Neighborhood of the Week: Covered Bridge

This week Neighborhood of the Week is headed back out west, this time to Hardin Valley and a new neighborhood that a lot of people keep asking me about: Covered Bridge.

It's no secret that Hardin Valley is a hot area right now, what with a brand new high school opening for students there this fall and lots of new commercial development. There are many new neighborhoods in the area, but Covered Bridge is definitely one of the more up-scale of the bunch. According to what appears to be the official website:

Covered Bridge is one of Knoxville's most pristine environments for comfortable and convenient living. The natural unspoiled beauty of the land surrounding the site is part of its unique charm. Nearly 40 acres of land are dedicated to outdoor leisure including an activities field.

With quality of life as the overriding goal, the amenities at Covered Bridge were developed with the highest quality materials. We paid significant attention to detail in every selection we made, from the street lights and sidewalks to the activities field and clubhouse. The community surrounding Covered Bridge is designed to be outstanding in every way.

Amenities include a clubhouse, pool, activities field, and yes, an actual covered bridge.

And although there appear to be several different builders with homes for sale in Covered Bridge, the neighborhood has covenants and restrictions, as well architectural guidelines, in place to ensure a certain amount of uniformity.

If you're looking for new construction in a country like setting with easy access to both Hardin Valley Elementary, Hardin Valley High School, and the Pellissippi Parkway, Covered Bridge might just what you're looking for.


Image from http://www.hardinvalley.com


Note: while there are "villas" (read: condos) in Covered Bridge, I will only be looking at single family homes in the stats. But don't despair - you can always drop me a line if you'd like the numbers for the villas.

Here's Covered Bridge by the numbers -

Covered Bridge*

Current On-Market Listings - 18
Average Asking Price: $595,239
Median Asking Price: $594,900
Most Expensive: $847,500 (5 BR, 4 full bath, 2 half bath, 5200+ sq ft)
Least Expensive: $469,000 (4 BR, 3 BA, 2500+ sq ft ranch with bonus room)
Middle of the Road: $829,900 (4 BR, 2 1/2 BA, Frank Betz plan)

Current Pending Sales -1
Average Asking Price: $671,900
Median Asking Price: NA

Closed Sales - Jan 2008 - present- 2
Average Asking Price - $674,950
Average Sales Price - $668,700
Median Sales Price - NA
Average Days on Market - 112

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 6/30/08 does not include adjacent subdivisions, condos, PUDS, 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 Covered Bridge Listings" or "New Covered Bridge Listings" in the subject line and I'll take care of the rest. No spam or sales pitches, I pretty promise.

This week's neighborhood of the week was suggested by a loyal AAKT reader. Is there a neighborhood you'd like to see featured here in the coming weeks? Tell me all about it in the comments and I'll do my best to make it happen.

Neighborhood Matchmaker

I just discovered another house hunting tool over on Inman News.
It's a website called Hoodeo that bills itself as "The Neighborhood Matchmaker." The concept is simple: create a profile by answering a few questions about income and general housing preferences, and Hoodeo will match you up with homes that it thinks fit you to a T.

So is Hoodeo worth its salt? Kind of. Based on my answers (and my saying that I didn't want to leave the Knoxville area), Hoodeo placed me in Fountain City, which is a great part of Knoxville that my husband and I once thought about moving to. The homes it picked for me, however, were totally not my style. This is maybe not such a big surprise, since the only questions Hoodeo asked me about what I was looking for in a home were price, number of bedrooms, bathrooms and square footage.

Just for larfs, I went back and answered all of my questions the same, except that I said I was willing to leave K-Town. Apparently my #1 dream city is a place called Cedar Hill, Texas, which appears to be right outside of Dallas. A match made in heaven? Um, no.

Still, it's an interesting idea and it works for renters as well as for those looking to buy. Go check it out and then come back here and let me know what your neighborhood match is in the comments.

All Around K-Town in Today's KNS

Is it totally shameless for me to tell you that I'm featured in Michael Silence's weekly deadwood column on blogging and bloggers today, where I answer his 4 regular "blogger" questions? Probably, but I'm so tickled pink I just gotta tell someone. There are also some kind words about AAKT in the intro. Thanks, Mike!

For those of you who found your way here from the article - welcome and thanks for stopping by! There's lots of Knoxville real estate goodness to explore here, so take a look around and let me know what you think. I'd love to hear from you.

If you like the site and want to make sure you don't miss a single post, why not subscribe to it? You can subscribe in a reader by clicking here or by you can receive new posts by email by entering your email address in the box at the upper right side of the page. psst...If you don't know what a reader is, check out this great article for an explanation.

Thanks again for stopping by (and also for enduring my shamless self-promotion). Don't forget to tune in every Monday for Neighborhood of the Week and every Wednesday for Knoxville Foreclosure Watch. See you soon!

The Weekly Poll Is Up

This week's poll is up in the top left corner of the page. You know the spot.

We're only a week away from the 4th of July and I thought it would be a good time to look at home ownership as a part of the American dream. As recently as 2002, President Bush was quoted as saying, “Owning a home lies at the heart of the American dream." But a lot has happened in the last 6 years that might make some people think otherwise.

There was an interesting op-ed on the subject recently in the New York Times in which the author claimed that the idea of home ownership is so ingrained in us as a nation, it even affects our policy making and causes us to look at renters as second-class citizens. The author goes on to say that we need to "drop our obsession with homeownership and try to level the playing field that, at the moment, is hugely tilted against renting."

Whether or not we are truly obsessed, there are still plenty of people, myself included, who still think the benefits of homeownership outweigh the downsides.

So what do you think? Is home ownership something you consider as American as baseball and apple pie? Are Americans too obsessed with the idea of owning a home? Will all of the chaos in the housing market start to change our perception of renting vs. owning? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

And hey - have a safe and happy 4th of July!

