Barrett Powell

Four years ago, we had a land rush here in Chatham County, the rural part of the Triangle. Seems that every developer was reading off the same report and they each thought they had the only copy. All the sudden there were dozens of new developments being announced, all with homes starting in the mid to high hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Fast forward to today and we still have all those houses just sitting there. Is it really a collapse of the jumbo mortgage market or is it something deeper. Have our taste and preferences changed? Are we still hungry for McMansions and the "keeping up with the Jones" mentality? I think it is a bit of both, but more of the later.

The homes that are selling are where value is front and center. Are buyers wanting less "show" and more "show me", as in show me the value per square foot. Another trend we are seeing is towards "Green" homes, where more than just appliances are energy stars.

So I go back to the main question..."Is the inventory of homes we have, the homes people now want?" Have we changed at the core of what is desirable in a home? Or will things go back the way they were and we will simply pick up from where we left off?

What do you think?

Chatham County has passed liquor by the drink. So now what happens? Pretty much nothing, at least in the short term. It is true that some establishments in the county will start to serve mixed drinks. This will put those restaurants on an even keel with restaurants in neighboring counties. But I don't think we will see any major increases in patronage or in new establishments being opened.

Why? Because most businesses still look at demographics and population when choosing to open a new site. Right now, Chatham County does not have the rooftop count to draw most of the major chains. Today that is. There is still a lot of planned development in the County and especially around Pittsboro, in spite of the economy and increased restrictions due to new ordinances. This is especially true for the Southeastern part of Chatham and Pittsboro, where the developers of Preston Development in Cary have amassed thousands of acres around Pittsboro. This is in anticipation of opening a new multi-use development that will supposedly feature both commercial and residential development the likes that have not been seen in the area for quite some time.

So what does the liquor by the drink passing mean to existing and new residents of Pittsboro and Chatham County? In the short term it means you may be able to walk into your favorite restaurant and enjoy a mixed drink with your meal. In the long term, it may mean that as growth and development return to the County we may see more major restaurant and hotel chains considering a location here. But again, this is not likely to happen overnight as Chatham County still has a way to go in order to build the rooftops up to attract the attention of these major chains.

Another important consideration is to understand where growth and development in the county are likely to occur. If you or your clients want convenience and don't mind a little traffic in the future, you may want to know where key commercial points are likely to be and where the closest residential will be. On the other hand, if you enjoy the rural character that is Chatham County today, you may want to avoid those areas for both you and your clients. Studying development plans at the county and town planning departments will give you a good idea where all this is going to take place.

Here's a short photojournal of Pittsboro and the Chatham County area. I hope you enjoy!

Downtown Pittsboro, looking South on Main Street with Courthouse at the end of the street.

Jordan Lake, the largest body of water in the region.

One of our many golf courses and golf course communities in and around Pittsboro

The Haw River, one of many rivers and streams throughout Chatham County

Chatham County is Hill Country, offering many spectacular views

Fearrington Village features, among other things, the only 5 star restaurant in the region

Sit back and relax during the summer with an old past-time...baseball at Northwood High

One of the most rewarding things about living and working in Chatham County is the exposure to all things new. Whether it is our proximity to R&D hubs like Research Triangle Park or UNC, our higher learning neighbors to the North, it seems we are always being exposed to new ideas and thinking.

One of those ideas has always been green living. For years now we have had what are termed "low impact" development and energy efficient homes, but it wasn't until just a few years ago we started to see real green communities show up here in Pittsboro and Chatham County. Now we have a half dozen or more "Green Communities" throughout the area.

All this is good, but it does create one problem. How do you find these green homes and communities. I mean, if your local like me, you just know where they area. But what if your looking online from say...New York, how do you search for and find a green home or community? Sure you can google and try and find a green community and then hopefully housing information in the resulting searches. But what if your on a real-estate website like Realtor.com. One problem is that most of the MLS systems around the country are not yet setup to allow you to search for a green home. Yes, on some Multiple Listing Services you can search for Energy Star equipped homes, and the Triangle MLS will soon have this search field as well. But a truly green home is much more than just having Energy Star appliances. There are test and certification that in addition to Energy Star have to be done.

To try and solve this problem in the short term, we have created a website; www.GreenHomesandLand.net. Here we are trying to include news, articles, blogs, links, and yes properties in Pittsboro and the Chatham County area that are Green. If you know of a development we need to include, please e-mail me at BarrettP@REMAXSouthernAdvantage.com.

The other day, I got an e-mail from my local MLS, Triangle MLS, in Raleigh. The note stated that I was being fined $100 for a website I had that was out of compliance with the Triangle MLS rules. The note went on to say that my website had to be "branded" with my company.

This all started a few weeks ago when, trying to maximize my listing client's exposure, I used Google's search analysis tools to find out what subjects were being searched for in my area and demographic. The number one search being done was "Foreclosure". No surprise there. The next most popular was "Green" as in green homes and building.

This got me thinking...how easy is it for someone to find properties in my MLS (Triangle MLS) that are "Green". That is, properties that are EnergyStar compliant for instance. Turned out, it was not only hard, it was impossible. I immediately shot off an e-mail to them (Triangle MLS) and said, "hey, how about adding a new field for EnergyStar compliance so buyers can find "Green" properties a little easier". A few days later, and a few e-mails badgering them for a reply and they responded that they would in fact be adding the field.

Not wanting to wait, I decided to put together a simple little website we could refer folks to that would be entirely dedicated to "Green" homes, land, and building. The idea was to feature blogs, links, and somehow listings for my area of homes that were green. A couple of days later and we had http://www.GreenHomesandLand.net launched and started writing blogs and gathering links.

To get the property listings to show up I used my IDX Search Link provided me by the MLS and searches by three subdivisions I had researched that I knew had all "Green" homes. And thus the MLS's reason for my $100 fine. They say if I don't change the sight by some date I will be fined another $200. The sight clearly states on the "Contact Us" page that this is my company.

I have no plans to either pay the fines or change the site. I think it is time we ask our Association Memberships to join the individual members and change with us. I wrote a post last year titled "The Market is Changing, and so should You". It should have said..."and so should WE" (including our MLS). I need to go ahead and finish the part 2 of this so we can discuss how we have to now take all these Web 2.0 social networking tools and start verticalizing into specialty markets. But that's the next blog.

My point is, the market has changed. We all have to do whatever we can and need to to do to make sure we are doing our best to market out client's properties. For some, like me, this means creating special websites to make it easier for buyers searching for properties to find me and my listings. My MLS needs to be assisting me in this endeavor instead of working against me with now outdated "Branding" rules.