Real Estate Displaying items by tag: Homes
Everyone's talking about the importance of eco-friendly living. We found some of the coolest and smartest products - at every price point - to help home owners do their part for the environment.
As chic as it is eco-friendly, the EcoSmart Fire system gives you the pleasure of a fireplace without the pollutants. The self-contained unit is fueled by clean-burning denatured ethanol, a renewable resource. These portable fire boxes can be placed anywhere inside or outside a home since they require neither a utility connection nor a chimney. To make this green product even greener, the company will plant two trees on the buyer’s behalf for every unit purchased. Cost: Models range from $2,100 to $11,500.www.ecosmartfire.com
Vintage Year for Wall Tiles
Old wine bottles and other recycled glass get a new life as exquisite, glossy tiles suitable for kitchens and bathrooms. Glass donated by the public is sorted by color, ground into granules, and turned into tile by high-temperature fusion. Bedrock Industries introduces no colorants or oxides to the production process, which has saved hundreds of tons of material otherwise destined for landfills. Also, 100 percent recyclable material is used for shipping. Cost: Tiles start at $36 per square foot. www.bedrockindustries.com
Composting for the Masses
Instead of tossing food scraps in the garbage, NatureMill’s fully automatic and odor-free composter will recycle up to 120 pounds of kitchen waste, including paper, per month. A built-in computer on the 17-pound unit (20 by 20 by 12 inches) controls the mixing, heating, and aeration process. After two weeks, a red light pops on as a reminder that your composted fertilizer is ready for immediate use on your garden or lawn. Compost can also be piled outdoors until you need it. A NatureMill composter can recycle its weight in waste every 10 days, diverting more than two tons of waste from landfills over its life. Energy use is just 5 kilowatt-hours per month. Cost: Prices start at $299. www.naturemill.com
Your Plants (and Lawn) Have Your Number
You’ll never overwater another houseplant with the Botanicalls system. Digital sensors in the soil let your African violet or potted palm text message you when it needs water or light. The unit will also send a texted "thank you" after the plants’ needs have been met. The do-it-yourself kit offers a connection to your leafy green pal via Twitter. You can view status updates online or have them routed to your mobile phone. Botanicalls comes with all necessary parts to set up a soil moisture sensor communication system, even a leaf-shaped circuit board. While human intervention is necessary for the actual watering, the reminders are a novel means of keeping houseplants healthy so they can help reduce levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Cost: $99. www.botanicalls.com
A bigger water savings may come from Cyber-Rain XC, which lets you hand over the chore of watering your lawn to your Windows PC. Here’s how it works: Your sprinkler system receives information wirelessly from your PC about local weather conditions and uses this information to calculate the right amount of water needed for as many as eight yard zones. Households save 30 percent to 70 percent on their water bills annually, according to the manufacturer. Cost: $349. www.cyber-rain.com
Safe and Responsible Wood
Hardwood cabinetry can be beautiful and eco-friendly if it’s made from formaldehyde-free plywood. Columbia Forest Products’ cabinets are made from wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, which guarantees that responsible timber industry practices, including the maintenance of the ecological functions of the forest and respect for indigenous peoples’ rights, were followed. The company also uses an innovative soy-flour resin system to comply with leading green standards programs. Cost: $150 to $450 per linear foot. www.cfpwood.com
Heated from Within
The relatively constant temperature of earth a few feet below ground enables geothermal heat products to heat and cool homes using 40 percent to 70 percent less energy than conventional systems. In the winter, the pumps draw heat into a house through a series of underground pipes and an electrically driven compressor. In the summer, they pull the heat from the home and discharge it into the ground. Cost: The typical home requires a three-ton unit costing roughly $7,500, or nearly twice the installation price of a standard heat pump system. Drilling costs can add upwards of $10,000. www.geoexchange.org
Solar Cooking
