Tim and Pam Cash - Clarksville TN Real Estate Professionals

FIVE QUICK TIPS TO GET YOUR HOME READY FOR WINTER

1. Roof repairs: If you can safely get onto your roof to inspect for missing shingles or other factors that may lead to a leaky roof, now's the time to do it! If not, call in a professional organization and have them take care of the rooftop work for you.

2. Seal it off: Inspect doors and windows to ensure that the weather-stripping is in good condition. This will keep your house warmer and cozier in the winter months.

3. Hot stuff: Make sure that your heater and ventilation systems are in good working order! Clean out accessible ducts and replace filters where necessary.

4. Chimney sweep: Creosote, a black substance that builds up in the chimney when wood is burned, can cause chimney fires. Inspect your chimney for creosote and call a chimney sweep to keep your fireplace safe and functional.

5. Gutter check: Now's the time to clean out those rain gutters again! If you want to do it yourself, make sure that you can safely access the gutters and then scoop out any debris, blast the drains clean with a high-powered hose, and repair any leaks you may find along the way.

The Clarksville-Montgomery County Veterans Day Parade will take place on Saturday, Nov. 7, with pre-parade ceremonies set for 9 a.m. at 1 Public Square in downtown Clarksville.

This year the parade theme is "Honoring all who served," a tribute to veterans past and present. The parade will begin at 10 a.m. at the corner of N. Eighth and College Streets, next to the Sundquist Science Building at Austin Peay State University, with the reviewing stand at Public Square in front of City Hall. The deadline for parade entries is Wednesday, Oct. 28.

Entry forms and maps of the parade route can be obtained from the Veterans Service Organization in Veterans Plaza, 350 Pageant Lane, Suite 308, Clarksville.

A Veterans Day breakfast, 7:30 a.m. at the Morgan University Center at APSU, will kick off the day's celebration.

For more information, contact the Veterans Service Organization at 553-7173.

Courtesy of Clarksville Online

As if 2009 was not a stellar year for the Clarksville TN Real Estate Market, Clarksville TN Housing Demands to exceed neighbors in 2010according to Edsel Charles with the 19-state research firm Market Graphics. This is excellent news for the great city of Clarksville Tn as well as for our Soldiers and their Families stationed at Fort Campbell, KY.

Mr. Charles spoke to an audience of Real Estate Professionals and Builders, Developers and Lenders here in Clarksville. The Clarksville Real EstateMarket is projected to exceed even that of the Nashville market which is phenominal to say the least.

While Clarksville is blessed with Fort Campbell, we also have major industries such as Trane, U.S. Zinc, Quebecor, Bridgestone, Bosch, Florim just to name a few and are preparing for the arrival of Hemlock Semiconductor Group (HSC) very soon. This, coupled with Austin Peay State University and the impending opening of the Clarksville Marina makes one wonder why more people have not heard of the best kept secret - Clarksville Tennessee!

As a Realtor, Retired Soldier and Citizen of Clarksville I am certainly pleased as well as proud of the progress of our fair city.

$555 Million DoD Homeowners Assistance Program Details Announced. The Department of Defense (DoD) today announced details for the temporary expansion of the Homeowners Assistance Program (HAP). Using $555 million in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), this program is designed to partially reimburse eligible military personnel, surviving spouses, and federal civilian employees whose service to the nation has required them to relocate and sell their primary residence at a loss.

Potential eligible personnel include:

• Active and former service members of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard
• Civilian employees of the DoD, Coast Guard, and non-appropriated fund activities
• Surviving spouses of both fallen service members and civilian employees.
  
  

Potential eligible personnel who have sold a primary home for a loss or are considering selling their home are encouraged to visit the DoD HAP Web site (http://hap.usace.army.mil) to check specific program criteria, and if eligible, apply online.

The DoD HAP has been providing financial assistance to military personnel and DoD civilians since 1966, mainly at base realignment and closure (BRAC) sites where government action caused a decrease in market home values. While the HAP expansion is not designed to pay 100 percent of losses or to cover all declines in value, it can help protect eligible applicants from financial catastrophe due to significant losses in their home values.

In February 2009, the Congress provided ARRA funding for a temporary expansion of the HAP to address unique economic pressures faced by military personnel who are forced to relocate during these unusually adverse housing market conditions. After conducting an extensive analysis to determine how best to prioritize the finite funds available while maximizing assistance to as many people as possible, the
DoD developed specific eligibility criteria designed to take care of people in the greatest need. These program details have been published in the Federal Register and are now available for public comment.

ARRA funding allows the DoD to temporarily expand HAP to partially reimburse losses from the sale of a primary residence in the following priority order:

1. Homeowners wounded, injured, or ill in the line of duty while deployed since Sept. 11, 2001, and relocating in furtherance of medical treatment.

2. Surviving spouse homeowners relocating within two years after the death of their spouse.

3. Homeowners affected by the 2005 BRAC round, without the need (which existed under previous law) to prove that a base closure announcement caused a local housing market decline.

4. Service member homeowners receiving orders dated on or after Feb. 1, 2006, through Dec. 31, 2009, for a permanent change of station (PCS) move. The orders must specify a report-no-later-than date on or before Feb. 28, 2010, to a new duty station or home port outside a 50-mile radius of the service member's former duty station. These dates may be extended to Sept. 30, 2012, based on availability of funds.

