I think Savannah was a little ahead of it's time. My personal opinion is that prices will improve over the long term. Part of this may depend on gas prices and where people in Savannah work. I think many of the people who moved their initially worked fairly far away. The bought in Savannah and Providence due to the price/value they got. Since gas prices doubled, the value may no longer be there. However there are more opportunities for work growing closer now with many corp relos to Denton, Frisco, McKinney and general growth in those areas. My general thought in Providence and Savannah though is you must get a great buy initially (like a foreclosure) and be willing to live there a few years.

Congratulations

Hi Dana,

Savannah, TX on 380, right? Best guess would be that it's going to increase by that time. Prosper is going to be building a Jack Nickolaus golf course - 1 of only 12 in the world. At 380/Preston, they are going to build a Riverfront Hotel with shops and dining and should be built in 2009. At 380/Tollway, they are going to build a Stonebriar type mall. That area is really growing and should have a lot more infrastructure in place by then. The subprime market and foreclosures are what slowed the area down. Remember, though, none of us have a crystal ball. :)

Happy to help,
Terri Hayley
The Hayley Group

The easy answer to this is, Absolutely!

A homes value in 'normal' times should increase anywhere between 2.6% - 5% a year. Now you should not expect the the appreciation values we have seen in the last 10 years, which has in turn led to the some of the issues we are faced with in today's market.

However several things can come into play when you look at appreciation values; the neighborhood, the condition of the property, and local economy in that city, and how much you ultimately pay in interest on a mortgage.

But in a nutshell, I would feel very confident in buying almost ANY real estate, if I was sure I was going to be able to keep it from 3-5 years.