Food for thought, January 31, 2015

I remember hearing the interview with an economist just as it was evident that we as a country were in the slide to a great depression, now named The Great Recession. He remarked that he could see more people renting (this as the foreclosures swelled and seemed to be the harbinger of what was to unfold), because if a person lost their job, had a new job offer in hand somewhere else, yadda, yadda, they could just pick up and go.

And in a way that made sense except what about our perceived notion that real estate holdings can yield personal wealth  and more?( I thought at the time, ”Well that makes sense to the investor who can have someone else pay for the investment even considering that the capitol built the place and maybe that was risky, okay it is/was risky but certain risks can also be tax breaks) So here come the Millennia's who it is reported do not leap to buy cars, run to purchase homes and condos, prefer walking, bicycling, sharing rides, well, yes, even sharing apartments, renting out a room in their apartment, being big buyers in consignment shops. Yeah! ( I am no stranger to GW.)
So as Charlotte, N.C. is poised to host thousands and thousands and thousands of renters, who have no investment in the city, have no need for maintenance and repair and remodel, can just pick up and leave at any time that suits their plans, this sounds pretty attractive. But what about those of us who bought into home and hearth? Paint and planting pansies? Maintaining the streets, the public areas, the schools (though we don't do this well, nor do we take care of our teachers)

Charlotte is on the brink of being the Queen City of Apartments.
Why should this concern us as brokers? We help folks buy and sell. What should we care?
Let's listen to all the developers and builders with their charts and graphs and projections and not even look at our own infrastructure. Seem silly? That is what I feel we are doing. I am going off here on maybe a deep end, but I feel that the people tending the store have Gone Fishing.

My gut tells me we indeed are entering a phase that will be akin to the frog in water. By the time we think we should jump out it will be too late. Money is not bad, only in the hands of those who have nothing else but money and power and that is addictive. They want it all. You know, someone is off track when they say, “Now I can have it all.” And because you have been there and came to your senses through a rude awakening or a wiser voice, you got out and realize “Less is more.”

Maybe it is about stuff. All the stuff we gather and collect and buy for ourselves, maybe others. Our economy is based on consumer spending. Hello! And why do we do that? Because we can. Many can.

to be continued

 

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Look What We Found!

The Real Estate Lady®
with Condo Cando ®

Just When Charlotte Needs a Super Hero!

January 28, 2015
 We know you know we know to be on the lookout for a map plotting/ showing where the many apartment buildings, new or near new are in Charlotte, NC, our hometown. And where are the ones that have been announced or proposed? No luck in the government hallways so far but look what we found by asking the erstwhile Google. Fantastic...Thanks to The Charlotte Observer. This will be a great start to the project and what a good, no, make that great start.http://bit.ly/1DhU0EN
Why is this important?
Density,
traffic,
parking,
engineering
and can we trust this scenario?

Haven't we seen the builders and developers in Charlotte and coming from other states,  and countries all jump aboard ship many years ago right on the cusp of The Great Recession?Had they all been started Charlotte would look like Planet of the Apes. Is it enough the say Charlotte is the fastest growing city in the country and is that a reason to be pompous enough the believe everyone is finding their way here. Like being on their way right now?
I allude the naysayer tag, but my intuition has been throwing down the red flag for months. We have some more info to post soon on the subject of too many too soon.

Later,

Lynnsy and Condo Cando®


 

 

http://bit.ly/1DhU0EN

The Anachronism of Real Estate

January 26, 2015

There is a place I go to explore time, to examine the minutes and lay them out, walk up a hill and look down to see what direction they point to or from side to side to determine if I am seeing the future or looking at the past.

Out of the city, out of my sequestered small neighborhood, driving down a two lane road, the back way to other two lane roads, the fog is thick now and it starts raining. I could be in the sky or in the ocean. I feel I am close to the runway. Another hour, I will have finished all the turns and be set to take off.

 The road narrows a bit. There are no other cars. The fog is very, very light, like a portrait filter.  This is the past and the future. This is the country. Small houses or large, with barns or garages  or a tin roof to protect a car or truck. Single mobile homes with scattered yard furnishings, a gas station with flickering lights and space. The branches and bodies and crowns and bareness of old trees catch my breath and spin me away out there beyond the windshield. The world has a light gossamer shield, the world is still and I recall this road.

But it has changed. And I am surprised. This is a country road and there are farms around, and homes of workers who tend the fields and fix the tractors and herd the cows and gather eggs and feed the horses and built the fences and work in the small towns up and down the road and out past the Interstate and now, some are vacant. The old gas station where stone and wood were stacked for sale is vacant, gone. The Great Recession smashed them down and I do not think they will come back because the only thing holding them together were the people. The people and their families and their friends and their communities and their work, their jobs. They are gone and I do not think or feel they will come back. I had not expected to see this. I thought this road, the symbols on this road were basic, were somehow eternal, the heart of country even though it changed, even though the tide came and went, this was the heartland.

And in the city, where I live and work, I feel an imbalance as well. All is not as it seems. Higher priced homes are selling, and the prices increase because demand is there and loans are attainable. Mid-priced homes and entry level, not so much. There is a lot of glitter and the money changers are present. Times are changing fast and we must be careful what we ask for.