Knoxville Tennessee Real Estate Blog

You hear a lot these days about setting goals and how powerful they are.

Being an old goal setter myself I can attest to the truth and accuracy of that statement. Setting goals can be critical in helping you achieve any and all of your dreams including buying that first home.

Here are 5 tips that will put you into that Knoxville or Farragut area home of your dreams:

1. You must write your homeownership goals down and be very specific. For instance, don’t just say I want to own a home someday; you must say, ” I will own and live in a 1600 square foot home with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a two car garage located in Farragut, Tennessee.” Writing it down and making it specific is the most important step in goal setting.
2. Your goal must be measurable. For instance if you need to save some money for a down payment or closing costs; set smaller, time goals along the way when you will have specific amounts of money set aside for your new home.
3. Your goals must be believable to you. For most of us it is reasonable to believe that you can own a home in the Knoxville, Tennessee area like the one described. It is probably not reasonable for most of us to expect to own a 40,000 square foot luxury beachfront mansion in the Caribbean.
4. It must be something rewarding to you that you have clear reasons to want. For example, I want a new home for the security it affords me and my family, to have a yard to work in, and/or to stop the continuous rent increases.
5. You must set a time limit to achieve your goal. This is one of most powerful parts of goal setting. If you write down; “By July 15th, 2009, I will be living in a 2,000 square foot, all brick home with at least a 1/2 acre yard”, your subconscious mind will help speed you toward that goal and keep you on course for it.

Once you set your goal of homeownership and write that goal down with a time limit to achieve it, you’ll be amazed at how easy it seemed when you’re celebrating owning your new home.

Anyone thinking of buying a home now or in the future might benefit from a free copy of my “Homebuyer’s Toolkit, Ten Steps to Choosing and Purchasing a Home.”

email your postal mailing address to [email protected] and I’ll drop your free copy in the mail.

www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com is also a great place to start your dream and find a home to fit into your goal. and of course I would be honored to help you with your new goal of home ownership like I’ve helped hundreds of others just like you.

One of the new ‘rites of springtime’ in the greater Knoxville, Tennessee area has become a great outdoor concert series called “Sundown in the City“.

Starting April 17th and running through July 3rd, the Market Square Mall in downtown Knoxville will be rocking (or jazzing, countrying, or bluesing) with some great music.

And best of all it’s completely free even to parking. Bring your blanket or lawn chairs, kick back, and enjoy some great music for all ages.

Festivities start at 6:00 pm and the music begins at 7:00.

It’s a wholesome activity for families and people of all ages. There is a strict prohibition against underaged drinking (that’s the under 21 crowd).

Unfortunately you can’t bring coolers and outside food or drink but there are lots of Market Square merchants that will be delighted to supply you.

In past years crowds of up to 10,000 happy music lovers have flocked to the Mall and adjacent Krutch Park to goove to  some great tunes by great bands and singers.

Some of this years lineup include:

funk-fusion group Galactic leading off April 17th

The Presidents of the United States of America, May 22nd and lots of other well known bands.

Sponsored by a group of local businesses, Sundown in the City happens each Thursday evening, rain or shine, so if it’s cloudy bring an umbrella or your poncho and be ready for an evening of great entertainment.

Visit the Sundown in the City website for more details.

If buying a house or moving to the Knoxville Tennessee area is in your future plans, Knoxville Home Center rocks too with all of Knoxville’s Realtor home listings for sale; visit it soon.

The February 2008 sales report for Knoxville area homes sold is now available here.

It shows the volume is down a little with 158 fewer Knoxville & Farragut homes & condos sold in February of 2008 compared to the same time period in 2007.

However with interest rate remaining in the sub 6% range it is still an excellent time to buy a home.

Knoxville sellers and builders of new homes are offering incentives to attract and influence buyers to buy their home over competing ones.

Some of the incentives I’ve seen were $5,000 towards closings costs on several new home subdivisions, home warranties, sellers offering upgrades and replacement allowances, and other creative methods to attract a buyer.

Although the volume is down the median price is up a few thousand dollars which demonstates the underlying strength and stability of Knoxville’s real estate market.

My flagship website, Knoxville Home Center.com is a great place to find a new home and lots of other good information about the greater Knoxville % Farragut Tennessee areas.

