House to Home Nashville Real Estate Podcast

Spring is finally here! I know that many of you will be listing your home soon, so today I want to clue you in to four things you can do to give your home even more value before you put your home on the market. 1. Make your home picture perfect. Get rid of all that clutter—get rid of all that mail and clean the countertops off. Give the rest of your home a good cleaning as well to make it ready to go for the market. Once you’ve finished with that, walk around your home with a pen and paper and make a list of minor repairs that can be made. We call that a “punch-out list.” If you’re not handy yourself, it’s worth hiring someone to come out and handle those for you. Following that, make an appointment to talk with a designer so that they can help you stage your home. As my client, we would provide you with a free consultation to help you figure out what you’d need to do. It might be as easy as moving furniture around or adding a piece here and there. When you’ve got the place looking photo-ready, hire someone to do some professional photography. More than 95% of buyers start their process online, so you’ll really want to make a good impression. “More than 95% of buyers start their process online, so you’ll really want to make a good impression.” 2. Start packing. This will open up the home and make it look bigger. Get your larger items out of the house; put them in the garage if you have to. Getting a headstart on packing will also save you some time—in this seller’s market, homes are selling really quickly.3. Focus on the curb appeal. Many clients will pass over a home if it doesn’t have the curb appeal they’re looking for. Talk to a landscaper to have them help you make your yard as enticing as possible.4. Give your backyard a lifestyle. Arrange your backyard so that buyers can come in and get a good feel for what it would be like to live in that home. Additions like a fire pit, some chairs, or lounging couches would really entice buyers to want to use the space. If you have any other questions about what you can do to add value to your home before you list it, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I can refer you to resources we work with on a regular basis to help you maximize the value of your home.

There are four surprising things that may increase the value of your home: The color blue. Studies show that if you paint your kitchen and bathrooms blue (usually a light blue), then you’ll get more for your home. Trendy features. Things like barn doors, farmhouse sinks, and other trendy home items can increase the value of your listing. Be sure to include these features in the listing description.“Studies show that having mature trees in your front yard especially will boost your home’s value.” Mature trees. Studies show that having mature trees (in your front yard especially) will boost your home’s value. If you’re thinking of cutting them down, you may want to reconsider. Being near a professional sports stadium. We happen to have one coming into Nashville, so if you’re in about a two-and-a-half mile radius of that, then your home’s value will go up. If you have any questions about buying or selling real estate, please feel free to reach out to me. I look forward to hearing from you.

How does the new tax bill affect you as a homeowner? There is a lot of good news surrounding what changes took place, and there are five specific changes you need to know about. The first involves the capital gains tax. If you sell your home and have lived in it for two out of the last five years, you don’t have to pay capital gains tax. There was talk about changing this rule from two out of the last five years to five out of the last eight years, which would’ve made it more difficult to take advantage of this exemption, but they didn’t. The second change involves the mortgage interest deduction, which was capped at $750,000. Previously, you could deduct interest on mortgages for up to $1 million. So, if your mortgage is above $750,000, you won’t be able to deduct any interest. “You should see your taxes go down in 2018.” Third, the standard deduction was raised from $6,000 to $12,000 for single filers and from $12,000 to $24,000 for married couples. This change takes away some of the advantages you have when you itemize your property taxes and mortgage interest. It also creates more of a level playing field for owners and renters. Fourth, the personal exemption, which was $4,150, was repealed. This repeal is kind of a wash, though, considering the increase in the standard deduction. If you have children under the age of 16, this deduction was raised from $1,000 to $2,000 per child. Lastly, you can no longer deduct your moving expenses unless you’re a member of the U.S. armed forces. With these changes, you should see your taxes go down in 2018. If you have any questions about these changes or you’re thinking of buying or selling a home in our market, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d be glad to help you.

How did the Nashville real estate market do in 2017? Overall, the Nashville market is pretty solid. The number of homes sold went up over 4% year over year, and the average sale price also went up. It’s been a great year for real estate here in Nashville as people continue to move here. We are still in a seller’s market, as there are more buyers out there than sellers. What can you expect from the market in 2018? Interest rates are still at historic lows, but buyers need to keep an eye on them because they will go up at some point this year. Now may be a good time to lock in a low rate before they go up. I don’t expect them to go up too much, but they will go up in 2018.If you are thinking of selling your home, then we are still in need of more houses to come onto the market. There are more and more people coming to Nashville looking for homes, so you can definitely get a good price for your home right now. “There is still a shortage of inventory, so we need more houses on the market in 2018.” You should also look out for new construction. Will the new housing inventory help us catch up to the number of buyers in the market? There are a few pockets, like in East Nashville, where we are seeing an increase in new construction and houses are sitting on the market a little longer than other areas with less inventory. Of course, the new tax reforms will impact the real estate market. I’ll go over the tax reform bill in more detail in my next video. Overall, 2018 will be a strong year in real estate. The job market looks great, and new businesses are arriving all the time in Nashville. If you plan on buying or selling a home in 2018 or you have any questions about the market in your specific neighborhood, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you.

