Our home in Bristol is still on the market. We had anticipated a quick sale, but that hasn't happened. Not one person has come to look at it. Given the financial mess that the country is in, I guess I'm not surprised, but I'm starting to get worried. I didn't think the housing market or the credit crunch had affected East Tennessee as bad as other parts of the country. After researching the matter a little, I found out that was correct.
According to an article by Sharon Caskey Hayes, the recent mortgage crisis bypassed the Tri-Cities area to a large extent. Retail sales are up 9.9 percent in the second quarter, and the home foreclosure rate is the same as it was in August 2007. If that's the case, then why hasn't anyone bought our house? Several questions came to mind:
Did we set our asking price too high?
 | Using Hayes' figures, housing prices in the Bristol/Kingsport area grew 4.75 percent from the end of June 2007 to the end of June 2008, with a 34.32 percent increase over the last five years. If those figures are correct, then our asking price is probably several thousand dollars below the price that a reasonable person would pay for it. We even included a $3,000 allowance for potential buyers, and are willing to negotiate even further. |
Do people in the Tri-Cities have bad credit?
 | I checked average credit scores for the Bristol area using the Experian National Score Index. The index indicates that the average credit score in the 37620 zip code area is 688, compared to the national average of 693. People in the zip code have less debt per person, slightly higher credit usage, and slightly more late payments. I could be wrong, but I don't think any of this information indicates an inability to buy a home due to bad credit. The weekly poll on the All Around KTown blog suggests that only a very small percentage of poll participants in Knoxville are putting off buying or selling a home. I think it's probably the same for people in Bristol, but I have no way of knowing for sure. |
Does my house suck?
      | No. When we first looked at the house in 2006, it had only been on the market for two weeks and was already under contract. The original buyers' financing fell through, so we were able to put an offer in and get it under contract just before another couple. The house was on the market for a total of just 32 days. The location of the property is excellent. It is in the city, convenient to everything, but the neighborhood is relatively hidden. It's quiet, with minimal traffic and zoned for the best schools in the city. The neighboring homes are clean and neat. The house is a brick rancher with three bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, and 1,817 finished square footage. It also has two wood-burning fireplaces. The square footage does not include the huge storage area in the daylight basement, which I made pretty by painting the concrete block a light neutral beige, and painting the concrete floor with a light neutral garage floor finish. Not your typical basement storage area. The basement has an additional separate entrance from the 2-car carport, and another large storage area behind the carport. Also, the basement is partially finished. When we moved in, the finished area of the basement had shag-nasty brown, orange, and green carpet over a layer of f-ugly green linoleum tile glued to the concrete floor. I removed all of that and painted the concrete with that super-durable garage floor paint with color flecks that I used to paint the storage area. It looks awesome; clean, modern, and easy to maintain. The basement fireplace is fitted with a wood-burning stove. There is also a full bathroom in the basement. The space could be used as a separate in-law suite, teen suite, or could be rented with a few more improvements. We have made many other improvements to the house since then. We fenced in the back yard and did some grading work so the kids' trampoline would sit level. We built a 10' by 20' patio with concrete patio stones and added a cement footer, so it can be used as a third parking space without worry. We also used concrete landscape blocks to build a 35' retaining wall behind the new patio, two new flower beds along the new pebble walkway leading to the back yard, a 16' by 6' raised flower bed in front of the covered front porch, another huge flower bed in front of the living room window, and a small flower bed around the mailbox. There are enough landscape blocks leftover to add more raised flowerbeds in the back. Y'all don't even want to know what that cost us. The upstairs has hardwood flooring in all rooms, although the bathrooms and the kitchen were covered with linoleum. I refinished the hardwood floors and replaced the linoleum in the kitchen and the main bathroom. My husband updated the plumbing in all of the sinks, including adding a fancy new faucet to the kitchen sink, replaced the shower head in the main bathroom, and added quarter-turn shutoff valves, including the spigot for the water hose at the back of the house. The property comes with a 12' by 10' shed with electricity and a window, which my husband uses as a workshop. He insulated the walls and installed pegboard panels to improve organization. He also added a bamboo shade and a new light fixture. I sanded, painted, and added new hardware to all of the kitchen cabinets. I removed about seven layers of wallpaper throughout the upstairs and painted every single room from ceiling to floor in fresh neutral colors. We updated the Hunter ceiling fans with new contemporary-style bulb covers, and replaced the dated light fixtures. My husband updated all of the electrical outlets and replaced the front storm door with a full-view glass door. Considering all of these improvements, its location, and the fact that it was so competitive on the market just over two years ago, the answer is no, our house doesn't suck. |
Are we selling at the wrong time of year?
 | Maybe. It's October, the school year is in full-swing, and people are settling in for the winter, especially families with school-aged children that would most interested in our home. Still, our home should also attract retirees and families without children. The real estate agency has had many calls about it, but we haven't had one single showing since putting it on the market. What's up with that? |
So, where are the home buyers?
Good question. I still don't know. All I know is that I'm missing out on the Knoxville fun I'm supposed to be having. I've already missed the Tennessee State Bar-B-Q contest and Fall Festival at Lenoir City Park and the Foothills Fall Festival in Maryville. Did anyone go? Did you have fun?
If you see anyone who looks like a pre-approved home buyer, would you do me a favor? Hog-tie them and bring them to me quickly, but make sure they're conscious, because they'll need to sign the paperwork. Thanks!
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