Fayetteville, NC Real Estate Blog

Here is an interesting site.  It is a site where consumers, playing the part of "Watchdog", can report the lowest gas prices they find in the area they are in around NC.

With today's ever soaring gas prices, 24th day in a row that prices have risen, this site makes finding the cheapest source of gas possible without wasting that precious supply in your tank.

When you visit the site you can search for your area by zipcode and it will show you what has been entered and at what time of the day it was entered. 

I can see these type sites gaining alot more traffic in the near future because of the state of the fuel prices.

When visiting the site, you will notice near the top on the right side that you can add a link of sorts to your site for this.  I have added it to my site and figure it is just one more way of providing service to the community.

Go ahead...check it out, your gas tank depends on it.

Recession.  That is an ugly word.  Unfortunately, it is one that we as a public are facing in today's times.

In my thoughts there are many different types of recessions.  The one that most focus on is the one involving the economy...I guess you could say that my personal recession is affecting my personal economy...

2008 has started off pretty good.  Had a buyer in the first part of Janurary close a home and has since referred several other buyers to me with those buyers making referrals as well.  So times are not bad, I have done good business so far this year, ranking as one of the top 10 in my office in sales so far this year.

My recession lately has been with listings.  Not a listing to be had in the past few months.  Maybe it is due to the stream of buyers that have been coming my way hurting my marketing efforts, maybe it is the "comfort factor" kciking in....feast or famine, we do only what we have to in order to survive....I don't know.

I do know that we are in a pinch right now.  What do I mean?  I mean it is hard to be either a buyer's agent or a listing agent right now.  Let me explain....

Buyer's agent:  As we all know gas is rediculous!  I joked with my mortgage team member the other day and told him I was going to have to come see him for a loan....he thougt I was talking about for a house...then I said I need to buy a tank of gas..LOL.  You really MUST pre-qualify your buyers, both in mortgage terms and level of commitment, now to make sure your dollars are being invested, notice I did not say spent, wisely.

Seller's agent:  Seller's are really having a hard time.  I suggest to other agents in my office to complete a CMA on any property they have listed on a WEEKLY basis until things turn around.  I can tell you that some of the buyers I have been having all have wanted to live in the same neighborhood for some reason.  I will be closing on #3 in that neighborhood in June and possibly working on #4 - SO I KNOW THAT NEIGHBORHOOD and what the houses are appraising at.  This has benefited my buyers twice....making offers that seem low, countering and then having the appraisal come back in the range I selected thereby resulting in the seller lowering the price.  If the listing agents are not doing CONSTANT CMA's then they are not on top of what is happening in this area and the sellers are not going to be happy.

Anyway....I am back at my FSBO efforts hard and heavy as I see new signs popping up almost daily.  So hopefully the recession, at least my personal one, will subside soon....but you can rest assured my CMA software will get a workout when it does.

Well, we are here.  Rediculous gas prices and getting worse almost daily and it seems that our government doesn't want to help us do anything about it. 

I don't know about you but the current gas prices are affecting every part of the local economy around here and even though most don't want to admit it, they are hurting.  The government is still denying that we are in a recession but the signs are everywhere.  Spending is down, prices are up and people are struggling to survive.

I am an avid Craigslist fan.  I peruse the pages of the local areas daily just to see what is out there.  An insider's tip is that if you have the means to buy something you want, now is the time to do it.  People are needing to liquidate items for the cash and the deals are there, BUT that is NOT the point of this blog.

The point is....people need help.  Sure, most people got themselvess in the situation that they are in, there is no denying that.  Years of using credit cards and living either at or beyond their means have made a recipe for disaster and that disaster is becoming a reality...QUICKLY.

But, putting that aside, we should come togther as a country and help one another instead of letting the "feast or famine" mentality take over.

Take for instance...oil prices.  Here is a chart that shows the history of the price of a barrell of oil.  Is the picture a little clearer now?  Still think we are not either in, or rapidly heading towards a recession?

That red line is an ugly thing to look at.

We as consumers are being robbed by the gas stations and oil companies. They are all laughing all the way to the bank at the expense of our pocket books. And, of course this high price will land at the grocery store, department store, etc real soon too, so it's just not filling my gas tank - it's an entire trickle down effect. Maybe it's time the oil company executives and gas station owners start fearing facing some prison time for the activities they are participating in, robbing the people of this country and our economy.

We currently are in a credit crunch with all of the foreclosures out there because of all of the creative financing that was offered to individuals. Will we have another wave of foreclosures because people cannot afford to pay their mortgage and put gas in their tanks so they can go to work, put food on the table, clothes on their backs, etc? Eventually people will need to make choices - what or WHO is going to suffer?

It's time our government do something about this. If record profits are being made, then why do I have to be so broke because of the price at the pump and it's trickle down effect. It's time to put regulations on the oil companies and gas stations.

Sometimes my mind wonders.  Sometimes my unbridled imagination goes back to a care-free childhood state and just takes off and discovers new ideas and the possiblities of each.

With today's gas prices, I am working from home more often as are some other real estate professionals in my area.  Driving into the office without a definite "something needing to be done" seems to be a waste of the precious and getting really expensive fuel.

Today is one of those days.  Weatherman is calling for rain and nothing absolutely pressing on the schedule so, I decided to work from my home. 

Having two large dogs in the house on a rainy day can become a work challenge to say the least.  Not only that the constant "give me a treat or play with me" barks can really slow work.  So after dropping my son off at Grandma's for the day I came back to the house and thought...."I can work in my travel trailer."  Only made sense...I have power, a bathroom, water, comfortable seating, a television and a radio (for background noise) and the most important thing...piece and quiet.

Got me thinking.  Has there been any mobile real estate agents?  Not the ones who work from the car, but truly a mobile office.  Self contained and able to host clients in comfort and effciently.

So off to the wonderful world of Google.  A little searching did, in fact, turn up at least one agent out in the western part of the US that is doing just this.  A completely mobile office setup.

Here is the information on her page about her "mobile office":

http://www.maryryan.com/mobile.htm

Here is a story written about her:

http://www.maryryan.com/kelly.htm

I did find this  quite interesting and do see the possibilities, but is it feasible with today's high fuel prices?

I could definetely see the possibilities and the instant accesibility benefits to the client.

Think I will go and invite her to AR!

I know this is kind of off topic when it comes to real estate, but since I am "The Real Estate Biker" I felt it was an important reminder.

Every year come winter, motorcycles slowly dissapear from the roadways of our towns and cities not to reappear until the warmth of spring arrives. 

Now that it is May, the riding season is in full swing.  Motorcycles are everywhere!  Be sure and take a moment to look and then LOOK AGAIN to make sure that the person who is riding on the motorcycle has an opportunity to go home to their loving family at the end of the day.

The video is entitled, "You didn't see me"

Please take a moment and watch and let the message settle in....after all, it could be me on that motorcycle...You didn't see.