Current Real Estate Rates

Real estate rates up overnight
30-year fixed rate at 5.85%; 10-year Treasury yield at 3.92%


Long-term mortgage interest rates increased Tuesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield climbed to 3.92 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average rose to 5.85 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate gained to 5.42 percent. Meanwhile, the 1-year adjustable rate increased to 5.9 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield edged up to 4.64 percent.

Rates and bonds are current as of 7:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Mortgage rate figures are according to Bankrate.com, which publishes nightly averages based on its survey of 4,000 banks in 50 states. Points on these mortgages range from zero to 3.5.

In other economic news, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 68.72 points, or 0.55 percent, finishing at 12,548.35. The Nasdaq rose 36.57 points, or 1.5 percent, closing at 2,481.24.

Nashville Real estate /rates

Long-term mortgage interest rates increased Wednesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield climbed to 3.81 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average rose to 5.74 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate gained to 5.31 percent. Meanwhile, the 1-year adjustable rate fell to 5.87 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield edged up to 4.54 percent.

Rates and bonds are current as of 7:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Mortgage rate figures are according to Bankrate.com, which publishes nightly averages based on its survey of 4,000 banks in 50 states. Points on these mortgages range from zero to 3.5.
In other economic news, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 227.49 points, or 1.77 percent, finishing at 12,601.19. The Nasdaq lost 43.99 points, or 1.77 percent, closing at 2,492.26.

Now is a great time to buy real estate in Nashville, TN. If you have any questions regarding the Nashville real estate market, please give a call at 615-376-4500 or send us an email at jennifer@homesaroundnashville.com.

Costly Home Seller mistakes to AVOID

To maximize your sale profit, here are the key costly home seller mistakes to avoid:

1 – DON'T HAVE A STRONG REASON FOR SELLING. As experienced real estate sales agents know, the most difficult home sellers are those who are not highly motivated to sell. Their attitude is, "I'll sell my home if I can get my price and terms."

These homes are often overpriced, wasting the time of the sellers and local realty agents. After a few weeks, local realty agents and their buyers quickly learn about these non-motivated sellers and avoid showing those residences.

But motivated sellers usually have strong sales reasons, such as moving to a retirement home, job relocation, birth or death in the family, purchase of another house or condo, divorce, unemployment, pending foreclosure, illness, or other strong reason to sell.

To avoid wasting time, savvy home buyers and their realty agents often ask, "Why is the seller selling?" If there is no strong motivation signal, such as a realistic asking price, buyers and agents won't even look at the home.

2 – SPEND CONSIDERABLE TIME AND MONEY RENOVATING YOUR HOME BEFORE SELLING. Another costly mistake of many home sellers is to make major home renovations shortly before selling. Such expenditures are usually a waste of money, rarely returning even $1 in increased market value for each $1 spent on improvements.

To illustrate, if your kitchen and bathrooms are outdated, spending thousands of dollars to bring them up to today's "model home" standards often results in little or no increased market value. Worse, the inconvenience of remodeling your kitchen and bathrooms is an experience most homeowners dread.
The only time it pays to renovate kitchens and bathrooms occurs if you plan to stay in your home at least five years to enjoy the improvements.

A far more profitable alternative is to thoroughly paint and fix-up your home to prepare it for sale. Paint is, by far, the most profitable improvement, often adding thousands of dollars to market value for a small expenditure of a few hundred dollars. Additional profitable but inexpensive home improvements include new carpets and flooring, new light fixtures, complete cleaning and repairing, and minor landscaping improvements.

3 – FAIL TO HAVE YOUR HOME PROFESSIONALLY INSPECTED BEFORE PUTTING IT ON THE MARKET.

The third costly mistake that most home sellers make is failing to have their residences professionally inspected before putting it on the market for sale.

The first inspection should be by a professional home inspector. The cost of about $350 is money well spent. Be sure to accompany your inspector to discuss any defects discovered. Home sellers often decide not to repair defects but disclose them to buyers and give a repair credit, if necessary.

Personally, I prefer home inspectors who belong to the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI), primarily because of their tough membership requirements such as experience, examinations, and continuing education. Local ASHI members can be found at http://www.ashi.org/ or phone 1-800-743-2744.

Your professional home inspector will also recommend additional or required pre-sale inspections, such as for termites, radon, building code compliance and energy efficiency. By having these pre-sale inspections, sellers can decide whether (1) to make recommended repairs, (2) give the buyer a repair credit (such as for part of the cost of a new roof), or (3) disclose the defect in writing, but let the buyer fix it.

4 – TRY TO SELL YOUR HOME ALONE WITHOUT FIRST INTERVIEWING AT LEAST THREE SUCCESSFUL LOCAL REAL ESTATE AGENTS.

The fourth major mistake many home sellers make is advertising their home "for sale by owner" (FSBO), called a "fizzbo," before interviewing at least three successful realty agents who sell homes in the vicinity.

