Andy Hodes

By David Israel, Business Manager

As I, and other "Scoopers," have said many times before "Chattanooga is a great place to live and play." Our claims are backed up once again by TripAdvisor.com - the world's largest travel community as reported by the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Our own Tennessee Aquarium was just ranked No. 2 on their just released Top 10 U.S. Aquariums list. I must say that this is no surprise to me at all as I've been to two of the top 3 and have always asserted that our Aquarium is my clear favorite.

Below is the TripAdvisor's Top 10 U.S. Aquariums:

1. Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies, Gatlinburg, TN

2. Tennessee Aquarium, Chattanooga

3. Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey, Calif
4. Ripley's Aquarium, Myrtle Beach, S.C.
5. Oregon Coast Aquarium, Newport, Ore
6. Dallas World Aquarium, Dallas
7. National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, Dubuque, Iowa
8. Shedd Aquarium, Chicago
9. Downtown Aquarium, Denver
10. Florida Aquarium, Tampa, FL

My wife and I spent some time at the Monterey Bay Aquarium on our honeymoon and thought it was a beautiful place to visit with incredible window views of our ocean. We've also recently visited the Georgia Aquarium and was not as excited about our visit as we have been about our own Tennessee Aquarium - the new Georgia Aquarium is the largest in the U.S. and didn't even make the list.

The release on Thursday was the first time since its launch in 2000 that TripAdvisor.com ranked aquariums. The site gets 24 million monthly unique viewers and its pages have gathered more than 15 million reviews and opinions according to Brooke Ferencsik, a TripAdvisor spokesperson.

With all that is happening in Chattanooga these days, I would not be surprised if our "Scenic City" ends up on more and more lists of great places to travel, live, work and play. As a member of the Tennessee Aquarium, we spend a lot of time during the year visiting both buildings of the Tennessee Aquarium. The first building is the "River Journey" - our favorite. The newest building is the "Ocean Journey" which has beautiful exhibits and an incredible ocean coral reef.

When we first came to visit Chattanooga in 2003 we paid for admission and enjoyed ourselves immensely; when we moved, our admission was credited to our membership. We have been members ever since and support the Aquarium every year. They offer their members unique opportunities to spend time after hours at private parties or to go on adventures and excursions with other members. Our membership has paid for itself over and over. We take visiting friends and family from out of town; it is a must see stop on a Chattanooga visit. My wife also will go for an hour in between appointments to visit the turtle exhibit since we have our own turtle we can help the volunteers answer questions.

Thank you TripAdviser.com for telling the world what we already know - The Scenic City has it all. We are so proud of our Tennessee Aquarium. Come visit us soon; you won't regret it.

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By Stephanie Arnold, Transaction Specialist

Wild in the Woods is a Festival held once a year in June at the Franklin Farm in Wildwood, GA, a quick 15 minute drive from Downtown Chattanooga. It's something that I make sure to put down on my calendar each year as a favorite Summer activity. Wild in the Woods starts at about noon on a Saturday and lasts until the sun comes up the next morning. It is a FREE sponsored event with all proceeds going toward charity. Last weekend was the big event and it was the best ever.

This year there were four bands including: Crawfish Gordon, Convertibull, Headlining , and Chad Yates. Greek games are played all day long with a Bikini contest wrapping up the pre-concert festivities. Between the bands, swimming in the pool, slip-n-slide, bar-b-que, games, and camping, there's plenty to do with the 3,000+ attendees. I highly recommend that you put this event on your schedule for next Summer - it's nothing but a great time!!

You can go to www.WildintheWoods.com to see more information and plenty of pictures (the group picture above are my friends with me in the middle from the 2007 festival). Wild in the Woods is just another great example of why Chattanooga - The Scenic City - is the greatest place to live in the world. Check it out.

By David Israel, Business Manager

Every year around this time, Relocate America comes out with their top 100 list of the best places to live. This year Chattanooga, Tennessee, yes our great Scenic City, was chosen third, only behind Charlotte, NC (1) and San Antonio, TX (2). Notably, this is the only list that bases their decision on statistical data and feedback from the people who live, work and play in each communitiy.

Throughout the calendar year, Relocate America accepts nominations for cities and towns throughout the country to be considered as a "great place to live". The nominating parties must include their own reasons why they feel their city should make the list. The nominations, along with key data regarding education, employment, economy, crime, parks, recreation and housing are reviewed, rated and judged by an editorial team. Special consideration is taken on the Top 10 Cities as they are listed in a ranked order of America's Top 10 Places to Live.

