But What About Your Mother-in-Law??

If you've been looking for a perfect answer for you AND that sweet (or pesky) mother-in-law, we have recently listed an exceptional property you really need to see. With people now often needing space for an older parent to live with them, there are just not many great solutions but we have found one. Located in one of the county's best locations and just 10 minutes from downtown Sevierville, the home at 1248 Barton Fields Drive is perfect from any perspective, even your mother-in-law's!

With a separate driveway and no stairs to navigate, mom can get in and out safely and have her very own comfortable space. Furthermore, the second living space is private and spacious - Much better than an apartment or condo on the other side of town! There is even her own outdoor area that is also easily accessible for mom.

Say you don't have a mother-in-law? This spacious two family residence will be a perfect place to house a free spirited teenager or an adult offspring, or it can be a wonderful space for an at-home business. Want to see even more of this property - click here for 60 photos of this superb residence. Priced at only $279,900 you couldn't ask for a better solution. If this sounds like the answer to your real estate puzzle, please contact us!!

I Can't Help It - I'm a Numbers Geek!!

Back in high school, I was a star member of the Chess Team, not the Football Team. We didn't get much of a crowd at our meets, the cheerleaders didn't show, and if even your mom came you felt fortunate (mine often did!!). Didn't help the social life much either as us nerds weren't generally at the top of the social ladder. Still, in the end brains are a plus, even if it didn't always feel that way in high school...

Today, things have changed somewhat. I still like numbers and patterns and graphs and enjoy researching trends and that DOES pay off. The reason I have had a great deal of success with foreclosures is that I saw this mess coming. Now, I think I can see a real recovery beginning but I've thought that I saw improvement coming before. This time it doesnt appear to be the result of our government's intervention and hopefully this time it will persist. If you look at the first four months of this year, you can see that we have enjoyed double digit percentage growth during every month so far in 2012. In fact, through April, residential unit sales as reported by our Great Smoky Mountain Association of Realtors have increased by over 36% when compared to last year. While that doesn't surpass the heady numbers for the same months in 2007, it does easily best any year since then. I'm not saying that we will return to the incredible volumes that we saw in 2005-2007 anytime soon, but we are doing so much better than during the bleak 2006-2011 period. Here's the latest table:

Truly Gated & Not So Gated Communities

I am exceedingly blessed by God to live in Sevier County, and I try always to remember that. When I look however at what is happening around the world, and in our own country, it makes me somewhat concerned about my grandchildren's future. Crime (especially drug abuse and the violence associated with these addictions) continues to be a more and more serious problem around our great nation. In some parts of our country it really isn't safe to venture outside one's own home after dark and in some communities, even during broad daylight. The world today is nothing like the one I grew up in and it sometimes makes me apprehensive about where, as a nation, we seem to be headed.

Living within the Sevierville city limits, we reside in something like a bubble, as do all people fortunate enough to call home most any of the towns of Sevier County. Even visitors to our community can enjoy the "bubble" of safety and sanity for as long as they are tourists here in the East Tennessee Smoky Mountains. Even here, however, things aren't quite the same as they used to be. When I first moved here 15 years ago, I was surprised to learn that our local paper printed a complete list of every arrest that was made in the county. The weekly summary was rather short, and read something like what the crime blotter would look like for mythical Mayberry, RFD. "Otis" was in the drunk tank again and some kids were arrested for driving without a license. Might be an item for bad check writing or maybe even an actual felony but those were truly rare. Not that the local paper or the police and sheriff's departments weren't doing a good job - There just wasn't that much crime to report or criminals to pursue.

Sadly, the slide that the rest of America has been on is coming (fortunately still in a small way) to the Smokies. We traditionally run about 5-10 years behind the rest of the nation in many ways and that isn't always a bad thing. Quite the opposite, in this case it is truly a blessing. Nevertheless, the slide does continue and although our local paper still prints all of the arrest records, that weekly summary requires more space and occasionally the crimes aren't so minor.

In my opinion, because of these trends, now and in the future, gated communities will become more and more attractive. There are real and not so real gated communities in Sevier County and the difference is important. While some communities have gates, they aren't operable and some never have been for more than just for show. The truly functional gates do provide a real improvement in neighborhood security and thus do add value. Here is a very brief, but by no means comprehensive, list of communities that actually do have truly functional gates:

Shagbark Entrance Gate (which also has the bonus of a 24 hours a day live gate security guard)

The Double Gated Community of The Enclave at Cove Mountain

Hideaway Mountain in Wears Valley

Then there are lots of Faux-Gated Communities such as Settler's Ridge:

The gates at Settler's Ridge used to work, but are now ALWAYS open...

