Photo Credit: Jerry Wolford (News & Record)

The topic of FedEx coming to Greensboro has been news for a long, long time. And it’s been noted in this space a few times.

Time for another update.

Looks like the package delivery company’s operations will be ready to hit the road – or sky – running as soon as the economy is clearly on the way back up. The huge construction job of getting an additional runway in place to accommodate the planes and all the safety and navigation systems required are just about done.

Not only will this give FedEx the facility it needs for operations, but the enhanced systems will help Greensboro’s Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTI)the goods it needs to give Charlotte and Raleigh a run for their money.

This News & Record article about it gives good details.

And, not for nothing, but didn’t I tell you to learn the work ‘aerotropolis’? Cause, like I wrote before, whatever that is, we’re one.

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The thoughts & opinions are mine. The quips that fall flat are someone else’s. Please feel free to shoot me an email with a question or a good joke.

And remember, real estate agents aren’t bad. We’re just drawn that way.

Tags: aerotropolis, FedEx, FedEx hub in Greensboro, News & Record, Piedmont Triad International Airport

The view from my husband's plane. Somewhere over...somewhere.

I’ve written about this previously, but it’s time for an update on how Greensboro is fast becoming an aerotropolis.

Yes, it’s a word.

Aerotropolis list: Hong Kong, Chicago,  Amsterdam…Greensboro. Why not?

And of all the predictions one could make about what would be a major industry for the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina in general and Greensboro in particular, aviation might not have headed the list. Or made the top 20.

But here we are. A list of just a few of the reasons and companies that are adding up to Greensboro becoming a center for all things winged:

• FedEx Hub (slated to open in October 2009. One of only in the country)
• HondaJet
• TIMCO Aviation Services (Headquarters here as well as 600,000 sq ft maintenance facility)
• HondaJet engine facility (in Burlington, about 20 minutes east of Greensboro)
• Atlantic Aero (highly regarded Fixed Base Operator)
• Aerosphere Aviation Services (supplies parts for commercial & military aircraft)
• GTCC Aviation Maintenance Training (PDF)
• Greensboro Aviation (aircraft component repair & overhaul)

You can even see the plane that is known as Air Force One when the President is on board doing practice maneuvers at PTI as well as the occasional ginormous C5:

So, keep an eye on the skies – and this spot – to see what happens next.

_____________________________________________________________
The thoughts & opinions are mine. The quips that fall flat are someone else’s. Please feel free to shoot me an email with a question or a good joke.

And remember, real estate agents aren’t bad. We’re just drawn that way.

Tags: Aerosphere Aviation, aerotropolis, Air Force One over Greensboro, C5 touch and go at Greensboro, FedEx hub in Greensboro, Greensboro Aviation, HondaJet, News & Record, Piedmont Triad International Airport, PTI, TIMCO

photo credit: Greensboro Daily Photo (www.greensborodailyphoto.com)

Back in the day there were called Victory Gardens. Today some have called them Recession Gardens, which grates on my optimist’s ears.

Let’s call them our Getting Back To All That’s Good And Taking Back Control of Our Lives Gardens.

By any other name, the tomatoes are are as sweet – and prodigious in their output. Mint, onions, blueberries, squash, cukes and zukes. Many people are planting vegetable gardens in their front yards or next to the driveway. Five gallon buckets can be seen, wooden poles sticking out, with all manner of vines climbing skyward. Downtown, uptown, on roofs, on front stoops. Herbs on window sills or on patios. People are keeping bees in their yards. Making compost bins out of huge plastic drums or discarded wooden pallets.

There are large scale urban gardens in Greensboro, where dedicated and creative folks are putting there hands – and shovels and rakes and trowels – where their mouths are, community involvement-wise. [UPDATE: The folks over at Greensboro Daily Photo just posted info about another community garden on their site. And you can read about their personal garden in the comments section for this post]

So, the topic for this week’s poll: Are you growing food at your house?

Hope so.

