Spotlight on 860 Belle Grove

When I first walked into 860 Belle Grove, I forgot I was in Farragut, TN. I felt as if  I was transported to the English countryside. The mix of modern convenience and Victorian renaissance intermingle to create a warm, inviting aura inside the vaulted entryway. Not one single detail was missed on this home, as the ambiance continues throughout the main level. The formal living room houses a fireplace with a hand-cast limestone mantel, as well as a lockable libation station, fit for any nobleman to stash the best of his ports.. The hallway to the 3-car garage passes through the formal dining area, marked by towering Italian-inspired archways. The ceilings are exquisite, with cove lighting and hand-painted accents. The kitchen, complete with the highest-quality finishes including copper sinks and Wolf appliances, opens to the Family Room and the access to the outdoor living spaces. The Master Suite is full of light and has an adjacent office or library complete with another hand-cast limestone mantel. The Master en suite is a spa-like setting, with a deep, soaker tub inset by columns, a glass, walk-in shower, dual sinks, a dressing table, and a closet that most women will only find in their dreams.

This is just the first level of the home. I have not even mentioned the amazing outdoor living spaces this home has to offer. Just take a look at the splendid spaces for entertaining or everyday family enjoyment:

Just looking at these photos creates a mental journey to summer barbecues,garden parties, and family celebrations. I can imagine a couple sharing romantic evenings under the stars by the outdoor fireplace. This home is truly magnificent in every aspect, and in Farragut, TN, this home is truly a private escape to the European countryside every time you turn the key on the front door.

For more information and photos of this stunning home, click here: http://goo.gl/jY9BT

Putting Yourself Out There...

Someone posed a question in a technology seminar I was in today: "When was your first memorable encounter with a computer?" The crowd was a mix of generations, and everyone's experiences were very different. For me, being in my early 30s, I remembered having Macintosh computers in 5th grade, playing Oregon Trail and just hoping my oxen wouldn't die before I reached Wyoming. But for others, they were much further into adulthood, when they first navigated the mysterious realms of DOS, Windows, and the Internet. 

I remember when my parents purchased our first home computer when I was in the 8th grade, and I also remember buying my first computer at the ripe age of 19, living in my first apartment. This was the same computer that I used to perform the home search leading to the purchase of my first home. 

As time progresses and the world becomes more and more at our fingertips via smart phones, tablets, and everywhere-internet, the shift to internet and social-media home searches will continue to flourish and grow. Right now, the statistic is staggering already, and the percentage will only continue to rise. According to Inman News Jan 8, 2013: 

Consumers’ online experiences are increasingly influencing their homebuying activity offline, according to a joint study from search giant Google and the National Association of Realtors.

The report, "The Digital House Hunt: Consumer and Market Trends in Real Estate," includes custom research from NAR’s 2012 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers as well as internal Google data and research conducted by Google and third-party marketing firm Compete.

Real estate-related searches on Google.com rose 253 percent over the past four years and 22 percent on annual basis in the third quarter, according to internal Google data. Of the latter, about one-fifth of such searches occurred on mobile devices — a 120 percent year-over-year increase.

Nine out of 10 house hunters searched online during the homebuying process with 52 percent choosing that as their first step in the process, the report said. Those who used search engines were 9 percent more likely to take an action on a real estate brand website than those who did not search and those who searched performed an average of 11 searches prior to taking an action, the report said.

Google and Compete tracked the behavior of users who completed a specific desired "conversion activity" at a real estate website during second-quarter 2011 and second-quarter 2012.

These activities included registering to buy or sell a home, sharing a listing, submitting a lead form, using a mortgage calculator, viewing a contact phone number, or viewing directions to a home or agent office. Google and Compete backtracked 90 days from the time a user completed one of these actions to uncover behavior patterns that lead to the activity.

- See more at: Inman.com

So, when listing your home, it is important to consider the online exposure the listing will have to potential buyers. Here are some suggested questions to ask your agent:

What websites will my listing be published on, besides the area MLS?

Do you participate in any Craigslist advertising?

Do you have social media sites where you publish your listings? If so, which ones? (NOTE: Facebook is fine, but it is more about friends than business... Facebook Pages is a great utility, as is Twitter, Pinterest, Google +, and Youtube.)

Do you blog? What is your blog address, so I can follow your blog? 

This is a great jumping-off point, to see if your listing will be placed where it needs to be:  at the nimble fingertips of potential home buyers right where they are looking:  the wonderful, mysterious, and widely-used world of the internet and social media. 

Compiled by: 

Jessica Borden, Executive Assistant, The Creel Group @ Keller Williams Realty

Follow The Creel Group on Twitter: @KWCreelGroup and Jessica Borden @Jessleighborden. 

