Thomas & Christine Mallette

It has been a bit since I really sat down and expressed what in happening in regards to Real Estate in Haywood County North Carolina. I would like to say that we are taking it all in stride, but I will not lie. It has been a challenge. All year we have been looking towards the next "busy time" that will bring an influx of customers into the mountains to buy that special get-a-way. It started in the Spring, the flowers and trees started to bloom and we said "ok, it is coming. The visitors will be back and the sales will increase, but the market did not pick up. So , we said school is not out...When it gets out "they will be back" . Well this went on all Spring, Summer, and now fall. Unfortunately, we never had that "rush" of customers.

I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that the market continued even though it was slow. I know there are agents out there that are having a very tough time. Our company has maintained a steady flow of sales. We are ranked #3 in our county and have had over 80 transactions to date (typically we do 150 or so in a year). We have about 15 transactions in the pipleline so we are better off than most. That said, it has still been a challenge to get from month to month. When your company is set up with an overhead based on a average of 150 transactions and you only do half of that, it creates a problem. I believe we have been proactive for months and knew that the market would be slow, but nobody knew that the global economy would crumble around us.

All parts of the economy have been affected, but is there a profession hit harder by this than the 1.2 million Realtors in the US? We hear daily of bailouts for the banks, for other financial sectors, for the automakers, soon the airlines, and on and on. It has been the housing downturn that has caused all this so who do you think is affected the most? Yes, anyone associated with real estate especially the Realtors. Are we asking for a bailout? No way! I do not think it is the way our professionals operate. In good times we are accused of making to much money for doing very little work and well folks it is just not true. This is my "second" profession and I can tell you the professionals in this business work as hard or harder than any. Throw in a housing crisis and we have had to work even harder for little or no pay. We come to work each day and try to find answers to a general lack of buyers. How do we get people off the fence, what incentives do we offer, and how do we reach more potential buyers are just some of the questions that we face.

I hope that the bailout monies make it into the system, the financial markets rebound, and the housing industry rebounds. If it does not the unemployment numbers will go up and there will be many that are not accounted for such as Realtors who are independent contractors and many times are not see as having "real jobs". Call your local Realtor today and tell them you appreciate them and send them a lead! Their families are depending on it!

Free Seminar and Tour of Homes

Current Market conditions create a unique "Buying Opportunity" for property across Haywood County. This may be a "once in a lifetime opportunity" to save tens of thousands of dollars on property that you want to own. To take advantage of this current "Buying Opportunity" a Seminar and Tour of Homes is being organized to bring Buyers and Sellers together. The Seminars and Tours are open to the public and are free.

Sellers will be reducing the prices on quality property and homes through out Haywood County for this special event. Prices will be reduced by up to 10% or more. Creative financing options will also be available on some properties. Loans for home purchase are readily available in our market and interest rates and terms are very attractive. The recent Housing Legislation provides for first-time home buyers incentives with a $7,500 tax credit.

Despite the difficult headlines regarding home loans; our area has available credit. There will be lenders on site during the seminar to help buyers take advantage of these loans. Affordable housing in Haywood County is now available.

Higher inventory gives buyers a wide range of properties that may fit the budget and their needs. Rarely in recent history have all of these factors come together to create such a favorable housing market for buyers. Buyers will be shown houses as part of the ‘Tour of Homes & Great Buys'. The convenience factor of viewing homes that have reduced prices, excellent financing terms, and a wide variety of inventory will not be surpassed. The real estate market has been showing signs of improvement and these favorable conditions may not be available again.

If you have been watching and waiting - then this may be the time to move into the market. Attend the Seminar on Thursday October 16^th at 6:30 (Child care will be provided). Saturday October 18^th at 10:30 will be the last seminar date. Location: Maggie Valley Creekside Lodge, U.S. Hwy. 19, Maggie Valley, NC. The Tour of Homes will follow the Seminar, or by appointment.

