The year is coming to a close and for what many feared would be a terrible year for real estate in Hopkinsville, 2011 has turned out to be not so terrible after all.

The average days on the market for a residential structure right now from January 1st, 2011 to December 1, 2011 is 142 days, and the average price is around $125,000. For the same period in 2010, the average days on the market was around 186. Which shows that the average time a property is sitting on the market has gone down quite a bit. The downside is that in 2010 the average price was around $166,000. On the surface that would seem to be quite a significant drop in average price, but that number is a little misleading.

One of the best seller’s for 2011 has been in the foreclosure market here in Hopkinsville. There have been several homes that have been sold this year for a fraction of what was paid for them in the previous years. As the banks have liquidated these properties, it has drug down the average price of a residential structure here in the area. The quick sales of foreclosures have also brought the average days on the market down quite a bit as well, which is reflected in the data. The quick turnaround of these homes in this area has been a blessing in disguise for the market. It has kept the market stabilized, kept properties selling, and kept these homes from becoming blights in neighborhoods. Most of these sales have also been to developers and landlords who have quickly moved tenants into the homes, and refurbished them in a timely manner to keep the overall appearances of the neighborhoods up.

As the foreclosure situation has been kept contained here, the middle class home here in Hopkinsville has been selling quite well. The continuing troop numbers at Fort Campbell, and the well timed marketing of the Hopkinsville Christian County Chamber of Commerce have made a good impact on encouraging military families to choose Hopkinsville and Christian County as their home. One of the fastest growing areas of Hopkinsville is the Sheffield Downs subdivision just south of Hopkinsville on 41A. Justin Williams and WCW Construction have done a fabulous job of bringing quality, affordable housing to Hopkinsville over the last few years.

The surprise of the last two years has to been the fast growth of the Pembroke area of Christian County. Pembroke sits approximately 8 miles from Fort Campbell and about 5 miles south of Hopkinsville. Over the last few years, Pembroke and the surrounding area have exploded with new housing construction, commercial, and industrial growth. This corridor between Fort Campbell, Pembroke, and Hopkinsville will be the area to watch over the next 20 years. We have mainly seen new construction homes in this area.

If you would like to learn more about some of the new construction options around the area, give me a shout.

2011 has been a good year for the Payne Real Estate Group. Although we aren’t the top sellers like have been the last two years, we still have done well and held our own. There is still a month left, maybe the doors will bust open and a flood of cash rich buyers will come running through the door. Well, maybe not, nothing ever comes that easy, haha, but we have done well and the lord continues to bless us. Thank you to all those that decided to work with us this year. Congrats to all the Realtors in the area who have made 2011 a great year even with all the gloom and doom around the nation. Sometimes it is better to turn off the radio and television and just live life. You might find things really aren’t that bad. The sun still comes up every morning.

Teenage fads are strange, and the god of pop culture dictates these curious phenomenons. These crazes have morphed dramatically throughout the decades, raised many eyebrows, and provoked the rolling of countless eyes. What this bedazzled deity has currently cast upon the teenage population, however, is more absurd than parachute pants and depleting the ozone layer with hairspray. Yes, today’s teenagers have moved on to pointy teeth, blood, and the fountain of youth. Add these three things together and you get the sultry, quintessential being that is Edward Cullen, and much to the joy of pubescent girls everywhere, he is a vampire. That’s right, he’s a blood sucker and everyone loves him! (Well, the werewolves don’t but I’m not getting into that…)

          Mr. Cullen is the fictional character in the Twilight book series by Stephanie Meyer. The vamp hunk, for those of you who don’t read teenage romance novels, is also played by Robert Pattinson in the books’ film adaptation. Since the announcement of the movie deal vampire popularity has sky rocketed. Meyer has sold millions of copies of her books, and the movies have grossed over $350,000,000 to date! But why? What makes the pale, sun-afflicted creatures so appealing? A high school student, from Trigg County, KY, says, “Edward Cullen appeals to me because he’s perfect and handsome with a great sense of style and a great sense of humor only me and my friends get. What I like about him is that he loves Bella [Edward’s girlfriend] more than himself. He pledges to be her everything. That’s what every girl wants – eternal love.” I myself must admit that Edward seems pretty dreamy, and if he wasn’t into red blood cells he would be perfect.  

These days, however, Cullen isn’t the only upgraded Dracula on the block. Everyone else in Hollywood has jumped on the bandwagon, after seeing Twilight’s success. If you turn on the television you’ll see shows like The Vampire Diaries and True Blood. If you go the movies you’ll see films like Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant and Daybreakers. Bookstores, as well, have stocked up on tons of new novels about the fantastic beings. One cannot enter a single Books-A-Million or Borders without almost knocking down a vampire promotion table. You might as well call us generation blood.   

          Females all across the world swoon at the mention of their fictional loves and tape Twilight posters to their walls. They can’t get enough of the forbidden romance or fair complexions. Not everyone cares for these immortal, brooding boys, however. Human guys everywhere are being rejected because they weren’t born in the 17^th century and don’t sparkle in the

 sun like Edward, who is far from the stereotypical vampire who bursts into flames. As long as this craze remains, I suppose, they’ll just have to forge birth certificates and buy body glitter in bulk. Right now the vampire is what’s cool in high school, and I don’t see that changing for a very long time.

Birddog Part one.  A true testament to the viral nature of the internet in a small community like Hopkinsville, this video has been watched over 5000 times since being first uploaded in February.  Birddog is an icon in Hopkinsville and beyond.

Birddog Part Two.  Yet another look into the dynamics of Birddog and his interactions with businesses in downtown Hopkinsville.  Karen Boyd was the real inspiration for the idea and she was so kind to start the ball rolling by sharing her hilarious tales of how day to day life in Hopkinsville is with a Birddog on watch

Kentucky Deer Hunting Tips from David Hale of Knight and Hale Game Calls. This interview was put together by Mark Putman of Bucks and Ducks Plus. This video has a good deal of quality info if you’re interested in bagging a trophy deer in Kentucky

West and Witherspoon Florist present Biker Love. Wow, what a story behind this commercial shoot.  This video was put together in less than 24 hours using local actors/ friends of ours on facebook..Steve and Kelly Campbell got a call on Friday afternoon and showed up ready for whatever at One o’clock Saturday….What you see was finished by Four the same day.

Last but not least and certainly most deserving is the Ready to Sell series of videos we did with Debbie Vier of the Payne Real Estate Group.  Debbie was brave enough to give us a chance to try some experiments with our production abilities and the results are pretty much amateur hour yet very charming because of the Newhart approach and dare we say, simpleton effort at making local videos.  Debbie’s natural charm and sense of humor really did the trick on this series which has been very well received by thousands of locals

I hope you have enjoyed the videos we are producing here and we only ask that you share it with your friends in your mediasphere and leave us a few thoughts if you feel the urge… We are looking forward to some seriously zany material in 2010 so be sure to subscribe to our youtube channel and enjoy the small town charm of Hopkinsville