As we come together in the Triangle with hopes that the summer days of near 100-degrees are coming to an end, we get to look forward to one of the greatest seasons of the year – college football season, also known as Fall.  It’s that time of year in the Triangle when the temperatures cool, the leaves fall and the trash talk begins. 

With NC State, UNC, Duke and Wake Forest all within such close proximity of one another, the Triangle area is unique in having many fans for each university so close together.  That creates quite

a bit of banter amongst fans, as well as a great deal of interest in the season as a whole. 

All of these local teams will begin their season at home this year, except for UNC-Chapel Hill, who will play in the 2010 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game against LSU in Atlanta, GA on September 4.  NC State will open its season at Carter Finley stadium against Western Carolina on September 4, Wake Forest’s opening game will be against Presbyterian on September 2 in Winston Salem, and Duke will take on Elon on September 4 for its season opener in Durham, NC.

So grab your tailgating gear (whether it’s blue, red or gold) and get ready to cheer on your favorite Triangle team…the season starts in just a couple of weeks!

If you are looking to buy or sell real estate in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Pittsboro, Cary, Apex, Garner, Hillsborough, Wake Forest, Mebane or any of the Triangle surrounding communities, we are here to help.  We are your Triangle Area Trusted Advisors in Real Estate, here to provide exceptional service with all your home buying and selling needs.  Please make sure to visit HPWtv and learn more about the various communities that make up the Triangle.

Strategic Business Alliance Benefits Both Coldwell Banker Entities And Expands Customer Base

Don Walston, Founder and Executive Chairman of Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston has announced the merger of Coldwell Banker Realty Center with the firm, which will continue to operate under the name of Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston.  In this landmark strategic alliance, agents at Coldwell Banker Realty Center’s office in Southern Village in Chapel Hill will relocate to Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston’s Chapel Hill office on Franklin Street.  Coldwell Banker Realty Center was established in 1982 and was an independently-owned affiliate of Coldwell Banker.  The company was started by brokers with more than 35 years of experience in local residential sales and it joined the franchise in 1985.  Coldwell Banker Realty Center holds a world class reputation for quality service, and through the new strategic alliance, it will be able to seamlessly provide additional technology and marketing services to its customers. The alliance provides Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston with a greater number of sales associates and an expanded customer base.

The Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston Chapel Hill area team!

 “We are very pleased to announce the merger of Coldwell Banker Realty Center with Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston,” said Don Walston, chairman and co-founder of Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston.  “The agents will be an excellent addition to our company and we look forward to working with them and growing Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston’s reputation as the #1 full-service residential real estate company in the Chapel Hill area and the Triangle.”

 “This is a well-chosen strategic move for Coldwell Banker Realty Center that will bring tremendous benefits to our customers,” said Bob Vermilya, Broker/Owner at Coldwell Banker Realty Center.  “We look forward to expanding our capabilities and providing our clients with an even greater range of technology and marketing services.”

If you are looking to buy or sell real estate in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Pittsboro, Cary, Apex, Garner, Hillsborough, Wake Forest, Mebane or any of the Triangle surrounding communities, we are here to help.  We are your Triangle Area Trusted Advisors in Real Estate, here to provide exceptional service with all your home buying and selling needs.  Please make sure to visit HPWtv and learn more about the various communities that make up the Triangle.

It's back!  As many parents are getting their kids ready to head back to school, North Carolina will see the return of the Tax Free Weekend on August 6^th through August 8^th, 2010.  This popular "holiday" allows you to purchase clothing, school supplies, computers, sports equipment and more without paying sales tax. 

It's important that you check to see which items are exempt from taxes.  Some things may surprise you.  For those of you planning a wedding, did you know non-rental wedding apparel of $100 or less per item is tax exempt?  Since we're in the peak of boating season, did you know life preservers and vests of $50 or less per item are tax-free? 

The most popular items during the tax free weekend are the school supplies and computer electronics.  Be sure to keep an eye out while you're shopping for local charities hosting school supply drives - this may be a perfect opportunity to donate supplies to your child's school.  Also, if you're getting a new item like a computer, check with local charities to see if they accept donations of your old items.  For example, The Purple Elephant accepts donated computers then refurbishes them to make them available to local, disadvantaged children and families.  Or if you find yourself with clothing your kids might have outgrown, you can donate them to the MeFine Foundation to help support the parents and caregivers with children being treated at Duke and UNC Children's Hospitals.

Don't miss out on this once-a-year opportunity to save!