Link Round-Up: Questions I'm Asking Myself Edition

I'm very tired tonight (I'm looking at you Mr. Counter Offer!), so I'm more or less phoning this link round-up in, but here are a few things I'm wondering about:

Should you really be allowed to do this kind of damage to your own house - even if it's about to be foreclosed on?

Exactly what kind of agent do you have to be to make someone set up a blog about how much you suck?*

Is Knoxville's sweatiness really something I should mention to clients who are about to move to our fine city?

If Knoxville's sweaty state is important, should it be taken into consideration when trying to come up with a new Knoxville slogan? (BTW - suggestions for sweaty slogans welcome in the comments, but let's go ahead and rule "Armpit of the South" out right now. K? Thanks.)

*h/t Mad Mortgage World

Knoxville Foreclosure Watch

Well, hello there, Watchers. In this week's installment of Foreclosure Watch, listings are slightly up, while pendings and closings are slightly down. Days on Market is back up where it was before last week's sudden free fall and average list and sales price is making its first upward move in several weeks.

Technical note: RealFocus, the source of the fancy shmancy listing sheets I link to here, has been having some problems this week. Please be patient if these links don't work properly for the next few days. Sorry!

Now for the breakdown:

Knox County Foreclosure Property Statistics as of 6/25/08 *

Current On-Market Listings - 157 ▼
Average Asking Price: $122,653 ▼
Median Asking Price: $85,500 ▼
Most Expensive New Listing: $249,900 (4 BR, 2 1/2 BA 2700+ sq ft in Halls)
Least Expensive New Listing: $26,900 (3 BR, 1 BA, 1100+ sq ft in East Knox)

Notable New Listings:
North: 3 BR, 2 1/2 BA, 1500+ sq ft in Halls
South: 4 BR, 1 1/2 BA, 1400+ sq ft in Lake Forest
East: 3 BR, 2 BA, 1500+ sq ft on 4+ acres in Carter
West: 3 BR, 2 BA, 2700+ sq ft in Ashley Oaks

Current Pending Sales -112 ▲
Average Asking Price - $89,667 ▲
Median Asking Price - $69,900 ▼

Closed Sales June 18, 2008-June 24, 2008 - 9 ▼
Average Asking Price - $83,844▲
Average Sales Price - $70,430▲
Median Sales Price - $66,500 ▼
Average Days on Market - 62 ▲









*Data taken from KAARMLS on 6/25/08 for Knox County single family residential properties only, and does not include condos or PUDS.

As always, if you have any questions about any of these properties, feel free to drop me a line.

If you'd like to receive new foreclosure listings automatically, just send me an email with "Foreclosure List" in the subject line, and I'll do the rest. No yucky spam is involved, I swear.

Don't let your fear of commitment get in the way of getting great info on the Knoxville real estate scene - subscribe to All Around K-Town today!

A Brief Word of Warning on Social Media and Your Home Sale

If you're in the middle of buying or selling a home, you might want to take a look at what happened when local Knoxville blogger, The Modern Gal googled the soon to be new owner of her home:

I found out she and I went to the same college and were on the same Facebook and lucky for me! she didn't have her Facebook page set to private as everyone should. So I found out all I needed to know: she's a year younger than me, we have a couple mutual friends, she's a sorority girl, a marketing director of some company I've never heard of, but most importantly she was "In the process of buying a new house, which is really exciting. Yay..now people will actually have room to come stay with me and visit!"

Bingo.

I found all this after I had made my counteroffer, which she eventually accepted, so it was of no use to me in that department, but it did help me not freak out about the rest of the closing process.

Luckily, in this case, nothing bad came from the buyer's excited Facebook postings. But it is a good reminder that as you're blogging/updating/posting/tweeting the details of your ongoing real estate transaction, the other side might very well be there reading right along.

Neighborhood of the Week: Colonial Village

We're going back down to the south side of K-Town and across the Henley Street bridge for this week's Neighborhood of the Week, Colonial Village.

Colonial Village is a Dogwood Trail community located just off Chapman Highway, and just across the way from Lake Forest. The Colonial Village Neighborhood Association's website details the history of the area:

The area of the 6000 block of Chapman Highway, was a part of the original 200 acre farm of Samuel A McCall (1856-1934). The new highway, went through the middle of his property. This proved to be disastrous for Mr. McCall. On October 28, 1934, while attempting to cross the new road to get to his barn to feed his livestock, he was struck by an automobile and died later that evening at Ft. Sanders Hospital...

...The rural area did not stay vacant for long. Progress came and commercial development was flourishing along this main route. The residential development became fast growing into a beautiful little neighborhood and eventually with four churches, (Meridian Baptist Church, Colonial Heights Methodist Church, South Knoxville Church of God and Moorland Heights Baptist Church) one elementary school (Mooreland Heights School) and one city park. The park, named for the former Knoxville city councilman for our district, is the Gary Underwood Park and Greenway and is located on Moore Road. At this same park is the Ras P. Neal Soccer Field and the South Knoxville Optimist Club Building, which serves as the voting precinct for the 27th Ward. However, just on the edge of our district is a second park, and that is the 26 acre Charter Doyle Park, that in 1984, was donated to the city and county by former long-time Superintendent of Knox County Schools, Mildred Doyle. This parcel of land was part of a land grant issued for his service to his country, to Pvt. John Doyle, Mildred's Revolutionary War patriot ancestor. He is buried in a family cemetery on the hill in a fenced area of the park.

The popular Butterfly Lake, our area fishing hole, was the result of a series of sink holes that are along the south side of Colonial Road. In the early days, is referred to as McCall's Pond, but today is frequently called the Duck Pond...

...By the late 1950's, the Chapman Highway Dogwood Trail was etched into the neighborhood by the city traffic engineers. The problem of folks being able to take the scenic tour without a guide, was solved with an ingenuous plan of painting the street with white markings on the pavement. The only change in that plan is what it is now painted pink.

