Marketing reports are used for determining factors, conditions, and characteristics of a real estate market.  Our most current marketing report is available for your refrence.  Gatlinburg and all of Sevier Co.

Read more at http://www.kiplinger.com/quiz/real-estate/T010-S001-how-smart-a-home-buyer-are-you/index.html#Y5gByklZqCDeyEJ0.99

932 Sourwood Drive, Gatlinburg  http://youtu.be/F6xMU1xq6O0

New Homes and Land issue has just hit the office.  Come in for your very own copy or take a look online.

Market Report for Sevier County and the Great Smoky Mountains.

Our latest Gatlinburg Market Report can be found by clicking here. If yo wish to see the entire Sevier County Market Report, including Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville click here.

We will be posting periodic updates of our marketplace here on our blog.

The real estate roller coster leaves many questions

Let’s face it, times are tough and on any given day the mood is a different one than the day before.  The market’s up, then down, we’re in a recession, we’re recovering, it is hard to know what is really happening out there with so many mixed signals.  Real estate is difficult to figure out, and remains relative to where you are.

Is real estate improving?  Sales are up, inventory is down but foreclosures are expected to keep coming, especially with unemployment figures on the rise.  To find out if real estate in your area is improving talk to a real estate agent and look at the statistics that they provide. Each market has it’s experts and in Gatlinburg you can find yours at Century 21 Four Seasons Realty. 

Have we hit bottom?  Parts of the country have hit bottom other parts still have a way to fall.  Home prices are apparently steady in parts of the country and climbing in others.  In Sevier county where you’ll find Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville, the fall of home prices has slowed and the number of sales has increased. This gives some professionals in our market the feeling that we are in for a persistent increase in the number of homes sold while the prices will start to increase modestly by the Summer and continue an incremental upward trend into next year.  

It’s not a return to the lofty prices of a few years ago but a steady rate of appreciation will be welcomed by everyone.

In a nutshell, real estate is relative.  It is improving in many areas and as soon as our recovery includes job growth real estate is going to improve in many more areas.

Click here for an article about real estate on Yahoo Finance.

Waiting for the bottom in real estate is similar to grabbing a yo-yo at the bottom, you are usually a little early or a little late

There are many people out there waiting for the bottom to hit in many facets of the economy, including real estate.  Perhaps there will be a big announcement one morning across newspaper headlines and across the internet “THE BOTTOM IS HERE: NOW IS THE EXACT MOMENT TO BUY”.  Of course by the time the announcement comes the bottom will have hit and the exact time to buy real estate will have come and gone.

A great analogy to the bottom of the real estate market is a yo-yo.  Take a yo-yo in your hand and use it.  Can a person grab the yo-yo at the exact moment it hits bottom every time?  Chances are a person will grab it just before it hits bottom or just after, rarely at the exact bottom.   Real estate is the same game, if it is indeed a game.  If people knew, absolutely knew, the exact time to buy stocks, real estate, or any other investment then no one would ever have a financial worry.

For people who believe in investing in real estate now is a great time to buy.  Interest rates won’t be low forever, real estate has either already hit the bottom, is about to, or is already on its way up, we’ll know for certain sometime in the future.  If you want to buy at the bottom, buy now or wait until it’s too late, when you can look back and say, “If only I had bought then.”

A 1031 Exchange can be a great way to invest in real estate and defer taxes

A 1031 Exchange is the process of buying and selling investment real estate, enabling a deferment of taxes at the same time.  A 1031 exchange involves the selling of a qualified property and the buying of a qualified property yet the transactions are seen as an exchange instead of a traditional sale and purchase.

What makes the 1031 exchange different, and often complicated, is that in order for properties to qualify they both need to be “Like Kind”.  They need to be business or investment properties and the new property must be equal or greater than the property being exchanged in terms of debt.

The process of selling and buying property during a 1031 exchange has requirements.  When a property is being sold the owner has a 45 day period to identify a new property.  The 45 day period cannot be extended and often more than one property is identified.

The next time period is the “Exchange” time period.  After the closing of the selling property the exchanger has 180 days to close on the new property.  Again, according to IRS rules, the time period is firm and cannot be extended.

The 1031 exchange can provide a great way for real estate investors to sell property and buy new property without having to immediately pay taxes on their capital gains.  For more information on the rules of a 1031 exchange contact one of our Four Seasons agents for an attorney referral and to find your next property.

There are many inexpensive ways to make your home more appealing

There are a million ways to improve the look of your home, some are more expensive than others.  If you are thinking of selling your home or already have your home on the market here are some tried and true, inexpensive ways to improve your home and make it more appealing to a potential buyer.

• Paint.  Painting a home is something that anyone can do themselves, or hire a painter to do.  Fresh paint on the interior and exterior of a home makes it instantly appear clean and fresh.
• Clean & De-clutter.  Remove clutter, family photos and other personal items and clean and organize your home.  Clean your carpets.
• Repair & replace.  Have a broken window?  Fix it.  Does your screen door squeak, oil the hinges.  Look at your home with a fresh set of eyes and fix what looks broken or is broken.  Duct tape may be fine for you, but probably not a prospective buyer.

These are just a few things that you can do yourself.  It is a competitive real estate market out there and to sell your home quickly and for the most money it has to look its best.

Here in the Smokies painting in natural, earthy tones instead of those more associated with beach colors adds more value. Also, in the mountains of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge the properties that blend with the surroundings get noticed first.