Changes Coming to All Around KTown

Due to some upcoming changes here at All Around KTown, your regularly scheduled weekly poll will not be up tonight. But don't fret - it will be back soon and it will be better than ever!

Intrigued? Well then make sure you don't miss out on any of the exciting stuff that's about to happen - subscribe to AAKT in a feed reader or by email today!

A New Housing Alternative?

Via Calculated Risk, from cartoonist Eric G. Lewis.

What's Your House Sign?

Because I work for a Coldwell Banker franchise, I regularly get Coldwell Banker spam promotional emails. I ususally automatically delete these, but for some reason I actually opened the one I got yesterday.

It was an announcement for a new little widget called Housetrology, which claims to tap into your emotional instincts to help you find your perfect home. All you do is look at some pictures and answer a few questions about things you like, and this quiz will tell you what your ideal house style is and direct you to homes in your search area that match it.

And because CB is trying to get hip to the times, you can also add it to your Facebook page. Really.

I have to admit it's sort of fun, if not entirely accurate. It told me I'm an urbanist, which I think was mostly due to me saying I like the house on the Cosby Show more than the house on Dynasty or the one on Desperate Housewives. Go figure.

So, if you're casting around for something to do besides work on a Friday, head over and see what your house sign is and then come back here and let me know.

Knoxville Foreclosure Watch

Whatcha doin' Watchers? This week on Foreclosure Watch, active and pending listings, as well as closed sales, are all slightly down. As for our strange data blips from last week, the average sales price is on its way back down after last week's unexpected spike, but new active listings continue their downward trend with only 15 new foreclosure listings this week vs 26 last week. Again, it's too early to call this a trend, but I'm still going to be keeping my eye on it.

In other news, 37917 overtook 37914 as the zip code with the most new foreclosure listings since I started keeping count and 37909 made it's very first showing with 1 new foreclosure listing this week. Should I make up prize ribbons?

Now for the breakdown:

Knox County Foreclosure Property Statistics as of 8/06/08 *

Current On-Market Listings - 146 ▼
Average Asking Price: $139,817 ▲
Median Asking Price: $89,900 ▲
Most Expensive New Listing: $585,500 (4 BR, 3 1/2 BA, approx 4000 sq ft on 5+ acres in Powell)
Least Expensive New Listing: $29,900 (2 BR, 1 BA, 800+ sq ft off of Campbell Station Rd.)

Notable New Listings:
North: $94,900 (3 BR, 2 BA, 1900+ sq ft in Fairmont Park)
South: $90,000 (4 BR, 3 BA, 2000+ sq ft in Lake Forest)
East: $33,000 (2 BR, 1 BA, 1000+ sq ft off of Chestnut)
West: $379,000 (5 BR, 4 BA, approx 4500 sq ft in Cavet Station)

Current Pending Sales -103 ▼
Average Asking Price - $87,916▲
Median Asking Price - $74,900 ▬

Closed Sales July 30, 2008-August 5, 2008 - 11 ▼
Average Asking Price - $108,118 ▼
Average Sales Price - $99,450 ▼
Median Sales Price - $88,500 ▼
Average Days on Market - 76 ▲

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 8/06/08 for Knox County single family residential properties only, and does not include condos or PUDS.













As always, if you need more information on any of these properties, just drop me a line.

If you'd like to receive new foreclosure listings automatically, send me an email with "Foreclosure List" in the subject line, and I'll do the rest. As an added bonus, I promise never to spam you.

Why take the chance of ever missing out on Foreclosure Watch? Make sure you get all your foreclosure goodness every week by subscribing to All Around K-Town today, either by RSS or email!

Another Cool Tool: Neighborhood Watch

Remember me telling you not too long ago that real estate agents aren't allowed to tell clients if a neighborhood is "good " or "bad"? Yeah, well we're still not allowed to do that, but it looks like home buyers may have a new tool to use to get that information themselves. It's a website I just found out about from The Real Estate Bloggers called Criminal Searches that allows you to look up pretty much anyone's criminal history for free. Really.

But that's not all. The cool part about the site for homeowners and home buyers is the "Neighborhood Watch" feature, which allows you to enter a zip code, city, or address and then shows you offenders by type of crime on a Google map of the search area -

You can also click on each person and pull up detailed information on what their exact offense or offenses were and when they were committed.

I took at look at my neighborhood and found that there were more traffic offenders than anything, although there were a few folks with multiple drug offenses.

The site says that it pulls its info from public records and stresses that, because the data includes civil and traffic filings, not everyone that turns up in neighborhood search results is a "criminal" per se.

While it certainly is not a foolproof way to identify "good" or "bad" neighborhoods, it is certainly a helpful tool to use to check out areas you are unsure about.

Check it out and let me know what you think!

Neighborhood of the Week: Lincoln Park

This week Neighborhood of the Week heads back to the north side of town, a little ways up from downtown, but not quite all the way to Fountain City, to a small historic community known as Lincoln Park.

Lincoln Park is located just north of the Old North Knoxville and Fourth and Gill neighborhoods and is roughly bounded by Sharps Ridge to the north, Atlantic Avenue to the south, Broadway to the east, and I-275 to the west. It is very often lumped in with the neighboring community of Oakwood, and in fact there is a joint Oakwood Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association. From that association's web page:

The Lincoln Park community began as a mineral spring resort in 1899 and was probably named for the large Lincoln Park in Chicago. The original Lincoln Park school was located at Atlantic and Kenyon Aves. There were three mineral springs, Epsom, Lithia, and Chalybeate, located where the Lincoln Park Elementary School later stood. An early photograph shows a building with porches on at least three sides with a sign above saying, “Lincoln Park Mineral Springs.” The springs were enclosed so that people had to buy the water and much later were capped. The first school building was erected near the springs by Knox County. The dummy railroad line, which served the neighborhood, became part of the city’s trolley system, following annexation in 1917. Lincoln Park became a part of the city of Knoxville in 1917 along with Oakwood and several other neighborhoods.

The joint Oakwood/Lincoln Park neighborhood association is very active and even has its own clubhouse where neighborhood meetings are held and which residents can rent out for special events.

