George Real Estate Group Radio Broadcast

Snow Day, Rivalry Night, Housing Insight

• George Real Estate Group

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 30:06

A surprise snowstorm, a heated Duke–UNC countdown, and a local market that refuses to cool—this one brings hometown energy and hard numbers together. We start with the memories that make basketball a cultural heartbeat here, from driveway games and YMCA battles to the legends who shaped the ACC, and the mutual respect that exists long after the buzzer. Then we pivot to what matters for your next move: clear data, calm timing, and a plan that fits your life.

Inventory in Henderson County is tight—only 435 active single-family homes—yet the sales pace holds steady at roughly 134–135 per month. That tension explains a lot: multiple offers still pop up, days on market hover near 60, and average prices remain stable around $544,000. While many buyers are waiting for spring and dreaming of lower rates, most forecasts point to mortgages staying in the low 6% range after a full‑point drop over the past year. Affordability has already improved, and the smarter play may be to move a few weeks earlier to avoid peak-season pressure and price spikes.

We share a practical roadmap for making confident decisions: secure pre‑approval, clarify your must‑haves, and know your buy‑before‑sell or sell‑before‑buy options. For sellers, low inventory can translate to stronger positioning; for buyers, acting before the spring rush can reduce stress and improve negotiating room. Above all, timing should align with your season of life—growing families, new jobs, retirements, and tough transitions each call for a steady strategy, not a calendar myth.

If you’re weighing your choices, we’re here to help you match data with your goals and find the path that feels right. Subscribe, share this with a neighbor who’s considering a move, and leave a quick review to tell us what you want covered next.

Welcome And Snowy Morning Setup

SPEAKER_01

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 WHKP every Thursday morning right after 10 o'clock news. So grateful to be here with you on this surprising snowy, snowy, snowy morning. I mean, I know there was a little bit of you know they said they said they said it was gonna do a little bit.

SPEAKER_02

Something. But here it's done more than I think that people are gonna do.

SPEAKER_01

And I know kids were surprised. No school, man. That's eight days. Well, I was the kids have only been in school one day since January 23rd. I mean, they went to school yesterday, and again, I know that's the the our county and you know the the leaders in our our school system and administration. I mean, it's a lot to juggle.

SPEAKER_02

It is, it is last minute.

Show Format And Community Focus

Hometown Heroes Invitation

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and then and uh it's like at four in the morning or five in the morning. It's those it's again, it's it's kudos to everybody making it work, and uh so and Tippy, grateful to have you. Before we jump in again for our listeners, uh, we're here every Thursday morning, right after the 10 o'clock news. Uh George Real Estate Group Live Radio Broadcast here on WHKP. We love sharing about what's going on in the real estate market, in the community. We're also here every Friday morning sponsoring the Hometown Heroes series. Tune in every Friday morning at 845. Randy Houston and I interview incredible men and women and uh just uh people making a big difference in this community, unsung heroes. And so that's every Friday morning at 845 our Hometown Heroes series. So if you know somebody that you'd like to nominate or or mention, we can reach out to them and shine a light on some incredible uh stories that we have going on in the community. And again, real estate markets moving, and I will jump into that after this, but I always love this time of year. Tippy and I love and have a uh just uh the conversations we have around college basketball. Yep. I mean, this time of year, I mean, here we are, March Madness is around the corner, if you can believe it. Super Bowl's coming up, Super Bowl's coming up, but the big game, the the the big game, the big rivalry, uh UNC versus Duke, you know, is is coming up Saturday night.

SPEAKER_02

That's right. It's gonna be well, you know, I think it's gonna be like it always is. Uh you know, Duke is rated number four in the country, I think it is. I but they moved up.

SPEAKER_01

No, I uh uh I don't even have that right in front of me. But they're oh yeah, they're number four in K. And then Carolina is 14. They got moved up.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, they got up because they were at 16. They were. So uh you got me on the air. Go ahead.

