Chattanooga Homes For Sale

If you are looking at buying a home, selling a home or just for future reference, heed my warnings when it comes to these 10 things.  And by the way, they are in no particular order.

1) Inground Pools – Inground pools can be a maintenance nightmare.  They are expensive, add nothing to the value of your home and they eliminate buyers.  Two things to remember if you are considering building an inground pool in Chattanooga.  One, you will not get the 20+ grand that you sunk into the pool back when you sell the house.  Secondly, they eliminate over 80% of your prospective buyers!  And oh yeah, did I forget to mention that they eliminate over 80% of your prospective buyers!?

2) Deferred Maintenance – I see all the time Realtors will put into the listing notes that the seller is offering an allowance to a buyer for paint or carpeting.  That simply tells me as Mr. Agent that these sellers are VERY negotiable on the price and we are going to get the price down and THEN ask for our allowance.  Mr. Seller, if you know the house needs new paint and/or carpet, let’s just save everyone the hassle and go ahead and do it.  Buyer’s have a REALLY hard time looking past these things and begin to visualize all the money they are going to have to spend on the home when they first move in.  No Bueno!

3) Bad Neighbors – Nothing worse than bad neighbors and we have all seen them.  NOBODY wants to live next door to Cousin Eddie!  The year round RV parked in driveway, car on blocks, signs that warn against any biting animals and trespassing.  Weird smells and noises coming from the house.  If you already live next to such a person, plant a row of fast growing hedges NOW!

4) Your House Is Different – Always blows my mind when I am showing houses in a neighborhood and every house in there is the same traditional style, with the exception of one 1980′s contemporary masterpiece that some builder, who is probably no longer in business, decided it would be his legacy to build.  If your house is just plain awkwardly different than all your neighbors, maybe you should take an internal look at yourself and what made your purchase this gem.  Just a thought!

5) Dated Kitchen’s and Baths – UGH!  Kiss of death for a seller.  Appliances use to come in brown, avocado and off-white.  Toilets and bathtubs were pink, blue and green.  All these were the style!  This is NOT the case now.  And one more thing about updating kitchens and bathrooms: Wallpaper and borders are out.  I don’t care how bad you want to, just don’t.

6) Personalized Decorating and Painting –   Believe it or not, everyone does not share your same taste and does not always feel like the bedspread, curtains, pillow shams, rugs and whatever else should all be the same pattern.  Many homeowners were misguided and made to believe that faux painting could change their sheet rock walls into leather.  All I can say is that I wish I was the one that came up with that concept and made that dollar.  For resale purposes, let’s just stick to neutral colors and rid ourselves of the Vols, Harley and Nascar Rooms.

7) Power Lines / Cell Phone Towers / Water Towers – There is no evidence that I know of supporting any health claims to these, but buyers are typically apprehensive about living near the above.  I have never had any of my sellers glow, have a nervous twitch every time their phone rang or wash away in the middle of the night (because a teenagers prank of pulling the plug on a water tower went awry).  Less you forget however, we are Southerners (proud of it) and worry about everything!

Bad Roof – Bad roofs are another kiss of death.  We all know those bad boys aren’t cheap and no new buyer wants to purchase their dream home and turn around to put a roof on it.  And don’t think we didn’t notice the work you have done on the living room ceiling to cover up a roof leak.  Popcorn ceilings are extremely hard to hide your do it yourselfer weekend warrior project.

9) Little or No Landscaping – If your front yard looks like the Mojave Desert, it may be time to take some action.  Curb appeal is HUGE in getting your home sold.  I can’t get my buyers in the home if I can’t first sell them on the picture of the exterior.  Chattanooga is second in the world for the most flowering plants and flora.  Get use to it and plant some of them!

10) Changing Garage to Add Living Space – This by far is my personal favorite.  Garages are huge for people when buying a home.  If you get a wild hair to just throw down some carpet and sheet rock and call it a bedroom or your new entertainment room, please seek some type of emotional help.  When you outgrow the size of your home, don’t enclose the garage.  I have a better idea!  Just move!

