Exploring the Vibrant Real Estate and Community of Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina

Imagine unlocking the secrets of a thriving real estate market where the foothills of the mountains meet the charm of the South. That's exactly what you'll get as we express our gratitude and dive into the heartbeat of Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina's real estate. Celebrate with us the allure of the area that's drawing crowds for its quality of life and economic prosperity. We're growing, expanding the George Real Estate Group to meet the demand, and we invite you along for the journey—whether you're mulling over a career in real estate or just curious about your home's current value.

As the blooms of spring herald the busiest season in real estate, we'll share the freshest market trends, garden tips, and home maintenance hacks you won't want to miss. Hear firsthand accounts of the deep human connections forged through property transactions, rooted in our commitment to put people before properties. Get the inside scoop on what millennials are craving in their hunt for the perfect home, how interest rates are shaping buying decisions, and why the here and now might just be the best time to make your move in this picturesque corner of the country. Join us for an episode that's as much a celebration of our community as it is an invaluable guide to its real estate wonders.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hello friends, thank you so much for being here. This is the George Real Estate Group podcast, which is a production of our live weekly radio shows hosted on multiple radio stations here in Hendersonville, north Carolina. The George Real Estate Group serves Western North Carolina and upstate South Carolina and it is a privilege to share positive news about our local real estate market and community. Thanks so much for subscribing and, of course, if you have any real estate questions or if we can help you in any way, be sure to reach out. Visit us at George real estate group radio comm for more information. Good morning and welcome to the George real estate group. Live radio broadcasts here on the queue every Monday morning, bringing you positive news about your local real estate market and community. Excited to be here with you.

Speaker 1: 0:48

So much going on in the real estate market. Certainly a lot going on in the College basketball world, which I know there's a lot of enjoyment happening. Congratulations to the four ACC teams Duke, carolina, clemson and NC State. That's exciting to watch. I know there's a lot of conversations going on with that and it's exciting. Thankful to be here with you.

Speaker 1: 1:07

If you're tuning in for the first time ever, the George real estate groups located in flat rock, right next to the flat rock bakery, hubba hubba barbecue, which they're opening days coming up. I'll be reporting on that as I learn more. I know everybody's excited for them to open their doors up, coming out of hibernation, then you got campfire grill, which is now seven days a week. They're wonderful. So, again, great location there on rainbow road, flat rock, we have people coming in from all over the country, all over the world actually, that they're visiting the area, they're coming in and it's very frequent. We have conversations, with our office being there right next to the bakery and all those restaurants.

Speaker 1: 1:43

People just stop in say, hey, we're thinking about moving and we and I keep it's, it's a Keep having conversations with people, they, they, they. There's this concept of moving your dreams forward. The people are, they come visit here, they enjoy it, they love it for all the amazing reasons that we talk about, you know. And then they say how, how do we make this happen? They bring their jobs with them, they find jobs, they they're selling their properties wherever they're located and they're relocating here to To West North Carolina for all the amazing things the quality of life, the outdoor living, the, the community, the generosity, the kindness of people, the Economic environment, I mean there's so many positive things going on here and it is going to continue to grow for the reasons we love it and for the reasons the new incoming Residents love it. It's you know the secrets out. I know people say they want to move here and close the door behind them. That's just not possible.

Speaker 1: 2:35

But so you know again, so much to be thankful for living here in Henderson County, western North Carolina, the Georgia real estate group. We serve all of Western North Carolina and we serve upstate South Carolina as well. We have agents in Spartanburg and Greenville counties that can serve you. If you're considering, you know maybe you're considering moving there, maybe we have people that are moving from there to here. I mean it's, it's. There's a lot of, you know, spill over between the state lines as the Georgia real estate group serves both Areas. We're also growing. We're hiring more agents and we have an incredible team. We are up. I'm so grateful for this. We we have more agents now working at the Georgia real estate group than ever before. We also have helped more people than ever before. We're up over a hundred percent this year versus year today than what we did last year, and that's a direct Correlation with additional agents serving more of our families and clients with their real estate needs. And so if you're thinking about a career in real estate or just curious about the real estate industry and we I am gonna touch on there's a lot of national news about the real estate industry. We'll touch on that as well.