The website has an interesting old photo showing the area before it was completely developed. There are also several present day photos highlighting the lovely scenery that earned the neighborhood a spot on Knoxville's Dogwood Trail.

If you're looking for an affordable, community-minded neighborhood with gorgeous scenery that is convenient to UT and downtown, you might consider giving Colonial Village a closer look.


















Here's Colonial Village by the numbers -

Colonial Village*

Current On-Market Listings - 9
Average Asking Price: $125,822
Median Asking Price: $114,900
Most Expensive: $190,00 (4 BR, 2 1/2 BA, 3100+ sq ft basement ranch)
Least Expensive: $99,900 (2 BR, 1 BA, 900+ sq ft ranch)
Middle of the Road: $119,900 (3 BR, 1 1/2 BA, 1700+ sq ft ranch)

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

Closed Sales - Q1 2007 - 4
Average Asking Price - $127,450
Average Sales Price - $123.113
Median Sales Price - $106,350
Average Days on Market - 93

Closed Sales - Q1 2008 - 1
Average Asking Price - $99,900
Average Sales Price - $98,500
Median Sales Price - NA
Average Days on Market - 96

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 6/23/08 does not include adjacent subdivisions, condos, PUDS, 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 Colonial Village Listings" or "New Colonial Village Listings" in the subject line and I'll take care of the rest. No spam or sales pitches, scout's honor.

Thanks to those of you who have given me great ideas for upcoming Neighborhoods of the Week. Want to join in on the fun? Make your suggestions in the comments.

The Weekly Poll Is Up

This week's poll is patiently waiting for you on the upper left hand corner of the page. Don't make it sit there all alone - go ahead and cast your vote!

This week's topic is rising gas prices how they will affect the housing market. A lot of people in other areas are already moving closer to work or moving to more walkable communities in order to pay less at the pump. Do you think Knoxville home buyers will follow suit? Would you change where you live now in order to save money on gas?

And while subscribing to All Around K-Town may not save you money on gas, it will definitely save you from being out of the loop on the Knoxville real estate market. Following me on Twitter is equally helpful.

The Subprime Primer

I just discovered a wickedly funny little power point presentation over at the Inman Blog, in which foul-mouthed little stick figures explain the sub-prime debacle. And when I say foul-mouthed, I mean foul-mouthed. If you don't like bad words, please don't click through it.

F-bombs, stick figures, and humor aside, the "Primer" does a great job of putting the whole mortgage mess into fairly simple terms. Apparently this was circulated among Wall Street traders earlier this year, though I'm not sure of the original source.

May Home Sales Report

I give up, Josh Flory. You will always beat me to the monthly Home Sales Report. You, sir, are the most timely Home Sales Reporter. But that doesn't mean I won't keep adding my own two cents to those monthly numbers. Oh, no. Some of you might say numbers are numbers, but there ain't' no Home Sales Report breakdown like the AAKT Home Sales Report breakdown, because... well, there's just not.

So, here it is, the breakdown of the May Home Sales Report, All Around K-Town style:

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

Average sales price of 3 BR homes is up.
May '07- $171,900
May '08- $184,700

Median sales price of 3 BR homes is (slightly) up.

May '07 - $152,000

May '08 - $152,400

Now for the not so great, but, hey, come on, you totally knew this was coming news:

Average sales price for 2 or less BR homes is down.
May '07 - $96,500
May '08 - $88,900

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

May '07 - $79,500

May '08 - $77,500

Average sales price for 4+ BR homes is down.

May '07 - $335,800

May'08 - $290,800

Median sales price for 4+ BR homes is down.
May '07 - $259,900
May '08 - $257,900

Average condo sales price is down.

May '07 - $169,700

May'08 - $165,800

Median sales price for 4+ BR homes is down.
May '07 - $147,000
May '08 - $144,500

Total number of single family unit sales is down.

May '07 - 1666

May '08 - 1213

Total number of condo unit sales is down.

May '07 - 207

May'08 - 143

Days on market is up.

May '07 - 88

May '08 - 101

And here's a very clear picture of how home financing is evolving:

Number of FHA loans continues to rise skyrocket.
May '07- 59
May '08- 219

Heck, even the number of VA loans have doubled.
May '07- 18
May '08- 37

Meanwhile, the number of conventional loans has almost been cut in half.
May '07 - 1318
May '08 - 716

Finally, here's the What the Fudge news:

Residential active listings are up.
May '07 - 13,951
May '08 - 14,650

While residential listings taken are down.
May '07 - 3276
May '08 - 2834

So, here's my completely unscientific analysis:

1. The Knoxville condo market has finally taken a hit. A small hit, but I still stand corrected.

2. Residential sales are still soft*.

3. The upper price bracket homes continue to take a pummeling.

4. Buyers are continuing to go FHA either be choice, or because of lower credit scores or a need for at or near 100% financing

5. Judging from reduction of listings taken, it looks like homeowners who don't absolutely have to move have simply decided not to sell right now.

6. Knoxville buyers are still getting killer deals. Some are making out so well, they're even afraid to reveal their true identities.

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.

MetroPulse Covers Knoxville Housing Market

There's a big article in the new MetroPulse about the state of the Knoxville housing market. The article quotes several Knoxville real estate insiders, including an anonymous source, "John Smith." Apparently John Smith, a recent Knoxville home buyer, wouldn't give his name, because the deal he got was so dang good. That's just wild.

But I digress. The article is not all doom and gloom and makes several good points.

1. The Knoxville housing market is not nearly as far in the toilet as other markets around the country.

From the MetroPulse:

The one trend Knoxville is not sharing with areas like California, not even a little, is decreased home values. Yes, people are pricing some homes below their appraised value so they’ll sell quicker in an excess inventory environment. And true, the median Knoxville metro area home price—$146,000—dropped 2.7 percent from the last quarter of 2007 to the first in 2008. The April report from KAAR goes on to say that the median price of a home with four or more bedrooms fell more than 12 percent to $240,000.

