Murfreesboro Tennessee Real Estate

During this episode of Tuesday Morning Coffee, John discusses why we often hear "your first offer is your best offer". He also explains the importance of competitively pricing your home so that it sells quickly!

JOHN:  Hey, guys.  John Jones here an edition of Tuesday Morning Coffee.  There’s been a saying in real estate ever since I’ve been in the business.  “Your first offer is usually your best offer.”  And I know a lot of times I say that to people and I’m sure they’re going, “That’s just sales talk.  You’re trying to get me to take this offer. 

But let me tell you why this is usually true.  It’s not always true, but I’m going to tell you probably 90% of the time it is true.  And the reason is when you put a property on the market, especially in today’s climate where everybody has access to technology, most buyers have been looking at every home on the market that meets their parameters for weeks or months. 

They have alerts even on their phone or their email that as soon as a property hits the market, it comes straight into their inbox.  They’ve looked at a lot of the competition already, so when a property hits the market and they look at it and it’s favorable and they make an offer, usually it’s a good offer because they understand what they’re dealing with.  And it’s usually one you should take serious.

A buyer is attracted to a property that has only been on the market for a short while.  They are more prone when it’s just been on for a short while, they’re more prone to make a better offer on that property because they want to be the first one.  They realize the seller—it hasn’t been sitting there long.  They don’t want to offend the seller.  If they like the property, they realize that they need to jump on it.

On the flip side of that, the longer a property stays on the market, people are more prone to make lower offers, even it’s maybe in the sixth month and the price reduction’s already come down three times, and the property is at a very fair price, one of the first things a buyer asks when they walk in a home with a realtor, if they’re interested, they usually ask this question. 

If their eyes light up and they’re kind of interested in the property, they ask this question: How long has it been on the market?”  And if that realtor has to spit out 180 days, typically, the reaction of a buyer is, “Ooo, I bet they’re ready to get rid of this home.  And it kind of creates that spirit of a lower offer.  So by pricing it right on the front end and trying to catch that first buyer, typically, especially in the market we’re in right now, you can hold a little tighter to your asking price.

And in many cases right now, you’re getting multiple offers, which is usually a good thing.  Right now in our county, anything under 250 that is priced right or in condition or both is going to sell, and it’s going to sell quickly.  Now as you get up in price range in our county, it does slow down a little bit, but it is a very hot market for sellers. 

So if you’re thinking about selling your home and you’ve kind of put it off the last two years because you just didn’t think you could get what you wanted, this is a fantastic time.  Case in point, I listed a house two weeks ago in the [___ 02:56] area.  In ’010, that home was on the market for 120 days at 129, 900.  No offers.  We just put it on the market ’013 at 139,900, and we had a deal worked out within seven days not too far from list price.

So that just kind of tells you what’s going on in the market and how much it is changing.  And a market and a price is just a moment in time, so what might have been good or what might have happened three years ago, what might have happened a year ago, has absolutely could be totally different today.

If you need any help with your real estate, please give us a call, 867-3020.  Thank you.

Tune in to today's Tuesday Morning Coffee where John reviews the housing statistics for Rutherford County during the month of April 2013. The market is continuing to recover & it's a great time to buy or sell a home!

JOHN:  Hey, guys. John Jones here with another edition of Tuesday Morning Coffee. Today, we’re talking about April statistics.  Of course, it’s springtime, and things are very active, so April was a good month.  Closed sales in Rutherford County single-family homes we were up 14.4% year over year over last April.  Pendings were up 12%. 

Inventory’s down another 10%.  Average closed price for the year is up $10,000 over last year, which is about 6.4%.  Our year-to-date closed is up 26% over this time last year.  And our days on the market are down 85 days from last year to 76 days this year.

Our monthly supply of homes is running at 4.6, which is the lowest it’s been in quite some time.  So the market if very active.  Most price ranges if they’re priced right and in decent condition, they’re going to sell quickly.  The upper price ranges when you get up over 300,000 it is slowing down.  It is still a little slower.  Then as you keep going up, it gets a little slower, but it’s the best market we have seen in quite a while and interest rates are still incredibly low.

