Chattanooga Real Estate

This week there was a terrific article that made it onto the news wires across the country and will be of great interest to most anyone shopping for a home.  Whether you are interested in buying real estate in Ooltewah, East Brainerd, East Ridge or Hixson, TN…it doesn’t matter.  Most home shoppers have heard that short sales are one way to possibly buy property below market or “get a deal.”  The problem is of course how long it can take to find out if your offer to the bank will be accepted or not.  This 50 to 100 plus day wait can be disheartening and frustrating.  Often buyers end up moving on to something else.  That is why Paul Owers of the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel’s article makes for good reading as the rules may be changed soon to force banks to make decisions on short sales much sooner.  You can read Paul’s article below:   New rules designed to speed up short sales Financially stressed homeowners left hanging while their banks consider whether to approve the short sales of their properties may benefit from new federal guidelines that give lenders a 10-day limit in which to respond to purchase offers.

 Hamilton County, within Chattanooga city limits has a curbside service, and they switched from weekly to monthly.   Outside city limits has none, until now.

Two enterprising young adults, Greg and Wendy Lawson planned for two years to offer recycling as simple as possible to the residents to all areas of Hamilton County, outside Chattanooga city limits. Their company is called GreenWorks.

They will offer a weekly service for glass, cell phones, computer and batteries. They also will accept aluminum cans, paper products, broken down cardboard, plastics #1 and #2,

Marketing a Chattanooga home to make it attractive to buyers isn’t just about staging the house or putting a For Sale sign up in the yard. In today’s real estate market, it’s important to reach out to a larger audience through various types of media. After all, buying and selling a home in the Hixson region means tapping into everything that people use on a daily basis: computers, newspapers, magazines, and more traditional real estate routes.

A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words

The following is the 2009 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers from the National Association of Realtors.  It is a compilation of the results of 9,138 surveys of buyers and sellers who sold or purchased a home between July 2008 and June 2009.  I will be more interested in seeing the July 2009 and forward to better reflect our current Chattanooga market.           

47% of buyers were first time buyers.        

The median age of all buyers was 39.        

83% of all first time buyers are under the age 44.         

62% of all buyers are under age 44.         

To  realize
The value of a sister/brother
Ask  someone
Who doesn’t have one.To realize
The value of ten  years:
Ask a newly
Divorced couple.  To realize
The value of four  years:
Ask a graduate.

Although new tax breaks and great housing prices in Chattanooga, Hixson and Ooltewah make buying a home easier and more cost-effective than ever before, it can still be a daunting task to undertake the path to home ownership. In addition to the stress of moving, you’re probably worrying about things like loan processing fees, down payments, mortgage options, and closing costs. Even with a financial advisor and a realtor at your side, these can add up to quite a bit of hard work!

Thanksgiving found my husband and me looking for an alternative dinner venue. We decided to visit the Delta Queen, Chattanooga’s latest and most unique floating hotel.
The buffet dinner was outstanding, wait staff most attentive, and live music a delight.
How dreary the weather had become, in direct contrast to how warm and inviting the boat was. We arrived a little early for our seating, affording us time to explore the beautiful accommodations and speak with the guests who were staying overnight.The Legendary Delta Queen, the last fully operational, overnight passenger steamboat in the country, is the newest landmark Chattanooga hotel. This grand lady had logged over two million miles, carried over half a million passengers and is the only boat to be inducted into the National Marine Hall of Fame while still in service. She has entertained Presidents, foreign dignitaries and a multitude of celebrities.

For many people living in or moving to TN, the best real estate purchase is one that combines the comfort of home with a piece of history. Buying a historic home in Chattanooga, Hixson or Ooltewah is fairly common in today’s market, thanks to an incredible real estate climate and one of the most dynamic historic districts in the state.

However, if you’re simply looking at the intricate architecture and are thinking how great it would be to own a piece of the city’s history, you might want to take a step back and consider all the work involved in becoming a historic home owner.

It’s that time of year.  Getting down to the wire on choosing gifts for family and friends. With these tight economic times, who would have thought that Fluffy would be included?

Well, the caring people at thirteen of our local animal clinics have done just that.  They have entered into a friendly competition to see which clinic can raise the most “wish list” items which will be donated to our two animal shelters. This is a community-wide donation drive for the Humane Educational Society and McKamey Animal Care and Adoption Center.

According to MSN Money, Doug and Kate Judd were ready to retire.  The only question that remained to be decided was where to go.  “We definitely wanted a friendlier climate,” says Doug, a former machine-tool-company employee, who like his wife had grown up in Milwaukee and spent his life nearby. Fans of outdoor activities, the couple wanted to spend more time hiking, canoeing and camping. 

Florida, the clichéd retirement destination, simply didn’t appeal. “The lifestyle there seemed a bit more sedentary, involving a lot of shopping,” Kate says. “I don’t think we’re retirement community material.