Greetings from the Raleigh/Cary area. Today I want to tell you about one of my favorite summer activities. This saturday is the start of the NC Symphony's Summerfest Series at Koka Booth Ampitheater here in Cary. It is an opportunity to hear a terrific symphony in a very beautful natural setting. The ampitheater was constructed by the Town of Cary in 2001 and is a perfect example of the world class standard of living that we enjoy here in Cary and Raleigh.  The opportunity to sit on the lawn, surrounded by nature, soaking in the music, good food, and good wine makes this experience a highlight of our summer. I have traveled some and I can tell you I feel very fortunate to live where I do. If you ever come our way I hope you will take the opportunity to visit this fabulous venue. Until tomorrow, Ciao!

I am sitting downtown outside my favorite coffee shop as I type this. Today I want to talk about the new ampitheatre that is going to open in two weeks just a couple of blocks away. This is the newest outdoor venue in the triangle and it promises to be one of the neatest. The ampitheater is part of the Raleigh Convention Center complex which includes the fabulous shimmer wall. It is so fun for me to see Raleigh become a real urban center. Having been here since 1980 the changes that have taken place are nothing short of sensational. You can now live, work and play downtown and never have to crank an automobile. From viewing movies at the IMAX theater in the Marbles Kid Museum, to fine dining at Cafe Luna, The Mint or Duck and Dumpling to visiting art galleries like Artspace, Adam Cave Fine Art, Beehive Studios, Nicoles Gallery and Flanders Fine Art, to seeing live theartre or opera at one of the many live performance venues there are dozens of options for stuff to do. Raleigh Downtown is a happening place but even more than that it is developing a personality, a sense of community. I am very lucky to live where I do. To learn more about Raleigh Downtown or any part of the Triangle visit our website http://www.MissionPossibleAgents.com

Thanks and have a great week!  

As a broker I have certainly done a number of open houses over the years. I have found them to be a very inefficient use of time and an ineffective marketing tool. The problem is, I may be wrong. I have been thinking more about this tool lately due to the increased implementation of the internet by the consumer for house hunting. According to the National Association of Realtors most recent survey of home buyers and sellers over 90% of people looking to buy a home look on the internet first before even contacting a realtor.  If that is the case, are open houses a useful way for these same consumers to view the homes in person that they have seen on line. I am not sure. The same survey cites over 87% of home buyers still contact an agent prior to viewing a home in person. This is the reason I have traditionally told new agents that realtors sell homes, not open houses, not newspaper ads, not blimps flying over the neighborhood(no I haven't tried that). I have interviewed a few of my colleagues that have been in the business for a respectable period and they all seem to agree. Why then, do we still continue to do open houses? I think the answer lies in our need to do something, anything, to show our value to our client. I feel this pressure even when I know  my value lies in my ability to manage the process, negotiate the deal, navigate the bumps (there are lots of bumps)and get my client to closing. Perhaps I should install a cerebral tracker to show my client just how much time I spend thinking about their home and how to sell it. On the other hand it might not be a good idea to let the average consumer inside my head. It can get scary in there sometimes. In any event I think this business is evolving and we need to think of new ways to generate interest for our listings and help our clients get where they want to be when they want to be there. 

Where is that groundhog fellow. We need to talk. It is about 30 degrees with 40 to 50mph winds today in the triangle. I am pretty sure I just saw a pine tree go flying by my office window. Thats okay, I dont like my neighbor that much anyway. Just kidding Jim. I actually like them alot. They are kinda new to the hood. Only been there 39 years so I dont want to upset them. At least they're not rookies like my neighbor on the other corner. They just got settled in 20 years ago. I think they were worried about the neighborhood getting old in the tooth so they just had another baby. Brings the average down. Oh yea, did I mention we can walk to a terrific park right in our neighborhood. My stepkids helped paint the blue bird houses the town just installed. My neighbor down the street is a sculptor and she took it upon herself to paint one of the big rocks in the park. The town liked it so much they asked her to do several more. I live in one of those places that have intrinsic value. Our homes arent 4000 square feet but the lots are large and wooded and we can walk to the greenway in 2 minutes. We can be in downtown Raleigh in ten minutes. I ride my scooter there all the time. We have artists, writers, engineers, organic gardeners, college professors and just plain folk like me. Its a pretty cool place to live and I dont care how hard the wind blows. I aint budgin. A good home is not about the size of the rooms or the latest gadgetry but more about how you feel when you are there. I feel goooooooood!

