Jim Lee, Knoxville Tennessee Realtor®

.......................I want to thank you for inviting me over to look at your house and talk with you about selling it.

Before I get started talking about what I'm going to be doing to get your house sold as quickly as possible, let's take just a few minutes to talk about the things I'm not going to be doing and why I'm not going to be doing them.

First and foremost; don't pick up your daily newspaper and start looking for a 3 line ad that looks just like everyone Else's 3 line ad and also, don't be looking for a small color photo in the glossy, color magazines that you pick up at the bank or grocery because you won't be in them either.

The reason is simple; print ads are not as effective, both from a cost standpoint and being effective. According to a National Association of Realtors (NAR) study, ";87 percent used the Internet";, way over twice the number that said they looked at print ads. NAR's study went on to say: ";Fewer buyers rely on a home book or magazine, home builders, television, billboards and relocation companies. Buyers most commonly start their search process online and then contact a real estate agent.";

As the statistics and buyers very clearly say; give us an online location where we can see all the homes for sale in an area, lots of photos, and area information as well as information about the homes for sale.

Number two, don't be getting ready for a traditional Sunday open house because we are not going to be doing one. There are several reasons. First and foremost, open houses don't work to sell a particular house. Typically brokers put their new agents out sitting open houses to pick up buyers for other listings.

Personally I don't feel that it's fair to use your house as basically 'bait' to lure buyers in to buy another house. Secondly, open houses usually only attract only lookers, ";tire kickers";, and unfortunately also criminals looking for a house to rob now or later, often when you and your family are at home. There have also been incidents of visitors to open houses caught looking through medicine cabinets and other location for prescription drugs to steal to feed their habit.

Here's a partial excerpt from REALTOR magaine about holding open houses:

";Nix open houses—they are neither worthwhile nor safe The article on safety, “ Protect your life ” (September 2003), reminds me that the most dangerous part of real estate is open houses. Besides attracting neighbors, the curious, and unqualified “lookie-loos,” opens draw weirdos of varying degrees.

In the past few months, right here in Minnesota, there’ve been practitioner abductions and attacks: One salesperson was invited to conduct a market analysis on a home and was sexually assaulted by a man and his sister-in-law. Another was holding an open house at a model home when a man came in, took off all his clothes, and helped himself to the shower. Yet another salesperson had her purse stolen. Two female salespeople were robbed at gunpoint while showing a vacant property last spring.

It’s time for professionals to prevent these kinds of crimes by eliminating the vulnerability: Stand up and educate your clients about the dangers and pointlessness of open houses. They’ll understand that reducing their liability is a great benefit and that you are professional and creative enough to bring the very best buyer—without the risks.";

So there you have it; two things I don't do and the reasons I don't do them. Would you like me to continue with my presentation at this time and show and tell you the many things I do to get your house sold; many of them exclusive to me?

Thanks, I'm glad you' agree with me; now let's talk about what works in today's tougher, more competative, seller's market to get your house sold.

• www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com is the most used and best tool in my home selling tool kit.

FYI; here's a copy of some buyer data from NAR's 2008 ";Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers";

This great resource is available free of charge to members (Realtors) at www.Realtor.org

The first full week of June turned out to be a fizzle for real estate transfers recorded at the Knox County Register of Deeds office, dropping to just 50 recorded transfers from a high of 187 back on April 12 of 2009.

In fact I believe 50 is the worst week we’ve had thus far in 2009.

Here's a graph with some past week's totals to compare:

Historically May and June have both been pretty strong sales months so just what the heck is happening now.

I believe the main factors depressing our market and sale is an overwhelming lack of consumer confidence towards buying big ticket items like houses, a continuing climb in unemployment numbers, and unfortunately, plunging home values driven by distressed sales (foreclosures & short sales) which now account for 45% of the market.

If someone in your neighbor or area sells their home in a distress sale that affects the values of all homes in that area.

Reuters news service said in a recent article: “Even when the economy begins to grow, analysts expect only a tepid recovery. Plunging home values and rising unemployment have forced consumers to cut spending, and households are expected to continue to rebuild savings for months to come.”

And to further kick the housing industry when it’s down, mortgage interest rates ROSE to their highest levels since December of 2008!

“NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. mortgage rates surged to their highest in almost six months in the latest week, despite government efforts to keep rates at low levels that will help the hard-hit housing market begin to recover. Demand for home refinancing loans, which had been spurred by low mortgage rates, has dropped recently. Even lower rates, however, had been having limited impact on demand for loans to purchase homes.”

Spring is traditionally the peak home buying season so I don’t look for the sales numbers to improve any time soon.

On a brighter note it still is a very strong buyers market for those savvy buyers with good credit and good job prospects.

