Knoxville Tennessee Real Estate Blog

If you like spectacular fireworks shows, HUGE crowds, and lots of fun it’s almost time for Knoxville’s annual “Boomsday” celebration.

This annual event has grown quickly and has crowds routinely exceeding 300,000 fun loving folks swarming all over downtown Knoxville and along the Riverfront and Neyland Drive.

Beginning this coming Sunday, September 2nd at noon and lasting until the fireworks finale at 9:30 PM, it’s a daylong party of food, music, fellowship, exhibits, and loads of fun things to do.

In addition to the largest Labor Day fireworks show in the nation, this year’s Boomsday will feature food from 30 vendors, amusement games and rides, exhibits, children’s activities and inflatable area, and a community stage with some of the region’s best young athletes and performers. And of course there will lots of great music with several venues located throughout the city.

Best of all; attendance, including the fireworks spectacular, is absolutely FREE!

If you get hungary or thirsty there are lots of approved vendors selling all sorts of food and drink.

The big finale is of course, the super spectacular fireworks show choregraphed to music. Tons of fireworks are shot from the Henley Street Bridge which is closed the day before to allow the fireworks guys to set up their show. The finale is a fire waterfall across the entire bridge and into the Tennessee River below.

 

The city skies are aglow for over 20 continuous minutes as the show unfolds.

Be prepared to leave early or stay late because when it’s all over around 10:00 PM, those 300,000 tired and happy folks will be headed home and 300,000+ people is a bunch of folks.

This is a shot of Neyland Drive during last year’s Boomsday. Wall to wall people as far as you can see.

If you’ve even been around Knoxville during a University of Tennessee home football game which routinely attracts around 105,000 to a game, you can imagine how 3 times that many people can clog up the streets.

Across the country the media continues their “doom & gloom” mantra for home sales; “Record foreclosures”, “Bankrupt Lenders”, “Thousands of layoffs in mortgage industry”.

However the major flaw in those stories is that they all reference the so called “national real estate market”.

In fact, there is no “national real estate market” but rather hundreds of local markets, each with their own set of local influences.

In our local market which comprises the greater Knoxville, Tennessee area including the contiguous counties, sales are humming along rather nicely. The chart below compares the latest data, the 2nd quarter home sales report for the past 9 years.

A glance at the chart below shows an increase for each of those 9 years for a median priced, 3 bedroom Knoxville area home.

Here’s another year by year breakdown of our median price for a 3 bedroom home:

2nd Qtr 1999   $100,000

2nd Qtr 2000   $105,000

2nd Qtr 2001   $109,900

2nd Qtr 2002   $112,900

2nd Qtr 2003   $119,900

2nd Qtr 2004   $124,900

2nd Qtr 2005   $139,900

2nd Qtr 2006   $149,900

2nd Qtr 2007   $159,000

As you can see the greater Knoxville area market has been increasing slowly but steadily over the past 9 year according to the latest available data.

Knoxville has a very diverse economy which, combined with our mild climate, strategic location, and several other factors make it a great place to live, work, play, and raise a family.

That and today’s interest rates in the mid to low 6% range along with great selection of new and resale homes, make Knoxville, Tennessee a great place to buy a home.

Visit my website, www.KnoxvilleMLS.com to find a nice home for you and your family then call me to help you buy it.

Doom and gloom news abounds in today’s real estate market.

• “Foreclosures: No relief in sight”
• “Mortgage Bankers Association index falls 5.5 percent on lower demand for home-purchase and refinancing loans.”
• “Prices drop for 4th straight quarter”

After hearing and reading news like that day after day for months now, lots of people are reaching the conclusion that the real estate market is down the proverbial tubes. 

Actually the real estate market (which is actually comprised of hundreds of local markets as opposed to one giant superstore) is alive and well in most areas.

Sure, some people that took out mortgages they were barely qualified for to start with are struggling and lots of them will unfortunately end up losing their homes. Several areas of the country where rampant speculation artifically ran up prices are seeing the downside of that speculation as their prices drop back to earth; but overall, homes are still selling, mortgage rates are still very attractive, and buyers are out there buying.

So if you have a house to sell today here’s 5 things you can do to help your house sell faster and for the best possible price.

Number 1. Fix it up and get it ready to sell. I don’t mean just dust and pick up the magazines laying around the couch. I mean get objective and look at your house as a buyer would. Do the walls need painting a neutral color? Paint them. Paint is about the cheapest fix up thing you can do, and offers the best bang for your buck.

