875 Robertson Academy Rd

In one of the least controversial bills – we can only hope – filed in the state Legislature this year seeks to limit unsolicited calls by telemarketers seeking to coerce property owners into selling their homes.

These hucksters prey upon unknowing victims in attempts to purchase properties at extremely low prices so they can flip them and profit at the expense of the former owner.

In many cases, the callers target the elderly, who often fall for the sales pitch, and sell their homes and have nowhere to land after being forced to move.

The bill passed the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee and received bipartisan support. However, that was in March, before the ruckus with the Tennessee Three, as they have become famously known. This bill was introduced by a Democrat, Nashville’s Charlane Oliver, so time will tell how the House plays the game.

The Tennessee Three have become the talk of the nation with Stephen Colbert discussing the Nashville International Airport rendezvous of Joan Baez and Justin Jones, with them singing together. It was not an outcome anticipated by the General Assembly.

Hopefully, the delegations can put politics aside, at least for this bill, and save the constituents the financial abuse many are experiencing with the monsters devouring the homeowners’ hard-earned equity.

Sale of the Week

Builder extraordinaire Baird Graham has recorded yet another upper-end sale with the closing of 875 Robertson Academy Road in the Oak Hill Valley neighborhood.

Listed by the venerable real estate husband-and-wife team of Melissa and Andy Clough (pronounced Cluff), the property hit the market at $3.9999 million in late December and went under contract for $3.75 million in early March after 63 days on the market.

December, with its holidays, and January, with its thermometer readings, can put a bit of age on a listing. As the laurels gave up their collective ghosts and the mercury took flight, the home sold with Jacob Rowland Tate of the Tate Brokerage representing the buyer.

There have been several interesting Realtor names through the years, including Don Knotts, Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Riviere and Peggy Sells. The Tate Brokerage has one of the better-dubbed Realtors in the modern era with Kaci Goodgame.

As it turns out, Goodgame is also a good sport, as is Realtor Haleigh Sport, of course, but Goodgame has switched teams and took over her father’s concrete business when he died in 2020. She is now the owner of Concrete Unlimited LLC, and her brother has continued to play in the real estate sandbox with ownership of the very successful Cornerstone Construction.

Her brother’s name is Zach Goodgame, not to be confused with real estate executive Zach Goodyear of Parks and Village fame. Kaci says her ancestors were keepers of wild animals, or game. They kept the best game in the village and accepted the moniker of Goodgame proudly.

Back to the Clough listing on Robertson Academy Road, a home the Cloughs noted was designed by “nationally acclaimed Christopher Architecture and Interiors.” They described the structure as including stucco, reclaimed wood and Tennessee Fieldstone. In the $3 million range, a “chef’s kitchen” is mandatory, even if no chef ever darkens the door. Thermador appliances and waterfall edge countertops allow the surroundings to attain the rank of “chef.”

With his collection of successes, Graham has learned what his audience expects from a house and delivers. There is a three-car garage, and the primary suite is retreat-like, based on Clough’s remark on Realtracs.

The $730 per square foot is certainly in the ballpark and par for the course in Oak Hill, and the $3.75 million price tag should not shock buyers as $5 million properties continue to sell in abundance.

In the last 12 months, 54 houses of $5 million or more have sold in Davidson and Williamson counties combined. In the same period in 2019-2021, only 19 houses sold for more than $5 million in those two counties.

Even with the Fed’s rate hikes in 2022, the number of homes selling for $5 million or more hit 48. From 19 to 48 was unthinkable, but life goes on.

With one Goodgame in construction and another in concrete sales, there is no doubt they will emerge as winners.

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