This past weekend was a beautiful day to work outside at Choices Resource Center! A group from my church, Faith Promise, worked together along with another local church to do landscaping, painting and other volunteer office work. It was part of an area wide volunteer weekend. Our church had a number of volunteer opportunities for those wanting to participate. I was very pleased to see several young children who came with their parents to help out. I really think it is so important to have children learn the meaning of community service. I was so fortunate to have parents, but especially a father, who showed me what it truly meant to volunteer and serve others in my community. It doesn’t have to be a special day to volunteer, as it was this weekend. If you have an hour each week to put toward a project in your community, that helps a lot! Instead of complaining all the time, get out and volunteer, make a difference in your community!

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!

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.

What a wonderful event I attended earlier today.  The City of Clinton hosted the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce member’s coffee.  It was attended by area business leaders along with our local politicians.  Members were talking about new the Confluence Solar plant coming into the I-75 industrial park along with a possible expansion at one of the other local plants.  The need to support our local small businesses was also discussed.  Sellers Realty was represented at the event by Jo Suggs, Joey Smith and myself, Melissa Davis.  It was a great opportunity to network with area individuals. 

The housing market in Anderson County is doing very well right now.  We are very fortunate that we have not taken the “hit” to our market like other areas of the country.  In my opinion, that is due to the fact that we have the industry in Oak Ridge and also, TVA that are not based soley on customer demand.  Sellers Realty is starting out 2010 with a full sales pending board, a feat that is very seldom done in the winter months in real estate. 

Also, Leslie Sellers, the co-owner of Sellers Realty and manager of the appraisal department, was inducted last night as President of The Appraisal Institute.  The Appraisal Institute is an advocacy and education organization that has 91 chapters and more than 25,000 members.  Everyone at Sellers Realty is very proud of this accomplishment.  Who would have thought a man from Clinton, Tn. would achieve such a distinquished honor?  Leslie travels the world advocating the principles and ethics of appraising. 

So this week has been a busy week at Sellers Realty!  Let’s keep the momentum going!

The Anderson County Chamber of Commerce held their Annual Recognition Dinner last night.  The event was headlined by guest speaker, Hallerin Hilton Hill, local radio personality.  One hundred forty people attended the dinner which was catered by Catering by Delora.  Fox Toyota graciously hosted the event and First National Bank sponsored the dinner.  Music was provided by the Clinton High School Concert Band.  Several individuals received awards including Derek Keeton of Ameriprise Financial, Debbie Sellers of Mary Kay Cosmetics, Kristin Olsen of Small Paws Bed & Biscuit and Roger Houck of the City of Clinton Parks & Recreation Department.  There was a silent auction and I was lucky enough to be the winning bidder on an item!  Sellers Realty sponsored a table at the event with myself , Patrick Slone, Joey and Susan Smith, Debbie Sellers, Marty and Kim Stooksbury and Victoria Bowling seated at the table.  It was a great time!  I invite local businesses and individuals to join the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce…it’s a great organization and a great network!

The Anderson Farmers Co-op held a Chamber of Commerce coffee this morning, celebrating 50 years in business!  Myself, along with Sellers Realty agents, Jo Suggs and Joey Smith attended.  Jeremy Horn gave a brief discussion about how the Co-op was founded, what it takes to become a member and items available at the Co-op.  A great time was had by all!