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Thread summary:

Real Estate: Knoxville, bought a house, condo, relocating, appreciation , realtor, mortgage.

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Old 10-11-2007, 09:03 PM
 
Location: Greer, SC
69 posts, read 231,785 times
Reputation: 25

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Quote:
Originally Posted by hiknapster View Post
It was the height of the housing bubble. The smart one's were moving here, then.
sorry I don't understand. Why were 'they' moving there????

 
Old 10-12-2007, 01:34 PM
 
6 posts, read 20,880 times
Reputation: 20
Just my humble opinion and experience from owning a home here, but I do not see a complete crisis in Knoxville. I have some honest realtor and development friends who say that new construction is not faring so well, but that existing home sales are fine. The neighborhood I live in has seen nothing but steady increases, and when I say steady, I mean we never did have the double digit increases of other cities, but that also means we didn't decline, either. Every time a home goes up for sale in this neighborhood, somebody snaps it up as if they were lurking and when I find out the sale price, it really surprises me as it is more than I expected.

Knoxville is considered a very desirable area as seen from the perspective of a lot of northerners and Floridians. As for the original question, I have seen people do great with what I consider down-sizing homes, from about 1600 to 2000 square feet on one level. Lots of potential retirees want them. A developer friend of mine started building to this niche, and has had a lot of success, as opposed to the mammoth "monuments to me" that more overzealous developers want to sell.
 
Old 10-12-2007, 03:29 PM
 
Location: Atlanta suburb
4,725 posts, read 10,108,054 times
Reputation: 3490
Beebird, I think that your opinion is what the general thinking has been here on this thread.

With the tremendous migration to Florida over the past decade or so, followed by the bubble burst, many Floridians have sought out areas that are more affordable, less congested, lower crime rates, etc. Viola, Tennessee!

As far as Michigan, as well as other northern states, is concerned the downturn in the auto industry over the past several years has sent many into the employment lines and they, too, are seeking the same thing that Floridians are looking for in TN. Plus, you have all of those northerners who had been become disenchanted with Florida, its rising cost of living, influx of so many newcomers and crime that they are making it "half-way back" to the northern tier of states.

Thus, the fear of so many Tennessee residents that they too may soon be living in an environment that all of those out-of-staters are trying to escape. Please, may that never happen to Tennessee. It is up to each one finding a home in E. TN to be willing to become an eastern Tennessean, so that no one loses the culture that they have come to love in E. TN.


(And, btw, hooray for all of the builders who are smart enough to down-size their spec builds and developments. Enough already with the castle and moat thingy!!)

Last edited by gemkeeper; 10-12-2007 at 03:30 PM.. Reason: forgot "auto" - duh!
 
Old 10-12-2007, 03:42 PM
 
Location: The Conterminous United States
22,584 posts, read 54,117,298 times
Reputation: 13614
Monuments to me. That's great!
 
Old 10-17-2007, 12:38 AM
 
Location: Tennessee Bound
74 posts, read 220,162 times
Reputation: 19
I have several conversations with our agent weekly,asking questions of homes and making a couple offers, this is the first week that she has said" it is a soft market here now". Another realtor said the same thing to us a couple weeks ago, all a buyers market, and we have seen some of the prices going down, not a lot yet. It just makes sence with the ecomomy the way it is, had to hit the popular areas at some time. Another realtor said to us a couple weeks ago he was going to stop flipping for now, going to wait and see what the market does in the spring, he does more money in flipping that in strait up selling, so he says. Me and my hubby are not looking to flip anything, a home to live in for us. Just info we got, does not mean that should be the rule, you need to do what you think is best for you and your observations of the housing market. Hope this helps.

