The Greek philosopher Heraclitus long ago observed that no person steps into the same river twice. It doesn’t matter if it’s a river in Greece or the French Broad—the drops of water that make up that river are going to have come from a different place. More importantly, the person stepping into the river the second time is going to be more experienced, a little bit more mature, and maybe even a little wiser.
In other words, change is constant and inevitable.
For someone who’s about to wade into the Western North Carolina real estate market at the end of 2022, this should come as no surprise. There is no denying that the market is changing. Interest rates are climbing higher, and many house hunters are starting to wonder…
Is This a Good Time to Buy?
Yes! As LandCrazy senior broker Tom Curé notes, if you plan on buying a property that you plan to live on for years to come, now is always the time to buy. Prices may rise and fall as the housing market goes through cycles of boom and bust, but the general trend is ever-upward and that is unlikely to change for decades because homebuilding has not kept pace with population growth. Even by the most conservative estimates, the nation is short 1 million housing units. That gap isn’t going to be closed anytime soon.
When Is a Good Time to Sell?
Today! Though markets appear to have peaked in the short-term, there are still tons of people who are hungry to buy property in Western North Carolina. True, you’re not likely to see a bidding war erupt over a small lot on a steep slope, but this continues to be a hot market. More importantly, there are steps that landowners can take to make their properties more appealing to sellers.
The first is to build something. Once your property has a structure on it, it immediately makes it more marketable. Second, you can subdivide larger lots into smaller ones. Tom notes that he recently saw an 80-acre property sit on the market for years. After breaking it up into four 20-acre lots, it sold in 30 days. Finally, and perhaps most importantly of all, you’re going to want a broker who knows Western North Carolina and how to navigate through changing market conditions.
The Land Crazy Experience
In his nearly two decades of experience in Western North Carolina real estate, Tom has crossed a lot of rivers and successfully navigated this industry in good times and bad. More importantly, he’s emerged a little more mature, a little wiser, and a maybe little weirder (it is Asheville after all). Though it can be scary to take the plunge when you’re buying or selling a property as conditions change, having an experienced guide like Tom to help you along can make the process less daunting and more rewarding.