You can bake, boil, or steam your family’s next meal using a the sun’s energy. The outdoor Sun Oven can cook food at temperatures up to 400 degrees and can be used during all seasons. The device is affected more by the brightness of the day than by the outside air temperature, meaning that cooking times can be slowed by the arrival of pesky clouds. But Sun Ovens help keep homes cool in the summer by keeping cooking heat outside. Cost: $279. www.sunoven.com
Whole New Light
It’s stunning, energy-efficient, and unlike any lighting technology you’ve seen before. Planilum is a light-emitting glass panel developed by two French companies, Saazs and Saint-Gobain Innovations. Less than an inch thick, each panel consists of four layers of glass infused with nontoxic gas and phosphorous compounds. Planilum lights can be incorporated into shelves or tables or can stand alone, Each light is expected to last about 20 years if used eight hours a day. Saazs’ One, a four-foot high panel featuring rows of doughnut-shaped light circles. Cost: About $3,400.www.saazs.com
Clean Driving Machine
Belgian-based Ecover began marketing phosphate-free washing powder more than 25 years ago, long before most people even realized that phosphates were an environmental hazard. Today, the company’s extensive indoor cleaning product line, designed to safely sanitize everything from glass to toilet bowls, has been expanded to include a plant- and mineral-based car wash and wax. The product, which includes coconut, citric acid, and carnauba wax, will help your hybrid or hot rod shine naturally. The packaging is 100 percent recyclable as well. Cost: $5.70 for 500 milliliters.www.Ecover.com
Biodegradable Furniture
These plush pieces may look like family heirlooms in the making, but the swanky chairs and couches from Montauk Sofa are, in effect, built for the compost heap. Using lumber harvested from sustainably run forests, uncoated screws and nails, latex foam derived from rubber plants, and organic fabric coverings, Montauk uses manufacturing and distribution principles dedicated to limiting the company’s environmental footprint. When you’re ready to redecorate, Montauk will take back its old pieces, strip them, and recycle the wood frame and spring systems. The lumber will be reused in new sofas. Cost: Chairs start at $2,600, sofas at $3,800.www.montauksofa.com
Compliments of Realtor.org
Shauna Mason, ABR
The Turn Key Team
Benchmark Realty
c: 615-585-3239
o: 615-890-2323
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Follow Us On PinterestInterested in REO property or a foreclosure?
What is an REO?
"REO" or Real Estate Owned are houses which have been foreclosed upon that the bank or mortgage company presently holds. This is not the same as real estate up for foreclosure auction. 
When buying a property during a foreclosure sale, you must pay at least the loan balance plus any interest and other fees accumulated during the foreclosure process. You must also be willing to pay with cash in hand. And on top of all that, you'll accept the property totally as is. That might involve current liens and even current denizens that need to be evicted.
A bank-owned property, by contrast, is a much cleaner and attractive deal. The REO property was unable to find a buyer during foreclosure auction. Now the bank owns it. The bank will see to the elimination of tax liens, evict occupants if needed and generally organize for the issuance of a title insurance policy to the buyer at closing.
You should be aware that REOs may be exempt from normal disclosure requirements. For example, in North Carolina, it is optional for foreclosures to have a Property Disclosure Statement, a document that normally requires sellers to disclose any defects they are aware of. By hiring an agent from Benchmark Realty, you can rest assured knowing all parties are fulfilling Tennessee state disclosure requirements.
Am I assured a low price when investing in a bank owned property in Brentwood?
It is frequently assumed that any REO must be a bargain and a possibility for guaranteed profit. This isn't necessarily true. You have to be very careful about buying a REO if your intent is make a profit. Even though the bank is often eager to sell it promptly, they are also motivated to minimize any losses.
Look carefully at the listing and sales prices of similar homes in the neighborhood when considering the purchase of an REO. And factor in any repairs or upgrades necessary to prepare the house for resale or moving in. There are bargains with potential to make money, and many people do very well buying foreclosures. Still there are also many REOs that are not good buys and may not be money makers.
Ready to make an offer?
Most lenders have staff dedicated to REO that you'll work with in buying REO property from them. To get their properties advertised on the local MLS, the lender will typically use a listing agent.
