Lake Oconee Real Estate Ramblings

Better get ready.....

2012-01-06T12:36:00.000-08:00

.....2012 could be your year! For my sake, and the real estate industry, and our nation, I pray for a really good year. Our activity has picked up already, since Christmas......the phones are actually ringing. Yahoooey! This warm and sunny January has surely helped too.

Had a stress test this week; I was due. All is good with that thank you Lord. I'm planning a hunting trip to Canada next Nov., so I'm already excited about that. I've hunted several midwestern states over the last few years, but I have always wanted to do Saskatchewan for Whitetail monsters. Hopefully, Nov. '012 will be magic for my hunt.

I hate to admit it (not really), but I'm also preparing for my 50th High School Reunion in 2012. I'm looking forward to it, and hope to rekindle lots of old friendships. Maybe I'll trim a few pounds in the meantime....need to.

I hope to get this blog cranked up, with a positive direction for this year. We all deserve it. I feel that lakefront condos and townhomes will be the strong suit this year; inventory is up and prices are off, mortgage terms are great....all we need is you!

LSU or Alabama; I really don't care who wins it......I know it will be one whale of a championship game, don't you think?

Well, Its Here !

2010-12-15T12:24:00.000-08:00

I do hope you good people are ready for the Christmas Season....cause "It's Here"! I've decided not to spend any money this year, kinda scroogelike I suppose. This strategy is not to buy gifts for others, but more to survive for me. Real Estate is tough folks! But then, whoever said it was supposed to be easy? Maybe we appreciate a little more the accomplishments of tough times. I'm sure that we will all appreciate them more when things get better.

I've decided to make a prediction! I believe that we'll turn the corner this coming Spring, real buyers will come out, and those of us in the business will have to work harder....but we'll be productive. Investors better get their business done, cause....the buyers of 2011 will be real people, with good qualifications and a desire to buy! We already have inventory; the banks have money..........we just need the serious lookers. Do you fall in that category? I hope you do; there are deals galore out there. The year of the buyer....2011!!! See you then. Jim

It's Been a Little Sluggish..........and Me Too !

2009-09-18T13:02:00.000-07:00

Since I've not talked to you since April, I suppose that makes me the Sluggish One. (an S.O.?) The market around Oconee and Sinclair has actually shown some signs of life, and thank you for that. Mary and I have closed a couple of lakehomes in the last few weeks, and have another one or two (fingers crossed!) to close before the end of the year.

We are seeing lots of activity, mostly in the form of "lookers". Hopefully the "buyers" are not far behind. Our inventory remains plentiful, and prices have slipped a bit, so we may sell our way out of this slump yet. This time last Fall was very much like it is now, and we closed '08 really strong. Maybe we'll see "deja vu all over again"in '09 ...... is that a Yogi Berra quote?

We believe the following: Spring will be GOOD, maybe even better than good. Condos and Townhomes, which are down on price and up on availability, will be REAL GOOD! The lower priced lakefront homes are priced lower than they have been in a couple of years.....aren't you glad you didn't buy one before now? As good as '09 has been for buyers, bring your checkbook when you come out in the next few months! 2010 won't be for "tire kickers", it'll be for "bu_t kickers"!

Thanks for hangin in gang......I promise to do better. Jim

Know anyone in trouble with their home mortgage?

2009-04-22T12:28:00.000-07:00

If you do, Mary and I can help. I have just completed the RE/MAX sponsored CDPE program (Certified Distressed Properties Expert), and we are forming a team to assist homeowners with their distressed property concerns. Many homeowners don't realize the long term devastating effects of a foreclosure, beyond the obvious loss of one's home. Hopefully, and our primary goal, is to analyze the nature of the distressed homeowner's situation, and find some way to modify that distress and keep good folks in their homes. If the loss of a home is inevitable, then we'll work with the homeowner through a "short sale" scenerio, or even assist with the marketing of the home thru the foreclosure process....a nightmare to many people. In many cases, we'll be able to market the property before it ever enters foreclosure.

Call on us for advice; we've been in this business for a long time, and we'll certainly help where we can. Don't wait until the process has begun....and makes relief difficult or impossible.

Ask for our e-flyer which compares Short Sales vs. Foreclosure

Signs of Improvement......