The homes in Lincoln Park have a lot of character. Many date from at or near the turn of the century and several have architectural characteristics of Victorian and Craftsman style homes. And even though it is a historic neighborhood, Lincoln Park is still quite affordable, especially compared to Old North Knox or Fourth and Gill.

So if you're looking for a charming, historic, and affordable neighborhood with a strong sense of community that is also convenient to downtown and UT, you might not have to look any further than Lincoln Park.

Note: The stats for this NOTW are only for Lincoln Park. I will be covering Oakwood in a future installment.

Here's Lincoln Park by the numbers -

Lincoln Park*

Current On-Market Listings - 7
Average Asking Price: $95,729
Median Asking Price: $89,900
Most Expensive: $115,000 (3 BR, 2 BA, approx 1300 sq ft home built in 1899)
Least Expensive: $79,500 (2 BR, 1 BA, 1100+ sq ft home built in 1930)
Middle of the Road: $89,900 (2 BR, 1 BA, 1100+ sq ft home built in 1899 )

Current Pending Sales - 3
Average Asking Price: $83,900
Median Asking Price: $99,900

Closed Sales - Jan 2008 - June 30 2008- 15
Average Asking Price - $71,627
Average Sales Price - $69,580
Median Sales Price - $65,000
Average Days on Market - 85

Closed Sales - Jan 2007 - June 30 2007- 14
Asking Price - $73,764
Average Sales Price - $71,193
Median Sales Price - $79,703
Days on Market - 72

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 8/04/08 does not include condos, PUDS, adjacent neighborhoods or multi-family units.

As always, if you want any more information about any of these properties, or if you'd like to check one of them out in person, just give me a shout.

If you would like to receive a full list of properties for sale in this neighborhood, or if you would like to be notified of new listings, send me an email with either "Current Lincoln Park Listings" or "New Lincoln Park Listings" in the subject line and I'll take care of the rest. Spam belongs in a can, not in your email inbox.

Feeling left out because your neighborhood hasn't yet been featured as a Neighborhood of the Week? Don't keep it to yourself, let me know all about it.

The Weekly Poll

Early voting is open for this week's poll. You can find your closest polling station in the upper left hand corner of the page.

This week's topic is the new Housing Rescue Bill that was just signed into law. I wrote about it earlier this week and now it's your turn to weigh in on what you think about it. Good, bad, or indifferent, let me know your opinion by casting your vote.

And even though they may have differing opinions about it, All Around KTown subscribers always have the latest information on local and national real estate. Don't be left out - subscribe to AAKT in a feed reader or by email today!

More Cool Homes You Can't Afford

The weekend is almost here and I thought it would be a good time to take another stroll through the MLS and drool over homes that shall never, ever be mine. Care to join me?

First up is this nice little horse farm on East Emory Rd between Halls and Corryton. The 4 BR, 4 full bath, 2 half bath home is located on just shy of 60s acres and features not one, but 3 barns, a gated entry, and a year round creek. Asking price: $2,950,000

Next up is a 5 BR, 5 full bath, 3 half bath, 8800 sq ft+ estate on 18 acres right off of Duncan Road in West Knoxville. Features include media room, outdoor terraces and living area, vanishing edge pool, 4 car attached garage, and 5 car detached garage. Asking price: $3,895,000

Not too far down the road is this 10,000+ sq ft spread in Sherwood Oaks. Features include walnut paneled office with fireplace and built-in bookshelves, gourmet kitchen upstairs and 2nd kitchen downstairs, workout room, and large outdoor patio with fireplace. Asking price: $1,849,900

Finally, there's the house that Regas and Grady's built. This contemporary rancher in Farragut might be on the small side, but it's sitting on over 3 acres of lakefront property and includes a 300 foot lakeside walkway and 2 boat houses with lifts and floating docks. Asking price: $1,695,000

Well, that's all the day dreaming I have time for now. Time to get back out and show people some cool houses they actually can afford. Have a great weekend!

Link Round-Up: Housing Rescue Bill Edition

OK, so by now you know there's this new "Housing Rescue Bill" and that it just got signed into law. It has a lot of provisions that have raised a lot of questions and caused a lot of mixed opinions.

Some people think it's good,

some people think it's bad,

some people think it's good and bad,

some people think it's only a temporary fix,

and one person thinks it's a lot like an episode of "Mad Men."

What do you think?

Knoxville Foreclosure Watch

It hardly seems like it can be Foreclosure Watch time again, but time does have a tendency to fly when you're working in this crazy real estate market. This week on Foreclosure Watch, while actives, pendings and closings stay somewhat steady, I did notice two strange blips in the data.

1. The average sales price for closed foreclosures more than doubled.
This is partially due to one very big six figure sale, but even if you remove the big one from the equation, the average sales price would still be in the $120s - way higher than last week's average of around $88,000. So what gives? Is it just a fluke or are more buyers starting to look for bargains in the upper bracket of the foreclosure market? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

2. There were only about 1/2 has many new foreclosure listings this week as there were the previous two weeks.
Again, no idea if this is a fluke or a trend, but you can bet I'll be keeping an eye on it in coming weeks.

Now for the breakdown:

Knox County Foreclosure Property Statistics as of 7/30/08 *

Current On-Market Listings - 150 ▼
Average Asking Price: $136,451 ▲
Median Asking Price: $88,900 ▼
Most Expensive New Listing: $499,900 (7 BR, 4 1/2 BA, 4900+ sq ft in Andover Place in Farragut)
Least Expensive New Listing: $16,150 (1 BR, 1 BA, 700+ sq ft in East Knoxville)

Notable New Listings:
North: $180,000 (4 BR, 2 1/2 BA, 2400+ sq ft in Corryton)
South: $90,900 (3 BR, 2 BA, 1100+ sq ft off of Sevierville Pike)
East: $39,900 (3 BR, 1 1/2 BA 1300+ sq ft off of Biddle St.)
West: $120,000 (4 BR, 3 BA, approx 2600 sq ft in Lakeshire)

Current Pending Sales -105 ▬
Average Asking Price - $87,444▼
Median Asking Price - $74,900▼

Closed Sales July 23, 2008-July 29, 2008 - 12 ▼
Average Asking Price - $174,442▲(way, way up)
Average Sales Price - $164,383▲
Median Sales Price - $135,600 ▲
Average Days on Market - 69 ▲


*Data taken from KAARMLS on 7/30/08 for Knox County single family residential properties only, and does not include condos or PUDS.

