Searching for Nashville area Real Estate but want a nice large Yard and a country lifestyle?  Wilson County may be a better answer for you.

Just 7 years old, this all brick home on Lebanons North side has many sought after extras.

Including-

1. All Brick Construction
2. Cathedral Ceilings
3. Hardwood Flooors
4. 1 Level Living
5. Huge Master Down ( of course).
6. 2 acre Lot
7. 1 Mile to LaGuardo Recreation area with Lake access, Boat Ramp, pic-nik ing and supervised swimming area.
8. tons of closets<iframe

View Home details at :   www.3013Lillard.info

Search all Lebanon and Wilson County Homes at: NashvilleHomeSearcher.com

Lebanon home buyers looking for something special are discovering Heritage Valley.  Modern homes with 1 and 2 acre lots, perfect for an active outdoor lifestyle.

Sunset on Old Hickory Lake

Heritage Valley began development after 2000, when a small group of local craftsmen builders began this community.  The neighborhood was designed for families looking to get away from the crowded lots in Mount Juliet and Providence.

Home in Heritage Valley

Home owners in Heritage Valley  have  these amenities:

1. Boat Access  and swimming on Old Hickory Lake at La Garda Recreation area just a mile down the road.
2. No Restrictions on keeping boats or 4 Wheel vehicles on their property.
3. Modern, all brick  homes designed and built by local craftsmen like Eastland Construction.
4. Mt. Juliet Schools, consistently among the top 3 in Tennessee.
5. No overcrowding, homes have at least 1 acre each.
6. Quick commute to Nashville, whether your driving on I40 or riding the Music City Star high speed rail from nearby Martha Station.
   

   The Music City Star: Lebanon to Nashville

Visit  a Heritage Valley Home for Sale

Heritage Valley

Search all Lebanon Tn Homes.

The Greater Nashville area has ended the first 3 Months of 2012 with double digit sales increaes over 2011.

Nashville Homes Sales First Qtr 2011

Last year the average price of a Nashville Home between Jan-Mar. was $245, 995

Nashville Homes Sales First Qtr 2012

Sales in the same period increased a whopping 15% .

At the same time we can see that:

1.  The all important Price Per Sq. Ft. remained stable at $104.
2. Equally important the Days on Market ( time between listing and sale), actually came down slightly to 92 days.
3. Here’s the really good news, The chart below shows only 8, 000 homes available in the Greater Nashville area. Almost 2,000 (25%) of those are Pending or Under Contract.  That leaves 6,000 homes available and we are currently selling at a 900 per month pace.  This means that the current inventory of homes could sell in a little over 6 months.
   A six month supply of homes is officially a “Balanced Market”, that is neither a “Buyer’s Market”, nor a “Seller’s Market”.

2012 has started off well for Mt. Juliet Home Sellers, home sales in the Jan.-Mar period moved from 172 homes sales in 2011 to 192 homes in 2012.  A gain of 11%.

However, despite those sales gains , the numbers indicate Wilson County homes may be losing some of their value.

Mt. Juliet Home sales First Qtr. 2011

Mt Juliet Home Sellers are Happy!

Mt. Juliet home sales are once again challenging the conventional wisdom that Brentwood and Franklin are THE places to buy a home.

Crye-Leike’s Mt. Juliet office posted $5,968,049 in sales for February passing Brentwood Franklin and all of the more than 20 Crye-Leike offices in Nashville.

That total was 63% ahead of 2011 sales for the same month.

One thing that Mt. Juliet Home sellers should note though: The average home price for Mt. Juliet’s sales was $195,000. That’s $2,000 less than 2011.

Cathy and  I had  3 Closings ourselves in February, making this a busier first quarter than last year.

Cathy & Jim had 3 Closings in February 2012

The takeaway here for both Mt. Juliet Home sellers and Home Buyers is:

1. There are buyers out there

2. they are looking for deals

and

3. Savvy Home Sellers and their agents are flexible and willing to negotiate.

Willoughby Station Home Sparks a Bidding War, Sells for $14,000 over asking price.

