Ray Carman – Auctioneer

In honor of the holiday, during which, many folks spend a-lot of time floating on the water, here is a place where you can make the water yours.

At this place, you can relax anytime you desire with a lovely walk down to the water. Sitting at the dead end of a county road, you can have all the peace you desire. For more info, you can check out MLS#859882 at www.realtracs.com or you can email us.

Enjoy your holiday weekend!

With all the recent uncertainty in the market place, this term has suddenly become a buzz word, and for good reason. Folks with higher end homes who are unable to move them conventionally, are turning to this old alternative!

When our mortgage companies began this downward spiral, they took away 75% of our buying consumers from just a couple of years ago. When backing investors became less aggressive, the average Joe with little or no money down who could buy a quarter of a million dollar home was now regulated to a much smaller house. Although their buying power was removed, the consumer still had a taste for what was so recently in their reach.

The seller on the other hand, who had decided to either move to a larger dwelling, or had been transferred out of town for work, was now looking at a market seemingly over flooded with homes, and a buyers pool that was significantly smaller, thus allowing for what we term as a “buyers market.”

However, the seller was not ready to take a hit in his investment, and the buyer wanted what he no longer could have, so, we have an interesting situation. Thus, the rebirth of an old idea, Lease Purchase.

The seller already had a mortgage in place, and the buyer can afford to pay a small token down and the mortgage plus monthly! Seemingly this is a great idea, and a-lot of folks are deciding to go this route, both as buyers and sellers. My next door neighbor had tried for a year, with several different realtors, to sell his house with no success. After one week of advertising a lease purchase option, he was over run with willing and able buyers, and has successfully negotiated the contract with one of his many lookers. (at a higher price than he was originally asking I might add)

So, if you are looking to move your house, but have run into the roadblock of, too many houses for a smaller pool of qualified buyers, the Lease Purchase option may be for you.

(there are some draw backs which we will discuss at a later date)

Yesterday i was privileged to meet someone new. I always enjoy moments like this, especially when they are out on a farm. My wife likes to go for rides on Sunday afternoons, and we ended up on a dead end road which ended in a beautiful farm.  We spent a little time out there, seeing how there was a piece of land for sale in the area. While there, i noticed someone riding a 4-wheeler, and I always like meeting new folks. Unfortunately, we could not catch up with him at the moment, so we went on.

I made an effort to come back later, and was very glad i did. This person did not own the farm, but had been coming there for different reasons for 40+ years. We sat in the field and talked about what things he had seen on the farm, and of course the subject turned to real estate. He is not in the business, but he has been paying attention of late, seeing how the media is talking about it a-lot.

He, without knowing it, was giving me a good look at what was ahead, because, he had seen it before. People are struggling across the country. He mentioned a friend who returned from California after 17 years due to the lack of work over there. His friend said the foreclosure rate was out of site in California. This of course is not news t us, but more of a confirmation of what is going on.

The analysis may look bleak from what the media is saying, BUT, I stand firm that real estate will stand the test of time, because, as my new friend said, looking back, brighter times are always ahead!

1745 Hartsville Pike.

This week we are taking a look at a super potential property. It has several choices for the purchaser. You can buy yourself a nice farm just out of the city limits of Gallatin. Or, you can get yourself a real development potential with a very nice house already posed to sell with about 3 ares, leaving you 26 acres to develop.

This would be a great opportunity for the person looking to make a good deal during tough times. Gallatin is expanding in all directions, and the Hartsville Pike area is primed for a new development.

If you want some more info, you can see it on realtracs.com and view mls#867705

(Thanks to Harold Carman Jr for allowing us to feature his listing)

Yesterday I was encountered with the blunt fact of how much the news media plays into the market. In a discussion with a fellow Realtor just prior to a closing, my colleague mentioned their distaste for how the media was portraying our current real estate market. In their words, “I wish the media would quit making it look so bad.”

And to this I can partially concur. I have kept up somewhat with what our news media (which I would be ranked as a part of) is putting on the air. And, if I was a consumer, I would probably be very skeptical of spending any money on a house right now. Over at CNN, they made reference to this being the 4th straight quarter in which houses have seen a decline in value, losing the medium sales price by 1.5% this past quarter. And having just returned from Denver, and seeing first hand where a couple lost $30,000 in appraisal value on their home since last year, I can see the impact it is having. USA Today front paged last Friday a column on a couple who have been trying to sell their home for a year and have reduced it by $100,000, with no results. With this kind of news, who wants to buy a house?

Good question! But, we have to be careful sinking too much into what we hear on a national level. What is going on in Denver may or may not happen here. What they are seeing in Michigan does not necessarily reflect what our market will do. In fact, a down turn in another market can actually drive our market higher.

Nashville has been rated as one of the top cities to live in or around. The cost of living is very reasonable around Nashville, and commuting in and out of downtown is relatively easy compared to many other cities in our nation. Several big name construction companies have shown losses around the nation, while showing a nice profit in and around Nashville.