As always, if you need more information on any of these properties, just drop me a line.

If you'd like to receive new foreclosure listings automatically, send me an email with "Foreclosure List" in the subject line, and I'll do the rest. Spam is for losers.

Why take the chance of ever missing out on Foreclosure Watch? Make sure you get all your foreclosure goodness every week by subscribing to All Around K-Town today, either by RSS or email!

New Knoxify Neighborhood: North Hills

Knoxify and I have posted a new community to our Knoxville Neighborhood Guide. This week we focus on a lovely historic neighborhood that also happens to be very walkable: North Hills. Head over to Knoxify and check it out!

Have a comment or suggestion for the Knoxville Neighborhood Guide? You know I'd love to hear all about it.

Quote of the Day

"Our main problem is inventory, and as it starts to get back more in balance with the demand then there'll be more confidence in pricing and stability will come back. We're hoping that's a positive; that the light's at the end of the tunnel and we're going to get our inventory back in line and it will be better in '09 than it was in '08. It's better now than it was a year ago."

- Jim Wallace, co-owner of (my brokerage) Coldwell Banker Wallace & Wallace, REALTORS on the state of the Knoxville real estate market in an article over on KNS.

Neighborhood of the Week: Riversound

This week Neighborhood of the Week heads back out West to little lakefront neighborhood called Riversound.

Located just off of Northshore Drive a little over 2 miles west of the Pellissippi, Riversound bills itself as "an exclusive lakefront development with the comfort and atmosphere of family living."

The community sits on 96 acres on the north shore of Fort Loundon Lake and not only are several homes there actually on the water, many homes in Riversound have incredible lake and mountain views. There's also a community boat dock with some private dock slips available for homeowners. There are, however, not enough for all homeowners, and when a slip goes up for sale, I hear it goes pretty quickly

Other neighborhood amenities include a 5000 sq ft neighborhood clubhouse, outdoor and indoor swimming pools, and newly resurfaced tennis courts.

Riversound is also located just up the road from quite a few county parks, including "The Cove", or Concord Park, Admiral Farragut Park and Carl Cowan Park.

So if you're looking for an upscale lakefront community that's convenient to I-640 and Turkey Creek, has it's own neighborhood pool and tennis courts and is also close to some really nice public parks, Riversound might be a good place to call home.

Note: Even though the condo community "The Breakers" is located within Riversound, I'm only going to focus on the single family homes in this NOTW.

Here's Riversound by the numbers -

Riversound*

Current On-Market Listings - 7
Average Asking Price: $744,371
Median Asking Price: $764,900
Most Expensive: $896,000 (5 BR, 5 BA, approx 5000 sq ft on about an acre)
Least Expensive: $619,900 (4 BR, 4 1/2 BA 4200+ sq ft )
Middle of the Road: $764,900 (4 BR, 4 1/2 BA, 5700+ sq ft )

Current Pending Sales - 0
Average Asking Price: NA
Median Asking Price: NA

Closed Sales - Jan 2008 - June 30 2008- 3
Average Asking Price - $628,133
Average Sales Price - $611,667
Median Sales Price - $600,000
Average Days on Market - 38

Closed Sales - Jan 2007 - June 30 2007- 1
Asking Price - $1,175,000
Sales Price - $1,115,000
Days on Market - 38

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 7/28/08 does not include condos, PUDS, adjacent neighborhoods or multi-family units.

As always, if you want any more information about any of these properties, or if you'd like to check one of them out in person, just give me a shout.

If you would like to receive a full list of properties for sale in this neighborhood, or if you would like to be notified of new listings, send me an email with either "Current Riversound Listings" or "New Riversound Listings" in the subject line and I'll take care of the rest. No spam - scout's honor.

Live in a great neighborhood you think is worthy of some attention? Let me know about it and you might just see it featured here in the coming weeks.

The Weekly Poll

This week's poll is up. You know the drill.

This week's topic is about what you most want to have in your next home. More space? Less space? A really nice outdoor living area? Or maybe just a whole lot less yard work? Cast your vote and let me know.

And while you may not have all the square footage you want yet, you can still get all the latest information on the Knoxville real estate market any time you need it. Just subscribe to All Around KTown in a feed reader or by email today!

Listing Photos Gone Wrong

It's been a really long week. Such a long week, in fact, that I have lost the ability to turn my head to the right. Not good. So instead of bringing you hard hitting real estate news or stats, I'm instead going to show you this -













And this -
















(Yes, that is a person in that bed.)

And this-












So what do all of these photos have in common? No, they're not of my house. They're all actual, if unfortuate, listing photos that have been lovingly gathered together for your enjoyment over at It's Lovely! I'll Take It!, a great blog that one of my seller clients told me about this week. And these are just the tip of the iceberg - there are pages and pages of these beauties to keep you amused for quite some time.

This totally inexplicable one is my absolute favorite -














Maybe the idea is that instead of thinking that the kitchen was last updated in 1982, the potential buyer will instead think, "Run for your life! It's a giant man-eating dog!!!!!!"

Knoxify's Free Stuff Friday

If you answer Knoxify's Friday question about what you like about your neighborhood by midnight tonight, you will be entered to win some cool, free swag from Rootclip, the choose your own video adventure website.

So why are you still here? Head on over to Knoxify and answer that darn question, already! And while you're there, check out our joint endeavor, Knoxify Neighborhoods.

Knoxville Market Doing (Relatively) Well

The Knoxville market is doing pretty well when you compare it to national averages and even to other Tennessee cities. From an article by Josh Flory in yesterday's KNS:

But while the local real estate market has been sluggish, there's no doubt that East Tennessee has been spared from the worst of the pain. According to data from the National Association of Realtors, the median sale price of existing single-family homes in Knoxville fell by 2.7 percent in the first quarter, compared to a national drop of 7.7 percent. Knoxville also outperformed Volunteer State peers like Memphis, where prices were off by 18.5 percent, and Chattanooga, where prices were down by 3.4 percent.

It may not be great news, but I'll still take it.