Prior to making your offer, you'll want to contact either the listing agent or REO department at the bank and find out as much as you can about their knowledge about the condition of the property and what their process is for accepting offers. Since banks almost always sell REO properties "as is", you may want to include an inspection contingency in your offer that gives you time to check for unknown damage and withdraw the offer if you find it. As with making any offer on real estate, your offer may be more attractive if you can include documentation of your ability to pay, such as a pre-approval letter from a lender.
After you've submitted your offer, it's customary for the bank to respond with a counter offer. Then it will be your choice whether to accept their counter, or submit another counter offer. Your transaction might be final in one day, but that's rare. Since offers and counter offers usually give the other party a day or longer to respond (and employees at a bank don't work nights or weekends) you could be looking at a week or longer.
Compliments of Benchmark Realty
Shauna Mason, ABR
The Turn Key Team
Benchmark Realty
c: 615-585-3239
o: 615-890-2323
f: 615-534-3932
The old adage “There’s no time like the present” might not first come to mind when looking at today’s national housing market. These homespun words of wisdom are quite appropriate when a closer look is given to individual local markets across the country. We would like to point out these favorable factors that can contribute to making this, for many consumers, a most opportune time to buy a home:
- Inventory is up. When the market is hot, new listings can’t replenish the supply of homes fast enough, and that works in the sellers’ favor. In today’s market, the opposite is true, providing more choices for buyers.
- Sellers are motivated. Homes that in a hot market would have been snapped up in days are now lingering unsold for weeks, even months. Factor in bank-owned properties due to the recent and unfortunate spike in foreclosures and buyers find themselves in an advantageous negotiating position they haven’t enjoyed for years.
- Interest rates are down. Recent cuts in the prime rate by the Federal Reserve have sparked drops in interest rates, which at the end of January were below 6 percent for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. While banks have tightened lending requirements in the wake of increased loan defaults, homebuyers with few credit problems qualifying to purchase a home they can afford should still have little trouble securing favorable financing terms.
What’s more, a market climate like this especially favors buyers who don’t need to sell an existing property before their purchase, buyers like first-timers and those looking for a second home. This tilts the scale even more towards many buyers.
But regardless of the situation, for every buyer, the key is to work with a real estate professional that knows the local market and specializes in buyer representation – like an agent who has earned the Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR®) designation.
We are one of more than 40,000 members of the Real Estate Buyer’s Agent Council (REBAC) of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, who have attained the Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR®) designation. As the world's largest association of real estate professionals focusing specifically on representing the real estate buyer, REBAC is "The Voice for Buyer Representation," with more than 40,000 active real estate professional members of the organization throughout the world.
To find an ABR-designated agent near you, and to receive a free copy of the REBAC-published “Homebuyer’s Toolkit,” visit www.REBAC.net or call 800-648-6224.
Shauna Mason, ABR
The Turn Key Team
Benchmark Realty
c: 615-585-3239
o: 615-890-2323
Closing costs are simply the fees associated with 1) purchasing a home, 2) borrowing money, and 3) preparing paperwork to finalize the sale. Your total closing costs will vary depending on where your new home is located, what type of property you are buying, the price of your home and the complexity of the transaction.
It is extremely important that you work closely with your buyer’s representative in the early stages of your home search to estimate what these costs could be, since closing costs can easily represent thousands of dollars.
The main categories are:
Discount points to buy down the mortgage
If you want to reduce the ongoing cost of your mortgage over the life of the loan, you’ll want to consider this optional fee. Amounts can vary significantly, from 0.5 to 3 points on the total mortgage amount. This is a one-time charge that is fully deductible as mortgage interest.
Costs for originating the mortgage
This generally includes a variety of fees such as the loan origination fee, the appraisal fee and the cost of credit reports. Other related closing fees may include hazard and mortgage insurance, and interest accrued on the mortgage between closing date and the end of the month.
