865 Real Estate

East Tennessee Real Estate & Neighborhood Source

Birds Eye View – Knoxville’s Cove Park and Concord Yacht Club

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As beautiful as the Cove Park and Concord Yacht Club are from the ground, a view from the air gives you new perspective of the beauty East Tennessee offers.

A favorite park among residents in West Knoxville and beyond, The Cove at Concord Park is a community park situated on the banks of the Tennessee River off Northshore Drive in West Knoxville.  The park features a 3/4 mile walking trail, sand volleyball courts, playground, picnic areas with grills and tables, and a swimming area with a small beach.  The Cove Park is open all year.

The Concord Yacht Club is a member run yacht club located directly east of The Cove Park at Concord Park and devotes itself to the love of sailing and sailboat racing. It is located at 11600 South Northshore Drive, about a 1/2 mile west of the Concord Road round-a-bout.

Nice Gains for National and Knoxville Housing Market

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According to CoreLogic’s latest housing report, national home prices made double-digit gains in 2013, increasing with the highest annual rate since 2005. While the Knoxville housing market didn’t see as dramatic an increase on average, we did move in the right direction with an overall 5% increase in the median sales price.

CoreLogic’s chief economist stated, “We expect the rising prices to attract more sellers, unlocking this pent-up supply, which will have a moderating effect on prices in 2014.”  I am hoping that the part about unlocking pent-up supply holds true, as we are still struggling with lower inventory levels here in Knoxville, with many buyers sitting on the sidelines waiting for houses to pop on the market.

The report showed that nationally, the median sales price for all of 2013 was $197,100, 11.5 percent above the 2012 median price.  In Knoxville the median home price came in at $144,900.  This goes right along with what we’ve known all along, which is that the Knoxville housing market is quite affordable compared to other parts of the country.

Let’s compare some 2012 to 2013 numbers for the Knoxville housing market:

  • Home Sales UP 15%
  • Inventory UP 3%
  • Average Sales Price UP 5%
  • Dollar Volume Sold UP 18%

All signs are currently showing that this momentum should carry over into 2014.   If you are looking to buy or sell a home, contact me, Troy Stavros, today to discuss your real estate goals and how I can best serve you.

 

5 Factors That Make Up Your Credit Score

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Credit ScoreCredit scoring can often be confusing and overwhelming.  Here is a quick guide to the 5 factors that impact your credit score.

Payment History is the largest factor in how your score is calculated.  How you pay your bills accounts for 35% of your total score.  This includes not just collections, judgments and other negative items that will be reported, but whether or not you pay on time each month.  You can be reported as 30 days, 60 days or 90 days late.  The more delinquent the account, the more negative impact on your score. Even one 30 day late payment, if it is recent, can significantly lower your score.  Make sure you make at least the minimum payment by the due date on all your accounts.

Credit Usage/Capacity is often the biggest mystery and accounts for 30% of your total score.  This is calculated by assessing how much you currently owe vs your total available credit.  From month to month, your balances may fluctuate on your revolving or credit card accounts, and your score can change significantly based on those balances.  A good rule of thumb is to limit your balance at any given time to 30% or less.  This means if you have a card with a $10K limit – you probably want the balance to be under $3K.  Keep in mind that while revolving credit is what changes most frequently, this factor also calculates loans such as mortgages and auto loans.  Best advice – pay down as much as possible to increase your score.

Credit History or how long you have had credit, makes up 15% of your total score.  Best advice here?  Keep those cards you opened when you were in college.  Use them sparingly, paying off balances every month, but keep some activity on those older cards.  When you close an account, you actually shorten the “credit history” and will likely see a decrease in your score.

Credit Mix and New Credit each account for 10% of your score.  This means that you want to have a good mix of revolving credit (credit cards, lines of credit) and installment credit (auto, mortgage).  But because “new” credit can impact your score negatively, you want to be careful when opening new accounts.  Those new accounts can actually decrease the score initially, so my advice is to be cautious and intentional when considering new credit.

(Guest post and great advice by Betsie Hughes, Senior Mortgage Consultant at Movement Mortgage, a preferred lending partner of 865RealEstate.com and Troy Stavros).

SOURCE: http://www.ehow.com/info_7953861_key-factors-impact-credit-score.html

Sellers Are Loving My New Aerial Knoxville Real Estate Video

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Yes, the geek strikes again!  That geek being me.  I just can’t get enough of pushing the envelope with technology and how it can benefit my clients.  Here is the most recent example that will have a huge impact going forward for my sellers.  I am pretty sure the only agent in Knoxville offering aerial Knoxville real estate video, to go along with interior video tours to market the homes of my sellers.  I am finding that buyers LOVE these videos.  It pretty much take the guess work out, so it’s like they’ve already toured the house when they schedule their first showing.  The video above shows just the aerial Knoxville real estate video and the video below shows an entire home tour.  Contact me, Troy Stavros today if you would like to sit down and talk about how this and my other marketing can help get your Knoxville home sold.

Why Use Troy Stavros As Your Knoxville Real Estate Agent? Ask Jenny!

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Here is a fun video that I just released with some of the reasons why my clients like working with me, Troy Stavros, as their Knoxville real estate agent.  Don’t get me wrong, there are some great agents in the Knoxville market.  Here, I’ve used information that I constantly hear from buyers and sellers that come to work with me after they’ve had experiences with some other Knoxville real estate agents.  So many people say they just never received good communication.  I can’t fathom how agents would not return the phone calls of interested parties. I get freaked out if I don’t get back within 5 minutes!  The second biggest complaint was that the agent could not work around their schedule.  If you talk with any of my clients, I’m confident they would say that I am super flexible as far as appointments.  The third issue was trust.  Not surprising.  If folks can’t get calls back or an appointment scheduled that is conducive to their schedule, and an agent seems like they don’t have their best interests in mind, well I wouldn’t trust them either.  It seems like many agents treat their clients like a number instead of a real live person.  Trying so hard to push large volume, that the client doesn’t get the service they deserve.  I promise you, that’s not me! Either way, I look forward to talking with you about how I can serve you best.  Talk with you soon!

VIDEO: Take Flight Over Fox Den Subdivision

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Sunset Over Fox Den Subdivision by Troy Stavros
Sunset Over Fox Den Subdivision by Troy Stavros

I love seeing new perspectives of the neighborhoods in Knoxville that I work in on a regular basis.  With the technology that I use to market my seller’s properties I have the ability to get some stunning views of Knoxville homes, Knoxville subdivisions, and many landmarks in Knoxville.  My latest video takes us over Fox Den Subdivision in Farragut, Tennessee as the sun is beginning to fade on a cold winter day.  Witness the beautiful colors accented by the setting sun and the Smoky Mountains in the background.

Contact me, Troy Stavros, to talk about how I can use these marketing techniques to get your Knoxville home sold.  I look forward to hearing from you!