John Meussner should I say I disagree?

Well, I have been thinking about it for couple of years....time for me to share my thoughts in a blog, I guess.

We are in a 2nd home market.  Most of our deals are cash.  A resort market in no way can compare to a bedroom community up north.

Real Estate is local, as in from Subdivision to Subdivision, even next door or across the street from each other. The only example I can think of would be homes around Notre Dame sell for more because of the need for student housing.

You bet, our market hasn't followed any of the national trends.

Real estate is definitely local. Home sellers and home buyers take risks when using out of the area agents.

Irrigation water is a big challenge in my area. And specifically my county. The county to the south has a more standardized system where one share of water equals in an acre foot. In my county five shares in one ditch is a very different amount of water than five shares in another ditch. It's all very complicated and has to be researched carefully.

An agent in my office is a rancher and he's been around for quite a while. He's a valuable resource for me when it come to irrigation water. 

John,

There are so many things locals are aware of that visitors have no idea about.  It would take too long to tell all.  A

A failed or new septic system in Maryland now can cost upwards of 30K + to replace or install now with the BAT ( best available technology ) systems are now required thanks to Martin OWE'Malley ! Thank God he's our FORMER Governor!!

Definitely local!  Low inventory, great weather.  We're running a 4+ month absorption rate right now.  Lots of homes going off the market for the holidays.  About 10 per week.

Absolutly it is local... Low Inventory in South Orange County and pricing are the details that surpise most who are not familair with area.

Yes local and not enough inventory

Some of it is local, more of it is not.

John,
One item here is that houses that face north are at a real disadvantage because the snow never melts. Hurts price significantly.

How local is local?  We list and sell homes throughout Maricopa County, and sometimes in the next county...

finding land is very difficult in our marketplace.... we're all trying not to "go west"....and that's where the open space is.... in the western part of the state....it's a haul!!!

Our huge foreign buyer market, language barriers, foreign money markets and exchanges. 

No, it's not local! It's HYPER-local, especially in an area as diverse and aprad out like Charlotte metro.

I agree with Joe . The purchase agreements may be different.

Good morning John. Doing business means lots of difference. One of the biggest differences is purchase agreements, who prepares them and is there more than one agreement.

 Good Saturday morning John. Yup! We have a very strong local market.

It's always a challenge when the Buyers and Sellers have EPA problems with the land.

Low inventory, high demand, many multiple offers, worldwide interest, increasing prices for years.

Anywhere near Downtown Durham is blasting off!

Yes and no. I can help with any market and have supervised transactions in many areas I've never even been to. Negotiation is the same wherever you are. 

Yes but with a side bar. Most of my clients are out of state so from a marketing prespective I don't advertise locally.