When we listed this Willoughby Station home, the highest price paid for a 4 Bedroom home in more than a year had been $260,000.

But this one sold for $273,000

To get the maximum price for our sellers  we used web-based marketing and generated almost 40 showings and 3 offers, the last one for $14,000 over asking price.

Here’s how we did it.

1. We analyzed the neighborhood activity, looking for common themes among the homes that were selling.

2. We scheduled two days for photos.  One for the early morning when the sun was best on the Front and one for afternoon when the lighting helped the Living areas.

3. All photos were taken with an 18 mm lense using natural light to bring out color and create depth.

Natural Light Photography created Interest

4. The listing was posted on approximately 30 websites with special attention to Zillow, Trulia, Craigslist and BNA.NashvilleHomeSearcher.com

5. A VoicePad sign was posted in the front yard with a 24 Hour number for callers to get info about the house. Each caller was called back.

6. A special website was created just for 1164 Sydney Terrace.

7. A blog article was written for the home at NashvilleRealEstatetalk.com. Another article was added about Willoughby Station.

8. A Virtual Tour of the home was created and set-up on Youtube.com

7. Open houses were scheduled on NFL by-weeks when families were likely to be out looking.

9. Photographs were posted on key websites announcing the open houses ( Craigslist, Zillow, Trulia).

10. The listing was emailed to those buyers on our  Database ( approx. 2,000)  who were looking in this price range and area.

11. Realtors who scheduled showings of the home received call from us asking for feedback from their Buyers. That information was passed on to our Sellers.

12. Each week the Sellers received an emailed report with graphs showing how many times the home was downloaded from the Internet.

13. Multiple offers can be tricky.  We worked with the Sellers to negotiate the offers and choose the best one with an eye to price, terms and conditions.

These are the Marketing Innovations that have replaced the “sign in the yard and List it on the MLS” system that existed for so many years. These are also the things we automatically do for each Listing.

No amount of marketing will help an overpriced or poorly maintained home. But, with fair pricing and a quality home our marketing will put your home in front the most qualified Buyers.

Call  Cathy , 615-481-7609, or Jim, 615-347-0424, to learn more about marketing your Mt. Juliet Home.

Lake Providence Club house

Since lake Providence opened in Mt. Juliet, Tn., several years ago,  it has become the fastest growing 55 and older community in Tennessee and the South East.  The Fox Run Villas have been one of the most popular homes.

One-level living with amenities and affordable. These homes were an upgrade from the original, simpler designs in Del Webb’s first offerings.

With 2 Bedrooms and 2 Full Baths and 1244 Sq. Ft. the Villas were a great fit for Active Adults who needed less space and more free time.

These homes are no longer being built in Mt. Juliet because the builder ( Pulte) says they are too expensive to build.

This home at 307 Blockade Lane was built in 2009.  The owner, who lives in another Lake Providence home 2 blocks away, has been renting this unit to the steady stream of people waiting for their own Del Webb homes to be built.

Now he has decided to sell this one.

As you can see from the photos this home is in wonderful condition.

307 Blockade Lane, Mt. Juliet, TN

Reduced Costs of Ownership

One very interesting thing about the Villas is that they INCLUDE All  Exterior   Maintenance!

These homes are covered by the Del Webb Home Owners Association (HOA), and everything on the outside is covered.

That means home owners insurance is reduced, the homeowner’s insurance on this home is about $300 per year.

Taxes on this home are also very low, just $1,013 per year.

This home has approximately $14,000 in upgrades from the basic Villa Plan.

Kitchen

Master Bedroom

This home will be available to move in after April 15, It is in “like New” condition and is much less expensive then a new unit.

Living area

Rear Patio

Master Bath

The rear Patio can screened, enclosed or extended.

The rear of the house has open space behind it which is not available with new units.