Taxes and other local fees
Charges will vary according to local government requirements. Some may demand that property taxes be pro-rated according to when you officially own your home. You may also be required to pay personal property taxes, homeowner’s association dues, and other assessments that are specific to the area that you are moving into.
Documentation costs
You will have to pay for any research involving public records and title history for your new property. This insures that the title is unencumbered by other ownership claims or liens and can be delivered to you at closing. Other costs include recording and transfer fees, which cover legally recording the deed to your name.
Courtesy of Rebac
Shauna Mason, ABR
Benchmark Realty
The Turn Key Team
c: 615-585-3239
o: 615-890-2323
When it comes to purchasing your new home; you have two choices, a new home or an existing home. Some buyers only want a new home but for some they are undecided. Several buyers don’t understand why you would buy an existing home when you can buy a new one for the same price. I have listed pros for both purchasing existing and new homes.
Some of the pros of purchasing an existing home are: most existing homes already have blinds and curtain, some have added fence and landscaping, fixtures and carpeting may have been upgraded, the home has already settled so the existing owner may have already done all of the fixs due to nail pops and hairline cracks. A pro to purchasing in a established neighborhood vs. an new construction subdivision is that you can drive around to see the existing environment fo the neighborhood.
The pros to purchasing a new home are: you can build to suit in; some cases, you may also be able to pick out carpet, paint and countertop colors. No one has lived in the home yet so you can still enjoy that new home smell. HVAC units, appliances, the roof and hot water heaters are new so don’t have to worry about replacing anytime soon. You also have a one year builder warranty so you can contact your builder when things go wrong.
If you decide to purchase a new home; just remember that you need to have money set aside for small things. The things that you may need to purchase right away are a refrigerator and blinds. Some new homes also do not come equip with bathroom mirrors, towel racks and toilet paper holders.
I hope that this helps determine whether a new or existing home is right for you.
Shauna Mason, ABR
Turn Key Team
Benchmark Realty
c: 615-585-3239
o: 615-890-2323
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Condominium | MLS No. 1321838 |
| Status Active | Area 31 | List Price $89,900 |
| Type Townhouse | Er/Ea Exc. Right to Sell | Media   |
| Address 4046 Nir Shreibman Blvd | City LaVergne | Zip 37086 |
| County Rutherford | Sub/Dev The Cottages Of Lavergne | Unit |
| Tax ID 015 013.00 | Deed Book/Page 31/2938 | MLS Map |
| Directions From Nashville, Exit 64 from I24. Make right onto Waldron Rd, go over Murfreesboro Rd, townhome almost immediately on the right. | ||
| General Information | ||
| Style Traditional | Stories 2.00 | Year Built 2000 / Existing |
| Unit Loc | Total Rooms 4 | Floors Other |
| Vert Location | Constr Siding / | Completion |
| Driveway Concrete | Poss. Date of Deed | Parking / |
| Assoc Fee $100 /mo | Waterfront / | MailBox Central |
| Assoc Includes Exterior Maintenance / Grounds Maintenance / Insurance / Trash Pickup / | Basement / | |
| Roof Composition Shingle | ||
| Rooms and Dimension Information | ||
| Liv 18x16 / Great Room | Rec / | Bed 1 14x14 / Full Bath |
| Din / | Hobby / | Bed 2 13x10 / Bath |
| Kit 16x13 / Eat-In | Other / | Bed 3 |
| Den / | Other / | Bed 4 |
|
|
Bedrooms |
Full Baths |
Half Baths |
Finished Square Feet (est) | |||
| Main | 0 | 0 | 1 | Main | 640 | Est. SqFt. Source | |
| Second | 2 | 2 | Second | 640 | Tax Record | ||
| Third | Third | ||||||
| Basement | Basement | ||||||
| Total | 2 | 2 | 1 | Total | 1280 | Other SqFt. Description | |
I was so excited when I saw this article that I had to post this information. I am so excited to see that jobs are coming to Rutherford County!
