Market Trends Category
Is It Time To Buy A Home In West Knoxville?
August 22nd, 2011 categories: Buyers, FHA Mortgages, General, Market Trends, Real Estate Investing, West Knoxville Neighborhoods
I just had a meeting with a buyer who was looking to buy a home in West Knoxville. They had been renting during the last few years and had now decided it may be a good time to get into the home market in West Knoxville.
During our meeting were talking about the different aspects of the home buying process. They had decided they wanted to purchase a 4 bedroom home in either the Farragut or Cedar Bluff areas. About halfway through our meeting they both asked me is now the time to buy in my opinion?
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Part One: Renting Vs. Buying in Knoxville
August 19th, 2011 categories: Buyers, Market Trends
To rent, or to buy, that is the question.
It currently costs less to buy a two bedroom home in Knoxville than it does to rent a two bedroom apartment, if you plan on staying there for longer than a few years. The average list price of a two bedroom house in Knoxville is $94,900 and the average rent for a two bedroom apartment is $680. Operating under these assumptions, the average homeowner would save $13,690 over a 5 year period and $32,902 over a 10 year period.
This calculation comes from Trulia’s Rent Vs. Buy Calculator, which compares the average list price of two bedroom homes with the those of a two-bedroom apartments. The calculations also take into context things such as: utilities, property taxes, tax benefits of buying a home, insurance premiums, and other costs and benefits that come with renting an apartment or buying a home.
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Knoxville Ranked #5 in Best Value Cities 2011
August 17th, 2011 categories: General, Jobs, Rankings
Knoxville was ranked #5 on Kiplinger’s Best Value Cities List 2011.
Kiplinger is a Washington, D.C. based publisher specializing in business forecasts and personal finance. The rankings for Kiplinger’s Best Value Cities 2011 was based on cost of living, the vibrance of the economy, and amenities that are available to residents.
One aspect that contributed to making Knoxville one of the Best Value Cities is Knoxville’s economy. With an unemployment rate of 7.7%, the Knoxville economy has shown vibrancy even during these difficult times. With many corporate headquarters based in Knoxville including: Bush’s Baked Beans, Jewelry TV, and Pilot, there are many employment opportunities available to residents. TVA, which is the largest utility provider in the United States, is also based here along with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which both employ many residents.
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Buying A Home In The Winter Time…Is That A Good Idea?
February 10th, 2011 categories: Buyers, Market Trends
If you are looking to buy a home in Knoxville, then you probably want to get the best deal. Winter months are the best time to be purchasing a home. Let me explain why.
A lot of people put their homes on the market after the first of the year. In addition, there are very few people looking to buy a home in the winter months.
This is because most of the people transferring for a job have already bought a home. Their companies want them to have purchased by the end of the year so they can write it off on the corporate tax bill.
The remaining buyers are usually waiting until Spring to go house hunting again. This gives you 2-3 months of prime negotiating time.
It is more than likely that you will be the only offers most sellers will see until Spring. But, guess what happens in Spring?
All of the other buyers start looking at homes and making offers. Those home sellers now have other options. Your offer isn’t the only one they have on the table.
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Knoxville 1st Time Buyers 5 Steps To Successfully Buy A Short Sale
January 12th, 2011 categories: Buyers, Existing Home Sales, Knoxville Short Sales, Market Trends
If you are a first time home buyer in Knoxville and are looking to get a GREAT Deal on a home you should consider buying a short sale. These types of homes can be bought at 20-30% less than fair market value making a great investment opportunity for buyers. I have found there are 5 things you need to do in order to increase odds of buying the home.
1 BE PATIENT…Knoxville Short Sales should really be called “Long Sales” because they are anything but a short process. You have to remember you are asking the lender to accepted less than what is owed on the home. This can be a long and drawn out process especially if there is more than one mortgage on the property. So it takes time and a great deal of expertise on the agents part to get a short sale accepted. The process can sometime take 5- 7 months to get it done and for the most part nothing happens for months. But if you are patient and hang in there the opportunity to buy a home at a HUGE discount are a strong possibility.