2009-01-28T11:14:00.000-08:00

........Mary and I have been actively showing (well, a little), and sending out quite a few listing packages. As usual, most of our inquiries are coming from the internet, so those folks come to us with a lot of knowledge about the area, the market in general, and of course....the listings that are posted online. We are hopeful that Spring will be good, and we continue to take as many good listings as we can get. Inventory is up, interest rates are down, pricetags are stable, Oconee is on its way back folks....don't wait too long, I'd hate for you to miss it!

Lake Sinclair is even more active I believe. Lake property prices there have actually slipped a little, and some real bargains are being created. The list of available small lakefront homes/cottages is long, and improvements/upgrades are being made to many of the lower priced properties.

I truly have good feelings about the potential strength of the '09 market. Come Mar, Apr, May ...we'll know!

Mary and I actually finished out '08 with one of our best Fall selling seasons ever! This Spring could be even better!!! When you come to look, bring your checkbook; we'll take earnest money deposits every day of the week!!!!! Good luck everyone.

Look at This: "10 Real Estate Myths for Buyers and Sellers" from MSNBC.com

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/28818023/

2008-12-18T06:37:00.000-08:00

Homes & Gardens TV and Realtor.org think....

......"Daily Real Estate News December 17, 2008

Ten Real Estate Predictions for 2009

" 2009 is likely to be a year of continuing adjustment to a changing real estate marketplace. Prepare yourself and your business with these predictions from HGTV’s FrontDoor.com Web site.

* Sellers will continue to face falling home values in the new year because they’ll be competing with banks and builders who are slashing prices to sell off the still-huge inventory of foreclosures and new homes.

* The Obama administration will act on its plan to crack down on abusive lending practices.
Mortgage holders in danger of losing their homes will receive more assistance from a variety of programs since the Senate's Joint Economic Committee has predicted two million foreclosures in 2009.

* Banks' restructuring should bring increasing calm, making loan modifications and short sales easier to obtain. Eventually this will lead to a decrease in the number of bank-owned properties on the market.

* Mortgage applications will continue to receive a comprehensive review, requiring borrowers to provide extensive income and debt documentation. Those with the best credit will get the best rates.

* The foreclosure crisis has created wiser consumers, with a deeper understanding of real estate, mortgages, and credit enabling better decision-making going forward.

* Green is good with increasing numbers of buyers opting for smaller homes that are within walking distance of school and work.

* Buyers and sellers will be more and more tech savvy, relying on tools like video, webcasts, and mobile search. Consumers and practitioners will benefit from being ahead of the curve.

* Prices will be low as will interest rates, creating great buying opportunities, and likely, inspiring reluctant buyers to make their move.

* The recession will end and buyers will regain confidence in the market."

...........AMEN, Jim

Have We Hit Bottom Yet?

2008-09-25T08:16:00.000-07:00

Well....Maybe! In my opinion, we are more much closer to pulling out of this economic mess, especially the real estate aspects of it, than not. There is little doubt that we have shown more property in the last few weeks than we did for many weeks before. Secondly, our "lookers" (who were just tire kickers a few months ago), are genuinely interested in the details now.... "how much is the electric bill, does the refrigerator stay, have the values in the neighborhood consistently gone up over the years???" These are real "buyer" questions.....not just ho hum concerns to keep the tour going. Third...and most important of all....we actually have three (count 'em) closings, all lakefront homes, in the next week!

Of course this is good news for us, but perhaps more important, its great news for the buyers of these properties. I was surprised that any of the three properties, because of their offers, actually reached the closing stage. We saw some significant price reduction in these three deals, more than I expected, yet the sellers all seem very happy too. A fourth contract that we were working, during this same timeframe, did not get done, and I believe it was the seller's unwillingness to negotiate that killed it. If all of these assumptions are correct, then we are on the comeback trail as evidenced by 75% of our little buyer/seller sample.

What could be more ideal for a real estate recovery? Buyers are getting bargains, sellers are getting long held inventory sold, agents and inspectors, attorneys and surveyors, and pest control people, lenders too.........are all getting a paycheck! WHAT A DELIGHTFUL CHANGE!

You know what else? This spurt is going to make us work just that much harder over the next few weeks. J & M

Pick'n Up Steam at Lake Oconee........

