Don’t miss this great fundraising event with something for every member of your family! From bounce houses, sack races, face painting, and crafts to games and prizes – ring toss, paper airplanes, knock-down-the-cans, and much, much more to enjoy! The silent auction features beach and mountain vacations, gift cards to local restaurants and shops, a Durham Bulls suite, summer camp tuition and lots more! Amazing balloon animals from 11:30-1:30!

Come and savor delicious food from some of Durham’s best food trucks – Liv’s, Dang Good Dogs, Captain Poncho’s Tacos and The Parlour.

The Carnival & Silent Auction are the primary source of funds for the George Watts PTA which supports the school financially in efforts such as the writer’s and reader’s workshops, classroom and Montessori supplies, field trips, grounds work, the edible garden and literacy projects.

George Watts Montessori Magnet School, 700 Watts Street, Durham just a short distance from Trinity Park.

Please join me in thanking their other generous sponsors:

Acanthus Construction – http://www.acanthusconstruction.net/
Adam Dickinson – http://www.athomeindurham.com/
Alivia’s Durham Bistro – http://aliviasdurhambistro.com/
Benjamin Franklin Plumbing – http://www.benjaminfranklinplumbing.com/Franchises/NC/Durham.aspx
King Construction – http://www.kingconstruction.com/
Marie Austin Realty – http://www.marieaustin.com/
Rehab It Right – http://rehabitright.com/index.html
Rockwood Unfinished Furniture – http://www.rockwoodunfinishedfurniture.com/
Whitehall Antiques – http://www.whitehallantiques.com/

An image before renovation began. The building will now have central heat and air.

I toured the building when it first came to market after the failure of the last investor group back in 2009.  It was clear that the building had significant structural problems that needed to be addressed, but the location was so terrific, that I helped an investor client of mine make an offer on the property.  I’ve been following the project ever since and am glad to see what it is becoming.

Starting late last year, An investor group pulled behind the talents of Andy Krichco with Krichco Construction, a Chapel Hill based custom home builder and renovator to bring this 12 unit building back to life and to the market starting early in 2013.  They are nearing completion of 3 model units and have just begun broader marketing in the MLS.

There are 3 floor plans: a 1 bedroom studio at  (2 units), a 2 bedroom,  1bath (6 units), and a 3 bedroom, 2 bath (4 units).

1 Bedroom/Studio Floor Plan ($135,000)

2 Bedroom Floor Plan ($189,000)

3 Bedroom Floor Plan ($239,000)

All units have new hardwood flooring, exposed bring, cherry-finish shaker style kitchen cabinets, granite counter tops, and stainless steel appliances.  The bathrooms are smallish, and have one piece fiberglass tub/shower combo units and a non-ceramic floor tile.

Overall, the finishes are of good quality and are well-executed.  The 2 bedroom units at the front of the building benefit from the natural light due to the southern exposure, but other than those 6 units, the others can feel a bit dark, and would have benefited from additional recessed lighting.  Because of the significant settling over the years, some slope is apparent in virtually every floor.  Those of us who live in historic homes are used to this sort of “charm” but first-time home buyers and those expecting a brand-new product may find this a little unnerving.  The building is entirely structurally sound, however, after Krichco Construction had the building fully evaluated by structural engineers and then made significant improvements.

The building has no elevator, and the main hallway is a little narrow, but every unit has a side door with access to a broad, concrete-stepped fire escape.  This will be the way many residents choose to bring their bicycles up and down, and their dogs in and out.

In the end, what is the buildings greatest strength may also be seen as a weakness: location.  Only 2 blocks to Duke East Campus, and within easy walking distance to Brightleaf Square, The Farmers Market at Central Park, Fullsteam Brewery, Carolina Theatre, and all that Downtown, Central Park, and Brightleaf Districts have to offer, it’s hard to find a better location for someone who wants to take full advantage of all that makes Durham cool.  However, the adjoining properties are run down rentals, managed by companies with a reputation for caring little about their properties.  This is the eternal struggle as Durham gentrifies.  Hopefully buyers will see past the run down cars and shabby buildings next door and recognize that 916 W Trinity Avenue does indeed have much to offer.

916 W Trinity Avenue was built in 1920.  A rendering of the property from the former developer, who called it “Ambassador House”

The event was a big success, with over 300 people visiting nearly a dozen homes.

In addition to supporting the event, I created a market update specific to homes I’ve sold in the historic, walkable neighborhoods near downtown Durham.

