What's the Real Estate Market like there? (Murfreesboro, Franklin: sale, foreclosures)

[denawilliams]

User, It seems that you have misunderstood me. I was stating that "the more popular sites" consumers use are not as reliable as some might think. Zillow and Trulia are among some of the most popular consumer sites. I stated Zillow was much more off as a whole than Trulia. It was an example. I didn't know what site you were using to get your information, nor did I assume, but there are only a handful of places consumers normally get their market data. I mentioned Trulia as well, and it is one of the sites you use.

Sure, there are lots more. I could list hundreds of them here, but let's talk about "some" of them (because ss20ts asked for more information).

I would not lie about something I saw on Zillow. It is there. I used what I found to help you prove your point that it was inaccurate. Definitely not suggesting to use it.

Just to clarify first. I am not a consumer. I'm an agent. I receive data from NAR. I have reports straight from the MLS. I also download data directly from the MLS to slice and dice that data a million ways and produce very detailed reports that are not in the regular MLS reports. I also access tax records directly from the MLS. These are the most reliable sources I have. However, consumers do not have that kind of detailed access. So....

Here are my recommendations for decent consumer sites, what I think you should use them for and what I'd not use on them. Let me be the first to say that none of these are perfect or a one stop shop for everything you'd want to research. These are some of the better ones I've seen though. Here they are (in no particular order):

General information

1. This site, City-data - Hearing from the people who live in the areas you have questions or the people who know more about the areas in question. There have been hundreds of real estate or neighborhood threads on this site where tons of people have given helpful information. The search tool will help you find tons of information. Or you can always start new threads where people will help.

2. walkscore.com - I love this site. It's not entirely accurate, but it's a whole lot better than anything else out there like it. To know how close a particular home is to services, retail stores, restaurants, schools, libraries, book stores, coffee shops, bars, grocery, pharmacies, etc. it's a great little visual tool. Particularly helpful if you're searching for a walkable area, but also helpful if you just want a home "close" to many things.

3. Trulia - While they are not a source I'd use for a comprehensive real estate search, there are plenty of properties on the site that allow you to drill down to more details, including some of the past sales data. They also offer some decent tools on the site. The Trulia voices section is good because you can get advice and get questions answered. There's also a resource section that can be helpful as well. While some of the trend reports are nice for an area overall, I would not use it as a source of an individual home valuation...which is what we really all want in the end anyway, if we're looking at the area's trends.

3. Zillow - While there are plenty of things I absolutely would not recommend using the site for, I can't leave it out entirely because there are a few things it does offer consumers that's of some value. Do not pay attention to the valuation tools or data, but the way it visualizes homes on the map is quite nice. Not that you can't get that on Google or Microsoft directly, but it's nice while you're searching listings. They have a guides section that provides a lot of general information, which may be helpful to some. They also have a Q&A section and were the first to do it, but it's not used as well as Trulia's. Otherwise, as a source total real estate search or any market or sales data, or information about particular homes or home valuation...BIG NO. Don't expect your home to have correct data about it. Don't expect it to have an accurate estimate of value for any home on there. Don't expect it to be anywhere in the ballpark for overall trends for particular areas.

Real estate search

1. Realtracs.com - Great source for searching for real estate in Middle Tennessee.

2. Realtor.com - This site will have just about everything listed all over the country, including our area. The downfall is that it charges the individual realtors an extra large sum to list the pictures of the homes. Because it's expensive, the number of properties without multiple pictures, greatly exceeds the number that do have them. In my opinion, that's unfortunate and only the consumer suffers.

3. Individual Agent sites - Some are bad. Some are worse. But the point in listing them is that some are better than any other real estate search site with the use of maps, source of data, or overall consumer friendly features.

4. Homes.com - another decent property search tool.

5. Cyberhomes.com - good source of listings and the map is helpful.

5. Homefinder.com - is not as exhaustive or accurate (statuses might be inaccurate for those no longer active), but it does offer listings in a few areas that others do not.

There are at least 50 other real estate search sites out there that include data in our market area. Some of them have cool tools associated with them, but most of them are not as exhaustive in their "listings" as the ones listed above for a real estate search.

Home values

Sorry, I honestly can't recommend any consumer sites to help you determine how much you can sell your home or how much a home is worth that you want to buy. There are plenty of sites that attempt it, but none that I recommend. At least, not yet. I'd trust you playing the pricing game at "www.realius.com" before I would most of these sites. (That was a joke.)

Trulia does offer some information from tax records on the site, which can be helpful. Cyberhomes offers some data as well. You can "purchase" information at Altos Research. What I like about Free Home Eppraisals | find home sale prices, house values, comps, and recent real estate trends is that it offers you a range. Granted, it's a big enough range to cover all bases that it is too large a range, but a range is the best an algorithm method of determining value can do.

