No beautiful Silent Sunday picture today, although it was a gorgeous fall day here in Apex. 

No picture of Apex Town park where I went walking yesterday, but my camera batteries had died.

Nor am I writing any local real estate stats or news stories about happenings in the Raleigh area.

Just a few musings to get me past my bloggers block and start the week.

Like a lot of people, my husband and I enjoy reading the Sunday morning newspaper together. The kitchen table is often covered in ads, coupons being clipped out (and rarely used) and coffee cups. 

And of course the best part- the comic page! However, have you noticed that in order to save paper and therefore save money, newspapers are shrinking the size of the individual comic strips? A comic strip that used to take up a whole width of a single page is now being squeezed in to half the space. Some comic strips are becoming almost too hard to read.

Every comic strip is shrunk, except Prince Valiant! Now Prince Valiant has probably been around for 150 years or so. I remember seeing it as a kid. HOWEVER, I have never read it! It always seemed so dark and old fashioned. Of all the great strips that are being written today, why is Prince Valiant even wasting space being printed still, much less taking up a full third of the page?

As my husband says- what happened to the Jackson Twins? Prince Valiant is sill alive, but we still don't know how to tell the difference between Jill and Jan Jackson?

Isn't it great to live in America, and be of an certain age that we can have the time and nothing more important to do at this particular moment in our life than to laugh with your family about old comic strips?

On to Real Estate things and work on Monday!

Think that staging your home is only popular in this area of North Carolina? Or something that local Realtors are trying to convince their sellers to do?  Well, here's a great article from a friend in Austraiia.  Good advice is good advice where ever it comes from.

 A day at Lake Wheeler Park

Lake Wheeler Park, part of the City of Raleigh parks system, was developed in the 1950's and has grown into a wonderful place for families and friends to share the outdoors.

With many picnic tables and grills for free use for the public, as well as nature trails, fishing, and playgrounds, there is much to do here.

History:Lake Wheeler serves as Raleigh's secondary auxiliary water supply, and  this 800-acre lake park (650 acres of lake; 150 acres of park and land buffer) has rapidly become a favorite capital city getaway... . In 1958, Lake Wheeler was approved for controlled fishing and other recreational activities as established by City of Raleigh Ordinance. A Master Plan was developed for Lake Wheeler Park in 1959, noting that this reservoir would provide opportunities for fishing, motor boating, water-skiing, sailing and canoeing. Many improvements have been initiated since those early days and the current site bears little resemblance to the initial structures that were put in place in the 1950's. 

Available for rent are 3 medium picnic shelters and one large shelter, as well as a extra large "corporate" shelter for groups of 150 -200. 

The Waterfront Program Center was built in 1998 and consist of a conference center with warming kitchen, outside covered deck, concession area, restrooms, and outside playground.

WPC lends itself well to all types of special events and various rentals [for weddings and/or receptions, business/sales meetings, faculty meetings/retreats, team building seminars, small musical engagements, birthday parties, family reunions, company parties, etc.].  

Do you enjoy boating? Bring your own boat (small launch fee by the day)  or rent a canoe, peddle boat, or jonboat by the hour and have a great time.

Lake Wheeler is just one of many parks in the city of Raleigh and Wake County area, that make the Triangle area a great place to live.

It's the middle of October and here in the Triangle area of North Carolina we've had our first frost warning  The leaves are starting to turn colors as the weather cools off from the heat of August. Autumn has always been my favorite season, and living in North Carolina is especially enjoyable.

 In the Real Estate market, the last 2 months have been extremely HOT with first time home buyers hurrying to meet that November 30 deadline to qualify for the $8000 tax credit.  Because of this, homes priced in the lower price range, or under $200,000, were selling well.

 Looking at the chart below of residential sales for resale homes in Wake County, you can see that the number of homes sold per month has steadily increased from our low in February 2009 to September 2009 (the last month for which numbers are available.) The average price of a resale home has increased to $226, 535. Average days on market have decreased from 106 days to 96 days for the period of those months also.  

   The next chart shows sales for NEW & RESALE homes for the year through September.  As you can see, the bottom of the market seemed to hit in January with sales steadily climbing for most months.

 Want to know how homes are selling in Cary and Apex?  Or perhaps you'd like to know what's going on in YOUR specific town or neighborhood. If so,just email me and I'll send out your free Personalized report.