How about you? What is your favorite truly gated community in Sevier County - Post a comment and we will update this list!!

With more late additions than normal to our Great Smoky Mountain Association of Realtors unit sales results, the final total of residential sales for last month isn't so bad after all. In April, the members of our board (which reports most of the sales for Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, and Cosby) combined to sell a total of 136 residential units and that is a nice increase indeed. This particular Smoky Mountain Realtor had a pretty good month too with a total of 13 sales of my own in April. Here is the updated summary for our entire board:

Pardon our Dust - Website Upgrade in Process!

Like a friendly hotel that has a truly great location and a wonderful staff, but needs a little sprucing up, I recently had to admit that our GatlinburgHomes.com website, though it continued to work very well, finally needed an upgrade. When it was first created well over 10 years ago, it was certainly the state of the art, but time and a reluctance on my part to "fix something that wasn't broken" gradually took their toll. Like the great but now aging hotel property example cited above, newer websites offering useful functions to viewers continually closed the gap until we were actually trailing some of our competitors in terms of what we were offering online. This is something that I simply couldn't abide any longer...

Beginning last week, our real estate search functions were upgraded dramatically and more improvements are coming soon. You can now view ALL of the photos that are available for every listing in our Great Smoky Mountains Association of Realtors MLS database. Also, new listings are now added to the website every day so that you are always looking at the best, most current information. Furthermore, our new search function has a map based option and allows you to store listings that are of interest. Although I sort of miss the simplicity of our original site, the new functions are good and with just a little effort, more up to date and more complete information is available to our viewers.

As always, we don't require you to register with our site (unless you want to save your search, or your favorite listings, or create a notifier of matching listings). We believe that you will come to us when you are ready to work with a professional real estate agent. We also promise to work at your pace - It's just not our style to rush people. When the transaction is completed, we desire not only to have a customer but also to have a new friend. Watch for more upgrades coming soon but rest assured - Our commitment to professional and friendly real estate services is unchanged. We're just spiffing up a great property to make sure that it remains the best option that you have to view properties and information about our Gatlinburg area real estate market here in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee.

April Smoky Mountain Residential Sales Disappoint

April's closed residential transactions as reported by the Great Smoky Mountain Association of Realtors MLS database tallied only 117, at least as of right now. As always, there will certainly be late reports of closings and I expect that the final tally will probably be closer to 130. This would at least surpass April 2011's sales but not by much and nowhere near match the very strong total of 151 homes sold during April 2010. The strong performance back in April 2010 was caused by the end of the federal government's first time home buyer tax credit incentive. Furthermore, April 2012's lackluster performance will likely not be better than the numbers from 2008-2010 as all of the 2012 first quarter's results were. For folks who (like me) generally prefer to see data in table form, here is the latest:

Check back in a few days to see if the revised April 2012 number does in fact exceed 2011's 123 homes sold - I'm betting it will!!

Upscale Smoky Mountain Foreclosure Properties Coming Soon!!

All too often the foreclosure properties that we see are smaller homes that can be pretty badly dilapidated. In fact, many Gatlinburg area foreclosures are homes that I can't really take any pride in listing. Some of them are almost embarrassing and make you wonder "Do people really live like this??". Fortunately, there are some exceedingly attractive Smoky Mountain foreclosures in the pipeline currently that should be available very soon. Consider these "Coming Attractions" which we were just assigned last week:

In Sevierville's New Center community, a very attractive home at 3534 Walking Horse Lane.

Between Gatlinburg & Pigeon Forge, a great log cabin at 150 Sky View Drive.

East of Gatlinburg in the Rocky Flats community, a large residence with acreage at 1035 Rocky Flats Rd.

None of these properties are priced yet but we are expecting prices very soon - Please contact us for more information!!

Spring in The Smokies!!

Although personally autumn is my favorite time of year here in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, spring is pretty special too! Trees are budding, bushes (and some trees) are blooming, and the weather is delightful. One of my favorite pieces of real estate that fortunately can't ever be listed or sold is the magnificent Sevier County Courthouse in Sevierville. I wish that I could claim that I took the following photograph, but I can't - That doesn't however make it any less beautiful:

To see more of Christine Rich-Romano's wonderful photography and God's matchless handiwork on display, please visit her Facebook page. To have the blessing of living or having a getaway in the Smokies, please contact us!

