There is nothing more depressing and at the same time reassuring as going to a local meeting of realtors only to hear all about the gloom and doom of the market and how bad we are all suffering and how bad the market is.  I have been hearing that for the past 18 months, and they can continure to stay at home adn pout about it.  That is fine with me.  Run yourself out of the business and increase my market share.  I do not understand the inability to adapt. 

I do no REO work (thought I wanted to and quickly changed my mind), do not specialize in short sales (see previous comment on REO work), and I am very busy and looking for an assistant to help me keep up with what is going on.  I am not far at all from the Fort Bragg, and Fayetteville area, and also about teh same distance from the Raleigh and Triangle area, and when the market throws you a curve ball you do just like all great batters do, you adjust!  There is so much potential in these markets and so many sellers and builders looking for motivated Realtors that I do not understand the pessimism of so many of my fellow agents. 

The government may have declared there is a recession but I just decided not to participate.  I think that many of our local Realtors are killing their own business by looking to the news and media which is the ultimate breeding ground for gloom and doom, and they are forgetting to look into their own communities.  If business is slow, then get out of the office and quit sitting around waiting for the phone to ring.  If you have down time, then take this time to give back to your communities in real ways that show that you are in it with them (and I am talking about more than a donation).  Lose your negative attitudes and look at how great of a world we live in.  Markets are cyclical and will return.  This is the perfect time to be positioning yourself, instead of doing business the way it has always been done.  When client numbers do drop, that is the perfect time to build even stronger relationships with clients to build your referral network.

The world is a great place.  Our nation is a great place.  I am not talking about politics, but the fabric of our nation.  It is full of opportunity, but in order to capitalize on that we have to do our part also.  We are the real estate experts.  We are the people that our friends and neighbors look to for information on the real estate market.  If all we do is sit around and complain about how bad it is, our very words are dragging down the market and making things worse.  As an industry we need to decide to be part of the solution instead of part of the problem.  Convince yourself how good a day it is going to be instead of wondering why you should get out of bed and see if that alone doesn't make the day a little better.

Your reality is what you make it.  Remember everything you experience in this world is in same way a response to a choice you made.  There is absolutely nothing we can do about the past that will change it, so why continue to waste time worrying about it.  Energy forward because the future is all that we have in store for us. 

And if you believe this market is bad and not worth working, then please send me any referrals you have for the Fayetteville and Fort Bragg area as well as Harnett County and Raleigh area.

www.scgrealty.com

Wow.  it is nice to finally see spring here.  in a market where everything has been gloom and doom for several months, it is nice to finally see the weather and the mood break at the same time.  In central NC it is great to see things turning around.  for months we have been watching the mls and seeing new listings and expired listings outnumbering the pending listings almost 4 to 1.  Over the last three to four weeks I have enjoyed looking at the growth of the pending list and the pendings finally outnumbering the expired 2 or 3 to 1.  That is a welcome sign of things starting to move a little bit. 

Unfortunately, I am still not seeing the higher priced homes move.  The bulk of the pendings are showing up in the area from 130k to 260k.  I wish we would start seeing the 400k and ups start moving.  I think we still have a ways to go in economic recovery in order to see that market get a kick start. 

On the high side, being positioned between the triangle area of NC and Fort Bragg, I am in an area where I am seeing a lot of interest in homes from soldiers coming home from overseas and relocating soldiers.  I am really beginning to appreciate Fort Bragg a lot more these days because it appears to be recession proof.  In a market where homes are continuing to depreciate, it is nice to see the Fort Bragg area showing appreciating prices of homes sales by almost 7% over the last year.  We hope it will continue around here.

After reading another blog about realtors being a dying breed akin to car salespeople, it really made me think about the future of the profession.  It also made me think about some people I have already worked with in my short career.  I have come to a conclusion....... No worries here! 

I have not been doing this long at all, but have already run into some real winners.  Showed a fsbo home to a client last month.  Listing price was about 30k over comps.  I asked the owners about the pricing of the home, they had bought the home two years earlier and basically were trying to sell it almost 50% higher than purchase......in todays market!!!!  I asked how they came up with the price.  Well they produced a huge envelope of every penny they had spent on the house for new carpet, landscaping, a fence around the yard, new light fixtures, etc. etc.   Oh almost forgot the paint and the price of the professional cleaning they had done.  They said that is what they had in it and it appraised for the purchase price when they bought it so through their diligence in record keeping they knew exactly what it was worth. 

Had a buyer customer call to see a listing on a vacant house.  Told me he knew what he was doing and would only be a minute in the house.  Well I just waited at the front door for this guy to take a look, after running around the house for a couple of minutes he came out and said that was a waste of his time.  The house was entirely too small and he needed at least four bedrooms.  Well this was a five bedroom house.  So I asked him if I could take another minute of his time to show him the house and he responded that he had probably bought as many houses as I had sold so it was not necessary.  So I asked him what he thought about the three large bedrooms upstairs with three baths and the giant frog over the 3 car garage.  His response............ There's a second floor?? 

Yep, our jobs are safe!

Wow, it is great to see things moving around central NC.  The area is gearing up, but the market is still a buyers market in the area.  There are a large number of properties currently available in our area and they are not just starter homes or larger homes, we truly have a large variety on the market right now.  When I try to distinguish what the actual trigger was for the current flurry of activity we have seen in our office I can link it back more to the government oversight of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae than anything else.  That following week things really picked up here and have continued to roll steadily along.  With any luck, the election will boost the consumer attitudes in America to get the economy back rolling.

I think my biggest concern right now is the next 12 to 24 months.  This government bailout is scary.  Our economy tracks certain economic cycles, and always has.  I do not know why we now think that we can throw a little money around the market and alter the natural cycle of an economy.  We are only prolonging the inevitable.  Without getting into the complexities of how our economy works, for I truly believe that most people are looking for the short and simple answer, the bailout is little more than a bandaid on a broken bone.  The bone must be reset and allowed to slowly heal itself.  It is the way of a free enterprise market. 

The government consumption of all of the "toxic debt" is very discouraging also.  First, what lesson have these companies learned.  Maybe wait until an election year to really screw things up so the government will do whatever it takes to save face with the American public.  My other heartache comes from my personal position.  Bottom line, I pay my bills.  Now I have to pay for everybody elses bills also.  I do not take on debts and risks that I cannot afford, and I should not have to pay for the ignorance of others either.

As far as how this is affecting the real estate market.....  If you ever thought of buying a resort or vacation property, then now is the time.  If you want to buy a first home, now is the time.  If you want to build a home, now is the time.  If you want to sell your current home and buy a new or larger home, now is as good a time as any because the same market forces that are affecting the selling side of the transaction are also affecting the buying side.  However, if you are looking for a handyman special, the overload of foreclosures is a beautiful thing.  Many clients are wary of foreclosures, but foreclosures are not just the small junk homes anymore, there are some half million dollar waterfront homes in that category also.  The bottom line for buyers, if you want to buy, this is the best buyers market in well over a decade.  If you are selling, then make sure you do what it takes to make your house the best on the market.  Do a little extra work to get it in tip top condition, and consider professional staging.  If you are a builder or subcontractor, I know what a lean Christmas is like.  I feel your pain.