December 2003 Archived Columns

12/27/2003

After two weeks of pretty dreary weather, we’re seeing some beautiful days, and temperatures are warming up nicely. Yesterday was in the 50s, and the 60s are predicted for today. The little snowfall we had on the 18th was nicely seasonal, and it gave people a chance to get some winter photographs. It wasn’t much of a traffic problem, except on some of the ridge tops. It was pretty much business as usual on the major roads.

The deer still seem to be in the rut. The other day, I saw a very nice 8 point buck pursuing a doe in broad daylight just off the road at the base of Piney Mountain. He looked a little distracted, to say the least. I’ve also seen the mergansers that I occasionally see on Hemptown Creek several times. We’re about to enter the breeding period for great horned owls, but they have seemed a little rarer than usual around our place this year.

We had a very good year in the office in 2003, with our overall sales up over 40%. It’s been a little slow for the past couple of weeks, which I attribute more to the weather than the time of year, because the days leading up to the holidays were mostly cloudy and cold, not really suitable for showing view property.

At this point, I don’t have a firm prediction for the first quarter of the new year. Last year, we had the best first quarter ever, primarily because people were disgusted with the stock market. Whether that will play quite the same way this year remains to be seen, because there has been some very positive movement in the market lately. My best guess is that we will have more of a normal first quarter this year, which means that it should be a good time for bargain hunters and people who are looking for acreage. The past year was not particularly kind to people who wanted to sell acreage priced over $100,000, and it’s quite possible that there are some bargains to be had on acreage. In terms of cabins, as I’ve often said before, cabin owners in resort markets are rarely highly motivated, but if they are, the winter months are the time.

I still have one of the best view cabins in the county listed, MLS 92210. It’s listed at $239,900 and I can honestly say that I think it has to best view I’ve ever seen in the county, from the beginnings of the Nantahalas in North Carolina to almost the entire Cohutta Range in Tennessee and Georgia. It’s a chalet style, very open to the sun, and it has good privacy.

Local developer Tom Carroll has announced plans to build a 350 acre golf course development on the Toccoa River, just upstream from Curtis Switch. The development is sited on one mile of river frontage, and will be the first of its kind in Fannin County. If it’s done well, it will bring something to Fannin County that we haven’t been able to offer people to date. With this announcement, I expect the value of other large blocks of land in Fannin County that might host this type of development to increase in value. Speaking of land with development potential, I currently have 39 acres listed that adjoin My Mountain, one of our most prestigious developments. At $7900 an acre, it’s well priced (MLS 92705). I also have about 85 acres off Salem Road, with Hot House Creek frontage, at $8990 per acre (MLS 88003).

Don’t forget to check the calendar listings for a couple of options for New Year’s Eve, and we wish everyone a happy, safe, and prosperous New Year!

12/8/2003

It’s been rather chilly in the morning lately. This morning was about 26º on the porch, but it warmed up to the mid-50s by afternoon. Yesterday was also a beautiful day that warmed up nicely, and there was considerable snow visible on the Big Frog, on Cowpen Mountain, and on Watson Mountain in North Carolina.

It’s well past time to winterize. If you’ve still got that to do, I’ve got pretty good instructions on my column for 10/28 (in the archives below).

We’re still fairly busy in the office, but it is definitely time for bargain hunters to come up and have a look. We had a great first quarter last year, because people were disgusted with the stock market. If that happens again, we’ll have a very brief window for bargain hunters before the new year starts.

It’s also time to come up and look at land. Sales this last half of the year on acreage listed over $100,000 have been slow, so it’s possible that we’ll have some motivated sellers with the prospect of winter coming. It’s the right time to look at land. When the leaves are off, you can really see and evaluate property because it’s easy to see exactly how the land lays.

I did a little research the other day on our land sales, and I discovered that the average sale price per acre in Fannin has been about $7333 for tracts of over ten acres. Of course, this is everything, from creek front to pasture, but it is a useful point of reference. In general, anything under $7000 per acre is getting to be something of a bargain, and under $6000 is becoming “dirt cheap.”

Our new courthouse is nearing completion, and the move is supposed to start on December 18 with offices open in the new facility on January 2. If there’s any doubt in your mind about the need for this new facility, I suggest you visit the old courthouse while you still can. It’s simply antiquated and very crowded. For those of us who are in the courthouse researching deeds and plats every day, it will be a welcome change. By the way, the plans are to move the deed books last, but it is still reasonable to assume that there may be some delays in title searches and thus closings in Blue Ridge during the period of the move.

As we gear up for the holidays in the mountains, we invite you all to come up and enjoy a little country fun and relaxation over the next few weeks. There isn’t much happening on the December calendar, but I’ll try to get it posted soon, along with a few suggestions for a real country New Year’s celebration or two.

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