Each of these general categories has more specific eligibility requirements which have been updated at the DoD HAP Web site (http://hap.usace.army.mil). The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers executes the program for all the military branches and HAP administrators will immediately start processing applications.

This past Saturday I had the honor of participating in Soldier Ride Nashville 2009. After a week that saw flooding of many areas in the Southeast to include Nashville approximately 20 Night Stalkers linked up at the Park and Ride just off Exit 11 ready to participate as part of 'Team Tre' in honor of our Fallen Comrade MSG Tre Ponder. It was an early morning, not uncommon to the men of the group (cant speak for the young lady in attendance). It was also a wet morning, but nothing of what awaited us as we departed for Nashville.

As the convoy departed Clarksville heading East down I-24 the rain slowly intensified. By the time we reached Edwin Warner Park we were met with a steady rain that showed no signs of stopping. My first thought was that the participation for the Soldier Ridewas going to be minimized due to the rain which would be disappointing to say the least. As we staged our bikes and gear under a nearby pavilion the vehicles just kept coming. Upon walking to the registration area I quickly realized that we were not alone - the rain had not dampened the spirits of the hundreds who turned out to ride with some of our Wounded Heroes.

After our Country's National Anthem was sang and Chaplain Glazner gave a blessing over the Ride, our Soldiers and their Families we headed out in the rain. The route could not have been any more beautiful than the route selected by the Wounded Warrior Project Team. We rode through the areas that many of our Nation's Country Music Artists reside and were met periodically by folks standing at the end of their drives to pay their respects to our Wounded Heroes who led the way this wet day.

The first leg of the ride took us to the fair city of Franklin Tennessee where we were met by a large crowd of citizens and the Franklin Fire and Police Department. I must say that tears welled up in my eyes as I knew that America did still care even though our media has done their level best in this Country to make it seem as if the majority in America no longer supported the war or our Soldiers.

After a break of approximately 20 minutes and with many of us starting to get chilled the group 'saddled up' and peddled off into the sunset rain. Most of the riders decided to finish the 25 mile trek with some of our Wounded Heroes. A few of us, including myself took a left and headed out on the 52.71 mile trek. I had thought of only doing 25 miles and struggled with whether to go with our Wounded Heroes or to take that left. Since I had made a promise to the many who had contributed to my 50 + mile ride I felt that I had an obligation to ride the route regardless of the weather (I must admit there were times that I wondered just what I was thinking).

The 50 mile route took us through the Natchez Trace which was again some of the most beautiful country I had seen. It was also some of the hilliest country in Tennessee that I had seen (not a good thing for a novice cyclist doing his longest ride yet). Somehow I must have missed the note about the hills on the route. Now folks, I can hold my own and believe myself to be in pretty good shape for my 40 years of age, but these hills put the wood to me (country folks will know what I am saying). There was one particular hill during the ride that I am sure has a name (I called it many that can't be repeated here). I certainly thought that it would never end and everyone, regardless of their level of cycling was out of the saddle and spinning for all they were worth. I still don't know how I managed to make it without getting off the bike or passing out.

After conquering the hill from hell I felt no other hill could be as bad as that one had been. We stopped for a quick break at a small country store in Leapers Forkand were again greeted with many from the community. Obviously I asked them about the remainder of the route and a couple of them smiled to my dismay and stated 'oh there is only one more hill like that one'. NOOOOOOO!!! Surely they were mistaken, but at this point it was too late to cry over spilled milk - we cycled on! The hill that was out there weighed on the three of us in my group - all dreading another challenge such as the one we had faced. Every sight of an incline was quickly questioned 'Is this the hill?'

We never did figure out which hill was 'the one' on the back side of the route. Possibly it was there and we were just too focused (or in a daze) to realize that we had been up it. Possibly it was one to Kurt's two flat tire stops that had given us the legs we otherwise would not have had to make it up 'the hill' whatever, we never experienced another hill like the first.

Our ride was no record shattering event - quite the contrary, we were near the last in - mainly due to mechanical failures that could not be avoided. No matter though - we finished and for that we were all proud both as individuals and as a team. Two of us had never been that distance on a cycle in a day and being that it was in honor of our friend and comrade MSG James 'Tre' Ponder it made the experience much more than words can describe.

Special thanks to all of those who made the Soldier Ride Nashville 2009 possible. While I do not know many of you, I know the amount of work that goes into making events such as this come together. To Leslie and the Girls - Tre's memory lives on ladies. Thank you for making the day ever so special by gracing us with your presence - it was great seeing you.

Thanks, to Tim Moore, owner/operator of Bikes and Moore, Hopkinsville Kentucky - an avid supporter of the Wounded Warrior Project and the Soldier Ride. Without Tim's volunteer efforts to ensure that every cyclist with a mechanical issue was taken care of, many of the riders would not have been able to complete the ride. Tim goes around the country to support and ride in Wounded Warrior Rides.

I am planning on training for longer rides in the coming year. Hopefully I can join Tim and others in Soldier Rides in other parts in the South as it is such a worthy cause and also a great experience to share with those who have overcame a life changing injury. The ultimate goal will be in a couple of years - a seven day ride spanning four states.

I hope to see you all at next year's Soldier Ride Nashville 2010. I can guarantee you that you will never forget the ride nor those who you will meet along the route. To all who contributed to this worthy cause I say thank you and God Bless.

Until next year - God bless our Soldiers, their Families and our Great Nation!