Rethinking Home Moves In A High-Rate World

Headlines love interest rates. We love real life. When your home no longer fits—whether you need another bedroom, a shorter commute, or to be closer to family—clarity beats fear every time. We dig into what’s actually happening in Henderson County: steady demand, a four‑month absorption rate, and average days on market around 60, signaling a stable, competitive landscape where preparation matters more than urgency.

We’re joined by Patrick Hunt from United Federal Credit Union to unpack the biggest homebuying myths. You don’t need 20% down to move forward; first‑time buyers can bring as little as 3% on a conventional loan, and qualified borrowers may access 100% financing through VA, USDA, or local portfolio programs. We walk through how automated underwriting really works, why a non‑perfect credit score doesn’t end your chances, and how FHA’s predictable mortgage insurance can keep payments within reach while you build equity. Patrick also explains the difference a community lender makes—from portfolio flexibility to local insight that national call centers can’t match.

If you’ve been “rate locked,” we challenge the assumption that a low rate should rule your life. We compare the real tradeoffs between staying put and moving: monthly payment changes, time savings, school access, appreciation potential, and daily quality-of-life gains. With transparent numbers and a simple plan—pay down a card, season savings, document income—you can turn a vague goal into a clear path to pre‑approval and a home that actually fits. Ready to move with intention instead of noise? Subscribe, share with a friend who’s on the fence, and leave a quick review telling us your top must‑have for your next place.

Transcript

Welcome And Local Focus

SPEAKER_01 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.com for more information. Good morning, and welcome to the George Real Estate Group live radio broadcast here on the queue every Monday morning, bringing you positive news about your local real estate market community. We're so grateful to be here with you and we're going to share about what's going on in the local real estate market and dive into the numbers and have a conversation. So grateful to have Patrick Hunt with us with United Federal Credit Union as one of our regular special guests. So grateful to have Patrick with us this morning.

SPEAKER_02 1:03

Thank you, Noah. Thank you. Glad to be here.

SPEAKER_01 1:05

Grateful to have you here. And before we jump into the conversation, if if our listeners, if you're tuning in for the first time ever, the George Real Estate Group, we're located in Flat Rock. We serve all of Western North Carolina and the upstate South Carolina. And we have a so grateful for our office in Flat Rock. If you ever want to stop by and have a cup of coffee, we're right next to the Flat Rock Bakery, uh Hubba Hubba Barbecue, Campfire Grill, the Wrinkled Egg, all those great local restaurants and independent businesses. The George Real Estate Group's local and independent as well. We have an incredible group of agents. We have incredible staff. And then ultimately our clients are what make it all possible. You can find us online at realestatebygreg.com. You can follow us on social media. We're on Facebook and Instagram. We also podcast all of our radio shows. You can find that on your favorite podcast platform, and we'd love to connect with you. Or just call us directly. We'd love to connect with you if you're just curious what your home is worth, if you're curious what the market's doing. You know, every uh situation is unique and different, every home is unique and different. You know, we know real estate happens because life happens. I mean, we've and this is I've been doing this 20 plus years, and I'm and I'm so grateful, even told the joke this morning, you know, we're you know, I'm an overnight success, it's taking 20 years of showing up every day, and and we just keep showing up. And the the market's the market, the interest rates are the interest rates. And and again, we get to uh decide how we um we get to decide what things mean, we get to decide how we take action, we get to decide what we focus on. I was actually listening to uh a podcast. I love podcasts. I was listening to a podcast with uh you've probably heard of the the speaker and author uh Tony Robbins. He's he's a remarkable story, and and he shared about his childhood uh with his family was had nothing. I mean he said he said they had nothing to eat, but what he meant is like they literally had crackers and peanut butter, and it was Thanksgiving and they had nothing for a Thanksgiving meal. And he said there was a knock on his door, and I think he might have been eight or nine years old, and there was a knock on the door, and Tony answered the door as an eight or nine-year-old, and there was this man standing there with a full turkey, uh all the fixings, this entire Thanksgiving meal. And you can imagine what that meant for this eight or nine-year-old child seeing who their family had nothing for that Thanksgiving, and he's he was he shares this story, and the man at the door said, Go get your father. And his father came to the door, and instead of having this gratitude and thankfulness, his father actually had intense shame and guilt when he saw the food. He's like, We're not a charity, we're we don't want your food. And Tony hearing his father's reaction, again, they both had very different meanings of what that meant. Tony thought, oh my goodness, we're gonna have food, we're gonna have a meal. What kindness and and love showed up at our door while his father saw, he actually it was it was his father saw shame because he's like, I can't even provide for my family. He took it to mean something completely different. And and in fact, Tony shares that his father left his family, I think, the next day. Like he had such intense shame and guilt about not being being able to take care of his own f family. And Tony, by the way, was so impacted by this he he again he shares this story because as soon as he was old enough to get a job, he made a decision when he was like 16 or 17 years old to feed two families on Thanksgiving Day himself. And he didn't want to be the person like that got the credit for it. He he said he found this family that needed uh uh Thanksgiving meal, and he even wrote a note and just said, you know, you know, this is a gift. You know, and so when the woman came to the door and he said she just said thank you thing, he's like, No, no, no, no, I'm the messenger, I'm the messenger. He didn't even want credit for it. He's like, No, I'm the messenger, and and this it just over this woman was just overwhelmed with gratitude. And again, so now Tony literally feeds millions of people a year. That's been part of his story and giving back, and and I I think even over a 10-year period, they have a goal of feeding a billion people. But going back to the story, we get to decide what we focus on, Tony says. Tony focused on the the the love, the the chair the gift that it was. His father focused on the negative things, and then and then and then we get to decide what things mean, and then we get to decide that what to do with it. His father was overwhelmed with shame and guilt and he and he left and then Tony took it as a catalyst. He's like, I want to make a difference in people's lives. And it was just a remarkable story.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

