Fredericksburg Texas

In the previous post, I stated my opinion that “land” was the hot mover in Fredericksburg Texas real estate.  I love being right!  Tierra Grande Journal of the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University recently published an article entitled “Jumpin’ on the Land Wagon”.  As soon as they post the edition to their website, I will provide a link for you to read the full text and see all the pretty graphics.  In the meantime, exerts include:

• “Texas land markets are exceptionally robust.  The accelerating market of the past five years has driven return to levels approaching the historic highs of the 1970s.”  Notice they said “returns”, not “prices”, there is a difference!
• “In this environment, demand has become an investment-based driving force for a market teeming with buyers.  Tax advantages gained from reinvestment in a 1031 exchange reduces effective prices for those cashing out of investments in other properties.”
• “The current market is characterized by a prevalence of cash investments, which was not the case in the 1980s.  Most landowners will not face the prospect of loan default in the event of an economic turndown.”
• “without a cataclysmic shock to the economy, continued income growth along with reduced federal taxation point to a ready supply of cash seeking an investment home.  Nothing currently on the horizon signals a 1980s style crash or even a marked slowdown in land price appreciation.  Prospects in the near future seem to favor strong performance.”
• “Since 2001, Texas land markets have provided increasingly generous returns.  A brief bout of weak price growth immediately after the 9-11 attack was followed by a pronounced rebound that continues today.  Price growth has ranged sharply higher than the previous five years, with returns consistently outpacing both inflation and the performance of treasury securities.”

The hot thing going (at the moment) seems to be “land”.  The fewer improvements the better.  I’ve been fielding a lot of inquiries from folks looking for 50-100 acres, with views and access to good water within 10 miles of town.  Of course, there is very little (to nothing) available that meets this description so if any potential sellers of this property type are reading this, please call me!

New homes continue to move well.  The hot area continues to be Stone Ridge with Cross Mountain West following a distant second.

Residential lots continue to sell very well.  The 6^th phase of Stone Ridge sold about 80% of the lots within the first week of their offering.  Cool Water Ranch (an “acreage” subdivision just outside of town) has seen good activity as well.

Slow sellers continue to be homes in need of substantial remodeling and “over-improved” ranch property.  Prices from homes in need of repair are such that buyers are unable to justify the high buy-in price added to the increasing cost of remodeling.  An “over-improved” ranch is a subjective animal that is best described as a ranch with game fencing, paved roads, barns, corrals, pens, multiple wells, dams, landingstrips and enormous haciendas.  Today’s ranch buyers seem to be seeking a blank canvas.

Do I have statistics to back up the above?  No, these comments are merely reflect my current activity and my observations of the MLS (what’s for sale, what’s under contract or pending, what’s selling and the days on market).  In the recent re-design of our MLS, our illustrious leaders changed how the data is tracked.  Statistics are no longer broken down to the detail they once were (e.g. areas C-1, C-2, C-3, etc. and R-1, R-2, etc) and are, instead, placed into generic categories such as “City-Southwest”, City-Northwest”, “County-Northwest”, etc.

The dumbing-down of our business continues unabated!  How are we to speak with any authority on market conditions when the very systems that were supposed to allow data tracking no longer do so in any meaningful way?  Oh well, Onward through the fog!

Do you prefer Buyer or Sellers?  It’s a question often asked of agents selling real estate in Fredericksburg Texas.  The PC answer is “I love working with all people!”.  The real answer is somewhat more complicated and very much dependent on personalities, experience and (to some degree) resource.

I’ve heard agents say that you have to “list to last”.  This is based on the assumption that a steady inventory of items offered for sale assures you of a steady income.  After all, the listing agreement guarantees an agent payment when the house sells.  Throw into the mix the cost of marketing a listing (ads, signs, flyers, internet, etc.) and the uncertainty that the property will actually sell and things don’t look quite so “guaranteed”.

Concentrating on Buyers of real estate in Fredericksburg Texas has its own set of risks.  First and foremost is the common saying among agents that “buyers are liars”.  You can spend a huge amount of time and resources playing the Chamber of Commerce tour guide to buyers that are either unable to buy (anytime soon) or have no intention of buying.  Worse still are the buyers that you spend time showing around who then drop the “my brother-in-law is an agent” bomb on you.

