865 Real Estate

East Tennessee Real Estate & Neighborhood Source

What Are The Recent Price Trends For Homes In Farragut?

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The graphs knoxville home price trendsbelow show the recent trends in average prices of homes in Farragut, Tennessee.  By looking at the trends of active and sold homes in Farragut we can get an idea of whether prices are trending up or down.

This first graph looks at the active homes for sale in Farragut and how their average prices are trending.  We can see that prices of homes for sale in Farragut are most definitely trending upwards at a fairly steady pace with the average list price rising significantly over the last year.

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Information is deemed to be reliable, but is not guaranteed. © 2026

This second graph looks at the homes sold in Farragut and how their average prices are trending.  Sold prices of homes in Farragut are also up from one year ago, but stayed fairly steady between July and November.  The drop in the winter months is typical of the winter months but you can see that prices are gaining fast on the highs from the last year and will most likely surpass them with the hot Spring selling season upon us.

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What does this tell us?  For sellers, this is good news, as prices are rising. Therefore, it’s a good time to be selling your Farragut home for top dollar.  If you are looking to buy a home in Farragut, the time is now, as continuing to wait will most likely have you paying higher prices.  Couple this with what economists say will also be rising interest rates and that spells less affordability in the near future. To discuss your goals for selling a home in Farragut or buying a home in Farragut, contact me, Troy Stavros to set an appointment to sit down and plan a strategy.

Knoxville #5 On Forbes List Of America’s Most Affordable Cities

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Knoxville Forbes Most Affordable CitiesKnoxville, Tennessee is once again getting more attention in the national media.  A recent article by Forbes listed Knoxville as #5 on their 2014 America’s Most Affordable Cities list.  The reasons cited by the article leading to Knoxville’s ranking are:

  • A median home price of $140,000 (from the 4th quarter of 2013) which makes 77.4% of home affordable to families earning the local median income of $60,700.
  • Overall cost of living.  The dollar goes a lot further in Knoxville.  Not only in real estate but at places like gas stations and grocery stores as well.   Of all of the cities analyzed by Forbes, Knoxville came in as the most affordable in terms of daily expenses.

Interested in taking advantage of the affordable housing here in Knoxville?  Contact me, Troy Stavros to discuss your goals for buying a home in Knoxville.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE COMPLETE FORBES ARTICLE

What Will A 1% Difference In Your Mortgage Rate Save You?

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If you are in the process of buying a home in Knoxville or at least thinking about it, financing is also on your mind.   Unless you are planning to pay cash, you’re going to want to find the best deal and the lowest mortgage rate.  Knoxville mortgage rates can vary from lender to lender and also vary widely according to the type of mortgage and the length of the term.

“Although the difference in monthly payment between a 4.5 percent interest rate and a 5.5 percent interest is not as dramatic, your savings in interest paid over the life of the loan is significant,” said Erin Lantz, director of Zillow Mortgage Marketplace. “Mortgage rates will likely rise to 5 percent by the end of 2014 due to an improving economy and policy changes by the Federal Reserve. By buying a house while interest rates are still incredibly low, you could end up saving more than $52,000 over the course of 30 years.”

Image by Zillow Mortgage Marketplace

Knoxville Makes CNNMoney’s Top 10 Fastest Growing Cities List

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Knoxville Top 10 Fastest Growing CityMore positive news for our great city.  Knoxville made the CNNMoney Top 10 Fastest Growing Cities list.

The article showed that Knoxville has grown 33.1% in the timeframe between 2000-2010.  The biggest factor of it’s growth, as mentioned in the CNN article is that Knoxville currently has the best employment outlook in the nation.  Staffing firm ManpowerGroup stated that 25% of the Knoxville area employers said they expect to add jobs this spring.

The second big factor leading to the areas growth is the fact that Knoxville has excellent transportation options for large businesses.  The article cited the areas rail system, interstate roads, and the ability for barge traffic on the area waterways.