Realtor Ryan

Keller Williams Realty

202 Manufacturers Road

Chattanooga, TN  37405

(423) 664-1900 Office

(423) 595-7958 Direct

www.RealtorRyan.com

RyanKing@RealtorRyan.com

Check out this wonderful property located in Chattanooga, TN!

Chattanooga Real Estate Statistics for August 2011!

Newly released Chattanooga Real Estate Stats show an improving market!  The monthly volume for August 2010 in the Greater Chattanooga Area was approximately $65 million.  For August 2011 we did almost $78 million, which is almost a 20% increase.  Go Chattanooga!!!  The inventory of homes sitting on the market in Chattanooga has come down quite a bit also.  We now have about 9.24 months worth of inventory versus last years 13.3 months.  This number reflects how many months of inventory we would have to sell, without anything new being put on the market.  East Ridge, Signal Mountain, Hwy 58, parts of Ooltewah and Walker County blew it out of the water with huge gains over 2010.  Still running a 4.1% difference between the final list price and the sales price.  Remember, this number doesn’t take into consideration price adjustments that have been made over the course of the listing period.  All in all, I feel Chattanooga is looking pretty good.  If you would like more information on Chattanooga Real Estate, please don’t hesitate to e-mail or call me!

Realtor Ryan

Keller Williams Realty

202 Manufacturers Road

Chattanooga, TN  37405

(423) 595-7958 Direct

(423) 664-1900 Office

www.RealtorRyan.com

With my 9 years of experience in the Chattanooga Real Estate Market, I make this profound statement:  “I see NO benefit of relocation companies to the buyer/seller and companies they serve.”  Relocation Company = Fleecing of America!  Before the economy began her spiral downward and real estate was booming, companies would have a relocation service that would help relocate their employee’s from one city location to another.  One of the biggest benefits to the sellers was that if they were not able to sell their home during a set period of time, then the relocation service would buy them out and thus giving them that safety net.  Well folks, as they say in the South, them days are over.  As real estate across the America’s began diving for the proverbial bottom, these doer of good deeds companies became the proud owners of a large inventory of unsold homes and quickly realized the error of their ways.  The “Nouveau Relocation Service” is now here to “ASSIST” you in your relocation by providing you with a “QUALITY” Realtor to sell your home or help you find another one in your destination location.  And for their extensive efforts in this exhausting venture, they are only demanding a meager 40% of the pay.  Goodness, how generous of them!  So where do these “quality” Realtors come from that the Relo-Monsters choose for you?  Well, it’s more than likely not your creme de la creme of Chattanooga Realtors, because the individuals who treat this profession as a business are also the ones that stay ahead of the pack with continuing education and experience.  What good business person would give away 40% of the profit off the top for a simple lead?  More than likely it will be a Realtor that is newer to the business and salivates over ANY lead, thus keeping the Relo-Monsters in business.  Is this the Realtor you want selling your most expensive possession?  Is this the Realtor you want when you need someone that has the skill and experience to negotiate the best deal for you in purchasing your most expensive possession?  This should be one area that mediocrity will not do!  As for the companies that utilize the services of Relo-Monsters, wake up!  You can have your relocation in-house and do the same job they do for less and I can guarantee you with better quality and smoother transitions.  As a Realtor who has been selling homes in Chattanooga for a while,  I had much rather pay you the company a fee to work with your buyers and sellers for relocation than pay a third-party Relo-Monster who has their hand out for doing an inadequate and inept job.  Okay, stepping off my soap box now.

Realtor Ryan

Keller Williams Realty

202 Manufacturers Road

Chattanooga, TN  37405

(423) 595-7958 Direct

(423) 664-1900 Office

www.RealtorRyan.com

This great Chattanooga Home is located just minutes to Interstate 75, hospitals, shopping and downtown Chattanooga. Come check out all the neutral colors and move-in ready condition. Visit www.RealtorRyan.com for more information.