Speaker 1: 3:38

Before we get started, want to say thank you to Jim Rawlings and his team at the quality home consultants you know there they serve they. He has the experience. Him and his team had the experience of helping over 35,000, 35,000 families and clients with their home inspections. Their phone numbers eight, two, eight, six, eight, seven, seven, two, two, one, eight, two, eight, six, eight, seven, seven, two, two, one. Quality home consultants, home inspections. They also do septic. They also do radon and pest. You do not have to be buying or selling to call them. They are a One-stop shop and it's it's worth Reaching out to them. They are, in my mind, the leading you know industry leading group for home inspections and septics. And Jim, jim Rawlings and his team quality home consultants eight, two, eight, six, eight, seven, seven, two, two, one. Their their offices there on Asheville Highway. They're near the Mountain Home Fire Department, they're out that direction but serve all of Western North Carolina as well.

Speaker 1: 4:40

One other thing if you've not subscribed to our radio show podcast, we podcast all of our radio shows. We are, you know, contend. That's been something that you know started a couple years ago and very grateful you know. Just we were reaching people, are downloading it from all over the world and it's a way if you you're not able to catch the entire show or you know want to go back and listen some of our other Episodes, you can pull that up on your favorite podcast platform. George real estate group radio Broadcasts is. It is. We have a podcast and it's it's the reproduction of our, of our radio show and also, if you're just curious, what your home is worth. Give us a call 828-393-0134. 828-393-0134. We'd love to have a conversation with you if you're curious.

Speaker 1: 5:30

And how do you go about this market? The market continues to move. We continue to see appreciation. The average single family home price in Henderson County right now is at 528-828, actually almost 529. We've had over a 7% appreciation over a 7% appreciation in this current 12 months versus the previous 12 months. And that's even though we have dropped down nationally. We've dropped down to the number of home sales.

Speaker 1: 6:05

This is so fascinating. It's a very different story. In 2008, 9, 10, and 11, there was about 4 million, 4.1, 4.2 million homes sold. Everybody remembers the crash of 2008 and then the housing market. The bottom of the market was 2011. The fascinating thing is and we had an abundance of inventory we had a 12, we had a 24, we had, in some cases, a 36 month, depending on the price point, multiple year, one, two, three years of supply, and when I say supply and demand based on the number of homes selling in those different price points, back then in 2009, 10, 11, and 12, and I grew and built my business really during those years Everybody was saying the sky's falling and it was very different than the 05 market nationally, which there was 7.1 million homes sold in 05. It's interesting the down years of 10, 11, and 12, and then we saw this steady increase in the number of homes selling across the United States, steady appreciation, and in 21 there was 6.1 million homes sold. But the difference was the prices kept going up and the prices kept going up because of the low inventory levels and they were certainly the number of home sales were certainly benefiting from the really low interest rates the 2s and the 3s and the 4s and then in 2022, the number of home sales across the United States dropped to 5 million and then in 23, we went down to 4.1 million homes sold in the United States, which was in line with the previous housing market crash.

Speaker 1: 7:54

When we talk about the number of homes selling, the difference is the low inventory levels have what's caused the prices to keep going up. I shared with you that the average single family home price in Henderson County is at 528. And it continues to go up because of the low inventory levels and even though the number of homes selling is down. We're down from last year some 11, 12%. When you look at the previous 12 months to the current 12 months. The number of homes selling is down, but it's in light of the low inventory levels and because of the low inventory levels. That's what's causing prices to go up. The number of homes available right now in Henderson County the average excuse me, the number of homes available in Henderson County right now is at 285. There's some 200 plus homes pending right now, but because of the we're averaging 120 homes selling over the last 12 months. We're averaging 100 homes a month selling over the last six months. But I got to tell you the market is still moving, the market's still healthy. We at the Georgia Real Estate Group we had three open houses yesterday and it was incredible the activity, the people coming out across three different homes all of them were in Hendersonville Incredible. Three new listings. I don't think they're gonna last very long but they just hit the market over the weekend.

Speaker 1: 9:22

1341 Shanteloupe Drive, right there off of Erkwood and right there near Canuga and near the intersection of Mud Creek Church. It's a great, great property, great location in Shanteloupe. It's a 1962 four-bedroom, two and a half bath, over 2,500 square feet on just right over an acre level lot, perfect for enjoyment, whether it's, you know, whatever you can imagine. It's a level lot in a cul-de-sac. 1341 Shanteloupe Drive, a lot of activity on that property. The property is listed for 669 and great property and I don't anticipate that lasting very long. Another great listing is at 828 Foster Hill Drive. This property I've been there a number of times. It has unbelievable year-round views. You can actually see Mount Mitchell and Craggy Mountain and Pisgah, you know, year-round breathtaking vistas that just stretch as far as your eye can see and the house is just the way the house is positioned on the lot to take advantage of the view is just unbelievable. It's, you know, check it out, check out the views, check out the photos. 828 Foster Hill Drive in Blue Ridge Estates. It's off of Little River Road, off of Berea Church Road. Great listing there, great activity there.

