Carrboro Real Estate Market Crashes..
Bill's Market Explodes...

While the going was good, the good was great and those who owned real estate in Carrboro were laughing all the way to the bank. Selling real estate in Carrboro was like taking candy from a baby while trying to own a house in Carrboro was like going to the dentist. With prices skyrocketing, only the wealthy or those not afraid of burying themselves in a mountain of mortgage debt would dare venture into the land of real estate acquisition.

Only two months ago houses would go up for sale and if you had a crazy notion of making an offer, then you were out of the picture. If you wanted to buy the house and wanted to stay in the running then you'd better meet the asking price, if you REALLY wanted the house then you'd better offer more than the asking price. Houses were selling in an average of 2-3 days for more than the asking price.

Driving around looking for homes, you'd better have had a cell phone in your hand and called when you saw the house. If you waited chances are you would be too late.

We, in The Carrborro News Real Estate Department were amazed at the prices being paid for some of the houses. $325,000 plus $200,000 in renovations for a home that would have sold for $225,000 in 2004.

Recently, on James Street, a house on four acres was subdivided into four lots with three more houses being built- all in the $490,000 range. That's $150,000 more than any house has gone for yet. But with the new crash arriving, it remains to be seen if the properties will be sold.

On High Street a little 800 square foot mill house on a postage size piece of land for $185,000. That is still sitting on the market today when only 6 months ago it would have been snatched up in a day. Will it be sold? It's been a few months and so far no.

But out of rubble of the crashing Carrboro real estate market comes some good news. A success story with a happy ending for one man and his company. The man I'm talking about is Bill.

Bill has been struggling for the last 8 years as he saw his business dwindle down to almost nothing, but as suddenly as the real estate market crashed, Bill's business went into a boom period. What is Bill's livelihood? He is the man behind the "PRICE REDUCED" signs. For ten years Bill has been producing those signs, but barely selling any(except for the rare sign to be put on a car that was also overpriced).

Bill had been a successful real estate salesman before the last crash and then decided to offer a product that was in high demand. For four years his business boomed, and then another crash for him as the real estate market went into another boom phase. "With all those explosions, I felt like I was siting in a minefield", Bill confided in us, " To be honest, I didn't think this last one would ever end! Thank God for high interest rates and real estate agents who overprice homes!"

Bill is thinking about getting back into the real estate business to complement his sign business income. Ironically, this man whose business relies on crashing markets has held out a hand to the real estate industry of Carrboro, employing in his sign making factory 20 destitute real estate agents driven out of business in the last crash.

This 800 square foot house with a couple of bedrooms on a small lot is for sale. What do you think it's worth?(Answer below)