Knoxville Tennessee Real Estate Blog

These 40 Free or inexpensive tips can make your home show better, sell faster, and put more money in your pocket at closing.

Outdoors

1. Be sure your lawn and shrubbery is kept trimmed at all times. Consider
removing overgrown trees and shrubs that  hide the house from the street.

2. Keep the garage doors down at all times.

3. For a touch of color, have seasonal flowers growing in beds and containers.

4. Make sure your driveway is in good repair. Pressure wash concrete drives
and walks to remove stains and car drippings, and put a fresh coat of
sealer on asphalt drives.

5. Make sure patios and decks are clean and in good repair.  Replace any
rotten wood and nail down loose boards on decking or steps; pressure wash
if needed.

6. Garage sale time! Clear out everything you don’t intend to keep and tidy
up what’s staying.  Make sure garage doors and openers are in proper
working order.

7.Check all railings and fencing to make sure it’s in good repair and
freshly painted.

8. Pay special attention to the area around your front door; make sure your
doorbell works, clean all cobwebs, leaves, and other debris that may have
accumulated there. Give the front door a fresh coat of paint if needed;
paint is one of the most cost effective fix up items you can do.

9. Check for broken windows or leaking seals on thermo pane windows;
replace if necessary.

10. Clean all the cobwebs from around the front door.  Make sure all
outdoor lighting (especially front porch) is clean and shiny; replace if
necessary. It is especially important that the entrance to your home make a
good first impression on prospective buyers.  This sets the tone for the
whole showing.

11. Check your mailbox. Is it straight and upright? Neatly trimmed around?

12. Before you start indoors walk across the street in front of your house
and look back (like a buyer will see it).  Does it present an appealing
appearance?

Indoors

13. Start by walking through the house and making a list. Do your carpets
need shampooing? Floors need a fresh coat of wax? Dust all ceiling fans
especially the blades and wash light
fixtures.
14. You’re going to have to pack when you move anyway, so go through all
your closets and pack up everything you don’t need for the next couple of
months. A closet with only a few neatly arranged items creates an
impression of abundant storage space.

15. Thin out overcrowded rooms. Ever notice the model homes sparse
furnishings?  They make the rooms look larger. Consider renting a storage
facility to store excess lamps, tables, and large items that eat up space
in a room.

16.Go through and pack up most of your family pictures and collections of
model ships, stamps, quilts, or anything that might cause a buyer to stop
and look at your collections of stuff instead of your house.

17.Check all light fixtures to make sure all the bulbs burn.  Use the
largest wattage bulb that you safely can to give off more light.

18. Wash all your windows and make sure window treatments are clean and in
good repair. Keep the window coverings open whenever possible to let in
more light.

19. With a good degreaser, wipe down everything in the kitchen so it feels
clean to the touch. Clean your stove and oven; replace stove eye pans if needed

20. Go through your kitchen cabinets and pantry to make sure they’re neat
and tidy; give any food that you don’t plan to use right away to the local
food pantry.

21.Make sure your sinks are clean at all times and free of dirty dishes and
utensils.

22. Remove all excess items from your counters to give the impression of
lots of work surface.

23. Pleasing aromas add to the appealing atmosphere we’re trying to
establish for your buyers; consider keeping a saucepan of potpourri on the
stove to give off an appealing scent.

24.Clean all light switch places by taking them off and washing with soap
and water; replace if necessary.

25.Make sure the bathrooms are spotless at all times with fresh towels,
decorative soaps, and all fixtures are shiny, scrubbed, and in good repair.

26. Check all faucets and shower heads to make sure they’re spotless and
free of leaks and drips.

27. Repaint interior rooms if needed with neutral colors.

28.Don’t forget your ceilings too; years of living in a home with cooking,
smoking, and other everyday activities can stain ceilings.  Paint ages;
repaint if needed.

29. Don’t have large, space eating house plants sitting around; give them
away or ask a neighbor to store them until you move.

31.The more light you can get into a room the bigger and more spacious the
room will appear. When you leave for a showing, turn on lights in rooms
that are normally darker than you would like and make sure the window
coverings are open to admit outside light.

32. An old decorator trick to bring in more light as well as make rooms
appear larger are mirrors; either hanging on a wall or on a stand.

33. Pack away and store out of season clothes. Get rid of extra hangars.
Straighten up your shoes (consider some inexpensive shoe racks from a
discount store like K-Mart or Wal-Mart).

34. When painting don’t forget the interiors of closets and the closets
doors; make sure all closet and interior doors open and close correctly.

35. Check where ceilings meet wall and clean all cobwebs, this is a
commonly overlooked area when cleaning, along with tops of tall furniture
items such as hutches, entertainment centers, etc.

36. If you have a pet make sure there are no odors. You may not notice
odors since you live with your pet every day, have a neutral third party
give your home a “sniff” test for objectionable odors that may turn buyers off.

