June 30th, 2008
Are you tired of seeing all the trash all over our highways and surrounding areas? I am! It seems that today people have decided that anywhere outside their car window is a trash can and the litter we view everyday is continuing to increase!
In an effort to make people more aware that littering is a crime, the Wake County Commissioners and Sherifff Donnie Harrison have joined to launch a program to enforce a newly adopted litter ordinance and the existing state law. “The program is simple. You litter, you pay for it,” said Commissioner Tony Gurley.
Fines will range from $250 to $2000 and may also include hours of community service.
Keeping our county clean is really simple. People transporting materials are asked to secure their loads and to dispose of trash legally. Wake County has convenience centers in several locations across the county where residents can dispose of their trash and recylables at no charge. Every municipality provides collections services too.
Be a good neighbor and a good citizen. Do your part to keep our roadsides clean and trash-free. For more information, you can go to www.wakegov.com.
If you are needing more information about home sales in Wake County and the Raleigh Durham area contact Michelle Edwards at Keller Williams Realty.
June 24th, 2008
On Monday, June 23, 2008, the Raleigh City Council approved a budget that will raise the property tax rate by 4.18 cents. The 2008-2009 tax rate will be 37.35 cents per $100 of taxable value. The city manager asked for a 5 cent increase, but the city council did manage to hold it down some.
Not everyone on the council was in favor of passing an increase at this time. One councilman, Philip Isley, felt the council needed to exercise great restraint given the current state of the economy. While costs are going up for everyone, including the city, some common sense has to be used in asking for tax increases, particularly considering that the re-evaluation in 2008 has set higher tax values on properties across the county.
If you live in the city of Raleigh you also have to pay Wake County property taxes. The new 2008-2009 rate for Wake County is 53.4 cents per $100 of taxable value. That makes the combined county/city rate 90.75 cents per $100 value. The county commissioners also took the new re-evaluation of properties into consideration when setting the 2008-2009 tax rate preventing the county from collecting a windfall from the higher property values. Basically, this is a 2.5 cent increase in the tax rate from 2007 with 1.68 cents going towards operating expenses on bond projects which have already been approved by voters and the remaining .82 cents being used for public safety and law enforcement improvements.
Your tax bill is figured by taking your new assessed value, dividing it by 100 and multiplying by the new tax rate. For example, a home with a new assessed value of $200,000 divided by 100 equals 2000 x .3735=$747.00 in city taxes. The same process is followed for the county tax rate, thus $200,000 assessed value divided by 100 equals 2000 x .534=$1068.00 in county taxes. The combined tax bill is $1815.00 for city and county taxes.
If you are wondering what the market value of your home is, contact Michelle Edwards, and ask her to do a free comparative market analysis for you. Her experience and expertise can help you choose an appropriate price for your home taking into consideration location, condition, and time line you want to meet. Put her 18 years of real estate experience to work for you!
June 23rd, 2008
This wonderful floorplan features a fireplace in the living room and a downstairs master bedroom. The large eat-in kitchen has oak cabinets and is the perfect place to enjoy family meals together. Two additional bedrooms and a loft complete the upstairs. This home is conveniently located in North Raleigh with easy access to shopping, restaurants, and recreational activities. The home is currently occupied, but will be available by August 1st and painting and carpeting will be updated prior to closing. The shaded lot allows a comfortable area to enjoy the outdoors or you can sit out on the front porch and enjoy the cool breeze. Contact Michelle Edwards at Michelle & Associates if you would like to see this home at 919-306-1639 or email michelle@cmetobuy.com.
June 19th, 2008
Raleigh has been named again as one of the Best Cities to Live, Work and Play for 2008 by Kiplinger in their personal finance magazine, July 2008. In the Kiplinger list of the top 10 best cities in which to live and work, Raleigh was ranked as number 2. This comes as no surprise to anyone who has lived here for any length of time. As a native of the Raleigh area, I can testify to how wonderful this place is. We have great weather with short winters, lengthy springs and falls. and hot summers. We offer a variety of activities in the area…sports, concerts, museums, dining, parks, theater, and dance just to name a few. Our real estate is affordable and appreciating and this a great place to live. Come visit Raleigh and see for yourself what our area looks like. You might decide this is just the place for you.
If you are thinking of relocating to the Raleigh Durham Triangle area and you are in need of talking to a realtor, contact Michelle Edwards and let her assist you. As an experienced realtor, Michelle can answer your questions regarding Raleigh and the real estate market.
June 6th, 2008
This Saturday, June 7 is the Keller Williams Realty First Annual Charity Community Yard Sale and Blood Drive. This event will take place at the Keller Williams Realty office parking lot at 9121 Anson Way. If you typically do yard sales on Saturdays, come on over 7:00 AM - 2:00 PM and check out what we have. Buying someone else’s stuff becomes your own treasure. Proceeds from the sale benefit four local charities:
The Healing Place of Wake County
The Frankie Lemmon Foundation
Animalkind
The NC Coalition Against Sexual Assault
If you’re not into yard sales, how about giving the gift of life - give blood! The American Red Cross will be on site (8:00 AM -12:30 PM) to take blood donations from all those who don’t mind needles. We hope to see you on Saturday!
June 2nd, 2008
As lending standards have tightened over the past few months, access to 100% financing has almost disappeared. The very best option that has been gaining popularity is the government backed, USDA Guaranteed Rural Housing Loan. It has rates that are very close to what are commonly called “conforming rates” (conforming usually equals lowest).
The two main restrictions on this loan are 1) geography and 2) income limits. As the name implies, homes purchased using this type of loan must be in rural areas. This does not mean that one has to buy a home in the middle of nowhere. In the Raleigh-Durham area, ineligible areas typically include the cities of Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Garner, and a few others. But outside of the these larger metro areas, there is a wide range of choices. You can easily determine if a certain property address is eligible by going to http://eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov/eligibility/incomeEligibilityAction.do.
The other restriction is that household income must be below the average median income for the area in which the home is located. These income figures are also available on the above website.
So if you really want to buy a home and do not have a down payment, the USDA GRH loan is one that can work for you.
If you would like more information on this or any other loan program, contact Andy Holloman at 919-439-3904 or email andy@carolinamortgageconsultants.com, a member of the real estate team at Michelle & Associates, Inc.
If you would like to speak with a real estate agent about questions on a particular property or to just ask some questions about the home buying process, contact Michelle Edwards at 919-306-1639 or email michelle@cmetobuy.com.
Raleigh NC Real Estate - Wake County Litter Enforcement Program
