All data gathered through Knoxville Area Association of REALTORS MLS site. This information is deemed to be accurate but not guaranteed.

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I work with many out of state buyers and one of the first questions that I am asked, “Do you have a Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods?”  I am absolutely thrilled that I can now tell them, “Opening Soon!”

Be still my heart!  It wasn’t long ago, we learned that we were getting Cosco, which I for one am very excited about, but we are also getting Publix too!

What could be next?  Any one care to guess?

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 WHY YOU NEED A REALTOR® 

A licensed real estate professional provides much more than the service of helping you find your ideal home.

 REALTORS® are expert negotiators with other agents, seasoned financial advisors with customers, and superb navigators around the local neighborhood. They are members of the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) and must abide by a Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice enforced by the NAR. A professional REALTORS® is the best resource when buying your home.

 LET A REALTOR® BE YOUR GUIDE

 •  A knowledgeabe REALTOR® can save you endless amounts of time, money, and frustration.

 •  A knowledgeable REALTOR® knows the housing market inside and out and can help you avoid the “wild goose chase.”

 •  A knowledgeable REALTOR® can help you with any home, even if it is listed elsewhere or if it is being sold directly by the owner. 

•  A knowledgeable REALTOR® knows the best lenders in the area and can help you understand the importance of being preapproved for a mortgage.  He or she can also discuss down payments, closing costs and monthly payment options that suit you.

 •  A knowledgeable REALTOR® is an excellent source for both general and specific information about the community such as schools, churches, shopping, and transportation – plus tips on home inspections and pricing.

   A knowledgeable REALTOR® is experienced at presenting your offer to the seller and can help you through the process of negotiating the best price.  By bringing objectivity to the transaction, he or she can point out advantages and disadvantages of a property.

 And the best thing about your REALTOR® is that all this help normally won’t cost you a cent!  Generally speaking the seller normally pays the commission to the REALTOR®.

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 A question that I get a lot is “How is my property affected by the recent foreclosure on our street?”   The answer that I always give is “it depends”.    Not helpful, huh?  The truth is that the affect on value depends on many factors: 

• How many foreclosures have occurred on your street?  How many houses are there on your street?  How many houses have been foreclosed on in your subdivision?  How many houses are in your subdivision?  For example, if you have 25 properties on your street and 1 foreclosure, that would represent about 4% of the properties on your street that are in foreclosure.  I sincerely don’t think that anyone can draw conclusions about the market on your street based on 4% of the street.  Conversely, if you have 10 properties on your street and 4 have been foreclosed on, that would represent 40% of the properties on your street.  An argument could then be made and supported that the foreclosures do have an affect on the value as they are prominent in your subdivision.
• How many active listings of foreclosures, or short sales, are located in your subdivision?  Typically, these homes sell for less than market value and in some cases could be directly competing with your own house that is for sale.  If it is a foreclosure and has been maintained comparable to the other homes in the subdivision, it would be considered a competing property.  These properties are typically listed for less than market value in order for the bank, or lender, to sell the property quickly.  In this instance, a foreclosure could have an impact on your homes value.
• What type of value are you referring to?  Believe it or not, there isn’t just one value.  There is market value, liquidation value, distressed value, etc…  If one is calculating market value for their property, it would not be typical to utilize a distressed sale or foreclosure as a comparison.  The foreclosure sales are not arm’s length transactions and typically do NOT represent sales for fair market value.  There are exceptions to this, when foreclosure sales completely predominate the market.  In that case, the foreclosure sales have then become the market value.

As appraisers, we analyze the market that the property is located in and determine if the foreclosures do have an affect on values.  I typically would mention the fact that there was one foreclosure on a particular street and then state why it would not be a reliable indicator of value.  In other areas, I might mention that there is a high rate of foreclosure and it appears that the distressed sales predominate and have become the market value for the area.

Any valuation questions or actual orders for appraisals can be sent through our website at www.knoxvilleappraisal.com. 

By, Chris Skalet, Certified Residential Appraiser, CR-2399

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“Listing agents have sought course material targeting their specific needs for some time,” says co-author of the course material, Steve Casper, ABR®, SRS® and National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Distinguished Service Award Recipient.

Co-Author Adorna Carroll, ABR®, ABRM®, GRI®, SRS®, PMN®, SRES®, ePRO, National Instructor and Co – Author Bruce Adyt, ABR®, ABRM®, SRS®, CRB®, Attorney and National Instructor state, “The SRS® – Seller Representative Specialist Designation course is a two-day content rich course focusing on the special skills Listing Agents need to represent their seller clients plus interface with cooperatiing agents -specifically Buyer Agents.”  Congratulations to Catrina Foster from all three founders of SRS® Council, LLP.

