Life in North Georgia, Real Estate in the Mountains

Well according to most of the talking heads this has been a long time coming and is based on decisions made years ago.  I am sure that by now you have heard explanations of how the housing downturn is at the root of all these problems.  It is intuitively obvious that a housing downturn affects the people directly involved in the process: buyers, sellers, real estate professionals, mortgage lenders, builders, construction workers, inspection companies, cabinet makers, building supply companies - the list goes on and on.  This provides impacts that you can see and feel in our local community.  We have not worked our way through this part of the problem, but there are some signs locally that we may have finally reached a level that we can work up from.

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Good Morning,

This is your weekly update on market conditions in Bent Tree real estate.  

• Current Listings:  85    Down 3 listings from 2 weeks ago and still well below the historical average of around 10%.
• Price Range:  $115,000 to $799,900. 
• Pending Sales:  3 Homes are currently under contract.
• Sales in 2008:  16 Homes have sold since January 1, 2008. ( Two homes sold since the last report and 1 more has moved to pending.
• Price Range of Sales:  $143,000 to $452,000.
• New Listings in the last 2 weeks:  2

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Each month the most active Real Estate Agents in Bent Tree tour new listings that have come on the market in the last 30 days.  It gives the REALTORS an opportunity to preview 7 or 8 listings in just a few hours and it gives the listing agent an opportunity to introduce their new listings to the agents that are actively working Bent Tree real estate.  I didn’t start this program, but I have been running it for the last 2 years.  Since I gather all this information and have a fresh look at the listings, I thought it would be a great opportunity to pass on a snapshot of the homes available in Bent Tree to my readers.  So once a month instead of a weekly update on sales I will deliver a summary of the caravan.  I hope you find it useful.  Some of the homes shown will be my listings; however, many will not be.  I will always provide the name of the company that has the home listed, but I show all homes and lots in Bent Tree and I will be glad to assist you if you need  information on any of the homes.

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Good Morning,

This is your slightly late weekly update on market conditions in Bent Tree real estate.  (My Labor Day vacation has thrown me behind just a little.)

• Current Listings:  88    This is still about 8% of the total homes and still below the historical average of around 10%.
• Price Range:  $115,000 to $799,900. 
• Pending Sales:  3 Homes are currently under contract.
• Sales in 2008:  14 Homes have sold since January 1, 2008. ( So two have closed since the last report and 2 more have moved to pending.
• Price Range of Sales:  $143,000 to $452,000.
• New Listings this week:  2

Comments:  Sales and showing activity have clearly picked up.  Prices are holding at 93 to 95% of list price with the exception of bank owned properties and there are not very many of those in Bent Tree. 

See you ’round the mountains,

Don

Well, let us see - we’re almost to September, some of the leaves are beginning to turn (and those steady 20 MPH winds the last 2 days have blown a lot of them right off), the little people have gone back to school, the football stadiums are all lit up on Friday and Saturday nights, it must be time for (drum roll please) The Bent Tree Tour of Homes.   This year’s tour is on September 13, 2008 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

Our AD in GA 400 Magazine for the Bent Tree Tour of Homes

This is actually a year long volunteer project and work on this year’s tour began shortly after last year’s very successful tour.  Each year a select number of home owners in Bent Tree agree to open their homes to hundreds of visitors anxious to see what Life in the Georgia Mountains is all about.  This year there are 4 homes and they will certainly offer a cross section of the types of homes available here.  For the second year in a row Appalachian Tech has partnered with the Tour to have their design students assist in preparing the homes for the show.  To make the day complete there will be an arts fair (30 artists) ,  a bake sale and a food court.  Visitors are shuttled between Club Tamarack and the individual homes by an armada of volunteer chauffeurs ( and yes yours truly will be one of them.   By special agreement with the committee, we don’t show homes for sale during tour hours - so I have to do something to keep busy.)

Tickets are $12 in advance and $14 on the day of the event.  Tickets are available at Bent Tree and some local banks and businesses.  I will post those when they are announced.  Proceeds go to support activities in Bent Tree and Local Charities.

The Bent Tree Tour of Homes is a great day and an exceptional opportunity to be introduced to Bent Tree before you actually start looking for, or even thinking about, what kind of home you might want to own in Bent Tree.   There are currently 93 homes for sale in Bent Tree as well as a great selections of building lots and we show all of them.  Come visit during the Tour of Homes and then give me a call or drop me a note and we’ll schedule a private tour to familiarize you with the amenities and a selection of homes selected based on your criteria.

See you ’round the Mountains,

Don

Good Morning,

This is your weekly update on market conditions in Bent Tree real estate.

• Current Listings:  93   (Or about 8% of the total homes.  In past years 10% has been about normal.)
• Price Range:  $115,000 to $799,900. 
• Pending Sales:  3 Homes are currently under contract.
• Sales in 2008:  12 Homes have sold since January 1, 2008.
• Price Range of Sales:  $143,000 to $452,000.
• New Listings this week:  1

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Yes, the Market is Slow; but no the market is not Dead. The following article was written by my broker, Ben Torrey, this week and forwarded to all our clients and I thought it would be a useful document to post here as a sort of historical footnote. As a sort of footnote to Ben’s note let me say that call volume, internet traffic and actual “clients in the car” are all up over the last few weeks.

Ben - Thanks for letting me borrow your work.

Don

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