Things to Consider When Listing Your Home

So, you may have reached a crossroads, which leads to putting your house on the market. Whether it be caused by relocation, a life event, retirement, or just the desire for change, there are many things to consider, when looking for a real estate professional. What do you do NOW??

Every real estate agent offers the ability to list your home, but what you really want is a real estate agent who is seasoned, professional, and market-savvy. And let's face it, you want the real estate agent who is going to bring top dollar for your property. 

So when you are looking for an agent, these are some things that you might want to consider, as well as some of the reasons why The Creel Group is the choice of many of your Knoxville, TN friends and neighbors:

Communication
Your needs always come first. We provide the service we agree to, in the ways that work for you,
whether once a week, once a day, by phone, email or text message. That's how we'll do it. 
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You'll always be kept in the loop. From listing to closing, you'll know the status of our
marketing efforts, the offers on the table and the steps leading to a successful closing once an
offer is accepted. Our concierge service allows showings to be set for your property at any time, and our full-time Executive Administrator is available for contact Monday-Friday 8:30-5. We have a daily agent on call, who is ready and available to meet the needs of listing and sales interest, as it comes. We are truly equipped to meet all the needs of each client 7 days a week!
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Experience and Expertise
The complexities of your real estate transaction will be well-handled. Smoothing the way for
your listing and sale, we will capably remove many potential challenges before they have the
opportunity to appear. We also have in place the most state-of-the art technology in electronic signatures, creating great ease in send and receipt of documents for both listings and sales. Now, we can put the documents you need at your fingertips from the office to to the coffee shop to the stay-at-home mom and even to 30,000 feet up, for the business traveler. 
.
Marketing
Your home will get the exposure it deserves. Our marketing systems maximize your property's
exposure to buyers. Neighborhood tracking tools and automated buyer calling systems allow
us to reach active buyers who want to know about your listing. Not only do we participate in traditional marketing campaigns, but we are socially connected. Social connection puts your property into the fastest-growing home shopping demographic! From Facebook to Twitter to Pinterest to Google+ to YouTube, your property will be viewed and shared by our social media family and beyond!
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Pricing
Your home will be priced right, adjusted as needed, and will sell quickly. With a keen
understanding of both the big picture and the very latest local and neighborhood listing and
sales data, the information you need is at our fingertips.
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Staging
Your home will put its best foot forward. Homes sell because of correct pricing and great
presentation. We know what it takes to make the terrific first impression that will get your home
sold. We have professional home stagers available to create the atmosphere that buyers are looking for in a home. 
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Satisfaction
I'll guarantee your satisfaction. Our relationship is dependent on meeting and exceeding your
needs. We identify those needs together, and my cancellation guarantee protects your right to
end our relationship if you're disappointed.

The Creel Group realizes it can feel like the details are endless when you're selling a property. It is our job to streamline the process for you, ensuring everything is completed as quickly and
efficiently as possible. Here's an overview of the steps we'll be taking along the way.
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Communication makes all the difference.
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You'll always know what's going on behind the scenes while your property is listed.
We will solicit feedback from each consumer and agent who views your property, passing
their comments on to you.
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We will work together to formulate a price adjustment strategy that sees us through
your listing period. You'll receive regular progress reports, delivered as frequently as
you request. Whether you prefer a phone call or an email, that's what you'll get.
.
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Prepare your home for a successful sale.
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More and more sellers today are seeing the value of investing in a pre-inspection
on the property they are preparing to list. Whether or not you are confident in the
condition of the home, an inspection can either give us professional, third-party
validation or reveal issues you should attend to before listing your property – issues a
buyer inspection could surface later, making them part of the final price negotiation.
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We will evaluate the current state of your property and arrange home staging. Any
repairs or improvements needed to maximize your home's value and appeal will be
identified and scheduled.

Price determination:  let's begin with this direct statement:

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We are not the ones who decides how much your home is worth. The market does.
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It tells us exactly where to price your property to sell and how to approach the marketing
of it. Here are the factors that will affect the value in today's market:
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Price
Pricing your home properly from the start is the deciding factor on how long it will take
to sell it.
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Location
Location is the single most important factor in determining the value of your property.
.
Condition
The condition of the property affects the price and the speed of the sale. As prospective
buyers often make purchases based on emotion, first impressions are important. We will be
able to help in optimizing the physical appearance of your home to maximize the buyer's
perception of value.
.
Competition
Prospective buyers are going to compare your property – both the condition and the
price – to other listings in and around your neighborhood. Those buyers will determine
value based on properties that are listed or have recently sold in the area.
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Timing
Property values are affected by the current real estate market. Because we can't
manipulate the market, we'll collaborate on a pricing and marketing strategy that will take
advantage of the first 30 days your property is listed. It's the window of opportunity when
buyers and their agents discover your property and are most likely to visit and make offers.