For more info on those sales, see the attached .pdf  Market Update 10-7-12

As you can see, I have sold a lot of homes in the past 12 months.  In fact, I’ve sold more homes in Durham’s near-downtown pre-WWII neighborhoods as a whole in the past 12 months than any other agent: Forest Hills,Trinity Park, Trinity Heights, Watts-Hillandale, Old North Durham, Duke Park, Rockwood, and Old West Durham.

If you are interested in buying or selling a home anywhere, but especially in these neighborhoods, please give me a call!

Adam Dickinson – 919-452-3751 – adam@501realty.com

So, I get all that. But the other side of it is that real estate markets are not like today’s capital markets, with players moving quickly and coolly in and out of assets at the push of a button or automated execution of a trading algorithm.  They are long cycle, highly segmented, highly localized, and often somewhat irrational. While betting long term on the “greater fool theory” is not advisable, recognizing that a house purchase is an emotional decision much more often than many people want to admit is important, especially when discussing adoption of emerging trends.

Some very important emerging trend will help Durham, and especially the Bull City’s walkable, historic neighborhoods, remain insulated from the economic forces that may yet decimate the commodity housing in the overbuilt parts of American Exurbia. Aside from the very strong economic fundamentals here driven by Duke, UNC, their respective hospital systems, RTP, and the many spinoff companies in the creative/technical fields that form around these larger engines there is also a terrific quality of life. That quality of life, having been repeatedly recognized by the mainstream national press, will drive population growth among those who want to be a part of Durham’s Cool. Also, housing in Durham is very affordable relative to income levels.  As I discussed in December  that affordability has a reverberating impact on both real estate markets, and our quality of life.

Furthermore, the good life in Durham, and in particular in the walkable historic neighborhoods, is being pursued by the 2 biggest demographic groups in modern history, that is the baby-boomers, and their children, the echo-boomers. The boomers were largely born in suburbia as their parents moved out of the cities into Levittowns and other post-war master-planned communities. With that disinvestment in the cities, they got really scary for a time, so the boomers did not rebel against their parents en-mass and go back to the city. They had their kids, the echo-boomers, in the ‘burbs, and raised them there, spending lots of increasingly precious time and increasingly expensive gas shuttling kids to school, soccer, ballet, violin, etc. On TV boomers and their kids made Seinfeld, Friends, and Sex in the City huge hits. All those shows helped make The City cool again.  Those few boomers who had bucked the trend and moved to the city were a passionate vanguard and laid the foundation for the “risk oblivious” youth who wanted a more urban life.

Fast forward 20 years to today and the echo boomers have/are moving to the city, the millennials are following suit, and the boomers, now free from their car-pool responsibilities, are wanting a piece of the action too. None of them want to have to get in their cars everyday for everything. People want to live green, and recognize that maximizing existing housing stock, existing infrastructure, and walking & biking are real-world ways they can do that.

Finally, the housing itself is not a commodity.  There is much variation in size, location, and condition.  That lack of substitutability creates and sustains values in the historic neighborhoods.  In many suburban neighborhoods all that separates the 25 copies of the same floor plan is the choice of wall color, flooring cabinets, and countertops.  This creates multiple substitutes for any house that’s for sale, and creates a race-to-the-bottom pricing mentality, holding down appreciation in good times, and accelerating depreciation in bad times.

In some key ways, one could also extend the emerging trends in generational preferences argument to the Raleigh, Chapel Hill, and the neighborhoods along and between the I-85 / I-40 / US-1 corridors.  I am optimistic about real estate prospects of the area in general.  I am particularly so about the pre-WWII neighborhoods and even those built before 1970, due primarily to the uniquness of housing and proximity to walkable core neighborhoods.  More modern neighborhoods in the area will still fare better than the national average I believe, driven by strong economic growth potential and quality of life choices.

However, walkable historic Durham has very recently been, and will continue to be, the focal point of  a number of emerging and converging trends.  Thus in the face of rapidly expanding demand, housing in Durham’s historic, walkable neighborhoods is a very finite resource. That makes for a smart investment, both with respect to quality of life, and economic return.

–Adam Dickinson is a real estate broker with 501 Realty, LLC.  Reach him at 919-452-3751 or adam@501realty.com

The service he provided even extended to a huge range of referrals he gave us – for a home inspector, a lawyer, a mortgage broker, a painter, a locksmith, a mover, etc. Every person he recommended delivered the same quality and integrity we got from Adam, giving us a complete package of everything we needed to successfully buy our dream home. We feel incredibly lucky to have had him for our agent, and we couldn’t be happier with what he delivered. Years from now when we decide to sell, he’s the only agent we’ll call.

David & Rachel, Durham