SarahGray Lamm ~ Chapel Hill / Carrboro / Durham Real Estate Blog ~ Agent Outlier

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.

How lucky we are to live in the Carolinas! As we head into the Memorial Day weekend and my neighbors and I prepare to celebrate by grilling everything in sight; I know my friends at the beach and in the mountains are doing the same thing! Whether your view is a ligustrum bordered back yard in Carrboro, waves crashing on the beach at Topsail Island or a spectacular sunset over Grandfather Mountain in Blowing Rock, I’m right there with you, thankful every day that I am a Tarheel!    

Speaking of friends and neighbors, I want you all to know, that I am lucky enough to be at a place in my career where using my 30 plus years of my experience and expertise in North Carolina real estate to help you understand exactly what is happening in our neighborhoods and towns is what I love doing best.  My association with Allen Tate Realtors, the #1 real estate company in the Carolinas, is one of the best decisions I have ever made.  Take a look at this video from our President and COO, Pat Riley, who explains so well how important understanding the value of our neighborhoods is to our resetting of the real estate markets in America.

The last few years have been challenging for all Americans and we in the Carolinas in general and Chapel Hill, Durham and Raleigh specifically have not escaped.  I want you, my neighbors to know, that I would be honored to sit down with you and explain how our neighborhood and home values have been impacted and where I believe we are heading. If you don’t need to sell, don’t want to sell but just want to know what the heck is up, I can give you some idea.

Have a great weekend and if you happen to come by and smell good smells coming from my backyard, it might  be a good time to stop by and just ask me “How’s real estate?” I have the answers!

Come see for yourself how you can enjoy the feeling of mountain living in Chapel Hill, NC! This beautiful contemporary home will be OPEN TO THE PUBLIC on Saturday, March 12, 2011 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

If you need a break from all the excitement of cheering for the Heels, this is the place to be!

View Map to Open House at 6412 Heartwood Dr in a larger map

~6412 Heartwood Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27516~
$289,000

Light Filled Contemporary on an Acre in Heartwood
Peaceful Living Reminiscent of the NC Mountains
Walking Distance to Emerson Waldorf School
Cedar Two Story with Finished Walk Out Lower Level
Walls of Windows Overlooking Wooded Natural Setting
Open, Flowing Floorplan
Several Outdoor Living Spaces
Built in 1988 by John Hartley
Living Room / Dining Room Combination
Sun Room on Main Level
Hardwoods through out Main Level
Utility Room on Main Level
Three Bedrooms and Two and One Half Baths
Multipurpose Room on Lower Level with Exterior Entrances
Large Storage or Work Room with Electricity
Lots of Garden Areas
Heartwood features Community Pond and Garden

How's this for a fantastic opportunity!! Ecologic-studio, a sustainable residential design build center in Chapel Hill, NC, is running the UGLY KITCHEN CONTEST. If you live within a 30 mile radius of Chapel Hill, you can submit an entry which requires you to explain in 200 words or less why they should choose your kitchen. They also ask for 3 photos of your ugly kitchen and since a picture is worth a thousand words it ought to be easy to meet the previous requirement!

The prize includes:

• A Free Energy Efficient BOSCH dishwasher
• A Total Redesign Of You Kitchen Space with Full Color 3-D Renderings (how cool is that?)
• A Gift Basket From A Southern Season (only Chapel Hill's finest store in this Realtor's humble opinion)

You need to enter by February 1, 2011 IN PERSON at the store located at Eastgate Shopping Center so I'd stop reading and get started if I were you!

Here's the entry form...just click on it to get started! GOOD LUCK!

A juvenile prank or someone's opinion of what is or is not art? It doesn't really matter. What matters is that someone felt compelled to make off with a large sculpture installed in front of the financially troubled Chapel Hill Museum on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, NC.

The sculpture was on lease from a Florida artist and intended to be on display until October of this year. It is gone.  Surely someone noticed it being removed or has seen it someplace where it doesn't belong...which is anywhere except in front of the Chapel Hill Museum.

Come on boys and girls. This is art theft even if you prefer Rodin. Chapel Hill is fortunate enough to have a dedication to displaying public art in public places. For some reason there are always those who think it is a challenge to remove it. On previous occasions, when public art, or even art that is on personal property, has been "moved" it has always been found in a friend's garage or a fraternity house. Let's hope this will be the case this time as well.

The Town of Chapel Hill is offering a reward of $250 for information leading to its return. Personally I think you should provide any information you might have for free. How embarrasing for our lovely community that there is always somebody who thinks their fun is more important than our town's commitment to making our public spaces pleasing. And if you are one of those who didn't like this particular choice of art...you only had to wait until October.

Click the picture below to go to the Town of Chapel Hill website for a better look at the sculpture.