2008-08-29T08:11:00.000-07:00

Over the last few weeks, and one reason I haven't (B)logged in lately, is that we've had lots of lookers on property. When the prospects for the market are bad, we'd call them "tire kickers".... but in my opinion, these folks are buyers just waiting to happen! Our real estate customers are very savvy...they have scoured the internet, picked up copies of the RE magazines, they know as much (or more I have found) about some of our properties as we do. One other recent occurrence too is radiating good vibrations......a lot of Realtors are out looking for themselves.

We've heard for months that our slow market was being represented by prospects(?) who were trying to time the turnaround. Of course, one problem with that concept....if you don't recognize the signals, the turnaround might leave you in the dust. Here's my take on that: 1) lake home prices have indeed come down a little; 2) many prospects, including professional real estate folk, are busy looking; 3) economic factors are being shown stronger than anyone would have forecast; and 4) for all the prognosticators who have chanted that "THE ELECTION" will be the benchmark for our real estate marketing future.....WELL, its upon us!

There is a point to this drivel.........if you want to buy something "RIGHT", particularly lake homes which historically (like in forever!) have never gone down in price, then you might want to get moving folks! And....bring your checkbook with you when you decide to: "lets ride down to the lake Sunday afternoon". OH, and one other thought....you might not want to wait until after NOV the 4th ! I'd like nothing better than to show our new President-Elect just what WE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE can do to motivate the economy.....so HE (whoever HE is) won't believe that HE had anything to do with it!!!!!

Mary and I have a goal to close one property per week for the remainder of this year. Wanna help us out? I promise you this: if you'll seriously come look, we will do you the best job you'll ever see!

...Never Seen This Before!!!!!!!!

2008-07-14T11:10:00.000-07:00

Forty-Four Lakefront Homes Reduced in Price in just 30 Day Period!*

Even though Oconee is an American Indian word for Land of the Great Waters, maybe the Okefenokee's label..Land of the Trembling Earth would have been more appropriate over the last few months. An MLS search recently for property price changes revealed that 47 lakefront homes have been repriced over the last 30 days. Three homes actually went up in price (go figure), and 44 went down! There must be some trembling going on! In my opinion, this could be a signal for us all. So many investors have waited and waited for "the bottom", yet we saw very little price shifting over the last year. If you couple this month's dynamic downward pricing with relative price stability over the last year or two.......we could be right where we need to be for serious buyers.

We've been saying that we are in a buyers' market, for the first time ever on Oconee....I guess we're going to find out over the remainder of this year. Fall has always been a fairly good market for us, lets hope that its spectacular in '08!

Oh, and by the way.....Lake Sinclair seems to be enjoying its market pace. Even tho its not easy to compare the two markets, principally because of price....Oconee's Southern neighbor keeps right on rolling along.

ps - another real positive....we've actually had a good bit of July rain; our lakes are full!

Oconee is "popping".........

2008-07-03T08:43:00.000-07:00

All this about down markets and recessions....doom and gloom!!!! Mary and I have visited and taken reservations for homesites/homes in three of Oconee's big new communities, all in the last couple of weeks. I think its all a matter of timing....these buyers felt that the time was perfect for their needs...so they have secured themselves places in Del Webb, Galingayle and Kingston on Lake Oconee, all on the ground floor.

This kind of activity tells me that buyers are "willing and able"....we just have to get them "ready"! What did Warren Buffett say when interviewed at the College World Series recently..."you can stand at the plate with the bat on your shoulder until eternity....but until you swing, you won't get a hit!" (I kinda' paraphrased that a little.)

We have the inventory, homeprices are off a little (they certainly have not gone up in the last year), there are some good bargains out there...especially in the small 3/2 lakefront home market.......its time to swing the bat folks!!! Jim

Two Important Oconee Area Meetings last week...

2008-06-09T09:09:00.001-07:00

Things are happening in the Oconee Area; two great presentations last week in Greensboro and again in Eatonton, have helped set the tone for the future here. The first was the Town Hall Meeting(s) offered by St. Joseph's Hospital. As many of you know, St. Joe's has purchased the local Certificate of Need for Greene County, and bought the Greensboro based Minnie Boswell Memorial Hospital. Their plans are to build a larger state-of-the-art regional hospital in Greene Co, now to be located near the entrance to Del Webb at hwy 44 and Carey Station Rd. St. Joseph's, a "top 50 US hospital" will bring medical care to our area that we could not have imagined.

