Autumn in Gatlinburg!
With leaves falling almost as fast as the stock market, this fall's color season may be unusally short but brilliantly beautiful nonetheless. We finally have had a break in the heat and some northern parts of Sevier County had their first light frost. Visitation to the Smokies has been off significantly this year and there are several potential reasons for the lackluster visitor count in 2008:
  • The economy as a whole has been rotten with jobs harder to find or even keep. This of course discourages people from spending money on vacations or anything else that isn't absolutely essential.
  • The sharp drop in the stock market has caused most of us to lose a lot of money in our retirement accounts which again discourages spending.
  • Gasoline prices were much higher than before during our prime summer month vacation season which has also caused changes in travel plans.

With all of the bad news it is encouraging that October occupancy rates are up across the area and there are other positive signs. The traffic congestion around the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/Sevierville area is as frustrating as ever. You may not see this as good news but for those of us who live here we are SO glad to see the long lines of automobiles filled with vacationers headed for the mountains. I used to get really agitated when I became stuck in traffic but over the years I've learned to handle the stress by picturing a dollar sign over each vehicle in the line of traffic around me. Almost all of these drivers will stop somewhere today to eat, most will contribute to our local economy by purchasing some form of lodging for at least one evening, and every once in a while someone purchases real estate. The mental picture of all of those dollar signs floating above the sea of automobiles greatly reduces the stress for me.

Owning Smoky Mountain real estate is a great way to reduce the overall risk of your investment portfolio. If we have a major inflation at the end of this recession what better place to have your investment than in a solid asset like real estate and what better place to own real estate than at a place you love to come to? If you would like to invest in our Gatlinburg area real estate market and get some of your savings out of the stock market please contact me.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Smoky Mountain Water Wells but were Afraid to Ask!

Unlike more urban communities, many Smoky Mountain homes still have water supplied by individual underground wells. The fact is that only a relatively small (but ever growing) portion of our area is served by municipal utility water. This is rarely a problem as wells here in the Gatlinburg and surrounding area usually produce clear and good tasting water for significantly less cost than utility water once the one-time expense of drilling the well is covered. In fact, while there are certainly exceptions, our area is known for exceptionally clean and good tasting well water. More than one brand of bottled water is actually drawn from underground sources right here in the Smokies. What can go wrong you ask? Unfortunately, plenty! In those relatively rare cases where a well’s iron or sulfur content causes the water to be unsuitable, a water filtration system can generally be installed to remedy the situation. Water filtration can be as basic as a very inexpensive cotton string filter th
Read more

Comments Please!

I have had this blog since 2003 but didn't really get serious about regularly writing here until the beginning of 2007. I do truly enjoy the opportunity to share my thoughts about our local Gatlinburg area real estate market including the surrounding communities of Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, Seymour, Kodak, and Cosby. The only problem with writing any type of blog is that you really aren't sure just how many people are reading much less care about what you are pontificating about. If you are reading this blog, regularly or for the very first time, PLEASE comment me. It's easy, painless, and won't leave any sort of mark. In fact, you can even remain totally anonymous but yet let me know that you are out there. Like the age old question of "If a tree falls in the forest with nobody there to hear, does it make a noise?", a blog writer could wonder "If I write something meaningful but nobody reads it, does it matter?". If you like, you can even tel
Read more

Comments Please!!

Just wondering how many folks are out there reading this Gatlinburg real estate blog.  Please comment with your home town - You can even stay anonymous if you wish. If you want, tell me more about yourself (if you already own property in Sevier County or are just considering doing so, what you would like me to write about in the future, etc.).  Thanks in advance for your comments, whatever they might be!!
Read more