[UPDATE: This story was just posted on Public Radio Station 88.5 WFDD about this very topic and an urban garden in Winston-Salem (just about 30 minutes down the road from Greensboro). There's audio if you'd like to take a listen]

Tags: 88.5 WFDD, Greensboro Daily Photograph, Greensboro Urban Garden, News & Record, WFDD segment on urban gardening

What the heck? I step away from the computer for a few weeks to train for and participate in a couple of triathlons (Yes, you read correctly. And no, I did not find a way to do so from a seated position with a martini in my water bottle. But that’s a topic for another post….) and the foreclosure numbers get all farkocktah.

Looks like in Greensboro, while our foreclosure numbers continue to be less gruesome than many other parts of the country  – I’m looking at you, Las Vegas – the nice improvement we had been seeing up until the time I put on my running shoes has turned into a nasty little reversal.

To wit there were 118 foreclosures listed in the last 12 weeks in Greensboro. This is the highest number since the 12-week period ending April 12th. As recently as May 12th that number had gotten as low as 89.

In addition to the fact that there are more foreclosures that have been listed, they are more evenly spread across Greensboro’s residential zip codes.  Granted, 27405 and 27406 still have the lion’s share of listings, no corner of town is immune.

Why all this increase in activity? Undoubtedly moritoriums on foreclosures that have now expired have had an impact. And it seems that many homeowners who were able to have terms of their mortgages reset to fixed and lower rates have still struggled to keep their homes. Throw in an uptick in unemployment and we may see the current foreclosure trend get a bit worse before it turns back around.

The overall inventory of foreclosures still available on the market has increased and we’re going to need to get through those properties in order to have happier news to report.

Geeze. I never would have thought swimming, biking and running in 92 degree heat would be more pleasant than writing about Greensboro foreclosures. Hopefully both my tush and the market will be in better shape in a few months.

As always, whether the news is good or bad, you’ll see it here.

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If you have questions, comments or a good joke to share shoot me an email.  I’m a full time Realtor®, I love what I do and would be thrilled to hear from you.

* All data from Triad Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and is only as good as the information entered, which is done by humans, who make errors. The information is only for those residential zip codes for Greensboro and does not include the surrounding communities

Tags: Greensboro foreclosures, Greensboro unemployment numbers, Multiple Listing Service, News & Record, Triad MLS

This morning John Robinson, the editor of the News & Record wrote a blog post about how publishing information does not always make one popular. While I’m no reporter, journalist or editor I can identify in the tiniest way because the topic about which I write – the Greensboro real estate market – provides statistics that are pleasant to share some times more than others.

Behold: One of the others.

This week’s numbers show that inventory of properties for sale in Greensboro are up and the average list price is down.* Again. And the number of active properties (that is, on the market and not ‘pending’ sale) is as high as it’s been since late December 2008.

This data will not make sellers happy. Nor real estate professionals. It doesn’t thrill me, let me tell you. But there you are. We have seen improvement in the number of foreclosures in Greensboro and that is definitely good news that we hope to see continue. But for now, overall inventory is higher than we’d like to see.

On the bright side, buyers should LOVE this news. So many houses from which to choose. Low rates. $8000 tax credit (that cat be used towards down payment).

Maybe I can be one of the popular people after all?

Now, chartville:

As always, whether the news is good or bad, you’ll see it here.

_________________________________________________________

If you have questions, comments or a good joke to share shoot me an email.  I’m a full time Realtor®, I love what I do and would be thrilled to hear from you.

* All data from Triad Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and is only as good as the information entered, which is done by humans, who make errors. The information is only for those residential zip codes for Greensboro and does not include the surrounding communities.

Tags: $8000 tax credit, Greensboro housing statistics, John Robinson, Multiple Listing Service, News & Record, Triad MLS

So much to write. So many numbers. So little time. I’ve been busy as a bee and, honey, it’s been great.

Granted, not all my time has been occupied with real estate. There was the last minute trip to the beach with Mr. Durango and training for the Dixie Divas Triathlon in which I am entered. But that’s a topic of another post – which I hope not to be writing from an ambulance on the day of the event.

