Welcome to another installment of Tour Collierville’s 2 Minute Tuesday! This week, Keith sits down with Allen Green, co-owner of John Green and Company Realtors in Collierville, TN, to talk about realty, the housing market, and the Square.
Watch the video here, or read the transcript below.
Allen Green Interview Transcript
Keith: Hey, this is Keith with Tour Collierville, and I am here for our 2-Minute Tuesday this week with Allen Green of John Green and Company Realtors. Allen, welcome.
Allen: Thank you, Keith. Thanks for inviting me.
K: Yeah, no problem. So, we know realty, but tell us a little bit about what you do and what you’ve got going on at John Green.
A: Okay. Well again, I’m Allen Green with John Green Realtors. I actually own the business, John Green and Company, with my brother Michael. My father John Green’s the namesake to the company he still works with us, but he turned the reins over to us about four years ago.
K: Gotcha.
A: And as far as how long I’ve been in the business, I’ve been full-time in real estate for 23 years, since about 1995.
K: That means you must have seen a lot of changes.
A: Oh yeah, definitely changed a lot. A lot since then.
K: Yeah. So are you… You’re at the company; you have other Realtors? Or you’re a realtor yourself? How are you—Are you actively selling things yourself?
A: Yes, my brother and I and my dad still actively sell. We also have, you know, over 30 agents who work with us that actively sell as well, mainly in the Collierville area.
K: And your offices are down on the square now right?
A: That is correct.
K: But I’ve heard you guys are moving? You’re building a new spot?
A: Yeah. So, interestingly enough, next year is going to be our 40th anniversary. So in early spring, our new office will be open on the Square, and it’ll actually be our sixth location on the Square since 1979.
K: Really? Where all of you moved around?
A: We’ve been on every side of the square, you know, not counting the south side of the railroad tracks. But the east, west, and north side, we’ve been in different locations throughout the years.
K: Gotcha. So the space that you’re in now is it… Can you tell us what’s happening there with it? Is somebody else coming in?
A: We have an architecture firm who is going to be renting from us. They’ll be another office, so that means more employees on the Square—hopefully more employees that can come down and eat lunch at the new restaurants and everything.
K: Yeah that’s awesome. So back to real estate a little bit, just to kind of give our viewers an idea of what’s happening in the market. Everybody knows it’s hot. Everybody’s looking at things. But would you say that it’s more of a buyer’s market or a seller’s market right now?
A: It’s definitely still a seller’s market. You know, we had a frenzy this summer. It was definitely a seller’s market this summer. We’re still in the seller’s market right now. Typically, six months’ supply on the market is a healthy market. Anything below that means you’re in a seller’s market, and right now we’re probably sitting there at about three months’ supply of homes on the market. So we’re definitely a seller’s market. It has cooled down a bit compared to the summer, but I look for next spring/summer to be even busier than we were this year. So now is a really good time to sell or buy still in Collierville.
K: So when you say about three months’ supply, by a three months’ supply you mean that if no other houses came on the market, there’d still be enough to meet the demand for the next three months. Is that about how it works?
A: That’s basically it. That’s basically it in a nutshell.
K: Gotcha. Okay, okay. That makes sense. So what areas in town that you’re seeing are the hottest areas? Is there any one that’s a lot hotter?
A: With the new high school, everything in Collierville has been hot this summer and in this season, but one thing I’ve noticed last year, year-and-a-half is this downtown area by the square has been our hottest area. If you look at the square footage prices that it’s bringing and the excitement that’s going on downtown, that seems to be our hardest market right now.
K: Huh. That’s interesting. So is it more in that area or is it more existing? I knew there’s new homes being built around here—we’re sitting in that area now—I know there’s new homes that are being built.
A: That’s right. I would say the most of the activity’s been newer homes down by the Square, a new construction that’s built. But anytime an existing resale comes up in the downtown area, it sells pretty quick.
K: Gotcha. So overall in Collierville, does that hold true? is there more new constructions you’re seeing? More interest in new or is there are a lot more existing?
A: Well I deal with a lot of new construction, and you know the issue with new construction is that the costs have gone up so much that the prices are getting to a point where there’s not as many. There’s demand for new construction at the lower price ranges; it’s just hard to build anything in that price range.
K: Gotcha.
A: So we have seen a big uptick in demand in last month or so in new construction, but I say it’s strong all across the board right now. If we had more new construction, there would be more needed new construction sales. Existing homes, especially anything below $400,000, is really hot right now.
K: Gotcha. So yeah, with the prices of building so high—and I’ve heard that too—with that, can you buy that something new and have equity? Or is it going to take some time?
A: Actually, you know the interesting thing about that, I think, is it’s a great opportunity right now to buy, because the costs are going up, but the costs that are in the houses now are based on cost a while back. Because, you know, you typically buy your lumber and things before we build the house, right? So next spring we will see probably big increase in new construction. So now it’s a really good time to consider that as far as whether it’s new construction or existing, the markets get pretty efficient. Whatever the value is at the time that’s what it’s going to sell for. We’re in the increasing market now, so if you buy now, in a short time, you’re going to have some equity.
K: So you see the trend is that the values and the square foot buyers are going to continue to go, to continue to increase for some period of time?
A: I do. I think that barring a major economic catastrophe happening right now…
K: …which could at any time, but we, yeah. We understand that it’s a guess.
A: Collierville is at a tipping point. We’re in a growth mode right now. We’re about fifty thousand people, and with the new high school just coming online, we’re in a position—you’re fixing to see a lot more retail development, a lot more restaurants, a lot more commercial development, probably a lot more companies moving here, bringing jobs.
K: John Duncan was telling us some about that earlier.
A: Oh definitely. I did see that as well, so we’re in that growth mode right now. And so I think for the near future, Collierville is still going to keep growing.
K: I think that’s how most of what we had. That’s a good summary of real estate. I appreciate you giving us that, and is there any advice or anything you want to say about your company or anything?
A: Well first I’d like to say thank you for doing this. I’ve been enjoying the other two minute interviews you’ve done, and I think it’s a great service to Collierville. Thank you for everything you do with Tour Collierville and Stakt for helping the community.
K: Thank you.
A: I’d also like to thank everybody in Collierville who has used John Green company in the past. We’ve been blessed to be in such a great community, and it’s blessed us, and we hope we’ve given back and served in the community as well. I guess any advice I give you… If you’re looking to buy or sell any type of real estate, consult a professional. Consult a realtor. It’ll help you in the long run. You’ll end up coming up better, not making a mistake, and you’ll be happy you did.
K: Great yeah that sounds like good advice. So, I appreciate it. We’re glad you could come in.
A: Appreciate you. Thanks.