Lake Martin Magazine

A lot of people will tell you they are looking at foreclosures because they “really have to get a good deal.”

Let’s not forget one important point when it comes to Lake Martin real estate: The lot.

Lake Martin waterfront home sales had the second best year on record in 2012.

“People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!” – Theodore Levitt

Two recent and seemingly unrelated news items about Russell Lands Corporation scream out what they think. Russell Lands is extremely confident that the real estate slump is over and that the next four or five years will be good for Lake Martin real estate.

A review of the Lake Martin Area Association of Realtors’ Multiple Listing Service shows waterfront home sales on the lake had a very good summer in 2012. Considering all of the homes sold so far in 2012, the lake market is also positioned to beat the 2011 number of homes sold.

It is with great trepidation that I tell you I have confirmed sightings of a creature thought to be extinct – the Lake Martin house flipper. I can think of two or three successful flips in the last 12 months.

After a strong showing in 2011, I was curious to see if 2012 would continue the winning ways. I consulted the Lake Martin Multiple Listings Service. It is the best repository of real estate sales in the area. It showed that for the first four months of the year, 61 waterfront homes have been sold on Lake Martin.

It’s like Christmas for real estate numbers geeks. What? Yes, there is a small segment of us nerds who are really into real estate, but also love to study the numbers behind the business. A high spot in our year is when the National Association of Realtors (NAR) publishes their annual Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.

Have you ever arrived at your lake house, only to be shocked to see a dock construction crew busily working on your neighbor’s dock? Or maybe you have been awakened early Monday morning to the sounds of power saws and nail guns? Were you worried that your neighbor was building a crazily huge dock that would block your view of beautiful Lake Martin? Maybe you have never worried about something like this, but now that I mention it…