Kenneth B. Banks - Realtor ABR, CDPE, SNP

It has been a while since I posted and I wanted to check in. Hard to believe that it's almost the middle of June, but time flies when you're busy. I have really been busy with buyers and sellers too while adding some designations so that I'm current on real estate trends and techniques to help my clients.

It has been a great Spring and I'm ready to launch into Summer (hard to tell we're not in the middle of Summer already from the temps)! Don't forget if you live in the Spring Hill, TN area or are visiting to check out CityFest.

This event is scheduled for the 4th Saturday of each month and will be held at the UAW Union Hall starting at 6 p.m. There will be food, fun, music and a free movie that begins at dark. Let's enjoy some family fun this summer!

Look me, Ken Banks, up or call me if I can help you with any of your real estate needs.

Finally we are seeing glimmers of light that things are picking up. I know I am busier. Our Middle TN news media reports that Williamson County, where Franklin is located, is said to be #3 among the top 10 counties for job growth. Franklin and Brentwood are active areas just south of Nashville proper. Columbia and Spring Hill, where I live and primarily work is just south of Franklin and Nashville. A lot of people choose to live here and commute north to work. Generally, the farther north from the AL line towards Nashville, the more real estate tends to be valued at.

At our company's Kick-off Meeting for the year, we were told that approximately 25% of realtors in TN retired their licenses since 2007. That is when I committed to "full-time" after being "down-sized" from my previous career day job. Old timers told me if I could survive starting out in these times, I might really have some fun if the real estate economy ever gets halfway back to whatever "normal" means. Well, so far, I have tried to make every year better than the previous. It is a challenge to climb to the heights of income earned in a previous line of work, but then, I tell myself, I didn't reach those pinnacles in just a year or two either.

Now that I've been at this a little while, I have appreciated getting acquainted through business dealings and friendships with agents with other companies in the area. I have had time, or made time, to get involved with our local association, serving on committees and even two as chairman. Since my continuing education is already met for my license requirements through next year, I can branch out and use the time for things I am specifically interested in....maybe some professional designations.

Today and yesterday, it has reached 60 degrees in my neighborhood between Columbia and Spring Hill, Tennessee.  It has been absolutely great to be able to go out and start sprucing things up a bit in the yard, cleaning out leaves that have collected lately and such.

Yesterday while I was out, there were even two little neighbor boys who pulled off their shirts and picked up the water hose.  Luckily their Dad stopped them just in time; I mean it was warm, but not  that warm! 

This morning, as I drove to church, I met a gentleman before 9 a.m. driving his convertible - sans the top!  Guess we all are really liking this break between snows.  I mean, it was just last week that I posted a Wordless Wednesday photograph of the deer in the snow watching me as I drove to work.

The extended weather forecast has some potential stormy weather next week on a day forecast to be in the upper 60's before we have the potential of snow on the following day.  What a mixed bag we have here as we wait out winter in anticipation of Spring.  You've gotta love it!

I enjoy traveling around the area and meeting people.  If I can ever be of any assistance feel free to contact me.  In the meantime, I'd suggest we all get out there and enjoy the great Tennessee weather today!

Such a serene sight: Deer in the snow on the way to work this morning in Columbia, TN.

If you are looking to buy or sell in Columbia, TN; call Ken Banks at (931) 309-1619.

It's hard to believe it's December already. It seems in years past, when it got cold and started getting dark early that business dropped off. Don't know about you, but I'm working as steady as I've been all year.

So I started thinking, is anything really different this year, or am I really different this year? The more I work as a Realtor, the more I realize I'm a workaholic, just as I've been in previous careers. There's nothing like sharing the experience with a jubilant buyer or an ecstatic seller.

I just celebrated my fifth anniversary as a licensed agent. I've completed three full years with a company that encourages professional growth and I've made the most of those opportunities. I have made a concerted effort to learn something from each transaction that I'm involved in as this industry, like others, is constantly evolving. I even earned my Social Networking Professional designation from Crye-Leike.

I guess this is the prelude to my year in review. I've expanded the number of counties in which I've assisted buyers and sellers. My office in Columbia, TN is in a wonderful location since I can easily travel to surrounding towns - Lawrenceburg, Pulaski, Hohenwald, Lewisburg, Chapel Hill, Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville to name only a few. The opportunities to assist folks are endless.

Just last week, we had the surprise of a December snow in Tennessee with temperatures a good 20 degrees below normal. When the office was officially "closed", where was I? Well of course, I was at the office! Don't get me wrong, what I'm doing requires lot of dedicated effort; things don't just happen. You have to seize the moment. Needless to say, if you aren't there; well, you can't seize.

So I close with a promise that you will be seeing more blogs from me. There is much to talk about and I can't wait to tell anyone who will read, all about the great places in middle Tennessee.