Lunch and Learn

Yesterday I had the great opportunity to be a part of a panel discussing the home buying process at the Fayetteville Young Professionals monthly Lunch and Learn.  We had a wonderful turnout and a great discussion which included several intelligent questions from those in attendance.  I always enjoy talking about real estate with people that are not in the business.  It reassures me of what points my profession needs to get across to the general public.  I think that in every business we take for granite that public understands what we do and how our business works.  What becomes easy and routine for you is in fact not that at all. Not that real estate is routine because every day a new twist can be thrown in to your day, but things such as pricing and marketing a home which are second nature for me are actually very difficult things which have become easy to me. This applies to all lines of work.

Fayetteville Young Professionals or (FYP) is such a great organization in Fayetteville.  It is an organization under the Chamber of Commerce in which young people are given great opportunities to network, learn valuable information, and in the end grow as professionals.  If you live in Fayetteville and are under the age of 40 I strongly encourage you to join FYP. More information about FYP including how to join can be found at http://www.fayyp.org/

Visiting Ft. McPherson

Last week Lauren and I had the wonderful opportunity to visit Ft. McPherson, GA. and participate in the BRAC housing fair which took place in the commons on post.  With the exception of a few times when I was a kid this was the first opportunity that I have had to visit a military base.  I was completely blown away with how beautiful the area was inside the gates.  Ft. McPherson was full of rolling hills, landscaped walking trails, and an incredible golf course that looked as nice as many country clubs. 

We arrived at 10:00 a.m to set up for a 12:00 start to the housing fair.  The first half hour or so was very slow and some people began to wonder if there would be more more vendors than customers.  After the slow start people began to circulate around the room and we had a steady flow until the event was over at 4:00 p.m.  After speaking with several people one thing became very clear, everyone was looking to rent.    Most people are unable to sell there home in the greater Atlanta area and are unable to carry two mortgages.  Many people have been told they would only be at Ft. Bragg for 18 months and others just wanted to rent in order to scope out the area before making a decision of where to live in the area.  There were about 140 relocating soldiers who attended the fair so overall this is a small sample of the total number of people who will make the move to Ft. Bragg.  Estimates now show between 10,000 and 20,000 new residents will relocate to Ft. Bragg because of BRAC.  My company has a huge property management department that manages around 1,100 properties so we were able to provide great information to those who were there.  We were able to have many great conversations with the soldiers there about Fayetteville and what the city has to offer.  Because Lauren moved here from D.C she could relate to everyone there about moving from a big city to Fayetteville.

Overall I thought our trip was a success.  Although it was a little disappointing to find out that so many people were looking to rent instead of buy, we had a great presence there that I think made a huge impact.    This is also a great time for people to consider purchasing a larger home and renting the current home they are in.  That is a great way to own rental property at a good interest rate without having to put down a large down payment.

Realtors and lenders setting up booths at the Ft. McPherson housing fair

view of the golf course from the Commons at Ft. McPherson