Front Porch Realty - Run the Quay is in its 15th year!

Run the Quay is in its 15th year!

Are you ready to Run the Quay? Yes, it’s true this Chamber of Commerce sponsored Annual event has been going on every year for the last 15 years, it’s a tradition! How about the brand new Downtown Cooldown, happening at the same time in downtown Varina? Well, here’s all the info you need to get ready! The Chamber is anticipating over 1,000 runners this year! Check out the race routes, and come out to cheer on your favorite brave runners! Then, head on over to Varina to Celebrate. There will be something for everyone at this FREE family friendly event including food trucks galore, Live music, kids activities like a bounce house, Fhairy Sparkles Hair, yard games, and even the Stormy Mascot from the Carolina Hurricanes! We hope to see you all there! Run the Quay – Saturday, June 1st, from 9am – 2pm. Downtown Cooldown – downtown Varina at the old Stephen’s Hardware 9am -2pm Register here for the 5K, 10K, or the Kids Fun Run – REGISTER Pick up your race packets here – Thursday, May 30th, 4:00 – 6:00 pm @ Omega Sports Cary Crossroads Friday, May 31st, 4:00 – 7:00 pm @ GNC of Fuquay-Varina Saturday, June 1st – Starts at 6:00 am at race site Parking & Course Maps PARKING MAP STREET CLOSURE MAP 10K COURSE 5K COURSE MAP Register here to VOLUNTEER FOOD TRUCKS AND BOOTHS Aloha Shave Ice Brooklyn Boys Pizza Corner Boys BBQ Dusty Donuts Las Gringas Pints Ice Cream Qspresso Cuban & Latino Fusion TJ’s Kitchen Tropical Delights Aviator Brewing Company, Inc. Fainting Goat Brewing Co. Vicious Fishes Brewery

Join us as we Celebrate Fuquay-Varina!

Thursday, October 4th, 6:30 – 9:30 PM in the Varina Business District Festivities begin with one of Soul Music’s all-time great groups, Chairmen of the Board. Join us for the Celebrate Fuquay-Varina Festival Saturday, October 6, 2018 10 am – 4 pm Downtown Fuquay-Varina Here’s a MAP of the main areas: * Museum Tour * Mayor’s walk * Artist Village * KidZone and Rock wall * Chili Cook-off * And lots of food trucks – See the full list here There’s lots to see and do this coming weekend in Fuquay-Varina. All of us here at Front Porch Realty love our town and we love a good celebration, be sure and stop by our booth for some neat give-a-ways and to say “hi”!

Holly Springs Book Festival Featuring Local Authors

Saturday, Sept. 29, 11 a.m.-6 p.m Holly Springs Cultural Center More than 25 adult and children’s authors, presentations and readings, panel discussions, and more! Come out this Saturday to meet many authors including friends of Front Porch Realty Erin and Deek Rhew! Deek will be participating in a panel on thriller novels.

Here’s the complete schedule: *Meet Authors, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. *Panel Discussions and Featured Author Readings & Presentations, 1-6 p.m. Click here to see all the authors and presentations scheduled. *Children’s Authors, 2-3 p.m. *Door Prizes, 1-5 p.m. To be eligible for a prize, register at https://hollyspringsbookfestival.eventbrite.com. You must be present to win. *Food Trucks: The book festival is on the same day as the farmers market’s food truck rodeo (8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. along Main Street), so come prepared to find fantastic foods and phenomenal writers.

