Kimberly
R. Kennedy, Go Realty
A Realtor’s Guide to
Holly Springs, North Carolina
Do you want to learn all there is to know about the Holly
Springs, North Carolina Real Estate market, as well as information about the
community itself? I am a North Carolina Real Estate Agent presently working
with Better Homes and Gardens Go Realty. If you are thinking of buying or
selling a home in Holly Springs, please get in touch, as I would love to share
my real estate expertise. With the support of my team, helping buyers and
sellers comes easy to me. Now, sit back and enjoy learning about what makes
this town so precious!
A Little Bit of History
This Southern Wake County town got its name from its
original landscape where forty-foot holly trees stood over beautiful freshwater
springs. To this day, some of the century old springs still feed the creeks and
ponds in the area.
In
colonial era, a small part of homes and businesses started around the original
“holly springs” in an area that used to be a Tuscarora Indian hunting ground
(The Tuscarora fled around 1720 to escape the increase of Europeans). The
location of this settlement is thought to have been near the intersection of
Cass Holt and Avent Ferry Road, roughly across the street from Holly Springs
High School. By the 1800’s, the community included a cotton gin, sawmill, a
church, a general store and a masonic lodge that was used as the area’s first
school. Holly Springs Academy started in 1854 to prepare young men for
admission to Wake Forest College. After two years, the first floor of the lodge
was used as a school for girls.
A
Scottish tailor, named Archibald Leslie, opened a tailoring business in 1817
and began construction of a house near the springs. This is now known as the
Leslie-Alford-Mims House. The mansion has 38 rooms and is located off Avent
Ferry Road near Holly Springs Town Hall. It was said that during the war, for
two weeks, a portion of the Union Army stayed at the Leslie-Alford-Mims House. It
has been said that Mrs. Leslie hated the Yankee’s bitterly but loved her home
more, so she treated the soldiers decently. Many believe that this is what
protected the house from being destroyed, like many other elaborate houses in
the area.
During
the Civil War, most of the men of the town were gone and both of the schools in
the area closed and it is said that Holly Springs became almost abandoned. Historian,
M.N. Amis described Holly Springs in 1871 as “a deserted village.” Thieves
known as “bummers” eventually raided the town’s food, silver, farms, clothes,
homesteads, supplies, or anything of value. Some families moved to other
cities. This withdrawal is to have believed triggered the construction of the
Chatham Railroad through the neighboring village of Apex, giving the town a
link to the outside world that Holly Springs had yet to acquire.
The
town of Holly Springs was established in 1877 when two years earlier George
Benton Alford moved his blooming mercantile business from Middle Creek
Township, which helped brew the economic revival in the community. A year later
he bought the Leslie house, which became the centerpiece of the village. He
continued to update the house and make additions and it is now one of the
largest mansions in Wake County, one of the few with its very own ballroom.
Pretty neat!
During the post-war period, the town tried unsuccessfully
numerous times to open up the Holly Springs Academy. As a result, children were
taught in private homes, and eventually the Masons opened the school, serving
125 students. In 1906 the town needed a larger facility and under the
instruction of Raymond A. Burt, J. Carter, and the Women’s School Betterment
Association, ten acres were purchased, which at the time was the site of the
library and cultural arts center.
During the 1960s, the town hired Dessie Mae Womble, the
first black female chief of police in the state of North Carolina. Segregation
eventually moved into integration and the segregated schools closed and
students were sent to surrounding communities to further their education.
In 1987, when the towns first sewage plant was built, was
when the real increase in population occurred. Population increased from 900 in
1992 to an estimated 6000 in 1998 to nearly 25,000 in 2010. The Holly Springs
Community Library and a cultural arts facility opened in December 2006.
For years, the town leaders have become increasingly
confident that the town will experience significant growth due to its close
proximity to the Research Triangle Park.
Location
Holly
Springs sits about 18 miles from the Research Triangle Park, about 6 miles
South of Apex and about 8 miles north of Fuquay-Varina.
Weather
-
The
highest monthly average temperature in Holly Springs for August is 80 degrees.
-
The
lowest monthly average temperature in Holly Springs for January is 43 degrees.
-
The
most monthly precipitation in Holly Springs occurs in September with 5 inches.
-
The
air quality index in Holly Springs is 13% better than the national average.
-
The
pollution index in Holly Springs is 72% better than the national average.
Click
Here for more Holly Springs weather statistics.
Notable
-
In 2007, Holly Springs was ranked the 22nd best small
town to live in, according to a CNNMoney.com evaluation.
-
The Harrington-Dewar House, Holly Springs Masonic Lodge, and
Leslie-Alford-Mims House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
-
On April 16th, 2011, a large tornado touched down
close to the Holly Springs town center, uprooting trees and destroying homes
and buildings.
