2003 Eastland Avenue

As many know, East Nashville was the home of the rich and famous when Nashville had few rich and almost no one famous. The well-chronicled East Nashville fire of 1916 was Nashville’s answer to the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, although Nashville was a small town in comparison to the massive city of Chicago.

According to Metro tax records, the house at 2003 Eastland Avenue was purchased in 1911 by Mary Lillian B. Hess, some five years before the fire. Sixty-seven years later, she sold the house to Catherine McBride who took title with another member of the Hess family. This 1978 sale was for $15,000.

In 2003, they transferred title to Shannon Seagroves, who in 2004 sold the house to a pair of Nashville Realtors, Trasbin Stoner and Larissa Lentile, who had confidence in the East side when few did. They improved the property and sold it 17 years later for $275,000.

To recap, from 1911 to 1978 the property appreciated only slightly, selling for $15,000. It took another 26 years to double in value, and only another seven to grow nearly twentyfold.

If Ms. Hess and her heirs had known in 1911 that a property where their modest home once stood would sell for $1,725,000 111 years later, they may have taken steps to have been cryo-frozen. Granted, they wouldn’t have known what the process was, and the fire may have melted them, but it would’ve been worth a shot.

Sale of the Week

The end of the story is that last week the house at 2003 Eastland Avenue sold for $1,725,000 when Aaron Armstrong of Aaron Armstrong Real Estate-Keller Williams listed and sold the residence before it hit the market.

Although his name is not listed on tax records, he is partners with Sloss Fine Woodworking, LLC, and Armstrong disclosed he is an owner agent of the property in his listing notes.

Robert Drimmer of Compass, Tennessee was quick to find a buyer for the property, and somehow learned of the fine woodworking as well as the rest of the features of the house before it hit the market.

Armstrong, being the seasoned veteran he is, wrote a detailed description of the home so that those buyers and sellers alike who follow would have an accurate portrait of what $1.725 million looks like in East Nashville these days.

Armstrong wrote the house had “high-end designer finishes and was situated on an extra deep lot with unique features that differentiate this home from the rest.” He noted the “architecture by Pfeffer Torode and interior design by Quinn and Company.”

And that there was an unfinished 635-square-foot Detached Accessory Dwelling Unit apartment. The DADU is framed and has the plumbing and electrical roughed in.

A trick some have used in the past, and there is no reason to think this property would fall into this category, is to not finish a DADU because – in some cases, not this one – the codes do not allow for the DADU to be finished.

Were the DADU to be finished, the builder would be denied a use-and-occupancy agreement. However, if the owner chose to finish the space without getting the necessary permits, the owner could use and occupy the space until such time as Metro was alerted and had time to visit and inspect the improvements. In some cases, Metro will allow the owner to seek a variance. In others, the owner must apply for retroactive permits, and in still others, they must remove the finishes.

Armstrong is allowing Drimmer and his buyers to make whatever decision they choose. Drimmer is a person of great integrity, highly regarded within the industry, and will advise appropriately. His diligence, connections and good reputation are reasons he is able to contract for homes before they hit the market.

Remedy for rising rates

This sale is yet another example of the strength of the market in Nashville and the strength of the Nashville market and its refusal to slow regardless of interest rates.

In order to diffuse concern over interest rates, long time lender Mike Smalling has an answer. Now with Steadfast Mortgage, Smalling’s group will allow buyers borrowing at least $250,000 to refinance any time over the next three years at no charge. One slight caveat is the buyers would be required to use the title company of Steadfast Mortgage’s choosing. Refinancing can be costly, but this should defray most of the costs.

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