Knoxville Tennessee Real Estate Blog

This delightful home above has been reduced to $184,900 and will qualify for the $8,000 federal tax credit if you have not owned a home in the past three years. Click the Visual Tour above to see a virtual tour and then call me to schedule a private showing.

** UPDATE** The extension passed the Senate vote today and President Obama said he would sign it on Friday!

It looks like the extension of the $8,000 federal tax credit for Knoxville & Farragut TN area homebuyers is almost done.

RISmedia is reporting today (November 5th) that the Senate voted to cut off debate and bring the measure to the floor for a vote and then pass it on to President Obama for signature by the end of this week.

President Obama has already said he intends to sign the legislation.

The homebuyer tax credit, due to expire at the end of November would be extended through April 30 of next year. First-time buyers who are in the process of making a purchase would not need to worry about qualifying for the $8,000 credit if they close after the November 30 deadline.

For the first time, the legislation that was recently cleared makes move-up buyers as well as first-time buyers eligible for a credit. The $8,000 maximum first-timer credit will continue and will now be available to couples with income up to $225,000, a nearly $55,000 increase above the level in existing law. A new $6,500 maximum credit would also be available to move-up homeowners who have lived in their current residence for five of the prior eight years.

I’ll keep you updated as this bill moves quickly toward becoming law.

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* NOTE * As of November 1 Congress has not yet officially extended this tax credit; it is still set to expire at the end of this month (November). However confidence is high that it will be extended in some form and probably expanded.

“Senate Dems on Board with Credit Extension
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) says Senate Democrats have agreed to extend the first-time home buyer tax credit. The latest version extends the program to home sales signed — not closed — by April 30. Purchasers would have another 60 days to close the sale. The credit will also be expanded to include so-called step-up buyers who have lived in their current home for at least five years.

The credit would be cut nearly 10 percent to a $7,290 cap. Income eligibility for first-time home buyers would stay the same, but it would rise for step-up buyers to $125,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples.

Source: Bloomberg News, Dawn Kopecki and Ryan Donmoyer (10/27/2009)”

KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com is the ‘go to’ place to see all Knoxville, TN area listings for sale.

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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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.

The sales figures for the 3rd quarter (July, August, & September) from the Knoxville Association of Realtors is now available online. Let’s take a look at the 3rd quarter of 2009 compared to ones past.

Knoxville's 3rd quarter sales of houses and condos compared to past year's.

As you can see, this year’s 3rd quarter numbers are over 40% lower than a comparable time period in 2005.

Even thought the sales volume for the year is holding up surprisingly well so far the total volume for this year compared to past years is way down. Real estate sales are traditionally very seasonal with a buildup beginning at the first of each year, typically peaking in June, July, or August, and then staring another down trend until the first of the following year. So far that has not happened.

Below is a graph showing the monthly sales to date for this year.

Knoxville Tennessee real estate 2009 month by month sales volume

And here’s another view showing how this year compares to past year’s season rise and fall.

2009 Knoxville real estate sales compared to past years

We’ve talked a lot about sales numbers but how are prices holding up in this depressed market? Fairly well actually. We haven’t seen any really depressed prices compared to some of the harder hit markets like south Florida, California, Michigan, and others. I believe home values have fallen some in the great Knoxville area but not dramatically.

In the Knoxville, Tennessee real estate market a typical sale is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath homes with a two car garage and somewhere between 1500 to 2200 square feet. Here’s how the median prices of those types of homes have fared over the past 10 years.

Median price of 3 bedroom Knoxville TN homes

The median price is simply the price at which half of the homes sold are more expensive and the other half are less expensive, fewer sales of cheaper homes moves the median higher, all else being equal. Since our median price is down to $139,900 in the 3rd quarter of 2009 versus a high of $154,500 in the third quarter of 2007 that means we’re selling more less expensive houses than higher priced ones.

Those statistics are born out by the absorption rates (time to sell) of Knoxville area homes. Today there is a 42 months supply of Knoxville homes priced over one million dollars and only a 9 months supply of those homes priced between $100,000 to $150,000.

Bottom line any way you slice and dice it: Knoxville TN home sales are down compared to the booming market of just a couple of year ago and as long as mortgages continue to be difficult to obtain and unemployment continues to be in the 10% range I don’t see many reasons for our market to improve significantly.

On the brighter side there will continue to be homes bought and sold every day, just fewer of them and probably not for top prices as before.

If you have a house for sale in the Knoxville, Tennessee area right now and it’s been on the market over 30 days here’s some tips you can probably use. More useful home selling tips at www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com including a free copy of my 52 page eBook titled: “450 Ways To Make Your Home Sell Faster”.

Looking to buy a house in the greater Knoxville area? www.HomeCenter.com is also a great place to see all the homes, condos, land, and lots of sale. No registration required, just plug in your search criteria and start looking. Search by Maps, addresses, and areas.

Knoxville tn real estate

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Image by volunteerjim via Flickr

It looks like this past week was another above average week for Knoxville and Farragut real estate transfers. The Knox County Register of Deeds office reported 230 property transfers for that week.

I believe that’s only the third time this year there have been over 200 transfers in one a one week period. Let’s hope this trend continues.

230 property transfers is above average for the year.

There was even 2 transfers for over a million dollars; both were around the1.5 million mark.

The #100,000 to $200,000 range still leads the stats with 104 combined which is almost half of the total number of 230.

Lots of talk (and some hard lobbying) for Congress to extend the $8,000 first time buyers tax credit. My guess is it’s even money (50-50) whether that will happen or not.