Easiest Smoky Mountain Short Sale Ever!!

I have suffered through a number of short sale efforts and they have in the past often ended very badly. Sellers can (& do) get foreclosed upon during the short sale process or the Buyers lose patience with never ending requests for extensions by the seller on behalf of their lender. After these experiences, I became disinterested in pursuing short sale opportunities because it just wasn't worth it. Nobody came out of the process unscathed and, as a friend said years ago, "Jeff, I don't need any more practice - I need to get paid!". But the sale I closed today (my 54th completed sale already in 2012) was definitely different!

My friend who I go to church with approached me around the beginning of March and told me that, due to a number of unfortunate events, he needed to sell but owed considerably more than his house is now worth. This is not unusual in this era. In fact, a large percentage of all home owners are now "underwater" - Especially if they bought during the 2003-2007 "bubble" years.

When we met, I explained that the only possible solution was a short sale and warned that this was a challenging process that often takes months (if ever) to succeed. Despite my warning, my friend had no other option and we listed his lovely Sevierville residence on March 5th for $110,000 (a little over half of what it appraised for in 2007). We used the very attractive price to generate lots of interest which is an absolute must. To qualify for a short sale, the seller has to be in arrears on the mortgage so there is a ticking time bomb in the impending foreclosure that will occur at some point. With multiple offers, my seller accepted the offer of the buyers (that I also represented) and on March 14th we had a pending sale at a price of $115,000.

I then proceeded to explain to all parties that the easy part of a short sale is putting the property under contract but the hard part was getting to the closing and that the process could take many months. In fact, I got a really sour taste from a Bank of America short sale that I worked a few years ago which went on for NINE MONTHS until the seller was foreclosed upon negating all our hard work. As someone who lists a lot of foreclosure properties, I see all too often that there was a short sale pending on the property that the bank has just assigned to me because the foreclosure has been completed. We then hunkered down for the anticipated misery of a long and painful process but it didn't take long to learn that this short sale would be different.

Within days after submitting the complete package to Fifth Third Bank for their approval, we were contacted and told that a Broker Price Opinion had been ordered and that the file was in review. Additional information was requested by Fifth Third and my confidence waned somewhat - This was starting to look a little like the route I have travelled with other lenders before when pursuing a Smoky Mountain short sale. On April 13th however, less than a month after we had submitted the executed contract, Fifth Third advised us that the short sale was APPROVED!! The buyers then went to work in earnest to obtain their loan from Smart Bank, a Sevier County local bank that did a great job of quickly getting their package together and we closed TODAY!

Less than 60 days from listing to closing on a short sale is an experience I didn't believe could actually happen. With this success, I am no longer allergic to short sale transactions if the right components are present. For the hope of a prompt short sale, these ingredients are required:

1. A legitimate hardship that can be proven with regard to the Seller's ability to service the debt.
2. A contract sales price that is in line with current market realities.
3. Complete paperwork submitted promptly by all parties.
4. An organized and realistic Seller's lender.

With these 4 ingredients (plus a healthy dose of prayer), I will be happy to tackle more short sale efforts. If you owe more than your Smoky Mountain home is worth and want to try a short sale, we want to be your agency! Please contact us today for more information about how a short sale might be the answer to your prayers.

Gatlinburg Area Residential Sales Top 200 in April!!!

For the first time in any month since 2007, the Great Smoky Mountains Association of Realtors MLS database shows that the Realtors of our area combined for 204 residential sales last month!! This is yet more evidence that our market is returning to life and that buyers are snapping up the remaining bargains. For the third month in a row, sales are sharply higher than a year ago and we are now seeing evidence of a new & very positive trend. Don't just take my word for it, here is the chart:

If you have been waiting for the right time to purchase Smoky Mountain real estate, this looks like it may be what you have been waiting for! When volume increases, prices usually follow!! If you think you might be ready to make an investment in Gatlinburg area real estate, please contact us!

Early Revision of Gatlinburg's March Residential Sales!

Agents started posting sales from last week's end of the month activity and the results are really good. The latest total for the month of March is now 169 residential sales and that will still likely be revised even higher. Here is the latest table:

Another Very Strong Month for Gatlinburg Real Estate!!