I hate to sound like someone defending their field, but a Realtor still is the best source for finding more about a particular home's value whether you're looking to buy it or sell it. That is because we can slice the data the way it needs to be sliced for that particular home. Picking the truly comparable properties. Picking specific areas to compare instead of a whole city, etc. Looking at the most recent sales in the right area. It's a manual, custom thing. I honestly think some of these websites have potential at getting much closer, but they simply aren't close enough yet.

One place you can get additional data is: tax records. They're public records. You can go pull them up in person, or most counties have an online search tool at their property assessor's site. For instance, Williamson County access is: Williamson County Property Assessor database search. In Davidson County, click Property Data on Nashville/Davidson County Property Assessor Home Page. Wilson County: http://geopowered.wilson.wilsontngis.com/. Sumner County: http://tn.sumner.geopowered.com/; Search.

Public records can be very powerful tools for consumers.

Schools

1. www.Greatschools.net

2. SchoolMatters - Home

3. www.education.com

4. your local county school's website
http://wcs.edu; http://www.davidson.k12.nc.us; http://www.rutherford.k12.nc.us/public/; http://www.sumnerschools.org; http://www.wcschools.com/; http://cheatham.tennk12.net/; GVC.SiteMaker: Message

Many people ask about crime in an area. Here are a few sites you can check out on your own.

1. Metro Nashville Interactive Crime Maps

2. Nashville.gov - Police - Crime Statistics

3. National Sex Offender Registry

4. Just call and talk to your local police department


Okay, hope this is a start for some folks. I could go on and list more, but I've got to run for now.

[Steve_TN]

Originally Posted by denawilliams

User, It seems that you have misunderstood me. I was stating that "the more popular sites" consumers use are not as reliable as some might think. Zillow and Trulia are among some of the most popular consumer sites. I stated Zillow was much more off as a whole than Trulia. It was an example. I didn't know what site you were using to get your information, nor did I assume, but there are only a handful of places consumers normally get their market data. I mentioned Trulia as well, and it is one of the sites you use.

Sure, there are lots more. I could list hundreds of them here, but let's talk about "some" of them (because ss20ts asked for more information).

I would not lie about something I saw on Zillow. It is there. I used what I found to help you prove your point that it was inaccurate. Definitely not suggesting to use it.

Just to clarify first. I am not a consumer. I'm an agent. I receive data from NAR. I have reports straight from the MLS. I also download data directly from the MLS to slice and dice that data a million ways and produce very detailed reports that are not in the regular MLS reports. I also access tax records directly from the MLS. These are the most reliable sources I have. However, consumers do not have that kind of detailed access. So....

Here are my recommendations for decent consumer sites, what I think you should use them for and what I'd not use on them. Let me be the first to say that none of these are perfect or a one stop shop for everything you'd want to research. These are some of the better ones I've seen though. Here they are (in no particular order):

General information

1. This site, City-data - Hearing from the people who live in the areas you have questions or the people who know more about the areas in question. There have been hundreds of real estate or neighborhood threads on this site where tons of people have given helpful information. The search tool will help you find tons of information. Or you can always start new threads where people will help.

2. walkscore.com - I love this site. It's not entirely accurate, but it's a whole lot better than anything else out there like it. To know how close a particular home is to services, retail stores, restaurants, schools, libraries, book stores, coffee shops, bars, grocery, pharmacies, etc. it's a great little visual tool. Particularly helpful if you're searching for a walkable area, but also helpful if you just want a home "close" to many things.

3. Trulia - While they are not a source I'd use for a comprehensive real estate search, there are plenty of properties on the site that allow you to drill down to more details, including some of the past sales data. They also offer some decent tools on the site. The Trulia voices section is good because you can get advice and get questions answered. There's also a resource section that can be helpful as well. While some of the trend reports are nice for an area overall, I would not use it as a source of an individual home valuation...which is what we really all want in the end anyway, if we're looking at the area's trends.

3. Zillow - While there are plenty of things I absolutely would not recommend using the site for, I can't leave it out entirely because there are a few things it does offer consumers that's of some value. Do not pay attention to the valuation tools or data, but the way it visualizes homes on the map is quite nice. Not that you can't get that on Google or Microsoft directly, but it's nice while you're searching listings. They have a guides section that provides a lot of general information, which may be helpful to some. They also have a Q&A section and were the first to do it, but it's not used as well as Trulia's. Otherwise, as a source total real estate search or any market or sales data, or information about particular homes or home valuation...BIG NO. Don't expect your home to have correct data about it. Don't expect it to have an accurate estimate of value for any home on there. Don't expect it to be anywhere in the ballpark for overall trends for particular areas.