Catrina completed her required coursework in April and now joins an elite number of designees who have earned the SRS® Designation.  Keller Williams Realty is proud that their fellow associate has reached a most sought after professional pinnacle by obtaining this designation and becoming one of the first Associates in Knox and Loudon Counties to do so.

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To bring your room up to date, it’s a good plan to have an idea of what colors are trending for 2011. Luckily, this year there is something for everyone! Here are the favorites for the upcoming year…

• Pinks and corals- Bright, feminine colors are the “it” color for this year, but guys, don’t panic! These colors are intense, but they are best used in small doses as accents to add a pop of style to a room.  If that’s still too much to take, no worries… we have plenty more trending colors to choose from.

• Deep colors with a vintage feel- One color trend is taking us a bit back into the past… and add an elegant feel to a room. Deep plums and violets, rich warm greens, berries, bronze gold and deep browns will be the key for this color trend. Think about this palette for a master bedroom or a formal living space.

• Natural colors- I don’t think this trend will go away anytime soon; we always love those colors that connect us with nature because they are nurturing. Think fresh vegetables with great mellow oranges, greens and earthy browns. Love those greens and blues? Try them in a pearl finish for a fresh look. Great for any room, but especially in a kitchen.

• Tribal colors- Our love of diverse cultures shows through in the tribal color trend for home décor.  Indigo blues, deep browns (are you seeing a trend that transcends all the palettes?) and warm oranges and reds will dominate this theme. Great for rooms where you need a cozy, wrap yourself in warmth kind of feel.

Easy, budget ways to bring today’s color trends into any room

Bringing today’s color trends into your rooms isn’t difficult, or expensive. Here are some great ideas for stepping up your color quotient!

• Add your new color into the room with accents, instead of doing a whole makeover. Replace picture mats, candles, and decorative dishes with items in your chosen hue. Try to make sure they are distributed evenly throughout the room for a balanced look.

• Use fabric to add color to your room. New pillow covers, throws or placemats can make instant impact.

• Cover old boring lampshades with handmade colored paper and a glue gun, or just add a ribbon trim to the top and bottom edges.

• Ok, this may be an obvious one, but paint! Paint one wall, or a key piece of furniture to totally transform the feeling of a room. Or paint the insides of open cupboards or bookshelves, or consider painting the ceiling!  Make sure to bring in a few accents in your new color as well.

Home décor color trends are not so mysterious, and they don’t require a total redo! Find a great new modern hue, pick an easy way to add it your room, and bring that trendy, modern feel into your home, without spending a fortune!

By Kathy Woodard, The Budget Decorator

on Saturday, April 30, 2011

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It’s YOUR home versus EVERY other comparable property in the immediate area!!  This is how we, as REALTORS®, help our Sellers establish a realistic Asking Price.  Recently sold listings, expired listings, and active listings all need to be taken into account while establishing an acceptable price range.  And believe  me, the vast amount of properties on the market today make it necessary to take great care in compiling a “Good” CMA.

Let’s go over how each listing type affects the CMA:

Active Listings - This is your competition!!  The idea is to basically attempt to out-price your competitors, addressing subtle differences in value between your home and the rest. 

Expired Listings – Learn from the shortcomings of others!!  These homes never made it to closing because they were most likely priced incorrectly, though, in some cases serious defects may have been present.

Recently Sold (Closed) Listings – The homes that make it to closing are obviously the successful ones!!  Matching these listings as close as possible serves to be a good indicator for how your home will perform in the current market.

I don’t like to include Pending Sales in my CMA’s for the simple reason that you just don’t know what offer was initially accepted, as well as if whether or not the sale will actually close.  If necessary, I like to treat these listings as still being Active, but they generally won’t be included.

But how far back should the Comparative Listings go??  And how far does the “immediate area” extend??  As a general rule of thumb, I like to stay within 3 months of my current listing date, trying to narrow down my list of comparables to a specific map coordinate (usually 1 square mile), only widening the gap when necessary.  This keeps the information as relevant as possible!

It’s the job of the Listing Agent to take ALL of these factors into account, in an attempt to find a ‘happy medium’!!  It’s enough to make you want to pull your hair out!!  But to the Sellers out there, rest assured that with a professional REALTOR®on the job, you won’t be steered in the wrong direction!  The CMA is just another step on the road to something BIG!!

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February 21, 2011

Lenoir City moves forward with Town Creek Project

Author: Brittany Davenport
Source: News-Herald

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By: Pat Curry

Published: March 25, 2010

Appraisers and real estate agents offer advice for adding curb appeal that both preserves value and attracts potential buyers.

We asked real estate agents, appraisers, home stagers, landscape designers, and home inspectors which curb appeal projects offer the most value when your house is on the market, both in terms of its marketability and dollars. Here is what they told us:
1. Paint the house.

Hands down, the most commonly offered curb appeal advice from our real estate pros and appraisers is to give the exterior of your home a good paint job. Buyers will instantly notice it and appraisers will note it on the valuation.