Each agent's listing presentation should include explaining all the locally required home sale contracts and disclosures, as well as a comparative market analysis (CMA) form. The valuable CMA shows recent sales prices of comparable nearby homes, asking prices of similar neighborhood homes listed for sale (your competition), and asking prices of recently expired (usually overpriced) listings.

The agents you interview won't mind spending an hour or two showing you their listing presentation, such as explaining access to the local multiple listing service (MLS) and the Internet, even if you tell them you are considering selling your home alone to save the sales commission.

The reason is most FSBO sellers fail and, within 30 to 60 days, decide to list with a professional agent. Savvy agents who were already interviewed know they are likely to get the listing.

Approximately 80 percent of homes are sold with the help of a realty agent. Of the other 20 percent, many are sales to relatives and friends who don't require a professional agent's marketing services.

5 – OVERPRICE OR UNDERPRICE YOUR HOME. The fifth costly mistake many home sellers make is (a) pricing their home too high (most FSBOs do this), or (b) under pricing their home, leaving thousands of profit dollars on the table.

However, as a smart home seller who carefully prepared to maximize your sale profit, you won't make that error. By interviewing at least three successful local real estate agents, and comparing their CMAs and each agent's expert opinion of your home's market value, you will correctly set the asking price.

Some home sellers think a better alternative to determine the market value of their home is to obtain a professional appraisal report, usually costing at least $300.

While this approach can be valuable, especially if the home is unique without nearby recent comparable home sales, most appraisers work on past recorded sales price information rather than current up-to-date sales price trends. The result can be an inaccurate too conservative or too optimistic home market value appraisal.
SUMMARY: A successful home sale involves doing the right things right, such as preparing your home for sale by cleaning, painting, and repairing, and avoiding the five most costly mistakes explained above.

Nashville Inventory in March

HOME SALES DECREASE; PRICES RISE IN MARCH

There were 2,227 home closings reported for the month of March, according to figures provided by the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors®. This represents a decrease of 28.7 percent from the 3,126 closings reported for the same period last year.

Numbers for the first quarter were 5,763 closings, down 27.8 percent from the 7,990 closings during the first quarter of 2007. "The number of closings is down significantly compared to last year, but the fact that home prices are rising is a good sign that the Greater Nashville market remains stable even in this time of market transition," said Mandy Wachtler, 2008 President of the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors.

"In some parts of the country, both closings and prices are down by significant percentages. When you take that into consideration, the real estate market in Greater Nashville is doing better than many cities and regions. And, there continues to be a lot of showing activity, which may result in more closings soon."


There were 2,308 sales pending at the end of March, compared with 3,218 sales that were pending at the same time last year. The median residential price during March was $178,388 and for a condominium it was $160,573. That compares with median residential and condominium prices at this time last year of $173,400 and $153,400 respectively. The average number of days on the market for a single-family residence was 80 days. Inventory at the end of March was 22,730. That compares with an inventory of 19,091 at the end of March 2007. Current inventory of properties by category, compared to the same time last year, is:

"The increase in inventory means that buyers will have more meaningful choices. That can be a positive factor as we move into spring and early summer, when typically more people are out shopping for homes," Wachtler said. "Sellers will want to make sure their home is in the best possible condition and priced correctly.

In a changing market,the professional support and counsel provided by a Realtor is increasingly valuable to those considering buying, selling or leasing property.


The Greater Nashville Association of Realtors® is one of Middle Tennessee's largest professional trade associations and serves as the primary voice for Nashville-area property owners and real estate professionals. REALTOR® is a registered trademark which March be used only by real estate professionals who are members of the National Association of REALTORS® and subscribe to its strict Code of Ethics.

Green Homes

It's Easy Living Green

(ARA) - Everywhere you turn, there's something "green" - whether it's a commercial for a hybrid car or a reminder to pick up reusable bags at the local grocery store. The green movement is under way and concerned Americans are looking for ways to do their part to reduce energy use and pollution, and preserve natural resources.

Whether by changing their daily routines like biking to work instead of driving, or taking up a new hobby like planting trees in the community park, more and more Americans are going green. One aspect of the multifaceted greening of America is the building and buying of "green" or eco-friendly homes.

According to a recent survey conducted for McGraw-Hill Research and Analytics, consumers list environmental concerns among the top three reasons to purchase a green home, along with lower operating costs and health benefits for occupants. Across the country, homebuilders and homebuyers are realizing the benefits of green building and living, from reduced construction waste to better indoor air quality. Homes planned by green developers can also reduce utility bills by more than 50 percent, minimize pollution and demands on infrastructure, and provide greater environmental protection.

"It's amazing how small steps can add up to big results," says Fred Maas, president and CEO of Black Mountain Ranch LLC, the developer of Del Sur - a new green 1,800-acre master-planned residential community in San Diego, Calif. "For example, tankless water heaters are as much as 50 percent more efficient than conventional water heaters - and heating hot water is second only to heating and cooling in terms of residential energy use. If every household in the United States converted to high-efficiency, tankless water heaters, America could save the equivalent of 300 million barrels of oil a year and reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by up to 150 million tons."

