Life in North Georgia, Real Estate in the Mountains

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

Real Estate Marketing Report

This is the first in what I hope will be at least a semi-annual report on the condition of the real estate market in Pickens County and the environs.

If everybody would stop looking at all forms of media we would find the real estate market already turning around. Positive news does not sell newspapers or TV ads. On the other hand, continued harping on the negative side my very well create a self-fulfilling prophesy Look at the facts, the DOW is still over 11,000, the price of oil has fallen to $118.00 per gallon, 30 year fixed mortgage rates are 6.6 % and the mortgage companies are scrambling to find good customers to off set their recent losses. Granted the unemployment rates have crept up to nearly 6% and that is troubling. This hardly represents much more than a correction.

Based on the real estate articles and the real estate professionals I talk to we are at or very near the bottom of the housing crises. If you are an investor, the time to buy is right now. Because the mortgage companies have tightened up the requirements there will be plenty of renters for years to come. Look for the less expensive nice homes in foreclosure or pre-foreclosure to buy at below fair market value then fix them up and rent them. If you are interested in this prospect call me and we can go over more specific details.

Lets look at the sales activity for the first six months of 2007 as compared to the first six months of 2008. We will do this first on Pickens County and then on Bent Tree.

January 1, 2007 thru June 30, 2007 – total of 211 homes sold – most expensive $649,900 and the least expensive $26,000. 70% under $200,000

January 1, 2008 thru June 30, 2008 – total of 134 homes sold – most expensive $2,187,350* and least expensive $35,000 66% under $200,000

(* $2,187.350 in Big Canoe)
The year to year sales show a 36% drop from 2007 to 2008. This is not a disaster as such.

In Bent Tree Community, Inc.

January 1, 2007 thru June 30, 2007 -total homes sold 17 – most expensive $440,000 and least expensive $140,000. 41% under $200,000

January 1, 2008 thru June 30, 2008 -total sold 11 – most expensive $452,000 and least expensive $143,000. 2% under $200,000

The year to year sales show a 35% drop from 2007 to 2008.
The most important number in Bent Tree is that the sale price to asking price is still in the 93% bracket. We are not having many “fire sales” if you remove the 3 foreclosures.

Pickens County is continuing to improve their records that are online. I hope to have a more precise report in three months.

What all of us need to keep in mind is that the negative press and the price of gas is keeping the walk-in traffic to a minimum. This plays well into our “electronic marketing” that wee started two years ago. More people than ever are first turning to the “web” to look for an area they wish to move to and then to the various marketing connections to review the houses for sale in that area. You can do that to by going to REALTOR.COM then type in the area code (30143) and look at the homes that pop up even before you begin the search. We have three of the four “popup” spots on that site. If you have any trouble doing this call Don or me and we will walk you through this.

We very much respect the confidence you have placed in Torrey Mountain Properties to represent you in the sale of your property. We continue to work hard to help speed the sales process and we appreciate your patience during the process.

Ben L. Torrey, Broker

Torrey Mountain Properties, Inc.