So, now we have a picture of the listing process, and how The Creel Group, part of Keller Williams Knoxville, TN, is set apart from the rest. These listing steps are as outlined in our listing presentation. But listing with The Creel Group is so much more than just a process of steps, but a relationship built upon the foundation that we will sell your home with the care and concern, as if it were our own.  

Later this week, we will discuss how buyers find YOUR home, once it is listed. 

Housing market and global uncertainty help U.S. economy -- for now

By Lou Barnes | Inman News – Thu, Apr 4, 2013 8:00 PM EDT

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Well, well, well. All week long, anxiety on several fronts had suppressed optimism and rates, but news of faltering job creation in March has produced a case of the quaking bejabbers.

Four weeks ago the 10-year T-note traded above 2.05 percent, presumably headed moonward, today 1.69 percent. The mortgage move has been smaller, but fears of 4 percent-plus have been replaced by hopes for 3.5 percent.

The stock-market guys joined by housing boosters had talked themselves into a sustainable flow of 250,000 new jobs each month, and the Fed nearing the QE exit. The 88,000 jobs reported today for March were half the forecast, but these forecasts are notoriously useless, and the error range in the report is as wide as the miss itself.

Those two fell-better thoughts cannot offset the worry that the good numbers last winter were the error, and this March report is the real deal. The Economic Cycle Research Institute's Lakshman Achuthan has taken a fearsome beating for a recession call 16 months ago and published a defense last month -- which predicted exactly today's pattern: a yo-yo economy not really going anywhere. The Fed and some others fear a yo.

Most other data softened, led by the twin Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reports for March: manufacturing to 51.3 versus 54 forecast, and the service-sector to 54.4 versus 56. New claims for unemployment insurance jumped at the end of March, confirming today's weak data.

But there is good news, a lot of it. Some straightforward, but most, bizarre. Straight: our trade deficit is shrinking because oil imports are falling, and every attractive housing market is in full-go auction conditions. I still don't think housing can pull the economy very far or fast, not in these credit conditions, but the improvement is relieving fear with lots of stunned and pale people crawling out of bunkers they've been in since Lehman.

Treasurys began to do better in late March for other reasons: Europe and Japan. Europe's next step, if it holds together, will be the European Central Bank entering a quantitative easing phase over German objections. Europeans facing haircuts at banks, or money-printing with greater inflation risk there than here, or a free-falling euro, move cash to dollar assets. That supports our markets, the dollar, and further reduces our inflation risk.

Japan announced QE-cubed yesterday, as everyone knew was coming. The Bank of Japan will buy the U.S.-economy equivalent of $200 billion in its own bonds every month until it flips deflation to inflation and ignites its economy. The issue is the nature of the torching. If it wins, it keeps its bond yields low, inflation above those rates (as here), gets the economy going fast enough to generate tax revenue, gets gross domestic product growing faster than borrowing, and in another 20 or 40 years has sustainable finances.

If Japan fails in this miracle ... If? Monetary stimulus does nothing to fix a demographic disaster, nor a rigid economy, nor a leadership structure resembling 12th century feudal Europe. Yen assets are moving to dollar ones, and may flood this way.

This week's last anxiety: North Korea. It pushed some money here, but it doesn't belong on the top 20 list of U.S. worries. China's problem. Your idea, your potato.

For the time being emergency action by the ECB and BoJ help us. But we're on Fed life-support ourselves. Many wise voices rise now to say that we can't do this forever, QE already a diminishing return. What are we going to do for fundamental repair?

Might begin by paying attention. Control of firearms is not a top priority. Do not waste time and energy by using economic issues to angle for political advantage.

"Infrastructure investment" is a dead end, a euphemism for good ol' pork barrel waste. Investments must have measurable returns. We're stuck with austerity, demand-stimulus no longer available, and must calibrate and allocate ever so carefully.

Be smart and cheap at the same time. Get going on health care cost control. Don't wait for Obamacare to founder. Same for higher education and education reform. Not just "more money." How best to deliver -- in an information technology world -- the skills necessary at all levels of the workforce and talent? And have a sense of urgency. Please.

Participation rate reflects a mob of Americans dropping out. Not so bad for a year or two at 20 in 1967. Now? We need every citizen to contribute. At work.

Graph via Calculated Risk Blog. 

Lou Barnes is a mortgage broker and nationally syndicated columnist based in Boulder, Colo. He can be reached at lbarnes@pmglending.com.

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