With Halloween on the horizon the fall housing market should be grinding to a halt although this year’s sales have defied all logic and historical data.
The passing of All Hallows Eve usually smothers the inventory like a mummy, only to be freed in the spring when the butterflies emerge from their cocoons.
This year, however, things have been different and the mummies may go the way of Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney, Jr. and the other black-and-white movie monsters who have passed into the haunting as spectral memories. I suspect there will be reason to give thanks for the November sales and look forward to a festive holiday season.
Nonetheless, inventory will be reduced as those that are not forced to sell will celebrate the season and await the spring, and the buyers will continue their surge while visions of their new homes dance in their heads.
With the worldwide economy floundering, and Nashville buyers foundering on the inventory and gobbling up everything in sight, there could be a time when the music dies. Any increase in interest rates could signal the end.
Jim McCord
The real estate community lost one of its best this past Saturday with the death of Jim McCord who died following a boating accident on the Cumberland River. Jim was a Realtor with McNiel and Company Real Estate where he had been for 15 years.
Principal Broker Tom McNiel noted that Jim’s career, “proves that being a nice guy does pay off,” and noted that Jim’s approach to every transaction was in an unselfish manner and made sure that everyone was treated fairly.
Mr. McCord served on the board at the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors (GNAR) as well as on the Executive Committee of GNAR where he chaired several committees and served on many others. He was quick with a smile and an extended hand and quite the outdoorsman.
His magnetic, shining personality will be missed and his absence will be long felt.
Sale of the Week
Nashville has taken up residency on the buckle of the Bible Belt, according to some, and the construction community seems to have taken one Bible verse literally, that being the quotation, when Jesus says: “Let he among you who is without sin, cast the first stone.”
232 54th avenue North in Sylvan Park.
This is not to say that Nashville homebuilders are sinful, but they have cast very few stones over the years, and that has resulted in a lack of stone houses dotting the cityscape.
Last week a stone house sold at 232 54th avenue North in Sylvan Park. The home included 1710 square feet and had three bedrooms and two full baths.
And these stones were not fresh from the quarry, rather, they “came from the Nashville Courthouse in the mid 1940s,’ according to the remarks from listing agent Holly Black of Crye - Leike, Inc Realtors.
Ms. Black noted that this house had the same owners since 1976 and refers to the house as a “fieldstone cottage” that has a hot tub, a two-year-old roof, fence, a three-car garage, renovated bathrooms, tilt windows, new gas logs, and the obligatory downstairs bathroom.
The house sold for $380,000 after having been listed for $399,000. The owner had purchased the house in 1976 for $25,000 and that was a high price in those days for the neighborhood. Will Reynolds of Parks represented the buyer.
In 1979, when I began the practice of real estate, there were no computers in offices and the Multiple Listing Services books were delivered to each office every week. The office that was first in the delivery route had the upper hand, and once that office was located, their books were often stolen, so the route was rotated with various cycles.
The books were the keys to the universe and resembled a Sears catalogue, a relic from a distant time, so perhaps a telephone book would be more relative, maybe not. Anyway, they were 500 or 600 pages, and they were heavy.
They were broken down by area and then by sales price. Sylvan Park properties were the first listed in area 2 and often started in the $10,000 range at that time. So, if a person had bought 10 houses for $10,000 or $100,000, today they would be worth perhaps $4 million. The only problem was … no one had any money.
One thing to consider, from 1976 through 2014, there have been three Recessions, and in normal times, the market had stable, but slow appreciation. Perhaps, this $380,000 will be 15 times what this buyer paid. That’s only $5.7 million. In 398 years, it will be a bargain.
Richard Courtney is a real estate broker affiliated with Christianson, Patterson, Courtney and Associates and can be reached at [email protected]