Knoxville Tennessee Real Estate Blog

UPDATE May 22, 2010: Made a trip around the Cove on the newly paved loop road. Spectacular! Those of you that remember the old crumbling and patched road there before won’t believe the difference. Still the same scenic beauty but a much better roadbed to enjoy it from now.

Original post follows:

One of the many great things about living in the Knoxville, Tennessee area is it’s close proximity to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

There are many very scenic and beautiful sections of the park but one of my special favorites is Cades Cove. Going from Knoxville through Maryville and Townsend to the Cove is about a 40 mile drive but because of the narrow, windy roads in the park allow about an hour for the drive one way.

“The Cove” as it’s known to local folks was originally a pioneer settlement first homesteaded by John and Luraney Oliver around 1818. The Olivers and their descendants lived in the Cove until the Park was established in 1934.

Cades Cove is a very special place to me. The “Cove” as the local folks know it, is an oasis of peace and tranquility in an all too “hustle & bustle” world. Spending a few hours here amid the surrounding green mountains in the meadows and woodlands are like a relaxing ‘mini vacation’. I always come out the other side of the loop road a happier, more tranquil person than when I started off.

A lot of the original buildings have been preserved by the national park service to illustrate how life was back in those days. One of the very enjoyable things you can do in the Cove is to ride your bike around the 11 mile loop road that circles this scenic valley.

This past Saturday I took my bike up to the Cove and set off about 8:00 am to ride the loop. I got a bit later start than usual and there were lots of other bikers either on the road already or getting ready to go. There are also usually quite a few walkers and some runners as well; no exception today.

It’s a great ride with several pretty good pulls up hills that get your heart pumping. Since it’s getting pretty close to fall I saw several bears up in Oak trees stuffing themselves with Acorns in preparation for going into hibernation soon.

This looked to be a pretty young bear. He was busy stuffing food into his mouth and oblivious to everyone below his tree watching and taking pictures.

The Cove also abounds with lots of deer and it’s not unusual to see as many as 100 or more during your tour. Other game include big flocks of wild turkey like the one pictured below, black bear, wild boar, and multitudes of small game and birds of all sorts.

Wild turkey in Cades Cove

Wildlife in Cades Cove are very used to visitors and it’s usually easy to get some terrific photos of the plentiful bear, deer, wild turkey, and other wildlife.

One cautionary note; these are wild animals and there are no bars between you and them like in the zoo. This is also their home; you are the visitor so please respect them, don’t try to get too close, and above all else DO NOT try to feed them or touch them. It is against the law and the park rangers will cite you or arrest you on the spot if they see you. It also does harm to the animals by teaching them to go to humans for food instead of finding it on their own as nature intended.

Here’s another shot of some Cades Cove deer having breakfast. This photo is from a previous visit.

If you’re visiting, the Cades Store has a bike rental for you. $4.00 an hour for coaster bikes and $6.00 for geared models. I highly recommend the geared models for an extra two bucks unless your name is Lance Armstrong.

Riding the loop road takes anywhere from 2-4 hours depending on your fitness level and how much sightseeing you do along the way. I recommend taking your time and enjoying all the Cove has to offer.

If your time is short there are also two roads, Hyatt and Sparks Lanes, you can cut through the middle of the Cove and finish much quicker.

From early May until late September the Cove loop road is closed to vehicles on Wednesday and Saturdays until 10:00 am. I strongly suggest planning your ride during these times especially on Wednesdays if you can arrange your schedule.

Cades Cove is a very, very popular destination and the loop road is typically clogged with vehicles especially during the summer and a bear sighting brings all traffic to a halt.

We usually try to hit the road on Wednesdays just at first light. That’s the time the most animals are out feeding and the crowds are almost nonexistent then.

Enjoy your ride, take along plenty of water, stop and enjoy the views often; I guarantee it’s a ride you will remember for years to come.

An old family friend named Jean gave me this terrific Carrot Cake recipe many years ago. I’ve made it lots of times and it’s always delicious as well as quick and easy. Quick, easy, and delicious meet all 3 of my food preparation criteria.

Give one a try for Easter; you’ll be a star with the folks that eat a piece.

Jean’s Carrot Cake

• 2 cups of self rising flour
• 2 cups of granulated sugar
• 1 Tablespoon of Cinnamon
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 Cups of Vegetable oil
• 1 Cup of chopped pecans (I often substitute Black Walnuts)
  
• 3 Cups of fresh grated carrots, firmly packed

Mix all ingredients in order listing and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 50 minutes

Cream cheese frosting

• One 16 ounce box powdered sugar
• 1 large block cream cheese softened
• 1 stick (1/4 pound) butter or margarine (butter is best)
• 2 Tablespoons of pure Vanilla Extract

Mix thoroughly and spread on cooled cake, reserve a few nuts to sprinkle on top for garnish.

