New Urban Living

The house we lived in in California was smaller than the house we're living in now but it felt like it was double the size of our house now. That feeling, I'm sure, was mostly due to the fact that we had a large outdoor living space. We spent most of our time in the outdoor spaces like the patio and enclosed courtyard.

This idea of indoor-outdoor living design is embraced by Braden Power who co-owns Power Properties in Dallas with his brother Craig. They are developing living spaces for young, single professionals who are not quite ready for the suburbs yet but are looking for a sense of community and convenience. Powers Properties is known for their restoration projects and have transformed many old apartment building and historic homes in Dallas Texas.

I love restored historical building rather than the generic cookie cut houses in new subdivisions that seem to be cropping up all over the place nowadays. That's the new trend now here in Durham is to renovate old and historical buildings into living spaces. They are wonderful!

New Homes in SC

Lazarus Shouse or LSHomes is a family owned business building new homes Greenville SC. LSHomes is a developer that will work to meet your lifestyle and financial needs. They have been in the business for over thirty years and have a proven track record. To ensure your satisfaction, they have outlined the five step process to building your home:

1. Pre-Construction Meeting - Meet with the Construction Coordinator to review your contract, go over options.

2. Pre-Drywall Frame Walk - Review the home with Lazarus-Shouse before the drywall is put up and after the mechanical aspects are installed.

3. Quality Assurance Inspection -
A comprehensive quality inspection conducted by a Lazarus-Shouse Quality Assurance Representative.

4. Pre-Closing Orientation - The home is demonstrated to the homeowner by the Quality Assurance Representative.

5. Follow -Up Meeting - The job site superintendent will meet with you to review all of your pre-closing repair items.

On Mortgages

eHomeMortgages.com is a national directory which allows consumers to search for mortgage and real estate professionals in their local area. Back in December, we were investigating mortgage rates in our area because we wanted to get an equity loan on our house. Our house is paid for, see, and we just needed a small loan to pay off some things and we figured a home loan is cheaper than credit cards. The NC Mortgage Rate is not too bad, compared to the rest of the county but it still can be a nightmare to wade through all the information and conflicting rates for mortgages. It helps when there is a central location you can go to to compare rates and services that are available in your area.

Find a place in Wilmington

The Carolina coastline is among the most beautiful in the world, and we're lucky to be able to drive there every so often to appreciate all that it has to offer. One of our favorite coastal destination is Wilmington, NC. On our previous trips we've stayed in various types of accommodations from low end hotels to beach rentals.

Of course, we preferred the beach rentals, especially since we always go as a family. Wilmington is a fast growing city and more and more people are moving down there making it more of a city than your typical beach town. It has all the amenities including night life and other activities besides sitting on the beach. I myself, prefer sitting on the beach.

But whatever your preferred vacation style or if you're even looking for a more permanent abode, Wilmington NC real estate is the place to start looking.

Houses selling like pancakes

My husband went with his cousin Brad the other day to look at some of the houses that Brad has been working on. See, Brad is a contractor. He builds homes and turns around and sells them for profit. The real estate market her in NC has stayed pretty healthy, I think, even as the rest of the country's market has gone down. The construction hasn't stopped or slowed down, that's for sure. New homes are still popping up all over the place and they seemed to be getting sold as fast as they are built!

Buy and Sell

Our brother-in-law has been trying to get a real estate franchise since January. He's been working to get licenced and certified for one thing or another in the last six months. He's been consulting with hubby about one thing or another, just generally picking his brain or brain storming. Well, he finally called today to say he finally made his first sale/purchase. It took a bit longer than they thought, but it looks like he is definitely on the way to creating a new career path for himself.

SPONSOR POST: 10 Tips for Buying a New Home

Homes can be a nightmare to sort out once you buy them, making sure the windows are double glazed, checking the windows and doors and the possibilities of extending it’s size. Here are 10 tips you might need before you actually make the purchase

1. Hire a Home Inspector to do a survey

2. Choose between points and the rate

3. Get help from a professional

4. Do research on the property before making a bid.

5. Try to buy in a nice area with schools, supermarkets etc.

6. Don’t stress if you can’t meet an initial deposit amount.

7. Go for somewhere you can afford, don’t try to stretch the budget.

8. Decide if you are going to stay or not, if not then don’t buy.

9. Get yourself pre-approved before going on the hunt for homes

10. Check out your credit status and try to build up some funds

Not just the desert

Not many people think of Arizona as a premier vacation destination but more and more are discovering the beauty of the desert. Another secret is that Arizona is one of the few remaining states where real estate is still reasonable. Increasing numbers of people are relocating to Arizona for the weather and discovering that desert living does not necessarily mean being buried up to your neck in sand. Arizona luxury real estate will prove to you what a long way desert living has come. Everything can be had in the desert now and as an added bonus you can still experience living in wide open expanses without giving up the luxuries of big city living.

Real Estate Exams

Even as you hear about the down turn in the real estate market, there are still many people who are going into the real estate business because they know there will always be money to be made buying and selling real estate. The first step to getting into any business is to learn about it. Learn as much as you can, and if you are able, get licensed to practice in the industry.

That is where many falter. The real estate exam is not easy, or so I'm told. If you ever try to take the exam and feel like you may need some help, consider Compucram.com to help you review. Their software is tailored specifically for the requirements of your particular state. The Real Estate exam varies from state to state. To help you learn the material, the software provides you with practice test questions that are constantly updated and is guaranteed to help you pass your exam the first time around.

More on Mortgages

Before I forget, it may be Friday, and yeah, I'm really glad to be going home and relax for a couple of days, but I also have to go home and continue looking into equity and mortgage options. We are still looking for a place that will give us a loan with a great interest rate, you see. Now if we had been looking for an English castle, maybe a newcastle mortgage broker would have been the perfect solution! They have some for Durham too, but unfortunately it's for Durham there and not here.

Emerging Vacation Spot in Turkey

This isn't the first time I've heard of beautiful Turkey and how real estate is presently booming in that area. I hear many retirees and American and British Expatriates are now buying property there. There are a great many sites available and one of them is a North Cyprus Property with a great view of pristine beaches and perfect for family vacations. Whether you're looking for investment or holiday property, check out the website and enjoy looking through the beautiful properties available.

A Piece of God's Country

We just had a company hot dog cookout to celebrate the upcoming Labor Day weekend. I was sitting with our President and CEO and he was telling us that he and his wife are getting ready to go on a two week vacation to the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park. He and his wife have been going to that region for the last few year. They just love it they said it is beautiful up there; God's country as many would say. He also disclosed that they learned an interesting bit about the real estate up there. On the Wyoming side on the Teton's they say that real estate prices are now beyond reach of the working man's pocket book. But while they were up there, my boss who is a very personable type of guy and can talk to anyone, found out that if you cross the border into Idaho, you still have terrific a view of the mountains but without the high real estate prices! So, he tells us, they have bought a couple of lots within view of the range and hope to someday retire there. Sounds like my kind of place to retire. Lot's of open land around. Let's just hope it's still that way by the time they retire.

Real Estate Agents Get Organized

Agents can now get and stay organized using a new real estate software. The new Agent Organizer is tailored specifically for the needs of real estate agents. Using this software, agents can easily organize their listings, their contacts, their buyers, their appointments, tasks, finances and everything else they need to keep track off in running their business. For agents who are not as computer savvy, the software provides an intuitive application for creating flyers, letters and mail merge functions. The great thing is, agents can try out this real estate software for free! A full version of the Agent Organizer can be downloaded for a fifteen day trial from the website.