I suppose the bottom line is that you have to find a happy medium of both Buyers and Sellers to make a decent living selling real estate.  My preferences lean towards buyers.  The reality is that I am “selling” Fredericksburg first, homes (land, ranches, etc.) second and myself as a knowledgeable, likeable guy third.  If done right, I get a sale, a new neighbor and a new friend!

Wow is it hot here in Fredericksburg Texas!  Duh, it July in Texas!  More to the point, the real estate market in Fredericksburg Texas continues its steady growth at rates that seem to be sustainable for the foreseeable future.

Don’t ask me how global current events are going to affect the market because I don’t know.  I will; however, refer you to previous posts where I argue (rather persuasively, I think) that real estate “is local”.  Sure, national and global economic and financial trends affect interest rates, money supply, etc. and those things can affect demand and therefore sales, but local factors tend to lessen the impact of these uncontrollable events.

The latest example I can site revolves around the ever-increasing price of gasoline.  While this phenomenon has dampened consumer confidence and affects how we travel, it has benefited Fredericksburg Texas in that travelers are tending to stay closer to home.  Folks in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas and Houston that may previously have traveled to the east or west coasts on the traditional great American summer road trip are instead discovering (re-discovering) the charms of  Fredericksburg and the Hill Country.  More visitors make the local merchants happy and leads to potential new residents for the area.

Only time will tell how long the good times continue to roll, but I’m willing to bet that we are still on the “upswing”.

I love quotes.  Referring to the wisdom of others and learning from the past are two of the great things that I “get” out of quotes.  There is a great on-line resource for quotes called Wikiquote , check it out.

While browsing one day for quotes that might relate to real estate sale (in general) and Fredericksburg, Texas (in particular), I came across one that says “Real estate agents are God’s plague upon mankind when locusts are out of season”.  True pearls of wisdom!  The unsolicited calls, the refrigerator magnets, postcards, etc. are tools of annoyance and (frankly) inexperience.

Why, you might ask, am I dissing my fellow real estate “professionals”?  Unfortunately, I have come to realize that a growing majority of agents are not “professional” in any way, shape or form.  Sadly, agents today have a mind-set that the money is easy and the clients are stupid.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Clients today are smarter, savvier and better informed than at any time in the past.  Armed with knowledge (and in most cases, experience) clients are increasingly seeking out representatives that exhibit professionalism and experience. Culling through the masses of agents hawking their wares like used car salesmen, however, can be a trying and frustrating experience.

So what’s a buyer or seller of real estate in Fredericksburg Texas to do?  Seek out knowledge, seek experience, seek out an agent who has a “dog in the hunt” and remember, Experience Matters

I was tempted to begin this post with a rip against those who have failed to heed the call to help out a fellow citizen and dedicated public servant (see previous post Officer Needs Assistance) but instead I choose to pay my respect to those that did take the time and effort to help.

With the publicity we’ve managed to generate for the cause of helping the wife of police officer Sgt. Brian Haley (newspaper articles, e-mail campaign, etc.) I estimate that word of our efforts to raise funds to offset the cost of Melissa’s heart surgery has reached no fewer than 9,000 people and an untold number of businesses and other organizations.

As a seller of real estate in Fredericksburg Texas, I was particularly focused on the realtor community in my personal efforts to help Brian and Melissa.  Of the 9,000 or so reached by various methods, a small handful (6 at last count) have given of their hearts, of the 200 or so realtors who were reached repeatedly via e-mail 11 were generous with their support.  To these 17, I say THANK YOU.  Your efforts and contributions have, literally, saved Melissa’s life.  Your donations allowed the life-giving surgery to proceed and succeed.  THANK YOU!

Think about it.  17 out of 9,000.  You guys are the 2/10 of 1% of the population who are selfless enough to consider the needs of another human being and act accordingly.  The key word here is “act”.  Lots of others probably “feel her pain” but lacked the will, resources or compassion to follow up with action.  You 2/10 of 15 should be proud of yourselves, you are truly remarkable and (as the numbers suggest) rare!  THANK YOU!