Congress did pass a bill to extend it for members of the military if they had been stationed anywhere outside the United States at any time during 2009. Those service member will now have until November 2010 to take advantage of the tax credit.

Here’s a great YouTube video I found that explains how the tax credit works. Worth watching for the 2 minutes it runs.

www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com is a great place to start your home search, get tips and advice on how to sell your home, and lots of other information including schools and Knoxville area information. Pay us a visit soon.

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It’s been listed for 90 days now and not even one showing. What’s the problem?

The number 1 reason I see for homes not selling is most often the price (this could also be reasons 2,3,4 and 5).

It’s a tough new market out there folks; mortgages are tough to get these days, buyers are taking MUCH longer to make decisions about which house to even make an offer on, and the economy is in a shambles with high unemployment.

Even if the recent comparable sales and price points in your area and neighborhood support your asking price your house could still be overpriced relative to the market right now because that’s the market buyers are buying in.

Just because you refinanced last year or even 6 months ago, and got an appraisal equal to or higher than your current asking price, the market right now may be lower than those figures.

Generally the higher up you go on asking price the longer the time on the market becomes. Because of the credit crunch especially on jumbo or non conforming loans (in the Knoxville area that would be a loan over $417,000), large mortgages are even tougher to get than say an FHA loan on a median priced 3 bedroom house in the Knoxville area.

Below is a chart showing the absorption rates (months to sell) for price points in the Knoxville, Tennessee market.

Knox County, TN absorption rates for homes

The above graph shows that if your home is listed for sale for over 1 million dollars there is currently a 42 month supply of those homes at the current sales rates. Listed between $100,000 to $150,000 there is a 9 month supply of homes in that price point.

So what’s the answer? Have your agent update your market analysis. Take a look at homes that have sold in your neighborhood, your zip code, and similar homes in other parts of town. What is their list price to sale price ratio? Did those sellers make any concessions to the buyer, i.e. pay some of their closing costs, install new carpet, and any other inducements to get them to buy that house.

If they did maybe that’s something you should consider to get yours sold too but most often it’s the price.

Reason number 2: CONDITION Does your home show like a model home? Has it been “staged” to show in the best possible light to new buyers? Decluttered with overstuffed closets leaned out, excess ‘stuff’ packed up and out of the way? CLEAN, with everything including windows, front door, kitchen and bathrooms squeaky clean? Visit my website, www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com and click the “Selling” link to get my 40 Free or inexpensive tips can make your home show better, sell faster, and put more money in your pocket at closing.

The better your house shows the more buyers are willing to pay and the quicker it usually sells.

Reason number 3: LOCATION Ok, if this is your problem immediately call Acme House Movers and………of course I’m just joking here but one of the cold hard facts of life are that some locations are more desirable than others and others are less desirable.

If you’re in a location buyers seem to perceive as less desirable for whatever reason the only cure for that condition is to reduce your asking price.

You may enjoy living next to the railroad tracks and look forward to that 100 car coal train that comes by at 3:00 AM every morning but trust me, the average buyer won’t share your passion for railroading that up close and personal.

Reason number 4: ACCESSIBILITY You can’t sell it if buyers can see it. Showings are often requested on short, or sometimes no notice. As a serious seller you need to make your best effort to keep your home in showable condition at all times.  I’m continually amazed as I search through the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) looking for homes for my buyer clients and find agent notes like: “24 hour notice to show, no exceptions”, “no lockbox, listing agent must be present for all showings” (so what if the listing agent is not available?, and this favorite, “DO NOT GO IN YARD, dogs will bite”

So if I have a buyer that wants to see your house in 2 hours you want them to wait until tomorrow, hope your agent can let us in, and run the risk of being attacked by your darling pit bulls? Guess what, that’s not happening, there are hundreds of other houses for sale that we can see on our schedule and buy today. Which of those options would be best for you Mr. Seller?

Reason number 5: YOUR AGENT Yep, this could be one of your problems.

Even though all Knoxville area Realtors pay the same amount of dues some of them are frankly just better at marketing homes than others. So the first thing you should do is review your agent’s written marketing plan of what they’re going to do to get your house sold. Oh, you asked for their written marketing plan and got that ‘deer in the headlights’ look. Ooops, that could be a problem.

National Association of Realtors statistics show that over 85% of current homebuyers started their home search on the Internet so how is your homes Internet marketing presence? Does it have a virtual tour? Is your home displayed on multiple websites like Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia, Yahoo, GoogleBase, BirdView, Vast, Homes.com, YouTube (yep, videos), and other websites including your agent’s personal website? If not that could be a problem.

Does your MLS and advertising descriptions paint a pleasing visual picture in a buyer’s mind or does it just say something like: “3 BR, 2 BA, darling, hurry, won’t last long”? Have you ever seen your homes MLS listing? If not that could be a problem.

Does your listing have a minimum of 20, well made and current photos of your house including the interior. Amazingly there are still photos in the Knoxville MLS of homes for sale with snow on the ground. When was our last snow? Buyers like to see lots of photos and if you don’t have them…….that could be a problem.

So here’ s the 5 reasons roundup:

1. Revisit your list price objectively and look at the most recent sales. If it’s not selling then adjust your price.
   
2. Go outside and walk through your house pretending you’re a buyer. Do you like what you see? Showroom condition is key.
   
3. Have a talk with your self about your homes location.
   
4. Make sure potential buyers can get in to see your home and feel safe and welcome while they’re there.
   
5. And finally, call your agent up and invite them over for a visit and review of what’s been done to market your house and what will be done in the future.

Visit KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com for lots of great selling tips, no charge, no obligation.

Please feel free to call, comment, or email any questions.

knoxville tn real estate listings

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