“Paint is probably the number one thing inside and out,” says Frank Lucco, managing partner of Houston-based IRR-Residential Appraisers and Consultants. “I’d give additional value for that. If you’re under two years remaining life (on the paint job), paint the exterior because it tends to show wear badly.”

Just make sure you stay within the range of accepted colors for your market. A house that’s painted a wildly different color from its competition will be marked down in value by appraisers.
2. Have the house washed.

Before you make the investment in a paint job, though, take a good look at the house. If it’s got mildew or general grunge, just washing the house could make a world of difference, says Valerie Torelli, a California real estate agent with a background in accounting.

Before she puts a house on the market, Torelli often does exterior makeovers on her clients’ homes, a service she pays for herself to get higher selling prices. Overall, she says her goal is to spend less than $5,000, with a goal of generating an extra $10,000 to $15,000 on the sale price.

Torelli specifies pressure-washing—a job that should be left to professionals. Pressure washing makes the house look “bright and clean in addition to getting rid of unsightly things like cobwebs, which may not be seen from the yard but will detract from the home’s cleanliness when seen up close,” she says.

The cost to have a professional cleaning should be a few hundred dollars–a fraction of the cost of having the house painted.
3. Trim the shrubs and green up the yard.

California real estate agent Valerie Torelli says she puts a lot of emphasis on landscaping, such as cutting down overgrown bushes and replacing them with leafy plants and annuals mulched with beautiful reddish-brown bark. “It runs me $30 to $50,” says Torelli. “Do you get a return on your money? Absolutely. It sucks people in.”

You also don’t want bare spots. Take the time to fertilize the yard, throw out some grass seed, and if need be, add some sod.
4. Add a splash of color.

It could be a flower bed of annuals by the mailbox, a paint job for the front door, or a brightly colored bench or an Adirondack chair. “You can get a cute little bench at Home Depot for $99,“ Torelli notes. “Spray paint it bright red or blue and set it in the yard or on the front porch.”

It’s not a bad idea, but don’t plan on getting extra points from an appraiser for a red bench, says John Bredemeyer, president of Realcorp in Omaha. “It’s difficult to quantify, but it does make a home sell more quickly,” Bredemeyer says. “Maybe yours sold a couple weeks faster than the house down the street. That’s the best way to look at these things.”
5. Add a fancy mailbox and house numbers.

An upscale mail box and architectural house numbers or an address plaque can give your house a distinctive look that stands out from everyone else on the block. Torelli makes them a part of her exterior makeovers “I’ve gotten those hand-painted mailboxes,” she says. “A nice one runs you $40 to $50.” Architectural house numbers may run as high as a few hundred dollars.
6. Repair or clean the roof.

Springfield, Va.-based home inspector and former builder Reggie Marston says the roof is one of the first things he looks at in assessing the condition of a home. He’ll look at other houses in the neighborhood to see if there are a lot of replaced roofs and see if the subject house has one as well. If not, he’ll look for curls in the shingles or missing shingles. “I’m looking at the roof for end-of-life expectancy,” he says.

You can pay for roof repairs now, or pay for them later in a lower appraisal; appraisers will mark down the value by the cost of the repair. That could knock thousands of dollars off your appraisal. According to Remodeling Magazine’s 2010-2011 Cost vs. Value Report, the average cost of a new asphalt shingle roof is about $21,500.

“Roofs are issues,” Lucco says. “You won’t throw money away on that job. You gotta have a decent roof.”

Stains and plant matter, such as moss, can be handled with cleaning. It’s a job that can often be done in a day for a few hundred dollars, and makes the roof look like new. It’s not a DIY project; call a professional with the right tools to clean it without damaging it.
7. Put up a fence.

A picket fence with a garden gate to frame the yard is an asset. A fence has more impact in a family-oriented neighborhood than an upscale retirement community, Bredemeyer says, but in most instances, appraisers will give extra value for one, as long as it’s in good condition. “Day in a day out, a fence is a plus,“ Bredemeyer says. Expect to pay $2,000 to $3,500 for a professionally installed gated picket fence 3 feet high and 100 feet long.
8. Perform routine maintenance and cleaning.

Nothing sets off subconscious alarms like hanging gutters, missing bricks from the front steps, or lawn tools rusting in the bushes. It makes even the professionals question what else hasn’t been taken care of.

“A house is worth less if the maintenance isn’t done,” Lucco says. “Those little things can add up and be a very big detractor. When people say, ‘I’d buy it if it weren’t for all the deferred maintenance,’ what they’re really saying is, ‘I’d still buy it if you reduce the price.’”

Georgia-based freelance writer Pat Curry has covered housing and real estate for consumer and trade publications for more than a decade, including covering new home sales and marketing for BUILDER, the magazine of the National Association of Home Builders.

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