Greater Knoxville Tennessee February 2007 sales

Posted by Jim Lee, REALTOR® @ 9:23 am, March 22nd, 2007  

The Knoxville Area Association of Realtors just released their sales stats for February 2007.

Sales were up a bit in February compared to January; 1,002 residential homes sold plus 117 condos.

Spring is officially here in east Tennessee and I expect sales to start picking up a lot as we enter the prime selling season.

Still there is a lot of homes remaining for sale; 8,920 residential units plus 1,211 condos, so we still have a lot of inventory and that tells me we’re still in a buyer’s market.

Interest rates remain fairly constant at around 6% or so for the benchmark 30 year fixed rate. That’s a pretty tough rate to beat or to resist if you want to buy a home.

Visit my website, KnoxvilleMLS.com to pick out a great house or condo for yourself and give me a call or email to go have a look.

dogwood header

Next month Knoxville will turn into a fairyland when the Dogwood trees bloom and our annual Dogwood Arts Festival begins. It’s billed as the best 3 weeks of Spring in America; I believe it.

 

10 ways to finance your Knoxville TN real estate investments

Posted by Jim Lee, REALTOR® @ 9:35 am, March 21st, 2007  

Most of us have often dreamed about real estate riches in investment real estate but don’t know how to go about it or even get started.

That’s where I can help. As an investor myself I know not only how it’s done, but the best ways to do it in order to make a profit.

One of the big stumbling blocks most investors face early on is; “Where in the world do I get the money to buy some investment property in the Knoxville area with?”

Here’s 10 ways to get you started thinking; there are lots more. Always remember this old real estate investor saying: “If the deal is good enough the money will come.”

  1. Get a HELOC. That simple stands for “Home Equity Line Of Credit” or borrow against the equity in your current home.
  2. Get a RHELOC. Same thing but against equity in a rental home, a “Rental Home Equity Line Of Credit.”
  3. Bank lines of credit. Small, community banks make these sorts of loans; don’t go to Bank of America, First Tennessee, or any of the large, chain banks.
  4. Buy property “subject to”, that is subject to any existing mortgage. Often sellers who need to sell will let you buy their house and assume their loan payments. Lenders don’t like this but they go along most time because they want the payments to continue instead of foreclosing.
  5. Your credit cards. Get a cash advance. Sure you may pay a high interest rate but if you can borrow the money to do a deal, pay it back, and still make a profit it really doesn’t matter what the interest rate is.
  6. Friends. Your friends often have money they would like to make more than banks are paying for CDs. If you can provide them a better return, secured by real estate they are open to listening to your proposals.
  7. Family members. Aunt Ruby or Uncle Elmer usually have a few dollars tucked away and they are not opposed to making more than the 2-3% they’re getting on their CDs if you can convince them it’s a safe bet.
  8. Private money lenders. Same as friends except you don’t usually know them beforehand. Find people like this at investment club meetings, newspaper ads, etc.
  9. Hard money lenders. Professional, private money lenders. Individuals who have money to loan you for your real estate investments. High rates and terms but again if you can make money who cares.
  10. Borrow against any other asset you may have, car, boat, coin collection, you name it, you can probably borrow money with it.
  11. Here’s a bonus way to make money in investment real estate. Be a “bird dog”. A bird dog is someone that finds a great deal but for whatever reason can’t or won’t follow through and buy it. You can still make money by tying up the property for a few days and sell the deal to another investor for a nice fee. No muss, no fuss on your part and you can still make a few thousand dollars for a few hours ‘work’.

So there are 10 ways to raise money for your Knoxville area real estate investment program. All you need to do now is call or email me, and let’s get started.

Visit my website, KnoxvilleMLS.com to get started picking out some Knoxville homes to add to your real estate investment portfolio.

Always remember: “If the deal is good enough, the money will come.”

Cool things to do in the Knoxville area

Posted by Jim Lee, REALTOR® @ 9:14 pm, March 18th, 2007  

We’re blessed in the Knoxille area not only with lots of scenic beauty; nearby Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Big South Fork National Wilderness area, many scenic lakes, and other natural beauty.

On the manmade side we have some pretty cool stuff too.

Within a 100 mile radius of Knoxville there are not 1 but 2 world class aquariums.

Just down the road a hundred miles or so in Chattanooga is the Tennessee Aquarium, a spectacular, fresh water aquarium. Quite a few other fun things to do in Chattanooga as well so you might plan to make a daylong outing of it.

Top ten things to do while in Chattanooga

tennessee blue catfish

Tennessee River Blue Catfish (yep, they’re really blue looking)

This place is way cool; it follows the journey of a Tennessee river from the beginning to the end where it empties into the Ohio River.

You walk or take an elevator to the top and a circular ramp leads in a downward spiral to the bottom with great exhibits all along the way.

