Knoxville Tennessee Real Estate Blog

In a lot of areas of the country roof shingles appear stained and discolored; often with no rhyme or reason. We have that problem on a lot of Knoxville area homes. One house on a street will have an ugly stained roof and others will appear as pristine as the day they were installed.

A lot of these problems are caused by a type of roof algae whose scientific name is Cloeocapsa Magma. This stuff actually grows on your roof, rainwater spreads it, and that causes those unsightly stains and streaks.

A great company called Roof-A-Cide has an enviromentally friendly product that will remove those stains and algae in short order. It’s also safe for kids and pets to be around as well as guaranteed to control future growth for 2 years. Roof-A-Cide’s Knoxville area representative is the Roof Doctor, 865-947-ROOF (7663).

Below is a before and after picture of a roof I had cleaned by them recently; I was amazed at the huge difference in appearance it made.

And here’s the same roof two hours later. Quite a difference huh?

To look at some Knoxville Tennessee area roofs for sale as well as the houses under them, I also recommend you visit KnoxvilleMLS.com; currently over 15,000 roofs listed for sale.

 

A recent article in Business Week Magazine names The Town of Farragut Tennessee, a bedroom community located about 15 miles south of downtown Knoxville, as one of the “25 Best Affordable Suburbs in the South”.

No surprise there, Farragut and Knoxville both rank high in lots of “best places to live” surveys and stories.

The criteria for this list included Farragut’s median home pricing, ($224,900) low cost of living, school test scords, and violent crime (Farragut’s idea of violent crime is jaywalking)

“Farragut, Tenn. 37922

Metro: Knoxville
Nearest city with pop. 50,000-plus: Knoxville (17 miles)Median Home Price: $224,900
Cost of Living Index: 102.9
Primary School Test Score Index: 131*
Violent Crime Index: 34
Percent pop. with commute <30 min.: 68%"

The nearby University of Tennessee offers great academics and athletics. Here the UT “Pride of the Southland” marching band leads the football team to a traditional Saturday afternoon game.

Bordered on the south by beautiful Fort Loudon Lake and on the north side by Interstates 40 & 75 Farragut has the best of both worlds. The interstate lets you commute from either downtown Knoxville or nearby Oak Ridge in about the same 15-20 minutes drive. You can then be at the lake about 10 minutes after changing and hooking up the boat. ;-) 

If Farragut’s cake needed any more icing Farragut Mayor Eddy Ford was just honored by the Tennessee Municipal League as Tennessee’s Mayor of the Year.

If you’re looking for a great place to live the Town of Farragut would be an excellent choice.

To find an excellent Farragut home visit www.KnoxvilleMLS.com (you’ll also find an excellent Farragut REALTOR there too.

Down in west Knox County and just before you get to the Town of Farragut is 500 acre Concord Park; a huge, public use facility full of fun things to do for kids of all ages.

One especially cool section of Concord Park is “The Cove“, host venue to the Knox County Parks & Recreation Department’s annual free summer concert series.

On the second Saturday of each month you can bring your lawn chairs, some food if you wish, sit out under the trees and listen to some great music free of charge.

Of course since The Cove is waterfront there is usually a small fleet of boats anchored just offshore enjoying the music along with the crowd on the bank.

You’ve already missed the first concert this past Saturday night; the “MacDaddies”, a Rhythm & Blues group, entertained the crowd with a multi-generational selection of great tunes.

My wife Charlotte and I were on hand with lawn chairs and a picnic basket full of goodies to snack on as we enjoyed old favorites like “Cheeseburger in Paradise”, “Who’ll Stop The Rain”, and other oldies.

It was also “free fishing day” at the park; no fishing license required. Judging from the number of fishermen on the banks and piers there were a lot of folks taking advantage of it.

Here’s the remaining schedule for 2007

July 14th - Flashback - Variety 60’s, 70’s, 80’s & 90’s
August 11th - Dishwater Blonde - Rock
September 8th, 6:00pm - 8:30pm - Brass Quintet - Knoxville Symphony Orchestra 

Concord Park also offers lots of other fun things such as; picnic shelters, volleyball, swimming, junior golf, 8 mile biking trail, skatepark, soccer fields, baseball & softball fields, fishing piers, a marina, and a yacht club.

We’ve been frequent visitors and users of Concord Park for close to 40 years now. We used to bring our daughters over to the playground when they were little to let them play on the super playground.

It was a good way to get them tired so they would go to sleep more easily at bedtime.

Another of the many reasons Knoxville, Tennessee is ““A great place to live, work, play, and raise a family”.

And here’s a great place to find a new Knoxville home for you and your family: KnoxvilleMLS.com

One of Mother Nature’s most fascinating events is underway in the nearby Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

In the Elkmont campgrounds areas tens of thousands of fireflies (lightning bugs to the local folks) are beginning their annual mating ritual.

The fascinating part is that huge groups of these amorous insects begin flashing in almost perfect synronization in hopes of attracting the attentions of a female firefly.

According to scientists a female firefly will start blinking her light from the ground or under a bush. Soon big bunches of male fireflies will begin gathering and after just a few minutes they all beging blinking their lights simultaneously.

It’s a wonderous sight to behold as the dark woods light up with thousands of tiny lights all blinking in unison; great for children of all ages.

The annual light show usually runs through June and sometimes into early July. If you’ve never seen them in action it’s a great way to spend a summer evening with the kids (or without them) ;-).

Because of the hundreds of visitor this annual show attracts the National Park Service has prohibitied private vehicles in Elkmont from June 8th through the 16, peak viewing times. Trolley service is available from the Sugarlands Visitor’s Center just outside Gatlinburg and a round trip ride is only $1.00.

Here are some tips on firefly watching etiquette.

Flashlights disrupt the fireflies and impair people’s night vision. The light show is best when you:

• Cover your flashlight with red or blue cellophane.
• Use your flashlight only when walking to your viewing spot.
• Point your flashlight at the ground.
• Turn off your flashlight when you find your viewing spot.
• Don’t catch the fireflies and stay on the trail at all times. I know it’s a tempation for the kids but please restrict your firefly catching to your background; others want to enjoy these special fireflies too.