I talked to a buyer yesterday who is planning on coming down to the beach next weekend. She was looking for property with a few acres where she could keep a horse and her dogs and still not spend a fortune.
Fortunately we had something that might fit the bill. This buyer came to us from as a referral from another firm that the same franchise as ours.
I am hoping as the beach season really opens up that we will see some additional buyer traffic.
It is really hard to believe the difference in the real estate market here on the Carolina coast in just one short year. A year ago we had been looking for three summers for a piece of property on water that we could afford.
We had focused on Beaufort, NC because we liked the historic area. We were working with a two person team of Realtors®. Mostly we were finding that desirable property was selling before we could even get an email about it. We saw places that were wildly over priced. People were buying them. We even got into the spirit of the thing by making an offer on a Beaufort property that wasn't on the water.
Fortunately for us the offer got rejected, and we went on to find Bluewater Cove where we now live. It is a wonderful spot. We have water for a skiff behind the house. There's a swimming pool, great neighbors and many homes around us. We're close to services and to the beach.
In fact we can usually be on the beach in less than ten or fifteen minutes. Our area has just gotten a new Lowe's Home Improvement Center so we are a growing area.
We have found a number of very good restaurants within just a few miles of our new home. There are enough of them that I am even gradually putting my reviews of them up on a new website just for area restaurants.
I even found a small art gallery that liked some of my photography enough to put a few prints on sale. Kayaking on the White Oak River also turned out to be really nice as was the fact that it was warm enough to ride my bike some each week during the winter.
I also found some kindred souls and joined the local writers' association. We found a great little Presbyterian Church closer than the one in Roanoke, VA where our other home is.
On top of that I found some really good people to work with at Bluewater GMAC where I work.
All things considered, our move has turned out to be better than we expected. Our careful research paid off, and we are very happy with the area.
I am even excited about our centipede grass around the house. We have to mow the centipede only about one third the times we are used to mowing bluegrass.
On top of all that the weather has been great here at the coast.
In fact we went back to Roanoke in early April to mow that bluegrass. It had grown so quickly it was more like cutting a hayfield and it snowed on us the day after I got the yard in shape.
It was almost like double proof that our new spot was the right spot. Better weather and less mowing are two great positive factors.
All of this is great except it seems like people aren't nearly as excited about moving anywhere. Interest rates are low. There is a great selection of homes like this one up the street from me, but there are few serious buyers right now.
I have watched Emerald Isle get spruced up for the hoped for influx of visitors that starts next weekend.
My hope is that the cool early season waters will wake people up and get them seriously looking for those homes which they couldn't get enough of last year. It is time for people to start looking again if they hope to take advantage of low interest rates and high inventory in what has to be a great buyers' market.
With the exceptionally steep drop in planned new home construction, I suspect the inventory of new homes will tighen over time.
I have found our new area to be better than expected. I think folks who dip their toes back in the real estate market will find it a great place to be a buyer right now.
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