Dianne Goode's Blog

Step Three:  The Search.     The Search is the fun part of the home-buying process --  It's like an Easter Egg hunt!  Actually, it's more like dating.  (I wrote a blog on how buyers are looking for love, which might give you some insight into the emotional aspects of buying a home.) However, ther...

Step Two is to find a Good Realtor.        Believe it or not, even Realtors have to choose a good Realtor sometimes, when we want to refer a client to a distant city and make sure they're well taken care of. It's a daunting task -- there are thousands of Realtors out there! How do you pick the r...

Step One is to talk to a lender.    Would you walk onto a car lot and say, "I want a car" without first knowing what you can afford to spend?  You can get a well-used clunker for $2,500 or a fancy sports car for $55,000.  Both cars have four wheels and a gas pedal, and both of them presumably wil...

  In the Raleigh Triangle Area, the MLS uses a service to schedule showings.  I well remember the days when an agent had to call each separate real estate company with fingers crossed, hoping someone was on phone duty to give out lock box combos.  Now every member of the MLS pays a  monthly fee ...

  Every year the Raleigh Regional Association of Realtors collects Christmas gifts for less fortunate children in our area.  Called Project Angel Tree, the members of  RRAR are encouraged to take an Angel (or more than one!).  Each paper angel cut-out has written on it a child's first name, gend...

It's been a tough three years for the housing market, and some parts of the country have been down for even longer.  Recent numbers are encouraging, but one segment of the market shows no sign of recovery: Almost nobody is buying large luxury homes.  Here in the Triangle, the inventory has  now f...

As this graph shows, Over the past 10 years, ups and downs in Wake County real estate prices have been relatively modest.  No big bubble -- no big bust.   Most people who bought residential real estate before 2006 are selling at or above what they paid, those who bought after 2006 are going to g...

  My Garden is my list of clients and friends; I mail at least monthly to about 200 familities.  This year I offered a prize to the winning Halloween drawing, open to children between six and twelve. The 2011 winner is Makayla Chavis, age 11, who submitted her Halloween  crayon creation depicting...

    "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood .."  but that wasn't at Lake Lynn.  Only one road (an asphalt path) goes around the lake in a 2 1/4 mile circle.  It's used with equal enthusiasm by runners, walkers, dog walkers, people pushing strollers, and the occasional bicycle.  But in fall, the wood...

Welcome to my North Raleigh Blog!  It will be devoted to all things to do with life in North Raleigh -- homes and neighborhoods, shopping, events, issues, and whatever else comes to my attention.  I've been living here very happily since 1995, and I've helped many clients find or sell homes in N...