And what is even better than the NC Tax Free Weekend? The exclusive Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston ‘Cash for Closing' program where you can earn a minimum of $1000 towards your closing costs on participating CBHPW homes for sale in the Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Holly Springs, Clayton, Garner, Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Pittsboro, Hillsborough, Mebane and other Triangle surrounding areas.

It has been a great week for Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston. Just last week RealTrends 500 again named the company the #1 Real Estate Company in the Triangle.  This week, our staff and associates are again being recognized- this time for their charitable giving in the Triangle community.

Congratulations are in order!  The Triangle Business Journal just released the list of Top Corporate Philanthropists in the Triangle area and CBHPW was ranked #15. This is the companies 5^th consecutive year making the list.

Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston and the company's charitable arm, the HPW Foundation, supports Triangle area charities with financial and volunteer support.  The charitable organizations currently supported through the HPW Foundation are the Triangle affiliate of Komen for the Cure, Triangle area Habitat for Humanity chapters, Second Chance Pet Adoptions, Me Fine Foundation, Purple Elephant Computer Factory for Kids and Special Olympics North Carolina. Over the past three years, the HPW Foundation has also started ‘Turkeys for the Triangle,' a semi-annual event which gives over 1000 turkeys to families in need across the Triangle area during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays! 

CBHPW staff and associates contribute through ongoing donations, fundraising events and volunteer drives.  Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston is proud of each and every one of our staff members and associates that give their time and money to support these wonderful Triangle area charitable organizations.

If you are looking to buy or sell real estate in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Pittsboro, Cary, Apex, Garner, Hillsborough, Wake Forest, Mebane or any of the Triangle surrounding communities, we are here to help.  We are your Triangle Area Trusted Advisors in Real Estate, here to provide exceptional service with all your home buying and selling needs.  Please make sure to visit HPWtv and learn more about the various communities that make up the Triangle.

We are proud to announce that Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston, a private company, has been named the #64 real estate company in the nation in closed sides and the #65 company in the nation in sales by REALTOR® Magazine.  CBHPW was also named the #62 real estate company in the nation in closed sides and #66 company in sales volume by RealTrends 500.  

Locally, CBHPW has again been ranked the #1 Real Estate Company in the Triangle by the RealTrends 500 in 2010.

Even in a normalizing economy, the strength of Coldwell Banker as the most recognizable national brand in real estate combined with the powerful local presence of Howard Perry and Walston has allowed CBHPW to continue to grow its market share locally, regionally and nationally.  Over the past year, Coldwell Banker's national success has blown its competition out of the water, with the closest competitor achieving only half of its production. 

These recent awards and accolades are due in large part, if not entirely, to the outstanding associates who comprise the CBHPW family of Realtors®.  With the best training and technology in the industry and their unrivaled knowledge of the local Triangle real estate market, our associates continually prove what it means to be a Trusted Advisor to buyers and sellers alike.

If you are looking to buy or sell real estate in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Pittsboro, Cary, Apex, Garner, Hillsborough, Wake Forest, Mebane or any of the Triangle surrounding communities, we are here to help.  We are your Triangle Area Trusted Advisors in Real Estate, here to provide exceptional service with all your home buying and selling needs.  Please make sure to visit HPWtv and learn more about the various communities that make up the Triangle.

To do the best home painting job possible, I would plan on making this at least a two day project. If you are anything like me, my attention to detail is much better at the start of the day when I am fresh, well rested and not tired.  I can't imagine trying to prepare your space for painting, taping and then painting all in one day. I haven't been sorry I took two days to complete my project.

Day One- I used the first day of my home painting project for shopping for all of my painting supplies and for prepping my space.

So, what did I buy?

• Paint.  I actually took in my selected swatches of color and a floor plan of the walls/rooms I was painting to meet with my Home Depot paint guru. Not only did they help me make sure I was buying the right amount of paint, they also let me in on a tip I didn't know. 
  Did you know you can adjust the colors a bit from the color swatches you select?  I didn't. 
  All of the paint colors are based on formulas.  It is very easy for the paint specialist to adjust your color a bit just with the turn of a switch.  I was painfully torn between my gray color selections.  Porpoise?  Or Winter Mist?  I thought one was a tad too dark and the other too light.  The paint specialist explained to me she could ‘back off' the darker color a bit and create a color in the middle of my two options.  The result?  A perfect shade of gray for my home office.
  