So it is a fantastic time to buy a home, and it’s a lot better time than it has been in the past to sell a home.  Our values are coming back.  They’re not back to the peaks that they were in ’07, and that will take quite a while, but we have gotten back some of the value that we lost over the last few years.

So if you have any questions about real estate, please don’t hesitate to call us at John Jones Real Estate 867-3020.

During this episode of Tuesday Morning Coffee, John reviews & compares March 2013 market numbers to the previous year. Inventory is low & closed sale prices are increasing!

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JOHN:  Hey, guys. John Jones here with another edition of Tuesday Morning Coffee. We’re going to talk about March housing statistics here in Rutherford County. As you have probably read or seen in the news, housing is starting to come back. And it’s been a long time coming, but that is no exception for here in Rutherford County.

We’re seeing new construction going up in a lot of different areas. Prices are starting to ease back up, which is a great sign. Inventories are shrinking. In March, we were up 33% over last March in closed sales. In pending sales, we were up 16% over last March. In inventory, we’re down 12% over last March. Our closed sales prices was up 4.7% at $166,887 compared to $159,389 last March.

For the year, closed sales are up 32% over this time last year, which marks the first quarter. So things are really looking good. Rates are still low. You can still get 3% rates or 3.5, somewhere in there. In certain prices ranges, it has almost started becoming a buyer’s market in certain pockets. Some of the bigger stuff’s still sitting around. Not so much a buyer’s market on those, but things are starting to move, and optimism is in the air.

So for any of your real estate needs, please give us a call, 300-3775 is my personal cell number or you can call our office at 867-3020. Thank you.

During today's Tuesday Morning Coffee, John has the privilege of sitting down with Bart Walker, Owner of WGNS Radio. Bart & John talk about how influential and helpful the station has been to Rutherford County residents. Bart talks about some of the "wildest" news day. biggest local events and also shares his opinion on Rutherford County's biggest challenge as it sees rapid growth in the community. 

Tune in to today's TMC, where John talks with Rovin from All-Time Exterminating. Rovin & John discuss the best way to treat termites & ants and the benefits of using a reputable company like All-Time.

JOHN:  Hey, guys. John Jones here with another edition of Tuesday Morning Coffee. I’m pleased to have a great guest today, Rovin Rhodes with All-Time Exterminating. All-Time is a company that I have been using now probably…how many years, Rovin?

ROVIN:  Seven years.  

JOHN:  Seven years, and they are great. There’s two things I think that make them great is their quality of service and their customer care. If I’ve ever had a little issue or anything with them, they don’t make excuses. They just say, “John, we’re going to take care of it. Don’t worry about it.” I’ve loved using this company, but as we get into the spring, Rovin, I’ll tell you what I saw a few years ago and you tell me. I know in the spring sometimes the termites, they swarm. Right?

ROVIN:  Yeah, absolutely.

JOHN:  Is it just in the spring typically?

ROVIN:  It is a very rare occasion when John we’ll get a fall swarm, but compared to the spring swarm, it’s nothing. If you get a swarm, that means you got a mature colony. Subterranean termite colony has to be maxed out to swarm, and it means you’ve got problems. One thing that happens a lot of the time is when that swarm leaves, people think they’re problem’s gone. That swarm was only about 5% of the colony, so the problem’s still there.

JOHN:  So if you see swarming termites at your home, you can almost guarantee you’ve got termites around, that they’re there? And they hadn’t left?

ROVIN:  The colony did not leave and the colony’s mature. Not every colony swarms, so it means you’ve got a valid problem. Even if you can’t see any evidence, you’ve got a problem that needs to be dealt with.

JOHN:  Are termites the number one problem for a home as far as really creating serious damage in our area of the country?

ROVIN:  Sure. That’s a great question, John. They actually do more damage than fires and storms combined in America. The odds of getting termites in Middle Tennessee this year, about one out of seven to eight. So obviously, homeowner’s insurance doesn’t help you a bit with it. They consider it preventable.

JOHN:  What’s the number one precaution people can take from having termites? Sleeping easy at night? Do you know what I mean?

