I just returned from my trip to Tennessee (Memphis, Knoxville: real estate, health insurance)
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I saw over 75 homes in the Nashville and Knoxville areas.
In the Nashville area, I fell in love with homes in Gallatin and Lebanon. In Hendersonville, I love Somerset Downs.
The people were very nice all through our travels, gas was between $3.12-$3.29 a gallon. The weather was great considering up here in NY it's a bit chilly.
In Knoxville, I'm sure there were beautiful homes but the broker we went out with choose to ignore my required needs and showed me houses above my price range that still did not meet our needs. So in my opinion she basically wasted a full day with us.
For any NYers or Long Islanders thinking about looking for property in Tennessee, I can't say enough nice things. We will definitely be moving there. It's just a matter of when our house sells and narrowing down the area.
If I could make a bid on a home today I would most definitely go for the one in Lebanon and two I saw in Gallatin.
It really surpassed all my expectations!
I have photos which I will post later. Have to upload them.
I want to thank everyone here who answered my questions. Thank you so much.
I'm glad you enjoyed your trip here. Tennessee is a wonderful state.
But I disagree that the realtor wasted an entire day of your time. I would suggest that you actually wasted a day of her time as you are not in a position to move on a house yet. If you do move here, remember you are the newcomer, it is up to you to bend and blend to the culture here. Think of others positions also when you think of your own. It isn't NY where it is a dog eat dog world here, chill and try to drop the tough mask and learn to be nice and you'll do just fine here. Otherwise you will be shunned, ignored and isolated. Now I hope you do not take offense to what I've written, I am pointing out to you that though you may not feel you are acting that way or giving off that vibe, it could be detrimental to your long term happiness here.
Pam
I'm glad you enjoyed your trip here. Tennessee is a wonderful state.
But I disagree that the realtor wasted an entire day of your time. I would suggest that you actually wasted a day of her time as you are not in a position to move on a house yet. If you do move here, remember you are the newcomer, it is up to you to bend and blend to the culture here. Think of others positions also when you think of your own. It isn't NY where it is a dog eat dog world here, chill and try to drop the tough mask and learn to be nice and you'll do just fine here. Otherwise you will be shunned, ignored and isolated. Now I hope you do not take offense to what I've written, I am pointing out to you that though you may not feel you are acting that way or giving off that vibe, it could be detrimental to your long term happiness here.
Pam
Pam, when I said she wasted our time, she didn't follow my instructions. I did not ask to see houses $100,00o above my budget. And I am in a position to make a bid on a house without selling my home first.
I wasn't mean or rude to her at all (so not my style). She was very nice but I would have appreciated her showing me homes in my price range. She had a list of 43 homes and I gave her specific instructions as to what I wanted and needed for my family. NONE and I mean none of the homes she showed us met our criteria or within our price range.
And yes, you are right, it was not good for either of us. We had to drive 7 hours ( 3.5 each way in one day) to look in knoxville. I wanted to get an idea of neighborhoods and subdivisions for comparison. We didn't drive to Tennessee. We took flights which is a little pricey. Now I will have to go there again. I wanted to be able to eliminate one area.
Your philosophy in not unique to Tennessee. We too as New Yorkers feel much the same. But with that being said, time is valuable. I know I will make more trips down but I did hope to get a better feel of the neighborhoods in Knoxville and honestly, I don't feel I know anything about the neighborhoods I was interested in. I don't think this is being rude or pushy. I'm being honest.
Now being completely honest, had she shown me at least a few of the houses I asked to see, I would have gone back to her for more showings but since she didn't listen to our needs upon first meeting/impressions, and the key word here is "OUR needs". we would have continued to work with her. Now I will look for another agent who will be more interested in satisfying our needs.
Buying a home is a big investment and a real estate agent should work for your benefit . I think we can all agree on that.
I grew up in a real estate family, and I agree she wasted your time. If she didn't want to show someone who wasn't ready to move quickly, she could have declined to show you houses. Once she agreed to work with you, she should have listened to your needs and shown you houses that match. Showing a house here or there that is above budget or below budget can be helpful sometimes to show someone what they can get at the different spectrums, but the bulk of the house search should be focused on your stated needs/budget.
I hate that you didn't get a better look at Knoxville, it is a great city. But glad that you liked Tennessee. Good luck with your move!
I know that lookie-loos are enough of a problem in some areas that agents won't bother showing houses unless you have a ...letter of approval (sorry, don't remember if that's the correct term) from a lender and possibly a time frame for the transaction.
I think Pam meant that if you were just being a lookie-loo you were wasting the agents time as you have no serious intention to buy at this point. Though the only one who can actually say would be the agent herself. If she knew that you just wanted to get a feel for the area and she looked at this as a way to get a potential customer then it's time invested, not time wasted.
It's a shame that you didn't get more out of the trip, but I am a little curious about why the agent didn't send you a list of some of the houses you would be looking at before you made the drive to Knoxville?