Clean! Not just run the vacuum and swish out the bathtubs. I mean consider hiring a professional cleaning crew to come in and clean all the windows, scrub out the bathrooms and the kitchen, clean along where the walls meet the ceilings, and clean places you don’t normally touch.

Carpet worn and threadbare? Replace it. Carpet allowances generally say to a buyer; “I’m just going to let you walk on our worn out carpeting instead of replacing it.” Lots of times you can get 90 day or long, same as cash financing from carpet stores and pay for this upgrade out of your closing proceeds. Be sure to choose a neutral color and use the same color throughout.

Fix up, clean up are the best things you can do to make sure your house sells quickly for top dollar. Visit my website for a list of 40 free or almost free things you can do to make your home more appealing to potential buyers.

Number 2. Price it below the market value. I know I just said the housing market is still pretty good but there are also tons of homes on the market right now and the more ways you can make yours outstanding to a potential buyer the better your odds of selling at a good price. Maybe not the absolute best possible price but you will sell and get a good price.

Number 3. Offer some incentives to your buyers. Lots of buyers are well qualified these days but are cash poor. Offer to pay 3% of so of your asking price towards their closing costs. This alone will make your house stand above the crowd especially if you also do numbers 1. & 2. above.

Number 4. Offer some incentives to Realtors as well as buyers. A 1/2% higher commission offered to a buyer’s agent could encourage them to push your house over others to their buyers. Or throw in a $1,000 cash bonus to anyone bringing you an acceptable offer by a certain deadline, say 30 days or less.

Number 5. Throw in some attention getting, non-traditional incentives. For just a few hundred bucks you could offer a buyer a years worth of maid service or lawn care. Things like that appeal most to the person that actually does that work. For the same few hundred bucks you could offer a Caribbean vacation. Lots of buyers would think about a nice break after house hunting and going through the buying process.

Here’s what some truly “motivated” sellers and builders of new homes are doing.

• “in Medford, Ore., Diane Adams, a real-estate agent, is offering to pay four months of mortgage payments on the $975,000 house she and her home-builder husband constructed on 20 acres near Crater Lake.”
• In Richmond, Va., Orleans Homebuilders Inc. is offering “Sizzling Summer Sale Savings” that include as much as $100,000 off the cost of upgrades ranging from granite countertops to a conservatory”
• “Among other things, they are offering buyers cash discounts of as much as 20%, throwing in a pool and agreeing to finish basements, garages and other spaces at a cost of several thousand dollars.”

Bottom line; there are still lots of buyers out there looking to buy but there are also lots of homes for sale. The more things and ways you can make yours stand above the crowd, the better chances of selling quickly for the best possible price.

If you would like some professional advice I would be glad to stop by at your convenience, walk through your house with you, and suggest what you should do to help it sell faster for more money.

I’m also an accredited staging professional so I can give you some staging tips as well.

As always, no cost, no obligation, all I ask is if you should choose a Realtor to professionally market your home you consider me.

Good luck and happy selling.

Big, 1.6 acre nature lover’s paradise in the heart of the Town of Farragut.

402 Moser Lane, Farragut, Tennessee

Featuring over 3200 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 3 full baths, 2 mountain stone fireplaces, and 1.6 acres of wooded privacy. Priced for quick sale at only $254,500!

Family room

Knoxville, Tennessee is headquarters for Tennessee’s Second Congressional District whose seat is currently held by John J. Duncan Jr..

Congressman Duncan

Congressman Duncan enjoys a reputation among his fellow Congressmen as one of the most frugal which puts him high on my list of most admired Congressmen.

He sends out a periodic newsletter to his constituents with news of what’s happening in Washington. Here’s the highlights from his most recent.

Feelings against the recent, failed immigration bill Congress tried to pass were running over 50 to 1 against it according to Congressman Duncan.

The Congressman advocates more domestic oil production as a counter to high oil prices from OPEC nations.

In an interesting tidbit he says Frontiersman Davy Crockett was also a Tennessee Congressman back in his days and usually voted against almost all government spending bills. He once challenged other Congressmen to pay for a bill he was opposed to out of their own pockets. Congressman Crockett supposedly said in a famous speech: “One of the easiest things in the world to do is to spend other people’s money. And it is always much more popular to say yes than to say no. That is why the federal government is in such a big hole today.”

Obviously Davy Crockett was a forward thinker and clearly ahead of his time. 😉

Congressman Crockett served the US Congress and the State of Tennessee as their representative from 1828 until 1834 when he was defeated and made that now famous journey to Texas and the Alamo.