ROVIN:  Absolutely. Obviously, John whether it’s us or whether it’s someone else, there’s nothing you can do better than just having your home preemptively treated. Don’t rely on the pretreat of the home. That’s only good for a maximum of five years, so after a home gets four or five years old, just give yourself the peace of mind. A lot of times, a preemptive treatment costs a lot less, and then annual renewals. With us, it’s just $60 to keep that up. So it’s just basically—

JOHN:  Basically, for $60 a year, you’re going to basically guarantee I’m not going to have termites, and if so some reason I do, you’re going to come out there and make sure …

ROVIN:  We’re going to retreat it no cost to you.

JOHN:  No cost. 

ROVIN:  That’s exactly right.

JOHN:  And if I go to sell my house and I have to get a letter…?

ROVIN:  The letter is absolutely free if you have that service. Now the initial investment’s a little bit more but not much on that treatment with us.

JOHN:  Well, that’s awesome. What about ants? I tend to get ants at my house, and it’s the only house I’ve ever had where I’ve had ants, but every year, they come into my house. Is there really any way to keep them out?

ROVIN:  There are things you can do, John. If you have a lot of shrubbery close to your home, you can cut it back where it’s not touching the home, things like that. But basically, as with most insects, the best thing to do is just to get a professional company to take care of that for you. We can get products that you wouldn’t be able to get over the counter and take care of it right.

JOHN:  Right, right. Well, the good thing about ants is they don’t typically eat your wood unless they’re a carpenter ant I guess, but I know a lot of times in home inspections now the home inspector will see wood or debris under a home that was probably left when the home was constructed. Those are targets for termites aren’t they?

ROVIN:  Absolutely. If I had a home, I would make sure that I went under it and got every bit of the debris out and don’t leave any debris leaning up against your home or close to the home.

JOHN:  Don’t stack your firewood up next to your home.

ROVIN:  Firewood needs to be about 40 feet away, and it needs to be off the ground too. Make sure it’s not directly on the ground but lift it up off the ground on something.

JOHN:  Gotcha, that’s good stuff. Man, thank you so much. Guys, if you want a great company with just people that do business the way everybody used to do business, just good old-fashioned customer service, taking care of people, appreciating their clients, call All-Time. They’re a super company. I can’t say enough great things about them. So here’s their number. If you have any pest control needs, give them a call. Thanks.

Today's Tuesday Morning Coffee, John reviews the market statistics for Rutherford County for the month of February. 

Hey, guys. Tuesday Morning Coffee here. John Jones. Today, we’re going to talk about February numbers, what the market’s doing, where it’s going, where it’s been, all that good stuff. Good news is positive. Housing is on the rise as probably most of you have read in Rutherford County. In the month of February, we were up 30% over the month of February 2012.

Our pendings were up 15% over 2012, and our inventory is down to 1,477 homes, and that’s the lowest I can remember it being probably since ’04, ’05, somewhere like that. So definitely certain price ranges it’s almost impossible to find a home, get multiple offers on homes. Now there are some price ranges that aren’t fairing as well.

I know I went on a listing appointment this past week in the Oakley Subdivision. I was looking 400 to 500 and there was quite a bit of supply of those homes, but 250 and under, things are moving. If it’s priced good and it’s in good shape, it will move quickly if you’re thinking of selling. Year to date, we’re up 31% over last year, and remember last year we were up 30% over ’011, so we’re still moving in a good direction as far as our pace.

Average sales price was $160,667 this month. That was up over 156,000 same time last year, so that’s up about 3%. Days on the market is down from 88 to 78 days, and our inventory guys, is right at a 5-month supply. It’s the lowest inventory we have had in quite a while, probably since ’06. So exciting news if you’re out there, you’ve been on the fence.

I sold a house this week that I’d listed two years ago and couldn’t get it sold because of the market conditions, and we listed it for $5,000 higher and we got a contract on it. So that just tells you things are changing. Rates are still low. If you’re thinking of buying or selling, it’s a good time to do so. There’s a lot of action in the market.

So thank you, guys. If we can help you in any way, 867-3020.

Today's Tuesday Morning Coffee special guest is Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold. John and Sheriff Arnold talk about some of the sheriff's challenges, lessons learned, and also talk about the very popular Rutherford County Sheriff Office smartphone app!

