Lake Wylie Real Estate is Hot! Hot! Hot!

Lake Wylie real estate is hot! hot! hot! Hey, everything around here is hot! hot! hot! It was 97 degrees yesterday, and I was seriously afraid of becoming a grease spot on the pavement.

Maybe we ought to cancel August next year. The weather is stifling, people in general are out of sorts, and the summer vacation mindset is basically over as schools have the month scheduled with open houses, registration, football practice, meetings, etc. Might as well be in school already! But I digress.

Real Estate. Hot. My phone has been ringing off the hook. I've shown lots of waterfront property in the past couple of weeks - - lots, river cabins, million dollar homes, the whole gamut.

What I continue to see, however, are buyer and seller expectations on different playing fields entirely. There has ALWAYS been a difference between what buyers want to pay and what sellers want to receive - - hence the need for negotiations. However, what I'm seeing now is buyers starting the bids at WAY below asking price - - sometimes 60 or 70%, vs the polite 90-95% that we were accustomed to a few years ago.

What I'm also seeing are buyers walking away after their first offer. That has happened more in the past 3 months than in my entire career as a real estate agent.

I think that the foreclosure sales in the area have tainted buyer expectations on ALL real estate pricing. Many buyers seem to think that sellers will accept lowball offers, and keep trying until they find a seller that will.

It's going to take some time to get back to business as usual. As more foreclosures work their way through the system and hit the market, prices will continue to be an issue. Waterfront homes most affected are those in the upper price tiers ($700,000+), as many in the foreclosure market are $1million+ homes that are being auctioned off in the $600,000+ range. It's tough to compete against those.

To see what has sold on Lake Wylie thus far in 2009, take a look at Recent Lake Wylie real estate sales on my website.

To read other blogs on Lake Wylie and Charlotte area real estate, Lake Wylie living, and Lake Wylie waterfront issues, visit my website, TheLakeWylieMan.com. Thanks!