It has been a while since I’ve been on our blog!  One of my goals for 2012 is to stay up to date on my internet presence.  All of my listings are extremely important but one listing is on the top of my list for 2012.  Dang it – I’m gonna sell 283 Brushy Valley Road, Clinton, Tn.!  This is a great house on some absolutely beautiful property.  It is one of the most beautiful mini-farms in Anderson County or even East Tennessee.  As you drive into the property, you’d be reminded of an East Tennessee South Fork (remember Dallas??).  The young owners of this house have taken it down to the brick and studs and totally rebuilt the interior.  It has all the amenities of a new house but has that quaint charm of an old farmhouse.  The huge covered porches on the rear overlook the beautiful pasture.  What a better way to spend those late summer nights, sitting around a fire pit, roasting marshmallows along Hinds Creek?  Well, you can do that at this house!  Have horses?  Trust me, your horses will love this fenced, flat property.  Living in Clinton gives you access to one of the best places in the United States to raise a family!  At 283 Brushy Valley Rd., you are in the county (no city taxes) but only minutes to all your amenites of shopping, schools, Norris Lake, Clinch River, Walmart.   My goal for 2012….sell this house for this family!  Next blog, I’ll update you on my other goals!  Enjoy 2012…it’s gonna be a great year for us!

After a very rough day in the real estate business yesterday, I decided to share some of my views about the mortgage business with anyone that might read this.  First, this program instituted by the government to help home owners reduce their mortgage payments is actually a joke!  I am now in the process of helping a good friend do a modification and we have now submitted the paperwork 5 times!  It’s the same paperwork, sent in a provided envelope, faxed, emailed, fedexed and sent UPS.  They call her each week asking for more stuff…stuff we have already sent!  We call to verify they have rec’d it, if we can leave a message (the mailboxes are usually full), they never call to confirm.  It is understandable why home owners let their houses get foreclosed on!   It is ridiculous!  They give up from all the stress!  I would give up and I do this for a living!  This is the 4th time that I have assisted someone with trying to get a loan modification.  Each time I have prepared them for what is to come and after about the 4th or 5th time of sending the same paperwork in (which in the last fax was 57 pages), they tell me, without my help they would have given up.  It is a joke!  You would think they would be trying to assist these people that actually want to try to keep their homes but instead they make it so blasted hard on them that they lose the will to even try to keep it!  THE LOAN MODIFICATION PROGRAM IS A JOKE! 

Next, when they say there are banks out there wanting to lend money.  That is a joke too!  For example, I have a young couple, getting married this month, wanting to buy a house.  They paid down their debts to qualify on their debt to income ratio.  We were supposed to close this week and then we found out they have to pay off one more debt to satisfy the underwriter plus get a letter from a contractor stating the roof has at least 2 years of life.  First, the home inspector or appraiser, neither of them, asked for a letter on the roof.  The underwriter sitting in who knows where but not our area, asked for it.  She has never seen the house but because we have had storms on the news, she wants the letter.  The roof is less than 5 years old!  Does she think that contractors go out and do these letters for free?  If so, in these days of everyone trying to protect themselves from getting backlash, contractors wouldn’t have any time to do their actual jobs for writing all these letters.  Just because of her wanting this letter, the seller will now have to pay the contractor to go out and write this letter.  Lending has tightened up and I warn my buyers and sellers that in all actuality about 25-50% of the loans get turned down or the houses don’t appraise out.  I understand that the standards needed to be tightened.  At one time, if you could breath and had a credit score, you could get a loan!  But do we actually need to require all of this extra stuff?  Give me a break! 

The moral of this story…play the lottery and buy your house with the proceeds!  Just kidding!  I know a good lender if you need one! 

Well, that is my venting for the week.  It’s a much better day today.  I’ve enjoyed seeing some of my clients today and am looking forward to a wonderful 4th of July!  Hope you have a great 4th too!

