My New Blog

Please join us on Friday and Saturday, May 20th and 21st, at the High Country Home Builders Association Home Show.

It will be in the Holmes Convocation Center on the campus of Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, and will be held from 1:00-8:00pm on Friday (the 20th) and from 9:00-5:00pm on Saturday (the 21st).

During the Home Show, I will be teaming up with Pat McGuire, a mortgage loan originator with BB&T, to present several free seminars about affordable housing, the local foreclosure market, bank financing for buying foreclosures and bank financing for new construction.

Would love to have you stop by, say hello, or sit in on a presentation. We welcome your input! Here is the schedule of events:

Friday, May 20:

               3:00 - Financing for New Construction

In our current economy, buyers have an opportunity to buy building lots at the lowest prices seen in many years. Find out about the different loan programs for buying a lot and building a new home of your own.

               4:00 - Affordable Housing and Local Foreclosures

The most-active real estate market within the last several years has been homes priced below $200,000 and foreclosures. Receive an overview of affordable housing and foreclosures in our local market.

                6:00 - Buying a Foreclosure With Bank Financing

Not all loan programs will work with all kinds of foreclosures. Find out which loan programs can assist you in buying a foreclosed home. Learn about available foreclosures and short sales in our real estate market.

Saturday, May 21:

                11:00 - Buying a Foreclosure With Bank Financing

Not all loan programs will work with all kinds of foreclosures. Find out which loan programs can assist you in buying a foreclosed home. Learn about available foreclosures and short sales in our real estate market.

If you have any questions, please call me at my office at 828-295-4663, extension 18. You may also e-mail any questions to robbie@ForeclosedNorthCarolinaMountainRealEstate.com .

Many local builders, subcontractors, landscape and building suppliers and specialty construction businesses will have booths set up at the Home Show and will be happy to answer any questions you might have about their services and products.

A lot of hard work always goes into creating the Home Show. Admission is free to the public. Parking for the event will be available on ASU's campus. Check out the nearby parking deck.

We look forward to seeing you there!

For the past three years in the Blowing Rock, NC real estate market, there have not been many foreclosures. There have not been many sales, either, based on our most recent high-volume sales period ending in 2007.

Dollar volume and number volume have decreased each year since 2007. Many real estate brokers are no longer in the business, although they may still maintain their licenses. I have heard it said that in 2010, North Carolina had the lowest number of active-licensed agents since the 1970s.

For those brokers like me, who continue to be active in real estate sales, we have been able to facilitate some tremendous deals for our buyer-clients. Although foreclosures and short-sales are a small percentage of all listed properties in our High Country MLS, that is where most sales activity is taking place. The only other active segment in our MLS are homes listed under $200,000.

The first-time homebuyer tax credit, coupled with low interest rates and bargain prices, cleared out the inventory of virtually every liveable dwelling under $200,000 near Boone, North Carolina. Real estate in the North Carolina mountains, particularly near Boone, Blowing Rock and Banner Elk, hold to historically high real estate prices. Buyers saw the last three years as their only opportunity to procure a home in an expensive market.

Since the tax credit ended, sales volume has dropped. In our High Country MLS, Q1 sales (2011) were down from Q1 2010. Second-home sales and building lot sales have been virtually dead for three years. Between the counties of Watauga, Ashe and Alleghany, the number of perk tests completed from the high year of 2007 dropped 50-70% in 2010.

Student condos for Appalachian State University, normally in high demand, have lingered on the market with continued price reduction. Meanwhile, ASU barely has enough dorm rooms to house one third of its students. The appreciation of student condos in the past, coupled with a high rental demand, offered parents who purchased a condo a decent investment return. Many of the parents who buy condos for their university-age children only do so currently if they will have multiple children simultaneously enrolled at ASU.

Apartment buildings in Boone are the only commercially-viable, income-producing investment at this time. However, from my recent work with a commercial retail client seeking to lease space in downtown Boone, I can tell you there is very little retail space for lease to be had. That alone shows the strength of our local economy, in spite of the effects of the recession.

Our company - Lyons Construction and Realty, Inc. - has grown sales every year for the last three years. Very few real estate companies can say that. Early on, we positioned ourselves to work with first-time homebuyers and investors, and were vigilant in seeking out bargains and deals for our buyer-clients. Not all foreclosed properties are listed in our local MLS, so we must search across many fronts to find the best deals for our clients.

Last year, I personally had a higher number of sales than 65% of the entire offices in our High Country Association of REALTORS. It took a tremendous amount of effort to accomplish this (that's why they call it "work") but my clients and I were very pleased with the results.

Please contact us if you want to be on our foreclosure notification list. You may send me an e-mail at robbie@foreclosednorthcarolinamountainrealestate.com or you may phone my office at 828-295-4663, extension 18.

If you want up to the minute tweets from me about the newly listed foreclosures for sale in the Blowing Rock, Boone, Banner Elk, Beech Mountain areas, please go to Twitter.com/RobbieSharrett and start following my TWEETS! 

Our Multiple Listing Service has finally modified a field so that I can receive immediate notification when a foreclosure is listed for sale!  This will include short sales!

As soon as I receive notification of these listings I will zip it over to Twitter.  Become one of my followers!