Clayton, NC Derby Day at Portofino is May 5TH. The first Annual Derby Day at Portofino is being held this year on May 5TH. The racetrack at Portofino is being prepared to see some horse racing action.There are thoroughbred and quarter horse races, horse rides for kids, displays.Pig Pickin included, mint juleps....not included ! There is music provided by the Central Park Band, a Hat Contest for the Ladies, big screens to watch The Kentucky Derby live. The Jockey Club is for the folks who want to have the ultimate Derby experience. For $75 a person you will get valet parking, access to the Jockey Club where there will be  catered food and a full bar at your disposal......“The Jockey Club provides a traditional southern gathering place complete with flowers, linens and silver. A catered K... 04/05/2012

Johnston County Parade Of Homes Is Here Again!   The Johnston County Parade of Homes is coming April 14 & 15, April 21 & 22 and April 28 & 29. This years Parade of Homes looks like it will be a great one.           The Parade has homes  built by some of the areas top builders,  from some of the big national builders all showcasing their beautiful new homes. Prices for entries in this years Parade start at $149,000 and go on  up to Art Kirkwoods house at $599,000 and Steve Corkers magnificent home in Portofino listed at $579,900.     The Johnston County Parade of Homes has embraced technology and Social Media with a Facebook Page and an App, to make it easier to navigate to the homes you want to see.   03/31/2012

I learned about this event when my friend Elaine Stone showed up for coffee in work-out gear and told me she was in training for the upcoming Riverwood Triathlon in Clayton, NC.  I was, of coure, in awe. Checking online, I found that this popular event includes a 300-yard swim, a 14-mile bike and a 5k run. The triatheletes start out in the waveless pool at the Riverwood Athletic Club, then transition to bicycles, and finally the run. The reward at the end is "one of the best post-event spreads in the state as pizza, pasta, and other goodies are on offer under the white tent at the finish line," according to a review on Active.com. All participants must complete the race in under 2 hours, 15 minutes and -- this is humbling -- the minimum age to participate is 10. The 2012 Riverwood Golf... 03/25/2012

Developer Buys 200 Trees For Residents Of Portofino In Clayton. Norwood Thompson, the developer of Portofino in Clayton bought 200 seedlings from the NC Forestry Service to plant in the neighborhood and give to the residents.They are now planted all throughout the neighborhood, there is a long row near the equestrian center that leads to the walking trails that go behind the Churchill neighborhood. There are two rows along the trails in Churchill. There are seedlings planted on Sicily Drive in the Belmont neighborhood.Just in time for Arbor Day which in North Carolina is the first Friday after March 15TH. Portofino is in the Audubon Signature Program which provides environmental planning assistance to new developments. The neighborhood has been planned to protect as much of the natural ... 03/17/2012

It's Always The Little Things That Make The Best Impression! We did a walk through of 60 Persano lane in Portofino with Buddy from JordanBuilt Homes on Tuesday. JordanBuilt Homes is a custom builder on the builder team at Portofino and is building some beautiful homes in the Churchill Section. We sold this one while it was still under construction and the buyers John and Tom are thrilled with their new home. As we walked around with our blue tape, Tom mentioned that he would at a later date switch out the chalkboard which JordanBuilt installs in the mudroom of all their homes with a cork board. On our final walk through yesterday, Tom was floored when he walked into the mudroom and saw that Buddy had replaced the chalkboard with a cork board!!! Both Nicole, their buyers agent and I were... 03/03/2012

You Used My Picture In Your Magazine, I'm Flattered.........I Think!I saw one of my pictures in a real estate relocation magazine this week, it was kinda cool! It is one of my favourite pictures, in fact I use it on the front page of my web site, I use it on my business cards. I have used it in blog posts, I got a call from the owners of the store asking if they could have the link to send to their friends. Here it is   What do you think? "I'm no Picasso, but do you like it?"So What should I do, nothing, send them an email letting them know I know? I really don't mind them people using my pictures as long as they ask, that way I know where they'll be going. I really DO mind if people are using my blog posts and copying them or changing the headline, which reminds me someone else did tha... 02/16/2012