While driving home from the office today, I couldn’t help but smile. What a fantastic community we live in here in Clinton, Tennessee! The past few weeks have been extremely stormy – lots of wind and RAIN! Today, however, was sunny with blue skies and perfect temperatures. As I drove down Riverbend Road, I waved to my neighbors – most of them outside mowing and manicuring their lawns. All that rain has turned everything green! I really appreciate days like today. A simple drive home for lunch reminds me of the blessings of living in a city like Clinton: friendly neighbors, lovely homes, a naturally beautiful environment in the Tennessee Valley. I’m glad I live here! And one of my favorite things to do as a REALTOR (R) is to meet a newcomer to the community – or a potential newcomer. I’m proud of my city, my county, and my state. I would love for you to be a part of it! If you are looking for a place to call home – maybe a new start in a new place – come see Clinton and Anderson County, Tennessee. I truly believe there’s no place quite like it anywhere else. It’s home to me…and it could be home for you too!

Congratulations to 6 year old, Kaleb Hanna, who was chosen as the winner of our Easter Coloring Contest!  Kaleb won a shiney, new bicycle! 

It’s the week of the Easter celebration and I’m getting prepared to enjoy the holiday.  My church, Antioch Baptist, is having an Easter Egg hunt at Jaycee Park on Saturday.   Other area churches are also having egg hunts so look for advertisements around Anderson County.  I remember as a child, how I enjoyed participating in egg hunts.  I was never lucky enough to be the “golden egg” winner but it was just so much fun running around looking for eggs.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate this weekend to make it enjoyable for everyone!  Also, Friday is Good Friday.  Sellers Realty will be open and available for all your property calls! 

This morning, Joey Smith, Bobbie Sellers and myself, Melissa Davis, attended an Anderson County Chamber of Commerce event which was sponsored by AT&T.  We were able to listen to Senator Randy McNally and Representative John Ragan.  Two of the main topics of the meeting were jobs and education.  Tennessee is one of the lowest states in the amount of debt, which is great for us!  On the job front of course, we are still lagging behind in several counties in our area such as Scott, Morgan, Campbell but Anderson County seems to be doing well given our current economic times. 

On Thursday, I’ll be very excited to attend the Anderson County Chamber Coffee, which is hosted by Remotec.  This is a very exciting event and we are given the opportunity to tour the facility and see what is going on in the area of remote technology. 

Lastly but most important to my business, on the real estate front, we are very pleased to have a full pending board.  Our pending board in our office is the way we measure our current success.  For the past several weeks, the board has been full of approaching sales.  Looks like the end of April  is going to be a very busy month for Sellers Realty with at least 9 proposed closings for this month!  With interest rates still low, even with inflation starting to appear, it is a great time to buy a house!  We are starting to see prices creep up on items we purchase on a daily basis.  With that increase will eventually come an increase on the interest rates.  Also, lending is going to tighten up.  In a recent article from NAR, it stated that 1 of every 4 mortgages is denied and that will get even harder as buyers are going to be required to pay more money down.  There are still 100% loans available for qualifed buyers.  So it is still a great time to buy!

I wish you and your family and friends a very Happy Easter!  I’m so very fortunate to have a wonderful group of coworkers, church family and special family to spend the holiday with!

I was amazed at all I learned about Clinton High School and the opportunities that the students have there!  Clinton High School hosted The Anderson County Chamber of Commerce Coffee yesterday, January 20th for our first networking coffee of the year!  I left there with such a positive feeling about the school and the progress that is being made to assist these students with their futures!  They have so many amazing programs that are enabling the students to learn far more than I ever had the chance to learn at that age and prepare them for college and “the real world” of being adults!  I must say I was very proud when I walked in to the coffee and saw a young lady from my church, Lauren Copeland, there to greet me.  There were students there to escort us in, open the doors for us, greet us, assist with serving, masters of ceremony, FFA presentation, talk about Special Olympics, talk about Honors programs, there was so much that I can’t even recall it all….but I was impressed!  What a great way to start the year off!  I look forward to sharing with my clients, the benefits of Clinton High School!  Thanks for hosting us.