Real estate search

1. Realtracs.com - Great source for searching for real estate in Middle Tennessee.

2. Realtor.com - This site will have just about everything listed all over the country, including our area. The downfall is that it charges the individual realtors an extra large sum to list the pictures of the homes. Because it's expensive, the number of properties without multiple pictures, greatly exceeds the number that do have them. In my opinion, that's unfortunate and only the consumer suffers.

3. Individual Agent sites - Some are bad. Some are worse. But the point in listing them is that some are better than any other real estate search site with the use of maps, source of data, or overall consumer friendly features.

4. Homes.com - another decent property search tool.

5. Cyberhomes.com - good source of listings and the map is helpful.

5. Homefinder.com - is not as exhaustive or accurate (statuses might be inaccurate for those no longer active), but it does offer listings in a few areas that others do not.

There are at least 50 other real estate search sites out there that include data in our market area. Some of them have cool tools associated with them, but most of them are not as exhaustive in their "listings" as the ones listed above for a real estate search.

Home values

Sorry, I honestly can't recommend any consumer sites to help you determine how much you can sell your home or how much a home is worth that you want to buy. There are plenty of sites that attempt it, but none that I recommend. At least, not yet. I'd trust you playing the pricing game at "www.realius.com" before I would most of these sites. (That was a joke.)

Trulia does offer some information from tax records on the site, which can be helpful. Cyberhomes offers some data as well. You can "purchase" information at Altos Research. What I like about Free Home Eppraisals | find home sale prices, house values, comps, and recent real estate trends is that it offers you a range. Granted, it's a big enough range to cover all bases that it is too large a range, but a range is the best an algorithm method of determining value can do.

I hate to sound like someone defending their field, but a Realtor still is the best source for finding more about a particular home's value whether you're looking to buy it or sell it. That is because we can slice the data the way it needs to be sliced for that particular home. Picking the truly comparable properties. Picking specific areas to compare instead of a whole city, etc. Looking at the most recent sales in the right area. It's a manual, custom thing. I honestly think some of these websites have potential at getting much closer, but they simply aren't close enough yet.

One place you can get additional data is: tax records. They're public records. You can go pull them up in person, or most counties have an online search tool at their property assessor's site. For instance, Williamson County access is: Williamson County Property Assessor database search. In Davidson County, click Property Data on Nashville/Davidson County Property Assessor Home Page. Wilson County: http://geopowered.wilson.wilsontngis.com/. Sumner County: http://tn.sumner.geopowered.com/; Search.

Public records can be very powerful tools for consumers.

Schools

1. www.Greatschools.net

2. SchoolMatters - Home

3. www.education.com

4. your local county school's website
http://wcs.edu; http://www.davidson.k12.nc.us; http://www.rutherford.k12.nc.us/public/; http://www.sumnerschools.org; http://www.wcschools.com/; http://cheatham.tennk12.net/; GVC.SiteMaker: Message

Many people ask about crime in an area. Here are a few sites you can check out on your own.

1. Metro Nashville Interactive Crime Maps

2. Nashville.gov - Police - Crime Statistics

3. National Sex Offender Registry

4. Just call and talk to your local police department


Okay, hope this is a start for some folks. I could go on and list more, but I've got to run for now.

This is an EXCELLENT source of information!! The information contained here should be on a "sticky". I am impressed!

[Big TR]

Dena, great post.

[Nashter]

I second that. Shame I already bought mine and may have left out on others. But this is a killer for those about to buy. Two reps for denawilliams.

[Big TR]

Here's an article telling how the market is here in Nashville. There's 15.7 months of inventory on hand at this time. This has decreased from 19 or so in January, but that is an expected trend given the increased volume of sales in the Spring market.

March home sales fall 32% - Nashville Business Journal:

[Pismo Clam]

What's the Real Estate Market like there?

It's collapsing like everywhere else. Smart people are renting. There are a few dumb people buying..... don't be one of them. Housing prices are collapsing.... don't get in the way.

[user123455]

Originally Posted by Pismo Clam

What's the Real Estate Market like there?

It's collapsing like everywhere else. Smart people are renting. There are a few dumb people buying..... don't be one of them. Housing prices are collapsing.... don't get in the way.

but I thought there was no bubble here

[Big TR]

There is a bubble nearly everywhere in the country.

It's nothing like on the coasts or in Chicago, but housing prices are falling. It's up to you whether you believe most of the air is out of the bubble or not.

[bluesky42day]

Location, location, location.

I think it depends on where you are in Nashville. I live in East Nashville, South of Shelby, & I haven't noticed a slowing of houses being bought & sold. The prices are WAY higher on my street than when I bought in early 2007.

[FiveSevenNine]

Originally Posted by Pismo Clam

What's the Real Estate Market like there?

It's collapsing like everywhere else. Smart people are renting. There are a few dumb people buying..... don't be one of them. Housing prices are collapsing.... don't get in the way.

Are you even from Nashville?