Took my Sweetie out for a pizza tonight in Raleigh, North Carolina.  Piccola's Pizza and Italian in Cameron Village.

4 Stars on the pizza!  4 stars on the service!  Tummy feels good.

And then Sweetie got the bonus side trip; we went to a nearby home that I helped a young couple buy this week.  They closed on Tuesday.  In a side note, it was a FSBO, and painless to boot.  Kudos to the Seller!

I wanted to pick up my lockbox, and wasn't surprised to see the house lit up and the new owners working away at 9:00 on a Friday night.  They are excited! 

Of course they are excited.  I remember our first home and the pride of putting in effort to improve it.  They have the same enthusiasm, fervor, and drive. 

The home is in an area of Raleigh that I believe is in early stages of SFR gentrification, to become another transitional area for improvement and renovation by owner occupants.  Affordable housing in single family homes is becoming harder to find.  Quarter acre lots like this one are even scarcer.  And rehabbers and flippers are going through inventory in several central Raleigh neighborhoods like locusts through a wheat field.  It is difficult to find project homes all around Wake County, NC.

This 1950's cottage is about 850 square feet.  It needs updating throughout, but hasn't been abused too badly with inappropriate hack-job improvements.  The vinyl siding is debatable, I suppose.

A similar home, updated, across the street just went under contract in about a month, from a listing price of $189,000.  It was fairly well renovated, with quality, IMO.

My young clients got this place with enough margin to do some judicious quality updating and to go on to build some nice equity within a few years.  And to learn project management on a small, personal scale.

I have volunteered to help with the new roof...  Oh, my goodness....I have the fever.  It's contagious!!!!!