I Need The Dog Whisperer     02/12/2012

Caterpillar in Clayton Announces Big Expansion of Clayton Plant Adding 200 Jobs! Great news on the job front for folks in Clayton, North Carolina, Caterpillar made the announcement on Wednesday February 2nd 2012 that they were expanding their current manufacturing facility in Clayton and would be adding 199 new positions. ( Wait for cheering to subside!).The Caterpillar Plant on HWY 42 East in Clayton produces  small wheel loaders and when completed will be the world source for these types of machines.The average pay will be $41,000, and along with manufacturing jobs there will be design and engineering jobs also.Caterpillar will add the jobs and additional facilities over the next five years. This is a great sign for the Clayton and greater Raleigh area which was just selected to outpe... 02/04/2012

Should You Leave Your Clayton Home On The Market Over The Holidays?......AbsolutelyHere's why. People are traveling, people are off work, people make decisions at the end of the year, people want their kids to start school at the beginning of the semester, companies make changes this time of year, houses look good (some) decorated. Here is what has happened to my Clayton area listings this past week. One of my listings is vacant, the people live in Florida and they have a huge family get together every year the week-end before Christmas. the owner called and said there would be thirty people in the house and to maybe block showings for that day, unless they really had to see it, so we just left it as it was.....Guess what?  Just as they would be sitting down for dinner, we got a showing... 12/22/2011

                             How Important Is The Direction Your House Faces   It depends! What are your interests? Where do you like to spend your time and doing what?Do you like to garden, grow vegetables,flowers,grass? Do you have sensitive rugs, paintings. Do you read a lot, paint, draw.Do you have a Plasma TV, or watch a lot of TV?Well unless you are buying or building a mansion, you won’t be able to cure all these nor would you want to spend the time figuring it out, but with a little planning and a good builder you can maximize your homes potential.The first question is where in the world are you building, we’ll just deal with the US for today. North, South, East, West, or a combination of them. Being in the South-East we have mild winters and warm summers so shade in the afterno... 12/16/2011

Who Will Buy My Beautiful Flowers …........em Houses?So, a Christmas tradition when I was growing up in Dublin, Ireland was the watching of Oliver. I loved it and didn't even realise it was a musical until I got older and cooler!There is a song in it called Who will buy? A lovely flower seller who befriends the waif Oliver sings it ( sadly she gets bludgeoned to death in the movie!)...... anyway push on!Well lately I have been humming that tune as I market some of my listings here in the Clayton Area of North Carolina.Who will buy 149 Carrie Dr. in Wyndfall Subdivision in Clayton, actually it’s in the newly incorporated town of Archer Lodge which didn't want to be swallowed by Clayton, so they made a town. It still has a Clayton mailing address. It is a delightful ranch, very well maint... 12/10/2011

How Important are Schools When Buying or Selling a Home?On a scale of 1-10.......... I would say 10..... Here's River Dell Elementary in Clayton,NC, just promoted to an Honor School of Excellence! So maybe you don’t have kids and you don’t care about the schools, then one day you get a call from the boss and you’ve been awarded that promotion you’ve been after.....Gotta move to LA, OK now how important are schools in your area, and not just in your area, it has to be the school that services the kids in your particular neighborhood. If the kids in your neighborhood go to the school that's not the school of excellence, then there is a very good chance that people with kids aren't even going to look at your house.Re-sale values of homes are directly tied to the quality of the schools that... 12/06/2011

A Second Set of Eyes.How true that a second opinion, a second look, a second glance, a second set of eyes can make a big difference in opening our own eyes to what we are missing. I think, and I speak from personal experience that humans (not all) are prone to seeing things the way they are and if there is nothing wrong to moving on to finding the obvious fault or the easier correction to make.Let me explain, my builder Neil Jarman and I walked through his custom built energy star home last week together, and while I am in the house multiple times a week and he is there from time to time, this is the first time we were both there together since he finished it.So we have a buyer that has expressed an interest in the house and as we walked through the house I explained to Neil what it was... 11/11/2011