  
• Drywall spackle, small putty knife, fine grade sandpaper- If you have had art or photos hanging on any of the walls you want to paint, you will need to repair them before you paint. Don't be scared, this is super quick and easy to do. Purchase some inexpensive wall repair spackle, a small putty knife and some fine grain sand paper to repair any nail holes that may be in your wall.  I used Dry Dex Dry Time Indicator spackle .  This wall repair spackle starts off a light pink color and turns white when it is dry and ready to be sanded.  It dries in anywhere from 1-4 hours and it is pretty dummy proof which is why liked it so much. Once the spackle is dry, I used a fine grade sand paper to buff it smooth.
  
  
  
• Purdy Premium Paint Kit- I purchased the Purdy Premium Paint Kit.  It is basically a paint tool starter kit and included an aluminum paint tray, an aluminum roller frame and two roller sleeves, a 2 inch tapered brush and a paint can opener.  It was only $18, all of the items were high quality and it saved me a ton of money over buying the items separately.
  
  
• Additional Paint Tray- I did purchase an additional paint tray.  They are very inexpensive and since I was doing two different colors in two rooms, I just decided to throw them away rather than wash and reuse them.
  
  
• Additional paint rollers.  The Purdy paint kit included a standard size roller which is great for painting large spaces.  I also purchased a small paint roller  for smaller areas of the wall like above the door frame. It was so much easier to handle in small spaces and GREAT for touch ups.  I also purchased a small corner paint roller. This has got to be one of the greatest painting inventions ever for DIY-ers.  I know it seems silly now, but wait till you get started.  This little corner roller is small and just makes tackling the corner areas of your painting project easy.  If you have very tall walls, you may want to look in to purchasing a telescopic paint roller.  My project was pretty normal so I was able to reach everything with a standard ladder and roller.
  
  
• Plastic Sheeting- I also purchased a roll of plastic sheeting to cover my floors and furniture with.  A lot of DIY paint articles I read suggested buying a canvas sheet to reuse if you were going to be doing a lot of painting as it would save money over the long haul.  Since I know I am only going to do this a few times, I opted for the easy to use and dispose of Husky plastic sheeting . I didn't need the entire roll for either room and it was easy to cut and size to the necessary space.
  
  
• Frog Tape. A friend of mine recommended Frog Tape.  Word to the wise, Home Depot doesn't carry Frog Tape, you will need to venture to Lowes for this.  It is bright green painting tape that comes in various sizes.  I bought the largest width possible to tape off my crown molding and then the smaller one inch width size for edges, windows, doors, etc.  Throughout the entire taping process I was so glad to have two sizes available for different areas.  If you have crown molding, odd room layouts or door placements, or tight windows I think you will appreciate having two sizes as well.
  

Now it's time to prep the space for painting!

• Prep the space.  Take part of Day 1 on your painting project to clear out the space near your paint area.  Remove artwork, photographs, move furniture.  It is helpful to create as much open space in your painting area as you can.  If there are some pieces of furniture you can't move out of a room, move them to the center of the room and cover with plastic sheeting.
  
  
• Remove the hardware. Take this prep time to remove all of the light switch and outlet covers from the area you will be painting.  I actually took a piece of the painters tape and covered the actual switch to make sure I didn't get paint on them either.  I removed all the plates and screws and put them immediately inside a Ziploc bag for safe keeping.  You will also want to remove hardware from doors or cabinets, draperies, etc.
  
  
• Repair your walls. Take this time to also repair your walls.  You may have some areas where you may have nail holes from artwork that was hanging or small dings in your wall. Using drywall putty, a small putty knife and fine grade sandpaper repair those areas at least 5 hours before you start to paint.  Some spackle takes even longer to dry so make sure to read the specific instructions on the drywall putty you choose.
  
  
• Tape. Tape. Tape.  Unless you are Picasso, don't believe as a ‘paint rookie' that you can ‘cut' around doors, edges, crown molding and baseboards with a paint brush freehand.  I really took my time and paid attention to taping off all of those areas.  I made sure the tape was sealed well, that it followed straight lines, etc.  Taking the time to make sure you tape well is, I think, the most important step in DIY painting. There is nothing more rewarding then when you remove the tape when you are done painting and see those beautiful, crisp straight lines.
  

Stay tuned over the course of the next few days for my all of my posts on home painting for rookies! Tomorrow we get ready to paint!

If you are looking to buy or sell real estate in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Pittsboro, Cary, Apex, Garner, Hillsborough, Wake Forest, Mebane or any of the Triangle surrounding communities, we are here to help.  We are your Triangle Area Trusted Advisors in Real Estate, here to provide exceptional service with all your home buying and selling needs.  Please make sure to visit HPWtv and learn more about the various communities that make up the Triangle.