1st Q 2018 Market Update

By now, you’ve heard Front Porch Realty’s exciting news; we have elevated our brand and we have a new custom website! We are still the same “Front Porch Realty” you have known for years but have begun to concentrate our business in Fuquay-Varina and Holly Springs. We are already the #1 Independent real estate office in these two towns and our goal is to become the #1 real estate company overall. We want to become top of the mind status for you and all things real estate! Here is our quarterly 1st Q 2018 snapshot of our local housing inventory. We are still deep in a seller’s market, especially for re-sale homes; new home inventory is up 17% across the Triangle while re-sales inventory is down 15% from the 1st quarter of 2017, according to our Triangle Multiple Listing Service 1st quarter market stats. This imbalance of supply is causing record increases in sales prices; average sales price of new construction is up 9% and average re-sale homes sales prices are up 10%. Inventory is still low on our end of the county and demand is high. As we can see from our 1st quarter local data, months of inventory are very low at most price points at less than 2 and units sold have increased across both markets. We are here to help you, your relatives, co-workers, employees, and neighbors. Please consider Front Porch Realty as YOUR LOCAL real estate professionals!

Our Schools Need Us!

Fuquay-Varina Bengal Proud!

I was recently asked to speak to a group of local Fuquay-Varina Middle and High School students as a business owner in the community. I wanted to share my experiences, in hopes that more business members in our community would be inspired to volunteer. Each activity took me less than an hour. I know that hour could lead to a big impact on these young adults as they begin to think about their future. As always, I know I got more out of it than they did! My friend, colleague, and educator, Mr. Rodney Jenkins, is the Career and Technical Education Coordinator for Fuquay-Varina Middle School. He recently approached me and asked if I would speak to his entrepreneurial class. My topics included: why I started my own business, what’s involved with owning my own business, the hardest part, the easiest part and more. I brought along my company’s advertising goodies like stadium cups and pens, and tossed some candy to the students that participated. The students had awesome questions and provoked my own thoughts on why I do this. I was overjoyed to hear the students decided they are going to arrange a “field trip” to visit our office sometime soon. I can’t wait to see them again! There are so many opportunities to get involved with students in Fuquay-Varina. I was also asked to address the first Fuquay-Varina Youth Leadership Group conference. This initiative is the first of its kind for Fuquay-Varina and the students selected to participate. I was asked to speak about Front Porch Realty’s application process and how I determine good candidates for our firm.

Laura Moody recently addressing both students and staff.

These bright, energetic high-schoolers had so many great questions for me! They are eager to learn how to make a difference in our town and they are striving for greatness. I commend the staff of Fuquay-Varina High school for working so diligently to start this leadership program and make a difference in these student’s lives. Imagine all the lucky businesses that get to hire these young folks someday! If you are interested in helping any of our community schools in ANY way please contact our office or join the FV Business Alliance. Our next meeting is coming up soon!

Seller’s Market: Inventory still low across the Triangle

FRONT PORCH REALTY has exciting news; we are the #1 LOCAL Independent Real Estate firm in southwestern Wake County! See our 3rd quarter local real estate market snapshot . It is no surprise that we are still in a seller’s market; inventory is still extremely low across the Triangle. Know that in this competitive market, Front Porch Realty brokers are equipped with professionalism and the expertise to help both our seller and buyer clients navigate multiple offer situations. If we can be of any assistance to you or someone you know, rest assured they will be extremely satisfied. Please watch our website, Facebook, and Instagram for all housing, and other local news around town and to see our new listings as soon as they hit the market. If you would rather receive this report either by email or snail mail please contact Laura .

Inventory is low, it’s a great time to sell.

Happy fall! Laura Moody Broker/Owner Front Porch Realty www.FrontPorchRealtyNC.com

And the Agent of the month is….

Congratulations to Maria Plazas, Front Porch Realty’s Agent of the Month – August 2017

Maria has been selling the Triangle since 1991! Real estate is Maria’s passion and she is committed to helping the Latino community. Originally from Chile, Maria’s native language is Spanish and of course she is also fluent in English. Continue reading →

To Buy Or Not To Buy

This week we have a “Guest Post” written by one of our Mortgage Professionals, Jennifer Miller with Sierra Pacific Mortgage Company.

To Buy or Not to Buy?

You’ve heard the news reports on the housing market in our lately – low inventory, good prices, quick sales – and maybe you’re wondering where you fit into this latest market swing.