We here at Sellers Realty are swelling with pride for our hometown!  Bloomberg BusinessWeek released its list of the Best Places to Raise Kids in the United States.  Our very own Clinton was named the best city in Tennessee!  Bloomberg weighed several factors:  affordability of real estate, good school systems, parks and recreational opportunities, and low crime rates.  Clinton came out on top as one of the top 50 small towns in the country.

Those of us who have called Clinton, Tennessee home for a long time are not surprised.  Clinton is truly a fantastic community…a hidden gem, some might say.  Not surprisingly, real estate was one of the major factors used to determine the top 50.  From small cottages to country estates, Clinton and all of Anderson County provide opportunities for any buyer.  When you think of Clinton and Anderson County real estate, think Sellers Realty!  Let us introduce you to some wonderful communities and some outstanding real estate deals!

Yesterday was a busy day in Anderson County.  Holiday gatherings are gearing up; some might say “piling up!”  Sellers Realty agents Melissa Davis, Joey Smith, Beverly Alvis, and Jo Suggs attended a joint networking coffee at Methodist Medical Center in Oak Ridge sponsored by Anderson County Chamber of Commerce Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, Lake City Chamber of Commerce, and Roane Alliance.  Anderson County is blessed to have several strong communities, and events like this bring them all together in one place.  Many thanks to MMC for providing the location and the beautiful entertainment!

Last Thursday evening, the Annual North Anderson County Boys and Girls Club Hall of Fame Dinner was held at the Family Life Center at First Baptist Church in Clinton.   I was thrilled that Bobbie Sellers, my managing broker and “boss” was being inducted into the 2010 Hall of Fame for her work as a local  Business Leader.  I have been fortunate enough to work as an assistant and now as a licensed affiliate broker for Bobbie for over 17 years.  She has taught me everything that I know about the real estate business. 

Not only are we fortunate to have great leaders in our community like Bobbie, but we have a great organization in the Boys and Girls Club helping area children.  As a child, with a working mother, this would have been the place that I would have went for after school care. It is a great organization!  I encourage you to google the North Anderson County Boys and Girls Club and check out their website.

I just read a great article posted on the website of a Realtor whom I am doing a referral to and wanted to share some of the info in the article.  Are you aware that now, 2010, maybe the best time in history to purchase a home?  Home prices and interest rates are both down.  It is a buyers market and buyers have the opportunity to “snatch up” some real deals.  Interest rates are at an all time low.  I am beginning a refinance on my personal home and my interest rate will drop over 1% but the big thing is my payment will drop over $100 per month!  In this time of economic uncertainty, that is a very big deal.  As a buyer you have the possibility to purchase a larger, newer, pricier home for possibly the same payment as your current home.  In my opinion, in 17 years of working in this office, real estate is still the best investment you can make….just make good choices!  

What is the moral of this story?  If you are thinking about buying a home, look past the negativity and see that now is literally the time to buy.

The assortment of homes for sale in our county gives a buyer a great opportunity to find the house that best suits their needs and wallet!  At this very moment, there are 586 homes in Anderson County for sale.  In the $100,000 to $200,000 price range there are 237 homes for sale.  Look at all the choices you have as a buyer!  Interest rates are at an all time low!  If you were prequalified for a home last year, with the rates even lower now, you can afford more home for the same payment.  At a seminiar I attended earlier this week, they emphasized that home ownership was the best retirement plan you could have.  Doesn’t that make sense?  You have to pay someone to live somewhere, so why not pay yourself?  If you have credit issues, take the time to sit down with a credit counselor at one of the mortgage companies (we can help with suggestions) and get your credit on track.  Start saving some money, cut out the little things and see how quickly your savings add up.  Home ownership is still possible…it is a goal we should all be looking to achieve.  If we can be of assistance to you, please call, email or stop by and we’ll help get you moving in the direction of home ownership!  We’ve been in Anderson County for over 38 years….you are more than clients to us…you are friends that we have built relationships with!  Put our years of experience to work for you….times are tough but we’ve been there before and we’ll be there afterwards too!  Let us help you!