Life in North Georgia, Real Estate in the Mountains

We have been telling folks for months that activity in the local market was trying to recover. 2011 was actually one of my better years in total sales volume – admittedly, I reached that level with many smaller sales as opposed to fewer small ones. I am pleased to report that 2012 is continuing on the same kind of pace and home values are actually beginning to recover a little. Late last month the National Association of Realtors released the results of its survey of Investment and Vacation Home Buyers and they confirm a national trend to support what we are seeing locally.

The sale of vacation homes grew a respectable 7% in 2011, the growth in investment homes surged an amazing 64.5% I will have local sales information from 2011 posted in a few days. If you would like to read the entire article from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) you can do so at this link: NAR Reports Investment and Vacation Home Sales Surge in 2011

See ya ’round the mountains,
Don

Pancakes for Paws

Come Join the Community for Breakfast this Morning!. From 7:30 to 10:30 The Bent Tree Foundation is Sponsoring a Pancakes for Paws Breakfast at the FATZ Cafe in Jasper

Proceeds from the Breakfast will go to complete the Stray Animal Facility for the Bent Tree Community. The Bent Tree Foundation is a 501(C)(3) charitable organization dedicated to providing educational and quality-of-life funding to benefit the students and residents of our local community.

Come on out and have some ‘cakes. They will be good and you will be supporting a great cause.

See ya ’round the mountains,
Don

North Georgia Real Estate Analysis in Appalachian Country Magazine

This Month I have a market analysis of the North Georgia Real Estate Market published in the Appalachian Country magazine. The Print Copy is distributed all over North Georgia. The online version is available right here.
Appalachian Country Magazine

See Ya ‘Round The Mountains,
Don

Although it may sound counter intuitive, sometimes it might make sense to gladly take less for your home than you really want.  The Article below from the Atlanta Journal Constitution, gives examples of owners that purposefully took a loss so they could get an even better deal on where they really wanted to live.  With some areas discounted more than others and some foreclosures selling at 40 or 50 cents on the dollar, you actually could end up ahead even after taking a loss on  your home.  Here is the link to the AJC On-Line article.

Good News from the Wall Street Journal this morning. They report that home affordability has finally returned to its” pre-bubble” levels. The cloud on this good news is that we did not get there through jobs growth or earnings increases. Instead we arrived at equilibrium through falling home prices. Never-the-less, if we are at equilibrium at least we can look forward to an improvement in the market and be certain that when jobs recover it will get even better.

Here is the Link to the Article: “> Wall Street Journal