Every year, in the midst of the summer's traditions of watermelon, baseball games and fireworks, the town of Wake Forest, NC gathers its younger generation for its own tradition - the annual Fourth of July Children's Parade.  Instead of the more exorbitant parades you typically see, Wake Forest, NC decided to keep it simple with this one.  It's only important element?  The kids. 

Wake Forest, NC 4th of July Children's Parade

Without the traditional giant floats and marching bands, all you see at this parade is a street packed with children decked out in their Fourth of July finest.  From the little girl who rode her bike and decorated it with popsicle sticks to spell out "Happy 4^th of July" to the twins who proudly rode down the street in their red wagon, everywhere you look you see the true spirit of this all-American holiday.  And it's no small affair.  This year, over 250 local kids marched, rode and skipped their way through the parade route in downtown historic Wake Forest, NC.  The parade changed its route this year for an additional element of fun and continued down to Holding Park for Art-in-the-Park and Games-in-the-Park, featuring a watermelon seed spitting contest, sack races, and tug-of-war.

If you find yourself looking for a fun family activity next year, be sure to check out this local slice of Americana.  You won't be disappointed!

Wake Forest, NC July 4th Festivities

If you are looking to buy or sell real estate in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Pittsboro, Cary, Apex, Garner, Hillsborough, Wake Forest, Mebane or any of the Triangle surrounding communities, we are here to help.  We are your Triangle Area Trusted Advisors in Real Estate, here to provide exceptional service with all your home buying and selling needs.  Please make sure to visit HPWtv and learn more about the various communities that make up the Triangle.

-Jenni Bruckman

Tips for rookies on selecting colors. 

As I mentioned earlier, I did get some direction on the paint color selection from Michele with Triangle Home Staging and Design.  If you need some help with paint color selection, check out Michelle's blog post which includes some great advice on choosing the right paint colors for your home.

About a month before my scheduled painting project weekend, I went to Home Depot (in my opinion, Home Depot has a wonderful paint department and very helpful staff) and selected color swatches.

• Make sure to select paint swatches from the brand of paint you want to use.  It will make your life easier down the road.  I chose to use Behr paint with the primer built in.  Why you may ask?  Well, my Home Depot paint guru explained to me that ‘builder beige' paint used in a lot of new home construction has a tendency to absorb a new paint color.  This absorption can result in needing to paint additional coats, thus needing to use more paint, thus more dollars.  The built-in primer option on the Behr paint helps to avoid some of that.  It also helps produce a better, more even coverage of your walls.  It is a bit more expensive than regular paint, but WELL worth it.

I knew I wanted a blue accent wall in the living room area and a gray office. Simple enough, right? Until you start looking at options, you have no idea how many shades of blue and gray there are. I selected several color swatches that I loved in the store, took them home and taped them to the walls that I was planning on painting.  This helped me accomplish a few things-

• Colors you love in the store, you may not love at home.  I got to see what the colors actually looked like in the different lights that affected the rooms in my home.  It let me see what colors were too light or too dark, which colors looked better in natural light, artificial light, etc.

• I kept a black sharpie near the swatches on a wall and as I made decisions on ones I didn't like anymore, I marked them off with a big black ‘X.'

• This process also forced me to live with my color selections in a temporary state before making the plunge and actually painting the walls.  Some colors are great for a few days, but can get old as the weeks go on. As indecisive as I can be, I knew I wanted to make sure my color choices weren't just a passing fancy.

• Flat. Eggshell. Semigloss. Satin. Yikes!  If you felt like you hadn't already had to make enough decisions with your paint color, get ready to make one more. Now you have to pick a sheen.  Here is an informative post on paint sheens and how to choose one.  I selected Eggshell.  It provides a slight sheen, but also the durability I was looking for in paint.  I am a bit of a clutz sometimes and can use all of the wall forgiveness I can get.

From one home painting rookie to another....

I moved into my new home towards the end of last year.  It is a wonderful Raleigh, NC home, but there has been one thing bothering me about it.  The ‘builder beige' walls.  For those of you not familiar with the term ‘builder beige,' it is that great neutral color that a lot of builders use in new construction that shows you a warm, unobtrusive blank palette before you move in.  It allows you to envision your wall color choices, your furniture, your design taste, etc. 

6 months into living in my new home the ‘builder beige' walls were becoming, well, a little blah.

So, a few months ago my friend Michelle with Triangle Staging and Design (who is also featured in some GREAT home staging and color selection videos on HPWtv) visited my new Raleigh home and helped not only with suggestions of some creative arrangement of my furniture to make the space feel larger, but also with some color inspiration for my ‘builder beige' walls.

