Best Place to Retire: Smyrna TN!

According to the October 1, 2007 US News & World Report, Smyrna, Tennessee is one of ten best places to retire in the U.S.!  According to the magazine, the ten picks were narrowed down from 2,000 original places named that had a population above 15,000.  Then using criteria such as cost of living, climate, crime rate, available healthcare, education, and more, the editors whittled the list to 1,000.  From there, the editors named their top 10 picks – cities that included San Francsico, California; Bozeman, Montana; Venice, Florida; and Smyrna, Tennessee (my personal favorite!). 

Some of the features of Smyrna that were highlighted by US News & World Report are obvious:  10 parks, a public golf course, 7 miles of greenways, great temperatures, easy access to the lights and sounds of Nashville, and a small-town atmosphere with 33,497 people. 

What they don’t say is that although Smyrna is a fantastic place to retire, it is also a great place for families.  We have the top high school football team in the state!  Families flock to the area for great schools.  Median home prices are less than $150,000 — very affordable.  In addition, Smyrna is located in Rutherford County which has had top job growth in the nation for two or three years now.  The recreation in this area is amazing – we have the huge J. Percy Priest Lake* at our back door with lots of fishing spots, boating, water skiing, camping, and more!

And let’s not forget in just 25 minutes, we can be in downtown Nashville going to a symphony, ballet, or honky tonk!

On another note, on the Today Show this morning, Tennessee was named second as a great place to see Fall foliage.  Tennessee is truly one of the most beautiful states I’ve had the privilege of seeing – and I’ve been to ALL but three states!  If you, your family, or acquaintances want to get to know Smyrna, Tennessee better, I will be more than pleased to be your personal guide!

*Pictured in article.

Photo below: Children enjoy sitting in a helicopter at the Rotary Club’s Annual Fish Fry held at the Smyrna Airport (the former airfield of Sewart Air Force Base).

Marina on Percy Priest Lake.

How Much Do You Really Pay with APR?

Dana McNerney of Wilson Bank & Trust in Smyrna submitted the following information that addresses the question of how much do buyers really pay for homes thanks to the annual percentage rate.

Annual Percentage Rate (APR) is a tool that consumers can use as a starting point to compare loan programs. However, it’s important to keep in mind that APR is not a perfect system, and not all lenders calculate APR in the same way. While the Federal Truth−in−Lending Act does require any mortgage broker or lender to disclose APR to the consumer, there is no rule written in stone for calculating this number that each and every lender agrees upon

The point of calculating APR is to let the consumer know what the actual cost of their financing is in the form of a yearly rate. APR factors in certain closing costs and fees associated with the loan, and spreads this total over the life of the loan along with the actual note rate. The objective is to give the consumer a clearer picture of what their actual costs are, and this inhibits lenders from hiding fees or upfront costs behind low interest rates in their advertising.

Fees that are generally included in the APR calculation are points, pre−paid interest, loan processing fees, underwriting fees, document preparation fees, and private mortgage insurance. On occasion, lenders will include a loan application fee and/or credit life insurance. Fees that are normally not included in the APR calculation are fees from Title, Escrow, attorney, notary, document preparation, home inspection, recording, transfer taxes, credit report and appraisal.

Remember, all lenders do not perform the calculation the same way. Moreover, APR does not consider the possibility of making pre−payments, moving or refinancing. Unless the interest rate is tied to a fixed instrument, APR is even more confusing. Calculating APRs on adjustable rate and balloon mortgages is more complex because we really have no way of knowing what future rates will be.

If all lenders calculated APR the same way, we could make easy comparisons when deciding on what loan program to go with. Since they don’t, the consumer should know that APR is simply a starting point for comparison. They should rely on the skills of a well−versed loan professional to assist them in obtaining the loan that meets their specific needs.

The more important things to consider are how long the loan is needed. What are the long−term goals of the borrower? If the homebuyer only expects to stay in the home for five years, there’s not a lot of sense in looking exclusively at 30−Year Fixed rates because the APR seems more reasonable. If a young couple is buying a home, knowing they will refinance in eight years to pay for their son’s college education, then once again, APR is not a realistic factor to take into consideration.

The Loan Executive should be prepared to answer questions about APR once the lender provides the Truth−in−Lending Disclosure Statement (Reg Z), such as why the “amount financed” listed in Box C is not the same as the actual loan amount, and why the APR is higher than the interest rate on the loan in most cases. The consumer will get a clear definition about the fees associated with their loan in the good−faith estimate, but the Truth−in−Lending Disclosure is often an area that is confusing to the borrower.

If you have questions, Dana can be reached at (615) 904-6321.

5 Park Lane

To learn more about this beautiful home, see post below.

New Listing – Gorgeous Hendersonville Home

I just co-listed a beautiful home in Hendersonville today and if you’re in the market for that area, you won’t want to miss it!  With four bedrooms and two and a half baths, the 4,387 square foot is on 1.3 private acres.  A dry creekbed is next to the home, but does fill during heavy rains. 