To those of us whom have chosen to move to the "Scenic City," this is no surprise to us. Chattanooga has everything a large city has, just on a smaller scale. A beautiful downtown area, minutes from the mountains, great biking trails and a wonderful arts community, among other great options.

The rankings were as follows:

Top 10 Cities
1. Charlotte, NC
2. San Antonio, TX
3. Chattanooga, TN
4. Greenville, SC
5. Tulsa, OK
6. Stevens Point, WI
7. Ashville, NC
8. Albuquerque, NM
9. Huntsville, AL
10. Seattle, WA

We hope you will read the article on the Top 100 Cities and consider a move to the Scenic City where you will find great views, fun people and outstanding home values. We'll even invite you over for a real "home cooked" dinner.

By David Israel, Business Manager

I have now been living in Chattanooga, Tennessee for almost 4 years, and my "Best Week Ever" is less than 30 days away. Riverbend ‘08 is almost here. For those of you who are reading about this festival for the first time you are certainly in for a great treat. The festival began in 1981 on a small strip at Ross's Landing and it has grown to a nine day event with over 100 performers on 6 stages. In fact Andy attended the very first Riverbend festival.

This year's three biggest headliners will be ZZ Top, The Black Crowes and America (who will perform with the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera).

The festival organizers have pretty much mastered this event. You do not need to purchase individual tickets, instead you purchase a pin. This pin gets you into the festival. So, if you buy the pin today through June 5th at our local Favorite Markets the cost is $28 (a $9 savings). Imagine all the entertainment you can gather up in an evening, for nine evenings, for only $28, talk about a bargain.

If you go, and you should, you will be amazed at how incredible the performances are. From the headliners on the Coca Cola Main stage to the performers on the other 5 stages. Last year we went and watched a Pink Floyd Cover Band play at one of the smaller stages. It was standing room only. We, and I say we because we were in the thick of it, were totally blown away by the performance and the crowds were huge. This was the first time the festival had a cover band play and from the success I witnessed, they will be doing it again. There is a great mix of performers throughout the week, from country, rock and everything in between.

You have to visit the Riverbend ‘08 to see a full lineup of performers for this year. The fun begins Friday night June 6th through Saturday night June 14th.

Riverbend is a festival on the Tennessee River, they actually bring in a huge barge for the Main Stage that pulls up along the bank of the river in downtown. The festival is a family friendly week of performance by national and local performers. There are also local talent shows, clowns, and so much more. Many people travel to Chattanooga for Riverbend, so if you live here and you've never been before, consider putting Riverbend 2008 on your schedule.

By Andy Hodes, Realtor

Many times Buyers ask about the importance of a home inspection if they are getting an FHA or VA appraisal. When the FHA or the VA is involved, the appraisal, in addition to establishing value, looks for certain standards in the home so that its loan can be insured (FHA) or guaranteed (VA) by the federal government. These standards include several, but not all, of the same items covered by the home inspection. Last year the FHA loosened their standards and we now rarely see any FHA concerns while the VA's standards remains vigilant.

In either case it is essential to obtain a complete home inspection by a licensed home inspector. While the FHA and VA appraisers are looking for certain things during the 15 to 20 minutes they spend in a home, a good home inspector will spend three to four hours (and sometimes even more) completing a thorough inspection of all the various home systems including the roof, attic, electrical, plumbing, most appliances, heat and air, foundation, crawl space, drainage, etc. Home inspectors provide a detailed report of their concerns that a buyer can use to negotiate repairs with the seller.

It's important to understand appraisals are for lenders while home inspections are for buyers. Appraisals are used to verify market value and that the home meets minimum standards while a home inspection is much more detailed about the overall condition of the home. They are two different animals.

Every buyer without exception should employ a licensed home inspector to make sure their dream home does not become a nightmare. There are several organizations, such as the American Society of Home Inspectors, that certify home inspectors with higher standards than state licensing boards, so you may want to look at the ASHI directory for potential inspectors.

In closing the form designed by the FHA and VA warning buyers to get a home inspection says "It is your responsibility to be an informed buyer. Be sure that what you buy is satisfactory in every respect. You have the right to carefully examine your potential new home with a licensed home inspector. You may arrange to do so before signing your contract, or may do so after signing the contract as long as your contract states that the sale of the home depends on the inspection."