What we are seeing here is driven in large by our national media. Houses nation wide are seeing a decline, so buyers are much more aggressive with their demands than they were just last year. When we as consumers sense a deal can be had, we will cinch down on our money and make the seller bend to our will. Here in Sumner county, we are presently at what I define as a stalemate. Sellers are still seeing house sell and bring top dollar, only at a slower pace, while buyers see a national trend and demand their “deal.”

So does media affect our market, YES! But the trick is to lower your head and plow on. Just like the hot dog salesman back during the depression. As things got bad, he just kept selling hot dogs not listening to the news. He did just fine until one day someone told him things were bad. When he looked up and decided they were right,  he ended up broke because he just quit.

Yes, the media does not paint a pretty picture, but as a Realtor, home owner, land owner, or consumer, now is the time to plow ahead, keep your head down and sell, or buy, some more “hot dogs.”

That is my opinion, what are your thoughts?

Last week I had a request to talk briefly about the schools here in Sumner County, and the choices one has. I meant to do this on Monday, but time and circumstances have kept me away.

It is not unusual in our area for people to be hunting a home in a specific school zone. A-lot of young couples who originally bought a home to start their marriage, are now raising their children and the thought of “school” crosses their mind. Every parent is driven to give the best for their children, so they each want their child to have the best education possible. Thankfully in our county, you can have that option at almost every corner.

There is White House, Gallatin, Beech, Hendersonville, Westmoreland, and Station Camp High Schools, and too many middle and elementary schools to mention. If you are thinking of buying a home, and you have children, or are planning to do so, you could save yourself time, money, and a little frustration, if you would do a little research on the subject of schools as part of your “house hunting.”

Some great resources are:

1. friends who have children in school.

2  friends who are teachers.

3. or this web site

However you look at it, school zones do, and always will, factor into a value of a home. So be sure to study up on the issue before you make your move.

That is my thoughts, what are yours?

Some might consider this a shameless self promotion, but I was hoping to give an idea of what this will be. I have my personal residence presently on the market, so I have chosen to use it as our first Friday Feature. My hope is to showcase available properties in the county that a consumer might be interested in seeing. We will have MLS #’s and contact info set up in case you spot one you like.

This is my house located at 1013 Teakwood Court. It is spacious floor plan having over 3000 sq ft. The home contains 3 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths. All living area is on the first floor minus the bonus room over the garage. It is accented in the living room with a corner fireplace, 14 ft ceilings, and 3 piece crown molding. The bedrooms are all user friendly and the master features a sitting area great for a private TV area or an home office. The kitchen  has tile floors, nice pantry, granite counter tops, cherry stained cabinets, and all appliances remain.  The bonus room is expanded and has 6 ft side walls for furniture placing. It also features its own half bath so one does not have to descend any stairs to use the restroom. You can find this listing on www.realtracs.com and MLS #895623.

Hope this gives you an idea of what is to come. What else could we add to this feature to make it more appealing and informative?

Does the appearance of my yard play into the sell of my home?

YES! Seeing how we are currently in what is being called a drought, a-lot of folks are wondering what to do about their yard. Unfortunately, our yards do play a role in peoples initial perception of our home. With a front yard that is thick and green, a buyers initial thought is not distracted  by a crunchy front yard strangled by the lack of water and heat of the sun.

A good example comes from my very own neighborhood. It is a newer subdivision with new homes still being built, and an outlook of new homes still being built over the next three years. Currently there are seven homes in the first two phases on the market for re-sale. This is due to relocations, job changes, and the shift in the mortgage market and rising interest rates. Only two of these homes are presently having success on the market. Although the other homes are competitively priced, these two owners have been vigilant in keeping their front yards nice and green. Their landscaping has been kept manicured, and thus far, they have reaped the benefits in receiving offers on their homes.

So, if you are thinking of marketing your home, or presently have it on the market, invest a little time and money in your front yard. It could pay off big dividends in the long run when a prospective buyer comes to see your house.

( as a side note, be sure to check with your local utility district to be sure there has not been any water shortages, or limits of usage, due to a prolonged drought. )

This is a hard question to get a very accurate answer. But, from my latest discussions, it appears we may actually start seeing interest rates start to go down from now until Spring 2008. If this does happen, that would be a move by the government to try and give some ease to a struggling economy.

Overall, this could be a very positive thing for our real estate in the county, giving some confidence back to the buyers!

Let us keep our ears open and fingers crossed!

In July of 2007, Sumner County saw 284 residential transactions take place. The smallest transaction was for $15,000, and the largest sales price was $850,000, being a house in Cumberland Place. The average sale was around $200,000, and price per square foot averaged approx $95.

This is a slight drop from the 347 transactions in July of 2006, in which the smallest was for $24,000, and the largest for $1,100,000.00. The average sales price was near the $250k mark, and $100 per square foot.

All this info is just another proof that things have slowed down a little. But let not your heart be troubled, Sumner County still has one of the strongest overall markets in the Tennessee area! Although we will see a slight downturn, overall, our market will continue to thrive till the upswing fore casted for 2010.