There have been a few major shifts in the Graham County real estate market in the past year. To compensate for my woefully lax efforts in regard to this journal, I will devote this entry to my perceptions of these changing trends. If I can’t be consistent, I can at least be current. Remember, this is just my opinion—everybody has one. If you don’t like mine, ask somebody else.

First, there is an ongoing upward spike in the asking price of just about everything. A year ago good, usable land was selling for $10,000 to $16,000 an acre depending on topography, location, etc. Today the same parcel will typically be offered at $20,000 to $30,000 an acre or more. A nice one acre lot in a restricted community (translation: no mobile homes) has jumped from around $25,000 to $45,000 or so. Creek frontage is rapidly increasing in price as well as lake frontage becomes increasingly scarce. One and two acre unrestricted lots (translation: mobile homes welcome) are practically nonexistent (but ask—you might get lucky) at any price, but are still relatively affordable when they can be found at all.

So what’s the good news? In my opinion, finding an affordable home or cabin in Graham County is relatively easy (depending, of course, on your definition of "affordable"). Housing prices are on an upswing, but less so than land prices. However, although housing is relatively affordable, it is also increasingly scarce. There seem to be fewer houses on the market than there were a year ago—and more mobile homes.

So, let’s talk about mobile homes. Graham County is a place where most young couples start out with a mobile home and high hopes of movin’ on up to a real house as soon as possible. So why is it that fewer and fewer land owners are willing to sell to people that just want a nice spot to put a double wide? Well, there are the obvious economic reasons—prospective home builders can and will pay more, especially if they don’t have mobile homes for neighbors, but it seems to me that the unfortunate bottom line is that this discriminates against young and blue collar folks regardless of stability or reputation.

Another major trend is the acquisition of large tracts of land with the intention of dividing it into high priced and restricted community lots. If this is your intention, take a few suggestions from ol’ Uncle Lee. If you will take the time and effort to create GOOD roads and GOOD house seats, you will be head and shoulders above most of your competitors. Also, if you will reconsider and sell one or two acre lots to mobile home owners, you will have a HUGE market. Also, you might consider including a septic system and/or well in the asking price. People do appreciate having that taken care of.

Everything I said about town property a year ago still holds true.