13137 Ashford Park Drive

If you are looking for a home with plenty of room, elegant styling, in a great location and with a fenced back yard yet one that has all of the maintenance advantages of a townhome then you need go no further than my new listing at 13137 Ashford Park Drive in north Raleigh off Leesville Road where Westgate Road connects with Leesville. Check out the two links below for lots of information and photos. Video coming soon!

www.13137AshfordPark.com

Virtual Tour # 61029 – 13137 Ashford Park Drive, Raleigh, NC, 27615. Powered by FloorPlanOnline.

Raleigh took the No. 8 spot among the 100 U.S. municipalities nominated for the award. The rankings were based on interviews with local leaders, feedback from residents and a compilation of data related to the community’s economic, environment, education, crime, employment and housing stability.

Charlotte also cracked the top 10, coming in just ahead of Raleigh at No. 7.

Durham was not included in the rankings.

Huntsville, Ala., claimed the No. 1 spot, followed by Washington, D.C.; Austin, Texas; San Diego; San Antonio, Texas; Tulsa, Okla.; Charlotte; Raleigh; Boulder, Colo.; and Minneapolis.

RelocateAmerica.com also compiled top 10 rankings in other categories.

Asheville was ranked at No. 1 on the Top 10 Retirement Cities list, and Wilmington ranked No. 9 on the Top 10 Recreation Cities list. Other breakout categories that did not include cities in North Carolina were rankings for top recovery cities, ‘earth friendly’ cities and small towns with populations under 40,000 people.

“Given the tough economic times our nation is facing, homebuyers have re-evaluated their priorities and are looking to relocate to communities that offer plenty of perks, but minimal hassle and cost,” said Peter Meyers, vice president of research and content development at RelocateAmerica.com, in a statement.

“While some cities are facing a road to recovery that could take years, others are poised for a quick rebound – and already have seen growth. We wanted to highlight those cities that are on the road back to economic health.”

Click here to see the full RelocateAmerica.com Best Places to Live list. http://www.relocateamerica.com/north-carolina/cities/raleigh

RelocateAmerica.com is operated by trueV New Media Group of Brighton, Mich. It has been publishing the top cities relocation lists annually since 1998.

Read more: Raleigh named No. 8 best place to live – Triangle Business Journal:

General obligation, or GO, bonds are backed by the county’s full taxing power and, as a result, are sold at a lower interest cost.

In its rating actions, Fitch remarked that Wake County’s unemployment rate, at 9.2 percent in February, generally has been lower than both the overall state and national rates during the downturn.

“Supporting the employment base is a diverse pool of employers, including state and local government, technology, health care, and other services,” Fitch says, pointing also to the county long history of conservative fiscal management.
Courtesy of TBJ
Read more: Fitch gives top ratings to Wake County bonds – Triangle Business Journal:

The month was one of the strongest for the industry in the past year.

Here’s a roundup of February retailer sales results as reported by the Triangle Business Journals’ sister papers in the companies’ headquarters cities.

Info courtesy of TBJ

http://roohit.com/http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2010/03/01/daily31.html?ed=2010-03-03&ana=e_du_pap.

Number of households: 17,803

Percent change: +8% since 2008 (+118% since 2000)

Average household income: $82,771 (+18% since 2000)

Why: Not far from the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Triangle, Wake Forest has attracted residents with excellent quality of life, public schools and health-care resources. Gadberry also notes the high percentage of children and ethnic diversity here.

Distressed Florida homeowners whose loans were financed by CitiMortgage may be able to stay put for a while and avoid the pain of foreclosure proceedings under a new program, the company said Thursday.

The deed-in-lieu program – which, beginning Friday, will be tested in Florida and five other states – allows those facing foreclosure to remain in their homes for six months, in exchange for signing over their property deeds to CitiMortgage at the end of the period.

It is designed “to help homeowners make a smooth transition into the next chapter of their lives,” according to a news release.

Deed in lieu of foreclosure is a process in which homeowners give away their property to the lender, which then sells it to retrieve a part or all of the loan balance owed.

While it may be welcome news for those facing the loss of their home, Weston-based foreclosure attorney Roy Oppenheim questions the timing.

“We are two years into the crisis, and now they are trying to get creative? This was the kind of stuff we wanted to see a year ago,” he said.

The program comes with several caveats: The homeowner must hold the first mortgage with a clear title owned by CitiMortgage and be at least 90 days delinquent. There can be no second mortgage.

Borrowers must maintain the property in its current condition and pay utility costs. Other costs, such as homeowner association and escrow fees, are to be determined on a case-by-case basis, depending on the homeowner’s ability to pay.

They also must agree to bi-monthly meetings with relocation counselors.

CitiMortgage will provide a minimum of $1,000 in relocation costs to help borrowers.

So, what’s in it for CitiMortgage? For one, it spares the lender the expense of going through a foreclosure, which is lengthy and expensive, noted Mark Rodgers, Citigroup’s director of public affairs.

Second, because the home must be maintained, its value is not diminished.

“Once the owner moves, we get the property that’s in better condition, so we can immediately market,” Rodgers said. “It’s much more likely to sell quickly in good condition than in bad condition.”

Scott Coloney, of the Foreclosure Response Team in Fort Lauderdale, said he’s been hearing a lot about deed-in-lieu programs among those in the banking industry, but he doesn’t think it’s going to solve the overwhelming problem plaguing the real estate market – the glut of foreclosures.

“The idea is to create transactions,” he said. “To get the economy going, you need movement.”

CitiMortgage hopes that, by allowing homeowners to stay put for a while, it will keep more homes from being added to the existing backlog.

“If we can get them out in a more measured way, we can hopefully avoid that,” Rodgers said.

On Thursday, RealtyTrac reported that one in every 187 homes in Florida received a foreclosure notice in January.

Before borrowers can enter the program, they will be evaluated for a permanent mortgage modification. If they don’t qualify for that, a short sale, in which the company might accept a buyer’s offer for less than the outstanding amount of the loan, will be considered.

If that is unfeasible, the next step would be the deed-in-lieu program.

Info courtesy of TBJ

Stacey Peter Anfindsen
Treasurer, Raleigh Regional Association of Realtors

This is an excerpt from a letter to the editor of the Raleigh News and Observer that appeared on 2-10-10

IBM on Thursday opened a new $362 million data center on its campus in Research Triangle Park – a facility intended to serve Big Blue’s clients around the world.

The RTP data center totals 60,000 square feet but has room to expand to 100,000 square feet. IBM (NYSE: IBM) says the design of the data center uses about half as much energy as an average data center of comparable size.

Customers hosting applications on IBM’s new RTP data center include North Carolina Central University, North Carolina State University, the United States Golf Association and IBM itself – the center hosts ibm.com.

The data center is housed in an existing building on IBM’s RTP campus. IBM says it reused and recycled as much material as possible, leading the company to apply for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, Gold certification.

IBM owns or operates 450 data centers around the world. IBM employs about 10,000 in RTP.

Info courtesy of TBJ

Visit these websites for more information.

http://www.zingding.com/048043124
www.5201Wynneford.com