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| October 17, 2008 Ocracoke Real Estate: The ebb and flow
By B.J. OELSCHLEGEL I had a great bike ride this morning, with a little Nanci Griffith on the head phones and the constant churning of my thoughts in the background. I wanted to write this month’s article on a variation of the phrase that all real estate agents are taught in the required licensing class -- “Market value is defined as the price that a ready, willing, and able buyer offers and the seller is ready to accept.” The current status of our housing market adds a slight twist to that meaning. Today, market value is defined as what a buyer is willing to pay and a seller is willing to accept -- at that point in time. As agents, we have had more than one conversation with a seller about the proverbial “bird in the hand, being worth two in the bush.” In this buyer’s market, it is the seller who often does most of the compromising. It is a hard to accept the fact that your home or land was once worth X and is now worth Y. Property values fluctuate faster in this kind of market. An appraisal done 6 to 9 months prior may no longer apply. Most of us have a hard time letting go of how we want things to be or how things could have been. We compare our properties to other listings. We deny the truth of comparable sales. We justify to ourselves why our property is more valuable. We dig in our heels, believing that we are willing to wait for the “right” buyer to come along. Agents are often saddled with the responsibility for the parcel staying on the market forever. I know that these statements are true because I have heard it all before and because I recently offered my own rental cottage to someone who freaked when I stated the price that I wanted. Even I don’t think that I can substantiate the list price with comparable sales. I’m human. I find myself to be no different than any other seller. But there will come a time for every seller when he or she will give in and make the decision to move on with life. It is a time of acceptance when we take the “bird in the hand” and flow with the energy of our next step. There are market factors which drive the prices up. When coupled with the eventual “giving in” or “letting go” on the part of the seller, fluid movement in the real estate market can be visualized. This morning’s bike ride allowed the time to pull together a number of comments from the week’s news on the bail out of Freddie Mac and Fanny Mae. The concept of liquidity was reinforced by the idea that the deregulation of the banking industry, which started in varying degrees from five to 20 years ago, would be ridden out. However, it wiped us out in 2008. The wave of our deregulation would shake the foundations of Japanese, European, and Chinese markets. The bundling and selling of our mortgages to foreign investors produced a ripple effect. And in the same way, as our local sellers let go and new mortgages are secured, bundled and sold, the markets will respond again. With the sun on my face, and music in my ears, I had a big smile break out on my face. I find this concept of fluid markets to be very hopeful. One of my favorite presumptions is what I call “The Chaos Theory” -- everything moves from order to disorder and then back again. If we are in disorder now, we have order to look forward to. I am not suggesting that we merely need to wait. I am a believer in proactive choices, by our legislators, to guarantee smooth sailing in the future. I’m looking for someone to draw in the reins of greed. The brain power exists to repair this damage to our housing markets. I do not want to believe that the sky is falling but that maybe we’re just caught between the ebb and the flow. (B.J. Oelschlegel has lived on Ocracoke Island for 30 years and has worked in the real estate business for 26 years. She is a broker with Ocracoke’s Lightship Realty and a real estate columnist for The Ocracoke Observer. You can reach her by e-mail at bj@ocracokelightshiprealty.com) 
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