Congressman Duncan has been following Davy Crockett’s fine example and getting reelected since 1988. I hope he runs again so I can vote for him again.

*As of August 14th, 2007; all homes subject to prior sale. 

Currently for sale via the Knoxville Area Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service (KAARMLS) IDX program are 10 Knoxville area (including 3 out of the area) homes ranging in price from $3,500,000 to number 1 with an asking price tag of $6,000,000!

10. $3,500,000, (click for more photos) located in Brentwood Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. Two houses and 13+ acres.

Brokered by Hammontree real estate 865-573-0145 

     9. $3,800,000, (click for more photos) 20 acre lakefront estate located in Loudon County. 1300 foot airstrip, pastures, and 2 docks with boat lifts.

Brokered by Re/Max Preferred Properties 865-694-8100

8. $3,800,000, (click for more photos) 250 acres with two stocked lakes. Located in east Knox County, development or private estate.

Brokered by Summit Real Estate 865-453-9983

7. $3,900,000, (click for more photos) 100 + acre horse farm with 30 stall barn. Styled after Louisiana plantation manor.

Brokered by Realty Executives Associates 865-693-3232

6. $3,900,000, (click for more photos) breathtaking 12,500 square feet Norris Lake estate. 7 bedrooms, 7 baths, and much, much more!

Brokered by Southland GMAC Real Estate 865-693-6961

5. $4,390,000, (click for more photos) Fort Loudon lakefront estate with 3 acres, pool, waterfall, boathouse and all the goodies!

Brokered by Realty Executives Associates 865-588-3232

4. $4,495,000, (click for more photos) 5 acre compound with guest house, pool, pond, 7 fireplaces, and recently renovated. Convenient to Knoxville, Oak Ridge, Airport, and University of Tennessee.

Brokered by Realty Executives Associates 865-531-2020

3. $4,800,000, (click for more photos) located in Costa Rica! compound with guest house, barn, offices, orchard, and 14 acres.

Brokered by Re/Max Preferred Properties 865-694-8100

2. $5,250,000, (click for more photos) Redwater River Ranch in Belle Fourche, South Dakota, 765 acres more or less. Additional living quarters, stable, working gravel pit, orchard, 4 large dams for irrigation. Get along little doggie!

Brokered by Hammontree real estate 865-573-9145

1. $6,000,000, (click for more photos) Oak Ridge, Melton Hill Lake estate. Steeped in history, this 27 bedroom, 12,000 square foot mansion has hosted US Presidents and many others. 7.5 acres, handy to Oak Ridge, Clinton, and Knoxville.

Brokered by Weichart Realtors, Dean-Kilby 865-539-6010

For more information about any of these fine properties or other homes, condos, land, and investment properties in the greater Knoxville, Tennessee area please visit my website: www.KnoxvilleMLS.com

Copyright © 2007 by Jim Lee, all rights reserved.

NOTE: “The data relating to real estate for sale on this Web Site comes from the IDX Program of the Knoxville Area Association of REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service. © Copyright 2007. All rights reserved. This information is being provided for the consumers’ personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties the consumers may be interested in purchasing. This information is updated weekly, however, some of these properties may subsequently have sold and may no longer be available. The Real Estate Broker providing this data believes it to be correct, but advises interested parties to confirm the data before relying on it in a purchase decision.”

 

  

  

  

  

This past August 7, 2007 was an largely uneventful day but it was also a special day.

16 years ago this past August 7th in 1991 Doctor Tim Berners-Lee sent the first message via the world wide web (www).

Doctor Tim Berners-Lee, father of the www

Doctor Lee is acknowledged as the father of the world wide web. For his accomplishment he was awarded the Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire making him “Sir Tim Berners-Lee”.

Here’s a portion of the very first message sent across the www.

“The WWW project merges the techniques of information retrieval and hypertext to  make an easy but powerful global information system.

The project started with the philosophy that much academic information should  
be freely available to anyone. It aims to allow information sharing within  
internationally dispersed teams, and the dissemination of information by  
support groups.”

Apparently smart runs in Doctor Lee’s family, both his mother and father were mathematicians and worked on the team that built one of the world’s first computers.

While working at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, Doctor Lee saw an opportunity to marry the then cumbersome Internet to TCP and DNS ideas and in his words: “ta-da! – the World Wide Web.”

© Copyright 2007, Jim Lee, All rights reserved