Last edited by sthepoet; 10-17-2007 at 12:42 AM.. Reason: typo
 
Old 10-17-2007, 09:20 AM
 
Location: East TN
11,026 posts, read 9,656,460 times
Reputation: 40216
Hiknapster, I hear you. I too was born at the tail of the boomers. My two older brothers are like the tale of two boomers, one is experiencing the best of times and one the worst. But I was born in '59 and watched the true boomers make their mistakes while I was waiting in the wings. Now it's hard to watch our family and friends struggle, while we move toward a financially independent retirement. I can offer advice, but if they won't take it, all I can do is try to offer them an example of what can be done. We made modest and careful real estate purchases and sales, without getting ourselves in over our heads. For years now, we haven't bought anything on credit that we couldn't pay off in a matter of a few months. We try to owe no one, and when we retire from our boring but long term, secure jobs, we will be able to live on our retirement, albeit in a cheaper real estate environment (East TN). Our friends and relatives ask us why we are retiring so young, and why we are moving; but they will have to work for many years to come, or are busy mortgaging their future and taking a lot of Xanax and acid reflux meds. I know this sounds smug, I'm not trying to seem so self-satisfied, but I really do feel that I learned from watching others mistakes. I know my family feels bad that we will be leaving CA, but we have to do what's right for us, just as we always have, even if it's not the path that most will travel. It's still over a year until we make our move. We have to wait for the market to turn here. I think our market is probably leading the TN market by at least a year. We are close to the bottom now and I believe we will start to rise again by next year (my opinion only, based on observation and intuition). We didn't buy at the peak, by any stretch, so we'll be okay as soon as it does start to go up. We should be able to wait it out and sell when the time is right. Then we'll be outta here.
 
Old 10-17-2007, 11:03 AM
 
2,197 posts, read 7,376,233 times
Reputation: 1702
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheShadow View Post
I know my family feels bad that we will be leaving CA, but we have to do what's right for us, just as we always have, even if it's not the path that most will travel. It's still over a year until we make our move. We have to wait for the market to turn here. I think our market is probably leading the TN market by at least a year. We are close to the bottom now and I believe we will start to rise again by next year (my opinion only, based on observation and intuition). We didn't buy at the peak, by any stretch, so we'll be okay as soon as it does start to go up. We should be able to wait it out and sell when the time is right. Then we'll be outta here.
Wow, your CA experience isn't the same as anybody's I know in SoCal. Prices in the L.A. market have barely budged-- and are still rising-- in the more desirable parts of town. There was an article in the Times recently that predicted the CA market wouldn't bottom until 2011, because of all the option ARMS resetting. They make up 60-70% of all loans issued between 2002 and 2006.

I sold my L.A. house presumably at the peak and it has gone up another 20% in value since then. If the market bottoms next year, I know some people who'll be very happy, but that's not what they're expecting. Wrong forum, but I hope you're right.
 
Old 10-17-2007, 11:55 AM
 
Location: Atlanta suburb
4,725 posts, read 10,108,054 times
Reputation: 3490
Thumbs up Very smart attitude, The Shadow.

I enjoyed reading your post about setting an example for all of those boomers and post-boomers who are in debt big-time.

I was born in 1946 - about 10 months after my dad returned from the European theater! - and I have seen most of my contemporaries in that very dilemma. We, too, have always stayed out of debt, kept our mortgage obligations pretty low compared to what most folks carry, invested and saved continually - even when times were tight - and as a result, we can retire early without worrying about where we will get enough $$ to eat.

I hope that the young people my kids' ages (3 are in their early to late 30's) will use better sense after witnessing what their parents, older friends and family are up against now. I would hate to think that my husband and I would have to work into our late 60's or longer just to make ends meet.

Good for you, The Shadow. Hope you get to make that move next year. We hope to see y'all in TN by then ourselves.
 
Old 10-17-2007, 04:44 PM
 
Location: The Conterminous United States
22,584 posts, read 54,117,298 times
Reputation: 13614
The Shadow:

They now realize that we were never the boomers. Our first political memories were of Watergate and the lines forming at the gas pumps.

That, somehow, made us leery of a lot of things.

We were also told that the big "dream" was ours for the taking, but when it came our turn, much was dried up by the boomers, including jobs and low-cost housing.

Personally, I think all of this has made us smarter.

I can remember selling Ford Excursions to the baby boomers in 1999. They were selling like hotcakes, but all I could think was, "What if there is a gas crunch?"

Hilarious, how advertising has taken notice. I was in Outback this Saturday and the music playing would be instantly recognizable to "Generation Jones." But it was more than that. We are the generation that knows all the words. Some of it would have been fairly obscure to other generations. They are definitely targeting us, but they know that we are very discerning.

I think that Generation Jones is about to clear its throat.

Booya!
 
Old 10-18-2007, 08:39 AM
 
Location: East TN
11,026 posts, read 9,656,460 times
Reputation: 40216
Where does the "Jones" come from? I don't get the reference. Anyway, if you start your blog, put up a link for us.
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