37. Also, when buyers come to visit, keep your pet under control, or better
yet, get a friend or neighbor to “pet sit” for you while the buyers are
looking.

38. It’s important that you leave the house for all showings. Buyers feel
less inhibited if you’re not around and will usually take a closer look in
closets and in kitchen cabinets, as well as voice any objections that your
agent can then deal with. If the buyers won’t make comments because you’re
following them around pointing things out then your agent can’t deal with
any potential problems that may hinder making an offer.

39. If you have several vehicles make sure the spot closest to the door
buyers enter through is empty for them.

40. Freshly baked or even store bought cookies & little snacks along with
an appropriate beverage (hot in winter, cold in summer) along with a sign
saying “Please Sit Down and Enjoy a Treat While You’re Here” will make your
home more memorable even if they don’t take anything. Remember little
things can go a long way towards getting your home sold quickly for the
best price.

Visit www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com for more selling tips, staging, finance information, and much more including all greater Knoxville area real estate Realtor listings.

This beautiful home is delightful clear through, 4 BR, 3.5 baths, and over 3,300 square feet. $249,500. A “Featured Home” on www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com

It’s now May the 9th and the ‘first time’ home buyer $8,000 tax credit has expired. Those that had an accepted real estate contract dated before April 30th still have 60 days to get their transaction closed and still be able to apply for the credit so I believe we’ll see residual benefits for the next couple of months before it runs its course (some military personnel may also qualify for up to a 1 year extension; call or write for more information).

The question in the minds of Realtors, mortgage bankers, homesellers, and others now becomes what’s going to happen to the market now?

I personally believe the tax credit was driving as much as 20 to 30% of the lower price range market. If that proves true we should see a dip in sales in those price ranges.

Here’s today’s figures from the Knox County Register of Deeds on local real estate transfers that were recorded last week.

I count a record high 219 transactions with the $100,000 to $150,000 price range being about 25% of that total. That price range is where the bulk of the tax credit driven buyers have been.

Right now in the Knoxville Area Association of Realtors MLS there are 884 homes in Knox County for sale between 100K to 150K. You can probably add another 10% or so for the For Sale By Owner and auction market so in round numbers that would be about 970 homes for sale. 54 sold and closed last week leaving about another 920 still for sale in addition to new listings that come on the market every day. I’m going to be watching this price range very closely in the coming weeks to see what happens.

Current Knox County Realtor Listings

Take a look at this charming, North Hills home. Beautiful hardwood floors, updated, and 3 bedrooms.

It appears as if the Knoxville area real estate market is showing some signs of life based on the past week’s sales figures. the Knox County Register of Deeds office is reporting 175 property transfers compared to only 92 the week before.

Days on Market (time from listing to contract) was 122 days this past February compared to 120 days in February 2009 and 100 days same time period in 2008.

For the week of March 28th, 2010

A very nice increase.

The Knoxville News Sentinel had a very nice, tongue in cheek article today about the soon expiring $8,000 tax credit titled:  $8,000 – nah, you can keep it Pretty funny article and full of useful information about how the tax credit works.

As of today, March 28th, 2010 at 10:36 AM, there are 5,089 homes currently for sale in Knox County and 13,643 total in all the counties our Multiple Listing Services reaches including Oak Ridge, Maryville, Loudon County; a total of 19 counties I believe. If you’re a potential buyer that means there is a huge selection of homes for sale in all price ranges.

I wrote an offer on a home yesterday and my buyer got a 4 1/2% fixed rate, 15 year mortgage and 30 year loans are available for 5% fixed interest rate.

$8,000 in tax credits to buy a house, 5% of lower interest rates, and thousands of homes to choose from. It does not get any better than this and that tax credit expires at the end of April.

visit Knoxville Home Searcher.com now to pick one out for you and your family.

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New listing in popular North Hills section of north Knoxville.

Let’s look back over the past 11 years to get some perspective about where the current greater Knoxville, Tennessee area real estate market is compared to past years.

Knoxville area sales for the past 11 years

In 2009 all the members of the Knoxville Area Association of Realtors sold 10,495 houses and condos. in 2008 it was 11,850.  That’s a 11% drop in volume 2008. It’s also a whopping 40% drop from the peak sales year of 2006.

Basically that means the greater Knoxville area is back to pre-2002 sales levels.

That’s what has happened in the past 11 years; now let’s talk about what I believe is going to happen in 2010 and beyond.

I believe interest rates will remain low for at least this year, probably in the 5-6% range because of low demand. Any retailer will tell you that you can’t raise the price of your merchandise if it’s not selling.

Lots of pundits are predicting that housing prices have stabilized. I don’t agree with them. I think foreclosures and short sales will keep downward pressure on housing prices for this year and some years beyond. How many? anyone’s guess.

