Spring Has Arrived And The Real Estate Market Is Blooming!

Well it was the longest, coldest winter in 30 years, and all the flowers were weeks late in blooming. But spring weather is now here, and my gardens are alive with dozens of varieties of Buttercups, Saucer Magnolias, Bradford Pears, Forsythias, and Hawthornes in bloom.

It has also been a long winter in the Real Estate Business. It has been the worst Real Estate market of my 25 years in the business. And this winter of Real Estate has lasted for two and a half years. Starting in 2006 we began to see problems developing in California, Arizona and the West, Michigan and the Mid West, and Florida from the South which rolled into the Nashville, Hendersonville and Gallatin TN market like cold fronts passing through and dumping problems on Middle Tennessee. These problems started to slow our markets in August 2006 and inventories soared. Then the national economies collapsed in the fall of 2008 leaving us with the chill of foreclosures. I must confess at times I wondered if we would see improvement in my lifetime.

Then suddenly without warning starting three weeks ago in the first week of March there were signs of rebirth in the market. Our sales board which shows all the weeks sales, pendings, and closings completely filled and continued to fill for the following two weeks. In this same three weeks I received a dozen calls for listing appointments, and messages and Real Estate e-mails lit up my phone like a slot machine.

Well I know that good science and research require lots of data and large samples but from what I've seen with our company, and from my personal perspective we are seeing a return to more normal markets. So if you are reading this blog just remember you heard it here first. The Real Estate market is coming back. We have come to the end of our long Real Estate winter, and sales will soon be blooming again.

Hendersonville TN Real Estate Then and Now!

Real Estate Hendersonville TN

Then and Now!

The picture to the top left is the first "head shot" I could find from my Real Estate past. I got my Real Estate license in July of 1983. This picture was taken By Ed Bruchas in front of the Real Estate Review in 1989. The only thing that has changed more than my hair line in 25 years is the Real Estate market in Hendersonville.

When I first started my career each weeks Realtors received a book (no kidding) the size of a telephone book with all the active listings. Then once a quarter we received a comparable sales book. I was looking through an old comp book from the fourth quarter of 1983 and here are a few sales from that time and there current tax value today.

Address________Sq.Footage___83 Selling Price___Current Tax Value
Lake Homes:
206 Baha Mar Point------6400 sq. ft.------------$184,000--------$641,700
552 Indian Lake Rd.------5180 sq. ft.------------$180,000---------$550,000
278 Bluegrass Dr.--------- 2220 sq. ft.----------- $134,936-------$361,400

New Executive Homes:
195 Jefferson Dr.----------2580 sq. ft.------------ $108,000--------$244,200
117 Choctow Dr.---------- 3060 sq. ft.------------ $115,000------- $308,400
252 Hidden Lake Rd.---- 2550 sq. ft.------------- $119,000-------$381,900

Affordable Homes:
1050 Peninsula------------ 1425 sq. ft.------------ $48,372--------- $136,700
109 Southburn------------ 1725 sq. ft.------------ $51,880----------$144,800
111 Wessington------------ 1300 sq. ft.----------- $52,335---------- $130,600

From this small sample you can tell the best bet for appreciation is buying a lake home. A resident once told me when he bought his home on Lake Terrace he could have bought the lake lot on the lakeside of the road for $15,000 more than the non lakeside. Today the lake home would sell for $600,000 and up while the same home across the street would sell for $200,000 to $225,000. They are just not making new lake front property 30 minutes from downtown Nashville, and lake front property is still a great value today. It is no longer uncommon to see lake front purchased for $600K to 900K to be torn down for the lot.

Another big change that I noticed looking through the 1983 comp book was the changes in Real Estate Companies. What I believe to be the top Real Estate Companies in 1983 were: Tom Moore Realty, Dobson & Johnson, and Folks Jordon. None of these companies are in existence today!

The only three companies doing business in Hendersonville in 1983 that are still around today are -- 1. One Stop, 2. Lakeside, and 3. Almany Realtors. The #1 company in Hendersonville and Sumner County today is RE/MAX Choice Properties. The company was not started until 1997 and I am proud to say that I was one of the five original members.

So lots of things have changed in my 25 years in Real Estate; but some things never change:
1) People still want to buy their own home in which to live and raise their families.
2) A home represents most peoples largest purchase and greatest investment.
3) The US Government and The Banking System make ownership accessible to a large percentage of the NationalPopulations.
4) And the 4th thing that has not changed in 25 years is that I still enjoy the satisfaction of working in an industry that has a product everyone wants with a service that everyone needs.

I still love this business and who knows I may have another 25 years in me. Don't think it's imposable. It's certainly no less unimaginable than buying a lake home on Bara Mar Point for $189,900.