Thirty years ago, Wyatt Rampy moved to Nashville from his hometown of Warrenton, Virginia near Washington, D.C. He says he met his wife, Wendy, “at church, like every mother wants her son to do.”
The Rampy’s originally bought a home in Hermitage but moved to a house on Sneed Road to be closer to Bellevue Church of Christ, where they remain active members. Later they moved to Traceside where they raised their four children and have lived off Poplar Creek Road for the last 11 years.
As the owner of Poplar Hill Realty, Rampy is a familiar face in Bellevue real estate circles and knows a thing-or-two about the local market. Here are some of his insights.
From a real estate professional’s perspective, what is your assessment of Bellevue?
Bellevue is the best kept secret in all of Nashville. Being a real estate guy, I like growth and development and amenities, but this area has so many hills that it makes it difficult for developers. Bellevue is very much a bedroom community. It makes it difficult for retail, but we have great restaurants and an excellent movie theater. We have everything we need for daily essentials, and we have incredible, national-class parks. So, we have this pocket on the west side of Nashville that’s charming, quiet, and friendly. It’s not overrun and it won’t be overrun anytime soon.
How does Bellevue’s residential property appreciation stack up with the rest of Nashville?
It’s been proportional. At the start of the year, the entry point in Bellevue was $440,000. That was for a 1,161 square foot home with no garage. Only five of 52 homes in Bellevue were listed under $500,000. That’s the growth that we’ve seen.
How has the rise in interest rates affected the market?
It’s brought us back to reality. Demand from the out-of-town market is still high enough that it didn’t stop the market. It just changed the dynamics. Houses are still going for close to asking price. Days on the market are up slightly. It’s the urgency factor, the bidding wars that have subsided. We’ve entered a period of traditional negotiations.
How long is this dynamic going to remain in place?
We’ll never see interest rates in the two, three, and probably four percent range in our lifetimes. It’s put us trillions of dollars in debt and it’s not sustainable. However, six percent is still a good rate and I think we’re going to stay in that range. When the market gets used to that, buyers that have been on the sidelines will reenter the market along with demand from the out-of-town folks, which will put us right back into somewhat of the frenzy, but not as chaotic.
Is Bellevue maxed out?
Before Bellevue can be maxed out, developers are going to have to max out the other areas first. Costs are going to be higher here, due to the terrain. As far as housing, you still have neighborhoods with large lots that haven’t seen the development that Green Hills has had, where lots are subdivided, and four houses are built where one used to be. Bellevue will not see explosive growth any time soon. That could be good for homeowners who need to sell because values will go up.
Is home ownership becoming out of reach?
I don’t believe that at all. It’s true that home prices have gone up but it’s always a good time to buy because lenders are out there. They want to put their money to work so they come up with creative ways to get people to qualify. We tell people to “date the rate.” In other words, get what you can now. If rates go down, you can refinance. But if they go up, you’re the better for it. At Poplar Hill Realty, we have relationships established with great lenders that we introduce to clients before we show a house. We want them to know what they qualify for before they look. We encourage first-time buyers to get in the game as quickly as they can, so that they can get on that train that everyone else has been enjoying. Which is tremendous growth over a relatively short period of time.
" ... we have this pocket on the west side of Nashville that’s charming, quiet, and friendly. It’s not overrun and it won’t be overrun anytime soon."
"It’s true that home prices have gone up but it’s always a good time to buy because lenders are out there. They want to put their money to work so they come up with creative ways to get people to qualify."