But—and this is an important distinction for the average home owner who has a reasonable mortgage and doesn’t need to sell anytime soon—these statistics mean only that the averages of the prices of homes that sold were lower. Local real estate values have not been affected.

Exactly!

2. Local foreclosures are not out of control.

MetroPulse:

Knoxville’s foreclosure rate of 0.6 of a percent and year-over-year increase of 46 percent is only high enough to place us 72 on a list of the 100 largest metro areas.

And as we've seen week after week in Foreclosure Watch, the number of active, pending, and closed foreclosures, at least in the Knoxville MLS, is remaining more or less steady, not skyrocketing like some national media outlets would lead you to believe.

And don't forget. our market is considered so stable, Knoxville was named the 7th best place in the US to invest in foreclosures.

3. Out of control lending was partly to blame for the current market.

From the article:

“In 2005 and 2006 we saw the trend where the appraisals were too high and the amount of money being loaned became 100 percent of the value of the home or even higher," says Jim Slyman ... "So if the market for the home you paid $300,000 to buy slips even 10 percent, you now owe more than $30,000 over and above your loan."

Along with traditional high-end home buyers, many average folks got bitten. “The reason there have been so many foreclosures is a lot bought houses who should never have been able to qualify..."

Ouch. True, but ouch.

4. The correction of out of control lending practices has knocked a lot of buyers out of the market.

MetroPulse:

“This time last year, you could still get a zero-equity deal, but lenders have tightened their guidelines," says [Jim] Lee..."It’s tougher to quality for a loan right now.”

This is very true. I had a client a few months ago who qualified for a loan and then got knocked out of the market 3 weeks later when minimum credit scores were raised. This client was not able to buy a home and won't be able to for another year - and that's only if they can manage to clean up their credit in that time. Last year, I would have sold that client a home. This year I won't. Pretty basic cause and effect, no?

The article has a lot more to say about Knoxville real estate, and you can read the whole thing here. After you do, come back and let me know what you think about the Pulse's take on our local market. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Knoxville Foreclosure Watch

Konichiwa, Watchers. This week on Foreclosure Watch, the on-market listings are up, closed prices are down, and days on market is way down. DOM dropped so much, I decided to go back and take a look to see how it's been fluctuating over the last few months. Here's a nifty chart:


















It looks like this week's drop is the biggest since early May. Several of the properties that closed this week were on the market less than 2 weeks. I'm going to watch this over the next few weeks to see if it's a trend or just a fluke. Any thoughts?

On a technical note: I'm linking to new property info sheets this week. Let me know what you think and which one, old or new, you like better. Thanks!

Now for the breakdown:

Knox County Foreclosure Property Statistics as of 6/18/08 *

Current On-Market Listings - 160 ▲
Average Asking Price: $127,971 ▼
Median Asking Price: $86,700 ▼
Most Expensive New Listing: $314,900 (5 BR, 3 1/2 BA, 4700+ sq ft in Concord Hills )
Least Expensive New Listing: $17,500 (2 BR, 1 BA, 1000+ sq ft in East Knoxville)

Notable New Listings:
North: 3 BR, 1 1/2 BA, 1900+ sq ft on Emoriland
South: 4 BR, 2 BA, 1300+ sq ft brick rancher off of Sevier
East: 3 BR, 1 1/2 BA, 1100+ sq ft in Holston Heights
West: 3 BR, 2 1/2 BA, 1600+ sq ft in Farmington

Current Pending Sales -107 ▲
Average Asking Price - $87,062 ▲
Median Asking Price - $74,900 ▲

Closed Sales June 11, 2008-June 17, 2008 - 10 ▲
Average Asking Price - $77,090▼
Average Sales Price - $70,800 ▼
Median Sales Price - $69,501 ▼
Average Days on Market - 37 ▼






Sorry! Due to some technical difficulties and lack of patience, no average sales price chart this week!

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 6/18/08 for Knox County single family residential properties only, and does not include condos or PUDS.

As always, if you have any questions about any of these properties, feel free to drop me a line.

If you'd like to receive new foreclosure listings automatically, just send me an email with "Foreclosure List" in the subject line, and I'll do the rest. No yucky spam is involved, I swear.

Be the first to know the latest scoop on the Knoxville real estate market - subscribe to All Around K-Town today!

More on Solar Power in Knoxville

Last month Ken Baker asked me about solar powered homes in Knoxville and, sadly, there just wasn't a lot I could tell him.

Well, it looks like interest in solar power has picked up some in our area, at least for one KUB customer, Preston Smith, who recently installed 28 solar panels on his barn. According to an article in the KNS, his "solar system" is the largest in the KUB service territory and cost a whopping $50,000.

I'm sure normal, meaning much smaller, residential installations would be cheaper, but I'm thinking that the prices are still going to give a lot of people in our area sticker shock. I would also think this is the type of improvement you would only do to a home you planned to stay in a long time, as I'm not sure you could get your installation costs back dollar for dollar when you sold it.

Any thoughts on this? Would you pay more (probably a lot more) per square foot for a solar powered home?

The One Real Estate Show I Actually Watch

I know this is going to sound like sacrilege, seeing as how I live in Knoxville, home of HGTV and DIY, but I have always said that I really don't like to watch home improvement or real estate shows. I say, "I eat, breathe, and sleep houses. Why would I want to watch shows about them when I'm not working?"

And I felt pretty secure in that thinking until I discovered Jeff Lewis. For those of you who don't know, Jeff Lewis is the anti-hero of Bravo's real estate reality show, "Flipping Out," the second season of which premieres tonight. This is the one real estate show I will break my "no real estate show" rule for. Why? Maybe it's Jeff Lewis's unbelievable, never-ending OCD. Maybe it's the fact that he never buys an investment property without consulting a tarot reader. Maybe it's the fact that he has an employee whose sole duty is taking out the trash. Or maybe it's the fact that this show has a lot more to do with Jeff Lewis than it has to do with real estate. I'm just not sure.