Speaker 1: 10:53

That open house, and then another property that we had an open house at as well was on 209 Camelia Way in Timber Creek. It's in Laurel Park Now. This property has over 2,500 square feet, built in 1992, 597, just shy of 600,000, stunning house, beautiful nature, set in nature, you know, wooded lot. Also just a two-story Albrick home in a very desirable Timber Creek neighborhood of Laurel Park, minutes from everything. The home has a grand entrance. It also has a beautiful master suite. It also has an open concept, you know just double car garage, has a beautiful you know multiple beautiful sunrooms and also incredible patio to enjoy the outside. It's a beautiful home. 209 Camelia Way. All three of these homes had great activity at the open house yesterday. If you'd like to schedule an appointment to see any of them, you certainly could just reach out to our office at 828-393-0134, 828-393-0134.

Speaker 1: 12:00

We also have another property 2118 Lamb Mountain Road has over three and a half acres. This property is 1,400 square feet, two bedroom, one bath 1982 home. But it's an unrestricted land and it has three outbuildings. Maybe you consider subdividing it, maybe you make a mini farm. I mean a lot of options there, you know, for you 2118 Lamb Mountain Road Again just a sampling we have a lot of inventory that we have that we're helping and navigating with our buyers and sellers and again, every day we're working with individuals to help.

Speaker 1: 12:35

I mean we're here to advocate, we're here to facilitate and navigate through the market. You know there's a lot of news out there about the industry and the thing that I that you gotta be careful what the news says. But the thing to remind our listeners in our community here, you know, is that real estate commissions have always been negotiable, especially here in North Carolina. And so you know I think there's you gotta be careful with the news that's out there as to you know commissions and you know there's this real estate settlement. There's changes that are coming. But you know buyers and sellers currently, right now, can negotiate and they've always been able to negotiate. Buyers can choose to hire a buyer's agent, negotiate commissions there. Sellers can choose to hire a listing agent negotiate that and again, that has always been the case and it's gonna continue to be the case. There's gonna be some changes as to how that plays out. As to the, there's some of the settlement from the real estate commission, but in North Carolina, commissions have always been negotiable there.

Speaker 1: 13:38

And again, if we welcome the conversations, if you're curious how that's gonna impact, you know real estate moving forward and what we do, and again, we're here to advocate, we're here. I think the need for real estate professionals is gonna continue to provide services. Clients navigate through their biggest financial transaction, usually in your lifetime, and having an advocate, you know a buyer having somebody to advocate for them, having a seller having a listing agent advocate for them and again navigating through that, and again we're leaning into it. We're having conversations and again, welcome the conversations. If you're curious how the real estate commission, real estate industry and the news that's out there is impacting what we're doing every single day, we welcome those conversations and we'd welcome the conversation. You know, if you wanna give us a call, we'd be glad to talk about it and tell you how that's playing out. And again, we can lean into it and it's gonna continue in the sense that the real estate industry is such that now we saw whether it was the pandemic or whether we saw with these interest rates. Real estate's happening, life is happening, it's gonna continue to move forward. We and we're here to be on the leading edge of that. And again, we're leading the way at the George Real Estate Group. So we're hiring more agents. We're also helping more clients than ever before, and so if we can help you with your real estate needs, give us a call at 828-3930134,. Find us online at realestatebygregcom.

Speaker 1: 15:03

Also subscribe to our podcast. We podcast all of our radio shows. So, again, give us a call or stop by our office. But you're listening to the George Real Estate Group live radio broadcast here in the queue every Monday morning. We have a short break, so stay tuned in. We'll be right back for Good morning and welcome back. You're listening to the George Rills State Group Live radio broadcast here in the queue every Monday morning.

Speaker 1: 15:30

This is actually our last show of March, because April is around the corner, easter weekend coming up and I know my kids are enjoying their spring break. Two of my kids had two weeks off with the year round school program and then my oldest, a freshman at East, he's enjoying his spring break this week and thankful for, I mean this time of year. I mean it's love, the spring time. I hope you're enjoying it. You know it's sort of this area we. You know the joke is you can get all four seasons in one day if you. You know that's just what the mountains do and you know, I know we get getting the teases of the warm weather.