The actual size of the hospital physical facility will depend upon the interests of those in the surrounding counties of Putnam and Morgan. St. Joseph's has invited both of these county hospital authorities to join in to the regional hospital concept for the Lake Oconee tri-county area. Of course, the legal entities which operate the much smaller Putnam and Morgan medical facilities will have the final word. Lets hope, for all of our families sakes, that the final decision, expected within a month....is to GO FOR IT !!!!

The second, and intriguing presentation recently, was a detailed study of the Impact of New Home Construction in the Lake area, given by Dr. Elliot Eisenberg, Senior Economist at the Nat'l Assoc. of Homebuilders. The study concentrated on the value of new homes to the local economies of Greene and Putnam, particularly of the "ripple effect". The numbers presented were staggering! Of equal interest to many, were the costs associated with bringing over 500 new homes into our neighborhoods just during '07 alone. If you would like to see the numbers, you can shoot me an email...I'll send you a link to the study.

We've certainly come a long way, especially since those days of 20 yrs ago when we would advertise the Oconee Area in the media as "GA's Best Kept Real Estate Secret!". Well folks, we've been found!!! O. Jim

After 30 yrs I learned some showing tips ....

2008-05-26T08:07:00.000-07:00

Just as I expected, we've had a busy weekend of showing property here on Lake Oconee. It can be difficult when every homeowner is present...tho that can be a good thing. There were lots of folks having real lake fun yesterday, jet skis buzzing, kids laughing, dogs barking.....the waft of smoky rib fragrance....man! I truly learn something new (or I renew) everytime I show, but this weekend has been unique.

One homeowner literally followed my customers and I from room-to-room-to-room, explaining every little detail about the house....where they bought that furniture, how tough it was for them to make a carpet selection (house is nine years old for heaven's sake!), just how hard it had been to establish their rose garden in this middle GA red clay. They actually talked about the good things.....and the bad, and that's not good!!! "Yes, the neighbors' screaming music,thundering jet boat, and jeering beerfest are pretty loud today, but that only happens on weekends from April til Oct.!!!!!" My prospects hadn't said a word about the neighbors' party until the homeowners brought it up. Gosh, I'd rather find dirty underwear on the bathroom floor than listen to a blow-by-blow of the customer service wars between Lowe's and Home Depot! My point here is obvious I hope, ask the homeowners to leave when you make an appointment, period, even on Memorial Day, unless of course, they're bent over the grill cooking ribs !

Mary says Hi.......

Its a holiday....yeah right!

2008-05-23T11:54:00.000-07:00

Actually I love to show property on weekends, especially lake homes and lots like we have on Oconee and Sinclair. I happily take duty days when most agents want to be out playing! It looks like we'll be busy this weekend, the first big one of the Summer season. One good source of customers/clients during a busy holiday weekend is friends and family visiting those who live here....especially if the lake is active and people are having fun. If I show a half dozen lake homes in the next couple of days, I won't fuss about gas prices one bit. All it takes in this business right now...is....lookers; the bargains are out there, we just need people in the door!

Hope you have a safe and fun weekend, and please remember what Memorial Day represents.

Jimbo

Things are Lookin' Up !

2008-05-15T11:44:00.000-07:00

...Mary and I spent several hours this morning driving and looking at new construction in some of Oconee's nicest neighborhoods. The quality of home building here is amazing, particularly in the gated communities....but not just there! What we call "real people" houses, are steady coming out of the ground too. One thing I really am glad to see....price tags are not falling like lead shot, like the news media has predicted in some parts of the country. SO.... (1) lots of new homes being built...of good quality, (2) stable prices; certainly not "fallout", and even better news...(3) people are calling about our print and internet ads, and they're coming out on the weekends and seeing our yard signs. We may just pull out of this slowdown quicker than most folks think!!!! Jim

You'll Love Lake Oconee...

2008-05-01T13:01:00.000-07:00

....especially in the Spring! This huge GAPowerCo reservoir, nearly 20,000 acres, is GA's largest lake contained within the State's borders. Ray Charles may never have slept here, but he surely had Oconee on his mind when he penned one of his biggest hits. The dogwoods and redbuds are blooming right now...and the old fishermen (and women) say that, "when the new dogwood leaves get just about the size of a squirrel's ear, the Crappie are gonna' be bitin' soon". Spring is darn near perfect here at the lake....come see for yourself, won't 'ya?

Mary & Jim