Try this delicious Carrot Cake recipe for Easter

Give this one a try soon, I promise this will be the easiest carrot cake you’ve ever made and one of the best tasting.

Happy Easter

By the way, if you need a new yard to hide your Easter eggs in, try KnoxvilleHomeSearcher.com to see all the greater Knoxville area listings for sale.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Raw Carrot Cake (rawlivingfoods.typepad.com)
• Eye Nosh: What’s Up Doc? Carrot Cake Day! (laist.com)
• Sandy’s Favorite Carrot Cake Recipe (blogs1.marthastewart.com)
• Who makes Quintessence’s carrot cake? (timesunion.com)

The past week looks a bit worse than the week before with the volume of transfers down to 78 from the previous weeks 138.

only 78 Knox County Real estate transfers recorded for the week of May 10th

This market has created the proverbial “Perfect Storm” for home buyers. Lots of home for sale (Today there are 5,124 active single family and condominium homes for sale just in Knox County) and 78 recorded transactions last week so it’s very clearly a strong buyer’s market.

Financing remains in the sub 5% range for most price ranges with some great 100% financing available for buyers able to use the Tennessee Housing Development Authority (THDA) program.

Those smart folks at THDA have a new program that actually lends you up to the 3..5% of your down payment (which coincidentally happens to be the minimum down for FHA financing) at 0% for up to a year and you can repay them when you file your taxes and collect that $8,000 tax credit the federal government is offering for qualified buyers that have not owned a home in the past 3 years.  Regular conventional buyers also can qualify for the 8K tax credit as well.

All you need is a minimum 620 credit score and a debt to income ratio below 45%; call me if you’re interested and I’ll explain how it works; easy for most people to qualify.

Here’s a few listings you can buy right now that fit into this program’s guidelines.

This charming Cape Cod styled home is priced at only $129,900. Ask about $0 down financing and a principal and interest payment under $600 a month!

This excellent basement rancher is priced at only $149,900 with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a two car garage.

This charming older home was listed for $84,900 and not surprisingly just sold.

Visit www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com to see over 5,000 Knox County homes for sale as well as other nearby areas such as Maryville, Oak Ridge, Loudon County, and many others.

Image by Kitty Sonnenschein via Flickr

If you still have Thanksgiving turkey left over here are 2 quick and easy recipes to deliciously get rid of it.

One of my favorites I fixed last night.

Grilled Turkey Rubens, serves 2

4 slices rye bread

1/2 cup sauerkraut

2 slices of Swiss cheese

1,000 island dressing

turkey

Butter or apply spread to outside of rye bread, place one slice butter side down in skillet.

layer on some turkey, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and thousand island dressing.

Butter other side of bread and place on top with butter side facing up.

Grilled until toasted on one side, turn over and toast other side.

Enjoy, grilled turkey Rubens are delicious especially with a crisp pickle and some chips.

Crunchy Turkey Salad, serves 2

coarsely chop cooked turkey, from 1/2 cup to 1 cup

Mix in a coarsely chopped tart apple like Granny Smith

Throw in a handful of nuts, pecan or walnuts work best.

Fold in some low fat mayo to taste.

You can either use this on a sandwich, by itself, or put a big spoon on top of some torn salad greens.

Both the Reuben and turkey salad recipes are very easy to prepare and both are very tasty.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Turkey Time: Recipes for Thanksgiving Leftovers
• Ideas for Turkey Leftovers

www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com is another great recipe to help you find a new home, no mixing, stirring, or cooking necessary.

If your Knoxville or Farragut Tennessee home is on the market for sale and not selling here’s some things you can do to change that and help it to sell quickly.