Mortgage will continue to be hard to get. I’m hearing stories from fellow Realtors about lenders asking for more and more documentation and verifications on even buyers with gold plated credit histories. For instance, I have a closing set for this coming Friday on a fairly high end house, great buyer, great credit history, and substantial down payment. Lender is now (4 days before closing) asking for more documentation and a statement from inspector as to minor maintenance issues. I’ve never had anything like that before.

Still a great time to buy a house, an OK time to sell one that’s priced competitively and in great condition, and it’s now taking longer than ever before to find a buyer and get to the closing table.

Below is the weekly sales report from the Knox County Register of deeds showing all the transfers recorded in the past week. In 2009 we averaged roughly 150 sales a week. I count 98 for last week. A sign of things to come? I don’t necessarily think so. It’s still early in the year and historically near the bottom of the yearly sales cycle.

I’ll continue to monitor these reports and we’ll see if they start to rise in February and March as they have done in past years.

Knoxville, TN weekly sales report

Visit www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com to see all the Knoxville area Realtor listings for sale. Please leave your comments below and feel free to contact me directly with any questions or to schedule a showing or talk about selling your current home.

It’s the week before Thanksgiving, lets see if the Knoxville area real estate market has any real estate thanks to give.

The Knox County Register of Deeds reports 117 closed transactions in the past week. That about 30 less than average. However the Knoxville Area Association of Realtor’s October sales figures show a 14.5% in October 2009 versus October 2008, go figure.

Here’s the past week’s stats broken down by price points.

Knox County Real Estate transactions recorded

The lower price points are still dominant, there are just less of them.

The chart below tracks the past 5 years sales volume through October 2009, the latest available data.

Knoxville area real estate sales

So far this year sales are bucking the seasonal downturn and remaining steady. This is almost certainly driven, at least in part, by the $8,000 tax credit for new homebuyers. Now that it’s been extended to sellers who then buy, it will be interesting to see if it drives more sales in the upper price points.

Below is a comparison of Knoxville area sales for the 3rd quarters (July, August, Sept.) broken down by bedrooms; 2 or fewer, 3, and 4 or more.

11 year comparison of average sales prices by bedroom size

For buyers financing remains a high hurdle. Lenders are demanding more documentation than ever before in addition to squeaky clean credit. Credit markets are in a very volatile state right now; some lenders have even raised their credit score requirements after approving loans based on the former good scores.

However, don’t let any negative talk discourage you from buying if now is the right time for you to buy. There are mortgage loans available at very attractive interest rates and sellers are more flexible than they were last year.

www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com is the place to look at all of the Knoxville area real estate listings for sale.

Please feel free to ask any real estate questions you have or call me to go see some homes for sale.

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Last week’s results from the Knox County Register of Deeds is now available. It appears the past weeks transactions were a bit below our typical weekly average this year of around 150 closed transactions.

Weekly real estate transactions report from the Knox County Register of Deeds

As we’ve seen in previous reports, the median price for a typical 3 bedroom house was $139,900 for the 3rd quarter of 2009. That price point, $100,000 to $150,000 was overwhelmingly the top selling price last week as it has been for most of the year.

Below is www.Trulia.com’s market view of  Knoxville, TN

In September we did see total monthly sales showing a 7% increase (about 60 more homes sold) over the same time period in September of 2008. But taken in context of the past 5 years, that increase really tells us nothing and is far too little data to base any trend on.

Here’s popular website Trulia’s summary of the Knoxville TN area real estate market.

“Average price per square foot for Knoxville TN was $99, a decrease of 10% compared to the same period last year. The median sales price for homes in Knoxville TN for Jul 09 to Sep 09 was $136,200 based on 1,598 home sales. Compared to the same period one year ago, the median home sales price decreased 4.1%, or $5,800, and the number of home sales decreased 27.7%.

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All of us have probably at one time or another watched one of those TV game shows that feature a “Lightning Round” of fast paced questions.

I applied that to selling your Knoxville area house with a 90 second “Lightning Round” of how to get ready to sell so it will sell more quickly and likely bring you more money.

Here’s the first one:

The Louisville, Kentucky Association of Realtors has a great video with some more selling tips.

And WKMB in Kansas City has 9 great tips to make your home sell.

It’s a tough real estate market out there today folks; LOTS of homes for sale, financing is tougher to get, and buyers are fewer so any things you can do to make your home more appealing and stand above the crowd will get you that much closer to a sale and the closing table.

www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com also has great selling tips including a list of 40 free or inexpensive things you can do to make your Knoxville area home show better, sell faster, and net you more money.

Send me a blank email to [email protected] and get a free copy of “450 Ways To Help Your Home Sell Faster” , a 52 page eBook full of great tips and suggestions as well as some real life scenarios from selling homes.