Speaker 1: 16:08

My friends, we're looking at my yard. They came by the other day and they said it looked like a leprechaun because all the green grass was coming up. We did some, it did some aerating on it and also put down some was it pre-emergent? And also some seeds. And so it's actually, you never know. You hope that stuff works and it appears to be working.

Speaker 1: 16:28

So the grass is certainly green right now and looking forward to the spring I mean we are in spring and so the thing is with the spring market, certainly with real estate. You know you typically see a lot of, you see more, you see more buyers coming into the market, you see more sellers putting their homes on the market. You know the spring time is a great time. You know it's interesting. There's just this seasonality about the spring market. And there were some quotes from some real estate professionals. The chief deputy economist at First American says it seems our general expectation for the spring is that we will see a pickup and inventory. In fact it already seems to be happening, but it won't necessarily be enough to satiate demand. The chief economist at Bright MLS said there is still strong demand as the large millennial population remains the prime first time home buying range. Now the chief economist at realtorcom says where we are right now is the best of both worlds. Price increases are slowing, which is good for buyers, and prices are still relatively high, which is good for sellers. It is an interesting market that we're in, you know, and I'll pause for a second with that conversation on the spring market there's, you know, if you can afford to buy today with the interest rates of where they are.

Speaker 1: 17:51

And the thing is we've got to remember with interest rates, these interest rates are in line. If anything, we're below the historical average from 72. If you go back, you know 50 years, you know we're below the historical average. I mean a lot of my clients remind me of the early 80s and double digit interest rates and I mean just the ability if you can get something below 10%. If you can get something single digit, you should be thrilled. We were certainly spoiled there a few years ago when the you know these were just not normal interest rates and that's part of the reason why you don't see a lot of inventory, because you've got sellers that are in those two and three and 4% interest rates and they're holding onto that.

Speaker 1: 18:37

But guess what? Life happens and it doesn't matter what interest rate you're in. You can see that people are going to be moving ahead with their lives, whether it's, you know, maybe you're downsizing or upsizing, or maybe you got a job transfer, or you know the challenging situations, the you know divorce or death. You know things happen and I don't say that lightly. We've I mean there's many times we've sat at the you know the dining room table and tears are shed. I mean we're there to walk alongside with our clients through life and it can be really positive or it can be very challenging.

Speaker 1: 19:08

But I think the conversation about interest rates are If you can afford to buy now and if and when interest rates go down, you can refinance. If interest rates go down, which they're anticipating I think they said the Feds still are anticipating three drops this year. Guess what? When interest rates go down, you're going to see more buyers coming into the market, which is going to make it more competitive and most likely prices are going to keep going up, and so you can take advantage of the prices today and you can take advantage of refinancing later. So there's some benefits right now if you're in a position to do that.

Speaker 1: 19:49

It's interesting too, that back to the spring market we're going to see, typically you see more inventory hitting the market. The chief economist at Zillow said there are slightly more homes for sale than this time last year. There are still plenty of competition for well priced homes and buyers should prep their credit scores and sellers should prep their properties now. Attractive listings are going to go pending in less than a month and the time in the market will shrink in weeks ahead. I mean talking about days on the market. We continue to see over the last 12 months, over two thirds of the homes sold in Henderson County sold in the first 30 days over two thirds. And then the other fascinating thing is over 30% of the homes sold in Henderson County were purchased with cash. So the market actually 37.5% of the homes sold in Henderson County in the last 12 months were purchased with cash, and so the market's real strong here. We're averaging, like I said, over the last six months, about 100 single family homes a month selling and I think we're going to continue to see that.

Speaker 1: 21:05

And so I can give all these numbers and we do look at the numbers. The numbers tell a story. They're important to look at, but the thing is, we're having conversations at the George Rills State Group every day with buyers and sellers, because every situation is unique and different. Every home is unique and different, and we're here and it's really the individual story of our clients that it's amazing when we get to hear their stories and what they're looking to do. Like I said, are they relocating here from another state, are they downsizing, are they upsizing? And it's really the privilege and honor to walk alongside with our clients as we navigate through what their goals are, and we're here to advocate and we're representing sellers, we're representing buyers. We have an incredible team in place. We're growing, we're hiring more agents and we'd love to have the conversation with you if you're considering the real estate market, whether it's you're considering getting into the industry or whether you're considering what's my home worth, and so we'd love to have the conversation. Give us a call at 828-393-0134-828-3930134. Find us online at realestatebygregcom. You can also subscribe to our radio show podcast. You can stop by our office.