Duke–UNC Rivalry History And Respect

SPEAKER_01

No, no, no. I mean, let me give a little bit of background for those that they may or may not realize this. Over 260 meetings together, and Carolina leads the all-time series by a slim margin. This is amazing. Over 50% of the games were decided by single digits.

SPEAKER_02

Wow.

SPEAKER_01

But is it one of the most prolific uh you know rivalries in intense and emotional and historically rich in all of American sports, right? And these campuses, North Carolina Tar Hills and the Duke Blue, Duke Blue Devils are only separated by eight miles. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

You can run to the universities. Between the two? It's that close. But you know what's uh no real uh I didn't realize just until the other day I was listening to um I think Carolina was playing, but they were talking about the big game coming up. And I didn't realize do you know during the summertime they get together, some of the former team, uh former mates from from Carolina, as well as Duke, and they go to each other's location and play against each other. Really? Yeah, that that was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01

They they were talking about that, and I said, Well, again, I think the respect between the the coaches and the players and they say they have a lot of respect, but on on the court, it's the big time game. It is, but you're right. During the summer, they often train and play together, yeah. And that's why, again, it's it's it's this rivalry is so great. It's the it it's remarkable. And and this is where you know when when you're at that level, and again, the story, the stories, the history from this, you know, the the you know, between uh, of course, you know, Dean Smith, um, and and again, for what he did, and then uh Coach K and then the players that have come out of uh you know Michael Jordan hitting the game winner as a freshman for Carolina in the 1982 national championship game, you know, Christian Leitner, uh, you know, all the buzzard beaters, you know, just it's it's a it's this is a rivalry that matters regardless of ranking, actually. And it's any any it could be any side's night. Of course, it could.

SPEAKER_02

I mean, that's the thing. Now you gotta take, you're talking about two different teams. Duke is different from last year, and Carolina is a whole lot different from last year as well. So I think I think if Carolina can stay, if they can contain Boozer a little bit, he's gonna get here. He's one of the best ball players in the nation. They said he's he's he's he might be the best, but he's not the number one player in the nation. The guy to Kansas, Peterson. It's incredible that Carol Carolina played them and they beat him, and Peterson, I think he got injured. But anyway, not to get off on Kansas. But I just think about I think this class that they have can't that's come in this year is one of the best class that we've seen in a long time because you got some fantastic ball players across the country.

SPEAKER_01

We really do. It's amazing, it's very entertaining. Oh Lord, uh and I I'm I've been a college uh basketball fan for I mean since you know just growing up, and and it's but it's there's just so much that comes with this rivalry, right?

SPEAKER_02

Well, you know, they they talking about Wilson against Boozer, Boozer against Wilson. Well, tonight, not tonight, but Saturday night. Saturday night, we will see. But it's gonna be a great game, Matt. And I hope and I hope the the Tar Heels win.

unknown

Of course you do.

SPEAKER_02

And you would say Well You would say I I I let me tell it, let me tell the story.

Players, Legends, And Personal Fandom

SPEAKER_01

Here's the thing about North Carolina, right? You know, you just it's almost an inherited, you know, you know, kids grow up with their parents who or their grandparents who their neighbors are, you know, the rivalry is is cultural in North Carolina. And when my father and our family moved here in the early 80s, I was just a child, but my dad was very aware of the basketball heritage in North Carolina. And he sat my brother and I down as kids, and again, we didn't we didn't have any context. We we grew up, uh, I mean, I was born in Florida, you know, as a kid. We moved up here. I joke I got here as quick as I could, right, you know, you know, five or six years old. But my dad was very aware of the basketball heritage here. And he sat my brother and I down. He says, Look, guys, we we have to pick. I mean, you you have to pick, make a choice, you know. And so we didn't have any context, but my my brother and I and our family decided, this is in the early 80s, right? We decided as a family, we were gonna pull for Duke.

SPEAKER_02

Duke, okay.