A stunning two-sided fireplace separates the formal living room from the kitchen’s breakfast area. All appliances including a stove, microwave, dishwasher, and refrigerator remain and are nice accents to the beautiful new granite countertops and upgraded faucets.  The formal dining room is accented with a lovely chandelier and trey ceiling.

Climb the beautiful spiral staircase to an upstairs that can be used for TWO formal offices (complete with putting green), play area, private room for a teenager, or a man-cave!  An exercise room and library / office area complete the main floor.  Downstairs, a spacious three-car garage has room for a boat or music studio!

This inspiring home is offered at $379,900… and the MLS reads:  Every room instantly feels like HOME! See thru frpl, open floor plan, spiral staircase to office, kitchen w/granite, new sink, fresh paint, black appl., huge eat in area ovrlkng deck and creek. Msrt br w/french doors to elegant bath. Totally beautiful!

For a personal tour of this home, contact Kathy at (615) 491-2161 or Jeanette Nelson at (615) 424-1994.

I’m So Grateful

This important day in the United States – September 11 – is shaping up to be very memorable for me on a personal level. 

We had a very interesting sales meeting this morning.  The head of our company, Bob Parks, was in attendance and he shared some interesting information.  We keep hearing about the slump in the housing market, but in the bigger picture, this is our company’s third best year ever?  We hear that 16% of subprime loans fail, but you don’t hear that 84% of these types of loans were successful, allowing thousands of buyers to realize the American dream who wouldn’t have been able to own their own homes otherwise.  Mr. Parks reminded us all that though the media regularly reports negative news about real estate, it has always been real estate that has pulled this nation out of economic slumps.  And we will be back on our feet and in full stride again by the middle of 2008!

August was a really good month for me.  I was again in the Top 10 for my office, this time coming in at #5.  And if all this wasn’t good enough, my colleagues surprised me with a thank you and gift card for helping them throughout this past year.  Talk about unexpected!  When I help my fellow agents, I truly don’t expect anything back, so I was very honored that they recognized me like that, and just a bit teary-eyed about it.  Now I have an I-HOP gift card that’s burning a hole in my pocket!

Six years ago, terrorists tried to bring our magnificent nation to its knees.  Today, we are still here – still living the American dream.  We help each other.  We respect each other.  And we will always remember that as long as we are TOGETHER, we are strong and will not be defeated!

The Testing Begins

Tomorrow is Monday … my first “test” of the book I wrote last weekend.  “How to Set-Up a WordPress Blog for Real Estate Professionals.”  Maybe the title is too long.  Anyway, two wonderful agents are meeting me at my office in the morning at 9:15 a.m.   I’ve made copies of the books and have asked them to bring laptops.  It’ll be interesting to see how it goes.  I’m debating about whether I need to “teach” them and walk-thru the book or just sit them down, let them follow directions, and be there if they have questions.  Maybe a little of both.

This is going to be a very busy week between my book, my paid blogging gig, meetings, doctor appointments, and a beautiful listing in Hendersonville coming up!  I love being busy!

The Weekend is Gone

Once Tuesdays come after those glorious three-day holiday weekends, the days off are usually quickly forgotten.  I will remember this past Labor Day weekend, though, because I accomplished something I never thought I’d do.   I wrote a book.

Now before you get too excited, it wasn’t a creative book like “when the clock chimed at midnight, the scuttle of thousands of feet echoed through the empty room.  Suddenly hundreds of red eyes gleamed…” 

It was a technical how-to manual.  I’ve set up around 10′ish blogs for other real estate agents in my company and when another expressed interest, I figured it may be time to just write a book about it.  Keep in mind that when I set up blogs, they usually only take me about an hour, maybe two.  I don’t spend time away from clients to do this – in fact my buyers and sellers are my top priority after my own family.  But I do so love working on the computer that when I build a blog, it’s like I’ve written my own symphony when all the pieces come together to make something beautiful.

So between working with a couple of buyers (and writing a contract) and sadly going to a friend’s grandmother’s funeral, I wrote a book.  It’s 118 pages long.   I’m looking for another agent to sit down with me one day to follow the directions to build their own blog.  While they do that, I’ll watch for mistakes, typos, etc.  I’ll fix what needs to be edited, and will probably publish it via Lulu.com. 

So keep your fingers crossed for me, say a prayer, and wish me luck!  It’s a good year!

Ziptastic

Someone just emailed me this linkie dink.  You plug in any zip code in the United States and you’ll get all kinds of statistics about that area – percent of residents who’ve graduated from high school and college, median income, and more!  What a great research tool for anyone hoping to buy or sell a home in this area – Smyrna, LaVergne, Murfreesboro, Nashville, all of middle Tennessee!

Zip Skinny!