With a 10- year strategic plan in place and more than 11,000 homes currently in development, Harnett County is on a large-scale growth track with homes in the community currently under construction. Fayetteville based Coldwell Banker Advantage, recognized as the largest entity of the Coldwell Banker network in 2022, will be playing a part in helping to sell some of those homes from their Harnett County office located in Cameron. 

Described by CBA as having a “a small town feeling,” and a “family friendly area,” it was also noted that houses tend to be more affordable in this area, and the resale is good. 

The Greater Fayetteville Business Journal spoke with Edward Jones, Broker in Charge of Coldwell Banker Advantage’s Cameron Office, about his experience and to get the details of residential real estate in the Harnett County area. 

GBFJ: How long have you been in real estate?

Jones: I have six years in Real Estate, one and a half years in Harnett County. I have been eligible to be a Broker in Charge for three years but moved to this office to assume the actual position.

GBFJ: What got you into real estate?

Jones: I served in the military in both the Marine Corps and Army. When I retired from the Army, I decided to make real estate my next career, after working with a Broker who helped me and my wife sell and purchase homes while I was on my last deployment. I love having the ability to help people I see real estate as a way to assist people with one of the largest decisions they will ever make.

GBFJ: What are some of the pros of moving into the Harnett County area?

Jones: The thing about Harnett County is, it is definitely growing a lot and quickly. Any homes that are out there are being sold relatively quickly. In our market, we're really still in a seller's market. 

GBFJ: Can you explain what a seller's market means?

Jones: So a seller's market means the market is more beneficial to someone who's selling their home than to a buyer. When there are more buyers than there are homes for sale, then it’s considered a sellers market. When there are more sellers than there are buyers then it's considered a buyers market and when it's about even it’s considered a balanced market. We've been in a seller's market since COVID, basically. 

GBFJ: Is there currently enough of a supply of homes in Harnett County?

Jones: There are builders that are developing in Harnett County. It is being slowed down a little bit by cost. It’s just costing builders a lot more to build these days than in the past, so that is slowing down. I think there's a lot of buyers who bought in the last three years who have really low interest rates, and they're hesitant to sell because they’ve got to go find something else somewhere, which means they're gonna have to deal with the interest rates and all the other issues with low supply.

I think there's a multitude of things that are slowing the market down as far as sellers not wanting to sell because they have a low interest rate and they know that they’d get a higher interest rate and there's already not a whole lot of inventory to choose from, as well. 

GBFJ: Does being a rural community have an impact on that at all?

Jones: Yes, we're in a rural community, but we're just north of Fort Bragg. We get a lot of business from Fort Bragg soldiers and retirees. Being a rural area is actually a benefit because a lot of people like having some land or the option of land and it's growing. So where it’s really rural it’s starting to build up in area. 

GBFJ: Tell us a little bit about the Coldwell Banker Advantage in Harnett County.

Jones: We’re a small satellite office, we have about 20 agents and we can handle probably up to 58 and it is growing. As the area grows and more population comes into the area and more houses are being built in the area, there'll be more need for agents. We have all the tools that come with being a Coldwell Banker brand. Coldwell Banker has been around over 100 years, so all the tools and support that comes with Coldwell Banker applies to Coldwell Banker Advantage in Harnett County. 

GBFJ: What are some of the unique elements to selling in Harnett County? Do your agents have to keep anything in particular in mind when you're looking for a new home for people?

Jones: I try to advise my agents to listen to the customer when we're looking for a new home. The customer knows what they want and what they need way more than any agent is going to know. So we listen to and focus on what the customer's needs are and each customer and client is going to be different. It is an up and coming market. North Carolina in general is growing, Harnett and Cumberland County are definitely growing as well. I think Harnett, being that it has so much space to grow, is being pushed from both sides from Cumberland County and the Raleigh area and Triangle area. I think it's a great time to be part of Harnett County.