Ron Laughlin Real Estate Blog

IT’S A BUYERS MARKET

We are a “Blue Collar” tourist area.  What does that mean?  Well, if you know all the words to “God Bless the USA”, know who drives number 88, would love to meet Larry the Cable Guy, think Dolly should be president, and would date your first cousin, then Sevier County is the place for you. 

There’s nothing fancy about the place, but you can always find someone willing to lend you a helping hand in a time of need.  As corny as it may sound, this is still a family oriented community. Even with all the growth we have managed to keep the small town atmosphere (except for Friday afternoons trying to get in town).  We don’t have gangs.  Crime is low.  Taxes are low. Life moves at a slower pace.  And we like it that way. 

The way of life, the beautiful mountains, the low cost of living, and the small town atmosphere are what draw people here.  Some come for a visit once and get hooked on the place.  Others come back year after year and finally buy a place and retire here.   Some hear about the great investment opportunities and want a piece of the pie.  Whatever the reason, buying real estate in Sevier has been and will continue to be an outstanding investment.  Sure there are folks who bought at the top of the market and are now suffering though the down times.  But for those who always wanted to buy here and couldn’t,  now may the time.   Unfortunate circumstances for some have created opportunity for others.   The distressed property market is HOT and having a big effect on the retail market by forcing all prices lower.

Here are the numbers.   There are currently 3200+ residential properties on the market.  That includes log cabins, chalets, condos, regular residential homes, etc.   But there are only about 320 that are in either foreclosure or short sale position.   You do the math.   Did you get it??    10% of our market are foreclosure or short sales.  HERE’S THE KICKER:  approximately 40% of our sales are in these distressed properties.  That means that there are a large pool of buyers who recognize that now is the time to buy property and are taking advantage of the market.  Well there are 60% who didn’t buy distressed property.   Right……….and why not……….because they came looking for those foreclosure properties and found almost as good a deal with retail property with far less hassle. 

When I got in the business 6 years ago, no one ever talked about foreclosures.  Never…….ever.   All we talked about was building more cabins and the ever increasing prices that more and more people seemed willing to pay, thinking that the climb up the hill would never end and we would all retire rich.  But…………then…………..a strange thing happened and almost NO ONE saw it coming.   The big beautiful bubble brust.   I for one don’t know if the economy caused the housing market to tank or vise versa, but the ride downhill began and in my opinion still continues.  Here’s why.

As I said early, we currently have 3200+ residential properties on the market.  In 2009, we sold 1446.  Again, you do the math.  If NO NEW listings were to come on the market, we have enough inventory to last just over 2 years. 

So, back to the opening line of this blog:  I’TS A BUYERS MARKET could never be more true.  The fed still has interest rates falsely pegged low (that cannot continue forever), there are tax incentives for buyers(which will be over on April 30, 2010), prices are still falling, and inventory is high.  

What more could you ask for?????

I know, everyone is afraid of what is going to happen next.   Am I going to have a job?   Am I going to have health care?  Are fuel cost going to stay down or go up again?     Is my 401k safe?    Times are uncertain.

But if you have a credit score of 620 or better, income that you can document, and very little other outstanding debt, then now could very well be the time to make a move.  Get in at low prices, plan on staying put for at least 5  years, get a low interest FIXED RATE mortgage,  and then watch your investment grow.   If you don’t meet all the above criteria don’t try to force it.   Stay employed, don’t mess up your credit score, stay out of debt, save money for a down payment (I know, I know, it’s old fashioned), and wait for better days. 

More on what you should do if you are a seller in these troubled times in my next post.