Knoxville Tennessee Real Estate Blog

Have a question about real estate in the greater Knoxville, TN area? Please ask; there are no dumb questions, just ones you need answers to. Please feel free to call or email any questions to: [email protected] or call 865-693-3232

Time for an update since the first quarter statistics for 2010 are now available. Let’s see how we did and which direction Knoxville area sales and home prices are headed.

First of all April is almost over now and that is the end of the $8,000 tax credit for lots of homebuyers. I believe this incentive has been driving between 30-40% of our market for the past several months. It will be very interesting to see what the trend is for the 2nd quarter of this year after it expires.

Local weekly sales dropped a little this week compared to last week. The Knox County Register of Deeds reported 159 transactions for the week of April 18th compared to 188 the past week of April 11th.

Week of April 11th, 2010

Week of April 18th, 2010

As both graphs indicate, the lower price ranges remain where the action is; from $100,000 to $200,000 with sharp dropoffs once you pass the $300,000 threshold.

And here’s the first quarter of 2010 compared to past first quarter figures. Still nowhere close to where we were a few years ago but a modest increase from last year’s first quarter.

1st quarter of 2010 compared to past 1st quarters

260 more homes sold in the first quarter of 2010 versus 2009 but still a whopping 43.3% lower than the peak year of 2006.

Lack of jobs growth remains an issue for the house market. According to the US Department of Labor’s latest stats,  in March the number of unemployed was little changed at 15 million and the unemployment rate remained at 9.7%.

Economists want to believe the economy has turned the corner but housing remains the bellweather indicator to confirm that belief and it isn’t showing broad and/or sustained growth just yet.

“Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke called housing a “critical” challenge to the economy. “We have yet to see evidence of a sustained recovery in the housing market,” Bernanke said in a speech on April 7.”

It will be an interesting next few weeks and whichever direction we head is likely an indicator of the the housing market direction for the remainder of this year.

On the plus side for buyers there remains a large supply of homes to choose from. Currently in the greater Knoxville, Tennessee area you can view 11,763 great houses and condos for sale at www.KnoxvilleHomeSearcher.com and I will be happy to help you become the owner of one.

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One of my favorite kinds of pie is Key Lime. Easy to make but hard to find a good one.

My benchmark for excellence in Key Lime pies are the ones made at the Donut Hole Bakery & Cafe on Harbor Boulevard in Destin Florida. Their pies are what all Key Lime pies should aspire to; that tart-sweet taste that makes your mouth sort of pucker and gets your saliva glands flowing at the same time. Delicious.

I have now discovered another Key Lime pie that you can easily create at home that tastes just as good. My fellow Realtor Jean Tavenner’s daughter Yvonne is an accomplished cook just like her mother. Yvonne has a Key Lime pie recipe that won First Prize in a local cooking contest and after tasting a slice last night, I know why. It was delicious with that trademark tart sweet taste all Key Lime pies should have.

With her permission I’m sharing her award winning recipe with you.

Yvonne Farmer

Here’s what you need to make your own “Yvonne’s Award Winning Key Lime Pie”:

• 1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup of firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup of melted butter
• 2 (14 ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk (Yvonne uses one regular and one low or non-fat).
• 1 cup of  Key Lime juice (make sure it’s REAL Key Lime juice, regular limes just don’t produce the same taste) Yvonne uses about 3/4 cup and squeezes the remaining 1/4 cup from fresh Key Limes.
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tarter
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• Lime slices to garnish

1. Combine the first 3 ingredients. Press into a 9 inch pie pie plate or pan. Bake @ 350 degrees for 10 minutes and then let it cool.
2. Stir together sweetened condensed milk and lime juice until blended. Pour into crust.
3. Beat egg whites and cream of tarter at high speed with electric mixer just until foamy. Add sugar 1 tablespoon at a time while beating until soft peaks form and sugar dissolves  (2 to 4 minutes). Spread meringue over pie filling.
4. Bake @ 325 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool completely. chill 8 hours. Garnish with lime slices. Yields 1 9 inch pie.

There you go, one of the best and easiest Key Lime pie recipes around. Thanks to Yvonne Farmer for sharing her award winning recipe.

Visit Knoxville Home Searcher.com to see all Knoxville area Realtor listings for sale.

