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Diversity For Your Dollar
By Laurie Bazemore
   Proximity to work, a good school system, a quiet neighborhood, or a backyard for the kids and dog. Every home buyer ranks preferences differently, but usually starts with price. With Durham County's residential diversity-tobacco warehouses transformed into urban lofts; a blooming residential corridor alongside the Streets at Southpoint commercial zone-buyers have a wide variety of cho9ices, no matter what their budget dictates.
   "People look at what they can afford, and the research phase really kicks in from there," said Mary Kay Pendergraph, 2006 president of the Durham Association of Realtors. As buyers narrow their resale and new construction interests, tradeoffs are inevitable when residential listings show just what their dollar will fetch.
   Supported by Durham County Revenue Department figures, the online Triangle Area Residential Realty (TARR) report's Durham County edition (available by subscription at www. Tarreport.com) lists the average sales price of new and existing homes in Durham County for the third quarter of 2005 as $182,000. The report breaks that statistic into the average price of a resale, $169,500, and the average price of new construction, $241,000.
   Though the average sales price for an existing home has changed no more than a few hundred dollars in the past three years, new construction has shot up $35,000 since 2002, due in large part to across the board increases in materials. While averages don't differentiate neighborhoods, these figures serve as a reference for home shopping in Durham neighborhoods.
   Without a subscription, Durham home buyers can search the TARR report's MLS-modeled database, specifying price range, square footage, and number of bedrooms and baths to narrow their house hunt. Creator and publisher Stacey Anfindsen updates the TARR report on a quarterly, monthly and annual basis.
   “If you want to know what you rmoney can buy around the Triangle, you can insert a number of variables into this search engine,” said Anfindsen, an appraiser, analyst, broker and property manager with Birch Appraisal Group.
   Here’s a quick glimpse of what you can get for your money.
Range of Resale
   Near the intersection of Hillandale Raod and Carver Street, 3029 Alabama Ave. fits right into a neighborhood grid of 1960s-built ranch homes. Listed at $164,000, this Hillandale area home's proximity to Guess Raod's commercial zone, Northgate Mall, Durham Regional Hospital and the Hillandale Road/I-85 junction is a clear draw. The Durham News/1309 Alabama Avenue
   A buyer with a mind for home improvement may readily take on the simplicity of this 1,910-square-foot home. Recessed lighting can be added where ceiling fans provide the home's only overhead lights. The kitchen's dark-stained pine cabinetry can be brightened with a coat of paint. The family room, a converted carport with no central hearting, could be equipped with an upgraded heating unit. A hallway-entrance bathroom serving this home's three bedrooms recalls an era when family members shared a bathroom.
   Jeanette Hussey lists this property along with others in various Durham neighborhood characterized by single-family ranch homes, bungalows and Cape Cods under 2,000 square feet. A licensed broker in Fonville Morisey's Croasdaile office, Hussey said her listings point to consistently affordable communities within Durham's resale market.
   “Woodcroft has remained a popular area since it was built in the 1980s. You can buy a home or townhome in this community for $169,800,” Hussey said. “Resales near Southpoint Mall do well because of easy access to I-40 and the retail presence. In contrast to the hustle and bustle of other parts of the city, this area along Fayetteville Road has bigger lots.”
   Other Durham communities with homes on the market at the average resale price include trendy, older Trinity Park, Woodlake, Eno Trace, Grove Park and Vantage Point.
   On Hillandale Raod, three and a half miles south of the Alabama Avenue home, the pricing landscape changes quickly. Historic Watts-Hillandale is home to Durham’s first 18-hole golf course, Hillandale Country Club, developed in 1923 on Hillandale Road.
   Members added to the neighborhood’s appeal by constructing homes nearby along West Club Boulevard and its side streets. The historic 1980 completion of the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics on the old Watts Hospital campus, commercial development along Ninth and Broad streets and the presence of Duke’s East Campus makes Watts-Hillandale cost-prohibitive to many.
   “You can’t buy an old home in Watts-Hillandale for $169,800,” said Mike Sullivean, also a licensed broker in the Fonville Morisey Croasdaile office. “A 1,300-square-foot cottage with two baths runs about $200,000 plus in this neighborhood.”
   Twelve miles east of 3029 Alabama Avenue off of Fletcher's Chapel Road, the muddy bulldozers and stark residential sidings make the Ridgefield community look all too fresh for resale listings. Although hardly a stone's throw from Durham's downtown or major commercial zones, this development's quiet cul-do-sacs, open areas and over-all country feel are balanced by easy access to RTP, I-85 and N.C. 98.
The Durham News/614 Pebblestone Dr.    The vinyl-and-stone siding, manicured lawans and a ground-staked sapling of 614 Pebblestone Dr. make this two-story house seem a builder's model awaiting its first buyer. Built in
   The vinyl-and-stone siding, manicured lawans and a ground-staked sapling of 614 Pebblestone Dr. make this two-story house seem a builder's model awaiting its first buyer. Built in2004, this 1,761-square-foot transitional is distinguished by open spaces defined into rooms by furnishings, such as the contemporary sofas enclosing the first-floor living area.
 
   Listed at $164,900, this home’s features exemplify the current owner’s tweaked customizations to a builder’s shell-maple-blond kitchen cabinets with brushed nickel knobs; a gas log fireplace; master bedroom French doors a jetted garden tub with a separate shower; and a two-car garage.
   "Builder amenities make the home," said Kirk Keyes, the listing agent and owner of America's Best Realty. "Newer homes where the master automatically comes with its own bathroom or bedrooms with big closets make older homes functionally obsolete."
Buying Brand New
   National builders of ten don't list new homes on the MLS list inventory until construction is complete, Hussey said. The 2,746-square-foot ranch/transitional home at 1212 Champions Pointe Dr. is a fortunate exception for scouring buyers' agents. Situated on 0.18 acres within the Treyburn subdivision, this two-bedroom, two-bath customized home lists for $225,000.
1212 Champions Pointed Dr.
   Highlights include a two-car garage, a gas log fireplace, hardwood floors, and a garden tub, separate shower, and his-and-her vanities in the master bath. Listing only the interior amenities, however, shortchanges an overall understanding of what buyers get for their dollar. Treyburn is a planned community, offering residents more than three miles of groomed trails and streams within Treyburn Forest, tree-lined streets, shops and offices within walking distance, a country club and green space, among other features.
   Thirty minutes south on U.S. 15-501 off of Fayetteville Road, 119 Paladin Ct. is located on a quarter acre in the Paladin subdivision. Listed at $239,000, this 1,730-square-foot craftsman bungalow is one of nine built on this street this year in the style of those in Trinity Park. The buyer for this two-bath, three-bedroom home may be sold on its bay windows in the kitchen, hardwood floors and modern appliances. A covered deck reaching out to a woodsy tree cover stands out as this home’s key selling point. Given current interest rates, the buyer's market has increased the probability for any residence in Durham to be snatched up. Economics aside, the array of homes for sale in Durham means that there is a home for every buyer and a buyer for every home. 119 Paladin Court
   Kirk Keyes explained this convenient phenomenon. "Home buying is a unique combination of where you're from, what's found in your place now, and the type of home you're looking for," he said. "The Raleigh-Durham area is one of the top places in the country to move to, and all types of folks are looking for something different."