Knoxville Foreclosure Watch

Word up to the Watchers. In this week's edition of Foreclosure Watch, on-market listings and pending sales are slightly down, while closed sales have almost doubled. This week I'm also continuing my experiment of tracking new foreclosures by zip code. Here's how they're breaking down so far-

















So far it still looks like the majority of the new listings are coming from north and east Knox. It will be interesting to see how each area develops over time.

Now for the breakdown:

Knox County Foreclosure Property Statistics as of 7/23/08 *

Current On-Market Listings - 155 ▼
Average Asking Price: $132,516 ▼
Median Asking Price: $89,900 ▬
Most Expensive New Listing: $430,000 (3 BR, 3 1/2 BA, 3500+ sq ft in Fox Run)
Least Expensive New Listing: $24,900 (2 BR, 1 BA, 800+ sq ft in Lonsdale)

Notable New Listings:
North: $72,900 (3 BR, 1 1/2 BA, 1500+ sq ft in Fountain City Heights)
South: No new South foreclosures this week!
East: $35,500 (3 BR, 1 1/2 BA, 1100+ sq ft on Biddle St.)
West: $129,900 (4 BR, 2 BA on 1+ acre in Hardin Valley)

Current Pending Sales -105 ▼
Average Asking Price - $95,977▲
Median Asking Price - $79,900▼

Closed Sales July 09, 2008-July 15, 2008 - 15 ▲
Average Asking Price - $88,253▼
Average Sales Price - $85,033▼
Median Sales Price - $87,200 ▲
Average Days on Market - 54 ▲



*Data taken from KAARMLS on 7/23/08 for Knox County single family residential properties only, and does not include condos or PUDS.

As always, if you need more information on any of these properties, just drop me a line.

If you'd like to receive new foreclosure listings automatically, send me an email with "Foreclosure List" in the subject line, and I'll do the rest. This is a spam free zone.

Why take the chance of ever missing out on Foreclosure Watch? Make sure you get all your foreclosure goodness every week by subscribing to All Around K-Town today, either by RSS or email!

June Home Sales Report

Somehow it's that time again - Home Sales Report time - even thought I still can't believe it's almost the end of July. What's up with that?

So, without further ado, here it is, the breakdown of the June Home Sales Report, All Around K-Town style:

As always, you know I like the good news first:

Median condo sales price is up.

June '07 - $145,000

June '08 - $147,000

And yeah, that's about it for the good news. Sorry. Now for the not so great news:

Average sales price for 2 or less BR homes is (way) down.
June '07 - $101,300
June '08 - $85,500

Median sales price for 2 or less BR homes is down.

June '07 - $83,000

June '08 - $78,200

Average sales price for 3 BR homes is down.

June '07 - $176,300

June '08 - $162,900

Median sales price for 3 BR homes is down.

June '07 - $155,000

June '08 - $145,000

Average sales price for 4+ BR homes is (slightly) down.

June '07 - $304,800

June '08 - $303,100

Median sales price for 4+ BR homes is down.
June '07 - $265,000
June '08 - $254,000

Average condo sales price is down.
June '07 - $179,600

June '08 - $166,100

Total number of single family unit sales is down.

June '07 - 1,567

June '08 - 1176

Total number of condo unit sales is down.

June '07 - 165

June '08 - 118

Days on market is (slightly) up.

June '07 - 90

June '08 - 95

Here's the "hey, I told you FHA was the new sub-prime" news:

The number of FHA loans continues to skyrocket...
June '07- 56
June '08- 193

...while, the number of conventional loans continues to plummet.
June '07 - 1247
June '08 - 722

Then there's the "wow, things really are staying on the market a while, aren't they?" news:

Residential active listings are still up.
June '07 - 14, 252
June '08 - 14,650

While residential listings taken are still down.
June '07 - 3130
June '08 - 2853

Finally, here's the "wow, sellers really aren't getting it, are they?" news -

The average list price for new listings is up. Yes, up.
June '07 - $234,100
June '08 - $236,500

So, here's my completely unscientific analysis:

1. The Knoxville condo market has taken a licking, but has come back to continue its slow but steady uphill ticking.

2. Residential sales are still as soft as a nice, oven baked brie.*

3. Buyers are continuing to go FHA either be choice, or because of lower credit scores or a need for at or near 100% financing. Or hey, maybe even because their conventional lenders went belly up. Who knows?

4. Judging from reduction of listings taken, it still looks like some homeowners are choosing to sit this selling season out.

5. Judging from reduction of listings taken and a simultaneous rise in active listings, it looks like we have a lot of inventory that is quite simply not selling.

6. Knoxville is still in the midst of an absolutely incredible buyer's market, even if some sellers are still in denial about it.

If you're interested in looking at both reports yourself, here is '07 and here is '08. Enjoy, and if you notice anything interesting that I missed or messed up, let me know about it in the comments.

*No need to freak out. Lower average sales price and lower median sales price do not necessarily mean that your personal home has depreciated.

Knoxified Neighborhoods

Just in case you hadn't heard the exciting news, I've teamed up with Knoxify to create an online Knoxville neighborhood guide. We call it Knoxify Neighborhoods and it's kind of like Neighborhood of the Week on steroids. And yes, that's a good thing. Each guide will have great information like homes sales history, quotes from residents on what it's really like to live in each neighborhood, local school information and much more.

The very first entry, a guide to West Hills, is already up and ready. Check it out over at Knoxify and then come back and let me know what you think. I'd love to hear your feedback and suggestions.

Other neighborhood guides, covering north, south, east, west and downtown, will be posted regularly, so if you have a neighborhood that you'd like to see featured, drop me a line and let me know.

Neighborhood of the Week: Mechanicsville

This week Neighborhood of the Week heads just to the western edge of downtown to a small community with a big history: historic Mechanicsville.

Not only does old Mechanicsville have a colorful history, it also contains perhaps the largest collection of 19th century architecture in Knoxville. From the Knox Heritage website:

The area of present day Mechanicsville which contains the most intact number of historic structures was developed initially as Deaderick’s Addition, J.W. Swann’s Addition, and Moses Fairview Addition. This area contains the larger Queen Anne and Italianate houses built for factory owners and area businessmen, and the smaller cottages of factory workmen...