All the perspective.

SPEAKER_01 6:10

Perspective, right? And you and I, as as we get to walk through you and I get to walk alongside with so many of our clients with their stories and and in regards to real estate and and everybody talks to you and I about the market and the interest rates, but we all of us get to decide what the things mean or what they're the experience they have and how they look at the life events they're going through, you know, and uh how you position yourself to walk through that um you know, is gonna gonna determine the experience you have. So we get to do with it. And and all of us have challenges, all of us have experiences that we walk through or we face and and how we respond to them, how we what we could decide, what they mean, you know, how we're gonna take action with it. And again, these are that may and there's really extreme examples of that. I mean, Victor Frankel's book on Man's Search for Meaning and he got to decide what it meant when he experienced the the Holocaust. I mean, talk about an incredible, extreme example of of that where he lived through it and he got to decide and he his what he focused on and what he th believed it meant and how he lived his life. And then you know, you and I every single day we get to have these experiences with our clients and our family, and then you know, Tony's story about what he experienced as a child where someone brought his family again. There's these different experiences, some some more benign than others, some l literally life threatening and and I mean some massive what a range of experiences, right? And I know you and I are in the real estate business and and it's not necessarily life or death, but we get to have these experiences and and help walk people through.

SPEAKER_02 7:52

Yeah, they get to you get to help them, you know, uh determine which experience they're gonna have by which perspective they want to look at things, like, you know, talking about you mentioned interest rates, you know. Do we there's you know, you can look at it as well, they're higher than where they have been, and they're not high as where they've been, but you know, your your particular experience that you're in right now, interest rates may or may not have that impact on on what you're gonna do. Um and a lot of people kind of feed into, you know, the the the media is, you know, is now the right time to buy, is now the right time to to sell and all that, but it it's individual. It's all based on what you're going through. The media doesn't know that you've got a baby on the way or that you just went through a a challenging time with a loss and you've got to sell a home or whatever it is, that's the perspective, you know, and and whatever you're going through in that moment is going to have different weights on your decision. Um and uh and yeah, you need to really look at the the big picture. There's you know, there's a lot of misconception or miss um myths. Myths. Basically, yes, uh myths, and and debunking those myths uh is really important.