Realty World - Heritage Realty and Action Mortgage are sponsors of this free program. To reserve a seat you may contact us at 828-926-5200. If you are a seller and would like to participate in this event, contact the office. Seminar and Tour info available at www.RealtyWorldHeritage.com

Realty World Heritage Realty is proud to announce that we have taken our marketing efforts to another level. Understanding that our unique market is down due to the economy, inflation, and most importantly the fact that our main buyer pool, Floridians are suffering their worst real estate market in decades. During 2004 to 2006 when real estate was booming across the country and especially the mountains of Western North Carolina we would estimate that over 90% of our buyers were from Florida. We are still seeing Florida buyers, but obviously in reduced numbers.

So, as we continue our traditional marketing methods including local print advertising, internet blasts, open houses, direct mail, etc. We have also reached "over the pond". During the month of May we are running an ad in a British magazine called "A Place in the Sun". We had the opportunity to meet some folks from the magazine out in Las Vegas last November at the National Association of Realtors Convention and were very impressed with their publication.

Recognizing that the US dollar is continuing to plummet against overseas currency it is a great time to buy for overseas investors. This is happening in bigger markets in the US especially in Florida. It is our goal to tap into the UK and European market of investors and inform them about Maggie Valley, Waynesville, and all of Western North Carolina. With our temperate climate, four seasons, and abundance of activities it is just a matter of getting the word out to overseas investors. We believe once they get here they will be "sold" like so many other visitors.

"A Place in the Sun" calls themselves "The UK's Best-Selling Overseas Property Magazine" and they have a very good distribution base. The magazine features properties and destinations to buy real estate all over the world. At this time we are trying to convince the editor that a feature on our area would be very helpful to its readers. If you want to email him and let him know how beautiful an area it is please email Richard Way: richard.way@brooklandsgroup.com . We would love for him to feature our area and your comments may assist in convincing him that a feature is warranted.

Results? Well it may be to early to tell and like any print ad there is no way of telling how many people actually viewed the ad. Or is there? With the power of the internet, our website, and google analytics we can track how many people are coming to our site, how many pages they visit, and how long they stay on the site. Incredibly, we can also track what countries and cities within the countries the users are coming from. Since the add has come out our hits from the UK have increased 45-50% in the first two weeks of the release. This does not tell us how many viewed the ad, but with the increase it does tell us that some readers saw the ad, clicked on our site, and searched for a while. With a shelf life of 6 weeks we are eager to see how many more "hits" we get from the UK and beyond.

As Realty World Heritage explores other marketing avenues and continues to think "outside the box",we are excited to see if we can attract buyers outside of our traditional areas. The word "globalization" has been a buzz word for the last few years and I believe that we will see more overseas investments outside of the traditional markets and within lesser known areas. The power of information exchange and the internet strikes again. We would love to hear your comments!

We have compiled the 2008 first quarter statistics for residential properties in Haywood County NC. We have also listed 2007 statistics for comparison.

1/1/07-3/31/07

Total Units Sold: 195
Average Listing Price:250,974
Average Selling Price: 238,199
List to Sell Ratio: 95%
Median Listing Price: 200,000
Median Selling Price: 197,000
Average Days on the Market: 139

1/1/08-3/31/08

Total Units Sold: 125
Average Listing Price: 241,653
Average Selling Price: 226,196
List to Sell Ratio: 94%
Median Listing Price: 200,000
Median Selling Price: 185,000
Average Days on Market: 156

As you can see we have started 2008 on a slower note, but from all indications our market is picking up. We have been battling the negative media reports about the mortgage and the housing industry which have caused many buyers to sit on the sidelines with the wait and see approach. With the average selling price down about $12,000 it is a great time to buy in Haywood County. We do feel like most "experts" in the media that the housing market and economy will turn around by the 3rd quarter of 2008. That being said, if you are thinking of buying do not wait to long. We do not know when the bottom has been reached until it has started going back up. If you waited, you will have missed the best prices in years!

Elk reintroduction project appears successful

Beth Pleming - Staff writer, The Moutaineer Printed 3/28/08

Despite a few unforeseen challenges along the way, the elk of Cataloochee Valley appear to be adjusting to their new habitat well, and park officials said their chances of staying look promising.

This year marks the expiration of an extended experimental period to determine whether elk populations could again be successfully sustained by the Great Smoky Mountain habitat.
Great Smoky Mountain National Park Wildlife Manager Joe Yarkovich, who has been deeply involved in the elk reintroduction project, provided an update on the elk's progress Monday night at the Waynesville branch of the Haywood County Library.