Fast forward to this past holiday weekend, I decided to tackle my very first home painting project.  Yes, I know it would have been easy to hire any of the great painters listed in our HPW Home Concierge section, but I really wanted to tackle this one on my own. I was truly looking forward to that sense of accomplishment....little did I know I would want to pull my own hair out a few times along the way. 

Here I am a week later, most of my hair still intact and with a couple of great new rooms that I transformed with not a lot of money.  So, for all of you painting rookies out there, I have put together some painting tips to help you get started on your first home painting project.  Am I a painting expert?  No. Will this cover everything you need to know?  Absolutely not. However, I hope that it will at least help you make some good first choices and learn from the mistakes I made. (Just a note, opinions are my own and I received no compensation from the brands recommended.)

Stay tuned over the course of the next few days for my all of my posts on home painting for rookies! Tomorrow we look at color selection! 

If you are looking to buy or sell real estate in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Pittsboro, Cary, Apex, Garner, Hillsborough, Wake Forest, Mebane or any of the Triangle surrounding communities, we are here to help.  We are your Triangle Area Trusted Advisors in Real Estate, here to provide exceptional service with all your home buying and selling needs.  Please make sure to visit HPWtv and learn more about the various communities that make up the Triangle.

The Raleigh, NC and Triangle area is full of some of the best entertainment venues in the South.  The RBC Center, Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek (which has changed names more times then I can count), Cary, NC’s Koka Booth Amphitheatre at Regency Park, the Progress Energy Center, the Durham Performing Arts Center, the new Downtown Raleigh Amphitheatre and more.

However, there are some great venues in the area that don’t receive all the exposure of these larger jewels.  One of those ‘must sees’ is the ‘Ira David Wood III Pullen Park Theatre’ otherwise known as the ‘Theatre in the Park.’  This quaint theatre is nestled in Pullen Park just beyond the borders of North Carolina State University. Started in 1947, it began its life as a children’s theatre.  In the 1970’s, the theatre was renamed ‘Raleigh Theatre in the Park’ and moved in to its current residence in the former National Guard Armory. In 2004, in honor of his long time dedication to the theatre as the Executive and Artistic Director, the theatre was renamed once again to ‘The Ira David Wood III Pullen Park Theatre.’

 
Ira David Wood III Pullen Park Theatre, Raleigh, NC

I recently attended the ‘Theatre in the Park’ for the first time and enjoyed the production of David Mamet’s November.   It wasn’t just the performance I enjoyed, but really the overall experience.

My two cents-  

• Free Parking We do not often hear those words used together in the same sentence when it comes to entertainment.  However, there is free parking in an unpaved lot just behind the theatre.  Free does mean that there are no parking attendants or painted lines so you will get drivers who park their vehicles in the craziest of places and patterns.  Don’t park in the RESERVED spaces unless you want to get towed.

• Arrive early. If the weather is nice, make sure you arrive early.  Not because you will have a long wait, but so you can go inside, purchase a glass of wine and then return to explore the beautiful John S. Bento Garden and Isabella Cannon Fountain in front of theatre.  Enjoy great conversation in a beautiful setting while relaxing on the benches located in the park area.  It was a real treat to sit, relax with my friend Lisa and chat outside until just before show time.

• The seats. The ‘Theatre in the Park’ is probably not like most venues you have visited.  The theatre only seats about 220 guests, but in my opinion, there didn’t seem to be a bad seat in the house.  What an experience, the seats literally spill onto the stage.  I was in the third row and felt completely pulled into the entire production. 

• Concessions.  Word of advice, bring cash. They do not accept debit or credit cards at the concession stands.  I still owe my friend of few dollars because I didn’t know that.  (Money is in the courier Lisa!) There are not a lot of choices when it comes to concessions, but that’s ok.  I don’t think you need 500 concession options to have a good entertainment experience.  They have the basics; candy, soda, water and of course some adult beverages to enjoy in the garden before the show.

If you are looking for a unique and entertaining experience this summer, or any time for that matter, you should definitely get tickets to a performance at Raleigh’s ‘Theatre in the Park.’ They have a great schedule planned for the 2010/2011 season.

If you are looking to buy or sell real estate in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Pittsboro, Cary, Apex, Garner, Hillsborough, Wake Forest, Mebane or any of the Triangle surrounding communities, we are here to help.  We are your Triangle Area Trusted Advisors in Real Estate.  Please make sure to visit HPWtv and learn more about the various communities that make up the Triangle.