Mechanicsville derives its name from the large number of factories that developed just outside its boundaries during the late 18th and early 20th centuries. It was settled around 1880. By 1883, Mechanicsville had a population of over 2,000. Most residents of the Mechanicsville worked in the factories and mills that surrounded the neighborhood. Mechanicsville, with its railroad and water source (Second Creek), quickly became the center for industrial activity in Knoxville...

One of the first industries to locate in Mechanicsville was the Knoxville Iron Company, incorporated in 1868 ... The Knoxville Iron Company manufactured bar iron, nails, and railroad spikes, as well as ornamental iron. Ornamental iron fences and trim on houses in Mechanicsville are probably products of the Knoxville Iron Company.

Other industries in Mechanicsville included Knoxville Brewing Company, Knox Standard Handle, W.H. Evans & Son (suppliers of Italian marble), The Pottery and Pipe Works, Knoxville Box & Keg Factory, a railroad turntable factory, a broom factory, a soap factory, Cudley Planning Mill and Knoxville Car & Wheel...

In addition, the Mechanicsville area is home to Knoxville College, founded in 1875.

Knox Heritage has even more on the history of the area, as well as an online tour. If you're more
interested in architecture, Restore Knoxville has a great write up on the neighborhood's many architectural styles.

So, if you're looking for an area close to downtown and rich in history and architecture, definitely check out historic Mechanicsville.

















Note: While there is newer construction near the older part of Mechanicsville, for the purposes of this NOTW I'm only going to be looking at the small area that most people consider to be the "historic" section of Mechanicsville.

Here's historic Mechanicsville by the numbers -

Mechanicsville*

Current On-Market Listings - 5
Average Asking Price: $99,780
Median Asking Price: $71,600
Most Expensive: $259,900 (3 BR, 2 BA, 2500+ sq ft restored 1889 Victorian)
Least Expensive: $34,500 (1 BR, 1 BA, 700+ sq ft updated Victorian cottage)
Middle of the Road: $79,900 (1 BR, 1 BA, 800+ sq ft 1899 cottage)

Current Pending Sales - 0
Average Asking Price: NA
Median Asking Price: NA

Closed Sales - Jan 2008 - June 30 2008- 1
Average Asking Price - $27,900
Average Sales Price - $24,000
Median Sales Price - NA
Average Days on Market - 36

Closed Sales - Jan 2007 - June 30 2007- 0
Average Asking Price - NA
Average Sales Price - NA
Median Sales Price - NA
Average Days on Market - NA

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 7/21/08 does not include condos, PUDS, adjacent neighborhoods or multi-family units.

As always, if you want any more information about any of these properties, or if you'd like to check one of them out in person, just give me a shout.

If you would like to receive a full list of properties for sale in this neighborhood, or if you would like to be notified of new listings, send me an email with either "Current Mechanicsville Listings" or "New Mechanicsville Listings" in the subject line and I'll take care of the rest. Spam is not a part of the deal.

I'm always on the lookout for new and interesting places to feature on NOTW. If you have a suggestion, I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

The Weekly Poll Is Up

This week's poll is up. I'll give you a hint to help you find it: it's not on the right or bottom part of the page.

This week's topic is house hunting and, in particular, how many houses you had to look at before you found the one you now call home. A couple? A few dozen? A gazillion? Cast your vote and let me know.

While they may still have to look a long time to find that perfect home, All Around KTown subscribers never have to look too far to find the latest information on the Knoxville real estate market. Subscribe in a feed reader or by email today!

New Neighborhood Blog: KWNA Online

I got tired of my neighborhood not having an online presence, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and give it one. But what good is a community resource if nobody knows about it?

So, if you or someone you know lives in the Kingston Woods area, check out KWNA Online, a online resource for the Kingston Woods Neighborhood Association.

In case you're wondering, the Kingston Woods neighborhood is located just south of West Town Mall and technically consists of four separate "subdivisions:" Kingston Woods, Kingston Hills, Kingston Park, and West Oak.

That concludes my shameless plug. Now go out there and spread the word!

Sometimes Not Making a List Is a Good Thing

Here's something interesting I just saw in the Wall Street Journal:

Stung by growing defaults, lenders are offering borrowers fewer ways to avoid purchasing private mortgage insurance. Mortgage insurance, required for buyers who are unable to make a full down payment or who have insufficient credit histories, reimburses lenders in the event of a borrower default. But over the past few months, mortgage insurers have been declaring more and more of the U.S. a "declining market," raising the requirements and making such insurance harder to obtain. The result: another hurdle for home buyers, and yet another wrenching change for the struggling housing market.

The bad news is that many Tennessee cities - Chattanooga, Clarksville, Cleveland, Jackson, and the Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro area - have been named as "declining markets" this year. The good news is that Knoxville has not.

If you're interested, here is the complete list of markets declared declining by three major mortgage insurers.

Knoxville Foreclosure Watch

Thanks for coming back to catch the lastest edition of Foreclosure Watch. This week, since all the numbers are once again more or less the same, I thought I'd try something new and take a look at where the new foreclosure listings are coming from. I decided the easiest way to do this was by zip code. Check it out:


















I hope that's not too hard to read (or causing blindness). I'm thinking about keeping a running tally of all new foreclosures by zip to see which areas stand out as "foreclosure rich." Thoughts?

Now for the breakdown:

Knox County Foreclosure Property Statistics as of 7/16/08 *

Current On-Market Listings - 160 ▲
Average Asking Price: $140,066 ▲
Median Asking Price: $89,900 ▬
Most Expensive New Listing: $299,900 (3 BR, 2 BA, 2200 sq ft on 5+ acres near Watt Rd)
Least Expensive New Listing: $19,900 (3 BR, 1 BA, 900+ sq ft in Mechanicsville)

Notable New Listings:
North: $79,900 (4 BR, 1 BA, 1500+ sq ft on 6 acres in Powell)
South: $94,900 (3 BR, 1 BA, 1200+ sq ft on 1.4 acres off of Sevierville Pike)
East: $72,500 (3 BR, 2 BA, 1500+ sq ft on 4+ acres in Carter)
West: $199,900 (4 BR, 2 1/2 BA, 2200+ sq ft in Westhampton)

Current Pending Sales -107 ▲
Average Asking Price - $90,646 ▼
Median Asking Price - $80,655 ▲

Closed Sales July 09, 2008-July 15, 2008 - 9 ▲
Average Asking Price - $95,767▲
Average Sales Price - $90,594▼
Median Sales Price - $59,900 ▼
Average Days on Market - 44 ▬



*Data taken from KAARMLS on 7/16/08 for Knox County single family residential properties only, and does not include condos or PUDS.