Today I’m answering the question of, “How does the Nashville real estate market look right now in the fourth quarter of 2017?” I’ve taken a look at the latest numbers and I’d like to share them with you: Sales are down by 1.7% in the last month, but they are up 4.2% from this time last year. Homes are spending an average of just 27 days on the market. However, this number varies depending on the neighborhood you’re in. The median sale price for single-family homes is up 6.4% from last year. It has gone from $261,000 to $277,642. The median sale price for condos is up 11.8%, from $181,00 to $208,000. “We’re continuing to see a strong seller’s market” As you can see, we continue to be in a strong seller’s market here in Nashville. Our inventory remains low, our interest rates remain low, and it’s a good time to enter the market whether you’re thinking of buying, selling, or both. If you have any questions about what the numbers look like in your specific area, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I would love to hear from you.

As many of you probably know, the credit reporting agency Equifax was recently hacked. 145 million Americans were affected, and data such as names, addresses, social security numbers, birth dates, and driver’s license information were leaked. The reason why this is such a big problem is mainly that people with access to this information could apply for fake tax returns and rob you of what is rightfully yours. They could also rack up credit card debt. If you’re trying to buy a home, taking out a loan will become much more difficult if someone else is causing these kinds of problems for your credit. So, how can you figure out if you have been hacked? What can you do to protect yourself? The first step is to go to www.Equifax.com and type in your name. From there, you’ll be able to find out if you may have been one of the people who was hacked. “145 million Americans were affected by the recent Equifax hack.” Of course, the catch is that Equifax will try to get you to enroll in their premier ID. This would monitor your credit, but I personally recommend that you sign up for at www.CreditKarma.com instead. With Credit Karma, you’ll receive free credit score monitoring and will be alerted if anything suspicious occurs. The second step you can take is to freeze your credit. I used to make fun of my parents for doing this, but now I believe this is absolutely warranted. This service is free through Equifax, but other credit reporting agencies will actually charge you between $3 and $10 to freeze or unfreeze your credit. Also, don’t forget to freeze your children’s credit. Since they have a social security number, then they are still vulnerable. However, you should still talk to your lender before freezing your credit. Also remember that you can sign up for 90-day fraud alert, which might be easier than freezing your credit. If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Investing in real estate is no longer restricted to the super wealthy. According to a recent survey, real estate investors now make up 15% of the population. That translates to almost 50 million individuals who invest in at least one property other than their primary residence. In fact, 89% of U.S. investors are interested in putting their money in real estate because of benefits such as cash flow, tax incentives, leverage, and value appreciation that come with investing in multiple properties. Are you curious about investing in real estate? If so, here are five different ways you can get started: 1. Buy and rent This is probably the most traditional way to invest in real estate. It simply involves buying a property and renting it out. Now is a good time for this kind of investing because rental rates are on the rise (8% since last year) but the downside of this investing approach is the time and effort needed to manage and maintain your investment. 2. Buy and sell Also known as home flipping, this involves buying a property and reselling it soon after for a profit. Home flipping has offered a record-breaking 49% return in 2016. 3. Real estate investment groups Real estate investment groups are organizations that buy a set of properties and then sell them to individual investors. The main benefit of this approach is that you typically do not need to act as the landlord because the investment group handles property management for you (for a fee of course). “Home flipping offered a record-breaking 49% return in 2016.” 4. Crowdfunding sites Recently, there’s been an explosion of sites such as Prosper and Lending Club, which allow individuals to invest in various real estate development projects. Through crowdfunding sites, you can be a part of a large-scale property investment while investing only a moderate amount of money. On the other hand, crowdfunding sites act as a middleman and charge fees which can eat into your profits. 5. REITs Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are like mutual funds for real estate.They typically pay high dividends. However, they also do not offer all of the typical benefits of investing in real estate, such as increased leverage and tax benefits. Each of these investing approaches offers a tradeoff between possible profits, risks, and costs. The one constant is that you can minimize your risks with due diligence and by consulting with an experienced real estate professional. If you have any questions for us or you’re interested in investing in real estate yourself, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you.

