"For Sale" signs have been sprouting like weeds the last three years.
No doubt your neighborhood has had at least one of these signs in one of its yards for longer than a year.
But it could be worse. What if your entire ZIP code was underwater?
Two years ago, when the real estate market tanked in the Carolinas, developers abandoned the massive Edenmoor subdivision in Lancaster County on the border of North and South Carolina. Potholes, sidewalks to nowhere and massive safety hazards -- like a 50-foot trench in the frontyard of one home -- plagued the 870-acre neighborhood.
However, Kyle Corkum, who runs Raleigh-based land acquisition company L Star Management, acquired the property in a partnership with Santa Monica-based Saybrook Capital. Corkum is betting big on Carolina land, saying the real estate turnaround is happening now.
"For the last three years we've been constantly tracking Raleigh and Charlotte, breaking them into subgroups," Corkum explained. "The metrics are very strong ... Most people say it is the time sit on the sidelines, we happen to say this is time to buy."
Corkum spent millions on Edenmoor and is bidding millions more on land in the Triangle.
"We believe very strongly that now is the time to be heavily invested in real estate," Corkum said. "We now have under management $250 million in assets that we've acquired in the Carolinas."
In the Triangle alone, L Star has invested in Weston Downs and Cardinal Oaks in Durham, Inwood Forest and Glen Lake in Raleigh, Ellington Place in Apex, and Weston Place, Chessington and Grace Park in Cary.
"For people who own homes here that are a little bit underwater, I think it's a time to be patient knowing that we're very fortunate to be in this place at this time," Corkum said.
"Raleigh's in recovery, and in the coming years I think they're going to see appreciation, in most cases, where [homes] are back to where they were a couple of years ago -- or even beyond that."
Wall Street is even beginning to invest heavily in North Carolina, especially in Raleigh.
"The invest funds in New York, Chicago and L.A. -- Raleigh is considered one of the best markets in the country," Corkum said. "[Wall Street] buys now because it believes it's going to get better and they are going to see significant profits."
"This is the time to be turning these communities around."
Another investment firm -- PIMCO, headquartered in Newport Beach, Calif. -- manages $1.3 trillion in assets in the Carolinas.
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