As always, if you need more information on any of these properties, just drop me a line.

If you'd like to receive new foreclosure listings automatically, send me an email with "Foreclosure List" in the subject line, and I'll do the rest. Spam is for losers.

Why take the chance of ever missing out on Foreclosure Watch? Make sure you get all your foreclosure goodness every week by subscribing to All Around K-Town today!

Sales Meeting Update

Since last month's sales meeting update went so well, I thought I'd keep the tradition alive and fill you in on this month's meeting*. And while my news this month is not quite as hopeful, it is nonetheless fairly thought provoking.

Here are the interesting tidbits from today's meeting:

• The vast majority of our Q1 and Q2 closed sales came from the $100,000 to $200,000 price range

Why? Well I'm going to go out on a limb and speculate that a) people who could have qualified for the lower price homes last year are no longer meeting minimum lender requirements and b) people who would have qualified for the higher end homes are either staying put, not qualifying for as much home this year, or are being conservative and buying less home than they qualify for. Another factor in all of this is that if the upper and lower range price homes aren't selling, the people who are trying to sell can't move on and buy, which further compounds the issue.

• Our in-house mortgage person estimates that of all the loans she is currently working on, roughly 90% are FHA.

According to her (and others), the number of FHA loans has gone up as much as 50% this year in many parts of the country. Why? Going out on less of a limb, I think one answer here is that conventional mortgage lenders have been tightening their minimum requirements all year long, with the minimum credit score raising to 700 and 100% financing going to the way of the dinosaur. Not only does FHA allow lower credit scores, it also allows the use of down payment assistance programs (read: seller paid) for those who have no money to put down on a home. Combine those two factors with recently raised FHA loan limits and you begin to see why FHA popularity is skyrocketing.

So what do you think? Any thoughts on why the upper and lower range listings are sitting on the market? And what about you mortgage people? What are you seeing in the Knoxville market right now? What percentage of your current business is FHA?

*Keep in mind that while sales meetings, and thus these updates, are chock full of real estate number goodness, those numbers are for my company only and not for Knoxville as a whole.

Quote of the Day

"Just because they've waited until the children's 21st birthday to finally ground them doesn't mean they're not responsible parents."

- Tanta at Calculated Risk on the Fed's decision yesterday to (finally) tighten up its mortgage rules for lenders.

Neighborhood of the Week: Village Green

We're back to good old residential homes and back out Farragut way with this week's Neighborhood of the Week, Village Green.

Village Green is an established swim and tennis community located 1/4 mile south of I-40, just off of Campbell Station Road. It is also part of the Farragut section of the Knoxville Dogwood Trail.

Not only is Village Green convenient to I-40, it is also within walking distance of a public library, a park with a hiking trail, a post office and a major shopping center.

The community as a whole is very active and in addition to the neighborhood swim team and tennis leagues, there are also planned bonfires, garage sales, bunco nights, barbeques, ice cream socials, water aerobics, swim lessons and much more. The community website is very detailed and provides a lot more great information about the varied neighborhood activities.

So, if you're looking for a home in an established, walkable neighborhood in Farragut that has community swimming and tennis and is also very active & community oriented, look no further than Village Green.





















map from villagegreeweb.com

Here's Village Green by the numbers -

Village Green*

Current On-Market Listings - 7
Average Asking Price: $282,729
Median Asking Price: $279,500
Most Expensive: $319,900 (4 BR, 3 BA, 3600+ sq ft basement ranch)
Least Expensive: $225,000 (4 BR, 3 BA, 2400+ sq ft on 3/4 acre)
Middle of the Road: $279,500 (5 BR, 3 1/2 BA, approx 3400 sq ft)

Current Pending Sales - 2
Average Asking Price: $264,550
Median Asking Price: NA

Closed Sales - Jan 2008 - June 30 2008- 5
Average Asking Price - $292,820
Average Sales Price - $282,780
Median Sales Price - $300,000
Average Days on Market - 49

Closed Sales - Jan 2007 - June 30 2007- 11
Average Asking Price - $278,055
Average Sales Price - $266,586
Median Sales Price - $279,900
Average Days on Market - 63

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 7/14/08 does not include condos, PUDS, adjacent neighborhoods or multi-family units.

As always, if you want any more information about any of these properties, or if you'd like to check one of them out in person, just give me a shout.

If you would like to receive a full list of properties for sale in this neighborhood, or if you would like to be notified of new listings, send me an email with either "Current Village Green Listings" or "New Village Green Listings" in the subject line and I'll take care of the rest. Spam is a four letter word here at AAKT.

Know a community that you think would make great AAKT Neighborhoods of the Week? Tell me about it in the comments.

This Week's Poll

The weekly poll is finally up and in that same spot it never seems to tire of, the upper left hand corner of the page.

This week's topic is tonight's announcement that the federal government is indeed going to come to the aid of ailing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Some say it was the only way to prevent a world-wide financial meltdown. Others say it was an outrageous government bailout of two private companies. Look at the facts and decide for yourself.

Here's another fact to consider: All Around KTown readers always stay up to date on the latest Knoxville real estate news and they also rarely require government bailouts. What are you waiting for? Subscribe today!

Link Round-Up: Good News & Bad News Edition

Let's do the bad news first:

Mortgage lender IndyMac failed Friday and was taken over by the federal government. This is by many accounts, one of the biggest bank failures in US history and it is estimated it could cost the FDIC somewhere between $4 billion and $8 billion dollars, or roughly one tenth of its deposit insurance fund.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government sponsered entities that are essentially the heart of the mortgage market, are struggling to raise capital and rumors of a government bailout are running rampant. The failure of these two giants would change mortgage lending in this country as we know it.

So what's the good news?

Kittens playing in boxes are still adorable. And Spoon still rocks.

Cool Homes You Can't Afford: Greg Isaacs Edition

Today's KNS has a write up of local attorney Greg Isaacs' mega mansion in Harrison Keepe. The 15,000 square foot castle style home features a hammered metal indoor fountain, custom wrought iron gates and railngs, limestone fireplace, two kitchens, an outdoor living room, an activities room with a ball toss game built into the wall, and a home theater. Do you think Bruce Pearl is jealous?

