The Quote That Explains the Market Cycle G. Michael Hopf’s observation about human and economic cycles has become legendary: “Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.” For the past two years (2024 and 2025), this quote perfectly captures the psychological disconnect happening in the real estate industry. We are living proof that "hard times" are back, but the market's memory is still stuck in the

Lesley and Andy lead State of the Market Greenville, SC The Market Isn’t New—We’ve Just Forgotten the Playbook Harry Truman once said, “The only thing that’s new is the history you don’t know.” And after spending the last few weeks reviewing old journals and studying decades of real estate cycles, I couldn’t agree more. As we’ve been preparing for our Mastering the Market of the Moment  calls, one theme has become unmistakably clear: Today’s real estate challenges aren’t new—

The media loves a good fear-based headline, especially when it comes to real estate. But what’s really happening in the South tells a different story. In our latest Carpool Real Estate Talk , Andy and I pulled back the curtain on what we call “The Golden Tier of Real Estate.”  Spoiler alert — the market isn’t crashing. It’s just shifting. Across our five markets — Atlanta, Savannah, Columbia, Greenville, and Charlotte  — 25–30% of all homes are selling for 100% or more of lis