Knoxville Tennessee Real Estate Blog

One of my favorite parts of North Knoxville is the charming little community of Fountain City.

From Fountain City Lake (which the locals all call “the Duck Pond”) to Litton’s Restaurant; Fountain City has a style and charm all it’s own.

Bordered to the north by Black Oak Ridge and south by Interstate 640, it’s sort of an area where time has definitely slowed down relative to the rest of Knoxville and not in a backwards way.

Boasting lots of longtime, multi generational residents, Fountain Citians always seem to have a friendly hello and a smile for both old timers and newcomers alike.
Fountain City was voted the best suburban community in Tennessee in 1986 by People magazine, and until 1962 it was the largest unincorporated city in the US with a population of around 30,000.

While you’re touring Fountain City be sure and stop by Litton’s restaurant for a burger and fries; they’re my benchmark for best burger & fries combo anywhere.

The beef is fresh ground daily, the buns are baked fresh daily, and the Idaho russet potatoes used for the fries are fresh cut daily & never frozen.

A Litton’s burger platter is a guaranteed delightful dining experience and be sure to save some room for their awesome desert selection too.

Here’s the ‘menu’ to find the perfect Fountain City home for you and your family; be sure and place your order with Fountain City Realtor Jim Lee.

We’ll have a burger platter at Litton’s in celebration of your new home, my treat.

Image via WikipediaNow that you’ve found the perfect Knoxville house, got pre-approved for a mortgage, and you’re ready to make an offer; what’s the first step.

First thing we need to do is a little detective work in the neighborhood and find out what similar homes have sold for within the past 6 months if possible, and no longer than a year ago.

The more recent the comparable sales (called ‘comps’ in the trade), the better handle we can get on what the actual value of the home you’re interested is could be. In most Knoxville neighborhoods the annual appreciation rate is 3-5% so we need to get recent data for valid pricing information.

Next we need to do some prying to find out why the seller is selling. Job transfers, estate sale, job promotion, and divorce are all factors that tend to make sellers more motivated to sell and thus more flexible with their price.

Also if the seller has already bought a new house or signed a purchase contract contingent on selling his current home would be valuable information to know.

Now that we’ve found the house and done some detective work we’re ready to submit an offer.

Initially an offer towards the low end, or maybe just a little below, similar home prices in the area is a good starting point.

At this point there are 3 possible outcomes: 1. Seller accepts, Seller rejects, or, most likely, Seller will make a counter offer below his asking price. This is the beginning of negotiations.

If the Seller flatly rejects your initial offer with no counter that’s often a sign he’s not really serious about selling or is inflexible. There is usually a good selection of Knoxville area houses for sale so at this point it could be a good time to move on to another house.

Next, due dilligence and the closing process.

If buying a new home is on your list of new years resolutions here’s some tips to consider.

Step 1: and before doing anything else: Call me and let’s sit down in my office and talk. Before going to look at any house, before we write any offers, and before you do anything.

Buying a new home is a very serious financial decision that you’re going to have to live with for several years to come.

 You need to have all the facts in front of you and understand the process before taking the second step.

Step 2: Make sure your credit is in good shape and your finances are in order.

Nothing will spoil your day faster than spending days and even weeks looking for a new home only to find out you can’t buy it because of some ding or problem with your credit that could prevent you from qualifying for a mortgage loan.

A phone call or e mail to Debbie Nieto at CTX Mortgage can ensure you don’t have that problem. (865) 693-6200 or email: [email protected]

Step 3: Now comes the fun stuff, we get to go out and look at some great houses for you to consider.

We’ll look at all the usual sources for a new home. Most Realtors only search the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for current, active listings.

We’ll go several steps beyond to ensure you’re exposed to as many sources of homes for sale as possible. We’ll check out:

• For Sale By Owners (FSBOs)
• Foreclosures and Preforeclosures
• Pending listings to see if perhaps a sale for a great house might be in jeopardy making that home available
• Upcoming listings from my Realtor contacts that are not actively for sale yet
• Expired listings that have been for sale but expired from the MLS unsold. These sellers often still want to sell.
• And any other avenues that offer great Knoxville area homes for sale that might meet your needs.

Next we’ll talk about making an offer, negotiation, due dilligence, and the closing process.

A little local controversy is brewing.

Out in South Knoxville a big, new shopping is under construction anchored by Lowe’s Home Improvement Center.