Beautiful home located in the East Brainerd Suburbs of Chattanooga, TN. Come check out some of the beautiful home in Hamilton County. To see a list of all our available properties, visit www.RealtorRyan.com

Greetings from Chattanooga, TN on this cloudy day.  Let me start by asking the question.  Why in the world would you want your Realtor to do an open house?  There are still Chattanooga Sellers that have the belief an open house is good, quality marketing of their home.  Nothing could be further from the truth!  Open houses became popular years ago when the buyers didn’t have any other way of seeing the home unless it was with a Realtor.  Those days are GONE.  Today’s home buyer’s, especially those in Chattanooga, TN where we were voted one of the top seven smartest cities in the world, have and use a wealth of knowledge from the convenience of the internet.  All of my listings are syndicated on over 150 different classified sites with anywhere from 10-25 pictures of the home.  If after viewing interior/exterior photos of the home, you still aren’t sure whether you would like to take an in-person look, then go to YouTube where I upload videos of all my listings.  Simply search the address of the property and you will get a walking tour of the home.  Almost 90% of all buyers begin their home search online.  The Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors has also made the multiple listing service in Chattanooga a public site.  With this wealth of online visual stimulation to wet your appetite for that home, why would you need to go into an open house and be hounded by another Realtor?  So, it begs the question, “Why do Realtors still do open houses?”  Well, that’s an easy one!  To pick up buyers for other homes.  National Association of Realtors reports that less than 5% of homes are actually sold at or from an open house, so your Realtor is probably trying to build up the amount of buyers they are working with and using your home as their personal marketing.  Makes you think doesn’t it!?  Well, let me give you something else to deter you from wanting your home open to the general public.  First of all, if a Realtor is smart, then his/her buyers are already pre-approved.  How many of your open house visitors do you think are actually pre-approved or just lookie loo’s?  Who really knows?  On top of the fact that you are letting non-approved buyers walk through your personal space, an open house is a liability nightmare!  What better way for a thief to find out the inner workings of your home than in an open house?  What better way for someone to excuse themselves to the bathroom and raid your medicine cabinet for prescription drugs and what better way for a not so nice person to leave a bathroom window slightly cracked open and return later to rob the home.  All of which have happened here in Chattanooga!  If your Chattanooga Realtor is doing their job, then they are spending their time marketing your home where the buyers are looking and that is online.  Give up the open houses and don’t be fooled by the sales pitch!

Realtor Ryan

Keller Williams Realty

202 Manufacturers Road

Chattanooga, TN  37405

(423) 595-7958 Direct

(423) 664-1900 Office

www.RealtorRyan.com

There are so many reasons for you NOT to overprice you home in the Chattanooga Real Estate Market, that I could literally write a book on this subject.  I was sitting in a Seller Mastery Class earlier today (constantly trying to continue my education in order to stay ahead of the game) and two new schools of thought were revealed to me by my Chattanooga Keller Williams Coaches.  Realtor Ryan’s Listing Presentation Extraordinaire has always discussed the fact that most of your activity comes during the first few weeks of listing and if you are overpriced, buyers will move on to your neighbors home and purchase it.  When you finally decide to lower your price, months down the road, those buyers are out of the market and the only showings you will be getting from the on will be new buyers to the market.  All of those buyers that were exhausting their searches on Chattanooga Homes when you listed your home, are all used up.  Chattanooga Southerners just want to negotiate, so I see this happening all the time.  After I have gone over comparative properties and we start discussing prices, I often hear these words:  “Ryan, I agree with your analysis, BUT I feel like we should build in another $10,000 so that I have room to negotiate”.   This $10,000 is usually tacked onto an inflated price that they feel like they can get anyway.  YIKES!!!   Here is something for you also to think about before you price that East Ridge, Ooltewah, East Brainerd, Hixson or North Georgia Home!  Let’s say you price the house $20,000 over what the houses around you are selling for.  Two things happen:  First of all, the buyers that can actually afford to buy your home are not looking in this price range.  They are looking in the price range of where your home should be priced, thus narrowing our pool of good quality buyers.  Secondly, those people who do actually view your home are now comparing it to houses that are priced $20,000 higher.  What makes your home $20,000 better than the home in the same subdivision, built the same year and with the same amenities?  NOTHING!  Just because you took the wallpaper down in the house, repainted and changed out the carpet a few years ago is not going to make yours sell for that much more.  You may be the best looking prom date to take to the prom, but not at that price.  So what happens!?  You are just pulling buyers in to show what a better value the house down the street is and we sit on the market for several months.  In running our monthly Chattanooga Statistics, for the month of July, we noticed that the sales price averages 3.7% less than the FINAL list price.  This is the price that the seller has come down to after reductions.  NOT the price that they were at listing.  Chattanoogans, let me ask you this!  Had you rather your house be on the market or be IN the market!?