SPEAKER_01

And so, and then again, we had the privilege of Coach K for 40 years. Yeah, coach. Great coach. And and Coach. And so that's where I as a child, we just that was the context of us picking Duke. Uh and so I I now I am not, I will say, I admit this, I'm the type of fan that I'm an ACC fan. So guess what? I I am able to pull for Carolina if Carolina's playing another team. Um, but if it when it comes down, and and this is where I I do love the ACC and I love the the pro the sport, the basketball programs that the ACC has.

SPEAKER_02

Well, when you talk about the ACC, you're talking about some great legends that came out of the ACC. And one in particular that I guess my brother, he was so identified with Charlie Scott. Okay. And Charlie Scott was the first African-American basketball player to play at North Carolina. Really? Yeah. Charlie Scott.

SPEAKER_01

Well in the late 60s, the first, really the first black athlete to integrate major college basketball programs in the Deep South. That's right. That's incredible.

SPEAKER_02

Well, and it and it was enforced with a great coach, Dean Smith. Wow. Dean Smith knew he was gonna get a lot of slack from this, but he stood tall, and Charlie was a great athlete. And even it was other guys in the ACC that was, I want to say, might have been before Charlie, but Charlie really stood out because he was the first black.

SPEAKER_01

That's amazing. And to your point, Smith didn't just coach Scott, he stood behind him publicly and privately during an intense time of hostility, especially on the road in the ACC. So, and this is a going speaking to Dean Smith, known for insisting on team first principles, the discipline and dignity, which gave Scott this structure and protection for many black athletes at the time that they didn't have that.

Childhood Hoops And Family Memories

SPEAKER_02

It's a powerful story, and you know what was what was so amazing, Nora. My brother was a few years older than me, and he was my brother was pretty good. He was about six, my brother's like six three, and we go to the YMCA, man, and he people would call him Charlie Scott. He resembled him. Plus, he played like but but anyway, what great days though, man. I mean, my memories of um talking about basketball, I remember when I we became basketball junkies in our neighborhood, you know, but it it went to the YMCA. And man, when we went to the Y, man, oh man, we had battles. And just the pickup game happened. And then we we was that's when we start picking, well, who's your best team in college? Well, Carolina. Oh, come on, man, you know, and everybody was on the bandwagon, but somebody broke the mold and said, Well, I'm for the Blue Devils. I said, Where you come from? Get out of here, right?

SPEAKER_01

No, but it's fun, but I mean, I and I as a child uh in growing up, uh, we had a we had a um in our community, we had a basketball court, and every day after school, yeah, the neighborhood kids would get together and we would just play basketball till we couldn't run up and down that court any longer. And it was just, I mean, it's it's so it's special.

SPEAKER_02

My mom used to always say, Are y'all gonna take time to eat something? You just want to go play basketball. And we did, man.

SPEAKER_01

We slept it, we ate it, and well, those are the days where parents said, get out of the house, don't come back until you know it's dark. That's what's play play outside. We did, man. And also, you know, you couldn't you had you had to call on the landline sometimes and say, hey, can we go play, you know, and go meet up with friends and neighbors.

SPEAKER_02

And when I think about those days, I appreciated, you know, some of the times that we're in today. Because some of the things that was not in those times that we cherish today. But but my mom, man, she would always tell us. And then all of a sudden, when we had a goal in our yard, oh yeah, well, we knew we had to get it from somebody, and we heard about my mom. My mom was a good ball player. Really? And she was left-handed. It came, you the apple didn't fall far from the tree. And then one day she was out there playing with my brother, and I and I come around the corner, I said, Mom, you playing with us. And she did, man. I could hold her own. She did, man. I really appreciated that. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01

Those are it's important, these are special memories. And again, playing with your kids and playing in the in the driveway. Oh, man, it's not like it, man. My actually, my son just turned 17. Barkley turned 17 yesterday, and and uh I was giving him a hard time. I said, I can still beat you in basketball.

