While many local real estate investors have sat on their hands during the recent boom – watching in disbelief as the market careens out of their comfort zone – out of state money continues to roll in. And that includes international investors.

Numbers that appear inflated here pale in comparison to larger markets. While Nashville is no Boston, a quick trip to Trulia to check on Boston real estate prices reveals that the average price per square foot on a residence is $1,041.

The median price for a one-bedroom home is $645,000, $1,212,500 for a two-bedroom. Median price for a four-bedroom home in Boston is $2,762,500.

In Nashville, even the most affluent areas cannot touch Boston’s average numbers.

In the 37205 ZIP code, the average price for a four-bedroom home was $912,587 for the past 30 days, slightly less than 37215’s $926,908 average price for a four-bedroom house. East Nashville’s 37206 was $550,267 while the 37212 area boasted a healthy $861,000 average on four bedrooms.

All of these number are gathered from Reatracs.

Three-bedroom homes fared worse. In Boston, the average price for a three-bedroom home was $1,760,000. In Nashville, 37215 is again the most expensive at $639,364. It was $592,428 in 37205 and $604,600 in 37212.

In that regard, Nashville lags signifi-cantly less than the 400-year-old city.

While Nashville is no Boston in terms of history, it is more populous, with World Population Review showing a population of 684, 410 for Nashville and 667,137 for Boston in 2016. Former Mayor Bill Purcell, who often compared the cites, noted that Nashville has an area of 528 square miles, while Boston’s residents inhabit only 90 square miles.

At any rate or size, regardless of age, Nashville real estate is valued at less than half of the real property in Boston, a city of roughly the same population. Assuming Nashville never reaches the current market values of Boston, perhaps only 75 percent, there is still room to grow.

From all appearances, nothing is slowing. Even with the Airbnb properties taken out of the equation, the market is primed for continued appreciation barring an international financial event. There are economists who are predicting some mayhem in international markets, but even that points to Nashville as a strong place to rest a dollar.

Jimbo Cook

Nashville real estate lost one of its most colorful and successful personalities earlier this month with the death of Jimbo Cook. Cook was an omnipresent force in all things social in the real estate world and was a force in the local commercial real estate market.

He had a twinkle in his eye, a pen in his pocket and was ready to use either or both to get the deal done. He and his longtime associate, Ted Moats, conquered some monstrous real estate deals during the past several decades.

He was passionate, compassionate, brilliant, charming and cunning. There is not one among masses of people who met Jimbo Cook who would ever forget that event. He was honest and fair, yet always gained the upper hand for his client.

Sale of the Week

Chad Bowman – EXP Realty by way of Virginia Tech – recently listed a house at 2433B Chapman Drive in East Nashville. Bowman sold it in one day with help from the buyer’s agent, Annie Hayes of Parks Property.

With 2,885 square feet, three bedroom and three full baths, the listing “checked all of the boxes,” according to Bowman’s description. With his Hokie background, Chapman let everyone know exactly what “all the boxes” were and presented the home in a succinct, thorough depiction.

These were the boxes: “Tankless water heater, gas fireplace, metro quartz counters, master bath with free standing soaking tub, walk-in showers with marble floors, trayed ceiling in master, solid oak flooring, custom molding/crown, designer lights and plumbing fixtures.”

The solid oak flooring is of interest, in that many Realtors either do not know solid from laminated or care to differentiate. With the influx of lamination, the composition of the flooring is often misstated.

Even more bizarre is that some describe the plasticine floors as hardwood. Plastic poured into a mold and glued to a floor is not a hardwood floor. In new construction and newly renovated homes, let the buyers beware as some of the laminate finishes can appear as if they are solid oak.

The home’s $589,900 price broke the $200 barrier at $204 per square foot, a respectable number for buyer and seller.

The company that built the house, Design Build East, is quite active designing and building in East Nashville to this very day.

Richard Courtney is a licensed real estate broker with Fridrich and Clark Realty and can be reached at [email protected].