Although the property is located outside the Knoxville city limits the City recently annexed the whole new center with the exception of Lowe’s (because it was already under contstruction) which effectively diverts the anticipated roughly $900,000 annual sales tax revenues to the City of Knoxville instead of Knox County.

At the heart of the the annexation is the very controversial vote and manner in which the annexation occured.

It seems there was only ONE VOTER qualified to vote in the special annexation election; a construction worker named Garrett Meek who was employed by the firm building the project.

Mr. Meek claimed residency at the site although utility records show his ‘residence’ used no electricity or water from January to May of 2006 and very little during June through August.

According to a story in today’s Knoxville News Sentinel “He voted by paper ballot on October 23rd and his house was demolished on October 24th.” (good thing he didn’t oversleep that day) ;-).

Since the annexation passed as a result of this one person election we can safely assume Mr. Meek voted in favor of it.

Now Mr. Meek has conveniently vanished after several Knox County Commissioners called for an investigation into the election.

A high powered (and high priced) local attorney representing the lone voter is making suing noises in today’s News Sentinel toward fellow Realtor and Knox County Commissioner John Greiss because John had the courage to question this very questionable, 1 person election.

The state attorney general is launching an investigation into this questionable referendum at the request of several Knox County Commission members.

I believe this controversy is not only not over but just getting warmed up.

You can keep up with local news and issues via the online edition of the Knoxville News Sentinel.

So you’re selling your house yourself and lo and behold a nice looking couple walk in, tell you they love it, and they want to buy it.

Uh oh, what do you do now???

 

 

Before uncorking that champagne and starting the celebration you need to make sure they’re qualified to buy.

It’s pretty common for ‘wanna be’ homebuyers to get the cart before the proverbial horse, rush out, find their dream home, and then…….oops, we forgot all about that……….bankruptcy, job loss, excess debt, bad credit, take your choice of reasons, and all of a sudden your prospective homebuyers turn back into lookers instead of buyers.

To save yourself a possible lost sale, not to mention a potential loss of a real buyer while you’re waiting to learn the sad truth from your ‘would be buyers’, it’s a smart thing to have them contact a local lender (not one of these faraway Internet guys you’ve never heard of) and make sure they can qualify for the mortgage they will likely need to buy your house.

Local mortgage broker Kevin Crisp of the Real Estate Finance Group can talk to them, and in just a few minutes determine if they’re what we term “ready, willing, and most important, ABLE” buyers.

In fact call him right now and have him work up some financing scenarios for your house, no cost, no obligation.

And when those buyers show up and start wondering about payments, cash to close with, loan costs, PITI, escrow, and all those financing questions; you’ll be prepared with some useful information for them AND Kevin’s phone number.

Keep his local number handy to find out quickly if your would be buyers are for real or just dreaming (and wasting your time).

Call Kevin directly at (865) 237 3947 or you can e mail him at: [email protected]

Making sure you have qualified buyers will let you replace your FSBO sign with one of these.

NOW, it’s time to pop the cork on that champagne!

And of course if you have any real estate or sales contract questions call me.

Kevin and I are always “ready, willing, and able” to help you.

Jim Lee, REALTOR, Certified Residential Specialist (CRS)

(865) 693-3232 or email: [email protected]

Good luck.

PS, I can display a photo of your home, along with your contact information, on my highly visible website www.KnoxvilleMLS.com and possibly send you some out of town buyers too, no cost, no obligation for this service either. Visit KnoxvilleMLS.com and click “FSBO’s“.

Make sure it’s in “showhome” condition and polished to perfection.

 

 

 

 

 

In my over 28 years of experience selling all sorts of home in the greater Knoxville area, I’ve observed that a typical buyer is more willing to pay top dollar for your home IF they can move in without doing very much in the way of redecorating or repairs.

For that reason I walk through all my seller’s homes with them starting from the curb and ending up at the back yard, suggesting fix up tips, “staging” the home by rearranging or moving furniture & decor, and generally making sure they know to get it ready for inspection by all potential buyers.

A ‘neutral’ decor is best when selling to appeal to the broadest possible base of buyers because you normally do not know which one could be your buyer.

Repaint and remove wallpaper if you must to make the interior as neutral as possible. Buyers see dollars flying out of THEIR wallets if they think they must repaint your red den or strip the flocked wallpaper from your dining room.

