Flora Harrington’s Blog

There are 335 businesses inside the limits of downtown Sanford, which stretches from Third Street east of Horner Boulevard to the intersection of Carthage and Wicker Streets.  That total includes 100 retailers, 18 restaurants, five banks and 20 hair salons and barbers.

Downtown businesses employ more than 1,300 people in Sanford.  If taken as a whole, it would be the third largest employer in Lee County, behind Wyeth (1,410) and Static Control (1,400).

In total 28,240 people are employed in Lee County, excluding federal government employees.

Homes sold for an average of $130,670 over the last 12 months in Lee County, with a total value of more than $101 million.

Central Carolina Hospital, established in 1913, has 137 beds and more than 700 employees, including 85 physicins.

 A full 49 percent of the county’s population of 59,046 live inside the city limits of Sanford. 

There are 44,493 vehicles registered in Lee County. 

LYDIA CURRIE IS AN EXCELLENT HOME STAGER.  IF YOU ARE THINKING OF SELLING YOUR HOME - PLEASE GIVE HER A CALL.  IT COULD ADD DOLLARS TO

YOUR PRICE.  CALL 919-353-9628

WHAT IF I TOLD YOU I COULD WRTE A PRESCIPTION FOR A MEDICINE THAT WOULD DO ALL OF THE FOLLOWINGl  LOWER YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE, BLOOD SUGER AND WEIGHT; IMPROVE CHOLESTEROL, SLEEP, AND BONE AND HEART  HEALTH; AND DECREASE THE RISK FOR CANCER?  IMAGINE ONE PRESCRIPTION THAT COULD DO ALL OF THESE THINGS AND MORE.  WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED?  I BET MOST OF YOU WOULD. 

WELL THAT PRESCRIPTION REALLY EXISTS.  THERE’S JUST ONE CATCH:  YOU’LL NEED 30 MINUTES EACH DAY TO TAKE IT.  YES, THE “MEDICINE” THAT I’M TALKING ABOUT IS EXERCISE

(1)  Change your lights  for CFLs.  You need to take them to a recycling center instead of throwing them in the trash because of the mercury inside them

(2)  Program your thermostat

(3)  Boost heating efficiency.  Sealing the cracks and insulating the ducts.  Caulk any holes in your walls.

(4)  Add insulation

(5) Save money on hot water - insulating hot-water pipes and lowering the temperature 10 degrees.

(6) Use space heaters wisely

(7) Replace worn-out windows

(8) Understand energy star

(9) Use fires for ambience.  Wood burning fireplaces might look romantic but they actually

      suck the heat up your chimney.  Ventless fireplaces are good heat sources  but they reduce the oxygen out of your home.

(10)  Avoid energy scams.  Avoid door-todoor salesman.  Check with your Better Bureau

         before you buy.

Many techniques are used to stage a property.  De-cluttering,  depersonalizing, updating old or unattractive fixtures, painting, furniture rearrangements, rental furniture and accessorising are

just some of the changes used to make a home more inviting to potential buyers

SINCE THE TYPICAL BUYER DECIDES IF THEY ARE ATTRACTED TO A HOME OR NOT IN THE FIRST 8 SECONDS OF SEEING IT, CURB APPEAL IS GENERALLY VIEWED AS A VITAL ASPECT OF THE STAGING PROCESS.  THEREFORE CURB APPEAL, THE PRACTICE OF IMPROVING A HOME’S  EXTERIOR APPEAL IS USED ALONGSIDE INTERIOR IMPROVEMENTS.

It has been shown that homes containing furniture and accessories sell more quickly than vacant homes, because the potential buyers realize what can actually be done with the place.

They may realize that the room is actually a lot larger than it would look without the furnishings, 

Spaciousness and light often determine the  SUCCESS of a staged home.  Typically, the larger a room appears, the better it will seem to home-buyers.  Dark tight spaces create a poor impression and may prevent the home from selling.  Furniture layouts should create an impression of openness and comfort.  Non-essential items should be removed to  minimize crowding and clutter.  Opening curtains and blinds to let in natural light and turning on interior and exterior light at nighttime are common staging techniques.

One school  of thought suggest that wall treatments and flooring are most appealing when presented in neutral colors and subtle patterns.  This rule does not apply in the luxury market,

where unique fixtures and bold finishes —such as stained concrete flooring, deeply colored textures paints and artisan fixtures–are often considered highly desirable.

Religious items, personal photos, awards, certificate and cultural items are often removed to downplay the presence of current homeowners.  This helps potential home-buyers to not only feel more at ease during viewings, but allows them to focus on the property itself while also imagining their own belongings in the space.

In the Sanford  area is a wonderful home stager, her name is Lydia Warren.  She can be

reached at lydia4us@yahoo.com

Home staging (British English:  House doctoring) is the act of preparing a private residence prior to going up for sale in the real estate marketplace.  The goal of

staging is to sell a house quickly. and for the most money possible by attracting the most amount of potential buyers.  Staging focuses on improving a property to make it appeal to the largest amount of buyers by transforming it into a welcoming, appealing, and attractive product for sale.  Staging often raises the value of a property by way of reducing the home”s flaws, depersonaling, decluttering, cleaning, improving condition items, and landscaping.  For vacant

homes, rental furniture is used to create a living space the buyer could (see) themselves in.  Properly executed staging leads the eye to attractive features while minimizing the flaws .

Going into the heating season, fuel price are already higher than they were last year.  The pain will be greatest for households that use propane and heating oil, fuels that are derived from crude oil, which set a price last year.

Effective on Monday, Progress Energy upped bills by $1.30 a month, or almost 1.4 percent, for a typical residential customer to account for rising fuel prices needed to run the company’s power plant.

The good news for Progress Energy customers is that it will be their only increase this season.  Under state law, electric utilities can pass through their fuel costs on once annually.  Natural gas companies are not as lucky.  Companies such as PSNC Energy may ask to pass along fuel increases throughout the heating season.  Right now the company thinks its leatest rate increase, effective Nov. 1 will take it through the end of the year. The cost is going to be $1.35 per therm.  It will change your typical monthly bill from $128 to $135 per month.

(1)  Change your lights to CFLs but take them to recycling center as they have mercury in  them.

(2)  Program your thermostat.  Set different temperature for when you are not at home.

(3)  Boost heating efficiency.  Sealing any cracks or gaps in ductwork and insulating the ducts.

Caulk any hole in walls.

(4) Add insulation

(5)  Save money on hot water.  Reduce temperature on water heater from 130 degrees to

120 degrees.

(6)  Use space heaters wisely

(7)  Replace worn-out windows

(8) Understand energy star

(9) Use fires for ambience.  Wood-burning stoves sucks the heat up the window.  Ventless  fireplaces takes the oxygen out of the home

(10) Avoid energy scams.  Check with Better Bureau.

Sanford is almost in the center of our great state of North Carolina - 50 miles from Raleigh, our capitol, 35 miles from Fayetteville, 25 miles from Fort Bragg - 3 hours from the Beach and

3 hours from the mountains.  We are located 25 miles from Pinehurst, Golf capitol of the US.

We are one of the counties in  the BRAC realignment .  Lee County is a wonderful market for

buying or selling your home.  Come to our County - you will love it.

Central air conditioning

Oversize garage

walk-in closet in master bedroom

Backyard/play area

Cable/satellite TV-ready

High-speed internet access

Separate showers in main bath

Patio

Fencing