Realtor Ryan

Keller Williams Realty

202 Manufacturers Road

Chattanooga, TN  37405

(423) 595-7958 Direct

(423) 664-1900 Office

www.RealtorRyan.com

I deal with out-of-town clients on almost a daily basis and for those with children, I hear the same questions over and over.  Tell us about the Chattanooga Schools (Hamilton County Schools).  The decision of where a parent sends their child to school, seems to be greater than solving world peace.  The schools in Chattanooga have taken quite a bit of negative press in the past and as a Realtor, we have an obligation to lead you in the right direction.  I personally feel that many Chattanooga Realtors have used this so called power to overpopulate certain areas with the types of people they won’t in the schools that their child attends.  Chattanooga has an overabundance of small private and Christian Schools scattered throughout the Tennessee Valley.  I personally have nothing against a private institution nor a faith based education for a child.  Having this many individuals not utilizing the public school system can deteriorate that system, from funding to volunteer hours.  When the schools go, there goes the neighborhood.  Plunging property values and business/industry will take a second look before moving into Chattanooga.  This Realtor is a big proponent of the public school system and especially Chattanooga Schools.  My six year old son attends East Brainerd Elementary School, located just near Hamilton Place Mall.  We live in the East Brainerd Area of Chattanooga and that is the school that we are zoned for and the same school (and building) that I went to as a child.  Residents can do all the complaining they want about their schools, but all it takes is for you as a parent to get involved with your child’s education.  Become an active volunteer in your child’s school and let them know that they and their education are of utmost importance to you.  Show them that they are worth your time and money.  Hey, I grew up in public schools all my life and I turned out okay!  Well, at least I think I did!  For more information on Hamilton County Schools, visit Hamilton County Schools (http://www NULL.HCDE NULL.org) online.  If you have any questions about Chattanooga Real Estate or Chattanooga Schools, please don’t hesitate to contact Realtor Ryan directly.

Realtor Ryan

Keller Williams Realty

202 Manufacturers Road

Chattanooga, TN  37405

(423) 595-7958 Direct

(423) 664-1900 Office

www.RealtorRyan.com

Things are looking up for July 2011.  Here’s why!  The total units sold in Chattanooga MLS for July 2011 was 430.  This is a 16% increase over July 2010.  What a vast improvement.  Something to consider is that our numbers for last year were a little inflated anyway, because of the housing incentive that was going on.  Does everyone remember that “wonderful” housing incentive that ramped up our real estate?  Something else to look at is the average sales price in Chattanooga for 2010 was $153, 328 and Chattanooga blew it out of the water this month with an increase of 9% to an average sales price of $167,296.  Woohoo!  Sounds good to me!  Also, let’s consider that as Chattanooga’s average sales price is rising, our negotiating room is starting to diminish for the buyers.  How do we know this?  The difference between the average list price and the average sales price is down to 3.7%, which is the lowest it has been all year.  So even as our home prices are going up, we are getting closer to final list price.  Don’t let this confuse you though, because this is the FINAL list price.  This is the price that the house started out as when it was first put on the market.  Chattanooga’s days on market remained flat for July 2011.  No real surprise here, but our months worth of inventory is dropping in certain areas.  If you would like more information or to discuss these numbers, please don’t hesitate to e-mail or call our team.

Realtor Ryan

Keller Williams Realty

202 Manufacturers Road

Chattanooga, TN  37405

(423) 595-7958 Direct

(423) 664-1900 Office

RyanKing@RealtorRyan.com

www.RealtorRyan.com