Also make any needed repairs; fix that leaking faucet, oil or spray graphite on all your door hinges so they open smoothly without sticking, THOROUGHLY clean any surfaces potential buyers will be touching such as kitchen counter tops, and make sure all the windows are freshly cleaned inside & out.

For potential sellers and anyone else that’s interested, I have a 52 page eBook titled “450 Ideas To Help Your Home Sell FASTER” that tells you how to get your home in ‘ready to show’ (and ready to sell) condition.

Just send an e mail to [email protected] and I’ll get your free copy back to you right away.

Sellers and I start our home inspection tour at the curb because the “Curb Appeal” factor is vitally important to you for 2 reasons.

• Many times potential buyers drive through a neighborhood before even contacting a Realtor or anyone else, and it’s very important for your home to look its best for interested passers by.
• A great appearance sets the proper mood for showings. If buyers walk up to your front door and are greeted by bright, shiny fixtures on the door, clean & polished outdoors lights, a new welcome mat, and some cheery seasonal flowers it sets a great tone for the showing. They’re mentally prepared for more of the same inside.

Whereas if they walk up to your front door and there is cobwebs on the doorframe and lights because you always go in through your garage and never check the front; that sets a bad tone for a showing and does not appeal to people driving by your house.

If you’re thinking of selling your Knoxville, Tennessee area house please give me a call; I’ll be happy to come by at your convenience and help you put your home in top notch, “showhome” condition to make it sell faster and put more money in your pocket at closing.

In all the history books students are taught about the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor and and the generally accepted starting time for the attack is around 7:55 AM on Sunday morning, December 7, 1941.

However I learned while watching a Pearl Harbor anniversary special on the military channel that the attack actually began several hours earlier when 5 midget Japanese submarines attempted to breach the anti-submarine nets across the harbor entrance and launch a torpedo attack to be coordinated with the upcoming air attack.

The USS Destroyer Ward was on patrol just outside the harbor mouth on that fateful Sunday morning and spotted a periscope and conning tower of a submarine in a security zone. The Ward’s captain made the decision to attack very quickly and fired several cannon shots at the sub around 6:30 AM, hitting it and sending it to the bottom.

Here are some great photo of that submarine after it’s recent discovery by the Hawaiian Underwater Research Laboratory. The detail is incredible and you can actually see the shell hole the Ward put in the conning tower which sank the sub.
The Ward is credited with firing the first shot of World War II when it sank the submarine.

Soon after the USS Destroyer Monaghan sighted a second midget sub trying to sneak into the harbor by following an American ship. The Monaghan rammed the sub and sank it too.

A third submarine experienced some mechanical difficulties and actually washed up on the beach and was captured by American forces. One of it’s crew was also captured nearby and became the first Japanese prisoner of war.

Photo from US Archives.

The fourth submarine was discovered some years later off the coast of Hawaii by US Navy divers. It was recovered and returned to Japan.

The fate of the 5 submarine is still unknown but there is some speculation that it actually penetrated Pearl Harbor and was sunk during the ensuing aerial bombardment by Japanese aircraft.

I found that vignette of Pearl Harbor history very interesting and one of those little know facts you don’t normally hear about.

If you’re thinking of selling real estate in the greater Knoxville area I advise you to follow Dick’s example and get some good results for yourself too.

Want to find out what your house should sell for?? Visit my PropertyPricer website and get a no obligation sale price estimate.

Want to know what your neighbor’s house really sold for???

Sure you do; log into this website and find out plus •Demographics •Schools •Crime •Climate
•Recent Home Sales •Houses of Worship •And much more!
Get a FREE copy of my new booklet titled “450 Ideas To Help Your Home Sell FASTER!”
50 informative pages, ideas, suggestions, and checklists to make sure your home is in “TIP-TOP” showroom condition to appeal to the most buyers and make them want to buy YOUR HOME instead of your competition.

Just send an e mail to: [email protected] to get your FREE copy of this valuable book today.

My proven, written marketing plan has been responsible for selling literally hundreds of Knoxville area homes just like yours. Let’s sit down and talk about how to get your home sold quickly for the highest price and with the least amount of inconvenience to you.

My 30 Day Marketing Plan To Get Your House Sold!