Here's one of my favorite scenes from last season:



And I'll admit it: I secretly can't wait to see how Jeff and the gang are flipping houses in the now softening LA housing market and still making a profit. Doh! I think I just brought my work home with me.

Neighborhood of the Week: Fox Den

This week Neighborhood of the Week makes the trek back out west to one of the most swingin' golf communities in Knox County - Fox Den.

Located in Farragut, Fox Den is more or less the 70s version of Gettysvue - an upscale golf and country club community that was considered by some back in the day to be the most prestigious neighborhood in west Knox County. It's still pretty swank, and many folks are still willing to pay for the privilege of calling Fox Den home.

Other than age and location, Fox Den differs from Gettyvue in three key ways: lot sizes (bigger), architectural styles (groovier) and prices (lower). Most of the homes were built in the 70s and 80s, and although some still sport custom features like sunken wet bars and sunken avocado green jacuzzi tubs, most have since been updated to 21st century standards. These remodeled homes go for top dollar, while fixer uppers usually go for much less, making comps a tough thing in Fox Den.

So if golf is your game, but you find the Gettysvue price tags a little hard to swallow, Fox Den might be a great choice for you.

Here's Fox Den by the numbers -

Fox Den*

Current On-Market Listings - 18
Average Asking Price: $636,756
Median Asking Price: $586,500
Most Expensive: $1,189,900 (5 BR, 4 1/2 BA, 7000+ sq ft on estate sized lot)
Least Expensive: $317,000 (3 BR, 2 1/2 BA, 2100+ sq ft on Fairway #6)
Middle of the Road: $574,000 (3 BR, 3 1/2 BA, 3400+ sq ft completely remodeled)

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

Closed Sales - Q1 2007 - 1
Average Asking Price - $529,900
Average Sales Price - $435,000
Median Sales Price - NA
Average Days on Market - 83

Closed Sales - Q1 2008 - 2
Average Asking Price - $362,450
Average Sales Price - $308,070
Median Sales Price - NA
Average Days on Market - 176

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 6/016/08 does not include adjacent subdivisions, condos, PUDS, or multi-family units.

As always, if you want any more information about any of these properties 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 Fox Den Listings" or "New Fox Den Listings" in the subject line and I'll take care of the rest. No spam or sales pitches, never, ever, ever.

Know of a great community that would make an equally great NOTW? Let our voice be heard in the comments.

This Week's Poll Is Up

Although a little late this week, the weekly poll is finally up and ready. To cast your vote, simply direct your mouse to the upper left hand section of the blog and click away.

This week's topic is home magazines - you know the ones that you get for free at Kroger and Food City? Home sellers certainly want their homes advertised in them and Realtors definitely spend a lot of money to do so , but in this day and age, when everyone and their mother has an online home search, are they still effective, and if so, who do you think they benefit?

And out of curiosity, have any of you out there actually either a) found a home you wound up buying in one of these books, or b) sold your home as a direct result of an advertisement in one? If so, I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

An All Around Great Week

This past week has been a great one here at All Around K-Town. Not only did the Coldwell Banker CEO find my blog, but I also got a little KNS love in today's paper.

Both of these things have brought about another part of this week's greatness: lots of new visitors. If you're new to AAKT, first of all, welcome and thanks for stopping by. If you're a regular, well, you're always welcome and you already know I think you rock, but here, I'll say it again: you totally rock.

This blog is dedicated to bringing you the latest news on the Knoxville, TN real estate market. If you haven't been here before, you might want to check out a couple of my weekly features, Neighborhood of the Week and Foreclosure Watch. They seem to be pretty popular with the regulars and they're chock full of good stuff about Knoxville and the Knoxville real estate market. And don't forget the Weekly Poll - it's always here in the upper left hand corner waiting for your vote.

Another great thing to do while you're here is subscribe to this blog. This will ensure you that you always get the latest updates from this site. You can subscribe in a reader by clicking here or by you can receive new posts by email by entering your email address in the box at the upper right side of the page. If you don't know what a reader is, check out this great article for an explanation.

Twitter is another tool you can use to keep up with AAKT as well as my whereabouts. If you're new to Twitter, check this out. It's a great collection of explanations on what Twitter is and why it's worth using. And if you want to follow me on Twitter, you can do that here.

I hope you new guys like what you find here and really hope all you regulars still look forward to coming back. If any of you have any questions, comments, concerns, or harangues, you can always give me a shout. I'm used to being harangued.

Thanks for stopping by and look for more great things to come on All Around K-Town.

And in case any of you KNS readers are wondering: yes, Lester is the real brains behind this operation.

Find Your Next Home the Wal-Mart Way

Yes, this is for real:

You can now search for your next home on either Wal-Mart.com or Overstock.com. Really. It's true.

All I have to say is that if Wal-Mart does half as good of a job selling those houses as they did these Chic Jeans, there's no way they can lose.

How the Coldwell Banker CEO Found My Blog

We interrupt our regularly scheduled real estate blog post to bring you a very cool, and slightly bizarre, example of the power of social media.. It goes a little something like this..

Two days ago I was sitting in our monthly sales meeting, and I sent out this Tweet to Twitter:

In sales meeting - may was best month since July 2007

This tweet prompted the following exchange between me and Michael Silence, or as he's known on Twitter, @MichaelSilence:

MichaelSilence: That's great news. Are you putting up details at your blog?

suzytrotta: hmmm, I hadn't thought about it, but that's not a bad idea

MichaelSilence: Shoot me a link if you do, please

So, I did write about it that evening and I sent Michael Silence the link.

Wednesday morning, he posted about my article on his blog, No Silence Here, that he writes for KNS.

Wednesday afternoon, my managing broker forwarded me an email from our business representative at Realogy, the parent company of Coldwell Banker Real Estate, LLC:

Everyone,

Please read the blog written for the Knoxville New Sentinel indicating how the market in going in this area. The blog was written by Susy Trotta, who is ... affiliated with Wallace & Wallace in Knoxville.