Nissan is holding a job fair this week to fill hundreds of positions at its Smyrna plant. The job fair will be held on Wednesday at the Embassy Suites located in Murfreesboro from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. More than 1,100 positions are available. Beginning in 2012, workers at the Rutherford County plant will begin making the Nissan LEAF.
Shauna Mason, ABR
The Turn Key Team
Benchmark Realty
c: 615-585-3239
o: 615-371-7000
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Forbes Magazine listed Nashville, TN as number 16 as Recession Proof city. We still have a lot of growth in this area. Smyrna, TN has been named again as one of the best places to retire. Downtown Nashville has been recently listed as an area that will have one of the largest business booms.
Middle Tennessee is a great place to live and buy a home!
Shauna Mason, ABR
The Turn Key Team
Keller Williams Realty
c: 615-585-3239
o: 615-895-8000
A long-awaited glimmer of hope surfaced on the local housing scene Tuesday with a report that July single-family home sales in Middle Tennessee rose nearly 16 percent compared with the same month a year earlier.
Shauna Mason, ABR
Keller Williams Realty
615-585-3239
615-895-8000
We have decided to take a new approach with our blogs. Rather than talk about the housing market; we are going to talk about houses that we have seen or shown our clients. If there are exciting things going on with the market; we will post them once in a while. The entire reason that we got into Real Estate was because we had a passion for homes. So that it was we have decided to focus on our passion.
We love going into homes and seeing different styles, colors and layouts. So we have decided to go back to the basics and tell you all about houses in Middle Tennessee. We realize that the housing market has changed within the last 6 years but the inventory is exciting.
Okay, so here we go….Shauna will be describing this home since she saw it but Bobbie Jo will be posting her stories as well.
I have a passion for historical homes. I love the awkwardness that comes with them. The uneven flooring, the imperfect wall texture, etc…I could do without the tiny closets; but that is nothing that a big dresser could not fix. I kept pulling this particular home in MLS (Multiple Listing System) but noticed that it was only a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom home. The square footage was in the 2,000′s though. It was built-in the 1800′s and was in an older neighborhood in Smyrna. I love this area by the way. Then, I noticed that the home was next door to my sister’s home. I looked at the pictures and thought they were amazing.
I was at my sister’s house a month or so later and the owner was outside. I proceeded to tell her how much I adored her home and she invited me in. I was very excited and of course kindly accepted.
I walked on to the rocking chair front porch and she opened the big, wooden squeaking door. We then stepped into a large foyer. The ceilings were high, the hallway was about 6 feet wide and the walls were made of wooded logs. It was amazing! At this point, I could not wait to see the rest of the house. (This still is not the best part by the way).
She took me into the living room and the walls were also wooded and the ceiling was as well. The bedroom connected to this room. The door knobs were antique and there were little windows above every door. The bedroom had a slight unevenness to it but it was solid.
She then took me into her bedroom that had a beautiful master bath with a claw bathtub and a pass thru fireplace. The fireplace shared a wall with a parlor that could easily be used as a third bedroom if a closet was installed.
We walked down the wide hallway into a small bathroom that had a little claw bathtub. The bathtub was for a small child and the walls were decorated with newspaper like wallpaper. The wallpaper was a really nice touch. The bathroom was remodeled but still help its originality.
The dining room was beautiful and the kitchen was updated but still historical at the same time. She did an excellent job on the kitchen remodel. Even the pots and pans hung from a rack about the stove. The cabinets had older cottage feel but were still modern.
Now here is the best part…She opened the door to the backyard. I had to gasp slightly. The deck was huge and the backyard was amazing. There was a picket fence and beautiful gardening with a bird feeder and wonderful landscaping. The backyard was large but quant. Quiet but the sound of the birds were relaxing.
I couldn’t help to think about who had lived in this home in the late 1800′s and what this home looked like then. This was truly one home that anyone would be lucky to wake up in every morning. I did not ever want to leave.
Shauna Mason, ABR
The Turn Key Team
Keller Williams Realty
c: 615-585-3239
o: 615-895-8000
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