These trails are amazing and have been compared to Umstead State Park in Raleigh and The Biltmore, imagine all you have to do is walk to the end of your yard in a lot of cases and you are on the seven miles of trails Portofino has to offer. 11/09/2011

The Clayton Parks & Recreation Department have a terrific Fall and Winter Schedule of events and programs. There is something for everyone in the family to do this time of year.  from Tai Chi Chuan to Belly Dance, from Copper Enameling to Basketball. Clayton is a very progressive thinking town when it comes to amenities and parks and first rate facilities for residents and folks near by.They have the Municipal Park at Stallings Street, Legend Park at 550 City Road, Clayton Community Park at 1075 Amelia Church RoadThe Clayton Center at 111 E. Second StreetEast Clayton Dog Park at 2027 Glen Laurel Rd.East Clayton Community Park at 1774 Glen Laurel RoadSam’s Branch Green-way at O’Neil StreetThe All Star Park at Front StreetThe Clayton Community Center at 715 Amelia Church RoadThe community... 11/06/2011

 Homes For Sale in Clayton,NC Under $130,000. Sign of the times folks, the heading used to read Clayton, NC Homes For Sale Under $150,000 back in the day. So here we are now with prices finding their bottom we think, hope and pray!! The upside for people looking to buy homes in Clayton under $130,000 is that today rates are at an all time low. There is a good selection of homes for sale, some builders have slashed their prices to move inventory. In Johnston County, NC the whole county is eligible for 100% financing through the USDA, check with a mortgage broker to find out if the house you are interested in qualifies. Home prices in Clayton have dropped but for the most part the area was not part of the hugely inflated prices we have seen in Florida, California and Las Vegas and so the ... 11/05/2011

New Homes Started in Portofino, Clayton, NC 27527. Finally the homes in Churchill have been started, we have footings dug for three new homes, we have the crawl built for one, so it won't be long before they start to take shape. The interest in these homes in Portofino has been remarkable, and understandbly so, when you consider the size of the lots (smallest is a half an acre), the price, high $200's to high $300's and the quality custom home that Jordan Built Homes is building.   Churchill in Portofino is a neighborhood of about sixty homes that offers a wonderful variety of lots. The homes will be a selection from Jordan Built designs that will include a number of ranch plans with master bedrooms down, open floor plans, optional bonus and bedroom upstairs. We have already sold and re... 10/24/2011

Who Wouldn't Want To Live Here........? 10/08/2011

Homes For Sale in Clayton,NCClayton has many options to choose from when it comes to homes for sale. The Greater Clayton Area is what you need to look at when researching homes for sale in Clayton as there are many subdivisions outside the Clayton City limits, but have Clayton mailing addresses.Prices range from below $100,000 for a smaller ranch to $700,000 for a golf course mansion. There are new homes for sale in a number of communities in and around Clayton and again there are a number of choices from starter homes to executive custom built homes, small lots, large lots, wooded lots, golf course lots, equestrian lots, river-front,gated communities.There are a number of swimming pool communities with homes for sale in Clayton, some elaborate with lazy rivers and big slides, diving bo... 10/07/2011

Restaurants in Clayton, NCClayton, NC has got it self quiet a nice collection of restaurants, one of which is Skylines which has been open about two years but still is getting discovered by the locals.Skylines is located in the Shopping Center at 8878 US Highway 70 West, Clayton, NC 27520. The phone number is (919) 550-7619.Skylines is a modern restaurant with leather banquettes, a full bar and an outdoor patio, wchich is bound to get a lot of attention in the coming months. Skylines is open for lunch Mon - Fri and dinner Mon -Sat until 10PM and is closed on Sunday.The Lunch Menu has a great array of salads, sandwiches and wraps, they offer a quick lunch a choice of a ½ a salad and a ½ sandwich for only $5.75!! They have a Kid’s Menu  for $4.00 that’s a DEAL!! Sandwiches like Chicken C... 09/27/2011