Way to go Susy!

Our business director had apparently read Michael Silence's post on my post. She was a little confused, however - I don't write this blog for KNS - although KNS blogger Michael Silence does regularly link to it and quote from it. And also, I don't know anyone who spells their name "Susy." That's just silly.

All confusion aside, it was a very nice pat on the back and I was as pleased as punch. As I was feeling all warm and fuzzy, I looked at the list of people she'd sent the original out to and realized that the "Everyone" she was addressing in this email referred to all the top brass at Coldwell Banker Real Estate, LLC, including Jim Gillespie, President and CEO.

Crikey!

A few minutes later, one of my owning brokers forwarded me an email he received from our CBRE, LLC Regional Direcotor:

Charlie Young [CBRE, LLC Marketing VP] forwarded to me the blog written by your own Susy Trotta. The blog was well written and as was already pointed out, she represented her company very well. Please let her know that I appreciate her for stepping out there and for doing such a good job!

Double crikey!

So basically, as the result of one Tweet, a bunch of Coldwell Banker folks all over the country, who didn't know me from Adam's house cat a few days ago, now know about me and my blog (and think it's pretty cool to boot). How sweet is that?

Now, I'm a commission only independent contractor, so none of this means much to me in terms of career advancement or actual moolah. That much is true.

But that's not the point. The point is that this time last year, as far as I was concerned, tweets and Twittering were something that birds did. I wasn't involved in any type of social media or blogging at all. If something interesting happened in sales meeting back then, I would have told my husband about it and that would have been that. This year I hear something intriguing in sales meeting, and the next thing you know, Jim Gillespie knows my name (even if he doesn't know how to spell it). See the difference between then and now? I think it's pretty huge.

And even though my brokers already knew about my blog from a few articles in the real world KNS, I don't think they understood what I was doing or the impact that blogging can have. I think they kind of get it now.

So, if anyone from Coldwell Banker Real Estate, LLC or its parent company, Realogy, is reading this, welcome and thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your time and kind words.

And if any of my brokers are reading this, remember that nothing tells me I'm appreciated quite like my own office on the ground floor of the West Town building :)

Knoxville Foreclosure Watch

Welcome back to Foreclosure Watch. Things are eerily quiet here at Foreclosure Watch HQ this week as on-market listings are staying put at 148, pendings only slightly climbed to 104 and sales dropped just a tiny smidge to 8. I guess no news is better than bad news, right?

Now for the breakdown:

Knox County Foreclosure Property Statistics as of 6/11/08 *

Current On-Market Listings - 149 ▬
Average Asking Price: $134,639 ▼
Median Asking Price: $89,900 ▲
Most Expensive New Listing: $199,900 (4 BR, 2 1/2 BA, 2000+ sq ft in Sterchi Hills )
Least Expensive New Listing: $9,900 (2 BR, 1 BA home in need of major repair in Mechanicsville)

Notable New Listings:
North: 3 BR, 2 BA, 1200+ sq ft in Halls
South: 3 BR, 2 BA, 1900+ sq ft brick rancher off of John Sevier Hwy
East: 4 BR, 2 1/2 BA, 2000+ sq ft in Holston Hills
West: 3 BR, 1 BA, 900+ sq ft on Concord Rd

Current Pending Sales -104 ▲
Average Asking Price - $84,746 ▲
Median Asking Price - $68,400 ▲

Closed Sales June 04, 2008-June 10, 2008 - 8▼
Average Asking Price - $99,975▼
Average Sales Price - $96,756 ▼
Median Sales Price - $96,750 ▲
Average Days on Market - 61 ▼





















*Data taken from KAARMLS on 6/11/08 for Knox County single family residential properties only, and does not include condos or PUDS.

As always, if you have any questions about any of these properties, feel free to drop me a line.

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

Ever wonder what the heck I'm talking about when I ask you to subscribe to All Around K-Town? Check out this great explanation from Casey Peters at Knoxify on what this RSS subscription stuff is all about.

A Possible Light at the End of the Tunnel

The first Tuesday of every month is Sales Meeting in my office. That's the day we all file into the conference room and hear about who sold what the previous month. This involves a lot of Power Point slides, coffee, donuts, giggling and smart ass comments. It's a good time.

Some meetings are good, because the company made its goals the previous month in terms of listings taken, pending sales turned in, and closed sales.

There haven't been a lot of those good meetings lately.

But just as we were all on the brink of despair, thinking those graph lines on the Power Point slides were doomed to only go down and not up, something amazing happened last month: business picked up. We actually had our best month since July 2007, making our goals for both pending and closed sales. Even better, the number of pendings and closings for this May was only slightly down, 5% or so, from May of last year.

Listings taken were way down, but as someone in the crowd pointed out, most of the houses in Knoxville are already on the market anyway, so what's left to list? Hehehe. Yes, we have some budding comedians over at West Town. Actually, our inventory is about the same as it was this time last year - it's just that houses are taking a lot longer to sell, if they sell at all.

So, the question is this: are our numbers an indicator of what's going on in the rest of the Knoxville market? Unfortunately, my crystal ball is broken, so the answer to that question will have to wait until the May Home Sales Report comes out in a few days. For now, I'm just happy to have caught a glimpse of a possible light at the end of the real estate tunnel.

Neighborhood of the Week: Old North Knoxville

This week Neighborhood of the Week heads to the north side of town and steps back in time by way of Old North Knoxville.

Old North Knoxville is a historic neighborhood just north of downtown and 4th & Gill. Built from the 1880s to the 1940s, the neighborhood is roughly bounded by Central Street and Woodland Avenue to the west of Broadway, and Cecil Avenue, Sixth Avenue, and Glenwood Avenue to the east of Broadway.

