SPEAKER_02

He's like, No, no, you can't. Hey, I've gotten that story told to me. Said, Tip, you done hung him up. I said, Yes, I have. I'm not gonna compete anymore. The last time I played, I was working part-time at Mountain First Bank. And we told Lee Beeson and some of the guys uh that we wanted to get on the league, and we did. And man, I said, Man, that's the last time I picked up a ball. I was just out of shape. And you know, you got out there, man, you almost felt like you're gonna have a heart attack.

SPEAKER_01

But it's a game that that I can enjoy still on the TV in person, and well, and it's such a great sport, and it brings the community together.

SPEAKER_02

That's when you see the stars come back.

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_02

To games like that's coming up Saturday. Yep. But thanks, Joel.

SPEAKER_01

No, I always tippy, I always enjoy these conversations. I know you I mean, you know, the in uh yes, again, it's it's it's an it's important to have listen, life's we gotta have the life is short. Well, and life's a lot to be grateful for. And and you can have fun. Life, life can be challenging, and it's beautiful at the same time. Of course it is. And uh but it these ch these rivalries are fun to talk about, and I'm sure the conversation will continue.

Sports, Gratitude, And Community Ties

SPEAKER_02

So, Dad, Mr. Georgia, are you listening? So you're a Duke fan.

Market Snapshot: Low Inventory, Active Sales

Why Buy Before Spring

Life Events Drive Real Estate Decisions

Local Stats, Pricing, And Team Growth

How To Connect And Upcoming Open House

SPEAKER_01

It's all right. We'll be watching. Awesome. I appreciate that, Tippi. Grateful to have you just have the conversation. And listen, life's fun and and sports are absolutely far part of the uh can can be one of the things that we enjoy to to relax and think about. And it's the conversations we've had, and we've we've actually had uh you know, Roy Williams and his wife. They joined us on the radio a few a couple years ago with the Hometown Hero series. That was a fun conversation, and um, and that was great. And we and he has one of his uh homes here in our community, which we see him around town, always grateful and always say hello to him when I see him at the you know when he's getting breakfast or whatever. But you know, again, our community here in sports are so much part of it, and whether it's you know basketball or football, and uh just grateful. And and uh again, it's a fun rivalry, and we'll be watching it, and again, what a fun rivalry, and again, with so many, so much history behind it, and so much uh you know, so many stories, and again, only eight miles apart in the North Carolina Tar Hills and the Duke Blue Devils. So, you know, I promised that I'd share. We digress for a little bit. We talked about the we talked about what was going on in basketball, but you know, here's the interesting thing about what's going on in our market right now. We have low inventory right now, as of this morning, there's only 435 active single-family homes on the market. Only 435 active single-family homes on the market in Henderson County. We have very low inventory, and this is the interesting thing. We still had over a hundred homes sell and go under contract in January, and the market's moving. I mean, we're averaging 134, 135 single-family homes a month selling over the last over the last 12 months. Uh, inventory levels are low. You are gonna see this time of, you know, the spring comes along. This is just this is just classic the ebb and flow. You see buyers see buyers wanting to go buy homes, more buyers coming out, and you see the sellers that are saying, hey, I'm ready. This is springtime, and and there's this perception that homes sell better in the spring. But really, right now, really right now, you have less competition. There's there's a lot of conversations you know going on right now that we're having with buyers and sellers, people thinking about it. But the thing is, if you're planning to buy a home this year, you maybe focus on the spring market, and that's and then and you're hoping when the when the spring hits, you're hoping buyers are hoping for lower mortgage rates, they're hoping for more homes to hit the market. But you know, the thing is, buying just a few weeks earlier could mean paying less, dealing with less stress, and feeling less rushed. You can see this in our most recent blog post. You can go to George Rulesiggroupradio.com. Top three reasons to buy a home before this spring because a lot of buyers are hoping mortgage rates will fall even further. But that's not the best strategy, and here's why. Experts are pretty aligned on this. Rates are expected to stay roughly where they are. Forecasts throughout the industry all point to the same thing. Rates are projected to be in the low 6% range this year, and that's not a bad thing, especially if you consider how much rates have already come down over the last 12 months. They've actually dropped