We should probably start with the news reports. Yes, it’s true that in some price ranges, namely homes priced under $300,000 there is low inventory. The same cannot be said for higher priced homes, especially those priced above $500,000; there are still plenty of homes available at that price point. And yes, the appraisals are coming back at reasonable levels; meaning that in many cases the appraised value and the sales price are matching up; although that’s not always the case. As far as quick sales, well that depends on how you define “quick”. Most people are closing in the normal 30 to 45 day range. When you’ve got a home to sell… So, should you pursue your dream home, or the home that’s closer to work so that you can eliminate that 45 minute commute you face twice daily? Putting your house on the market requires effort, commitment and sometimes, money.

The effort and money come in once you’ve had a Realtor to your home for a preliminary meeting. The first order of business is deciding whether you feel comfortable listing your home at a price comparable to what other homes in your area are selling for. If the answer is yes, then it’s likely that your Realtor will want you to change or improve your home in a few areas. You may need to “de-clutter” and pack away your belongings that you’re not using every day to make the home appear larger. You may be asked to paint, install new carpet or work on the landscaping to improve the homes’ curb appeal. Depending on how handy you are; you may be able to do some, or all of those things yourself; without having to pay a professional. Certainly, that is the least expensive way to go. If you can’t do these things on your own or if you’re too busy to attempt them you may find yourself shelling out up to $2,500.00 to cover these costs. This is where the commitment component kicks in: if you’re not really committed to selling your home, chances are that you’re not going to be very motivated to get all this work done. Realtors are fairly savvy these days when it comes to assessing their clients’ needs and wants. If you want a nicer home but you don’t really need one your Realtor may decide that you’re not the right client for them. What if you’re not currently a home owner? Maybe you’re a young professional who’s never owned a home before, or maybe you owned a home previously in another state or at a different time in your life. If you’re wondering whether a good time to buy is now, the short answer is yes!

As I said at the beginning there is some low inventory with homes priced under $300,000.00; however, if you don’t look for a home then you surely won’t fine one, and there are homes to be found even in that price range. So what else do you need to consider in a home purchase? First, do you have enough money to buy a home? The Price Tag….. There are several loan programs available that will get you into a home for zero or a very low down payment with reasonable interest rates. But you will need to have some cash to cover expenses like the appraisal ($450) which is paid upfront and out-of-pocket in the home buying process. You will also need money for closing costs, which come due on the day you sign the promissory note at closing. If you don’t have enough cash to cover the closing costs, talk to your realtor about negotiating these into the sales contract. There is an easy way to handle this scenario. Let’s say that you want to purchase a home that’s listed at $187,500.00. You would like to pay $185,000 for the house and you know that you need $5,000 to help cover closing costs. Simply ask your Realtor to write the offer to purchase for $190,000 with the seller paying $5,000 in closing costs. Show me the Money… But how do you know how much closing costs are going to be? And, how do you know if you earn enough money to be able to qualify for a mortgage loan to begin with? Now we come to the crux of the matter. The best way to answer these questions is to call me and start the application process. With just a little information, I can quickly see if you can be prequalified for a mortgage loan. I can also make sure that you’re taking advantage of the best loan programs available.

Home-ownership is part of the American dream; and with interest rates still at historically low levels now is a great time to explore your options. Call me today and let’s get started on getting you into the home of your dreams!

Jenny Miller Loan Officer NMLS: 1054076 Sierra Pacific Mortgage Company 6736 Falls of Neuse Road Suite 120 Raleigh, NC 27615 Phone: 919-448-5355 Email: Jenny.Miller@spmc.com Sierra Pacific Mortgage Company, Inc. NMLS # 1788. Licensed in North Carolina L-127865. Sierra Pacific Mortgage Company, Inc. is not affiliated with the Real Estate Agent and/or Brokerage identified in this advertisement, you are not required to use Sierra Pacific Mortgage Company, Inc. to obtain mortgage financing. This advertisement is provided for informational purpose only. www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org. Not all borrowers will qualify. This is not a commitment to lend. [Insert and program and/or additional disclaimers]. Equal Housing Lender.