Neighborhood Changes -

 

It's doubtful one of our favorite local bar/restaurants will return after closing due to COVID right after Christmas 2020. Although a chain, Mia Francesca Trattoria never had that feeling. We started eating there when it first opened in 2011 in a pleasing space on the lobby level of a brand new Renaissance Hotel. We knew many of the staff well. The location is just minutes from the house in the area called Midtown. Just a basic two level shopping mall named North Hills when we moved here in 1977, it has morphed into a small 'town' of its own, north of the downtown city. Not just high end retail shops, boutiques, restaurants, coffee shops, bars, hotels, gyms, movie theatre etc., but elegant multi-story apartment buildings, a posh senior living complex. . . . . and mini skyscraper office buildings - the newest of which will reach 35 floors!  Around these buildings more land is being acquired so quickly we can't keep up with the landscape changes and ongoing construction. 

 

Houses built here on prior farmland in the 1960's to 1980's (when IBM moved so many people from the north to work in their huge facility) are disappearing fast.  Small ranches, split levels, and cottages of that era, are selling like hotcakes for high prices, then being razed and huge homes in the $1-3 million dollar range popping up almost overnight it seems. It's definitely a seller's market, with houses usually selling, some with bidding wars, as soon as a sign goes up. Our neighborhood is a 'hot spot' for real estate listings. Phone calls, cards stuck on the mailbox, letters in the mail, are daily happenings here, all stating a version of. . . . . . . . . .WE WANT TO BUY YOUR HOUSE! 

We will not be enticed easily!  We have a figure which seems somewhat obscene compared to what we purchased the property for new in 1986!  If someone truly wants it and agrees to pay that amount we could perhaps be persuaded to sell. Where would we go?  At this late stage in life it would be hard to make that decision. Right now it looks like we will stay. . . . . . certainly after doing all this gardening lately!!!

 

MIDTOWN - Raleigh, North Carolina - Spring 2021

'Home Sweet Home'

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.

John Howard Payne (1791-1852)

Here at the 'homestead' we planted all these marked trees 

 along with dozens of shrubs and perennials.

The tiny trees each started out in one gallon pots many years

 ago - and I think we'd truly have a hard time moving

and leaving them behind!

Story of a small house -

Each morning I look at the real estate listing online for the house

 tucked into the lot beside us.  'PENDING' jumps out! 

You asked for the 'house story' so here it is to date.

Possible buyers no longer pull up the driveway, a realtor in tow.  A second inspector just came. Bob met 'Mr. Pending Buyer' - more on him later! We're five small houses circling two thirds of the cul-de-sac. The other third, and our pleasant view, being a small wooded area hiding occasional deer, a fox family, a coyote, a multitude of squirrels, rabbits, hawks, crows, and assorted garden birds.  We love it. Our neighbors have always been great. We have felt fortunate living here for many years.

But now we are the 'hot spot' on the northern edge of a burgeoning city. Our neighborhood has been engulfed by 'Midtown' (formerly North Hills) which continues to grow with very tall buildings: apartments, offices, retail, restaurants, weekend farmers' market, outdoor performance spaces, movie theatre, three hotels, huge retirement/nursing facility, etcetera. What was just a mid-size shopping mall when we moved to Raleigh in 1977, is now a small town of its own!

People want homes, a lot of homes, in Midtown close to their work places. Huge, elegant apartment buildings have gone up in the past few years - with rooftop pools, gyms, and all the apparent required facilities of this modern age we live in. The rents are high and geared toward young professionals. As for single family homes, our small and tidy houses sitting on 1/4-1/2 acre lots are not really what new homeowners are looking for.  They are buying, demolishing, and building much larger, often million dollar plus homes, and we're beginning to look out of place!  

The small Cape Cod style house next to us, one of five homes built by the same builder 35 years ago, had two owners, both who lived there a while. The second one then married and moved but rented out the house for 12+ years. Those neighbors became dear friends for all those years. We were so sad when they were asked to leave in 30 days as the house was going up for sale in August! It was marketed 'As Is' at a low price in our market area, which made it a magnet for buyers who would "do something with it" such as fix and flip, rent again with small changes, or raze and build - possibly a larger home!

We really don't want a towering 'McMansion' next door - cutting out the afternoon sun and evening sunset, enveloping us in shadows, making me dig damp holes for shade garden plants only. . . . . . neither does anyone else on the cul-de-sac.

Our 'cottage' above.

So this is what has happened to date. 

House was purchased by a realtor/builder couple for below market price as sellers wanted to get rid of it fast!  New owner told Bob they were planning to demolish and do a new build, a little larger, and they would live in it. (They live nearby and wife wants a new home). Two days later people start arriving to look at the house and, when I checked online, the house was up for sale again with the asking price of $84,500 above what it sold for about a week earlier!  Remember now, NOT A THING WAS DONE to repair anything, not even the grass was mown - and a lot of major repair is required if it's not to be razed.  Many people have viewed the house and there have been two price drops. If it sells at the current asking price the sellers will still make $40,000 - not bad eh!!!!!?  

So along came 'Mr. Pending Buyer' who looked at the house several times. Bob was outside raking up fig tree leaves and mowing grass - looking like a scruffy yard guy, lol, - so was able to meet him. I stayed hidden in the house champing at the bit, wondering if he would make a good neighbor. Here I could insert my what makes the best neighbor wish list, especially when houses are built very close together on small lots, but I won't do that yet!  Also, I won't share who this person is until I know for certain he will be our new neighbor.  He did ask Bob to recommend an HVAC company to check the system, and we were happy to share the great company we used last year for an entirely new system which we are so pleased with. They actually have now come to the property to do a check - a good sign!

This is where we stand right now. Waiting and hoping this might be another great neighbor for our little cul-de-sac. We would welcome him with open arms - well perhaps I shouldn't say that until I can check that best neighbor 'wish list' 😇). I could then bake him a welcome cake or a pumpkin bread!  I know all this might change overnight - perhaps he'll find a better deal with more than a homemade cake, and then all my rabbiting on will become a moot point.  Who knows. It makes a post though. . . . . . and took my mind off terrifying COVID-19 and dirty politics!

I guess later I'll update this update. 

Fingers crossed it will all work out. 

Love to my blog friends, and thanks for reading.