Mark Hendry : Blue Ridge Real Estate Pro in the North Georgia Mountains

Yeah, I know I'm way too positive, but it beats the alternative. I'd rather be wrong and get disappointed than be pessimistic and right, any day. So here's some more positive market news I've come across.

Dr. Mark Zandi, cheif economist for Moody's Economist.com announced the bottom of the housing downturn is in sight for the nation. Bottom line: That's one bottom I'd be happy to kiss.

Even newspapers like The Wall Street Journal, known for it's negative, bearish view of the country's economic situation, ran a headline stating, "It's Finally Time To Dive Into The Housing Market." The article talked about how lowered housing prices are making owning a home possible for people that found the prior market too high priced for thier budgets. That's a positive spin on things.

So mortgage rates continue to hover at historic lows and home inventories are decreasing. I think it's not unrealistic to think that better tax credits are eminent for home buyers. So I think, all that, combined with the latest positive market activity should get all those home buyers and investors that have been waiting for the market to hit bottom, to get off their bottoms and buy! It's better than all the negative news out there on the real estate market. Most of it makes you want to bend over and kiss your bottom good-bye.

I know lots of agents happy to share their woes of how the market has all dried up, but I'd love to hear the flip side, that for some folks out there, things are picking up. Please give me a shout out if things are picking up for YOU!

Maybe if we get enough positive news out there, we can tip the scales back in our direction. That, or maybe I just have my head up my bottom, after all.

I wanted to take this opportunity to give a shout out to my amazing wife, Ginny. No, we aren’t having a fight, this is not a “make up” blog, and it’s nowhere near Mother’s Day or our anniversary.

I am just awestruck these days, by the time and energy she puts into being a kick-butt housewife and mother. It’s not just that she is exceptional at a job that has somewhat fallen into obscurity in these modern times. And I admit, it seems as though it can be an unending, thankless job… so I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank her publically, and share what I have noticed as what can only be called an underappreciated, sometimes, dying, art form; the art of being a great house wife and mother.

5 years ago, my wife and I were both busy business owners. We had 3 children, but little time to spare. We decided to make a shift in our focus, and moved to Blue Ridge, Georgia to regroup and focus on family.

After taking some time to get settled in, and set up in our new lifestyle, we agreed that I could go back to work, in Real Estate, but my wife, a writer by trade, could stay home and do her writing and be a Mom.

As it turns out, I’ve got it easier, most days. I go to work, while she gets the kids off to school, tends to her menagerie of animals, including horses, llamas, rabbits, chickens, a donkey, 2 dogs, and a cat. Then she works on writing and marketing her new projects, as well as cleaning, cooking, and tending to the homestead.

Not only do I come home many evenings to find a beautiful home-cooked dinner on the table, served by a beautiful woman, but this gal even finds the time to iron my shirts and sew missing buttons back in place, (that my well-fed waistline pops astray.) I didn’t know that kind of woman existed anymore, but I’m dang appreciative that my wife turned out to be one of them.

It must be noted that Ginny is also a super hero in the kitchen. She not only makes and bakes everything from scratch, and when I say from scratch, I mean she goes out and gets the eggs from her chickens she raises, and the honey from her bee hives, and the vegetables from her garden, but she even makes her own wine from the fruits that grow on the land we live on. And she is a gourmet in the kitchen, whose only downfall is she is so adept at trying new recipes, if you like something she makes, it’s rare you get it again, as she is always trying something new, and it all tastes amazing.

The best part of this change we’ve made is that I know our children will never forget it. They are so happy in the midst of all this world turmoil, it just feels good to be able to see them this way. They love their lives, and having their mother their as a significant part of these childhood years, and they will have that forever. I think they appreciate it more because they remember that we didn’t always have it this good.

I just want her to know I recognize her sacrifice and diligent work on daily basis, and I appreciate her on so many levels, I cannot begin to express my grattitude and undying love.

If NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS, then it follows that GOOD NEWS IS GREAT NEWS! OK, I am really pushing the positive spin on recent real estate market activity, but I am just so excited to have some upward movement in the market. Did you know...

