3813 Nevada Avenue

Sylvan Heights is a neighborhood that played bridesmaid to Sylvan Park for years. Located off Charlotte Pike, as opposed to Sylvan Park’s boundary off Murphy Road, the area was filed with smaller residences, most constructed with asbestos shingle siding that clad the 1,200- to 1,500-square-foot homes.

The late Hal Wilson, founder of the Wilson Group and father of Christy Wilson, who has lifted the Wilson torch to new heights, is credited with naming the overlooked and often disparaged subdivision to the north of Sylvan Park.

Hal Wilson was a real estate visionary who championed Sylvan Park when it was known as “New Town,” one of the first western suburbs of Nashville. With reasonably priced housing, and under Wilson’s tutelage, the area became a magnet for the creative community and for renovators, even when flipping was a term used more at the Pancake Pantry than in neighborhoods.

Former Pancake Pantry owner David Baldwin, a connoisseur of pancakes, of course, says pancakes should never be flipped more than once, when they bubble. “You should never pat a pancake,” he warns. “After all, it’s not a hamburger.”

Of note is that Wilson also was the co-founder of an FM-radio show known then as “The Money Game.” It later evolved into the “Dave Ramsey Show,” and Ramsey has been quick to acknowledge Wilson’s role in keeping the show alive during the early days.

In addition to his real estate holdings, which numbered in the hundreds of properties, his radio show and his real estate practice, Wilson found time for his true passion as an educator. A co-founder of the Continual Learning Institute, Wilson taught 50,000-plus real estate students during his career. The education wing of the Greater Nashville Realtors’ building is named for him.

When not teaching, he bought, sold and brokered thousands of properties, concentrating on the Sylvan Park area. When he was approached by buyers who sought the Sylvan Park lifestyle but lacked the budget, he would often introduce them to the area to he north. When asked the name of the neighborhood, he responded, “Sylvan Heights.”

Even with his love of Sylvan Heights and his dedication to real estate there, he would find a sale for $1.3 million incomprehensible. Yet, today, it is commonplace.

Wilson could have bought – and most likely did buy – 50 houses for $1.3 million in the Heights in his day. With Charlotte Pike joining the culinary craze and providing food and drink for the masses from taverns and pubs to fine dining, the area has flourished, as has The Nations, which is found across the Charlotte from the Heights.

Located at 3813 Nevada Avenue is a 3,150-square-foot home that was co-listed by Kaitlyn Wolfcale and Brandon Bubis, both of Legacy South Brokerage for $1.25 million. The house, they noted, is “perched on a quiet, tree-lined street in Sylvan Heights” and “provides timeless design with modern-day amenities.” Just a short walk to L&L market.”

They added the exterior “pays homage to a classic craftsman home. Pulling inspiration from natural elements, the outside was designed with a muted, three-color paint palette, a rustic wood front door with beams, black windows for contrast and a stone apron that wraps around the entire perimeter.”

As has become the norm in Nashville, be it Heights or Park, Nations or homes to the East or West, the property sold for $50,000 more than list price in less than a day on the market. The hefty $395-per-square-foot sales price compares with prices in Belle Meade, Green Hills, Belmont and East Nashville, and scores higher than many sales in Sylvan Park, the place to which the Heights served as understudy.

It has four bedrooms, three full bathrooms and one half bathroom.

Kyle Yates of Tyler York Real Estate Brokers, LLC saw the value in the property and led his buyer to victory. With the batter bubbling on pancakes, the chickens getting hotter and real estate soaring, the owner will, no doubt, be able to flip the Nevada home and make hundreds of thousands of dollars in the years to come.

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