Speaker 1: 22:20

I heard an interesting story this weekend of this college professor that had two different classes and it was a. It was actually an art class and they both classes were learning how to make pottery. And this one class, the teacher. The college professor, instructed the one class to say hey, we, I want you to focus this entire semester on making the most amazing and perfect piece of pottery. And that was their job. Their final grade was based on this perfect piece of pottery. And that was the instruction for the one class. And then the instruction for the other class was to make as many pieces of the same pottery as they could. And just see how many pieces of pottery they could make and know what's so fascinating. The one class that focused on making the perfect piece of pottery their pieces of pottery were not as good as the people that made the thousands of pieces of pottery the class that just kept trying over and over and over again. And the funny thing is the class that focused on producing the most amount of pottery. Not only did they produce, obviously they produced significant amounts of more pottery than the class that just focused on getting one perfect. Their product ended up being better than the one that focused on having the perfect piece of pottery.

Speaker 1: 23:45

And I think there's a lot to be learned there. With just life, again, the repetition, doing the activities. It doesn't have to be perfect, but showing up every day I joke, in my career I'm an overnight success that took 19 years of showing up every day. It's showing up and it's failing forward and learning and growing. And that repetition and doing the activities and whatever. It's not trying to be perfect in whatever thing you're doing, but it's that learning and growing and doing the activity. And that can apply not just, obviously, in business but in life, whether it's your kids learning a sport or learning to do something, or in business trying to get something right. And it's not about being perfect, it's about the repetition, it's about learning, it's about growing and keep it's failing forward. It's falling down seven times, getting up eight times Again. It's this learning curve, in that you get better with whatever you're doing, whether it's your musician or whether you're an artist or whether you could be a surveyor or a dentist. I mean right, it's like doing things over and over again.

Speaker 1: 24:52

You want the person that has experience, and we have at the George Real Estate Group the experience of helping over 1,400 families and we're constantly learning. Every situations unique and different, every house is unique and different and we're showing up every day and we're here and we're adjusting as the market adjusts, as the industry adjusts, and we're going to continue to show up every day and advocate for our clients, and so we'd love to interview for the job. Whether you're thinking about buying or selling, whether you just want to have a conversation about the real estate market, if you just need help and you need a recommendation for a plumber or an electrician or a handyman or a contractor or a surveyor or you need some help cleaning out that estate property, we have wonderful team members and vendors that we work with that can literally take an estate property. They can help you donate things, they can help you sell things. We have resources for you if you need an attorney or a tax advisor, and when we have an entire team of professionals and service providers, it's not just the buying and selling.

Speaker 1: 25:51

So you know, if we can help you in any way, give us a call. We'd love to connect you and recommend. If you need a recommendation for a lender, whether you're thinking about refinancing or whether you're thinking about, you know, buying something, we'd love to help that. Again, it's a privilege and honor to serve the community through Real Estate. We've been doing this for a long time and we're grateful and we're looking forward to the next decade of Real Estate, the next 20 years, and so we'd love to connect with you. Give us a call 828-393-0134. Always thankful to be here with you every Monday morning. Have a great day, have a great week and we'll see you next Monday.

Speaker 2: 26:34

Hey guys, it's Lucy Miller George, your favorite nine-year-old and I'm here to talk about the George Real Estate group. Are you ready to sell your home and move on to bigger and better things? Well, let me tell you, my family knows a thing or two about selling houses. We have the experience of helping over 1,300 families and, let's be real, selling your home is a big deal, but with our expert guidance and our terrible dad jokes and Lucy jokes we will make the process as easy and painless as possible. Want to hear a joke? Why did the Real Estate agent cross the road To get to the other listing? Ok, maybe our jokes aren't the best, but our selling skills are definitely are. Give us a call today 828-393-0134. Have a nice day.

Speaker 3: 27:34

The George Real Estate Group has the experience of selling over 1,200 properties and serving over 1,200 families with their real estate needs in Henderson County and throughout Western North Carolina. The George Real Estate Group is located in Flat Rock, north Carolina, near Hendersonville in Henderson County. You can find them online at realestatebygregcom. The George Real Estate Group can be reached at 828-393-0134 or stop by their office at 2720 Greenville Highway, flat Rock, north Carolina. Tune in live each week on Monday mornings at 9.05 on WTZQ FM 95.3 and 1600 AM or stream online at WTZQcom.