GREAT NEWS FOR HOME BUYERS..

Yahoo!!! Great News!

The United States Congress finally passed and the President signed into law new measures to maintain the momentum for a housing market recovery. Action that should really give the real estate market a much needed shot in the arm!

The home buyer tax credit which was going to disappear at the end of November will now be available through the middle of next year (2010) and more potential buyers will be able to take advantage of it.

Guess what else! The income limit was increased so many move-up buyers - not just first-timer purchasers - also will qualify. Furthermore, loan limits will not shrink as was planned for next year; in high-cost areas, the loan limit will remain at near $730,000 in 2010, thereby permitting more consumers to tap into the historically low mortgage rates.

This is GREAT NEWS! Give us call today. Let us help you put the wheels into motion to make your dream of owning a home in Beautiful Raleigh, North Carolina - become a reality!

It's getting cold here in Raleigh (30s-40s at night!) We're hoping to get a good bit of snow this year. It's been a wet 2009 in these parts, which hopefully will translate into some snowflakes for us within the next month or so. It sure would be nice to have a white Christmas.

Blaise & Cathie

Memorial Day Weekend Motorcycle Trip

Hope you had a safe and relaxing Memorial Day Weekend and that you took a moment to Honor the meaning of this special holiday.

We are not big fans of taking off during "holiday" weekends. We hate crowds, we hate traffic and we hate rushing. Instead, we prefer to take our three day weekends one day at a time -- maybe catching up on a little work, or yard work, hanging out with the kids and, such as was the case this weekend, taking a day trip on the boat or the motorcycle.

This weekend, Blaise and I got up very early on Sunday morning and decided to head out toward Wilson - a historic town, named as one of North Carolina's Most Beautiful Cities. And THAT it was -- with gigantic oak-lined streets, to sprawling historic southern mansions, Wilson is an absolutely lovely town that epitomizes "southern charm."

From Raleigh, we drove about an hour and a half through the country. We were surprised to see how far along the tobacco and corn crops are this early in the year -- and WOW do they look healthy. Last year it was rather a depressing site as the drought took a huge toll on the the crops causing many of them to wither and die before coming into fruition. And I know I've said this before, but one of the things I love so much about riding the Harley out in the country is the smells. Every corner we turn brings about a new smell -- freshly cut fields, recently turned earth, animals, jasmine, magnolia, etc., etc., It's beautiful -- and there's nothing like it.

Continuing on our journey, after exploring Wilson for an hour or so, we decided it was time for breakfast. We drove around a bit looking for a place to eat and didn't have any luck until we came upon a rather dapper gentleman obviously on his way to or from church. We pulled over and asked him if he could recommend a place nearby where we could have breakfast. He immediately told us to turn right at the light and go down a "piece" and there is a place right there on the right hand side of the road.

Well, we did just as he said and sure enough -- there was a restaurant with real down home cookin' -- right where he said it would be. It was an adorable looking little restaurant, but as good as "gizzards and livers" sounded (at 7:30 in the morning!) I really had my heart set on french toast -- so we continued on until we found a Denny's!

I think we were only gone about 4 hours -- start to finish. That's another thing we love about living in North Carolina -- in an hour we can get far enough away it actually feels like we took a "trip" somewhere. We came home from our little excursion renewed and refreshed -- ready for part 2 of the weekend and ready to spend time with the kids.

Alas -- the weekend is over and it's time to get back to work!

Have a great week -- and don't forget to checkout our website when you get the chance. There you can search for homes (without passwords), check out schools, universities and employment, and just get a really good feel as to what living in the Raleigh/Triangle area is all about.