Photoblogging Friday

The other day I stopped by the Wigshop and saw a very cool photo of the "Wedge House" in Mechanicsville, which ck says is one of his favorite homes in Knoxville. This got me thinking about one of my favorite houses.











This house is located in my neighborhood, Kingston Woods. My husband and I call it the "Edward Scissorhands House," not because it's creepy, but because of all the incredibly cool topiarys in the yard. Without the yard ornaments, the house itself would probably be pretty plain, but with it's UFO & bird shaped hedges and Easter Island statues, it never fails to make me smile when I pass by.

Do you know of any interesting or unusual houses in the Knoxville area? If so, drop me a line, or better yet a picture, and let me know about them.

Knoxville Foreclosure Watch

Well, hello there, Watchers! This week's Foreclosure Watch theme is "no news is good news." Other than closed sales being way down this week - remember, last week was the end of the month - everything is pretty much the same. Weird, huh?

One thing I did notice this week was that two of our foreclosures actually closed higher than asking price. Since banks almost never pay closing costs, I'm wondering if the higher closed prices were the result of multiple offer situations creating bidding wars. Interesting.... I'll be keeping a close eye on that over the coming weeks.

Now for the breakdown:

Knox County Foreclosure Property Statistics as of 7/09/08 *

Current On-Market Listings - 157 ▼
Average Asking Price: $138,524 ▲
Median Asking Price: $89,900 ▲
Most Expensive New Listing: $799,900 (6 BR, 4 1/2 BA, 7400+ sq ft in Fox Run)
Least Expensive New Listing: $22,300 (3 BR, 1 BA, 1000+ sq ft on 1+ acre in Powell)

Notable New Listings:
North: $84,900 (4 BR, 2 BA, 1400+ sq ft in Country Club Estates)
South: Sorry! No new South listings this week!
East: $114,900 (4 BR, 2 BA, 2300+ sq ft in Chilhowee Hills)
West: $179,900 (4 BR, 2 1/2 BA 2000+ sq ft in Westop)

Current Pending Sales -102 ▲
Average Asking Price - $93,668 ▲
Median Asking Price - $79,900 ▲

Closed Sales July 02, 2008-July 08, 2008 - 8 ▼
Average Asking Price - $78,638▼
Average Sales Price - $74,388▼
Median Sales Price - $75,050 ▼
Average Days on Market - 44 ▼











*Data taken from KAARMLS on 7/08/08 for Knox County single family residential properties only, and does not include condos or PUDS.

As always, if you need more information on any of these properties, just drop me a line.

If you'd like to receive new foreclosure listings automatically, send me an email with "Foreclosure List" in the subject line, and I'll do the rest. No spam will come your way as a result.

No news may be good news, but no new All Around K-Town updates is not. Make sure you don't miss a single one by subscribing to All Around K-Town today!

An All New Logo for All Around KTown

That's right, All Around K-Town has a super spiffy new logo! And yes, I'm ridiculously excited, but please humor me and check it out up at the top of the page - I mean is that a rockin' "K" or what?

This awesome new logo is the brainchild of Casey Peters, aka @cpknoxify, aka co-creator of Knoxify and Knox'd, aka the Man Who Obviously Never Sleeps. Thanks Casey!

The new logo is just the first of many exciting changes you'll see here at AAKT in the coming months. Stay tuned to see what happens next and as always, thanks for stopping by!

Downtown North

Last week I gave you a sneak peek at North Central Village, a new condo development just north of downtown Knoxville. Today's KNS has an article about the redevelopment of that area, which has been dubbed by developers as "Downtown North." In case you're wondering exactly where Downtown North is, here's a rough approximation of its boundaries according to the article:





















The redevelopment plans, which will be unveiled in full tonight, call for a mixed commercial and residential area. Most interestingly, the key goal for the area is walkability, which would hopefully make the area an "extension of downtown."

Seeing as how most of the current housing in the area is way more affordable than downtown proper, I would think that making this a walkable (or bikeable) community would attract people who are tired of paying through the nose at the gas pump, but just can't afford, or simply don't want, to live downtown.

What do you think? Can you envision this area as a walkable extension of downtown Knoxville? Is it more realistic to see it as a downtown alternative? And can we be all New York and start calling it NoDo just for fun?

Neighborhood of the Week: Cherokee Bluff

This week we head into uncharted territory by looking at a new type of dwelling never before explored on Neighborhood of the Week: the condominium. The first ever NOTW condo community lies just south of the river, way high up on yonder bluff. Cherokee Bluff, that is.

Cherokee Bluff is a gated condo community located just off of Alcoa Highway, behind UT Medical Center and almost directly across the river from the University of Tennessee campus. Because of where it sits up high on the bluff, several units have great views overlooking the river, campus and downtown Knoxville.

Architecturally, Cherokee Bluff is all 1976 - you don't need to look any further than the 3 story loft style floor plans to figure that out. However, unlike some other 70s era Knoxville condo developments on the other side of the river (which shall remain nameless), this one has actually been very well maintained . Also unusual for condos of the era, and unusual in the price range, is that almost all units have a 2 car garage. Pretty spiffy.

Inside, the floor plans don't vary a lot, but the amount of updating does. This, along with access to city views, is usually the reason for a good bit of variation in the pricing of otherwise similar units.

Security-wise, Cherokee Bluff has you covered. Not only is it gated, it has a guard in a guardhouse at the gate 24 hours a day. And I can tell you from personal experience that the guard is not just there for show: if you're a guest (or in my case, an agent trying to show a unit), he will write down your name and tag number on your way in and out. There's no sneaking in behind the car in front of you to get through the gate at Cherokee Bluff on his watch.

And like most condo communities, the trade-off for having no exterior maintenance is having a monthly condo association fee. That fee is currently hovering between $240-$275 (depending on who you ask) and includes association insurance, exterior building maintenance, grounds maintenance, water/sewer, and that oh so vigilant security guard. Other amenities include swimming pool, tennis courts, exercise room and a clubhouse

So if you're not into a yard and you're looking for a place with a garage located just minutes from UT campus, UT Medical Center, or downtown Knoxville, you might want to make the climb up to Cherokee Bluff. Just make sure you check in with that guard first.