• Provide you with a copy of my 100% Satisfaction Guarantee which lets you cancel your listing if your not 100% satisfied.
• Prepare and review with you a Systematic Market Analysis (SMA) to ensure your home is priced properly and competitively .
• Walk through your home with you and suggest fix up and “staging” tips and ideas to make sure your home is “Dressed For Success” and ready to best appeal to all potential buyers.
• Install a Realty Executives yard sign with my 24 hour phone number and website address.
• Install a brochure box with full color flyers highlighting your home’s best features and selling points.
• Install a Knoxville MLS lockbox to facilitate access and create a record of all Realtors who show your home.
• Create a “Home Book” detailing your homes features, neighborhood information, local schools, houses of worship, and other information of interest to potential buyers.
• Notify your neighbors your home is for sale because neighbors are an excellent source of buyer prospects.
• Write your Multiple Listing Service ad copy and submit it to the Knoxville Area Association of Realtors for their 3,500 Realtors and waiting buyers.
• email the top Knoxville Realtors your home is for sale.
• Create a virtual tour and install it on my website, KnoxvilleMLS.com, Realtor.com, KAARMLS.com, ViewHomes.com, and other real estate websites.
• Follow up showings to get feedback from showing agents and their buyers. Advise you of any problem areas that need attention.
• Represent you and advise you when an offer is received and during negotiations.
• Follow up through the sale and closing process after an purchase agreement is signed.
• Represent you at closing and review all the documents you must sign to ensure they are correct and prepared properly.
• Present you with your proceeds check after closing.

Be happy like Dick; call me first and let’s talk about getting your home sold quickly, getting you the most money, and being of the least amount of inconvenience to you.

In most areas of the south football is HUGE, in bold and all caps.

The Knoxville area boasts some of the most successful and winning football teams around.

For example: local Fulton High School recently won for the 3rd time in four years, the Tennessee Class 3A state championship.

Maryville High School won for the 3rd year in a row, the Tennessee Class 4A trophy.

Alcoa High  won the class 2A championship.

And last but certainly not least, The Webb School of Knoxville won the Division II-A title.

Four state championships this season for local high school football teams.

The icing on that impressive string of victories and championships is the University of Tennessee Volunteers (9-3) heading for the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Floirda

And of course in the vicarious thrill department, former UT quarterback Peyton Manning leads the 10-1 Colts against the Tennessee Titans today in another bid to go to the Super Bowl.

(Update, ooops, the Colts lost after a last second, 60 yard field goal by the Titans.)

If you’re a football fan, player, or the parent of a budding star, the Knoxville, Tennessee area has programs for all ages and all skill levels from Pee Wee league to NFL caliber teams.

To put another winning team on your homebuyer or seller team visit KnoxvilleMLS.com to see all the area’s Realtor listings, get local schools information, mortgage tips, plus tips for buying & selling Knoxville area real estate.

 

December 2nd and a little bit of chill in the air with a modest frost this morning.

But the cold weather makes it really seem like it’s December and only 22 shopping days til Christmas.

Holiday stuff is happening all over town. The annual Fantasy of Trees is already over; it’s a huge festival of lavishly decorated Christmas trees, holiday accessories, room scenes, fireplace mantels, swags, door designs, table centerpieces, topiaries, birdhouses and “Adopt-a-trees” decorated by local school children.

The Christmas are auctioned off to the highest bidder and all proceeds from the Fantasy goes toward our local Children’s Hospital.

Knoxville’s local excursion train becomes “The Christmas Express” with 90 minute train rides featuring Christmas cookies & refreshments topped off by a reading of “The Polar Express” children’s book.

The annual Christmas Parade was today.

This year’s parade included more than 80 floats and marching bands, with everything from horses and tap-dancing children to antique cars and roaring tractor-trailers.

And there are lots, lots more Christmas events to come; great for children of all ages.

Christmas at Chilhowee Park with the floating Christmas trees in the lake, lots of open houses at local churches and historic sites like Blount Mansion, the annual 5K ”Jingle Bell Run” to benefit the Artritis Foundation, Holiday cruises down Ft. Loudon Lake on the Star of Knoxville, pageants, festivals, and the traditional Knoxville Nativity Pageant which reminds us all the true meaning of Christmas.

Next weekend the historic Tennessee Theater has booked “White Christmas” circa 1954 starring Bing Crosby for a 2 day screening.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around Knoxville, Tennessee.

Thinking of buying yourself and your family a new house for Christmas this year?? Visit this link and fill out your order; I’ll have a chat with Santa and see if we can’t make it happen for you.

Visit KnoxvilleMLS.com for lots more great Knoxville real estate formation. You can have a Merry Christmas in a home of your own.