Black Crappie, these freshwater fish are great eating.

black crappie jim lee tennessee realtor

The Tennessee Aquarium is home to more than 12,000 animals including fish, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, birds, , butterflies, and more.

Allow about two hours minimum for a visit. It’s located on the North side of Chattanooga; an easy 1 to 1 and a half hour drive from anywhere in Knoxville. Directions are on the website above.

And if you’re looking for saltwater fish galore; Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies is located in nearby Gatlinburg Tennessee, the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Of course if you’re right next door to the Smokies, most visited national park in the US, a visit would be in order.

This place is fascinating and well worth a visit. Gatlinburg is about 45 minutes to an hour from Knoxville.

shark gatlinburg jim lee realtor

Lots of great exhibits including “touch a ray bay” where kids and adults can touch stingrays swimming in a shallow tank. Lots of staff members are on hand to ensure safety and answers any questions.

A moving sidewalk carries visitors along an underwater tube where the fish are actually swimming all around you; over, beside, and sometimes alongside you. Very impressive.

This is an odd looking little guy you can see in Gatlinburg

odd fish knoxville tn real estate jim lee

So if you’re a native or a visitor plan to take the kids and family to one or both of these great aquariums; you won’t be sorry with either choice.

Knoxville’s new “red light” cameras continue to stir controversy

Posted by Jim Lee, REALTOR® @ 4:28 pm, March 14th, 2007  

red light cameras

STOP! The light is turning red!

To combat the dangerous practice of running traffic signals after they’ve turned red, the City of Knoxville contracted with a private contractor in 2006 to install “red light cameras” at high accident intersections.

It’s a simple system; if you drive into an intersection after the traffic light for the direction you’re traveling turns red, an automatic sensor sets off a camera that makes a picture of both your car in the intersection and your license plate.

Not surprisingly a lot of people were not in favor of them; (too much big brother, just a revenue source, etc., etc.).

However since the cameras caught over 21,000 people running red lights last year and mailed them a $50.00 citation, accidents at the intersection where the cameras were installed were down.

In 2005, before the cameras were installed there were 273 crashes at the 10 intersections where the cameras are now.

In 2006 and after the cameras were installed, there were 226 accidents at the same 10 intersections, a 17% reduction in the number of accidents.

Additionally the fines generated $217,980 for the City of Knoxville in fines and $471,122 in revenues to Redflex, the company that installed the cameras at no costs to the City of Knoxville.

Now some state legislators in surrounding counties have decide it’s a bad idea and are crafting legislation to stop it. Personally I think maybe one of their wives or constituents got a ticket and complained to them.

Simple answer; don’t want a ticket? Don’t run red lights.

My wife, children, and grandchildren drive on our streets daily; I don’t want them ran over by someone not paying enough attention to their driving to not see a red light.

“Staging” your Knoxville TN home, Part II

Posted by Jim Lee, REALTOR® @ 9:12 am, March 3rd, 2007  

Yesterday I staged my first Knoxville area home as part of a class project for a staging course I’m taking.

The “hands on” staging was the final exam for the class I was taking on how to stage homes to sell faster and look better.

Our ‘final exam’ was located in the Friendsville area of Blount County

Since a picture is worth a thousand words; following are before and after pictures of the rooms I was involved in doing.

First is the living room; it’s a great room with high ceilings and a ‘to die for’ view of Fort Loudon Lake from high atop a hillside. It was overcrowded with lots of personal ‘knick-knacks, too much furniture, and a poor traffic flow.

Living room before

 Below is the same living room after we rearranged it and removed some furniture items.

living room after, knoxville tn real estate

Notice how clean and uncluttered it looks now; easy to walk from room to room and we opened the blinds to take advantage of the great view.

Next is the dining room. Nice room but it was overpowered by a large china cabinet and area rug which hid the beautiful hardwood floors.

 dining room before

After…..we removed the china cabinet, used the base in another room, removed the rug, and opened the blinds.

dining room after

Now you have a nice, neutral dining room that would be a pleasure to have dinner in with friends or family. Simple, uncluttered, and with a touch of elegance.

We had the listing agent come in after we finished. Her reaction was at first a “Wow” and then after she looked around a bit it was “OH……….WOW! This is great!”

Next the seller came in to see what we had done to his house. He took a look around and after taking it all in he summed his reaction up in one word: “INCREDIBLE!”

If you’re thinking of selling your home in the greater Knoxville, Tennessee area I would be happy to consult with you on how we can stage your home to sell, market it to the most people, and get it sold quickly for the best price.

Visit my website, KnoxvilleMLS.com and let’s make your home a “Featured Home” and staged to sell quickly.

All homes and sales are different, but statistically a staged home sells for 6.9% more money and in about 50% less time than a non-staged home.

Give me a call or email and let’s get started staging your home and get it sold quickly for more money.

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