Similarly, replacing just one light bulb in each American home with an efficient compact fluorescent bulb could save enough energy to light more than three million homes for an entire year. This could save more than $600 million in annual energy costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an amount equivalent to removing more than 800,000 cars from America's roads.

Residents of the Del Sur community are learning firsthand the advantages of green home features. Del Sur used its unique size and buying power - 2,500 market-rate homes and 469 low- and moderate-income homes - to negotiate lower prices for solar, tankless hot water and weather-based irrigation systems, making these energy-saving, environmentally-friendly features more affordable for homebuyers.

"All things being equal, homebuyers want to go green, but they don't want to pay a fortune to do so - and they shouldn't have to. Our vision of sustainability is to integrate a core set of 'attainable' green elements into our homes that do their part for the environment and increase value and savings for the consumer," says Maas. By providing homebuyers with green features at lower costs, homebuilders can help to reduce the nation's carbon footprint and preserve the environment without putting all of the burden on the homeowner. By taking advantage of available tax credits and incentives, it is possible to equip homes with solar photovoltaic technology to generate electricity at a reasonable cost, greatly reducing homeowners' electric bills.

"Our homeowners with solar power can draw power from the grid at night and make the meter spin backwards during the day," says Maas. "Some have cut their electric bills to nearly zero. When homeowners realize the savings, they really get a kick out of showing their new energy bills to neighbors and friends in the community.”

"When I see American families living the Southern California lifestyle in 3,000-plus-square-foot homes with gourmet kitchens and all the latest appliances - and their monthly electric bill is close to zero - I know there's no barrier to America going green," says Maas. "We're doing it here in San Diego and I think that, community-by-community, the entire nation can go green.”

FHA Loan Limits

FHA loan limits have increased from $226,100 to $432,500 in the Nashville MSA area. These increased loan limits are good through December 31, 2008.

Other news:

Mortgage bond prices opened higher Friday morning erasing some of the losses seen yesterday afternoon. Rates are finding support from weak economic news released at the open. In news released this morning, the unemployment rate stood at 4.8% and non-farm payrolls, fell 63k. Analysts expected unemployment to stand at 5.0% and for the creation of 25k jobs. The lower reading on the non-farm payrolls number has traders hopeful inflation may be contained.

Boomers buy 1-story homes, but not the old cracker boxes
By NANCY MUELLER
For The Tennessean

There's a new housing product showing up in some neighborhoods: single-story homes designed to fulfill the needs of baby boomers.

These homes bear no resemblance to the low-profile, one-story ranches that many of the boomers grew up in during the '50s and '60s.

These new homes for empty-nesters are stylish and plush, with an emphasis on European-influenced architectural flourishes and open floor plans.

Fixtures, cabinets and flooring materials are high quality. This new version of one-level living also nearly always includes a second-story bonus room, so that most of these homes are technically 1½ stories tall.

Tennessee Valley Homes is one of the builders of this product. It has built one- and 1½-story homes in several Williamson County neighborhoods, including King's Chapel, Avalon, Tollgate Village, Glenellen and the Woodlands at Copperstone, said sales agent Rachel Work.

"We sold three one-stories in Copperstone this summer," she said while showing the builder's two-story Copperstone model home on Amethyst Lane. "We sell out of one-stories very quickly."

Next door is one of the company's unsold single-story homes. Although it may have been designed with downsizing in mind, at 3,885 square feet, it isn't all that small. And there's certainly nothing low-scale about the $679,900 asking price, either.

The kitchen has Viking Signature appliances, custom cabinetry and granite countertops. The master and secondary baths also have granite countertops. The upstairs bonus room, the only room on the second level, features a custom wet bar and a powder room.

Large footprint is costly

These homes are more expensive to build because they require, proportionally, more foundation, which can make the price per square foot higher.

Work said, however, that boomer buyers do not necessarily want to lose too much square footage when they downsize. They just want all of their bedrooms on one floor.

And they care about the exterior appearance of their new homes, eschewing anything that appears too squatty.

"I talked to one lady who wanted all of the bedrooms on one floor, but she wanted it to look like a two-story," Work said.

In Glenellen, under development in southeast Brentwood, Tennessee Valley Homes has built eight homes. Five have sold, and three of those feature all first-floor bedrooms. They were all snapped up by baby boomers with no children living at home, Work said.

"The other two were looking for one-story and ended up with two-story houses that have two bedrooms on the main level," she said. "They were baby boomers, too."

Demand is growing

Upscale homes for empty- nest baby boomers will constitute 8 to 10 percent of the national housing market over the next 18 years, market forecaster Edsel Charles said.

Charles' MarketGraphics Research Group, which is based in Franklin but makes market forecasts for clients in 20 states, has isolated the desires of empty-nesters moving from homes of at least 5,000 square feet and seeking a new home with a yard, as opposed to a townhouse or condo.

In the Nashville area alone, that translates into a probable need for 800 to 1,100 new, upscale empty nests per year, starting in 2008, Charles says.