During today's Tuesday Morning Coffee, John talks with Joey Holt, owner of Fairway Landscapes. Tune in to see Joey's great work and hear about the importance of curb appeal and the impact it has on buying & selling real estate.

We hope you enjoy today's Tuesday Morning Coffee, where John sits down with Belinda Arender, Vice President, Mortgage Loan Officer at F&M Mortgage. John and Belinda discuss FHA changes and current morgage rates. If you're looking for a stellar lender, Belinda is the one!

During today's Tuesday Morning Coffee, I have the privilege of talking with Beth Smith, Executive Director for the Rutherford County Habitat for Humanity. Tune in to learn how they have helped over 130 families afford a home just in Rutherford County, and see how you can help this wonderful organization!

JOHN:  Hey, guys.  This is John Jones, honored to have Beth Smith, the executive director with Habitat for Humanity, which is a fabulous non-profit, international organization that we are lucky to have just an unbelievable chapter here in Rutherford County.  And Beth runs the show.  Thanks for being with us.

BETH:  Thanks for having me.

JOHN:  The first question I have is obviously I think most of us know out there that home ownership is such a vital component to people’s lives.  We’ve seen all kinds of studies where the sense of pride of owning a home is carried over to the kids, and people just do so much better with stability and parental support inside of owning a home, so we know it’s important.

I think there’s probably a misconception out there or not a really good understanding of what Habitat actually does for people in home ownership.  So give me kind of a briefing of what Habitat does for folks.

BETH:  Okay.  Well, there are a lot of misconceptions about Habitat, and the biggest one is that we give the houses away.

JOHN:  Free houses, right?

BETH:  Free houses, and the families don’t pay for them.  And in fact, that’s not what we do.  The family is deeded the home.  They make a monthly mortgage payment.

JOHN:  Great.

BETH:  And they pay that to us.  The biggest difference, and really probably one of the only differences, is we don’t charge interest.

JOHN:  Right. 

BETH:  So it’s an interest-free loan, and it just really gives them the opportunity to take a step that they wouldn’t have been able to afford with a conventional mortgage.  And it puts them on the track to be more stable and to provide more for their family. 

JOHN:  Well, I was going to ask you to give me an example of maybe a neat story of somebody you’ve helped.  And we were talking earlier, so tell the audience about this person.  In fact, you’re on home what number right now?

BETH:  One hundred and thirteen.

JOHN:  A hundred and thirteen people that this organization’s helped right here in Rutherford County.  But this particularly family, tell a little bit about them.  Immigrants to—

BETH:  Yes, actually, the husband and wife came over from Africa and wanted to start a life over here.  She worked while he went to school.  They ended up having three children.  He ended up getting his degree and went on to get his master’s, got a really good job, and then left.

JOHN:  Deserted—

BETH:  Deserted the family and there she was left with the children, not speaking great English.  She did speak some, but couldn’t afford to go back to where she was.  And so she had to just really take over both roles of the family, get a job, and she has a very stable job.  She’s been there for many years now.

JOHN:  And a very good person it sounds like.

BETH:  Very good person.

JOHN:  Very sweet person.

BETH:  Just very humble and very sweet and just very excited about the experience and excited to be able to be a homeowner and provide that for her children.  And so it’s like that with just every family.  Every family has a great story.

JOHN:  There’s a story.  How much time do they actually have?  I know they have to go through classes.  They have to learn about homeownership. 

BETH:  Right.

JOHN:  And how to make utility payments and home maintenance and things like that.  But they also actually put in some sweat equity.  How many hours do y’all require that they be involved with the home?

BETH:  They have to work at least 300 hours of sweat equity if there’s one adult in the family.  If there’s two adults, it’s 400 hours.

JOHN:  Wow. 

BETH:  And if you think about it and break it down, if you work a 40-hour workweek and then you think about working 300 or 400 more hours, that’s a lot of time.

JOHN:  Sure.

BETH:  And the average amount of time to work through the program is about a year and a half.

JOHN:  They’ve got skin in the game, so to speak.

BETH:  Definitely.

JOHN:  To me, that would make the home even more special. 