Back to the topic at hand – the state of real estate in Greensboro. There’s a quick bit about some good news in an article in the News & Record. Good news is always, well, good. But here’s some drilling down:

Inventory of available properties in Greensboro as of today is shrinking*. That’s really good news for home sellers. But more importantly, it’s the latest indicator that this most influential component of our economy – housing – has indeed turned the corner.

While home buyers benefit when there is a glut of properties from which to choose, it’s really not in their interests to buy if things seem to be sliding down hill. In the case of Greensboro, that is really not the case.

So, if you’re looking to buy its not too late to take advantage of what is still a buyer’s market (mostly). But you don’t want to dawdle too long. And if you haven’t owned a house in the last three years you REALLY don’t want to miss out on $8,000 of free money – in the form of a tax credit – from the federal government. And yes, that tax credit is legit. For real. Not a trick or tease.

Now let’s see what I’ve been typing away about. Take particular note of the fact that even as the total number of listings is down, the number and percentage of those under contract is up. The active/pending percentages are now 80%/20%. The strongest showing since at least last December. And list prices are holding pretty steady.

As always, whether the news is good or bad, you’ll see it here.

_________________________________________________________

If you have questions, comments or a good joke to share shoot me an email.  I’m a full time Realtor®, I love what I do and would be thrilled to hear from you.

* All data from Triad Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and is only as good as the information entered, which is done by humans, who make errors. The information is only for those residential zip codes for Greensboro and does not include the surrounding communities.

Tags: $8000 tax credit, Dixie Divas Triathlon, Greensboro housing statistics, Multiple Listing Service, News & Record, Triad MLS

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. What a good week:

• the stock market is finishing up it’s 5th positive week
• economists are beginning to relax their sphincter muscles and say the worst may be starting to end
• the Tarheels won BIG in the NCAA tourney
• and foreclosures in Greensboro are disappearing faster than Michigan fans from Ford Field in the last 5 minutes of Monday’s game

Looky here:

This graph represents the total number of foreclosures listed in rolling twelve week periods in Greensboro. Clearly we are moving – dramatically – in the right direction. There simply is no good in having foreclosures in our market so the sooner they’re gone, the better for everyone.

Foreclosures listed during the week ending 4/5/09 totaled only 7. And all of them were in only 3 Greensboro zip codes. 5 were in 27505 and 1 each in 27407 and 27410. And looking at the last three weeks, several zip codes are really seeing a decline in foreclosure activity.

Indeed, the majority of foreclosures listed are in 3 zip codes (see pie chart below) That imbalance has been increasing lately. Not because more and more foreclosures are being listed in those 3 zips but because fewer and fewer are being listed in the other 6.

That’s because, just as North Carolina real estate was later to be impacted by the economic downturn than other states and Greensboro was later to be impacted than other places in the state, certain zip codes within town were impacted later and to a lesser degree than others. Consequently, rolling out of “the troubles” is following the logical path.

Last in, first out, so to speak.

Lastly, of foreclosures listed since early September ‘08, the lowest number and percentage yet are still available. Fully 70% are either already closed or under contract.

What a great week.

As always, whether the news is good or bad, you’ll see it here.

_________________________________________________________

If you have questions, comments or a good joke to share shoot me an email.  I’m a full time Realtor®, I love what I do and would be thrilled to hear from you.

* All data from Triad Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and is only as good as the information entered, which is done by humans, who make errors. The information is only for those residential zip codes for Greensboro and does not include the surrounding communities

Tags: Greensboro foreclosures, Greensboro zip codes, Multiple Listing Service, News & Record, Tarheels win NCAA, Triad MLS

My writing of a recent post about how spring comes early around here was apparently enough to talk a snow storm into existence. Loads of folks without power. Schools and businesses closed.

But it sure was purty.

So, you’re welcome.

(CREDIT: Jerry Wolford/News & Record)

You can see more photos here.

And here is some video:

Tags: Gerensboro snow storm, Greensboro weather, Jerry Wolford, News & Record