David Massey Real Estate

05/11/2026

New Listing!

For sale: Stick/Site Built at 302 Carriage Loop, Burlington, NC 27217. Listed at $264,900. 3 bed, 2 bath, 1,249 sqft. Built 2006. Generous layout. Browse 16 photos. Contact realtor now. MLS # 1241286.

30/10/2026

Open House Sunday 2-4 with Harold Daniels. Up to $15,000 in down payment assistance!

30/10/2026

I bought my first house in the early 1980s, when mortgage rates were near 18%. Buyers today have a harder problem.

I was fortunate to assume a loan at 10%. Those rates hurt, but homes were still priced within reach of what families earned.

Nationally, that's no longer true. Since 1996, U.S. home prices are up 260%. Household incomes are up 136%. That gap is the real affordability problem.

Rates get most of the blame. They aren't what worries me most.

The gap opened in two waves. The first was the mid-2000s boom, which only partly corrected after 2008. The second came in 2020, when rates fell to record lows and prices jumped about 32% in two years. Household incomes rose about 10%.

If national home prices had only grown as fast as household incomes since 1996, the median existing home would sell for about $275,000. In September, it sold for $417,500.

Now rates are back up, and prices didn't come back down.

High rates are painful, but they come and go. High prices tend to stay.

David Massey

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau median household income, FHFA House Price Index, NAR.

28/10/2026

Check out this new listing. Open House Sunday 2-4 by Harold Daniels. This is one of my rehab houses. Contact your agent for a showing!

28/10/2026

For more than 20 years, home prices in Alamance County grew right along with incomes. Then 2020 happened.

Rates get most of the blame for unaffordable homes. They aren't what worries me most.

When I bought my first house in the early 1980s, rates on new loans were near 18%. I was fortunate to assume a loan at 10%. Many buyers weren't. Those rates hurt. But homes were still priced within reach of what families earned.

In 2020, rates fell to record lows, buyers could borrow more, and prices here jumped almost 40% in two years. Household incomes rose about 15%.

If home prices had only grown as fast as household incomes since 1996, the median home in Alamance County would sell for about $245,000. Over the past year, it sold for $325,000.

Now rates are back up, and prices didn't come back down.

High rates are painful, but they come and go. High prices tend to stay.

David

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau household income estimates, FHFA House Price Index, Doorify MLS.

23/10/2026

The days of "let's test the market and see what happens" are over.

Last week in Alamance County, 83 homes cut their price. That's 1 in 7 active listings in a single week.

Mortgage rates have climbed from below 7% to above 7% in just over a month. Buyers are already stretching their budgets, and higher rates aren't helping. Sellers who are still pricing their homes like it's last spring may be finding that out the hard way.

The numbers tell a clear story:

📉 36 of those 83 had already been cut at least once before
⏱️ The median home took its first price cut just 3 weeks after listing
🐢 Homes on a second or later cut had been on the market a median of 87 days
💸 Homes with repeat cuts are now down about 8% from their original asking price, compared with about 3% for homes on their first cut.

A home that starts too high doesn't wait for the right buyer. Buyers know the comps; they pass it by, and the first few weeks, when interest is highest, are gone. Then come the price cuts and the long wait.

Pricing a home correctly on day one has never mattered more.

Two tools that help take the guesswork out:

🔹 Before listing: a pre-listing appraisal. An independent value before the home hits the market takes the emotion out of pricing.
🔹 After listing: an appraisal when questions come up. A recent example: a home had been listed for 12 days. It had showings but no offers, and the seller felt the price was too low. The appraisal came back with a range of values, and the list price was already at the top of it. Instead of raising the price and chasing the market, the seller held steady. One week later they accepted an offer within that range.

The appraisal didn't change the price. It changed the seller's confidence in it.

The goal is the same either way: replace hope with data.

Source: Doorify MLS, active residential listings in Alamance County, price reductions 10/15–10/22/2026. Deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

17/10/2026

I’m doing fewer appraisals than I used to.

My clients are getting more of my time. So is my family.

After 43 years in this business, that feels like success.

My workload is now entirely private and VA appraisals, and that mix suits me.

Private work means no lenders and no AMCs. I work directly with homeowners, attorneys, CPAs, executors, and others who need a credible opinion of value for estates, divorces, date-of-death valuations, tax appeals, pre-listing decisions, and similar situations.

I have more time to talk with clients, understand what they need, research the property, and walk them through the report. Those conversations matter. Most people don’t order an appraisal very often, and they deserve to understand what they’re paying for.

Yesterday the homeowner met me at the door with his brother. I jokingly asked if they were twins. He grinned and said, “Triplets!” We ended up talking about their mom and what it was like growing up as triplets. A few years ago, I would have been rushing to the next inspection. Yesterday, I had time to enjoy it.

I also take real satisfaction in serving veterans and their families. They’ve earned careful, thorough work, and I’m glad to give it.

I still enjoy working through a challenging property and getting it right. Having room in my schedule to give each assignment the attention it needs makes the work more rewarding.

It also means I end the day with something left for my family and myself.

Getting here took years of building relationships and being deliberate about which work I accept. I’m grateful to the clients and referral partners who made it possible.

Better service. Better reports. A better life.

That’s a business I’m happy to keep building.

09/10/2026

Seven or eight years ago, I stepped away from appraisal management company work. This week reminded me why.

Every assignment on my desk was private work, residential and commercial.

Several estates. An appraisal to help an owner settle on a list price. Family members buying out another family member's interest in a property. A government agency buying a property, and another selling one.

Most of those are real moments in someone's life. Settling a parent's estate. Getting ready to sell. Keeping property in the family without straining the relationship. People in those situations need a number they can trust and someone who will take the time to explain how we got there.

And when a public agency is spending or recovering taxpayer money, the number needs to hold up just as well.

When I left AMC work, the goal was to build relationships with good direct lenders and grow our private work. It wasn't an easy decision at the time. Weeks like this one tell me it was the right one.

To my fellow REALTORS®, you are my number one source of referrals, and I'm grateful every time you trust me with one of your clients. I do my best to take care of your clients and make you proud you recommended me. And to everyone who called or emailed us directly this week, thank you.

After 43 years, I've learned the best business plan is simple: do work worth recommending, and take care of the people who recommend you.

08/10/2026

https://lnkd.in/p/eWcW-wsh

LinkedIn post of mine regarding 3.6 appraisals.

"In November, appraisers will finally be able to count the heavy crown molding in my house." A homeowner told me that during an inspection yesterday. She said that was her REALTOR®'s understanding of UAD 3.6. I gently explained that quality has always mattered in an appraisal. Crown molding, upgrad...