The $8,000 (or 10% whichever is less) federal tax credit remains in effect until December 1st of 2009. Our Tennessee Housing Development Authority (THDA) has in place a program that will let you borrow from them up to 3.5% of a home’s purchase price (which just happens to the the minimum down payment with FHA financing) and repay them at 0% until 2010 using your $8,000 tax credit.

You may find that you can now buy a house cheaper than your current rent. A fixed rate payment will never increase over the life of your loan unlike rent payments. See all Knoxville area homes for sale including foreclosures and short sales at www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com

With today's market I thought this previous post would be worth recycling. In our area we have a problem with this fungus/algae that grows on roofs and makes them look old and worn when actually an economical removal treatment can make them look almost new again.

A huge part of getting buyers interested in looking inside a house is attractive curb appeal.

Unfortunately in many parts of the country there are unsightly stains and discoloration on roof shingles that make even the most manicured landscaping lose some of it's luster once the buyer's eyes turn upward and see an ugly roof.

A lot of those black streaks and stains are called by a type of 'roof algae' whose scientific name is Gloeocapsa Magna.

Fortunately there is a solution; Roof-A-Cide has an environmentally safe, EPA Approved Algaecide / Fungicide that will make short work of those ugly roof growths and fairly economically as well.

I have a house that had a fairly new roof but the algae was so thick and streaky it caused people to look with suspicion at the shingles.

Today the Roof-A-Cide guys worked their magic and now my roof is sparkling clean and appealing. Check out the before and after pictures below. Photo 1 was taken around noon yesterday and photo 2 was shot around noon today; the difference is astounding.

Here's the before picture, notice the black streaking and stains

And the same roof after; notice the enormous change and how fresh the 'new' roof looks now.

The total cost for this job was $340.00 and I believe it was well worth it. This process is sort of like painting for your roof. It makes an enormous impact just like paint and is equally cost effective.

A little fresh mulch, some blooming flowers, and 4625 is ready to sell for top dollar.

FREE, what a great word; it's one of my favorites.

Let's face it, almost everyone likes free stuff especially if it's real free stuff with no strings attached.

One of the most popular pages on my website, KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com is the "FREE STUFF" page.

And one of the most popular free things I give away is a copy of a free, 52 page ebook titled "450 Ideas To Help Your Home Sell FASTER!".

I bought the reprint rights several years ago from fellow Realtor Wendy Jones for a very reasonable $97.00 including a custom cover with my photo and contact information on it.

For your 97 bucks (economy version $67.00, no custom cover) you get the lifetime rights to publish and print or email as many copies of the book as you can crank out with one reasonable restriction below:

"You will be able to make as many copies as you wish - as long as they are for YOUR CLIENTS, or POTENTIAL CLIENTS. (It is illegal to hand it out to the general public, or other agents)."

I've been giving away this book for several years now and it's brought me back many, many times my $97.00 investment.

Another one of my free things is a link to eNeighborhoods where potential buyers & sellers can sign up for a free bi-monthly newsletter, find out what homes in their neighborhood sold for, and several other nifty things.

I also offer free school reports comparing local schools. You can get your own free of course, from eSchoolProfile.com for your area.

And I have some more free stuff including a free relocation package, free market analysis, and a free calculator to see what your commuting costs would be; helps to choose between a close in house or one further away.

Of course the reason behind all this "free" stuff I give away is just like any other advertising; I just want someone to raise their hand to me and say I want to buy or sell real estate; contact me with the free information I ask for.

Do you have any "FREE STUFF" on your website? If not I highly recommend it to generate leads; potential buyers and sellers love it and they use mine often.

Lots of potential homebuyers are currently eligible for an $8,000 tax credit if they buy a new or resale home before December 1st of 2009.

So why the big deal over a credit; we've always had tax deductions haven't we?

Yes but there is a major difference between a credit and a deduction.

A tax deduction reduces your amount of income subject to tax based on the tax bracket you're in.

A tax credit is a dollar for dollar reduction in your tax liability.

In Tennessee now the Tennessee Housing Development Authority (THDA) has a program in place where a homebuyer can borrow up to 3 1/2% of the purchase price of a home and repay it at 0% from the anticipated tax credit refund.

So if you've been sitting on the fence waiting for the right time to buy; it's here. Conditions for buyers are better than I've seen them in my 30+ years of practicing real estate.

• $8,000 Tax Credit for a huge number of potential buyers
• A tremendous selection of homes in all price ranges.
• Values are now above prices in some homes because of the huge supply of homes for sale.
• Mortgage interest and your property taxes are deductible from your federal income taxes.
• Interest rates are at the lowest point in over 50 years.
  
• No capital gains taxes on the first $500,000 of PROFIT when you sell your primary residence

Give me a call at (865) 693-3232 or email today and let's see if you qualify for that $8,000 tax credit; Most of my buyers this year have qualified and some have already filed amended tax returns and collected thousands of free dollars from the government. You can too.

www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com