SPEAKER_01 9:05

Well, you you and I get to have conversations every single day with our clients and sharing perspective and sharing information so that ultimately our clients can decide what's right for them, whether it's buying or selling or selling and then buying or or investing in real estate or or s whatever the situation is, I will say this, and I re I've reported on this, I I this is remarkable, and I shared this with our team uh last week, but they the report that came out last week that for the first time since 2021, more people have interest rates over 6 percent than below 3 percent. And there's this there was this conversation about people with these interest rates that they're in the you know two and three percent interest rates or 4 percent interest rates and they're just they're they called them they're locked in, meaning why would anybody again the news is like why would anybody ever sell their house?

SPEAKER_02 10:00

Well for a the value of a more space for their family and the value of you know um the different things that go into the reason on why you need to get to that next house. Uh because again, that's that's a matter of perspective. You know, I have a uh And the other th the the debunk is well you shouldn't necessarily trade out your your low interest rate mortgage for a higher one. But the the media, the whatever who it is that's pushing that narrative doesn't know how much you have for a balance on that lower interest rate mortgage. It may be very low. So your realized savings. Yeah, it doesn't make sense. Everybody's situation is different. Uh and you can and this is where you know I'm all about meeting with people and putting scenarios together and looking at an actual tangible uh number of what it would mean to go to purchase that house you want to go with the bigger yard, with this, that, or the whatever it is that you're you're looking at, and and realize and look at what the actual number is, and then you can determine, all right, is that is that value that I'm gonna get from this worth that difference in what I'm paying? And also you have things like appreciation on the larger valued home that you're also gonna realize over the next you know 10 to 20 years versus the one you're in now. So there's a lot that goes into it instead of just this surface level, you're in a low mortgage, you shouldn't change that.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

Right. Interest rates are are just one component, and and and and sometimes there's other compelling reasons that someone might consider buying or selling, and it's not just one-dimensional, it's not just the interest rates. And so we're seeing more and more people not hang on to their you know, two or three percent or four percent interest rate, because again, there's other compelling reasons that are more important than that interest rate.

SPEAKER_02 11:57

Right. I I read some interesting uh that kind of gave me a chuckle that said uh, you know, a low rate doesn't give you an extra bedroom, a low rate doesn't shorten your commute, uh, improve your school district, fix layout frustrations, um, those are all things that you're gonna do. They don't get you closer to your grandkids. You're stuck there. You're like, oh, I've got the low interest rate. But the things that you could gain in the the values that you could gain from finding a different house than you're currently in, even if it's got that higher, it's a little bit more of a cost. Um, but what are you gaining from it? And is it going to outweigh that extra expense?

Rates, Needs And Real Tradeoffs

SPEAKER_01 12:32

Well, that's where it's again, it's the perspective, and it's and this where you and I let's back up. I know we jumped into the conversation. Patrick, you're tell us about United Federal Credit Union. Tell us about I mean you've been in the banking industry for a while.

SPEAKER_02 12:44

I have. Um so I'm with United Federal Credit Union. Uh we are a local not-for-profit credit union, two branches here in Hendersonville, one in Fletcher, one in Asheville. Um, and uh and yeah, I've been doing this for for a bit now, and it's something that's just a passion to me. Um I'm a I'm a numbers geek, so it it you know, finding the right scenarios for everybody, finding the right programs that fit. Uh, and I'm you know, I try to be as compassionate as I can because these are life events that people are going through usually when they they make the phone calls to you and I, and and having somebody that you can walk with through that that is compassionate, and uh, you know, my goal is providing a second and none service, and that's what, you know, that's the difference between calling you and I or calling, you know, a a rocket mortgage in in California or wherever somebody that's not walking with you here in your community, um, you know, it's hard to to have that um personal approach, and and that's what separates I think uh us from a lot of big big lenders out there.

SPEAKER_01 13:47

You're not gonna run into the person at rocket mortgage at the grocery store.

SPEAKER_02 13:51

You're not. You're not.