Terrific new listing in north Knoxville, reduced $25,000!

Not surprisingly it looks like the real estate transfers in Knoxville and Farragut Tennessee were down a bit this past week.

I counted 135 with the usual high numbers in the lower price ranges as it’s been all of 2009

I’m very excited for 2010 to begin (which is will in only 4 more days) and see what a new year holds for us.

On one hand interest rates remain very, very low which makes buying attractive. But on the other hand unemployment remains higher than usual in Tennessee although we’re faring better than many other areas.

I believe I’m predicting a modest improvement in the volume of sales with prices still stagnant to downward. A good time to buy if you’re thinking about that. For sellers you have to price your houses competitively and be prepared to deal if you want to sell, you’re facing a lot of competition out there.

www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com is the “go to” place for both buyers and sellers for all of the Knoxville area Realtor listing plus some great selling tips and information including my free 52 page ebook titled: “450 Ways to Sell Your Home Faster For More Money” email [email protected] for your free copy.

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I’m back in Knoxville after attending the annual National Association of Realtors (NAR) Conference and Expo in San Diego, California.

It was a whirlwind trip filled with lots of learning experiences, reconnecting with Realtor friends, and seeing new products to help buyers and sellers.

San Diego is a very beautiful city with a spectacular and waterfront along San Diego Harbor.

San Diego California skyline from Coronado Island

One of the most exciting things I saw at the conference was the official unveiling of NAR’s new consumer website, HouseLogic.

HouseLogic is not a listings website like Realtor.com but rather a consumer resource which NAR intends to make the ‘go to’ site for homeowners and buyers to visit for objective and valuable advice, tips, and pretty much everything you need to know about owning and buying real estate.

You can simply visit the site and search to find whatever you’re looking for; it’s laid out very well and easy to navigate. A second option is to sign up for a free account and be able to find more easily projects and tips customized to your area. You’re completely safe signing up with your email address; the site’s privacy statement assures that none of your contact information will ever be passed on to anyone for any reason without your express consent.

I signed up for a free account and was immediately served up some project ideas to save money on energy costs, preventative maintenance on my heating system, and an article on how to receive up to $1,500 in tax credits for replacing an existing heating and air conditioning system. Pretty good stuff and the price was definitely right, FREE.

For buyers NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun had some words about the current market. He said: “said home sales continue to be dominated by lower-priced homes. In fact, NAR data shows nearly 70% of homes sold in September were priced below $250,000.

“The housing market has become much more active at the lower end,” said Yun. “The $8,000 homebuyer tax credit has significantly helped the market and is having its intended impact of stimulating home sales, decreasing high home inventory levels, and helping to stabilize home prices.”

Sales of homes priced below $100,000 are up 22.5% from a year ago. Sales in the upper-end market are still slow, however; homes priced above $500,000 are up only 4% from last year.

Yun projects the homebuyer tax credit will help raise home sales this year by 350,000 to 400,000 among first-time homebuyers—these are buyers who couldn’t have purchased a home without the tax incentive.

“The expansion of the tax credit into 2010 will help raise existing-home sales next year by as much as 15% and increase home prices by 3 to 5%,” he said.

Increased affordability is also helping spur lower end home sales. In September, the national median existing home price was $174,900, down 8.5% from one year ago.

So do yourself a favor, pay a visit to HouseLogic and see what it has to offer you. Better yet sign up for a free account and let the site find things relevant to your needs and get a monthly newsletter (optional) filled with timely information.

Buyers and sellers are also invited to visit KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com to see all the Knoxville area homes for sale as well as find buying and selling tips, schools information, local jobs, recreational opportunities, and lots more Knoxville information.

Please feel free to comment or ask a question either here or email me

Below is a photo of the Hotel del Coronado on Coronado Island. This spectacular beachfront hotel is on the National Register of Historic Places and has visited by many famous people.

Eleven U.S. Presidents have visited The Del, starting with Benjamin Harrison in 1891. One of the resort’s most famous visitors was England’s Prince of Wales in 1920. He would later become King Edward VIII, only to give up his throne in 1936 to marry Coronado divorcee Wallis Spencer Simpson. Many have speculated that they may have first met at The Del.