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7 Reasons To Buy A Knoxville Home Now!!
November 17th, 2010 categories: Buyers, Existing Home Sales, General, Market Trends, Mortgage Rates
You can get a house at a bargain price now — especially if you play hardball. This is a buyer’s market. Most of the other buyers have vanished since the tax credits on purchases expired.
We’re four to five years into the biggest housing bust in modern U.S. history. We have been lucky in Knoxville compared to other parts of the country and haven’t seen huge price drops but our prices are down.
Will prices fall further? Sure, they could. You probably won’t catch the bottom, but it doesn’t really matter so much in the long haul.
You can get a 30-year home loan for about 4% range on 30 year mortgages. WOW!! What’s not to like? These are the lowest rates on record. As recently as two years ago, they were about 6.5%. That difference in monthly payment is huge.
If inflation picks up, you won’t see these mortgage rates again. And if we get deflation and rates fall further, you can refinance.
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Will The Interest Rates Fall In Knoxville??
November 5th, 2010 categories: Buyers, Market Trends, Mortgage Guidelines, Mortgage Rates
Will Rates Go Lower?
What More Quantitative Easing Could Mean
Historic, low home loan rates have been about the only thing stable in the economy these days. This low level mark breeds complacency, especially with the buzz in the air that rates may go even lower. But
the question hangs in the air like humidity on a southern summer day – will rates go lower? And if there is a chance, should you wait and see or move forward now?
More Quantitative Easing
The buzz that began earlier this fall stemmed from talk coming out of the Federal Reserve that they were considering another round of Quantitative Easing in an effort to stimulate the sluggish economy.
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5 Steps To Getting A GREAT Deal On A Knoxville Banked Owned Home…
October 27th, 2010 categories: Buyers, Knoxville Short Sales, Market Trends
1. Finding one is easy
You don’t need to show up at courthouse auctions or comb through legal filings. These days many banks sell foreclosed homes through real estate agents.You can find them and save
the searches right on TheBigOrangePress.com about halfway down in the middle of the page just check the box for foreclosure. If you setup a “Free Account” on my site you can save a search for the specific area you want and get email updates on new banked owned properties daily.
2. Buy It From The Bank
If you buy a foreclosed home at an auction before the bank repossessed it, you’ll have to pay in cash, and you usually cannot inspect the property. You may also later discover that there are liens against it.When a bank takes back a home, however, it will clear any outstanding liens. Plus, when you buy a bank-owned property, you can inspect it beforehand, and you can finance the purchase with a mortgage.
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Do Short Sales Really Work In Knoxville??
October 26th, 2010 categories: Knoxville Short Sales, Market Trends, Sellers
The current housing market we are experiencing in Knoxville is the most interesting I have every seen in my real estate career of 30 plus years. The problems we are experiencing are because of the bureaucrats
in Washington tinkering with things and messing things up for us. They are always trying to help us out by passing laws that don’t solve anything but just make things worst for us. One of the reasons I got my CDPE designation was so I could better understand the solutions available to homeowners to avoid foreclosure.
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Bank Reposessions Top 100,000 In A Month For The First Time Ever
October 14th, 2010 categories: Buyers, Foreclosures, Market Trends, Sellers, Statistics
The number of foreclosure filings rose 3 percent in September, according to foreclosure-tracking firm RealtyTrac. The term “foreclosure filing” is a catch-all word for housing, comprising default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions.
September marked the 19th straight month that the number of filings topped 300,000, and the first month in which 100,000 repossessions were logged.
As usual, a small number of states dominated the national foreclosure figures, accounting for more than half of all repossessions.
- California : 17% of all repossessions
- Florida : 13% of all repossessions
- Michigan : 7% of all repossessions
- Arizona : 7% of all repossessions
- Texas : 5% of all repossessions
- Georgia : 5% of all repossessions
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