Like 4th & Gill and Island Home, Old North Knoxville was originally one of Knoxville's streetcar suburbs. From the Old North Knoxville, Inc. website:

Old North Knoxville was developed as a streetcar suburb between the 1880's and the 1940's. Streetcar suburbs had a strong pedestrian orientation. Most people walked to their homes from the street car stop. The automobile did not have a major influence on Knoxville until the 1920's, so there are few driveways or garages in the neighborhood. Some carriage houses remain behind the oldest houses, but most people did not own a horse and carriage. They depended on the streetcars for transportation and used the neighborhood sidewalks to reach the streetcar lines.

North Knoxville was incorporated on January 16, 1889. Larger than the current Old North Knoxville neighborhood (several original subdivisions make up the current Old North Knoxville Historic District), it was a desirable residential area and grew rapidly. North Knoxville provided a water supply, improved streets, fire protection, a city hall, and a school for approximately 100 students. Electric lights were installed in 1899 and a city sewer system was planned but not built due to annexation in 1897.

Architecturally, Old North Knoxville is very diverse:

Late 19th century styles found in the neighborhood include: Queen Anne, Queen Anne Cottage, Eastlake, Shotgun, and Folk Victorian. Early 20th century architecture include: Craftsman and Bungalow, Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Dutch Colonial Revival, Neoclassical, American Four Square, Minimal Traditional, and French Eclectic.

The neighborhood was made a historic district in 1922 and restoration and renovations have been ongoing since that time. Old North Knoxville, Inc. and Knox Heritage have both worked to save homes in the district which would otherwise have been demolished.

Geographically, Old North Knoxville is very convenient to downtown and UT and is easily accessible via I-40, I-275, and I-640.

If you want a home in a historic neighborhood with lots of sidewalks and trees, a strong sense of community and a commitment to preservation, Old North Knoxville might be just what you're looking for.


Here's Old North Knoxville by the numbers -

Old North Knoxville*

Current On-Market Listings - 13
Average Asking Price: $191,346
Median Asking Price: $184,900
Most Expensive: $285,000 (3 BR, 3 BA, 2700+ sq ft Southern Colonial Revival home)
Least Expensive: $84,900 (3BR, 1 BA, 1000+ sq ft Craftsman)

Current Pending Sales -4
Average Asking Price: $105,425
Median Asking Price: $114,950

Closed Sales - Q1 2007 - 9
Average Asking Price - $120,422
Average Sales Price - $118,733
Median Sales Price - $95,000
Average Days on Market - 47

Closed Sales - Q1 2008 - 9
Average Asking Price - $124,600
Average Sales Price - $115,500
Median Sales Price - $112,50
Average Days on Market - 77

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 6/09/08 does not include adjacent subdivisions, condos, PUDS, or multi-family units.

As always, if you want any more information about any of these properties 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 Old North Knoxville Listings" or "New North Knoxville Listings" in the subject line and I'll take care of the rest. No spam or sales pitches, I super pinkie-swear promise.

I'm always on the lookout for places to highlight in Neighborhood of the Week, so let me know if there's a community you'd like to see featured here sometime soon.

This Week's Poll Is Up

The weekly poll is ready and waiting for your voting pleasure - you know where to find it. This week's topic goes out to those of you who take the time to read my humble blog: what is your living situation? Are a renter, homeowner, or something else entirely? Cast your vote and/or let your voice be heard in the comments.

Whether you rent, own, or even rent to own, you can still subscribe to All Around KTown or follow me on Twitter - no credit check required.

Link Round-Up: Creative Financing Edition

Here's how to:

... owe $416,000 on a home you only paid $153,000 for. - The Housing Bubble Blog

... make money by walking away from over $3.9 million worth of home loans. - New York Times

... have a negative net worth and buy a home without even realizing it (and still manage to make the payments on it). - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

How We Used to Get All Around K-Town

Yesterday over at KnoxViews, I saw a very cool map, showing Knoxville's public transit lines circa 1931. The map includes the city's now defunct street car lines.

If you zoom in on the larger image, you can see where the lines went to various "street car communities," such as 4th and Gill and Island Home.

It looks like the line ran as far north as Fountain City and as far east as Chilhowee Park. If you wanted to head west, you apparently had to take something called the "Electric Coach Line. " Since there's also a separate listing for the "bus line," I'm a little stumped as to what an "electric coach" is. Any ideas?

If automobile traffic is more your style, check out Michael Wender's post on Knoxify comparing the I-40 of 1960 with the present day version. My how things how changed.

Half a Chance

My company, like probably every other real estate company, keeps track of listings taken vs. listings sold. Today I had a chance to review our averages for the last few years and the trend is startling. Check this out:

Percentage of Listings Sold By Year

2005 - 80%
2006 - 70%
2007 - 50%

These numbers are rough and rounded off, but there's a definite trend there, no? I would hazard a guess that the percentages for most other area companies are roughly the same (even though I'm sure a lot of companies don't want to admit to it). If this trend holds up for 2008 (and keep in mind this is totally hypothetical and purely unscientific), that means that at least 50% of the homes we have listed this summer simply won't sell. That's tough.

But that also means that - hypothetically - 50% will sell. So, who will make the cut? The extremely motivated: the folks who are willing and able to get their homes in pristine condition and who are also willing and able - you knew this was coming - to lower their listing price. Because the fact is that there are buyers out there, lots of them, they're just not that motivated. A few years ago, low interest rates and the prospect of getting rich fast motivated them. Today their biggest motivation is price, namely the lowest price they can get. This doesn't mean you have to give your home away, but it does mean that your home must be competitively priced. Now is not the time to get rich. Now is the time to cut your losses and move on if you have to move.

If you do have to sell, get a good agent who will market your home like crazy. Make sure it's getting lots of internet exposure and multiple photos on Realtor.com. And then listen to your agent. If they are doing their marketing and the home is still not showing, that price may have to come down and/or the condition of your home may need to be improved.

If you're not that motivated to sell, and you really want to get more money when you sell your home, now may not be the time to put your home on the market. I know that's hard to hear - heck, it's hard for me to say, considering I'd love to list and sell your home this summer - but it's the truth.