I've just had a pergola built over my deck in Carrboro, NC. As our daytime temperatures reach over 100 degrees for the third time this summer, I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to sitting under my new pergola with its soon-to-be-installed ceiling fans and Coolaroo UV blocking exterior shades.

I'm a Carolina girl, born and raised, and you'll forgive me if I daydream about serving my guests cocktails and dinner by candlelight at a garden party under my new pergola, on my mother's china and table linens, with ceiling fans spinning slowly overhead. Ah believe ma southe'n accent got thicka just thinkin' about it but...I digress...

How much more true to my southern roots could I be if I were to let thick vines of purple flowered wisteria curl around the posts and hang through the beams of my pergola? The answer is NOT VERY! Wisteria is a highly invasive exotic plant and spreads easily in our local climate, displacing the native North Carolina plants which belong here.

There are many non-native plants which were brought to our region by surely well meaning folks who simply wanted a beautiful, exotic garden. English Ivy, for instance. As the local Southern States garden shop employee told one of my neighbors; "Ivy is the gift that keeps on giving. You better hope all your neighbors want ivy if you plant it!"

If you live in North Carolina, or any other southeastern state, and you aren't already thinking "Kudzu", you haven't been paying attention. Brought to the USA from Japan in 1876 for a gardening exhibition, it was widely planted during the Depression to provide erosion control. Kudzu planted in North Carolina is the very definition of an invasive plant. Growing up to a foot a day in the summer, it is a common sight along our highways as it chokes out native forests and tugs on overhead power lines.

So it was with appreciation that I read that Carrboro, NC has decided to update it's zoning rules list of invasive plants which cannot be included in new plans submitted by developers. Not to worry. This is not intended to tell Carrboro residents what they can and cannot do with their own property. Rather it is a step toward bringing some intelligence to the process of deciding what kind of plants we should be propagating in Carrboro.

The invasive plants list is based upon continuing work by the North Carolina Native Plant Society and includes rankings of plants as severe threats, significant threats and lesser threats as well as watch lists. But the NCNPS website isn't just a DON'T DO IT list. It also provides valuable information about native plants and how planting them honors our regional heritage as well as providing food and shelter for our local wildlife. I would encourage anyone interested in planting a garden in any part of the Triangle to consider using only NC native plants.

As for the image in my mind of a garden party under a vine covered pergola...I can just as easily see a native climbing Hydrangea fitting into my daydream. I'm willing to keep an open mind when it comes to recreating my heritage. Thank goodness because I can't really see myself in a Scarlet O'Hara dress on a hot summer evening, even if I am sipping sweet tea.

 

Washer, Dishwasher, Refrigerator, Freezer?

Need a new appliance for your new digs or a replacement for one that is on its last legs?

Consider purchasing an Energy Star rated appliance over the upcoming Earth Day weekend, April 22nd thru April 25th, 2010 and you may qualify for a rebate from the state of North Carolina!

 

 

 

 

 

Need some more info on the program? Download this FAQ provided by the NC Energy office!

 

 

 

Energy Star

So, it's official. I admit there is one thing I DO NOT like about living in North Carolina.

Tree pollen. It's absolutely everywhere. I'm not kidding. EVERYWHERE.

This is the one time of year I do not like having to be in and out of my car every five minutes. The yellow-green dust is so thick you can see it in the air and I cannot even think about how much of it I breathe in in the course of a day.

It's in the driveway...

On the grill...

On the woodpile...

On the deck...

In the bird bath...

On my cat...

Did I mention my poor cat....

Thank goodness it is a short lived issue. I'll forget all about it when the azaleas are in bloom. Please excuse me now...I need to go take a shower....and rinse off my cat.

 

If you were born and raised in Eastern North Carolina, as I was, you know how we got our economic start. We were a cotton and tobacco economy, pure and simple. As the child of a cotton merchant I dove off many a cotton bale into loose samples of cotton piled high in a warehouse. I know the smell of cured tobacco in an auction warehouse before it was moved to the cigarette factory.

Durham meant tobacco. Block after block of red brick warehouses and plants, the first of which was built in 1874. The huge arched windows and smoke stacks that looked like cigarettes, the water towers bearing familiar brand logos and the railroad tracks weaving throughout told you exactly where you were. A few blocks up the road another red brick plant with palladium windows went up in 1900 so the Golden Belt Manufacturing Company could began turning cotton into thread and manufacturing the cloth pouches for all that Durham tobacco.

You have to forgive us North Carolina natives for not going easily down the road when overwhelming evidence showed that smoking was bad for our health. It had been good for our families. But that fight has already been fought and what was left in the aftermath were all those red brick buildings and railroad tracks...and a dying downtown Durham. Move along.

It was true throughout the '70s, '80s, and into the '90s...nothing to see here. Durham, NC – one half of Raleigh-Durham and one third of The Triangle Region – home to the RTP, Research Triangle Park, one of the most concentrated areas of growth in the country for healthcare, bio tech, high tech and research companies, and surrounded by three, yes, THREE, tier one universities and countless smaller ones. So why has this area of the country fared better than many during this economic downturn? Reread the last sentence.

