Chattanooga Real Estate Blog

Interest rates compliments of:

If you are familiar with Yahoo Answers you may have seen some of my posts there.  One question that is asked quite often is:  How do you sell a house on your own without a REALTOR®?

Sometimes I’m not in the best frame of mind to be answering this type of question and will reply with something along the lines of:  Have you lost your mind?  If you are asking this question you obviously have no idea what you are doing.  Mind you, I usually try to be helpful but sometimes…Funny though, I never see anyone complaining that their appendix need to be removed and since they plan on doing it themselves will someone tell them how to do it.  But I’m not going to go there with this post.

Since I’m feeling generous tonight I thought I would post one of my helpful answers here:

Determine your price. Take into account that the sales in your area most likely have a commission built into the sales price and adjust yours accordingly.  Be prepared to receive low offers. Have your title company or attorney lined up. Line up a couple of lenders to qualify buyers. Get the proper disclosures and have offers to purchase available. Make sure you have plats or surveys available. You might want to have an inspection done. Go ahead and take care of any issues the inspector finds. Make the inspection report available. Declutter. Get rid of all the personal stuff like all the kids photos. Rent a storage building if you have too. Take care of any work to the house that needs to be done. Make sure landscaping is in good shape and house has best curb appeal possible. Advertise it everywhere you can think of. Know the law on advertising, what you can and can’t say in your ads.  Keep it in showing condition at all times. Do not make viewings difficult. You will need to be readily accessible and available to show.

Risks: You shoulder all of the liability. If you check lawsuits involving real estate, most are FSBO (can’t remember the actual stat). If you have a buyer and a seller who don’t know what they are doing, someone is going to get mad and feel they have been wronged.

Be very very careful when showing the house. It’s sad to say but the criminal element is targeting homes for sale. REALTORS® are being lured to homes to show to people they have never met and are being killed, raped and robbed. Criminals will see the house then come back later, break in and clean it out. A couple will come to the house. Then they split up. While you are showing to one of them the other cleans out jewelry boxes and medicine cabinets. So be sure you know who you are showing it too. If you get a bad feeling, trust it. REALTORS® can have the potential buyers meet at their office where the staff or others will see them. Some offices make it a policy to get a copy of the buyers drivers license prior to showing homes to them. If they have ulterior motives they will normally not agree to meeting in public. You don’t have that option.

Be prepared to list it with a REALTOR®. 3 out of 4 FSBO’s list their home after 3 months of trying to do it themselves.

Of course, this is very simplified but it answers the question.  It’s not rocket science but it’s not as easy as the above makes it sound.  It’s about marketing, education, experience and resources.  If you are one of the three out of four who eventually list with a REALTOR®, make sure you hire someone who has all of these qualities in order to get the job done!  

Interest rates compliments of:

Credit Scoring is already a confusing enough topic to understand. One of the most common myths about credit scores is that there is only one credit score. Web sites or financial advisors who claim there is only one “real” credit score are either misinformed or are being misleading. In fact, there are many different credit scores used by lenders – some estimate more than 1,000 – although some scores are used more predominantly than others. There are even some check approval services that have also develop risk models and scoring that are based on check writing patterns in order to predict the risk of a particular check being returned. The most commonly used credit score is a credit risk score. A credit risk score is designed to assist lenders by predicting whether or not a consumer will pay their bills on time in the future. The most common credit risk score is designed and developed by a company called Fair Isaac Corporation. This Minneapolis based company builds the industry standard “FICO” score.

There are many different places where consumers can purchase their credit reports and credit scores however not all of the scores being sold are, in fact, the authentic FICO score.  You may also have more than one FICO score as each of the three major credit reporting agencies collect and report information in slightly different ways; since your credit score from each agency only uses the information contained in that agency’s report, it’s possible to have three different scores.

When you are shopping online for your credit reports and credit scores be sure that the score you are buying is branded as the authentic FICO® Credit Score. These can be purchased through various reputable web sites such as http://www.myfico.com. 

Most people get a shock and a laugh as they round one of the lower curves on Signal Mountain Blvd headed up the mountain when they see the Space House for the first time.

The Space House was built by Curtis King in the early 70′s.  Some of us can remember how everyone was dying to see the inside of it.  There were people lined up to go inside during an open house Curtis had after completion.  Surprisingly there were quite a few UFO homes built across the country.  I’m not sure how many of them are still standing but our Signal Mountain Space House is not only standing but is still a private residence.

November 2006-February 2007 : Dive into Winter: Visitors will see comical diving ducks, colossal catfish and ravenous sharks eat from divers’ hands at scheduled times. Visitors can also see how the Aquarium’s river otters dine. Tennessee Aquarium 

November 23-December 25, 2006 : North Pole Limited, Tennessee Valley Railroad: Trains run on select evenings from Thanksgiving through Christmas. These popular trips sell out well in advance. Enjoy a trip to the "North Pole" pulled by a steam locomotive with refreshments, storytelling, caroling, visits by Santa Claus, and other surprises!

November 25-December 8, 2006 : Winter Days and Lights: Downtown Chattanooga is the place to be for your holidays! Chattanooga’s central business district puts on its Christmas best at the Grand Illumination. Festivities during this time include an Appalachian Christmas, Christmas on the River, Breakfast with Santa and the Holiday Starlight Parade.

November-December 2006 : Chattanooga Choo Choo’s Victorian Nights: The Chattanooga Choo Choo offers special packages for the Holiday season, including rides aboard the Tennessee Valley Railroad’s Polar Express.

November 24 – December 23, 2006 : Christmas Carol Dinner Cruises: Join the singing deckhands for a special selection of Christmas carols, live
entertainment, prime rib and shrimp creole, and a visit from the man in the big red suit!

December 16: Chickamauga Christmas Special, Tennessee Valley Railroad: Rail excursion to Chickamauga, GA for a holiday dinner.

Year-Round – Tennessee Aquarium IMAX Theater with a 12,000-watt sound system, projector the size of a small car and giant screen for both standard and 3-D films. For current films and showtimes, call (800) 262-0695 or visit the website 

Year Round – Tennessee River Park System – Coolidge Park, Northshore featuring carousel, pavilion, interactive play fountain and open spaces. Renaissance Park, adjacent to Coolidge Park, 23-acre urban wetlands promoting “outdoor Chattanooga” and a nature trail. Ross’s Landing Park, newly renovated park on the south shore featuring a river pier, marina, natural amphitheatre and Chattanooga Green. Tennessee Riverwalk, a 10-mile path stretching from the downtown riverfront to Tennessee Riverpark and Chickamauga Dam.
 
Year Round – Hang Gliding, Lookout Mountain Flight Park, watch, fly tandem or learn.

Year-Round – Ruby Falls open daily 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on scenic Lookout Mountain featuring the world’s highest underground waterfall dropping 145 feet, and
caverns.

Year Round – Vaudeville Café, Murder Mystery Dinner Shows, comedy, downtown, Thursdays and Fridays at 7 p.m. and Saturdays at 6 p.m. 
. 
Year Round – Excursions aboard the Tennessee Valley Railroad, daily excursions, $12 for adults, $6 for children, Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum.

Year-Round – Rock City Gardens, opens 8:30 a.m. and closing varies by season, featuring massive rock formations, gardens with more than 400 different native plant species, see 7 states panoramic view, Fairyland Caverns and Mother Goose Village.