The Del has played host to some of America’s greats, including Thomas Edison, L. Frank Baum and Babe Ruth. Famed aviator Charles Lindbergh was honored at The Del in 1927 after his successful trans-Atlantic flight. At this lavish banquet, a replica of Lindbergh’s “Spirit of St. Louis” circled the enormous Crown Room ceiling.

Hollywood has been making movies at The Del since 1901. In 1958, The Del was the backdrop for the comedy classic “Some Like It Hot,” starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. The resort has also seen a steady stream of celebrity visitors – from Charlie Chaplin and Humphrey Bogart to Brad Pitt and Madonna. None of them were there during my visit.

Hotel del Coronado on Coronado Island, California

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I was interviewed by WATE recently about the present and future state of the Knoxville area housing market.

Here’s a link to that interview and video below.

So far this year Knoxville area sales are oddly resisting their typical seasonal downturn as we approach the colder months and the holiday season.

Usually we see a downturn in sales around July-August when school starts but so far this year that is not happening. I believe a significant portion of those sales are being driven by buyers trying to beat the deadline for the $8,000 tax credit for homebuyers which is set to expire at the end of November this year.

There are several bills in Congress to extend it but whether they will pass or not is is anybody’s guess. Here’s what past years sales have historically looked like compared to this year so far.

Knoxville, TN year to date home sales

As the red line which represents 2009 sales shows, sales are holding up at least 1 month past the points in the past where they have traditionally started dipping down.

The graph below shows the median price for a typical 3 bedroom home in the greater Knoxville area. The median price means “middle” and 50% of sales were above this price and 50% were below.

Knoxville area 3rd quarter median price comparisons

As the chart above shows, we’re selling more lower priced homes this year compared to years past. Hopefully Congress will see the wisdom of continuing the homebuyers tax credit and we can continue to see increases in the numbers of home sales in the Knoxville area.

Now is a great time to buy a house if you’ve been thinking of becoming a homeowner. You may not have enough time to qualify for the tax credit but there is a huge selection of homes for sale in the Knoxville area in all price ranges, interest rates are at historic lows which translates to payments maybe less than you’re paying right now in rent, and motivated sellers are willing to deal to entice you to buy their house over another.

www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com is a great place to start your search.

For Knoxville home sellers that need to sell; don’t dispair or give up. Knoxville area homes are still selling but you need to keep these three critical things in mind to make your home sell.

1. Aggressive pricing. Realize you’re probably not going to net as much for your house now and you could have a year or so ago. Be prepared and willing to offer potential buyers a price concession and/or help with their closing costs. Most lenders will let a seller ‘contribute’ as much a 3% of the purchase price to help your buyer.
2. Showroom condition. Start from the front door and pretend you’re the homebuyer for your house. Would you pay top dollar for it in the present condition? If the answer is no you need to make some changes. Start with a thorough cleaning of things you might not clean on a weekly basis such as ceiling fan blades, ceiling corners, garage, and other areas. Paint any needed area with a neutral paint color
3. Broad based marketing. Over 80% of today’s buyers are looking on the Internet for houses these days. You have to have your house exposed to as many potential buyers as possible and once they find it you need lots of photos to encourage them to visit in person to look and buy. Your selection of an Internet savvy Realtor is more critical now than ever before (maybe a Realtor local news outlets talk to about Knoxville’s housing market)

Please feel free to comment or ask any housing or mortgage questions you may have.

Knoxville, Tennessee real estate

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Founded in 1786, Knoxville, Tennessee is a city rich in history and colorful citizens that contributed much to Knoxville and the surrounding areas. Many of Knoxville’s early citizens were buried in historic Old Gray Cemetery after their passing.

In what has became an annual event, the Lantern and Carriage Tour at Old Gray Cemetery near downtown offers fascinating vignettes into Knoxville’s past as reenactors portray famous and/or interesting Knoxvillians buried in Old Gray.

Old Gray Cemetery was dedicated in 1852 with the first burial on July 14, 1851. Old Gray is located about 12 blocks north of downtown Knoxville and is intended to be used as a peaceful park in addition to being a burial place.

My lovely wife Charlotte and I visited Old Gray yesterday for the 9th annual Lantern & Carriage Tour.