What do you expect? Hmmm, seems like a simple question but is it? How much of our life's energy is spent on expectation and it's resultant emotional impact? Our entire lives revolve around our expectations. We expect our children to behave a certain way. Our children expect us to take care of them. Our employers design compensation plans based upon someone's expectations. When you go to a restaurant, you walk in with certain expectations, whether they be good or bad. I have always found it interesting that two people from seemingly similar backgrounds can look at the same experience with profoundly different reactions. Is this based upon their expectation of that experience. I think so. For years I taught classes for a large pharmaceutical company. The employees were required to attend no matter their station within the organization. Some employees would come into class with the expectation of "another boring safety class" while others might come in with "oh boy, a day off from my regular job" while still someone else might feel "hey, i work with some of these materials, I wonder if i can learn something". What was always a challenge for me and made the job very interesting was creating an environment where, regardless of your expectation, at the end of the day you felt like you got something you wanted from the experience. Thats kind of what being a realtor is about. People come to me with all different levels of experience, perceptions, and expectations. I like the challenge of developing a relationship that works through all of that and helps the client get something out of the experience. In other words, I like helping people get where they want to go even if it isnt where they thought they were headed. I have a pretty cool job!

Low 20s tonite in Raleigh and it is only December. I guess one of the things I like the most about the area is we really do have four seasons. Winter can be quite cold but it doesnt last very long. Before you know it the little flower thingamajiggys(thats a southern term) will be popping up out the ground to show off. The winter helps us to appreciate the spring. The winter can also bring us some snow to enjoy. The snow doesnt linger. It just makes an appearance and then disappears in a couple of days, perfect. I have often heard other realtors exclaim that the winter is dead but I disagree. The winter is a time where anticipation builds. Anticipation for the new year. What will 2010 bring us. I can tell you that already The Mission Possible Team is seeing a marked uptick in activity. We are as busy with clients right now as we have ever been. Maybe this activity is a harbinger of a very good Spring. I think so!

The latest data from our association of realtors shows a 44% increase in sales this October over October of last year in the Raleigh/Cary mls.  Median closed prices have dropped 12% in the same period. Both numbers are extremely significant. The sales increase coupled with lessened new construction activity means inventory is shrinking and the buyers window that we have seen for the last 18 months may be closing. As we move toward a more balanced market, which is typical for our area, buyers will not have the same leverage they have enjoyed in the past. While this may seem like a bad thing for buyers I believe it is actually good. In my mind the healthiest market is one where properties hold their value or slightly increase.  This means the buyer may actually pay a little more for the home initially but they are getting a more valuable property which benefits them in the long run. I cant tell you the number of conversations we have had recently with clients that bought in the peak of our market a few years ago and are now having to sell for less than they paid. No one wants that. I am hopeful that sales will continue to trend up and prices will begin to moderate throughout the area. Balance is good!

In my ongoing endeavour to be different but mostly wierd I will be cooking a 22lb turkey in a trashcan this thanksgiving. No this is not some southern version of Americas Funniest Videos. It is an actual recipe that i first tried about 4 years ago. It is not deep frying, oven roasting or rotisserie browning. Its trash canning and it is terrific.  I will not go into the details here but suffice it to say it is the most delicious turkey i have ever tasted and the clients that i share it with all agree. In any event, however you choose to spend this holiday, I hope you will remember how many people there are in your own community that struggle everyday to put food on the table or provide the basics for their kids. Give thanks by giving of yourself in some small way in your community and dont just do it during the holidays but year round. You will be much more thankful from the giving.

I attended a seminar today put on by a realtor association/vendor regarding the use of social networking and technology in the real estate business. It is astonishing to think how this business has changed in just a few short years. There was a time when we were told to mail postcards, send refigerator magnets, join the rotary club or PTA or LMNOP or something. Now it seems all we need to do is get on Facebook and Twitter. Everyone will love you and business will boom. Hmmm, sounds a bit fishy. While I recognize that print ads and postcards are yesterdays models that does not mean we should assume that social networking is the be all end all. It has been my experience that if you are on facebook because you like to chat with your friends and keep up with their lives that is a good thing. If you are on facebook to sell something that is not so good. I have always had the philosophy that you should be genuine in everything you do. Your friends will trust you and use you and recommend you to their friends. I have never wanted billboard business and just because the medium has changed my philosophy has not. I use social networking to inform and be informed. I think I'll keep it that way.

Fear is a powerful thing. It can make otherwise rational human beings act in very irrational ways. There are many types of fear but one of the greatest is fear of the unknown. We often tend to ostracize what we do not know or understand for fear that knowledge will change us. It will! That is a good thing. I am writing in reference to the recent school board elections in Wake County North Carolina of which Raleigh/Cary are the core cities.  The new board members have stated that they want to reverse the years of progressive planning that have made the Triangle one of the most desirable areas to live in all of America. Their rallying cry of "neighborhood schools" screams of isolationalism and segregation. Neither has any future in a progressive world. We strengthen ourselves when we welcome what we are not comfortable with. We grow in understanding when we accept the knowledge of others. I hope that the new board members are speaking from a lack of knowledge of the complexity of this process and will have a different opinion once they get all the facts. This does not mean that the current system is not without issues. Certainly improvements can be made but reverting to "seperate but equal" will bring great harm to our fair city. Raleigh and to an even greater extent Cary, has blossomed over the last twenty years from the foresight of forward thinkers. Lets not take the bloom off the rose for fear of its thorns!