I just wanted to stop by quickly today and offer you a few tips to help you save on your energy bills this summer. Sometimes all it takes is a little fix to bring that bill way down. Here are seven things for you to consider: 1. Plug and fill any holes. Seal those window or door gaps with caulk or foam. If you have an external A/C unit, make sure that’s sealed tight as well. Fewer leaks will allow your HVAC system to run a lot more efficiently. 2. Close your shades. Sunlight heats your home when it doesn’t need to be, especially while you’re gone during the day. 3. Make sure your air filters are cleaned every 30 days. This will ensure that your air flow isn’t restricted in any way. 4. Program your thermostat. Getting a smart or programmable thermostat can save you a ton. Whenever you aren’t home, you can keep the home at more energy-efficient temps. “A smart thermostat is a wise investment.” 5. Unplug unused appliances. They still use energy even if you aren’t technically using them. Turn them off to save a bit of coin. 6. Switch out old light bulbs for new, energy-efficient ones. They don’t use as much energy or put off as much heat. 7. Look at the Energy Star ratings of your new appliances before you buy them. This can save you a lot of money over time. These are just a few of our tips for lowering those bills and making the summer a bit more affordable for you. If you have any questions in the meantime, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you.

How do you know if a short-term rental like Airbnb is right for you? This is a hot topic here in the Nashville area right now. First, be aware that you need a permit to have an Airbnb property.Visit the Nashville metro government website’s pageto learn what you’ll need to apply for one. It will cost you $50 and you’ll want to download the QLESS app, which will allow you to get in line at the office. You also want to be sure you have insurance for it. Airbnb offers you a $1 million per occurrence once you put your house on their site, which you’ll need to apply for a permit. Be prepared for a lengthy process. You also only have to apply for an owner-occupied permit right now, meaning you have to live in the home. There’s a vote coming up to get rid of all non-owner-occupied permits by the end of 2019, so you can’t even apply for one at this time. “You can only seek an owner-occupied property permit.” Keep the taxes in mindtoo, as you’ll have to pay hotel occupancy taxes and some others; there are monthly and quarterly taxes to pay. It’s a lot of paperwork, so it can be helpful to hire someone to help you stay on top of it all. Finally, you need to consider the logistics of how it will actually work with your home. As an owner-occupied short-term rental property will you rent out a room, or leave when you have guests? Will you rent it out for CMA Fest or the Stanley Cup next year when the Predators make it back again? Will you rent it only when you’re on vacation yourself? The best case scenario is having a house with basically a basement apartment and a second entrance. This kind of rental can really help bring in some extra income to help pay for things like your mortgage or vacations. If you have any questions about this or any other topics in the real estate world here in Nashville, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email soon. I’d be glad to help.

Our market is crazy right now, and multiple offer situations are becoming more and more common. Sellers are really in the driver’s seat, so you have a great chance to get the price and terms that you want in this market. However, if you receive multiple offers on your home, there are a few things to consider in order to pick the best one: 1. Is the highest offer always best? Price is obviously an important factor to consider, but you need to look at how much money the buyer is bringing to the table. Is the buyer using 100% financing with no money down? Are they an FHA buyer who can offer 3.5% down? Or is the buyer using a conventional loan with 5% or 20% down? Look at those down payments because that will tell you how much buying power the buyers actually have. 2. Will your home appraise for the price being offered?Look at the market around you to see what similar houses have sold for in the last six months. If you choose an offer that is too high and the appraisal comes in low, then the buyer will likely ask you to reduce the sales price to the appraised value. That’s just another reason why it’s not always best to take the higher offer.  “Higher offers may not appraise.” 3. What type of contingencies are in the contract? You want to find a clean offer. Are they asking for a 30-day closing or 60-day attraction? Do they need to sell their home in order to purchase yours? If so, make sure their home is already on the market and find out what the average days on market is for their neighborhood. We just had one prospective buyer who offered a high sales price but since their offer was contingent on the sale of their home, our seller went with a lower offer in order to avoid dealing with that. Once you review all of the offers, you can decide whether you want to go into a multiple offer situation. You can tell all of your prospective buyers to send in their best and final offers by a certain time of day. However, keep in mind that not all buyers will want to be in a bidding war, so you may lose a few offers. If you don’t want to go this route, you can pick one offer and counter. Either way, we can still help you get the highest and best offer for your home. If you have any other questions about selling your home in this crazy market, just give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!

If you’re trying to buy a home here in Nashville, how do you compete against multiple offers on the same home? The home’s listing agent will usually tell you that there are multiple offers and ask everyone for the best and final offer. You’ll have no idea what the other buyers have offered. The first thing I recommend is to keep your offer clean with as few contingencies as possible. For example, don’t ask the seller to cover closing costs if you’re able to cover them. Don’t ask for a home warranty either, as you can always pay for one of your own. You could also refrain from asking the seller to pay title fees, which can cost up to $2,500 depending on the price of the home. Obviously the purchase price is a big deal too, so you want to go in with the strongest price you can. Secondly, I recommend putting down as much money on your home loan as possible. Putting down 5% instead of 3.5% or 20% instead of 10% makes your offer stronger, especially if you’re competing against any cash offers. You can also put down more trust money, which would go toward closing in the end anyway. This shows the seller that you have a lot of buying power. “Price is always a big part, so come in with your strongest offer price.” You could also use an escalation clause, which is becoming so popular in the Nashville market that I’d say about half the offers in multiple offer situations have them. It’s a stipulation in an offer that says you’re willing to pay a certain amount more (say a $500 increment) than the next highest offer up to a certain amount. That way you don’t have to bid all the way up to the absolute highest amount you’re willing to pay right away, but $500 over the next highest bidder, up to a maximum point. Finally, you can write a personal letter to the seller about how much you love the house and how you and your family would use it. You can really pull at their heartstrings with a personal letter. If you have any other questions about winning a home in a multiple offer situation, you can always give me a call or send me an email. I’m here to help.