• According to NAR's Pending Home Sales Index, December 08 sales were up by 6.5% nationally and in the South, January 09 sales are up by 13%. That may not be a rebound, but it is a significant positive movement.
• According to NAR specialist, Dr. Lawrence Yun, home affordabliity is the best it's been in 39 years! Maybe that has something to do with improved sales.
• A Realty TImes report shows that National home inventories have dropped 18% in the past month, the lowest it's been since May 07.

Now it may be premature, but not only do we have good news on the market activity as of late, the stimlus package is not even approved yet, and that is sure of 2 things. 1. It will have some type of real estate home buyers incentive as part of it's widespread plan of attack on economic stagnancy, and, thus 2. It will have a positive effect on the home sales in the real estate market. So that means there is more good news in our future. Keep a postive thought.

My wife, Ginny, and I ran our own business for 20 years, side-by-side. We were fortunate enough to come to the same conclusion at the same time, that we were done with the frantic pace and endless hours of running our own business, and we were both ready to make a midlife move. We sold “the farm”, or rather we “bought the farm”, and started a new life here in Blue Ridge, Georgia, on 50 beautiful acres.

A big part of the decision was our concern that our children were growing up so fast, and if we didn’t do something to change the pace and focus of our lives, we were going to miss the whole parenting experience. The kids had become just another one of our responsibilities to tend to; another item on our endless list of things to do, but what’s the point of having kids, if it’s not to enjoy the process of having them and raising them? When we asked ourselves that question, we knew something had to be done.

So we moved to Blue Ridge, Georgia, where the pace of life is a lot slower, but the focus on family and community is a lot more prevalent. We took some time to just be with our kids, and get to know them as they change and grow into young adults, and low and behold, they changed, too. They got energized, well balanced, and stopped any acting out or moodiness they once had exhibited in our “old” hectic lifestyle. They were not the same kids, they were happy, and thus, so were we. It’s amazing what a little time and attention can do for a child.

Moving from a busy life as successful business owners to a slower life here in the North Georgia Mountains has not been without its challenges. The biggest challenge is overcoming our own addictions to that frantic lifestyle, and not bringing your old ways with you. You have to stop and remind yourself why you came here.

Sometimes you may feel isolated or cut off from the modern world, but then all you have to do is remember why you came here, and what you hoped to gain, to realize everything you desire is within your reach right here.

For us, the decision to move here was to have more time for family and for ourselves, and although it hasn’t always worked out just the way we’d planned in our dreamy visions of how we thought it would be, all we have to do is look at our children to see, for better or worse, this move was a successful.

Another busy day at the office and out in the field, and I'm not alone in my busy real estate world. Almost every agent in our office is getting overrun with business these days, and not just listings. There are lots of buyers, lots of contracts and lots of closings. I'm not pointing this out to gloat, or to jinx it, but to notice the activity as, perhaps, a sign that the situation with our economy is improving.

When I was away at NAR training, I watched the news at night, and boy, was that a mistake. The level of fear, and threat of disaster being presented in the media these days is off the charts, and down right anxiety producing, at best. All the reporters seem bent on presenting a dismal picture of our country's financial future. I must say, at least our President is putting out a positive vibe, but he's swimming upstream in a sea of wet fish.

Now that I'm back in the office, with no time for the news, I feel so much better about things. I cannot help but realize the vast difference between what is on the news and what is right in front of my eyes. It's not just our office, either. I talked to a broker who is looking for sales help. He has more business than he can handle this month. The inventory is reducing, and it feels like things are returning to normal, even though prices are still at bargain basement levels.

I just want to tell the newscasters to try looking on the bright side for a change, whatever that may be. They need to stop escalting the fear, because fear is the very thing that has hurt this economy, and stifled trade and commerce. It just isn't helpful to be walking along on a tightrope and have people on every chanel screaming, "Look Down, oh my God, you're gonna DIE!" That's what the news feels like to me.

I know bad news sells newspapers, but how about a little balance...a little good news, and maybe the rest of the country can have a chance to sell something.