While data is still being examined to determine the herd's chance of survival, "I will say unofficially that it's a success," Yarkovich said. "We're looking pretty good. We've finally got the number of animals we wanted. We"ve got a ton of public support. Calves are hitting the ground and surviving. We're in pretty good shape for the future."

Once all of the project's data has been reviewed, University of Tennessee researchers will determine whether the experiment was a success.

Based on their models, they will make the call, then report their findings to park officials who will make the final decision as to whether it's a successful reintroduction, said Yarkovich.

"If it was looking like a failure, we may remove the elk from the park all together. If it's a success, we will scale back on our research and (animal) tracking and let the animals go on their own," he said. "In my personal opinion, things are looking very positive."

But while the results are looking good, things haven't always gone as planned.

Unforeseen problems

In keeping with the national park system's mission to restore extrapated species whenever possible, park officials in 1996 began efforts to reintroduce the once-native elk back to the mountains of North Carolina.

Park officials, working in conjunction with the University of Tennessee, determined an area with less than 10 percent canopy would be necessary for elk to survive, which limited the options for their release to two locations: Cades Cove and Cataloochee Valley. Of those, Cataloochee was most suitable, Yarkovich said. It was also determined that an adequate sample size would require a minimum of 75 to 90 animals.

Next, a five-year experimental phase began in 2000 to determine whether the Cataloochee Valley habitat could sustain the elk population long term. The plan was to release elk in three yearly increments - one herd per year from 2001 to 2003, but that didn't happen.

The first herd - including 25 elk from Land Between the Lakes, Ky. - was released in 2001, followed by the release of 27 additional Elk from Elk Island National Park, Alberta, in 2002.

But in 2003, things were interrupted when a nation-wide concern regarding chronic wasting disease stopped the movement of deer and elk between states. No animals were released that year, leaving park officials with inconclusive results due to an inadequate sample size. At that time, the experiment was extended for three years.

"The results were different than what we had in mind,"said Yarkovich. "We needed 75 to 90 animals, and we ended up with 52."

There were other challenges, as well.

In addition to an overall population that was too small, the existing herd lacked enough females, he continued.

Furthermore, due to the high density of black bears living in the Smokies, predation became a problem. Finally, although calves were being born, few were surviving, and those that did survive were mostly males.

"You can't sustain a population if babies don't survive," said Yarkovich. "Things were not going our way."
But park officials had an idea.

The solution

Park officials initiated efforts to manage predation by relocating black bears to another area of the park, about 40 miles outside of Cataloochee Valley.

Contrary to rumor, "we did not kill any bears," Yarkovich noted.

Also, the elk were learning how to deal with predators more effectively. They became less afraid to fight back, he said, and mother elk were learning how to better hide their young calves.

Unlike adult elk, calves don't put off a scent, said Yarkovich. So, the mother elk were learning to feed their calves during the mornings and evenings, then bed them down in the woods where they are well-hidden during the day. As long as they left the calves alone and didn't go near them, there was no scent for predators to follow.

The park's fire management plan, which included prescribed burns, further contributed to better calf protection by creating a more diverse, therefore better, habitat for both hiding calves and feeding.

The result

While several factors contributed toward the solution, efforts to transplant bears seemed to produce the most dramatic results, said Yarkovich.

In 2005, prior to moving any bears, the calf survival rate was at 25 percent, he said. The following year, after bears were relocated, that percentage jumped to 80 percent. In 2007, calves survived at a 70 percent rate.

Although bears have an incredible homing instinct and eventually migrate back, Yarkovich said, the time it takes them to migrate (about 11 days) seems to have been enough to do the trick.

While elk typically give birth to one calf per year, and with the increased chance of survival, park officials finally have the population size they were initially after.
Although a few years behind schedule, "we may have just got them now, but hey, we've got them," Yarkovich said.

And given all the circumstances - less predation problems, higher calf survival rate and an adequate population size, which now includes an effective female to male ratio (1.3 females to every 1 male) - park officials are optimistic, believing the elk of Cataloochee Valley may be here to stay.