roughly a full percentage point, and for many buyers, that means affordability has already improved more than they may realize. And so the competition, if you're gonna wait, a lot of competition, a lot of you're gonna see more buyers in the market. So, you know, a quote recently from the head of economics research at Redfin said this house hunters should know that this may be the near the lowest mortgage rates fall for the foreseeable future. Again, the mar the rates they're anticipating for them to stay where they're at. The other thing is spring means more competition and more stress. The spring market is popular for a reason, but with popularity comes pressure. More buyers are active this time of year, and you'll have to move faster once you find a home you like. And no one likes to feel rushed. We have homes right now that are on the market, and there's a lot of buyers circling, and and and in and it's not uncommon. We are still seeing multiple offers happen. We're still seeing multiple offers happen in this market. Like I shared, currently, right now, Henderson County, only 435 active single-family homes on the market. Our inventory is low. If you look at the last 12 months, over 1,600 homes sold. I mean, so to be able to, again, to get ahead of the spring market, you know, if you're a seller, you know, you could put your home in the market and get with the low inventory levels. The market, we're averaging almost 135 single-family homes a month selling in Henderson County. Also, you know, this is so interesting. Homes sell faster in the spring and slower in the winter, and that can be a worthwhile perk for buyers who want to get ahead before their decisions start to feel rushed. Also, buyers forget the to factor in that prices usually respond when demand goes up. So when demand is higher, prices are too. Bank rate said this spring and early summer are the busiest and most competitive time of the year for the real estate market. Home prices tend to be steeper to reflect the increased demand. Also, data from the National Association of Realtors showed that in 2025, buyers who purchased in the beginning of the year saved roughly$30,000 to$35,000 to those who bought when prices peaked in the spring or early summer. So listen, but whether you're a buyer or a seller, and I've maintained this. I guess the thing is this you never want to feel pressured, nor should you feel pressured, and you don't want to feel like you have to make a quick decision. And there's a difference between being able to act quickly and making a quick decision. So when you work with a real estate professional and look at what's going on in the market, it's not about the time of year, it's about what's right for you. Real estate happens, therefore life happens. Life happens, therefore, real estate happens. They're interchangeable. These and here's the thing. Regardless of the interest rates, regardless of the economy, regardless of you know the job market, you know, houses are selling because life is happening. And we've been walking alongside with our buyers and sellers throughout the the different real estate markets. So the market is the market. And so when lot, you know, again, if you're if you're dealing with a very beautiful, positive, maybe your family's growing, maybe you got a new job, maybe it's a first-time homebuyer, maybe you're retiring. There's so many different reasons and beautiful positive reasons why people are buying and selling. Why people are getting into the market or selling their home. Then there's also challenging reasons why people are buying and selling. It could be a loss of a loved one, it could be a divorce or a job loss. I mean, these are real life things that happen in and we don't take it lightly when we walk alongside with our clients that are navigating through these circumstances in life. And so then again, because of life happening, you know, we see real estate still happening. 135 single-family homes a month are selling in Henderson County. And that's not even including condos or townhomes. This is single family. And we, of course, we're selling uh you know land and we're selling and we're also working with commercial and we're we're helping, you know, with condos and townhomes. But the market that just to give you a snapshot is the single-family home market. It's still very steady. In fact, we had an 8% increase in the number of homes sold in Henderson County in 2025 versus 2024. So the market was even increasing the number of homes selling. And we certainly are seeing with these interest rates being where they are in the in the low sixes, the market's you know moving. Uh our days on the market are a little bit longer. I mean, we're seeing about average 60 days in the market. You know, that's it's not a bad thing. Um, over uh about half of the homes sold in the last uh 12 months were sold in the first 30 days. Over half of them, though, took over 30 days to sell. So you know the market is is still moving. It's softening a little bit. The average single family home