Watch the transformation of this North Carolina home as it goes through a whole house remodel.   I have had the pleasure of documenting the progress of this total house renovation and turned it into a brief video you can watch below.  To start, the house was stripped down to the bare studs, some work was needed to sure up the foundation and flooring system.  It was re-roofed with metal roofing, and re insulated with a ‘green’ foam insulation. The house is nearing completion and I hope to add some updates when it is 100% complete.  The remaining work includes redoing the wood floors, completing the bathroom remodel and installing the new kitchen cabinets and counters.

It is one of the oldest jokes in real estate, but with a new punch line:

Q: What are the three most important things to consider when buying a house?

A: Jobs. Jobs. Jobs.

This Wall Street Journal article reviews housing data to reveal the top 25  more stable housing markets in the US.   Two North Carolina cities came in first and second, Jacksonville and Fayetteville respectively.  My city Durham, NC, came in at 22nd.  Read the full article at WSJ online.

Coming to the Triangle next weekend is the Raleigh Fall Home, Spa & Landscape Show
September 10, 11, 12, 2010 at the Raleigh Convention Center. Tickets are $9 and children under 16 are free.

Learn more at Raleigh Home Show.

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FROM Press Release:  Triangle MLS Inc. Releases January 2010 Real Estate Figures -  See www.trianglemls.com for additional information.
RALEIGH, N.C. – The Triangle Multiple Listing Service, Inc. (TMLS) announced the following information regarding listings and
closed sales within the MLS system during January 2010 for homes located in Durham, Johnston, Orange and Wake counties.

There were 841 closed sales within the four county market areas during the month which reflects an 8% increase over January 2009. The increase marks the fourth consecutive month that closed sales have improved over the previous year. The average sales price for the month decreased 1% to $235,000 from January 2009. The average days on market had a small increase from 104 last year to 108 days this year.

While sales showed an increase over last year there were several other indicators that took a slight dip last month. There were 52,603 homes shown during the month which reflects a 4% decrease over January 2009. The number of homes taken off the market during the month with their status changed to pending or closed was down 2% as compared to pending in 2009.