A staged home can make a great first impression, and the features that matter most for the long run are often the ones that are easiest to overlook. This week’s Advice by Design looks at what to notice on a home tour, from condition and major systems to the yard, the neighborhood, and how to compare homes once the showings start to blur together.
Wake County held steady in September, with months of supply at 3.6 for a third straight month, its highest level since 2014, and the median price matching August at $460,000. Pending sales were the exception, down 12 percent from a year ago, and this month’s update breaks down what that means for buyers and sellers.
The second weekend of October has range: FlushFest’s three days of music in West Hillsborough, Tyler Childers and Sylvan Esso headlining Good Moon Festival, and St. Barbara’s A Taste of Greece in South Durham. Saturday adds Hum Sub’s Diwali celebration in Cary and a new documentary festival made entirely of Durham stories, and Sunday closes with cardboard robots on stage at Mettlesome. There’s plenty to fill Friday, October 9 through Sunday, October 11.
When more homes are for sale, the search changes from pursuing whatever comes up next to choosing among several real options. This week’s Advice by Design looks at how buyers can use that room well: comparing homes side by side, asking the right questions about longer-market listings, and knowing where their negotiating position is strong and where it isn’t.
Orange County sellers listed 214 homes in September, tying 2021 for the busiest September in records going back to 2004 and lifting inventory to its highest point since November 2018. Closings rose 15 percent from a year ago while the median price dipped to $493,000, a mix this month’s update breaks down.
October opens with a full weekend in and around Durham, starting with the fall GrassRoots Festival at Shakori Hills and NCCU Theatre’s season-opening African Medea. Saturday brings WUNC’s 50th birthday party, 1860s-style baseball at the DAP, and Phoenix Fest’s 25th year on Fayetteville Street, and Sunday closes 1.2 miles of downtown to cars for Move-A-Bull City Open Streets. There’s plenty to fill Friday, October 2 through Sunday, October 4.
Buying a new home before your current one sells can mean a more direct move and less coordinating around your own sale, but it also comes with real financial exposure most homeowners haven’t fully priced out. This week’s Advice by Design looks at what it actually takes to buy first responsibly, from accessing your current equity to budgeting for the stretch where you might own two homes at once.
Durham County’s closed sales fell to their lowest August total since 2022, even as homes under contract jumped from July, a gap worth watching heading into fall. This month’s update breaks down what it means for buyers and sellers, neighborhood by neighborhood.
Early autumn settles in this weekend, with two very different Friday night options: a laid-back garden concert or a Dolly Parton tribute at American Tobacco Campus. Saturday piles on even more, a pumpkin-picking train ride, an Outlander-inspired Scottish festival, a Shrek-themed block party, and a free evening of modern dance in Cary. There’s a lot to fill Friday, September 25 through Sunday, September 27.
Spring gets the glory and summer gets the traffic, but autumn might be the most underrated season to buy or sell a home. This special edition of Advice by Design looks at what’s genuinely different about a fall market, fewer competing offers, bare branches that reveal what a house was hiding, and a pace that leaves room to actually think.