Here's Cherokee Bluff by the numbers -

Cherokee Bluff*

Current On-Market Listings - 7
Average Asking Price: $130,086
Median Asking Price: $128,500
Most Expensive: $145,000 (3 BR, 2 1/2 BA, 1700+ sq ft end unit with downtown views)
Least Expensive: $122,900 (2 BR, 1 BA, 1550+ sq ft middle unit)
Middle of the Road: $129,900 (3 BR, 2 1/2 BA 1700+ sq ft end unit)

Current Pending Sales -2
Average Asking Price: $124,950
Median Asking Price: NA

Closed Sales - Jan 2008 - June 30 2008- 7
Average Asking Price - $148,486
Average Sales Price - $139,714
Median Sales Price - $128,500
Average Days on Market - 106


Closed Sales - Jan 2007 - June 30 2007- 1
Average Asking Price - $159,00
Average Sales Price - $145,000
Median Sales Price - NA
Average Days on Market - 63

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 7/7/08 does not include adjacent developments or multi-family units.

As always, if you want any more information about any of these properties, or if you'd like to check one of them out in person, or heck, even if you want to buy one of them, just give me a shout.

If you would like to receive a full list of properties for sale in this neighborhood, or if you would like to be notified of new listings, send me an email with either "Current Cherokee Bluff Listings" or "New Cherokee Bluff Listings" in the subject line and I'll take care of the rest. No spam will find it's way to your inbox on my watch.

My Realtor brain can only work so hard, so help me out by letting me know in the comments what neighborhoods you think would make great AAKT Neighborhoods of the Week. My brain cells thank you in advance.

The Weekly Poll

This week's poll is up. Go ahead and get your vote on in the upper left hand corner of the page.

This week's topic is about what we like most about the places we live. I really love the location of my home, but there's no doubt that my very favorite thing about my house is my living room. The comfy couch is there, the TV is there, the big picture window is there, and I write most of this here blog there. Given a few days off, as I recently was, I can sit very contentedly and simply watch the world go by there.

So what do you love most about the place you live? Is it the location or neighborhood, the square footage or layout, the kitchen, the yard, or maybe even the view from your front porch? Cast your vote and let me know.

Speaking of favorites, is All Around K-Town is your favorite source of info on the Knoxville real estate market? Then why not get your favorite stuff sent straight to you? Subscribe here or by email in the upper right hand corner.

Knoxville's First Energy Star Home

Knoxville just unveiled its very first Energy Star certified home. According to Connected:

The home is owned by Ollie Goolsby and was rebuilt through Community Development's Owner-Occupied Housing Rehabilitation Program. The program is designed to help low and moderate income homeowners rebuild or renovate their homes.

The house cost about $2,000 more than a non-Energy Star home to build, according to city spokesman Randy Kenner. He said Goolsby's previous utility bills for a two-bedroom house were $150-$300 month, totalling about $2,800 a year. In her new house, if she keeps the thermostat at 68 degrees in the winter and 78 degrees in summer, Goolsby will pay less than $1000 a year on utilities in her new, three-bedroom home.

So what exactly is an Energy Star home, anyway? I went to the Energy Star website to find out:

To earn the ENERGY STAR, a home must meet strict guidelines for energy efficiency set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These homes are at least 15% more energy efficient than homes built to the 2004 International Residential Code (IRC), and include additional energy-saving features that typically make them 20–30% more efficient than standard homes.

The site also includes a directory of builders in Tennessee who have partnered with Energy Star. And although there are several Knoxville area builders listed, Lake Forest Construction and Development appear to be the only ones on the list who have actually built an ES certified home. Anybody know where?

I think the Energy Star homes being built by Community Development are great and I hope more builders in our area follow their lead. But here's what's worrying me: how many already financially strapped Knoxville builders will be willing and/or able to spend more money to build more energy efficient homes, especially considering the fact that many home buyers in the current (fairly ruthless) buyers market may simply not be willing to cover those extra costs when it comes right down to it? And if you're still with me after that last never-ending sentence, what do you think about it?

Also, if any of you guys know of any builders working on energy efficient homes in Knoxville, I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

Knoxville Foreclosure Watch

We're coming up on a nice, long holiday weekend, but before you head out of town or even out to the backyard for a burger, don't forget there are still some foreclosures over here that need watching. In this week's installment of Foreclosure Watch, actives and pendings remain more or less steady while the number of closings more than doubled. And I'm thinking you're thinking what I'm thinking - that this last is due to it being the end of the month. That is what you were thinking wasn't it?

Now for the breakdown:

Knox County Foreclosure Property Statistics as of 7/02/08 *

Current On-Market Listings - 158 ▲
Average Asking Price: $130,099 ▲
Median Asking Price: $86,700 ▲
Most Expensive New Listing: $399,500 (4 BR, 4 BA, 4000+ sq ft on 2.5 acres in Fountain City)
Least Expensive New Listing: $36,800 (3 BR, 2 BA, approx 1700 sq ft craftsman in E. Knox)

Notable New Listings:
North: $ 135, 900 (4 BR, 2 BA, 2900+ sq ft in Fountain City)
South: $49,900 (3 BR, 1 BA, 1100+ sq ft off of Woodson)
East: $204,900 (3 BR, 2 BA, 3000+ sq ft on 7+ acres in Carter)
West: $162,000 (3 BR, 2 1/2 BA, 1700+ sq ft off of Bob Kirby)

Current Pending Sales -99 ▼
Average Asking Price - $90,096 ▲
Median Asking Price - $74,900 ▲

Closed Sales June 25, 2008-July 01, 2008 - 21 ▲
Average Asking Price - $95,514▲
Average Sales Price - $90,737▲
Median Sales Price - $39,900 ▼
Average Days on Market - 68 ▲







*Data taken from KAARMLS on 7/02/08 for Knox County single family residential properties only, and does not include condos or PUDS.

As always, if you need more information on any of these properties, just drop me a line.

If you'd like to receive new foreclosure listings automatically, send me an email with "Foreclosure List" in the subject line, and I'll do the rest. No icky spam, you've got my word.

Start your holiday weekend off right - subscribe to All Around K-Town today!