Just how accurate are Zillow’s home value estimates, or Zestimates? You first have to understand where Zillow gets its data for the Zestimates from. Public tax records show things like the number of bedrooms and bathrooms and the square footage. If you own a home, you can also log into Zillow and manually update information about it. You can enter if you have granite countertops or new hardwood floors and they’ll increase your Zestimate. Zillow combines this into a general value of your home in your neighborhood. However, people don’t always go on Zillow and enter what they’ve done to their home. If not, Zillow has no way of knowing if you added 500 square feet, for example. They can’t keep up with the exact data. They can’t account for your neighbor’s home, either. The Zestimate can be a good general starting point to get an idea of what your home is worth, but it’s not an appraisal or an exact price. You don’t want to use it to price your house. “The Zestimate can be a good general starting point, but it’s not an appraisal.” So how far off are they really? The median error is 5%, so half of the homes on Zillow will be under 5% off the sales price. The other half are off by more than 5%. It may not seem like much, but for a $350,000 house, the sales price could be off by $17,500. To get a true market value of your home, you need to consult a real estate professional who does it every day. We look at all the specific data, not just general tax records. We consider the age, size, condition, updates, materials, and other similar homes in the area, to name a few details. The smaller details are how we keep from overpricing or underpricing your home. If you’d like to know what your home is worth or you’re thinking about buying or selling a home the Nashville market, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I’d be glad to help.

What happens if you sell your house before you find your next one? It’s a tough situation that can happen to almost anyone since most people need to sell their current house in order to buy the next one. In a seller’s market like we’re currently seeing in Nashville, the problem is that if your offer on a home has a sale contingency and you’re competing against three or four other offers, the others might have an advantage. There are a few ways we help buyers avoid this issue. The first is to go out and start looking at properties so you can be sure there are a few things out there that you like. That way, you won’t have to hesitate when the time comes to write an offer. From there, my next recommendation is to put your house on the market and try to get a contract. The good thing about a seller’s market is that you as the seller have a little bit more control over the contract. That means you can dictate those terms better. “You’ll have extra leverage as a seller in our market, which helps you get the terms you want.” Since you have extra leverage, I recommend that my clients push closing out 45 or 60 days rather than the usual 30. That’ll give you more time and less stress when finding your next home. Another option to bridge this gap would be a short-term rental, like Airbnb or VRBO. These are great options if you need to stay somewhere for a month or two while you find your next house, and they’re furnished. This will help you avoid having to move twice. My least favorite option is to ask the buyer of your home for a temporary occupancy agreement. You would close on the house but then stay in it for a specified amount of time. You’ll want to get renter’s insurance for your belongings since your homeowner’s insurance won’t cover your personal items once you close on the home. It can get messy, but it can work if you truly need that extra time to get into your new place. Each case is different, so don’t hesitate to give me a call if you have any questions. I’m always happy to help!

Now that 2017 is underway, I want to go over a few things you can expect to see in our real estate market. We are still in a strong seller’s market, which means we have more demand than supply. We’re seeing rising prices, multiple offer situations, and homes selling the second they hit the market. Sometimes, multiple offers can cause a home to sell for well above asking price. We saw a rise in interest rates around the election and my lender tells me we are right around the 4% to 4.5% range, which is still very low. So, what does this mean for buyers and sellers? “As a buyer, be smart, be quick, and be aggressive.” As a buyer, you’ll want to be knowledgeable about the market. You’re going to want to keep a close eye on what’s hitting the market so you can get there quickly to see it and make an offer if you like it. You also have to be very aggressive as a buyer in this market. If there are not multiple offers on a property right away, there probably will be, so you want to make your first offer your best. You don’t want to spend time trying to negotiate as that would give other people time to send an offer in. If you’re a seller, right now is a great time to list your home. In fact, there are fewer than 2,000 homes for sale in Davidson County. You can price it in a great range and it will more than likely sell quickly with multiple offers on the table. Our market is projected to be one of the hottest in 2017. If you are looking to buy or sell a home, or if you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out to me with a phone call or a quick email. I look forward to hearing from you!