Meet United Federal Credit Union

SPEAKER_01 13:52

But again, it's the relationship, it's the community, it's the serving community, it's the and can we take a moment? There's a few differences between credit unions and banks. I mean, one thing you just said was it's a nonprofit, people don't realize that.

SPEAKER_02 14:07

Yeah, we you know, uh obviously we have to make enough to keep our lights on and be able to grow and serve our community, and um that's the big thing right there is the serving of the community, whether it's the mortgage side of things or um our commercial team or our our banking services, you know. Um we do all of that. A lot of people don't realize too credit union also offers all the the small business banking needs too. Um we have a commercial department that is incredible. Um and and our goal is servicing this area, you know. Um so that's it's you know, we are super involved in our community. Um we have some amazing, amazing individuals that uh, you know, just are are huge advocates for our local businesses that that work within United and and do everything we can. We've been through a lot of hard times here, you know, uh recently with our you know hurricane we went through and all that, and uh the way we've been able to just be there and support our community as we we navigate those uh you know, rebuilding and growth has been incredible. Well, even your own branch uh experienced the that's we did. We were down at the Fresh Market Plaza there, so that branch flooded out and we went right up the road now. We just reopened uh September. Uh that branch is now in South Hendersonville, has been reopened up uh 955 Spartan Burke Highway.

SPEAKER_01 15:25

So right next to the Hendersonville co-op, a lot of people will be familiar with.

SPEAKER_02 15:29

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 15:30

That's amazing. The facility's beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 15:33

It is, it is really nice spot. We redid uh you know the whole building. It's where the self-help credit union used to be years ago, and we just went in there and and you know, renovated the whole building, and uh it's been uh been a great space.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

That's amazing. And I know you your focus and expertise is in the residential mortgage space, and what you also shared is you guys have an incredible commercial division where your credit unions investing and making helping local businesses with their uh small business loans or the the commercial lending. I mean, there's a lot of different things that it's not just residential.

SPEAKER_02 16:09

No, no, and and the big thing with a credit union is in ours in particular, we stay right around where our branches are. We have a particular radius of you know where we're gonna do business. So um it helps us really focus on building up our our local community and our area. So it's uh you know, credit unions, um, they're they're awesome. I have worked on the other side, you know, for some larger and retail banking. And when I came over to the credit union world in uh 2021, um five years ago, it was uh it was just a culture shock. Um I wasn't in banking back in uh you know the the eighties and nineties, and people say working with a credit union is how banking used to be. It's just more relationships, it's you know, they you we know our clients when they walk through the door. Um, you know, we're asking, you know, how are the kids? How's this life event going? You just said you were doing this, what happened there? And um it's just yeah, it's uh And not saying that doesn't still exist in other institutions, but it's just it's it's a focus. Um it's it's like I said, it's just a culture difference.

