Away In A Manger

It is the season for remembering why we celebrate Christmas…”Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. And she [...]

They Took All The Trees, Put ‘em in a Tree Museum…

…..and they charged the people a dollar and a half just to see ‘em.

  I have a buyer client looking to downsize from his North Mecklenburg home, which used to sit with ten acres of trees right behind his back yard. However, a year ago a large national builder/developer came in and leveled every tree [...]

Rescue Me….Coz I Need You By My Side…

As Aretha Franklin put it, it appears as though big business needs the government by it’s side to succeed, even to survive. Well, the House and the Senate passed the President’s 700 Billion Dollar “rescue” package this week. It’s bad tasting medicine, but I believe we need to swallow it anyway if we want to [...]

Mortgage Bailout

“We got trouble, my friends….right here in River City…trouble with a T, and that rhymes with B and that stands for Bailout.” (I can’t help it, I’m a Music Man fan).
Lots to be concerned about as the government tries to decide how best to help the crisis:

Are we socializing/privatizing the mortgage and/or banking industry?
Is the [...]

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

…….It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood……..or so the song goes. But is it? Many times when I am showing property to prospective buyers I am asked about the neighborhood; is it noisy?, is it loaded with kids?, etc.
North Carolina Real Estate Law and the Federal Fair Housing Act prohibit agents from helping buyers make [...]

All in all, it’s just another brick in the wall…

This story comes from Ilyce Glink of Inman News…..It seems that a home buyer is upset that the sellers neglected to tell them that there was a noisy neighbor that watches sports all day Sunday, and yells at the top of his lungs after virtually every play. After the games he blasts Pink Floyd’s “Money” [...]

Should I Stay, or Should I Go?

There’s an old Jimmy Durante song that went, “Did you ever have the feeling that you wanted to go but then you had the feeling that you wanted to stay?” Then there’s  “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” by The Clash. (There, I’ve successfully related to at least two distinct generations of music/movie lovers).  [...]

"Whats Doves Got To Do With It, Do With It?"

Okay, so I paraphrased a popular Tina Turner hit from a few years back. But the question remains, what do doves have to do with a real estate blog? Well, the answer for me is nothing, in a direct sense. But indirectly, the speedy fliers provided me with an opportunity to “sharpen the saw,” as [...]