Why, then, would downtown Durham have simply been ignored all that time? Because we were lucky. At least as viewed through the lens of a dynamic 21^st century downtown economic development team; we were lucky. Or at least we are lucky to have visionaries like Bill Kalkhof, the President of Downtown Durham, Inc., in our midst. Lucky that no one thought to come in and tear down the buildings of our tobacco and cotton heritage. I was lucky enough to spend a day in February 2010 with Carver Weaver, Director of Business Retention for the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce and one of her colleagues, Matthew Coppedge, as they showed off their enthusiasm for a Durham rising once again to the top of its game.

As real estate agents committed to truly knowing the communities in which we live, work and play, a group of Allen Tate Realtors climbed into a white van for a drive through the present and future of The Bull City. After a two hour tour of the places I 'see but don't see' everyday, I'm not sure they aren't right about being lucky. Did some folks and their businesses get the short end of the stick with the rise of suburbia in the '70s when the “loop” was built to divert traffic around downtown Durham? Yes. Did Durham suffer the blight of being a decaying urban area and all the hardships which ensue because of that? Yes. Did Durham get a bad reputation and did the folks who were left behind find it tough going for too long? Absolutely. But is there a city better poised than Durham to springboard to success when all these bad economic winds abate? No!

Remember all those red brick warehouses? Block after block of buildings sporting palladium windows, massive wooden posts and beams and heart pine floors? Any guess what it would cost to build something like that in today's market? Any idea what local developers committed to reclaiming and re-purposing those buildings might be able to envision? Any clue what happens when a city partners with private business to return itself to a former glory?

For starters, think the American Tobacco Campus. Then head east to the Golden Belt art campus. On the way you'll pass the Durham Performing Arts Center and the wonderful new Durham Bulls Athletic Park. No, not the same venue as the one shown in the movie “Bull Durham” but not to worry, that one has been restored too. It's located in the Central Park area, near the Durham Farmers Market, and soon to be a venue for music events and winter ice skating.

There is Brightleaf Square, the first warehouse area reclaimed by forward thinking local business folks back in the '80s. It became a shopping and restaurant destination all on its own for many years. Once again updated in 2004, Brightleaf anchors the western edge of a revitalized Durham downtown.

The heart of downtown or the City Center area is home to Parrish Street, also known as the “Black Wall Street” and it's historic value is being preserved and honored. The City Center is home to the Durham Arts Council and to Greenfire Development, a company whose mission is to improve the overall quality of life in Durham by creating opportunities and whose very name is meant to indicate their understanding of the interconnectedness of people and communities, even forgotten ones.

There is so much more. What you really need to know though is that Durham, NC is back! It has a walkability score of 94 out of 100! It is home to world class restaurants, a thriving arts community, historic preservation and festivals celebrating everything from Civil War Re-enactment to Beer! Durham has reknowned medical facilities, music, museums, beautiful parks, Broadway entertainment and some pretty awesome sports! For a real treat check out this photo blog of A Photo Love Letter to Durham by Jessie Gladin-Kramer.

Wondering where you could go to live and work in a community poised for greatness and endless possibility? Ready to be part of building something sustainable and beautiful while honoring history? Wondering if there is a place you can afford to live yet still have infinite choices of things to do with your free time?

Call me...I think I might have a few ideas....

Click Here for Single Family Homes For Sale in Downtown Durham

Click Here for Condos & Townhomes For Sale in Downtown Durham

 

View Downtown Durham, NC in a larger map

 

American Tobacco Campus photo by J S North:http://www.flickr.com/photos/joephotos/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Durham Skyline photo by Ildar Sagdejev: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2008-07-12_Durham_skyline.jpg

 

If you love nature and the outdoors, biking, trail running or simply strolling along listening to the birds singing, Chapel Hill and Carrboro have some easily accessible ways to get out and enjoy your passion! Part of a planned system of greenways throughout North Carolina's Triangle ( anchored by Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill) are plenty of easily accessible trails running along the streams and through the forests that are part of the Triangle's treasure. Quite a number of the trails can be reached by local residents right in their own communities.

A short stroll through my own neighborhood and I am exploring The Bolin Creek In Winter:

 

This map shows the area where I filmed this video:

 

 

 

 

Carrboro is probably the most walkable community in the Triangle and that is not an accident. Sidewalks, bikeways and greenways, many connecting with Carrboro's sister community of Chapel Hill and finally with the larger Triangle greenway system is a community goal. Click here for a printable map of the sidewalks, bikeways and greenways in Carrboro, NC.

 

 

 

If this sounds like your kind of town, give me a call! I can help you find a home with nature on your doorstep!