Other factors stated, that not only make Knoxville grow, but also a great place to live are:

  • Low cost of living
  • Low crime
  • Good public schools
  • Abundance of outdoor activities (mountains, lakes, streams, etc)

CLICK HERE to read the complete CNNMoney article.

If you are looking to buy or sell a home in this great city, just contact me, Troy Stavros to sit down and talk about your goals.

What Are The Steps To Buying A Home in Knoxville?

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What are the steps to buying a home in Knoxville?  While the process may be a bit intimidating, if you follow these steps it can be a fun and super rewarding experience.  Once you start skipping steps, you will find the process gets more difficult.  Here are the 12 steps to buying a home in Knoxville:

  • Step 1: Sit down with a real estate agent to discuss and analyze your wants and needs. This very important step can set the tone for the success of your home search.
  • Step 2: You and your Knoxville real estate agent establish a working relationship with each other.  You are officially a team!
  • Step 3: You speak with a lender and get pre-approved for financing.  This important step will help guide you so you make sure you are looking at homes you can afford.  The other option if you have the ability, is to pay cash.
  • Step 4: This is where the fun begins!  This is when you and your dedicated buyer specialist venture out in search of your next home.
  • Step 5:  You’ve found that special place you want to call your Knoxville home.
  • Step 6: You sit down with your Knoxville real estate agent to write up an offer, you write a check for your escrow deposit, and your agent gets the offer presented to the seller.  Negotiations begin.
  • Step 7: The seller accepts your offer.  Hurray! At this time you begin the home inspection process and work on removing any contingencies in your offer.
  • Step 8: You complete your full mortgage application.  This includes the lender pulling your full credit report, ordering an appraisal on the home you are buying, and verifying your employment and finances.
  • Step 9: Your loan goes into underwriting.  This is where the final decision is made on whether you get loan approval.  Underwriting can approve your loan, reject your loan, or give you additional conditions to meet in order to approve the loan.
  • Step 10:  Your loan has been approved and the file is sent to the Title Company or Closing Attorney to complete a Title Examination on the home your purchasing as well as setup your insurance and in some states complete a survey.
  • Step 11:  All of the documentation is pulled together for closing day.
  • Step 12.  It’s closing day!  You meet to bring your down payment money, sign all of the loan documents, and get the keys to your new home.  Let moving day begin!

To discuss buying a home in Knoxville or to get any answers about any of these steps, contact me, Troy Stavros, with Gables & Gates, REALTORS at 865-999-0925 or by clicking here.

Fannie Mae Offering 3.5% in Closing Costs To Buyers

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UPDATE: Fannie Mae has announced that they are extending the program from their initial deadline.  Now, initial offers must be submitted by the deadline of April 30, 2014, to be eligible for the incentive. Sales must close on or before June 30, 2014.

On Thursday, Fannie Mae announced that they will begin offering qualified buyers an incentive of 3.5% of the final sales price to assist them in paying closing costs.  The incentive can be used on Fannie Mae owned properties (foreclosures).  To be eligible for the incentive, buyers must submit their initial offers between February 14th and March 31st, and the home must go to closing on or before May 31st, 2014.

Jay Ryan, Vice President of REO Sales at Fannie Mae stated, “This incentive will provide more opportunities for families to find a property to call home. Our goal is to sell as many HomePath properties as possible to owner-occupants who will stabilize neighborhoods and help the housing recovery.”

Along with this new incentive, Fannie Mae has extended the “First Look” period from 15 to 20 days.  The First Look period gives buyers planning to live in the home, the first chance at buying it, by excluding investors within the first 20 days on the market.  Fannie Mae’s HomePath also offers buyers a low down payment mortgage option on properties that are owned by Fannie Mae.

Contact me, Troy Stavros with Gables & Gates, REALTORS, today to discuss finding a home that would fit the above criteria or to discuss your real estate goals in general.  I am here to serve you, just give me a call!