[redfishtom]

have been finishing up on a house in maggie valley, when the people who own the house next to it walk down to chat. the man asks if it is suppose to rain this weekend, I was telling him that this was the remnants of what hit florida and that it was supposed to rain for several days. when he tells me that is the reason his wife and him came to their summer home, to try to out run the storm, I had to crack up . obviously it found them

 

[sinker man]

Another who woulda thunk it. Just finished up a 15K outhouse. When I got out of highschool the first house I looked at was 11k and 11 acres came with it, The guy who bought it sold the white pines off of it for enough to remodel and put in a nice pool. I remember building a garage apartment turnkey move in price 10 K. From Farm to the outhouse in only 30 yrs. And old people wonder why they can't afford medicine or retirement.

 

[redfishtom]

sinkerman, I find myself fortunate to live in the area where I do, but on the downside, the asheville and surrounding areas are now the most expensive places to live in nc. ( depending on which survey you look at) my friend bought 3 acres roughly 18 years ago for 16 grand, when a realtor questioned him recently on what it would take to buy it. when he asked what she could get from it, she said she could list it with the small house for 350,000. some of the lots in the gated communities I have built in are upwards of 100,000. that's just for the lots. some of the poor dirt farmers my father grew up with here are now worth millions because gramps left 50 acres on the side of a mountain.

 

[sinker man]

Same situation here. Lakefront property is thru the roof. A good lot on a point that is not steep or far above the water will fetch a million or more. Some of the land that Duke power bought up years ago for 50 cent an acre will now bring 100k or more per lot. Inflation is basically a tax on the non- landowners. I have met several people who were quite wealthy that would have been quite poor had they not inherited property. One of the reasons for the phenomonal increase in prices was that 20 years ago some one from Up North could sell a relatively small house up North and move down South and buy land dirt cheap and build an impressive house on the proceeds. We still haven't reached an equallibrium. Some folks gain impressively while others get milked for all they are worth. Just depends on where you happen to be standing when the music stops.