• Check your home’s curb appeal. Go out your front door, walk across the street, and take a hard look at the view potential buyers see when they drive by. Are your lawn and shrubs neatly trimmed? A touch of seasonal flowers visible? Garage doors down and all bikes, big wheels, and toys put away? The first thing buyers have to do to buy your house is be attracted to it. Good curb appeal sets the stage for a positive visit. You might also check any online photos, especially the first one people see.
• Check your price. What have similar homes to yours sold for in the past few months? What price range are pending sales of homes similar to yours in? Hows your market absorption rate right now? This is a very strange market we’re in all across the country and you need to know what the situation is locally; in your town, in your area, in your neighborhood. Make sure your house is priced competitively.
• Have your home professionally “staged” inside. Staging is part art form, part science. Successful staging is much more than interior decorating; it’s literally setting a stage to make your home look like a model home. Declutter and put away personal “stuff” that detract buyers from looking at the actual house. Refresh tired and outdated paint colors. ‘Lean out’ over crowded rooms and consider renting a storage locker to store excess furniture and large possessions that take up floor space.
• Instead of dropping the price, consider offering some incentives for potential buyers. Paying some or all of their closing costs is a tried and true inducement. Try and think of some unusual incentives such as paying their moving expenses. What buyer wouldn’t be attracted to the notion of not having to lift a finger on moving in day but rather directing free movers where to locate their heavy furniture.
• Offer an incentive to local Realtors. Money works well. . Adding 1% to the fee a buyer’s agent can earn is a small portion of your sales price but it can attract more agents to push your house to their buyers. Let’s face it, money is a powerful motivator.

None, or even all, of these things are guaranteed to make your house sell but I think most would agree that the more you tilt the odds in your favor the better your chances of a sale become.

Visit Knoxville Home Center for 40 free tips to make your home sell faster and for more money. You can also request a free copy of my 52 page eBook titled “450 Ideas To Help Your Home Sell FASTER!”. Just click the “Free Stuff” link for this and more selling ideas.

Not surprisingly it’s the same people that were buying them last year; there’s just not as many this year.

Married couples still make up the overwhelming majority of the Knoxville area buying market and that group is trending toward younger, first time buyers.

No surprise there either. With interest rates so attractive right now many buyers are discovering they can buy a home and end up with a payment several hundred dollars less than they’re currently paying in rent.

Coming in second in buyers that buy are single women; a trend that has remained constant for the past several years. Single women buy about 20% of Knoxville’s homes.

Single guys aren’t doing that well; only 9% of the buyer group are the guys. One has to wonder if they’re spending their money on the single women.

Minorities are buying Knoxville area homes as well.

African-Americans make up 7 percent of the home-buying populace; Hispanics and Latinos are 6 percent, and Asians and Pacific Islanders are 5 percent.

With the recent chaos and resulting clampdowns in mortgage guidelines, investors are not in the market now in such large numbers as before. Also, low down payment loans and jumbo loans are getting tougher to qualify for.

If you’re a Knoxville couple, single, minority, or a combination, and you are looking for a new home, KnoxvilleMLS.com is a great place to begin your search.

I also have a free “Homebuyer’s Toolkit” published by the Real Estate Buyers Agents Council (REBAC) that I would be glad to give you. It’s packed full of valuable information for homebuyers such as:

Please call or email me with any real estate questions and to view any homes of interest.

As an “Accredited Buyer Representative” (ABR), I’m well qualified to represent you in your new home purchase and ensure you get the best house for your money.

The first question you may ask youself is just what the heck is “rock harvesting” anyway?

Rock harvesting is the practice of removing native stone, in this instance Tennessee mountain stone, to feed the ever growing demand for the attractive stone’s use in buildings, walls, walkways, and landscaping.

No problem so far……but, the issue begins when rock harvesters began harvesting stone from public lands like the Justin P. Wilson Cumberland Trail State Park which is located about 50 miles north of Knoxville and along the Cumberland Trail itself.

The Cumberland Trail is the centerpiece of a state linear park with the 300 mile long Trail running from Signal Mountain near Chattanooga north to Cumberland Gap National Historic Park. Cumberland Gap was the first gateway to the western lands during Indian and pioneer days.

Imagine hiking through this pristine wilderness and rounding a bend to come across the photo below! In some instances the rock harvesters are working above the trail and huge boulders and debris falls downhill across the trail.

Rock harvesting with heavy equipment along the enviromentally sensitive Cumberland Trail. 

Not surprisingly rock harvesting, like strip mining, is not enviromentally friendly since the rocks are mostly below ground level. Heavy equipment is used to dig them up and remove them leaving huge scars on the landscape.

To further exacerbate this pillaging of the land it seems the State of Tennessee neglected to buy the mineral rights when it acquired a lot state park lands and some of the lands along the long planned Cumberland Trail. Tennessee is in litigation to determine if mountain is actually a mineral and covered under the state’s mineral rights laws.

Whatever the outcome this practice is bringing horrible results to formerly pristine mountain lands, state parks, and the Cumberland Trail.

The Devil’s Racetrack natural stone formation. This is visible from Interstate 75 north of Caryville, Tennessee and a part of the Cumberland Trail system.

If this is as big a concern to you as it is to me I urge you to join with us to put a stop to this practive before scenic beauty like the natural stone formations above are destroyed forever and lost to future generations.