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First, our market is the NC Triangle Market, with Raleigh NC at the center.

Second, real estate agents don’t own a crystal ball. We cannot materialize buyers.  We don’t actually control the rotation of the earth.  Hurts to admit that.  FORTUNATELY we have access to market experts who can tell us what to expect.  Here, (Triangle, remember?) we have FIVE THOUSAND PEOPLE A MONTH moving in, according to the Triangle Business Journal.  I know that’s true when I drive around.  And, our market is predicted to keep right on humming along.  Hmmmm.  I wonder if the Journal are biased in any way.  Don’t think so.  Why?

Our area ranks fourth in the US, behind Seattle, Austin and San Francisco.  People love it here, particularly people from NY, CO, NJ, FL, TX and AZ (again, according to the Business Journal).  Why?  Tech jobs, healthcare jobs, universities, and just plain awesomeness.  That’s from me.  I live here and I work in real estate.  We are halfway between north and south east coast, halfway between mountains and coast.  I know, the only reason people from Seattle would come here is 1) job; 2) running away from something.  That’s a joke.  No, not really.

Well what happened in Dec and Jan around here then??  Well, holidays, interest rate shock, actually nose bleed from the fast elevation of interest rates, price increase of everything needed to survive, and maybe sheer exhaustion from 2022.  But things are beginning to normalize and will continue to do so, and people realize that even with a 6.5% interest rate, you can still buy a home.  And don’t forget that lenders are working hard to make it possible to get a loan.  Relax!  You can do this!  My first home carried an interest rate of SIXTEEN PERCENT and that was with perfect credit.  Seriously, relax.  I did it in my 30’s.  You can do this.

We have to keep an eye on the tech PLANS, because there are supposed to be some big dogs coming in to our area who may be slowed down because of inflation and all of the accompanying poop storm.  But they still have to have a ‘forward’ team who need housing and my expectation that they will 1) buy rather than rent; and 2) look in the luxury market.  Let’s see how that goes, because that’s a wild guess.  I do know that executives are ‘expected’ to live to a certain standard.  In other words, don’t count on them to buy the flipper house.

I have seen an early bump in activity in my business.  Normally my market wakes up and stretches in February’s but it started stretching in January.  That’s early.  So far, that’s supporting the TBJ prediction about the health of our market for 2023.  In the 2008 crash, as a reminder, we were the LAST in the US to fall, and the FIRST to start climbing out.  This wasn’t a crash, it was a forced nap; so we should be fine.

If you want to buy, you should still expect to put some cash up front on the table.  Due diligence, earnest money, inspections, etc.  Want to get a handle on that stuff?  I can help.  NOTE: Real estate laws in NC are not the same as those in TX, FL, CO, NJ, NY, AZ.  Yes you have the internet, but yes, you need an agent.  Because this is NC.

If you want to SELL, by February, you should be calling me to list your home, because by March it’ll be a race again.  I’m Brenda with Coldwell Banker Advantage.  Call me.