 Whether or not you're thinking about buying a new home or selling your present home, almost everyone is interested in what the Real Estate market is doing in these volatile times. 

The headline on the front page of Yahoo states "The town where you can't almost give a house away".  Well, reading on, this story takes a different turn, almost like a headline from the Enquirer.

No, they are NOT giving the houses away. The City of Detroit wants to be paid all of the back taxes owed on each property. So after 4 days of auctioning over 9000 houses, very few are sold.

Many people were interviewed who wanted to buy one of those homes, but the good ones were snatched up by banks or investors.  For others there was so much red tape that they couldn't possibly work their way through it.

After reading this story, I came up with an idea.

The city of Detroit should REALLY give those houses away. Give them to police officers, fireman, teachers, social workers, and other well deserving citizens who will promise to fix them up and live there for a minimum of 3 years. Make the closing easy. Reward people for wanting to help the city. 

Wouldn't it be better to loose $500/ house then to have a city the size of Boston composed of vacant run down houses?

Just think how much taxes will eventually be paid on those homes with families in them. Think of the jobs that will be made for contractors, construction people, plumbers, etc.  that the families will need to fix the homes. Think of the big picture with economic stimulation, not the little "how much can we get now" picture.

Yes, the auto industry in Detroit is dying. Time to move on and grow, with new jobs and new industries.

No, I don't live in Detroit, But what happens in other cities affects us all.  And although the  the saying "all real estate is local" has a lot of truth to it, we care about other markets as well as are own.

It's a bright, cloudy, cool, lovely fall day, the first weekend day since the leaves started to change that it's not raining. A perfect day for a walk in the park

While the crowds are enjoying the last day of the State Fair, barely 5 miles away, my husband, granddog, and I were enjoying the peacefulness of Lake Wheeler. Not a sound was heard except the crunching of leaves under our feet as we walked. Even the swimming ducks were silent.

 The evening was cold but everyone hearts were warm as the crowd of Supporters, Survivors, and people walking in Memory of Leukemia victims gathering Saturday night at Halfiax Mall in downtown Raleigh for a 2 mile walk around downtown to raise money for leukemia and blood cancer research.

Meals were provided for all walkers by Cici's Pizza, Panera Bread, and Remington Grill. Starbucks provided some much needed hot coffee, and the Vitamin Water was passing out cold liquid refreshment.

Each participant was given a balloon with a light inside- red for supporters, white for survivors, and gold balloons for those walking in memory of their loved ones.

Entertainment was provided by local dance troupes as well as DJ music to warm the crowd up.  (Did I mention it was cold?)

The Welcoming Ceremony mentioned several corporate sponsors who raised over $10,000.  The top sponsor was Capital Broadcasting Company, followed by Rex Hospital.

Finally the "walk" started. Over 2500 people walked through the downtown Raleigh streets that were closed off to traffic and guarded by the Raleigh Police force. 

What a sight it was to see the thousands of balloons lit up marching downtown.

(Difficult picture to get, but it's still kind of cool)

Pledges are being accepted until the end of the year, so no totals were announced. The Leukemia society is hoping to raise $400,000 this year.

Thanks to the Nestors for letting us all know how frustrating and difficult it is to work a short sale, even for the experts.

I know this is very late, but I've just been asked by a client of mine to join her tonight in this very important cause.

We will be walking 2 miles (it's pretty cold out today for Raleigh) and are supposed to ask for sponsors to help raise funds to fight leukemia. 

My client's 20 year old daughter has a best friend who has this terrible disease so of course anything we can do to help her is appreciated. Even if you don't want to donate, your thougths and prayers for Anna will be appreciated.

Here is the link and info from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society:

I'm raising money for a very important cause:  finding better treatments and cures for blood cancers so patients can live better, longer lives through The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light The Night Walk. I'm asking you to help by making a contribution!  Please use the link in this email to donate online quickly & securely.  You will receive an email confirmation of your donation as soon as it is made. I thank you in advance for your support which will make a difference in the lives of thousands of patients battling blood cancers.

I really appreciate your generosity!!

http://pages.lightthenight.org/nce/Raleigh09/LJandura

Thanks to all! Pictures and news of tonights event will be posted soon.