Chattanooga Real Estate Blog

Lots going on this Labor Day weekend

Aug. 6-Nov. 6
Alan Shuptrine Fine Art presents Copperplate Etchings by Stephen Scott Young (Gold Leaf Designs & Gallery, 2646 Broad Street, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37408)

Sept. 3
Red Bank Community Labor Day Barbeque (Red Bank City Park - behind Erlanger North)

A great site for Cincinnati Homes is www.amybsells.com.  Amy Broghamer is a REALTOR® who specializes in working with buyers and sellers in the Cincinnati luxury real estate market.

I found the site to be easy to navigate and full of information on Amy, her team and her listings.  It’s a little wordy but if you haven’t already made your mind up to contract with Amy then I highly recommend you take a few minutes and read the “Buyers” or “Sellers” page as is appropriate in your situation.  Both of these pages are excellent resumes for Amy. 

The “Resource” page has some pretty good information. I love the fact that there are links to crime data.  One thing I did find missing was school information.  In my experience schools are very important to buyers.  Even in the luxury market where children will most likely attend private schools; information on those schools is useful.

I always like a direct link to a “home search” from the home page when I am looking at a real estate site.  I didn’t think it was there at first glance but when I scrolled down I did find it.  Just me being lazy

Overall www.amybsells.com is an excellent source for buyers and sellers in the Cincinnati area.

This is a paid review of www.amybsells.com from ReviewMe!.®

Unfortunately all we hear about is how bad the market is.  Everything isn’t terrible, in fact it’s a great time to be a buyer.
A few reasons:

1.  Plenty to choose from

There are more homes on the market now than there has been in ages so you have a huge selection to choose from.

2.  Rates are still good

While rates have inched up a little they are still pretty good if you have decent credit. 

3.  Favorable negotiations can be had

Sellers are offering incentives to buyers, reducing prices, and leaving appliances.  I know of one seller in Chattanooga who is offering a 2008 automobile to the person who buys their home!

Well, it’s that time again.  Time for the continuing saga of the Chattanooga real estate market.

Nothing new.  Sales continue to decrease (10% down from last month and 17% from July 2006) and available listings continue to increase (15% up from last July 2006).  Year to date we have about 9% fewer sales than last year. 

I guess they finally figured out people were getting smart about their old 419 scams so they are getting a little more creative. 

Renters and buyers often post phone numbers, instant messenger nicknames and e-mail addresses on forums along with specific descriptions of the kind of property they’re looking for.

This makes it easy for scammers to write proposals that will elicit further information, said Chris Boyd, security research manager for FaceTime Communications Inc., a security vendor.

Read the whole article here including links to some of the emails involved.  Amazing…

National Night Out is a a wonderful campaign that has been going on for 24 years to unite the public and the police against crime and drugs.  The NNO 2007 is tonight. 

The only community I am aware of locally who is participating is St. Elmo.   Pack a picnic dinner and take the family to the park in St. Elmo from 7 to 9.  In addition to meeting your neighbors and local law enforcement officers there will be balloons and activities for the kids.

If you live in one of those climates who has to endure heavy rains and damage to your home, we can help you water proof your home so that you don’t have to worry when it rains. One of the first things that you should do is caulk any cracks or leaks around windows or doors that would otherwise let the rain in. This is something that should be done every year. Hot sun in the summer can cause caulking to crack so before the rainy season hits then you should make your rounds.

Make a check of the trees that are on your property and pick up all of the dead branches and if you see any dead branches hanging, remove them before a storm hits with wind and these branches fall off. Another source of water build up is in the roof gutters, every three or four months you should clean out the gutters, leaves and branches could clog up the gutters and the water build up could actually rot out the roof making it susceptible for collapse.

If you have a swimming pool, try to lower the water level so when it rains the rainwater won’t overflow the pool area and cause some flooding. You should also check your sewer traps and make sure they plugged with check valves. These check valves will lead the water in only one direction so the water flows away from your home rather than inside of it. When you know you are expected a very heavy rain, if you have an automatic sprinkler, try to remember to turn off them off so you don’t flood out your lawn.

If you have a sump pump you should make sure it is working and you should have on hand sandbags and sand just in case you need them. Depending on where you live, fire departments will provide sandbags and you can go to the local masonry and buy some sand.

Any little bit helps when you are trying to protect your home even if it is from rain. Rain may not seem like a big deal but it can certainly do a lot of damage if you are not prepared.