SELLER PAID OVER $14,000 IN UPGRADES
ABOVE PULTE LIST PRICE:
Full irrigation system with timer: $2500
Floored and shelved attic above garage: $800
Finished and painted garage: $600
Shelves installed in garage: $200
Can lights in kitchen: $600
Ceiling fan, wire and installed in living room: $250
Upgrade shower in master bath: $650
Extra outlet in garage: $150
Three extra TV outlets, one in living room and two in bedrooms: 3@$175: $525
Back lights: $250
Patio wired for ceiling fan: $175
Patio wired for electric: $125
Back of house wired for electric: $125
Elevation fee for front of house: $3200
View fee for unobstructed rear of house (nothing can ever be built in the 1 ½ acre of lawn): $4000
Additionally: new stove, blinds, wired for alarm

The view from the patio

To see this great Home call Jim Or Cathy at 615-481-7609

Or email us at Cathy@CathyWood.com

As many of you know we have been tracking Home Showings in Nashville since 2002.  These showings are a barometer of home buyers and can be used to predict home sales in the following months.

Looking at December’s showings we can see that for the 8th month in a row Nashville home buyers outpaced home buyers in 2010.

More importantly, for the first time in almost two years, home showings in Nashville were were not only higher than the year before, but they very nearly passed the number of showings in 2009 as well. (2418 vs. 2462).  Adjusting these numbers for the Christmas holidays which were extended due to Christmas falling on Sunday, we could easily make the case that December 2011 passed both 2010 and 2011 for showings.

Nashville Home Showings for December 2011

Why is this important?

What we are seeing appears to be a trend. We first noted in May that appointments to show homes for sale in Nashville had surpassed the previous years totals.

Home sales immedietly began to rise in the months following May.  Each month since then has surpassed last year in home sales. That became a trend and now we have seen that trend grow.

Nashville home owners who want to sell their homes should take note.  Demand is growing.  Likewise if your shopping for a home in Nashville, you’re not alone.

This week we had home buyers from California  visiting Cathy and me to buy a home in Mt. Juliet.  Out of 6 homes we planned to see, two had offers in and accepted that week.

We still found a great home for them and they left with a contract in hand.  But as a home buyer in Nashville, be prepared to bid competitivly.

To search homes in Nashville, we suggest our award winning site, www.NashvilleHomeSearcher.com .  It provides enlarged pics and googles maps/aerial photos of each home so you can get an accurate picture of these homes.

For detailed information, like Foreclosure lists and Short sales, call us or visit our website at www.CathyWood.com.

Jim Wood

I received a call today from one of my readers. She was calling to let me know that she had tried unsuccessfully to locate a Mortgage lender in Murfreesboro TN who would provide a 203K loan for her on a foreclosure property she had found.

You may recall we had written about the advantages of the 203K   loan which we had used for home buyers in both Davidson and Wilson Counties over the last year.  These loans allowed the home buyers to make repairs and rehab to some foreclosure homes without suffering the out-of-pocket expenses they would have needed.

After setting her up with a 203K provider in Mt. Juliet who could help her, I looked at the reasons why this home buyer was having this trouble.

First, many mortgage providers are avoiding the 203 K  loan because of the additional paperwork needed. Like any government secured loan these loans add considerable amounts of work to the process.  They  also require the lender to ‘get involved”, helping the buyer to identify contractors to do the work.

The simple fact is that over the last few years lenders grew to expect a quick and easy transaction.  That ship has left the port. Lenders need to be more versatile in this market, offering any and every type of loan.

Secondly, many Realtors are also suffering from “easy money”,  disease and also need to admit, times have changed.  In the case of the Murfreesboro home buyer, she had a Realtor, whom had not even tried to explore 203K with the Listing Realtor.

Lastly, and this is a big one, Lenders are reluctant to provide these govt. loans simply because they have a limits on how much the lender is allowed to charge for the loan.

Since most FHA and 203K  buyers are first time buyers, they do not have the kinds of credit ( or funds) that lenders can use to move them into conventional and more profitable loans.

If you, or someone you know, want to buy a fixer-upper, but you don’t have the money for both the down payment and the repairs, call me.  We’ll be glad to work with you to negotiate a 203K type offer on your dream home. Cathy and I have been helping our buyers secure 203K loans since 2009, we were the first in Nashville with this method and we understand how to make it work for you.

Call us with your 203K questions: 615-347-4424.

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