Jim Lee, Knoxville Tennessee Realtor®

1. Tennessee women's softball. The lady Vols won both sides of a double header again Georgia last week. Come to the game and see if they can do the same again Alabama. Friday, May 1st, 6 pm, and Saturday May 2nd at 3:00 pm. Sherri Parker Lee Stadium is a first class softball stadium on campus with outstanding facilities.
2. Rick Recht, a Jewish rock singer (I told you there was something for everyone. ;-)) in concert Saturday at the Arnstein Jewish Community Center. Saturday, May 2nd at 8:00 pm.
3. Sundown in the City continues with this week's featured artists Big Head Todd and the Monsters, an acoustic (no electic apliifiers, give your ears a rest) rock bank well known in college towns all over. Opening act is Joan Jones. Party starts at 6:00 pm, Market Square, price, FREE, one of my favorites.
4. Billed as an "all ages" show at the Valarium (a new age nightclub), "As I Lay Dying" a Christian influenced Metal Cone Band with lead off act "God Forbid" a pioneering 'nu-metal' band. 7:00 pm Monday, May 4th. I have no clue what this is all about but it could be interesting.
5. Movietime with "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" Storyline: Wolverine who lives a mutant life seeks revenge against a rival for killing his girlfriend. Opens Friday. I'll sure it will be well attended, just not by me. ;-)
6. Here's a bonus fun thing to do this weekend and any other time. Visit www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com to see all of the Knoxville area Realtor listings for great houses, condos, and land. Find your own little piece of Paradise in beautiful Knoxville, Tennessee.

The new federal program to help homeowners stay in their homes by lowering their interest rate and payments by either modifying their existing loan or refinancing that loan is now open for business.

One of the best parts about this program is that there is no charge to homeowners. I know there are scam artists out there offering to 'help' you refinance or get a loan modification for a fee but there is no need to give them any of your money these programs are very simple.

Here's your first step. You need to visit www.MakingHomeAffordable.gov and answer just a few short questions to determine if you're nominally qualified.

The first choice is a "Home Affordable Refinance" program which lets homeowners that are current on their mortgage payments but unable to refinance because their home's value has declined to less than their mortgage balance, refinance with a lower, more affordable mortgage.

You need to be able to answer "YES" to these four questions:

1. Are you the owner of a one- to four-unit home?
2. Do you have a loan owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac? If you don’t know, click here.
3. Are you current on your mortgage payments? “Current” means that you haven’t been more than 30-days late on your mortgage payment in the last 12 months.
4. Do you believe that the amount you owe on your first mortgage is about the same or less than the current value of your house?

If you're eligible your next step is to gather some basic financial information. Here's a checklist of what you will need:

• Information about your mortgage, such as your monthly mortgage statement and
  
• Information about the monthly gross (before tax) income of your household, including recent pay stubs if you receive them or documentation of income you receive from other sources.
  
• Your most recent income tax return.
  
• Information about any second mortgage or home equity line of credit on the house.
  
• Account balances and minimum monthly payments due on all of your credit cards.
  
• Account balances and monthly payments on all your other debts such as student loans and car loans.

The information above is most easily compiled and readable in a personal financial statement; here's a sample form for you.

After gathering this information you call your lender or loan servicer (where you make your payments) and talk with them about a "Home Affordable Refinance"

The second option for you is a "Home Affordable Modification". If you can no longer make your monthly mortgage payments you may qualify for this program to make your payments more affordable by modifying your mortgage to a lower interest rate and payment.

Here are the 5 questions you need to be able to answer "YES" to in order to see if you qualify:

1. Is your home your primary residence?
2. Is the amount you owe on your first mortgage equal to or less than $729,750?
3. Are you having trouble paying your mortgage? For example, have you had a significant increase in your mortgage payment OR reduction in your income since you got your current loan OR have you suffered a hardship that has increased your expenses (like medical bills)?
4. Did you get your current mortgage before January 1, 2009?
5. Is your payment on your first mortgage (including principal, interest, taxes, insurance and homeowner's association dues, if applicable) more than 31% of your current gross income?

After gathering this information and preparing a personal financial statement like the one above you also need to write a hardship letter detailing why you can't make your payments anymore, i.e. loss of job, laid off, illness etc.

And then, just like above contact your lender to talk about a loan modification to lower your payment and interest rate.

Many lender have made a committment to delay foreclosure proceedings to allow homeowners to see if they meet the minimum qualifying criteria.

I know of one person in my area that recently got a mortgage modification. Their interest rate was lowered to 2% for the next 5 years and then 4.75% FIXED rate for the remaining life of the mortgage.

If any Knoxville area homeowner are having trouble with either refinancing or applying for either of these programs I will be glad to help you get started; no cost and no obligation. email me of call 865-693-3232.

My wife and I are members of the Beaver Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Church (BCCPC) in Powell, Tennessee where I am currently serving a term as a Session Member (basically the Session is the Board of Directors of our church).

Our church, like other Cumberland Presbyterian churches, participates in sending the youth to a retreat at the church owned Camp Chilhowee, a 106 acre retreat in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. There are several cabins, an amphitheater, mess hall, swimming pool, and lots of beautiful grounds to hike, play, worship, and enjoy.

We feel it’s important to provide this setting away from the distractions of modern life to allow the youth to bond together, to reflect, and to find their own, closer relationship to God.

I’m not sure when the buildings at Camp Chilhowee were built, but after many years of ‘enjoyment’ by rambunctious youth and the passage of time the individual cabins were getting pretty used up.

So in 2007 we formed a committee to rebuild one of Camp Chilhowee’s cabins. Most of these cabins accommodate 16 campers in bunk beds in a dormitory style and have one bathroom.

