CLEAN Home in Antioch
I just listed a beautiful, all-brick home in Antioch. As silly as this may sound, it just SMELLS clean when you walk in the front door. Here's some extra info:
Affordable $114,950 (seller may pay "some" closing)
All appliances remain (stove, refrigerator, dishwasher, washer & dryer)
1104 square feet
3 bedrooms, 1 bath
HUGE master with walk-in closet and sitting area
Fenced in backyard on 1/3 acre
Huge wooden deck
Mature trees
One-car garage w/separate door
Convenient to Metro Transit Authority & school bus stops!
All-brick home on crawl space. New storms doors, new vinyl, and big corner lot!
Efficient, CLEAN kitchen with dishwasher, stove & refrigerator to remain.
Open floor plan. Living room has cathedral ceilings. BEAUTIFUL!
Dining room right off kitchen (combo dining and living). Seller added back door (pictured) and deck. Backyard has privacy fence, except for very back fence line which is chain-link.
Huge master bedroom has walk-in closet and sitting area. All blinds and shades remain.
Call Kathy at 491-2161 if you'd like to arrange a personal tour! (Monthly house payment would be approximately $800 p/month).
Featured Home in LaVergne
At this moment, there are 339 homes for sale in LaVergne on the MLS (listed by a Realtor). The least expensive* is a mobile home in Driftwood Village for $38,500 and the most expensive is an elegant home in Hampton Estates for $485,900.
There are 86 homes currently under contract and 29 homes have closed so far this year. Last year, a total of 1,015 homes were sold in LaVergne. The average price of homes now available is $156,000.
Like the children of Lake Woebegone, I want to describe a home in Lake Forest that's above average. This home has over 2,000 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, a huge bonus room, and a back yard enclosed with a privacy fence. It has hardwood floors in the kitchen and dining room, like-new carpet, and fresh paint throughout. One of the amazing features is a dual fireplace (or two-sided fireplace) that you can see both from the living room and the sunroom. The address is 1712 Jimmy Cove and the sellers are asking $177,000 - they may be somewhat negotiable on the price. Here are some photos:
This home is the perfect example of the beautiful, affordable homes in this community. We have great neighbors here - big city convenience with a small-town feel. If you like to drive down a road and see someone giving you the hand-on-the-steering-wheel "howdy wave" then this is a terrific place to be! LaVergne has so much to offer - come on over!
*These figures are homes that have LAND or LOTS that are also owned by the seller, not mobile homes parked on a rented pad.
I Feel Like a Focker
I just watched "Meet the Fockers" and laughed at Gaylord's Wall of Fame. It was an homage his father made to acknowledge his son's accomplishments and the funny was they were all 9th and 10th place awards, a jock strap, and more.
I felt a little bit like a Focker this week, but was still proud of it! I made the Top 10 Agent list in my office for December - coming in at NUMBER EIGHT. Woot!
Buyers Representation is Serious Business
Jerry Seinfeld just learned that when you sign a buyers representation form, it's serious business. A judge recently ruled that he and his wife
owe a real estate agent approximately $100,000 in commission. Apparently, they worked with an agent who introduced them to several properties. They found one they liked and wanted to go take a second look at it. The agent was in church, so they went without her and bought the home directly from the seller.
We are required to get buyers sign a buyers representation form which states our responsibilities, summed up as: a fiduciary responsibility to represent the buyer’s best interests, including reasonable care, loyalty and confidentiality (use all diligence in finding property, act on buyer's behalf in all negotiations, use all professional knowledge to aid buyer throughout process, and exercise all duties owed to consumers, customer and clients as set forth by Tennessee law (more about that down below).
The buyers in turn sign that: 1) they will not contact another agent; 2) they will inform other agents that they are working with another professional should they come into contact with any (like at open houses or model homes); 3) if they purchase property without agent during the term of the agreement, they will owe their agent a commission (agreed upon in the agreement); and 4) they will inform their agent of properties they are interested in.
What do we owe to customers?
- Disclose to each party any adverse facts that the licensee has actual notice or knowledge.
- Maintain confidentiality for each party, except for information which the party has authorized for disclosure.
- Provide services to each party with honesty and in good faith.
- Disclose to each party any timely and accurate information regarding market conditions that might affect the transaction, only when such information is available through public records and when the information is requested by a party.
- Timely account for trust fund deposits.
- Disclosure of any referral fees through recommendation of services of another individual, organization or business (e.g. warranty).