Here’s a short clip of one of the carriages, listen as the iron horseshoes ‘clip-clop’ along one of the roads that wind through this tree lined sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Below is Eliza Penelope McFaul who was visiting the county fair at Knoxville’s Chilhowee Park September 5, 1904, when a bullet from a shooting gallery struck her in the heart killing her instantly.

Her family, who lived near this cemetery on Baxter Avenue, sued the city for wrongful death. The suit ended up in the Tennessee State Supreme Court which ruled in favor of the McFauls.

They bought a new house with the proceeds. Here’s Ms McFaul relates the story of her ‘death’ (and life)

Eliza Penelope McFaul, Old Gray Cemetery Lantern & Carriage Tour reenactor

Laura Emma Thornburgh, portrayed below by Lois Campbell, was a  Great Smoky Mountain author and early reporter for the Knoxville News Sentinel.

She wrote the book she is holding titled: The Great Smoky Mountains. Ms Thornburgh and his mother lived in Gatlinburg for many years as she researched her book with the early citizens that lived in and around where the Great Smoky Mountain National Park is now located.

She was born February 8, 1885 and died March 28, 1973.

Laura Emma Thornburgh, Great Smoky Mountain author.

Charles Ducloux, portrayed by John Hitt, was a Confederate soldier in the Civil War, he returned to Knoxville a few years after the war was over and passed away on July 1, 1917.

Charles Ducloux, Confederate Soldier from Knoxville.

Colonel David Chapman below was born August 9, 1876, and died July 26, 1944.  Col. Chapman’s father, John Ellis Chapman, started a wholesale drug company in Knoxville and Col. Chapman served as president after his father’s death.

Colonel Chapman was heavily involved in the efforts by the State of Tennessee to acquire land that would later be donated to the federal government to become the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Because his first wife was already buried in Old Grey at the time of his death in 1944, his second wife had him buried at Highland Memorial Cemetery in the Bearden area.

Colonel David Chapman was born August 9, 1876, and died July 26, 1944.

World War II veterans buried in Old Grey were represented by a bugler who blew “Taps” on his bugle every 30 minutes of so. A stirring rendition that brought applause from all at each performance.

the bugler was representative of World War II veterans

Click here for a performance of “Taps” complete with 21 gun salute.

If you have an interest in what Knoxville was like many years ago, a visit to the annual Old Gray Cemetery Lantern & Carriage Tour is like turning a page back in time to revisit living history.

For current Knoxville area homes and history visit KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com

Old Gray Cemetery, Knoxville, TN

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Started in 1992 by local physician Dr. Charlie Barnett, Flu Shot Saturday has become an annual tradition in the Knoxville area for thousands of local residents to get a free flu shot.

While the shots are technically ‘free’, donations to the Knoxville News-Sentinel’s Empty Stocking Fund which provides food and Christmas toys to thousands of Knoxville families who might otherwise have an unhappy holiday are encouraged and most flu shot recipients drop a generous donation into the box.

BlueCross BlueShield insurance of Tennessee partially funds the event along with the Knoxville News Sentinel. Local Rotary clubs also help support the event with traffic direction, getting paperwork filled out, and other tasks

Doctor Barnett and his group enlist the help of fellow Knoxville medical professionals to actually administer the vaccine at 5 Knoxville area high schools.

This morning  Charlotte and I were in line around 9:20 AM on a rainy Saturday morning along with hundreds of others at Farragut High School for a flu shot.

Flu Shot Saturday at Farragut High School, Knoxville, TN

Even though the lines were long they moved at a very good pace and we were in and out in less than 30 minutes. Great organization for such a large event but they’ve been doing it for 18 years now and have it down to a science.

I said hi to Dr. Charlie Barnett inside, he used to my parent’s physician. Charlie said crowds were huge this year and they were probably going to run out of vaccine in about an hour.

Inside Farragut High the lines continued.

The Knoxville News Sentinel was on hand accepting donations for their Empty Stocking Fund, a great community fund that provides food and gifts to needy local folks around Christmas time.

Donations are accepted but flu shots are free for all, no donation required.

My flu shot guy turned out to be the one between the two ladies with his hand raised.

curbside flu shots for those unable to walk inside

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