Greg Reynolds

Or better yet... why would I want to use a Real Estate Agent that doesn't go to all the Open Houses for Agents??

Unless your Real Estate Agent has asked you if it is ok to host an Open House just for Agents you probably didn't know that there were such events. These Open Houses usually include lunch of some sorts and are a great way to let other Agents from many different companies see what products are out there. They are also great ways to get feedback on how the house looks, curb appeal, and price.

Another concept that has just started to pick up steam is someone hosting an event where Real Estate Agents present their listings to other agents at one place using pictures. This allows the agent to showcase the property to 40 or more agents at one time.

But why would you want your agent to see other Real Estate Agents listings??? First of all it helps to see what the competition is and what changes need to be done to maximize your listing. Secondly, if you are looking for a Buyer's Agent, it educates the Agent as to what is out there. It is much easier to show a home that you have seen and heard about personally than one you only see in the pictures in the listing and the Agents comments. And thirdly, it shows that the Agent is involved in the industry not just working as few hours as is necessary.

If you are looking for a Real Estate Agent in the Knoxville Tennessee area who is passionate about finding out everything he can about the Greater Knoxville Real Estate Market please contact me and lets talk about how I can help you sell your present home or find the home of your Dreams. Also please request your free brochure "8 Things to do to Prepare you House for Sale". To View my others blogs please feel free to go to "Living in the Tennessee Valley".

Why do people like to hike during the winter. Well here in East Tennessee for many it is the best time of the year to hike. Having the Great Smoky Mountains National Park close by is a great benefit for theGreater Knoxville area.

With approximately 800 miles of hiking trails the park has much to see. The problem is that this park is the most visited national park in the country, so even with that many miles of trails it can get hard to find a trail to enjoy on your own, especially those trails close to roads. During the winter months this usually isn't a problem. while there are many people out to visit the park there are fewer brave souls who actually venture out of their cars or off the pavement.

During the winter months with the foliage off of the trees the views are spectacular. If you are adventurous and don't mind hiking in snow, or even ice, you can get some spectacular photo opportunities. Hiking along the Appalachian Trail gets you to the peak of the mountain and can offer outstanding views but the hike to the top isn't for everyone.

If you are planning on doing some winter hiking be prepared. The temperature can change quickly and there can be a difference of ten degrees or more from the foothills to the peak. Boots are a must, just this last weekend I hiked from Newfound Gap north on the Appalachian Trial and saw most of the hikers wearing only tennis shoes. With the snow and ice on the trail I am sure they were miserable and it made for a very dangerous trip. Prepare for the change in temperatures. One of the biggest mistakes is to wear cotton clothing. Cotton looses it's insulating effectiveness when it gets wet. Water resistant pants are not that expensive and wearing a fleece jacket is one of the best ways to stay warm. Don't forget gloves and a hat with ear protection. One of the most critical items is to have water. Even though we aren't sweating we can still get dehydrated quickly and drinking from the streams can leave you sick for days.

If you are in the Greater Knoxville area and need assistance with your Real Estate needs please feel free to contact me. I am a Full Time Real Estate agent here in Knoxville and would consider it an honor to help you sell your existing home or find your dream home. Also when contacting me please request your free brochure "8 Things to do to Prepare your House for Sale".

If you wish to follow my other blogs please follow the link to "Living in the Tennessee Valley"

How does the Waterfront Home Sales in the Knoxville Tennessee Area breakdown according to Lake.

So Far during the last Quarter of 2010, October 1st through present, 24 Waterfront Homes have sold in the Knoxville TN Area. Also during this time there have been an additional 191 homes on the market or pulled off the market during this time. The 24 homes that did sell had an average listing price of just over $659k and a sales price of just over $593k.

Of the Homes that did sell 9 were located on Ft. Loudon Lake, 4 on Watts Bar, 5 on Tellico, 1 on Cherokee and 5 on Douglas. This breakdown is about what anyone would expect with most of the Waterfront Home Sales coming on lakes that are lakes with locks so that you can travel by boat to other parts of the country.

The 5 homes that sold on Tellico Lake were all located in the Tellico Village Development. This Development is primarily an Active Adult development.

If you would like to search for homes on any of these lakes or anywhere in the Greater Knoxville area please feel free to us my Home Search Engine.

If you are in the Greater Knoxville area and need assistance with your Real Estate needs please feel free to contact me. I am a Full Time Real Estate agent here in Knoxville and would consider it an honor to help you sell your existing home or find your dream home. Also when contacting me please request your free brochure "8 Things to do to Prepare your House for Sale".

If you wish to follow my other blogs please follow the link to "Living in the Tennessee Valley"

What is there to be happy with.... A lot of people might be asking that right now with the Economy still stuck in the mud and the Real Estate market doing it's yearly Holiday hide and seek, for all you Real Estate Agents out there. But if you really spend some time thinking about it there are still lots of things that we all should be happy about. Living here in East Tennessee and getting to watch the mountains all covered with snow... (yes I said snow,,, I know it usually isn't snowing that much here in East Tennessee especially before Christmas but they are covered with snow...) you can't help but catch yourself singing "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" in your best Frank Sinatra imitation. And unless you live in a cave somewhere you can't help but get invited to many Holiday Parties. Ok I know some of you out there don't like snow in any form and hate to go to parties, but even you have to feel the mood of the season when you hear Jingle Bells playing in every store you go into.