The good news is that homes are still selling. They really are, I promise. And just like everything else in life, this market shall pass - it just may not pass as quickly as a lot of us would like.

Knoxville Foreclosure Watch

What's up Watchers? This week Knoxville's on-market foreclosure listings and sales are down, while pending sales are up. And although closings are down this week, I have a feeling that as the weather gets warmer, we may be seeing more and more pendings and closings as banks finally get willing to take less money for these properties that are only weighing them down. What do you think?

But enough about the future. Here's the current breakdown -

Knox County Foreclosure Property Statistics as of 6/04/08 *

Current On-Market Listings - 148 ▼
Average Asking Price: $137,784 ▲
Median Asking Price: $89,450 ▬
Most Expensive New Listing: $520,000 (New 5 BR, 3 1/2, 4200 sq ft home off of Northshore)
Least Expensive New Listing: $34,900 (2 BR, 1 BA home in Mechanicsville)

Notable New Listings:
North: 4 BR, 2 1/2 BA, 2400+ sq ft home in Halls
South: 3 BR, 1 1/2 BA, 1700+ sq ft in Colonial Village
East: 4 BR, 2 BA, 1400+ sq ft 85 yr. old brick home off of Magnolia
West: 3 BR, 2 1/2 BA, 2500+ sq ft in Cambridge

Current Pending Sales -100 ▲
Average Asking Price - $80,611 ▼
Median Asking Price - $67,400 ▬

Closed Sales May 28, 2008-June 03, 2008 - 10▼
Average Asking Price - $111,320▼
Average Sales Price - $106,671 ▼
Median Sales Price - $73,950 ▲
Average Days on Market - 65 ▲




*Data taken from KAARMLS on 6/04/08 for Knox County single family residential properties only, and does not include condos or PUDS.

As always, if you have any questions about any of these properties, feel free to drop me a line.

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

Why put off til tomorrow what you could do today? Go ahead and subscribe to All Around KTown while you're here.

Many Realtors Broke, Lost, and Camera-less

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) just put out their 2008 Member Profile, a survey of their more than 1.2 million members. As usual, there are some interesting stats:

- 2007 median income for a Realtor was $42,600.

- 2007 median income for a Realtor with 2 or less years in the business was $10,500 (ouch).

- Median transaction sides (closings) for 2007 was 8.

- 5% of members are also involved in mortgage brokerage (yikes!).

- Only 5% of Realtors choose real estate as their first career (duh).

- 60% have a personal website (hmm...).

- Only 27% own a digital camera (wt...?).

- Only 19% own a GPS device (the other 81% are still lost somewhere in Karns).

And because it's NAR, you have to pay for the privelige of reading the full report - $125 to be exact. If you don't feel like ponying up that kind of cash, you can read a lot of the highlights here.

Knoxville Sidewalk Talk

Why haven't I heard anything about this anywhere else? According to WBIR, a group of concerned Fountain City residents are "pushing hard for a new citywide ordinance that would force developers to add sidewalks to any new or refurbished development" in Knoxville. Huh.

Knoxville City Councilman Bob Becker is apparently behind the proposed ordinance and says:

"Making the whole city more pedestrian-friendly changes the dynamic... It moves us from being a very good city into being a great city."

The city council is going to have a workshop on the issue on June 12th. Maybe someone should send them the link to WalkScore before then?

Neighborhood of the Week: Whittington Creek

This week Neighborhood of the Week heads back into Knoxville to a little 300 acre community off of Northshore Drive called Whittington Creek.

Much like Gettysvue, Whittington Creek is as much a lifestyle choice as it is a place to live. Billed by the developers as an "upscale living community," the subdivision itself consists of eight separate neighborhoods, each with its own name and private entrance.

The community as a whole prides itself on being very walkable, and all of the neighborhood's recreational amenties, including Olympic size pool, tennis courts, volleyball courts, playground and clubhouse, are easily accessible via Whittington Creek's numerous sidewalks.

The first homes were built in the 1990s, but construction has been steadily continuous since then, and there are still lots available for building.

If you're looking for an upscale neighborhood with lots of amenities that is convenient to the Pellissippi Parkway in West Knoxville, Whittington Creek might be a good place to call home.

















Here's Whittington Creek by the numbers -

Whittington Creek*

Current On-Market Listings - 28
Average Asking Price: $866,464
Median Asking Price: $799,700
Most Expensive: $1,575,000 (6 BR, 5 1/2 BA, 7800+ sq ft on a 2 acre lot)
Least Expensive: $519,000 (4 BR, 3 1/2 BA, approx 3300 sq ft)

Current Pending Sales -2
Average Asking Price: $581,725
Median Asking Price: NA

Closed Sales - Q1 2007 - 8
Average Asking Price - $710,127
Average Sales Price - $696,827
Median Sales Price - $632,500
Average Days on Market - 109

Closed Sales - Q1 2008 - 6
Average Asking Price - $682,550
Average Sales Price - $670,000
Median Sales Price - $640,000
Average Days on Market - 144

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 6/02/08 does not include adjacent subdivisions, condos, PUDS, or multi-family units.

As always, if you want any more information about any of these properties just give me a shout.

Neighborhood of the Week takes requests, so let me know what part of K-Town you'd like to see here next week and I'll try my best to make it happen.

This Week's Poll Is Up

This week's poll is up on the blog's upper-left corner. You know the spot I'm talkin' about.

The topic this week is trust. Trust is incredibly important in a real estate transaction, and yet I constantly meet people who say they don't (or didn't) trust their Realtor. What's up with that?

So my question is this: did you trust the last real estate agent you worked with? If not, why did you stay with them through the transaction? I'd love to hear about any juicy details in the comments.

And remember, even if you don't trust your Realtor, you can trust that subscribing to All Around Ktown is a smart move. Following me on Twitter is an equally wise decision.