Are you searching for a new home or condo in the greater Knoxville, Tennessee or Farragut, Tennessee area?

Are you spending hours searching through Knoxville & Farragut real estate websites looking for that dream home?

There must be a better way to find a new home.

There is and it’s KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com

KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com will provide you with daily (or whatever frequency you select) emails of Knoxville and Farragut area MLS listings that meet only the criteria you select, automatically with no further effort on your part.

Just visit KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com, click the “Describe Your Dream Home” link on the front page and in less than 24 hours you will have your first email full of great new Knoxville area homes that meet your, and only your, new home criteria.

“to: [email protected]
date: 5 Mar 2008 06:02:57 -0500
subject: MLS Listing Report for John & Mary Smith

As of Mar 3 2008 11:56AM, this report shows 23 listing(s) available”

The quick and easy way to find your Knoxville or Farragut area dream home.

If you’re looking to rent a home in the Knoxville or Farragut areas there are some great rentals available, but there is also a fairly new scam being operated to relieve you of your money without putting you in a house.

I communicate daily with lots of Realtors all over the country via several social networking sites and email. One of my Realtor pals from Louisiana told me today that someone had commandeered one of her listings for sale and was advertising it for rent on Craig’s List.

The person advertising this bogus rental claimed to be the wife of an oil company executive that was suddenly transferred to Lagos, Nigeria.

Hmmmm, Nigeria, that should be waving some big red flags. I used to get email all the time from people claiming to be in Nigeria that needed to send their fortune out of the country and wanted to give me a 20-40% cut if they could just stick it in my bank account for a few weeks until they could escape and get over here.

This supposed ‘wife’ had an application for potential renters to fill out and she would then overnight the keys to them so they could go inspect their potential new home.

Of course the ‘application’ wanted some bank references as “proof of your financial capability” including account numbers.

And while you were busy watching for FedEx guy to show up with your keys the scammers were busy emptying your bank accounts.

Yeah, it’s that easy if someone get hold of your bank account numbers.

Here’s what Craig’s List recommends if you’re in the market for a rental home or apartment.

• “DEAL LOCALLY WITH FOLKS YOU CAN MEET IN PERSON. Follow this one simple rule and you will avoid 99% of Internet scams.
• NEVER WIRE FUNDS VIA WESTERN UNION, MONEYGRAM or any other wire service - anyone who asks you to do so is a scammer.
• FAKE CASHIER CHECKS & MONEY ORDERS ARE COMMON, and BANKS WILL CASH THEM AND THEN HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE when the fake is discovered weeks later.”

It appears Craig’s List is being used for other types of real estate fraud as well. This is about how crooks forge names onto deeds and then “sell” your house to unsuspecting purchasers or refinance it and pocket the loan proceeds leaving you with a new mortgage to deal with.

If you need to find a Knoxville or Farragut house or condo to buy, KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com is a great place to start your search.

And if you need to rent I can recommend some good, LOCAL, rental agencies that will put you in a house without emptying your bank account.

One commonly confused area of Knoxville & Farragut home purchases is the difference between an appraiser and a home inspector.

Each one has a very important job to do in the home buying (and selling) process but those jobs are distinctive and separate.

An appraiser is sent to the property by the lender to ensure that the purchase price is realistic and not out of line with recent sale prices of comparable homes. Lenders want to reach some sort of “comfort level” that if they have to foreclose on a property they can get most, if not all of their investment back.

A home inspector is typically hired by a home buyer to ensure the integrity of the structure and the mechanical systems. A home inspector will look for things like roof leaks from the attic, check electrical panels to make sure all is well there, check HVAC systems to make sure it’s in proper working order, and a long list of other things.

So if you’re buying a Knoxville area home you’ll need the services of both an appraiser and a home inspector to make sure you’re not only getting the home at the right price but to ensure the structural integrity and all the mechanical systems are in proper working order.

If you haven’t hired a Knoxville area Realtor to represent you in your new home purchase please consider this my application for the job.

In addition to 30 years of successful experience helping hundreds of families buy new Knoxville homes ,I have earned the Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR) designation to represent those buyers more effectively.

You can hear recorded testimonials from former clients on my website, KnoxvilleMLS.com and search all of the Knoxville area’s Realtor listings.