BETH:  It does.  And the financial classes really help them also on two degrees because they learn about budgeting and how to save for the future and how to avoid predatory lending, a lot of things they’ve fallen prey to before.  But also, they build a sense of community there because the people they’re going to class with are a lot of them going to be neighbors.  So they’re going on and building those relationships and getting got know their neighbors.  And I have had families tell me before, “Nobody’s really cared about me before.”

JOHN:  Wow. 

BETH:  “And cared about my welfare.”  And that’s hard to hear when you come from a background where you can’t imagine that.

JOHN:  Sure.  Right, right. 

BETH:  And to know that habitat is able to provide that and help people through that process is just a very rewarding thing.

JOHN:  Well, I’m sure it is.  And I know like with any nonprofit, there’s always challenges.

BETH:  Absolutely.

JOHN:  But when you get to see those smiles—I was lucky enough to be at one of the—

BETH:  Dedications.

JOHN:  —dedications a couple of years ago, and there was four families involved.  And I walked away there just teary-eyed because it was such a special day.  All right.  What are some of your biggest challenges right now with Habitat?

BETH:  Well, land is always a challenge—affordable land I would say—and money for construction for the homes are our biggest challenges.

JOHN:  So if people want to help you, what are some ways people can get involved with Habitat because I think a lot of people would love to get involved.

BETH:  There are lots of ways.  Some of them don’t cost anything.  You can always come out and volunteer, call our office and get set up for that.  You don’t have to be skilled.  Very few of our volunteered.  But we have the skills.

JOHN:  Is there a certain age? 

BETH:  Sixteen.

JOHN:  Sixteen.

BETH:  But we have skilled construction staff that are always out there.  So volunteering, donating things to the ReStore.

JOHN:  Right.  And the ReStore is a store that is on Mercury, and basically all the proceeds or profits from that store go back to help fund our chapter here, correct?

BETH:  Right, right.

JOHN:  You can get some cool things, some good buys.

BETH:  Very cool things.

JOHN:  Most of the things have to do with components to a home.

BETH:  Anything from sinks, lighting, rugs, anything….flooring.  So donating things to the ReStore.  Also donating money.

JOHN:  Right.

BETH:  You can never overlook the importance of that.

JOHN:  Yes.  I’ll go ahead and say that.  If anybody out there is so led to write a check, they will gladly accept it.  And about every dollar is going to help this chapter.

BETH:  Goes to construction, yeah.

JOHN:  Construction here in Rutherford County, and that is a huge, huge component to this thing.

BETH:  We’re very, very proud to be able to say that.

JOHN:  Right.  And that’s awesome.  Well y’all have helped—one your 113th family here in Rutherford County.  And I will say this too.  a lot of people have this —I think and I had for years—misconception that these little institutionalized houses that you might you see—

BETH:  On a cracker box.

JOHN:  Yeah.  Something you would see in a housing authority or a project-type area.  They’re not.  You wouldn’t even know.  If you drive down the street, they are cute; they are coming up with better designs every year.  I’ve seen you do the craftsman style.  In fact, some of them I think look a lot better than some of the new construction homes going up today.

BETH:  We have brick front.  Yeah, they’re really nice and another thing is we are Energy Star.  All of our houses are built to Energy Star standards, green standards, so you’re going to get a lot better utility cost.  And this helps the family tremendously too because they’re usually coming a place where their electric bills just soar because of insulation and things like that.

JOHN:  Keeps the cost down.  Well, cool deal.

BETH:  We want to set them up to succeed. 

JOHN:  Absolutely.  Thank you so much.

BETH:  Thank you.

JOHN:  I love what you do.  Thanks for doing it.

BETH:  Thank you very much.

JOHN:  Because you’re a talented lady, and there’s probably ways that you could make more money in the real world, but you do what your passion is.

BETH:  This is my passion.

JOHN:  That’s very important.  That makes a huge impact on our society.

BETH:  I am very blessed to be in Habitat.  Ya’ll come see us.

JOHN:  We’re glad to have you.  We’re lucky.  On the screen, obviously, you can see a website if you want to reach out to them and also the phone number if you want to reach out.  Please do it.  It’s a worthy, worthy cause and something that would be great for you to be involved with.