~101 Wild Oak Lane, Carrboro, NC 27510~
$449,900

Video Tour and Clickable Floorplan Here or Below

~2 Scottish Ln, Durham, NC 27707 in MacKenzie Place~
$155,000

 Video Tour and Clickable Floorplan Here or Below

 Check out other Durham Townhome / Condo properties by clicking here

~22 Scottish Ln, Durham, NC 27707 in MacKenzie Place~
$159,000

Having just finished the daunting task of closing my parents estate for my sisters and me, I can fully appreciate the stress involved in this process! Rachel Rabinowitz, a Baltimore real estate colleague describes beautifully the things one should consider when faced with being the executor of the estate of a loved one in her article below.

I am currently representing a family in an estate sale and find my own experience with being an executrix to be invaluable with helping this client. Rachel's guide is indespensible and a great place to start your process!

I spent the morning checking on all my listings and replanting For Sale signs in their front yards. Since we managed to dodge the bullet that was Hurricane Irene by mere miles I didn't expect to find any terrible damage to the properties I represent in Chapel Hill, Durham and Carrboro. Other than the expected debris, all were safe and sound.

It isn't always that way. Those of us who have lived our entire lives in North Carolina understand that hurricanes are capricious and preparing for them is not optional. We know that these “weather events” can strengthen, subside, change direction or fall apart in short order. So we gather deck furniture, secure loose objects, trim loose limbs, and whatever else we can think of to secure our homes from avoidable damage.

As a professional Realtor I have more than just my personal home to worry about. I speak with my clients, particularly if they have not lived here during a previous storm preparation. I drop by each listing and secure my real estate sign in the garage or other area where it cannot become a projectile. I always cringe when I see pictures of a hurricanes' aftermath showing mangled real estate signs embedded in trees or a roof. My signs will never be in those pictures.

This time, we were not in the hurricanes' direct path. I was happy to spend my morning replanting For Sale signs and reporting the lack of damage to sellers who were not here to check their properties themselves. Real estate professionals are not just “fair weather” friends.

As a meteorologist said on television this morning, science has gotten good at predicting when a hurricane will pass over New York City but still isn't very good at predicting what condition the hurricane will be in when it arrives. That is exactly why we in the hurricane zone prepare for them and why we always will.We were some of the lucky ones this time. Our hearts are with those who weren't so lucky.

I wasn't in Chapel Hill, NC for the earthquake excitement but I know many of my friends, co-workers and clients felt it! Our experience of the event may not have been exactly like that of the folks near the epicenter but Jay Markanich, a Virginia colleague who is a knowledgable home inspector, was called into action to check out the homes of some of his clients who were getting ready to go to closing!

He outlines here what he would look for in such an inspection and it occurs to me that any of you who are just interested in being certain all is well with your home might want to check it out! Thanks Jay!

Dear Buyers,

I appreciate the many hours of effort you and your agent have put forth to negotiate your offer on my listing. I truly did not mind that I had to spend the first two days of my beach vacation inside on the phone and computer working out the finer points of a deal acceptable to both you and my clients.  It was a pleasant back and forth and my sellers were happy to meet your terms and you got a great deal on a great property.

So here's the part that bugs me...YOU PULLED OUT OF THE DEAL this morning with nothing by way of an explanation except we changed our minds...

Your agent is embarrassed, my seller is very disappointed and I have lost two days of my much needed vacation. 

I wish I could say this was the first time this has happened this year but it seems to be becoming the norm. Did you just think it would be fun to see if you could negotiate a real estate purchase contract? Were you bored this weekend?

Your agent and I DO NOT need the practice! We are very good at what we do and we represent our clients with integrity and skill. We worked hard for you. We are used to taking care of the myriad details that need to be managed in order to get you to your stated goal...that of homeownership...with no compensation until the date of closing. So were you simply kidding when you said you wanted to buy a house?

I'd love to understand what was going on in your mind during what turned out to be nothing more than an exercise for you. But more than that I'd love for you to understand that there are real PEOPLE involved in this process. People who trusted you when you said you wanted to buy, people who dropped everything to make it happen on your schedule, people who began making plans to accomodate your desires.

I wish I could say I was furious about this but I've reached the point where this has happened so often lately that I have no emotion about it when the call comes in except sympathy and regret for my client who was so happy just 12 hours ago and empathy for your agent who felt compelled to assure me that he didn't see this coming and would never have let it happen if he had had a clue you weren't committed to buying.

I think I will go stare at the ocean now. There was a reason I needed a vacation and you have simply reminded me, yet again, what it was.

