract is signed) when to expect to write checks. The other is PLEASE hire an inspector to do a specific new construction inspection. It too will coincide with construction schedules. Usually it’s three or four inspections and the fee is well worth it. It’s very exciting to see a design on paper transform into a building process. Enjoy it! 

This is not a new article but I still found it informative. See below to contact the authors.

The Winmore partners, Phil Szostak, Herman Green and Bob Chapman approached the University to sell them the Horace Williams satellite tract for traditional neighborhood development. Their proposal notes the shortage of appropriately priced, quality housing in the Carrboro/Chapel Hill area, making it difficult for the University to attract and retain faculty and staff. Winmore wants to combine the two parcels into a larger joint development would optimize the “new urban” design concept, increase the availability of economical housing, and create a more walkable and integrated community. In preliminary discussions with these developers, Town of Carrboro officials welcomed the idea of a housing development with affordable housing components.

Members of the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees agreed to consider the idea, but only with a greater allowance made for affordable and reasonably priced housing for University staff. The Board insisted on controlling some land in perpetuity on which it would build 96 apartments that would meet the legal definition of affordable rental housing. (Under this definition, a worker would not spend more than 30% of their income on rent, meaning a worker making $18,000 a year could only spend between $400-500 a month on rent.) The UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees was also interested in negotiating a deal stipulating additional reasonably priced housing, with at least 50-60 of the for-sale units priced at $175,000 or less, and set aside for University and Healthcare System Employees or Town of Carrboro staff.

The Winmore partners must go through the process of obtaining approvals with the Town of Carrboro, dealing with traffic flows, school overcrowding and environmental impact studies. This arrangement keeps the University out of the real estate business, while providing a way to increase the supply of affordable housing opportunities for lower paid Employees.

In return for our land, UNC would receive a $1,250,000 purchase money mortgage at seven percent interest. Also, UNC would participate in 30 percent of any gross revenue over $15 million on total lot sales for the entire 129-acre development, not just the Horace Williams satellite.

The proposal for the development calls for 398 residential units as follows:

• Single Family Units 192
• Town Houses 110
• Apartments 96

The proposal also specifies approximately 50 acres of open green space will be preserved, and offered as a gift to UNC. Additional sites may be available to the University or Hospital for uses such as a child care center or healthcare clinic.There are 7,500 staff Employees on campus, many of whom make less than $30,000 a year. Why didn’t you get more affordable housing units in the deal?
The Town of Carrboro has zoning regulations that limit the number of housing units that can be built in this neighborhood. Also, Town regulations call for 40 percent of the land to be kept as open green space. And the Winmore partners are private developers whose profits are based on the price of the houses sold in the neighborhood. These factors combine to limit the amount of affordable units that can be built. The Town of Chapel Hill has similar zoning regulations, and that’s partly why houses are so expensive here!Remember, this project is only a pilot project for the University. It does not represent the only effort that the University will make to help employees find affordable housing. But when the Winmore developers presented the idea, it looked like a good way to get started.

The 50-60 reasonably priced houses will cost $175,000 or less. This figure is large, but still not as much as the $300,000 average that houses cost in Chapel Hill. And, again the University has stipulated that Winmore would include 96 affordable apartments, all for Town and University staff. So, it’s a beginning, and we’re hoping that it will bode well for future affordable housing projects.Why didn’t you sell the property for more money?
We could have gotten more money for the property if we sold it to developers that would build only expensive houses on the site, but we felt it an important point to try to increase the supply of affordable housing available for University staff in the area.Also, the Winmore partners took on important restrictions with this purchase, and that established an upper limit on how much they were willing to pay for the property.Which department gets the money from the sale?
Horace Williams was a professor in the Philosophy department. His will stipulated that all the property he owned should be used to provide income for fellowships in the Philosophy department. This includes the main 1,000-acre Horace Williams tract.

Also, an April 1999 Memorandum of Agreement between the University and the Philosophy Department called for the University to list for sale the satellite property (the 63-acre tract of land north of Homestead Road). The proceeds from the sale are to be added to two trust funds for fellowships in Philosophy.How will the University select who gets one of the units?
This process has not yet been determined.Does the University have to provide access to water and sewer for the project, or will the builder assume this cost?
Right now there is only dirt, rocks and trees on this property. The Winmore partners must handle all zoning issues and water and sewer hookup and access to all other utilities. They also have to develop all the roads in and around the development.What happens next with the project?
As I understand it, the Winmore partners will present their plans to the Carrboro Board of Aldermen in the summer or fall of 2002. If they get all the necessary zoning approvals, the University will sell them the Horace Williams satellite tract, and they can begin building perhaps early in 2003.
One important thing to remember is that there will be a mix of affordable apartments, reasonably priced houses and more expensive houses all over the entire 129-acre development. The lower priced units won’t all be concentrated just on the land formerly owned by the University.

Nothing like a hot day and a cool pool in North Carolina and now Winmore will be adding one to its list of neighborhood amenities. Somebody bring the popsicles please.

FYI-Swim instructors favor initiating swim lessons at a young age, as children learn to swim easier and faster than adults. Flotation devices can assist the learning process, helping swimmers overcome any fear of water. Kickboards and water wings are common flotation devices used with small children

Here are my most recent new listings. You can see more detail on my web site rememberkim.com

112 Bolinwood Drive Chapel Hill  $569,000

126 Peppertree Drive  $259,900 Mebane

518

518 Lafayette Drive

$219,900 Hillsborough

The national average for home appreciation is 4.25% down from 12.6% , In our area Raleigh/Cary appreciated 6.42% and Durham appreciated 7.07% first quater 2007. Eighteen months ago it was 5.11% and 5.61%. Numbers for Orange county were not available in the report. I have seen 6-10% over the last few years depending on location, floor plan and condition. I think Winmore will do very well on appreciation, similiar to Southern Village and Meadwmont.

Many people think that a “Buyers Market” means great prices for buyers and desperate sellers are willing to negotiate much more willingly. That may be true in areas of the country where house appreciation varies by 10, 20 or even 30% but in our area we are much more conservative with  market swings. Historically the average re-sale home averages 98.5% of the asking price and a six week closing is normal. In Chapel Hill we have a finite number of houses in the school district and new home neighborhoods take years to get approval from the town. We’re fortunate in that these two factors shield us  more so than in other towns. We also have a great number of employers in various industries that are within commuting distance of Chapel Hill thereby protecting us from a major layoff that might put too many houses on the market at one time. My experience has been that our prices pretty much remain the same but we’ll wait longer for a contract. If you have the time, it’s not a bad market at all for sellers. The last listing I sold only took 2 months and they got full price.