March 2012 was indeed another VERY strong month for for Gatlinburg area residential real estate sales and for the third month in a row one has to go all the way back to 2007 to find a superior result for this month. Obviously, a strong positive trend appears to be at work here with every month in 2012 being sharply ahead of last year. Although the past doesn't ever guarantee future results, it is generally the best predictor we have of the future so it is certainly worth reviewing. In March 2012, the quick value for residential sales is 157, a solid 17% increase when compared to the same month in 2011. As I always remind readers, this instant result will certainly be revised upward as more firms enter their end of the month closings into our Great Smoky Mountain Association of Realtors MLS database. I expect that the final tally may be as high as 170 which would be the highest value for ANY month since the good old days of 2007 when we actually AVERAGED more than 188 homes being sold monthly. The fact that our community's recent high record doesn't match the average performance during the year 2007 or even come close to the heady performances of 2006 and 2005 gives one an idea of the severity of the drop off we have now hopefully come through. Here's the monthly residential sold table for your review:

The next market statistic that should start to show improvement is the average sales price of homes sold. Generally, volume must improve before prices can so we now turn our attention to the sales price averages. Intuitively, it does appear that prices are starting to turn, especially on the lower end of the market. It is becoming very difficult to find an attractive 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in our Sevier County, TN market offered for sale for under $100,000 and that was not the case a couple of years ago. I hope to publish more concrete data on average home price sales soon but haven't had a lot of time lately. With the very capable assistance of my office staff, I personally closed 19 sales during March. Other than a few hours of sleep at night and a little bit of time serving in my church youth department, that doesn't leave time for much else. We are however more than willing to help others have success in this market - Please contact us and let us know how we might serve you!!

Our Team's Phenomenal Buyer's Agents

Like any successful team, the Schoenfield Team has team members who are specialists in particular fields and others who are more like utility players who play any position as needed. Our team has three members who specialize in working with Smoky Mountain real estate buyers. They help our clients find excellent homes at good prices and then make sure that the transaction is as smooth and pleasant as possible. Working with buyers every day requires a certain mindset and it isn't the easiest work by any means. Showing property every day demands specific market segment knowledge as well as the ability to understand what a would-be buyer is looking for when sometimes even the buyers themselves aren't exactly sure what that perfect property looks like...

It's always nice to hear about when one of our team members has done a particularly good job. Actually, I believe that it happens much more often than I hear about, but people often don't have the time to let us know. Here's an email that I recently received about Cindy Hopson, one of our expert Buyer Specialists:

I would like to inform you that we were extremely pleased with Cindy's customer service, real estate knowledge, and personal skills to listen to our needs and find us the cabin we were searching for. This cabin is house number 14 in 4 different states in 36 years and we have never come across such an excellent realtor. Cindy truly cares about her clients and follows through, communicates, shows commitment and goes above and beyond to make sure all details, documents, utilities are in line. Cindy is by far the best realtor we have worked with and ReMax should be thrilled that she is a part of your team. I am a very picky, detail oriented person as Cindy will attest to this and speak my mind when a professional does or does not perform to what I believe is appropriate. I would recommend Cindy as a seller or buyers realtor without a doubt. Cindy is a 5 Star Realtor and definitely in the right profession. If your association hands out annual awards, Cindy certainly deserves one for 2012. Kindest Regards,Regina LeBlanc

If you are looking for the same professional level of service in your search for Gatlinburg area real estate, please let us know. Cindy is just one of our three excellent Buyer Specialists and any member of our team will work to make sure that you get the same professional level of service that Ms. LeBlanc received earlier this year. One last thing - When we do a great job for you please take just a minute to write a quick email to us. It's always nice to hear when we've done a great job!!

Best February Since 2007!!

Our Great Smoky Mountain Association of Realtors members are still reporting sales for February but I'm going to assume that at this point, most of the transactions have been recorded. If a few more are added in the coming days that just adds to the tally which is already pretty remarkable. During February 2012, local agents have completed 137 residential sales and that is nothing to sneeze at! In fact, you do have to go all the way back to 2007 to find a better February total when 187 homes & condos were sold or 2006 when 196 Smoky Mountain homes and condo sales were completed. As far as I can tell, that 2006 tally is the all time high for the month of February for ANY year in the long history of our MLS. Here is a link to a summary of our Gatlinburg area's residential real estate sales by month.

2012 is indeed looking good for me as I have already completed 28 transactions since the first of the year and have 5 more set to close today which is certainly a personal record. Here is a link to the ranking of agents within our board. Without my superb office staff of Suzy Compton-Hays, Giulia Luzzana, Pamela McCowen, and Angie Goderich, this simply wouldn't be possible!! Some of our office's agents are also having a good start to the year and our company also ranks #1 in unit sales so far in 2012. We are certainly grateful to God for the success He has allowed us to have!!