I’m happy to say I was on the cabin committee and that project is now completed. On Sunday afternoon, April 19th many church members made the trek to Camp Chilhowee to dedicate our new cabin.

Church members gather at the Camp Chilhowee amphtheatre to dedicate our new cabin. Several adult church members testified to their experiences at Camp Chilhowee in their youth. For some their grandchildren will be the third generation of that family to attend.

Here's the new cabin, it has 8 bunk beds, two full bathrooms, and will accomodate 16 campers.

Church members gather on the large cabin porch to dedicate the cabin to the service of our Lord

Here's the cabin interior, it has 8 bunk beds and two full bathrooms.

Another CP church is building a new cabin. They're just completed demo on the old cabin and poured the new cabin's footers. This one should be ready by fall.

Should I buy a home in Knoxville, Tennessee now? A question lots of potential buyers are asking themselves now.

So what’s the answer? The answer depends a lot on you and the reasons you’re thinking of buying.

Generally if you plan to live in any home you buy in Knoxville for at least the next 3 years now might be a good time for you to buy for the following three reasons:

1. You may be eligible for a new federal tax credit of up to $8,000 that is only available this year for home purchased and closed before December 1st. After that this credit goes away. You can also collect that credit this year even if you’ve already filed your 2008 return by filing an amended return (form 1040X) or you can wait until next year and collect it on your 2009 return.
   Here’s how that $8,000 tax credit works. First of all it’s a credit and not a deduction like mortgage interest is.

   A tax credit results in a full $8,000 deduction from your taxable income whereas an $8,000 tax deduction would only result in a percentage savings based on what tax bracket you happen to fall into. For example if you’re in the 25% bracket you would only be able to claim 25% of $8,000 or $2,000. And this tax credit is fully refundable which means if your tax liability is less than $8,000 the IRS will refund to you the difference in cash.

   Here’s some information from the IRS website that explains more.

2. Interest rates are at their lowest point ever; you should be able to get a fixed interest rate under 5%. Right now in Knoxville $729 dollars is the average rent for a 2 bedroom apartment. at 4.5% interest, $729 is the principal and interest payment on a $143,800 home mortgage.

Rental rates for 1 & 2 bedroom Apartments in Knoxville, Tennessee

If you buy a Knox County home for, let’s say $150,000 at 4.75% interest and pay the minimum 3 1/2% down that FHA financing requires, your principal interest payment on your $144,750 loan will be $755.08. If rates were 7% that payment would jump to $963.03 and at 9% be $1,164.69. Most Knoxville area renters now are paying at least $750 or more in monthly rent so why not be working towards owning your own home plus getting $8,000 from the IRS to help you buy it.

3. There is a huge selection of homes for sale and sellers are motivated to either discount their price, help with your closing costs or in some cases do both. I’ve had buyer clients get some great deals this year and in fact have a closing today where a seller is paying $6,000 towards my buyer’s closing costs. Had a sale last month and a very motivated seller not only cut the sale price $7,000 and paid another $7,000 towards my buyer’s closing costs, they also threw in the very nice living room furniture.

Today in Knox County alone there are 2,710 single family homes priced between $50,000 to a maximum of $300,000 and 982 condos that meet the same criteria.

That’s over 3600 choices for you in those price ranges and all locations.

That’s also a bunch of sellers that want to sell. KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com is a great source that has all the Realtor listings in the greater Knoxville and surrounding areas.

Here’s just a few of the great buys you can get right now in the Knox County and Knoxville areas.

Affordable Farragut one level with large yard for only $149,900.

East Knox County home is brand spanking new and only $189,900

One of the nicest and most convenient areas of Farragut and only $239,900

Search all of Knoxville’s Realtor listing at KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com and let’s pick you out one soon.

This Easter Sunday is a bright sunshiny day with clear blue skies overhead although it’s still a bit chilly at 52 degrees outside.

This week’s property transfers from the Knox County Registrar of Deeds office brings the biggest numbers of the year with a total of 187 pieces of real estate finding a new owner.

As has been the trend all this year, most of the activity is in the low to lower middle price ranges, that is from $100,000 to $300,000. 22.8% of last week’s total were in the $100,000 to $150,000 range, 19.57% in the $200-300,000 range, and 14,67% from $150,000 to $200,000. The $50,000 to $100,000 range also had 16.3% of the total transfers.

Here’s another graph arranged by total units in each price range.

In all price ranges in Knox County the Knoxville Area Association of Realtor’s (KAAR) MLS currently has 672 listings in “Pending” status which means the seller has accepted an offer but the transaction has not yet closed.

Luckily for anyone still looking for a new home KAAR’s Realtors still have 3,633 active listings to choose from in all areas of Knox County and all price ranges from a staggering $4,375,000 price tag to a much more modest home offered at $9,900.

www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com is a great place to get a look at al the wonderful homes for sale.

First time buyers and those who have not owned a home in the past 3 years can likely qualify for the new, federal tax credit of up to $8,000 or 10% of the purchase price, whichever is less, to help you buy a home now. This credit must be used before December 1st of 2009 or it goes away.

Additionally many part of Knox County qualify for home loans through the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA provides up to 100% financing to encourage homebuyers in the more rural areas to purchase a home.

Also if you’re in the reserves, national guard, or are a veteran of any military service (Army, Navy, etc.) you probably would qualify for a Veteran’s Administration (VA) loan. You can get 100% financing with these and most motivated home sellers will pay some or all of your closing costs to entice you to buy their house.

Coupled with all this, mortgage interest rates are at their lowest levels in history! That’s right, lower than Mom & Dad paid, lower than Grandpa & Grandma paid, so it’s a rare opportunity to own a home.