A few years ago I was given the opportunity to go to Uganda on a Construction Mission Trip, with Covenant Mercies, to build a water tower to provide water for an orphanage. I thought I was ready for whatever Uganda could throw at me. I mean I had been up in the hills in Appalachia and seen people living in houses that I thought would be condemned in even the worst third world country. Boy was I wrong... What I found in Uganda was people living as they did during the first Christmas, you know the one with the manger and the Shepherds. For most of the people in Uganda they would have to walk up 5 miles, one way, to get water then carry it back to there homes. Oh and there homes were usually made of mud or home made bricks and covered with a thatched roof. They had to find there own food from the pineapples that grew naturally there to some foods that we "westerners" could not eat since they were a natural source of Arsenic. They would then cook the food over an open fire, reusing the water from cooking to clean the dishes and bathe.

Building the tower turned out to be a very difficult project. You see there wasn't any electricity run to the orphanage houses and the generators that were available to rent were finicky at best and no Home Depots were available to go buy what ever we needed. We finally finished the tower and watched as the residents from around the Orphanage came and saw what many of them had never seen, clean clear water running out from a spicket. Something we take for granted here in the USA every day.

I couldn't help but feel blessed when I saw this, not because of what I had back in the US, but rather I learned that day that I have no reason to ever be dissatisfied with what I have. It was a lesson that I still look back on when I am feeling like I am not getting my fair share. These people who had nothing, from a worldly perspective, has shown me it isn't what we have it is what we are inside.

I hope we all remember this as we are sharing the Holiday season with friends and family.

Merry Christmas!!!!!

If you are in the Greater Knoxville area and need assistance with your Real Estate needs please feel free to contact me. I am a Full Time Real Estate agent here in Knoxville and would consider it an honor to help you sell your existing home or find your dream home. Also when contacting me please request your free brochure "8 Things to do to Prepare your House for Sale".

If you wish to follow my other blogs please follow the link to "Living in the Tennessee Valley"

Living in the South Vs. Living in the North...

Now I have never lived north of the Mason Dixon Line, but I do have many friends and past clients, from when I was a builder, who migrated south from the upper Mid West and I have heard all about some of the major differences in living there from here in Knoxville TN. I am going to try to give an un-biased comparison of the two, ok well not too un-biased but I promise that it won't be too one sided.

1.) Raising Street signs so that when the snow is cleared off the roads you can still see them when driving. Now I understand why, up North, you have to do that. When the snow plow has come through for the 4th time today and it has done the same thing for 42 consecutive days the snow will pile up and make driving dangerous without the signs being visible. Here in the South you don't have to worry about it. One reason, even if the snow got that high, is that no one will be driving. We stay home during snows. Everything is canceled from the first mention of snow by the weather forecasters. Schools, meetings and work become too dangerous to drive too. Up north people don't let a little snow get in the way. They also don't let a lot of snow get in the way.

2.) Heating and Air Conditioning vents can be in the ceiling not only in the floor. Now we all know that having the HVAC vents in the floor are better for heating. But here in the South we have either an equal amount of heating and cooling days or substantially more cooling days than heating days. Having the vents in the ceiling work just fine down South. When I was a builder that was one of the first things people, moving from up North, would notice. I would have to explain that here in East Tennessee we have an equal number of cooling and heating days and it is fine with the vents in the ceiling.

3.) Raking the snow off of the Roof during the winter. This was one of the hardest concepts to understand for me. Now I can understand the reason, too much snow and the roof would collapse, it's just that I didn't think there could be that much snow in one winter. And the hardest thing for me to understand was that those living in these conditions think it is natural.

4.) Contents found in your Garage. Now down in the south things you will find in your garage are: lawn mowers, golf clubs, old shoes and boots, and assorted tools. Now in the North you might find any or all of these but there will be a few additional items in the garage: Cross Country Skis, snow shoes, snow mobiles, and snow blowers. You might find a pair of cross country skis in the south but they won't be in case your house gets snowed in for 3 weeks and you need to get to the grocery store.

5.) Last but not least is Ice Fishing. Ice fishing is Northern tradition and has it's own set of rules. Ice fishing shacks can have everything from a wood burning stove to microwaves and Liquor cabinets. The thought of driving a car or truck to your fishing hut a half mile from the shore, on the water side, is beyond the thinking of us from the south. I do have to give it to my brethren from the north when you do something you do it in style.

Now I am sure that you noticed but most of these differences are from the winter. Since today we are barely getting above freezing here in Knoxville it made me think of these winter activities I had to share these tidbits of information.

If you are looking to buy or sell a house here in the East Tennessee market, and are not presently working with a Real Estate Agent, contact me to discuss how I can help you with your Real Estate needs. Also when contacting me request your free brochure "8 things to do to Prepare your House for Sale".

If you want to read my other blogs please go to "Living in the Tennessee Valley"