What do we owe clients?
- Obey all lawful instructions of the client when the instructions are within the scope of the agency agreement.
- Be loyal to the interests of the client. Place the interests of the client before all others in negotiations of transactions.
Do I believe Jerry Seinfeld, possibly the funniest man on Earth, should have paid the agent? Absolutely. He should have done it long before it went to court.
Great Investment Opportunity!
I just co-listed a nice sized duplex in Nashville, just off Gallatin Rd. The duplex is the next exit up from Opryland (if you're coming from the south), so is convenient to everything. Here's more information:
Address: 1107 Richmond Rd., Nashville, TN 37216
Price: $172,500
Duplex: 3 Bedrooms, 1 bath each side
Basement: Full basement with one-car, side-entry garage. Basement is not divided so renters will share. Washer/dryer hookups in basement.
Yard: Big fenced backyard, with separate fencing for garden spot. Large deck, mature trees.
Appliances: Refrigerators (2), Dishwasher (2), Stove (1)
Schools: Dan Mills Elementary, Isaac Litton Middle, and Stratford Comprehensive High School
Other Info: Home needs a little TLC, being sold as-is. Seller to provide paint for new owner. Hardwood floors need to be sanded and restained, but will be BEAUTIFUL once complete. Electric AC, Gas heat. Taxes $1,600 p/year.
Co-Listing Agent: Susie DavenportIf you're interested, the mortgage payment would be approximately $1150 p/month. You'd need to figure in taxes (another $133 p/month) plus insurance ($100'ish) for a total payment of $1,382 p/month. Rent half of it for $700 p/month and your mortgage payment drops to (approximately) $782. Call me at (615) 491-2161 if you want more info or if you'd like a personal tour!
Shortage of Affordable Homes??
According to an article in today's
Tennessean, homes in Nashville are less affordable today than in years past. While one would naturally want to instantly agree, I made a few keystrokes to see just how many homes there are in Nashville available for no more than $100,000. In the entire metro area at this very moment, there are 447 single family homes available. The least expensive is in an area I can only guess may be challenging to live because it's priced at $23,900. There are four homes listed for $100,000 in my search range, including this three bedroom, one bath home on Jenkins Street, located in the Cumberland Gardens subdivision:
Gorgeous hardwood floors, remodeled bathroom and kitchen. Very affordable (my guesstimate is that payments would be between $750 and $800 p/month). In reading further, that home may be sold, but it still proves that there are homes out there if you take your time to look.
Email me at kathy(at)kathytyson(dot)com to enter into a drawing for a $10 Starbucks giftcard. The email subject line should be: I Want Starbucks and should be sent no later than Friday, January 19th.
Moratorium Madness
In what appears to be a move that will stop county growth, members of the
Rutherford County Regional Planning Commission is studying the legality of a moratorium on residential growth for six months while developing plans for the future.
Hear that noise? It's the screeching halt of economic development in the county. Let's make it real simple. Jobs come to an area. When jobs come, people come. People stop coming because there's no place to live. No people, no jobs. Home Depot, Lowe's and other building supply companies start laying off workers because sales are down. Builders start laying off brick-layers, carpet installers, construction crews because they can't build. These people who are no longer earning a paycheck can't pay their bills. Their homes go into foreclosure and they lose their creditworthiness.
Meanwhile the builders are also going bankrupt paying the interest on the lots they own that they can't build on. It's an ugly proposal, in my opinion.
Read more about it from today's Daily News Journal.
It's All Good
Housing slumps, economic impact, no affordable homes. It sometimes seems that if it weren't for bad news... but
this article in the Tennessean shows that the gloom isn't for real - at least in the Nashville market. 2006 was a banner year for the middle Tennessee area with a new record set (over 40,000) for home sales. In addition, the price of a single-family home set a record in December, hitting $184,562, according to the article.
So it's not bad, really. It's all good.
Housing Market Impacts Economy
The housing slump of 2006 may continue into 2007,
according to MSNBC.com. Although housing usually impacts the economic well-being of the U.S., the 2006 economy didn't suffer much because of strong jobs and the (finally!) drop in gas prices.
The correction in the housing market is expected to continue. Translation: home prices were rocketing out of control in some markets, so the prices are now falling back to Earth and becoming more realistic. This does not mean that home sales will stop... it means that buyers will not be as willing to pay outrageous prices for real estate.
