Toni Pack

A Tale of Two Builders

Nashville was hit with a devastating flood at the beginning of May. No one really understood the depth of what happened for days afterwards. Some people couldn't get out of their neighborhoods, this blogger included, to know what we would all be up against as a community when the water receded. Here are just a few photos to help you understand. These photos, by Daniel Potter, represent water depth in commercial areas. The devastation was most apparent in residential neighborhoods. A fantastic and informative video can be found here.

Now, on to the story about the builders...

Two days after the weekend flooding, Debra Smith, president of D. L. Smith Construction, Inc., began getting telephone calls from friends of friends whose homes had been partially if not completely destroyed. Within the first two days, she had so many calls, she knew the folks affected by the flooding needed more help than one builder could provide. She called a friend and fellow builder, Brad Jacob, president of Rachelle Homes, to form a partnership of sorts during this rebuilding period. So far, they've been able to help 35 families in the renovations of their homes.

Debra and Brad have been very different in their approach to this rebuilding process. While other contractors have raised prices simply because they can, or so they think, Debra and Brad have taken a more compassionate attitude. For example, one well known contractor in the area had given someone a bid to do the remodel on their home which was $1000 short of being double the cost of the bid from D. L. Smith Construction, Inc. and Rachelle Homes.

There are good, reliable, honest builders out there who know it's more than just labor and materials, it's helping people move back into their house to start making it a home again.

When you hear the words Buy Local, have you ever thought about how you can impact your local community by buying local?

When you buy local, you're keeping the money in your own back yard so to say. The local merchant you frequent will take that same money and spend it locally by putting it back into their business or even frequenting your business. The money recirculates in your community as opposed to going to a corporation in another location. True, there are many franchise owners affiliated with national and international companies that operate locally and are good business models, but I'm talking about the local farmers, coffee shoppes, etc.. It's nice to know that many locally owned restaurants feature items on their menus that use produce grown on a farm a few miles down the road. You know where your food comes from and may even know the farmer that grew it. This would be a good example of keeping money in the local economy-local farmer grows the food, local restaurant serves it, you eat dinner at that restaurant, the restaurant turns that money around to buy more local produce, meat and dairy.

A few years ago I learned about CSAs, Community Supported Agriculture. I chose Delvin Farms when I decided to participate in a CSA. They are a local organic farm that is family owned and operated. In addition to knowing your food was picked at earliest the late afternoon before you pick up that week's offering, you learn to cook with what vegetable and fruits are coming in at the time. There are varieties of vegetables included you don't typically see at the grocery store. I go to the Farmer's Market in Franklin, TN where you can also find Hatcher Family Dairy products with the best chocolate milk/guilty pleasure on the planet. You can buy natural beef from Triple L Ranch. There are beekeepers who sell honey, goat farmers who bring goat cheese, as well as artisans who make handcrafted soaps. All of these folks are local and can share stories that endear them to you. They'll even tell you the name of the goats milked to make the goat cheese!

Before I learned about all the benefits to our local economy of buying local and before learning about the health benefits of buying organic and/or natural whenever possible, (yes, I used to call those kind of folks granola eating tree huggers) I hadn't given it much thought. Now, I can't imagine not doing my part as a consumer and a granola eating tree hugger!

Happy 4th of July everyone! I hope it's been fun and safe so far and will continue to be.

I've gathered information from MLS to give you a brief overview of home sale activity in our neighborhood for the past six months compared to the same time frame last year-January 1-July 3.

• This year, since January 1, there have been 11 homes that have closed. Three of those were in The Links and one of them was in The Reserve.
• There are currently two pending sales with one of those being in The Reserve.
• There are 19 homes active on the market. Five of them are in The Links and one of them is in The Reserve.

Last year, during the same time frame, we only had eight homes that closed. Of the homes that closed in that time period last year, comparing the list price to the actual sales price, the homes sold on average sold for 2.2% less than list price which is great. Taking into consideration is that fact that four of those homes were in The Reserve and were new construction. New construction homes many times have upgrades added by the buyer which cause the sale price to be greater than the list price and when averaging these, the list price to sale price ratio is lower.

This year, of the homes that have closed, there was a difference of 5.4% list price to sale price reduction on average. Of the 11 that closed, only one was in The Reserve. Existing home sales, if not priced aggressively in the beginning, tend to close at a lower price while taking longer to sell. Pricing competitively from the start along with having your home in top condition, is more important than ever and hopefully, if you're home is on the market or you're about to place it on the market, will put you in the position that when an offer comes your way that it's no less than list price!

Then

In "the good ol' days" back in 2005-2006, it wasn't uncommon to see a home in your neighborhood go on the market and sell within the first few days. The kicker was that many of those folks were just testing the market and it worked! Those days are behind us now but what's happening isn't so bad, really.

Now

True, home sales have spiked somewhat due to the tax credit offered which ran through April 30th but still, we're just not at a point that home sales are near what we have been used to. Putting your home on the market is as different now as it is for the buyers who are qualified to buy a home. Some things are the same for a seller in what has to be top of mind: pricing, curb appeal, cleanliness and being diligent in making sure all systems in the house are in proper working order. Any more, this isn't enough in most real estate markets. Now, a home has to be "top shelf" ready by hiring a professional home stager, having professional photos and/or video tours of the home and making sure there is as much internet exposure as possible from real estate specific web sites to social media platforms. Another big change is that it used to be commonplace to see "x amount of dollars in lieu of repairs" written on purchase offers. Lending institutions don't look favorably on this practice. The best advice for sellers is to replace that carpet or repaint those walls so the issue does not arise. A home on the market today has fierce competition so why not have your home as the best looking, best priced home in the neighborhood? It's got to be darn near perfect!

Home buyers are facing scrutiny in the loan process in ways they never have before. (This can be a good thing to a degree because there are no surprises for the buyer at the 11th hour but it's also the reason a home takes so long to close.) When a buyer is searching for a property, price typically is what appeals to them first and next, plenty of photos of the house. Next, upon seeing a house in person, they have to feel at home as soon as they walk in the door. They have many choices of really great houses to see and the saavy buyer has probably done a ton of research online on the homes they are interested in. They have a pretty good idea of the value of a home, the seller has to make sure that the value of the home includes price as well as a welcoming connection to the buyer.

On a side note, buyers and sellers, your Realtor has built relationships with companies and people who can make and keep your house at its best. The custom home builder I represent told me something years ago that rings true: A homeowner can call someone they found online to do a repair on their home, but if they call their builder who has a relationship with subcontractors, i.e. an HVAC person who installs 15 HVAC units a year for that builder, they will get a better deal. Realtors have those same relationships so use those connections, it will make the frustration of a home repair a bit easier to deal with.