I started my house hunt in east TN while living in Memphis and my agent was very good about working with me over the internet.
There was some back and forth about what did and didn't appeal to me about various listings we sent each other for several weeks. Then when I actually arrived for my first visit she handed me a stack of possible showings, we went over them and eliminated any that I didn't feel met my wants. Sure saved a lot of time driving around needlessly.
I hope you find an agent who will work a little more closely with you before your next go round and be more in tune with what you want.
I know that lookie-loos are enough of a problem in some areas that agents won't bother showing houses unless you have a ...letter of approval (sorry, don't remember if that's the correct term) from a lender and possibly a time frame for the transaction.
I think Pam meant that if you were just being a lookie-loo you were wasting the agents time as you have no serious intention to buy at this point. Though the only one who can actually say would be the agent herself. If she knew that you just wanted to get a feel for the area and she looked at this as a way to get a potential customer then it's time invested, not time wasted.
It's a shame that you didn't get more out of the trip, but I am a little curious about why the agent didn't send you a list of some of the houses you would be looking at before you made the drive to Knoxville?
I started my house hunt in east TN while living in Memphis and my agent was very good about working with me over the internet.
There was some back and forth about what did and didn't appeal to me about various listings we sent each other for several weeks. Then when I actually arrived for my first visit she handed me a stack of possible showings, we went over them and eliminated any that I didn't feel met my wants. Sure saved a lot of time driving around needlessly.
I hope you find an agent who will work a little more closely with you before your next go round and be more in tune with what you want.
Well, to be honest, we were really focused on the Hendersonville area. But we are having health insurance issues (specifically for my youngest son). We spoke to a few people we know who moved to the Knoxville area because if they needed serious medical procedures or specialists, our insurance is widely accepted in Atlanta, Georgia. So we figured we would look there too. I notified this real estate agent as this is the person my friend used. I already had a list of 43 homes saved on their website. I told her to look through my listings to get an idea of what I like, knowing that some were above my purchase price. I told her to only show me the high priced homes if they had all that I required and didn't need work. Otherwise I wanted to stay within a certain budget which I was very direct about the amount. Out of the 43 homes that were saved on my favorite list, 22 were in my price range that is I need to install an inground pool, upgrade a kitchen, big expenses, those are what I wanted to see.
I was very specific in my wants and needs so there should have been no miscommunication. She showed me none of those home and all the homes she did show me were $50,000-$150,000 above. Not I wouldn't have had a big problem with that if they had exactly what I wanted, but to purchase a home for $575,000 and have to dump another $50,000-$60,000 to build a backyard from scratch and even have to completely renovate a kitchen (which this was the situation in most homes she showed us)......well in my opinion she didn't listen to me.
She was as sweet as pie....truly, a very nice woman.
Now to think I was just looking....well that is silly on her part. We will be coming in with 75% cash, can possibly be ready to buy within 4-6 months and have my parents also looking to purchase a home 6 months behind us. If there was something that rocked my boat, I might have considered talking business and seeing how we can work together to make it happen
I'll be going there again. I know there are some nice areas there. I want to check it out. Next time, maybe first week of Dec of second week of January. Like to see what your winter season is like and hopefully I'll be ready to make an offer right there
Yes, I'm sure Pam meant looky-loos. When I was an agent I didn't tolerate that sort of behavior. She might even remember that as well as just drawing on her own common sense and experience.
I wouldn't take people out to look at homes unless they were ready to purchase. Even though I was representing the buyer I was always mindful of the seller. I was selling during the recession and it broke my heart to see people finally get a showing only to have nothing come of it. If the buyers were tire-kickers, the sellers wouldn't know that and think that there was something possibly wrong with their home, price, etc.
Besides, if you are bringing someone into someone else's home they should be vetted. They are strangers walking amongst all of these people's possessions.
However, an agent that insists on showing you properties above your budget or that are not fitting your needs is simply not doing their job. Did you tell her to stop that and immediately start showing you what you want to see? I would have. If she didn't comply I would have left her then and there and found another agent.
However, an agent that insists on showing you properties above your budget or that are not fitting your needs is simply not doing their job. Did you tell her to stop that and immediately start showing you what you want to see? I would have. If she didn't comply I would have left her then and there and found another agent.
I'll send you a private message, Mi shots.
OK, so I am the sweet one. My husband is a typical NYer who can be somewhat abrasive. He was very annoyed with her and wanted to say something but I shushed him. He looked at her list as she handed it to him. I just naturally assumed she listened to what I asked of her and thought my hub was being his typical difficult self.
OK, so I am the sweet one. My husband is a typical NYer who can be somewhat abrasive. He was very annoyed with her and wanted to say something but I shushed him. He looked at her list as she handed it to him. I just naturally assumed she listened to what I asked of her and thought my hub was being his typical difficult self.
I'm sweet unless pushed. Then, as I tell my daughter, I have to "go all New York on them."
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