price in Henderson County uh over the last uh 12 months is at 544. And that's where we keep the the prices are holding. And it and again, it is it's just amazing to to have uh you know to see what's happening. We're here to provide clarity, we're here to provide information, we're having conversations every single day. Not to mention we're growing, we've had more agents join our team, and we're thrilled with that. We've we help more, we keep helping more people, and it's truly about serving and helping our community through real estate. And and again, if we can help you in any way, if you're just curious what your home is worth, if you're curious what the market's doing, if you're curious, can you sell before you buy? Can you buy before you sell? We've navigated those things, and we we are currently helping clients do that right now. This is uh, these are things that we do every single day, and even during the winter storms, we were helping clients, we were negotiating contracts, we're still negotiating and and walking through the logistics of everything. And so your unique situation, your unique home, it's a privilege and honor to help our clients. You can call us directly at 828-393-0134. 828-3930134. You can find us online at realestatebygreg.com. Encourage you to follow us on social media, Facebook and Instagram. We also podcast all of our radio shows. You can find that on your favorite podcast platform. Encourage you to follow us and and to check in. But we're here every Thursday morning. We love you heard earlier this morning, Tippi and I having conversation about life and basketball and you know the upcoming uh Duke and Carolina game uh this weekend, which will be fun. And again, hopefully the the weather uh it looks hopefully. I mean, we didn't I don't think anybody was expecting. I thought they thought it was more rain today than they thought it was gonna be snow. And of course, the kids got another day off. Well, not technically a day off. They have remote remote learning. Um, but again, a lot to be grateful for, and we're so thankful. If you want to uh read our blog, you can go to George Realestate Group Radio.com and see our blog post there. We also post our podcasts there. Um, and we have a number of different uh you know blogs there. You can also go to our website, realestate by greg.com. We're also located in Flat Rock. We serve all of Western North Carolina and the upstate. You can stop by Rainbow Row in Flat Rock. We'd love to buy a cup of coffee, stop in and say hello. We're there in Flat Rock, uh serving the community. Uh, but you can call us directly, 828-393-0134. Again, just grateful to serve the community through real estate. And um, and if you have ideas or suggestions or interviews or or different guests you think that might be a good match for us, you certainly have uh you know, certainly reach out to us. You know, we love having guests on the show, love sharing uh helpful information, and and we'll have more lenders, we'll have more home inspectors and and different contractors on the show this year to to have conversations. But if you have thoughts or suggestions, and of course, the hometown hero series is a privilege and honor to sponsor. We're here every Friday morning at 8 45. Tomorrow morning is our hometown hero is Katie Gash. And my daughter actually had an opportunity to participate in this United Ways Girls Empowered Manager, and it's Girls Empowered, or they or it's called Jim. G-E-M. And it's a weekly after-school program designed to increase self-esteem and school success for girls, and to help ensure that every girl in Henderson County's public school system has the opportunity to thrive as they reach for their goals. And we'll visit with Katie Gash tomorrow morning at 845, our hometown hero series, and talk about uh talk about Jim. But again, just so much to be thankful for. Again, we're here every Thursday morning at 10, right after the news. If we can help you in any way, give us a call, 828-393-0134. Find us online at realastatebygreg.com. Uh follow us on social media for our upcoming you know open houses and and listings that we have. And um we'll be doing um, we will be doing uh an open house uh on the 15th of February at Victoria Park Drive. You can find that on our social media. We'll be posting that. Um that'll be at uh from 2 to 4 on the 15th of February. But again, our open houses as they come scheduled, you'll be seeing them on our social media. Thank you so much for tuning in this Thursday morning. Uh have a wonderful day. Be safe, stay warm, and again, go check on your neighbors. But have a great day. We'll see you tomorrow morning. 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 ride-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.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you for listening to the George Real Estate Group Podcast. Tune in next time for more industry news, updates, and real estate tips. You can reach Greg, the George Real Estate Group, at 828 393 0134 or at realestatebygreg.com.