Memphis Real Estate

Two days ago The Commercial Appeal released an article titled, "Memphis to Lead Nation for Rise in Home Prices."  (Note that the article is only available to paid subscribers).  It references a report by the Demand Institute.  The most interesting part about their research, at least for us Memphians, is that they are predicting a 33% growth in the housing market between 2012 and 2018 (see page 18 of the report).  We're actually tied with Tampa, FL for #1.

As a home owner and a real estate agent, this is pretty exciting.  Here's what it means.  If they're correct, a house purchased in 2012 for $118,000 (the average price for a in house in Memphis last year) could possibly be worth $157,000 in 2018.  Or, using the same math, a house purchased in 2012 for $200,000 could possibly be worth $266,000!  How's that for a return!

I've always felt great about Memphis real estate, and it's one of the reasons I'm  both a real estate investor and agent.  Eight years ago we moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to Midtown Memphis.  In 2004/2005 we were trying to buy in the Bay Area.  In hindsight I am so grateful that we didn't.  The house we rented at the time was worth over $400,000.  It was 1000 square feet and had two bedrooms and 1 bathroom.  It was in San Leandro, a small community outside of Oakland.

In a good Memphis neighborhood such as Cooper-Young, I can rent a $100,000 home for around $1000/month.  Using that math, the home we rented in San Leandro should have been $4000/month.  It wasn't.  It was $1450/month.  When I did the math, I realized that it was an incredible deal to rent in the bay area, and it was just as much an incredible deal to buy in Memphis.  So since we had been saving money towards a down payment and weren't going to be buying there, we decided to buy investment properties in Tipton County, where I grew up.  And that began my real estate adventure!  

I'll continue to buy here, and more important, I'll continue to help others buy.  If you are looking to buy a home to live in or as an investment, I'd love to help.  You can email me at robertgrisham@gmail.com.

As a side note, the other interesting aspect of their research is this:  of the 2,200 cities they analyzed, they discovered that the wealthiest 10% own 52% of the total housing wealth ($4.4 trillion), while the bottom 40% own just 8% of the housing wealth ($700 billion).  I don't guess this should surprise us, but seeing the numbers like this is pretty interesting.

Cooper-Young Home For Sale

I recently finished renovating a home in my neighborhood. It's now for sale, so if you or someone you know is looking to buy, let me know. Here's a picture of my favorite room.

For more info, check out the blog I set up, or see the listing on Trulia.

1898 Manila

My first "flip" is on the market. Check it out here, and if you know of anyone who wants to move into Cooper-Young, let me know!

Juggling Plates/Spinning Balls

Or something like that. I must confess that things are busier for the Grisham family than they have ever been before. I shared a few weeks ago that we have had some major changes in our lives, and it's been tricky navigating those changes. My office time now consists of the hours between 8:30 and 2:00, and then again from 3:30-5:00. And that's sometimes just four days a week. The rest of my work happens whenever and wherever I can squeeze it in.

My real estate is going well - hoping to have at least three closings in the next month. But it's definitely been keeping me busy. And then there's my normal church work. It has been great that I've had the last three Sundays off from teaching at NC, but I've been using the time as prep for a new series I'm starting this Sunday.

Adam has transitioned into kindergarten so well. I am so proud of him, and we're very happy with Peabody. Micah, on the other hand, has had a more difficult time. He's finally taking naps at daycare, but he's also just hit "the terrible twos." Though he's still a sweet boy most of the time, he definitely has his moments! And when he doesn't get enough sleep, well...the sweet boy kind of vanishes.

I hope it doesn't seem like I'm complaining too much. I'm just trying to keep these balls/plates from dropping/crashing. Mandy and I have been in tough places like this before, and it just means that we have to be extra intentional about keeping margin for our family.

A Whirlwind of Change

The last few weeks have been full of change for the Grisham family. I began my real estate classes at the beginning of July, and passed my exam a little over a week ago. Some have asked why I'm going into real estate. The answer is that I've actually been in real estate for a few years now. A year after moving to Memphis I started working in the mortgage industry. Unfortunately, just as I was getting going the housing industry was falling apart, so I got out of it. Through that, though, I caught the real estate bug, and I've been dabbling in it since that time. So it just made sense to make it a little more official and go ahead and get licensed. I hope to help my friends (and friends of my friends) buy or sell their homes, but I also plan to get more involved in the investment side of real estate. As soon as all of the paperwork goes through (a week or so), I'll begin working with Revid Realty here in Midtown.

As if that were not enough to write about, here are a few more changes. First, Mandy has gone back to teaching. We were planning on her taking one more year away from the classroom, but a job opened up at Vollentine Elementary School, which is located in the northern part of Midtown. My friend Matthew Watson is helping his church, Living Hope, plant a church in that neighborhood, and they are already official adopters of this school. God has opened several doors that have led us to take this step.

This meant that we had to find a place for Micah. Adam is starting Kindergarten next week (another BIG change), but we now needed daycare for Micah. My mom will be with him one day a week, I'll be with him another, and three days a week he'll be at Union Avenue's daycare, which, if you didn't know, is located one floor down from my office. They gave us an amazing discount, which is the only way we would have been able to enroll him there. Yet another door opened by God.

These are the stories we mustn't forget. We have to tell them to our children. We have to remind them that God is active in our lives, that He has plans for us, and when we are faithful to take them, He guides and directs our steps. After all, He is quite good at opening doors that seem to be closed!

This is a difficult transition for Mandy. She is going to miss being at home with the boys. We know that they are going to do great in school, but it's going to be hard for her. She has also been doing so much with NC and with the Peabody movement. Many of those roles are going to transition to others.

I am definitely a glass half-full kind of guy, but I know that this is going to be tricky in a lot of ways. I know that God is going to help us, and I believe that our times together as a family will be even richer.

A Nice Surprise

As of 10:00 this morning, I had a total of 20 hours left in my real estate class. Lou, our beloved professor, decided to give us Friday off. Down to 13 hours. Then, at 10:00, he called three of us into his office. Since the three of us have our tests scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, he thought we should go home...and not come back. Oh yeah, and study. I had this stupid grin on my face the whole time he was sharing this great news.

So...I have officially completed my 90 hours of real estate class. Now just gotta pass that test!

Introducing Portfolio Investment Group

Last week my friend Joe and I started a real estate investing business.  We're calling it Portfolio Investment Group (LLC).  Joe has been buying, rehabbing, and selling properties for the last four or five years, and I've learned a lot from him.  We purchased our first property together six months ago, and are closing on a second one in a few weeks.  Our plan is to rent some of them, and to sell some of them, with the proceeds going to buying more.