Community Roots And Branch Reopening

Market Stats And Trends

Mortgage Myths Debunked

SPEAKER_01 17:19

That's amazing. I'm so grateful to have Patrick Hunt with us this morning with United Federal Credit Union. We have a short break uh we have to jump into and we'll keep the conversation because there's some other things we can talk about through Let's debunk some myths. Absolutely. And so to our listeners, again, thank you for joining us this Monday morning. We're here live on the queue every Monday morning right after the nine o'clock uh news, and we're always grateful to share some context of what's going on in the market and share stories and have guests like Patrick. And so we're here every Monday morning. I mentioned you can also subscribe to our podcast. We podcast of our radio shows, but stay tuned in. We have a short break and we'll be right back. Good morning and welcome back. You're listening to the George Real Estate Group live radio broadcast here in the queue every Monday morning. Thanks so much for tuning in. If you didn't catch the first half of the show, again, we podcast this. You can subscribe to our podcast on your favorite podcast platform. You can follow us on social media, Facebook and Instagram. You can go to our website, George uh RealestatebyGreg.com, realestatebygreg.com. We also have another website, George Realestate Group Radio.com. You can see the the podcast there, but we'd love to connect with you and help. I mean, whether it's your personal home, your investment home, maybe it's an estate you're working through or family land, it could be commercial, and we have the experience and knowledge and systems, duplicatable, repeatable, proven and predictable systems. And it's a I I I joked this morning with a client. Again, you know, overnight success is you know taking 20 years of showing up every day. I I love uh having conversations and sharing about what's going on in the market, putting perspective what's going on in the market. And and and we will real quickly here uh do that. Uh you know, Henderson County has seen an 8 percent increase in number of single-family homes sold in 2025 versus 2024. That's significant. And that's even in the environment of interest rates in the they were in the sevens, weren't they, in 2025? I mean it was it was still a 7 percent interest rate environment, and then it got a little bit uh more uh competitive and interest rates are s are are coming down, which is great, and we're gonna talk about that. But our average single-family home price over the last 12 months and single family in Henderson County right now is at 547. Prices were staying somewhat flat, which is remarkable because inventory increased. This is so interesting. The inventories uh here locally increased, but it also was in in context of the increase in demand. So there was almost this wash. Now, the one thing I will say for our market is days on market is is about 60 days on market. That's the average, two months to sell your house, which compared to what it was previously when you know. When homes are selling in two weeks or three weeks, now the average is 60 days. So buyers are taking a little bit longer, but the market is stabilizing again. But it's still technically a seller's market. There's more demand than there's inventory, and the economists used a six-month uh invent uh six-month absorption rate. We have about a four-month absorption rate. If there was no homes, no more homes hit the market, and we kept selling uh we're at about 133 single-family homes a month selling. If no more homes hit the market, it would take about four months to sell everything we had. Again, that would that's what they call absorption rates. So the market's very strong. And again, your unique situation, your unique home, your your whatever it might be, it could be a personal home, it could be a second home, it could be commercial real estate. I mean, we are in the trenches every single day talking to buyers and sellers and clients. So if we can help you in any way, give us a call, 828-393-0134, 828-393-0134. Uh Patrick, I know we were talking on the break again, just some it's fascinating when you talk to clients and and you hear people are like, well, I heard this and I heard that, and and people have these assumptions about the lending and what it takes to actually buy a house and and you know, down payment and and interest rates. I mean, these are conversations you and I are having every single day. And and what you and I might consider common knowledge, we you you're surprised and you're like, no, that's that's just not true. And you you get a chance to share and and debunk some myths about mortgages.

SPEAKER_02 21:34

Yeah. Um very common. A lot of times, uh, you know, people will will be on the sidelines and they've been on the sidelines because they thought one particular thing they they heard at a uh you know family conversation or at Thanksgiving that, you know, this this has to, you know, my credit's gotta be at this number, or um, you know, I've got to have this much set aside for my down payment before I can even think about buying a house. Uh and unfortunately, you know, some of those those you know beliefs stop people from moving forward and having even the first initial conversation. But with that first initial conversation, part of it is unpacking, you know, what is uh available to to clients. And a lot of folks think that, you know, they still they they need 20% down. They're used to, you know, used to their parents said they, you know, they used to have to save save so they could put their 20% down on their house. Well, um, you know, that is not, I can't tell you, I'd say probably as this is off the hip, but maybe 60% um, you know, of of uh purchases and and loans I do, they're they're not bringing, you know, 20% down. You can do as little a first-time home buyer on a conventional loan. So conventional just means non-government. Conventional loan is uh a 97% loan to value, which means a 3% down payment for a first-time homebuyer, not a first-time home buyer, uh, which the definition of a first-time home buyer is if you've owned property within the last three years that was your primary residence. Not a not a lot, not an investment property, but a primary residence within the last three years. If you have not owned a primary residence within the last three years, you are considered a first-time home buyer. Wow. Um, so if you're a first-time homebuyer, you can put as little as three percent down. Um and and there's you know, there's there's different uh programs, insurances that have now been created to be able to um protect lenders against you know losses if there's a foreclosure and things like that. So with those, borrowers and buyers can put less of a down payment down. Um big misconception that they still need this 20% down. So that's that's a big one to debunk. Um other one is is credit scores. You know, people think, oh, I've got to have this, this, you know, uh uh 750 credit score or whatever the number or 800 or whatever, whatever the number. 60. That's not true. So underwriting guidelines have now gone to a very um complex uh automated type system where they're looking at there's this big algorithm, they're looking at your debt to income, they're looking at your you know uh your loan to value. So there's different factors that weigh into the automated underwriting when it it goes through and spits through.

