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THE FOURSOME AT LAKE OCONEE - SPRING 2008
(Formerly the AKM ENTERPRISES NEWSLETTER)

Musher, Kristin and I are starting our NINTH YEAR of the AKM ENTERPRISES NEWSLETTER in the Lake Oconee Area. My, how time flies when your having fun! We have tried to offer our readers insight in Local Market Conditions as well as thoughts about Macro Real Estate Trends and Major Economic Issues.

LOCAL MARKET CONDITIONS

Since our first newsletter we have concluded that local market conditions tend to trend with how Reynolds Plantation performs. Resale inventories have been growing in the past three quarters. Currently there are 173 Homes and 181 Lots on the resale market in Reynolds and Great Waters. These totals are all resale properties listed on the Multiple Listing Service and includes all local Real Estate Companies combined.

The sold data obtained from the Multiple Listing Service shows Homes Sales in 2007 to be 134, in 2006 to be 232, in 2005 to be 264, and in 2004 to be 236 and Lot Sales in 2007 to be 161, in 2006 to be 183, in 2005 to be 188 and in 2004 to be 121. Consequently, if you compare the sold data for the Homes and Lots in Reynolds and Great Waters to the listing inventories, we have less than one years supply on the market.

In conclusion, historically, how Reynolds goes the whole lake area goes. Inventories are up but in Reynolds we have less than one year supply of both Homes and Lots. REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU HEAR, THERE ARE NOW PURCHASERS MAKING GOOD DEALS IN THIS REAL ESTATE MARKET!

MACRO REAL ESTATE TRENDS AND MAJOR ECONOMIC ISSUES

Macro Real Estate Trends have been negatively effected by financing concerns as well as foreclosures. We believe that these issues have been exacerbated by the main stream media. Many Purchasers through out the U. S. feel that there are great deals in the foreclosure market similar to the Savings and Loan crisis of the past. The difference now is that the foreclosures are owned by banks and lending institutions rather than the government. Most of the foreclosures today are not deeply discounted because they are privately owned.

We feel that the implosion of the financials was caused by the Federal Reserve monetary policies and the greed factor. With extremely low interest rates and over supply of available funds in the past few years, the Federal Reserve has created an opportunity allowing free market greed to overshadow sound business practices. Many aggressive mortgage lenders lessened underwriting guidelines recklessly increasing the borrowing power of Purchasers. With very low teaser rates, Purchasers believed that they could buy homes costing much more than what they could afford. They felt that interest rates would not increase drastically.

As the mortgage brokers made these loans they were packaged with other loans and sold to the secondary market. What differed here is that Wall Street saw an opportunity to buy and sell this paper multiple times. They divided and repackaged large quantities of these mortgages many times and peddled them throughout the world. Now when a property owner is having difficulty making payments its hard to find the lender.

This is why we feel that GREED caused this major financial debacle. The Federal Reserve promoted home ownership by creating an overabundance of available credit to increase GDP. The mortgage originating industry saw a great opportunity to expand their business. Wall Street seized the moment by repackaging these mortgages and selling them to investors throughout the world! Many people made a lot of MONEY!

We think that the next bubble is being created as we speak. It seems to us that the commodities markets are becoming very overvalued. Money has been flooding into various commodities because interest rates have dropped and the financials have scared most stock market investors. The economy is slowing and inflation caused by this commodities run up is growing rapidly. ONE OF THE BEST PLACES TO INVEST WHEN INFLATION IS A FACTOR IS REAL ESTATE. NOW IS THE TIME TO CONSIDER REAL ESTATE!

THE FOURSOME AT LAKE OCONEE

What is happening with The Foursome at Lake Oconee ? Musher Kristin and I asked Ed and Louise Louden to join us in January 2007. We knew that in order to grow our volume we needed help. We also realized that an improvement in customer service could also be created by adding depth to our business model. Thus the Foursome was launched early in 2007. Musher, Kristin and I spent most of 2007 establishing new and exciting marketing programs to promote the increased listing inventory that Ed and Louise were growing.

2007 was a difficult year for most realtors and many Real Estate Companies cut back on their marketing due to a major reduction in sales, especially in the third and fourth quarters. Ed and Louise Louden did a great job in learning the business, developing a sound listing base and working with many buyers and leads.

The time to grow any organization is when business is slow so you are prepared when business picks up.

Musher, Kristin and I had a very good year even though most of our efforts were in developing new systems for the Foursome. I ended 2007 being SECOND in Georgia, 16th in the Region and 64th in the Nation in Gross Commission Income for all Coldwell Banker Affiliate Offices. This follows being NUMBER ONE in Georgia for 2006, 4th in the Region and 21st in the Nation. And in 2005 I was NUMBER ONE in Georgia , 21st in the region and 59th in the Nation. We were fortunate in having a repeat client base that offered us many residual opportunities over these years as well as new business created through our marketing efforts.

Since Musher, Kristin and I started in the Lake Oconee area in 1999, we have enjoyed such a great area to market and sell real estate in. If you search the Multiple Listing Service records for the three counties that touch Lake Oconee (Greene, Putnam and Morgan ) from 2000 through 2007 for residential homes and lots you will find that I have been the NUMBER ONE agent in total sales volume who lists and sells properties.

In 2007 Kristin developed new websites, gatefold ads, new internet advertising, virtual tours and tracking information systems on internet activity created by our new web marketing. We learned many years ago that marketing is the key to our real estate business. If we can get our listings out in front of the Purchasers we will then do the business. If you control the listing inventory in real estate, you will control the marketplace.

Towards the end of 2007 The Foursome realized that we could offer much better customer service and better marketing if we added more unselfish, quality and experienced members. We were very fortunate in convincing Mandi Bonner to join our group. Mandi has always been very high on our list and offers The Foursome at Lake Oconee class, confidence, ideas and experience which has broadened our entire operation.

In early February OUR MAGAZINE PREMIER ISSUE hit the street. This was the culmination of eight years of the AKM NEWSLETTER, the creation of the FOURSOME AT LAKE OCONEE, the affiliation of unselfish professional agents and most importantly the continued cutting edge MARKETING that we have provided our clients over the years. OUR MAGAZINE has been a dream of my wife, Kristin Fredrickson, who created, produced and delivered this wonderful advertising tool with the assistance of our entire group.

A few weeks ago THE FOURSOME AT LAKE OCONEE grew once more with the welcomed addition of Jon Higham and Jennifer Rocker Higham. Jon and Jennifer have been on our radar screen for a long time. They are proven top producers and have been extremely successful all of their professional lives. They offer increased technical expertise in marketing, additional Listing and Purchaser base and huge growth potential.

The Foursome has done very well thus far in 2008. We have managed to put under contract (Pending Sales) TWELVE properties written in 2008, put under contract (Pending Sales) EIGHT properties written in 2007, FOUR Closed Transactions and THREE Transactions To Close this, the second week of March. All of these contracts and transactions have involved extensive and lengthy negotiations in order to reach a meeting of the minds. In our opinion, the very smart Purchasers are out here right now making very good deals.