Some homebuyers search for rural property due to COVID-19 pandemic

LEIPERS FORK, Tenn. (WTVF) — Some home buyers are turning their search rural due to the pandemic.

Cindy Garvey is the real estate broker at United Country Real Estate in Leipers Fork. She said they expect to rebound quickly when states lift their stay-at-home orders.

“Once everybody’s allowed to get out and move around, we’re going to be busier than ever,” Garvey said.

Her coworkers expect a mass exodus from places like California and Chicago. They are working with one client right now who wants to get away from living in close proximity to other people. “Those buyers are now looking at 90 acres further out to where a couple of their friends from California could potentially go in on their project,” Garvey said.

A local buyer who lives in a busy subdivision paid cash for land so he can move his family soon. “That’s a 5 acre track and it’s under contract for 24,500 an acre,” Garvey said.

If it’s not land, some people are looking for self-sustainable properties. A modern farmhouse in Primm Springs is listed for $1,750,000. It comes with 30 acres, a tornado bunker, a well, and a shed. “We just listed a property 3 weeks ago and had 3 buyers want to come look at it.”

Cindy said usually she’s selling second homes, or property for recreation, but during the pandemic she’s seen a shift as people want to properly social distance.

“It’s just at a different world out here than it is in a city,” Garvey said.