Credit, PMI And Loan Options

SPEAKER_01 24:14

It's not just your credit score. In my understanding with credit scores, and again, there are multiple loan programs that your credit score doesn't have to be a specific amount. However, you get more favorable terms.

SPEAKER_02 24:30

Correct. Your interest rates in some pro in a lot of programs are are gonna be um lower with a stronger credit score. Not all the not all the time. Um programs that uh allow, you know, uh borrowers that are in the process of rebuilding credit. Uh FHA is a great program where people can get into a still a very competitive interest rate. The PMI, which is mortgage insurance, is which is what is required on FHA or conventional loans where you have less than 20% down, you need to have mortgage insurance. With FHA, it is a fixed rate for everybody as far as what that mortgage insurance you know premium is gonna be. So whether you have the 650 or a 750 credit score, that PMI premium is gonna be the same. Um now it's obviously based on loan amount and things like that, can change that PMI premium, but your credit score is not changing that. Um so there are a ton of great uh options out there just because you know if you're you're sitting there and saying, well, my my my credit, you know, I've got some work to do on it, don't let that stop you from having the conversation. Because step one, have the conversation and put the fear aside and at least have because I'm I'm not a I'm not a scary guy to talk to. Um so come, let's have the conversation and at least debunk a lot of those myths. And sometimes the answer is not right. You know, you hey, I can't give you a pre-approval right now to go find the house, but let's put the roadmap together of of how we get there.

SPEAKER_01 26:02

Trevor Burrus, Jr. Well, and maybe it's not official credit coaching, but that's essentially what you're doing. I mean, depending on where they're at, you can help put a plan together, say, hey, you hit these targets, and and again, it's well we tend to think things are well, I mean, uh worse or better than they are, right? Like things are never usually as bad as we think they are, or things are never as good as we think they are. But again, you get a clarity and you can provide information and say, hey, let's find out what the facts are, and then we can put a plan together so you can have a if your goal is to get into homeownership, there's a path to do that. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 26:35

Absolutely. Absolutely. And it's just the step one is just looking at it, opening it up, having a conversation about where you are at, where you want to be, and how do you get there. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

100% Financing Paths

SPEAKER_01 26:44

Right. Um for context, about 30 percent of our sales in Henderson County are purchased with cash, and so that's where you might see some significant down payments. But like you just said, you can get in as little as 3 percent with a conventional loan with first-time home buyers. Also, there's a hundred percent financing. We have so many veterans in our community. Actually, uh getting a cup of coffee this morning, the gentleman was wearing an 82nd airborne hat, and I said thank you so much for your service. Uh, my uh my grandfather actually was in the 82nd Airborne and the Second World War, and we were able to talk and have a great conversation. But our veterans, even some of our veterans that have the ability to pay cash, they can still take advantage of these very competitive uh VA loans.

SPEAKER_02 27:28

Yeah, VA has a great program for your mortgage. Uh you can do up to 100% financing. Um you can include, you know, your closing costs as long as you know value allows, things like that. Um VA program is a phenomenal program. There's also the USDA program uh for for properties in in rural areas where you know we can look at doing up to 100% financing for uh those homes. Uh and we also offer 100% financing options that are portfolio loans that United does. Because sometimes you have a borrower that for whatever reason they may need a hundred percent finance loan, but they don't hit the requirements of the USCA. They make too much. Say they make too much, but they've got good credit, and for whatever reason, they don't have right now the nest egg to be able to go do it. Well, we can do it with you know 100% financing option we have. Um, you know, you're gonna pay what a portfolio loan means is it's United's funds that are funding that. The loan doesn't get sold, the cert, like everything stays with us. So with that, there's a higher risk typically to the lender. If something does, you know, uh go south and foreclose. It's the lender that is taking that loss if there are any losses that are incurred. So with that, you typically have a little bit higher interest rates, not a lot. Sometimes it's as little as a half to a 1% difference of what it would have been. But that difference is also the difference of whether you're gonna continue to rent and not own a home versus starting to build equity in a home or other reasons that you're looking to get into that home. Um so yeah, we offer some really, really great hundred percent non-government, you know, uh conventional style financing that is portfolio loans that we do. Um and they're there's some phenomenal programs.

