Hairston

History was made when Greater Nashville Realtors installed officers for 2020 with Kristy Hairston sworn in as president of the 129-year-old association.

Hairston is the first African American to serve as president of the association, achieving that position with a storied career in real estate that includes being named Educator of the Year by Tennessee Realtors in 2017.

Hairston is no stranger to training and educating. She is the principal broker for Parks West Nashville and has been an officer with the Greater Nashville Realtors for the past five years. Additionally, she has served as both consultant and coach to many of today’s top Realtors and has chaired numerous committees at both the Greater Nashville Realtors and the Tennessee Realtors. The members of the Greater Nashville Realtors are excited to serve under her leadership.

Also taking offices were Brian Copeland, who was installed as president-elect for 2020, meaning he will be president in 2021, four years after serving as president of Tennessee Realtors in 2017. Copeland is the founder of Doorbell Real Estate and is active in the National Association of Realtors leadership.

Steve Jolly of Benchmark Realty will serve as secretary/treasurer and will serve as the Nashville Realtors member of the Realtracs board while Brad Copeland – yes, he is Brian’s brother and also at Doorbell Real Estate – will serve as vice president.

Barring impeachable offenses, Brad should climb the ladder and take the reins in 2023 or 2024. In either case, Brain Copeland will have rolled off the board, most likely serving as president of NAR. Pilkerton Realtors continues its run on Greater Nashville Leadership with Kevin Wilson dubbed a vice president.

Andrew Terrell will serve as immediate past president after ruling over an historic run in home sales. Terrell’s new title brings to mind a quote from the highly successful commercial developer Floyd Shechter, who said the words “immediate past president” are the most beautiful words in the English language.

New board members elected by the members of the entity are Sheila Tidwell, Courtney Jenrath, Anna Altic, and Tara DeSelms who had served a partial term. Waddell Wright will serve as director and commercial committee chairman.

Other directors are Amanda Crist, Debbie Owen, George Rowe, Rae Thomas, Lee Pfund and Thomas Rassas.

Sale of the Week

With most of the real estate websites equipped with mapping features that allow the user to pinpoint boundaries for home searches, the old Multiple Listing Service area designations are all but obsolete. For example, the area to the west of I-65 to Charlotte Pike was known as Area 2 and has always been the most expensive area in Nashville.

Last week, there were 96 closings in the venerable area, and the top 26 sales ranged from $850,000 to $1,525,000. The highest sale was of an older home built in Balleroy way back in 2005. However, of the other 25 transactions, 24 were houses built in the past two years.

3505 Grayswood Avenue

This trend has been ongoing for seven years, and the reason Lyle Patterson, the director of building and zoning for the City of Belle Meade, called for a moratorium on new construction and announced that the city is under a conservation overlay that will be regulated with a historic zoning commission.

The City of Belle Meade will work with residents with their designs and plans for construction of their homes but will see that spec homes will have their own character and design. This would bring the practice of building the cookie cutter homes that have begun to dominate the cityscape.

The one house out of the 25 that was not built in the last two years was 3505 Grayswood Avenue, a quiet street off the bustling Woodmont Boulevard. Listed by Josh Anderson and his minions, the house was described as “a charming home in sought-after Wimbledon,” invoking a street in close proximity to Grayswood.

The house sold for $261 per square foot whereas nearby tall skinnies sold for between $282 and $321 per square foot. To the house’s credit, it did everything it could to pose as a tall skinny with the exterior painted white. Anderson’s comments included: “White marble kitchen, new stainless-steel appliances…gorgeous master with white marble bath.” Being colorblind is not a hindrance when house hunting these days.

Anderson further notes the house has a new HVAC and water heater. Most water heaters are white, as well. A key selling point in Wimbledon is, as Anderson states, students are “zoned for Julia Green!”

The house has 3,352 square feet with four bedrooms, two full baths and a half-bath. One vestige of 1941 remains with a nook for the home telephone in the hallway.

It sold last week with Beth Molteni delivering the buyer, who paid $875,000 for the vertically challenged monument to the past. The owner might be able to sell it as memorabilia of days gone by in 25 years. When tornadoes next attack the Green Hills area, I would rather be in this house than a 2018 or 2019 build.

Batten down the hatches, they are coming.

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