Recreation
Holly Springs is also home to the Holly Springs Salamanders, a
baseball team that plays in the Coastal Plain League. Their games are fun to
attend and the tickets are reasonably priced. It’s a great family outing and
kids have a blast! Don’t forget to get a picture with Sal, the Salamander!
Education
Public Schools
Private Schools
Demographics
and Real Estate
As of the census in 2010, there were 24, 661 people living in
Holly Springs, consisting of 8,147 households, and 6,706 families. In the year
2000 census, there were only 9,192 people, 3,316 households, and 2,609
families, proving a huge rate of growth during the past decade.
Out of
the 8, 147 households, 55 percent had children under the age of 18 living with
them, 70 percent were married couples living together, 9.4 percent had a female
with no husband present, and 17.7 percent were non families. 14.5 percent of
all households are made up of individuals and 2.9 percent had someone living
alone who 65 years of age or older. The average household size in Holly Springs
is 3.03 and the average family size is 3.38.
In Holly
Springs, 32 percent of the population are under the age of 18, 5 percent from
18-24, 45 percent from 25-44, 16 percent from 45-64, and 5 percent from 65
years of age or older. The median age is 33 years. For every 100 females, there
are 97 males. The population is 51 percent female and 48.6 percent male. (Way to
go, ladies!)
The
median income for a household in the town is $85,000, and the median income for
a family was $92,539. The per capita income for the town was $31, 527. About
2.6 percent of families were below the poverty line, including 4.7 percent of
those under the age of 18 and 12.9 percent of those age 65 and older.
Holly
Springs has no plans to become a large town in the near future – perfect news
for those looking for a good real estate deal in this area of North Carolina.
While the average home prices in Holly Springs are not what some would consider
inexpensive, they do offer a great value for those who desire to live in a
small town close to Raleigh or Durham.
You
can find all types of homes in Holly Springs. The median price right now is
about $377,900. Remember, that this figure represents the middle price of all
homes listed. This means that half of the homes in Holly Springs cost less than
this and half of them cost more. This is good news for those who want a value,
because it is certainly possible to find it with the right help.
The
best way to locate the house you want for the price you can afford is through
an experienced Realtor covering Holly Springs real estate. While it is possible
to find a home you want on your own, there is a significant amount of work
involved. It is not something that you can spend a few hours doing and hope for
success. It takes time and networking to discover the best deals as they arrive
on the market. An agent experienced in Holly Springs real estate information
will know the right channels to explore – areas that the average person
typically does not have access to. Your real estate agent will have an
established network of data to track down the perfect house for you and your
family and will have the necessary expertise to negotiate the best price for
your new home.
Holly
Springs is a competitive market. The average home prices here are a bit higher
than a town like Durham, for instance. But while you do get what you pay for –
Holly Springs is a charming small town with all the historical touches that you
want. There is new construction available if you are seeking to build from
scratch. The typical price point for new homes in town range from a low of
around $269,900 to a high around $899,900. Average price for new construction
is around $438,912.
Why Holly
Springs?
There
is a reason why Holly Springs, North Carolina has become a more popular place
to live. This small historical community has a lot to offer the family that
wants easy access to Raleigh, Cary, Durham or Chapel Hill, while enjoying the
small-town charm that Holly Springs has to offer. House hunting in a place like
this can be hard, but fortunately you do not have to go it alone. With a real
estate agent on your side that is familiar with the area and understands buying
and selling in town, you can find the home you are looking for.
Why you should “Connect With Kennedy”
If
you are in the market to buy, you will find a variety of residential options to
choose from to fit your lifestyle and budget needs. I can be your guide to the
Real Estate market as an educated buyer’s agent. Lots of real estate agents
think marketing is putting a for sale sign in your yard and listing on the
Multiple Listing Service (MLS). This is what post and pray real estate agents
do! Put a sign in
the yard, put it in MLS and pray. This is NOT what you want! Selling your home
is an emotional process and you want someone who respects that and treats the
listing with that kind of importance.
When
it comes to Real Estate marketing, you will find that I do things that other
Realtors do not, including spending time on search engine optimization and
social media marketing. Seeing your home featured in Facebook, Pinterest,
LinkedIn and Twitter, to name a few, are the norm for
me, not the exception.
Additional
things that help your home stand out include exceptional professional
photography, vivid descriptions describing all the best features of your home,
along with a video tour that will be found in YouTube, Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia,
and MLS.
If
you’re looking for an awesome Holly Springs, NC real estate agent to either buy
or sell a home, I would love the opportunity to speak with you and show you
what I’m made of. #ConnectWithKennedy
Cheers
to You and Yours,
Kimberly
R. Kennedy
Better
Homes and Gardens | Go Realty
859-598-9657
“Real
Estate is the art of being a valuable advisor, not a sales person.”