SPEAKER_01 29:14

And that's why it's so important to just have the conversation. I mean, you can talk through, you can there's so many different options. The portfolio loans, there's the government loans, there's the I mean, there's so many different options. That's why you just need to have the conversation.

Planning Your Next Move

SPEAKER_02 29:27

Yeah. Um, you know, fear and uncertainty is what what keeps people where they're at right now and and not pursuing that that next thing. Don't don't stay where you're at and and think this is all all that there is right now because of the situation I'm in. Have the conversation and then you can really see what's what's out there and available to you. And also then if it is not right now, well now you've got the plan. This these are the things that you know you can change and work on, and then in six months or three months or a year, whatever the number, let's you know, stay in connection you know, through that and and get you where you want to be.

SPEAKER_01 30:02

Well, Patrick, we're so grateful for this conversation. We're so grateful for how you serve our clients and our community. And again, it's amazing when because it's not when we at the George Real Estate Group are agents. I mean, we're working with our clients and they're thinking, do we sell before we buy? Do we buy before we sell? And and for a lot of people, it's it it's not a cash purchase. I mean, 70 for 70 percent of people use some type of financing. And so you know, working in concert with an incredible lender like Patrick at United Federal Credit Union, we're able to help our clients um help our clients navigate through and and like you said, make have clarity so they can make a decision and and we're helping people when we meet with them, you know, what's my home worth? What what can we qualify for? And that's a conversation with Patrick, and then you know putting a plan together to you know, because we're helping a lot of people. A lot of people have to sell to buy. That's very normal. And so we're we're it's it's amazing the opportunity you and I get to to help our clients through that. Patrick, what's the best way for listeners to get a hold of you?

SPEAKER_02 30:59

Uh to get a hold of me, uh pick up the phone, give me a call, or shoot me a text. Uh best number to reach me at is 828-707-1556. I'm also I cover our uh two branches here in Hendersonville. Um so two days at one, two days at the other, and then of course on Tuesdays I'm over with the George Real Estate Group if you want to find me there. Um but uh yeah, just reach out, check where I'm at, um, and uh would love to sit down and and talk with folks to get them into home ownership.

SPEAKER_01 31:25

Awesome. Patrick, thank you so much for being here this morning.

SPEAKER_02 31:28

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 31:28

And to our listeners, uh just so much to be thankful for. We're grateful to be here every Monday morning sharing with you positive news about your real estate market. You can call us directly at 828-3930134. You can find us online at realestatebygreg.com. You can stop by our office anytime. We'd love to help. But if you're just curious what your home is worth, if you're curious about buying or selling or investing in real estate, give us a call. But have a wonderful day, have a wonderful week, and we'll see you next Monday.

SPEAKER_00 31:58

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 realestatebygreg.com. 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 905 on WTZQ FM 95.3 and 1600 AM, or stream online at WTCQ.com.

SPEAKER_01 32:50

Maybe the house feels a little too big these days. The stairs a little steeper. The pace of life a little too fast. But what if your next move wasn't about letting go? It was about making space for peace, for freedom, for what matters most. At the George Real Estate Group, we understand that real estate isn't just about the house. It's about transitions, timing, and trust. We've helped thousands of families in Western North Carolina make smart, thoughtful moves. Closer to nature, closer to family, closer to home. So when you're ready to rise-size, simplify, or start fresh, we'll be here. The George Real Estate Group. Local, trusted, proven. Call us today, 828-393-0134. Find us online at realestatebygreg.com because your next chapter deserves to feel just right.