~120 Millingport Circle, Chapel Hill, NC 27517~
$560,000

 Selling a home can be a stressful experience, and even more so when the home is the one you grew up in! I know; my sisters and I just did it this year. After losing our father almost two years ago, we were faced with dividing generations worth of personal property, cleaning out a half century of detritus and maintaining an empty home until it could be sold. Exhausting, physically and emotionally, doesn’t begin to cover it.

  My folks were fortunate enough not to have had to leave their home and enter assisted living or live with family. My sisters and I were able to take some time to accomplish the overwhelming task of closing up and selling their home. This was hard enough. Sometimes this isn’t possible and Baby Boomers find themselves tasked with not only caring for ill or aging parents but simultaneously cleaning out and selling their home in order to financially care for them.

  Transitioning a parent to an assisted living facility or nursing home is not only emotional for both parent and child but there are legal, financial and logistical issues which must be considered. In North Carolina, as in most states, an individual must be mentally competent to sign a listing agreement in order to sell a home or to designate a financial power of attorney to allow someone else, usually a family member, to sell it on their behalf. Before this situation arises it is highly advisable for parents, actually all adults with real property, to have a will and a designated power of attorney allowing someone of their choosing to oversee their financial affairs if they become unable to do so. A financial power of attorney allows a home to be sold immediately to help pay medical or facility expenses.

  In order to avoid frustration when the time comes to sell a home for an elderly parent preparation before the event is crucial. Do you know where to locate all legal documents and important papers? If the home is not paid for, where are the mortgage documents and is the mortgage current? Is the insurance up-to-date? Are homeowner’s dues up to date? Where is the deed? What about the contents of the home? All of these items need to be addressed before a home can be sold.

  As your Allen Tate Realtor, I can advise you about price, marketing and improvements needed to sell the home for a fair price in a reasonable time frame. I can also offer resources for estate sales, cleaning, repairs and staging. If your parents’ home is in another city I will be happy to help you select a professional who is able to assist you in accomplishing the sale in a timely and efficient manner.

Finally, I highly recommend that you consult with an elder care attorney to advise you about the financial and tax consequences of the sale of your parents’ home while they are living and how it can potentially affect financing of long-term care.

  I’m ready to help you during this tough time, as your Realtor and as someone who has been there. Just give me a call. We’ll take it a step at the time and make this tough time as smooth as possible.

Have you seen the Geico commercial about how you’d have to be living under a rock not to know what’s going on? Same goes for real estate - sellers would have to be living under a rock not to know that there is something up in real estate.  In my experience, most sellers are NOT living under rocks. That’s why they call a professional when they are thinking about selling.

They call us because they need an honest, forthright assessment of how their situation is affected by the contradictory headlines and media stories they are bombarded with daily. They call us because they want help, reliable help, with deciding how they should proceed.  They call us because they want the truth about what they are up against: in their neighborhoods, in their price ranges, in their market areas. They need to know what they can truly expect should they decide to jump into the swirling water that is real estate in 2011.

I read a lot about how agents should be willing to walk away from an unrealistic seller. Why spend marketing dollars on a listing you know will never sell? I also hear how some agents feel they should go ahead and take an overpriced listing and “teach” the seller what they need to know about the market by letting them get kicked around by buyers agents and buyers who will show them what they “don’t want to hear” from their own agent…like that the house is overpriced, not in good condition or not in high demand.  I feel strongly that neither of those scenarios works in the best interest of a seller who calls me because s/he really wants to hear the truth. Telling a seller the unvarnished truth about what is going on in the market in general and in their community and neighborhood in specific is the ONLY thing that works in their best interest. The TRUTH is neither good nor bad. It is simply the facts and conditions as they exist for each specific seller.

When I go on a listing appointment I am armed with everything I know about the home and neighborhood.  I have local, regional and national information that will help a seller understand EXACTLY what it will take to sell their home.  I have graphs and charts and marketing information and systems but MOST IMPORTANTLY I am prepared to listen. I need to know WHY they are exploring the option of selling and what they hope to accomplish. After I completely understand those two things we run the numbers on different scenarios and discuss their options. Once they have a truthful assessment of their situation, if they are still positive that moving forward with a sale is the right thing for them to pursue, we can then get down to the nitty gritty of discussing the listing and preparation of their home for marketing.

I have walked away happily from more than one potential listing this year WITHOUT a listing, knowing that, with my help, the sellers made the RIGHT decision for themselves. Some chose to rent their home, some chose to renovate (on which I will gladly consult to ensure the home remains sale-able in the future) and some chose to stay put.  Many more chose to sell. Those sellers are the ones who are not only in a great position to do so but they are ready for the challenge and excited about their opportunities.

If what you really want is for the seller to make the best decision for their personal situation you won’t need to worry about competing for the listing when the time is right for them to sell, you will have earned it.