Category Archives: Affordable Housing

Nashville New Homes: Need more reasons to buy now? You’ve got em!

If you’ve been waiting for the planets to become perfectly lined up before buying your first home, wait no longer!

Buying your first home is a big decision, and if you haven’t thought much about it, you need to start now.  According to HUD, home prices have stabilized and will start rising.

Read more…..

http://www.housingzone.com/housingzone/sales/hud-secretary-home-prices-set-rise

If you have a stable job, and plan on staying in the Nashville area, what are you waiting for?  The rent to go up?

No agency is better developing programs for first-time buyers than the Tennessee Housing Development Agency, THDA, who announced today a further drop in their program rates effective Monday, July 18th.  Check this out:  (shown are current rates, edited January 2012)

THDA Great Rate – 3.95%     This loan is perfect for a first-time buyer that already has their 3.5% downpayment funds secured, but has high “front-end” ratios.  With this loan, the house-payment can actually be as high as 44.99% of gross income, as long as no other installment debt is present.

THDA Great Advantage – 4.25%   This plan is great for those that may be just a little short on cash.  With this plan, the buyer receives a 2% grant, which can be used toward the required downpayment, or closing costs.

THDA Great Start – 4.55%   This plan is terrific for those wishing to save their cash for other plans.  The buyer receives a 4% grant, which can be used toward the required downpayment, administrative, and closing costs.  With a seller paying all closing costs (which Ole South does), this is truly a “ZERO CASH REQUIRED” loan.

Homeownership for the Brave – Veterans and active duty military ned to explore this great program.  Pick any plan listed above and subtract 1/2% from the fixed interest rate.  No first time buyer requirement, and if you have another home financed through VA, you can still use this program and not sell that other home…as long as the new home will be your principal residence.

Targeted Counties – The first-time buyer requirement is waived in designated “targeted counties.”  Maury County is one such area and you will want to explore to great selection of new homes in Ole South’s Meadowbrook and Cobblestone neighborhoods of Spring Hill.

Detailed information is available at THDA’s website, www.THDA.org.

 

Want to learn more?   Whether you are exploring purchasing your first home, looking to move-up or downsize, or would simply like to know more about all home financing issues and programs, drop by Bridgestone Arena this Sunday, July 17th from 1:00 to 5:00 pm for the 2011 Mayor’s Homeownership Fair.   THDA will be there.  And so will Ole South!

For more information, visit the website  http://www.nashville.gov/housingfair/

Come on down and learn more about why NOW is the time to purchase a new home!

And you are always invited to drop by any of our Middle Tennessee model homes.  We’ll be excited to explore your options with you!

Trey Lewis is a licensed Real Estate Broker in the State of Tennessee with Ole South Realty, 615.896.0019  direct 615.593.6340.  Specializing in new homes in the Greater Nashville area to include Nashville, Murfreesboro, Smyrna, Clarksville, and Spring Hill, Tennessee

Nashville New Homes: It all starts with affordable housing.

It came as no surprise to anyone familiar with Fourth of July celebrations in Nashville for 2011’s “Let Freedom Sing” to be ranked in the top fifteen national celebrations.  From aol.com: http://news.travel.aol.com/2011/06/28/july-4th-fireworks-15-of-the-biggest-shows-in-america-ranked-p/

And while the fireworks went BOOM, Forbes was busy compiling its list of 2011 Boom Towns!  And Nashville is #3 on the list:

http://blogs.forbes.com/joelkotkin/2011/07/06/the-next-big-boom-towns-in-the-u-s/

Nashville is on a roll with Forbes, ranking #6 in the country for business and careers  http://www.forbes.com/2011/06/27/best-places-11-top-50_slide_7.html and #4 on the list of best places to retire: http://www.forbes.com/2011/03/23/best-retirement-places-cities-living-costs-doctors-crime_slide_11.html

And late last year, Nashville was ranked as the 4th best college town in America!     http://www.insidevandy.com/drupal/node/14645

All of these rankings are a benefit of affordable housing.   Plain and simple.

Without affordable housing, all of these encouraging rankings would disappear quicker than France surrendered to Germany in 1940!

The Nashville area is committed to providing affordable housing, and there is no better place to learn more than this Sunday at the 4th annual Mayor’s Homeownership Fair at Bridgestone Arena.  Here is the schedule for the day’s activities:   http://www.nashville.gov/housingfair/schedule.asp

No home builder is more committed to providing affordable brand new homes in the Greater Nashville area than Ole South, and we’ll be at the Mayor’s Homeownership Fair also!

In our 26th year, we remain committed to providing the very best new home values in every one of our neighborhoods.  Find our more at the 2011 Mayor’s Homeownership Fair, or by visiting our website, www.OleSouth.com.

Trey Lewis is a licensed Real Estate Broker in the State of Tennessee with Ole South Realty, 615.896.0019  direct 615.593.6340.  Specializing in new homes in the Greater Nashville area to include Nashville, Murfreesboro, Smyrna, Clarksville, and Spring Hill, Tennessee

Nashville New Homes: Let The Cat Out!

Now that all of the excitement of the 2010 Election is all over, it is time to move on!  Regardless of who won, and what they are going to do, nothing is going to jump-start the economy until people start buying things again.  After all, nothing happens anywhere until someone buys something!

All of the bearded economists say that home sales will be the driving force of our economic recovery.  Everyone already knows that Ole South is the best at building the most affordable new homes in Middle Tennessee.  With this newest introduction, the best is getting even better! 

The cat is now being let out of the bag!  Ole South just purchased the remaining lots in the Spencer Hill neighborhood of Nashville, just minutes from downtown between Interstates 24 and 65.

Construction started today and here is a first look at the inventory homes we are building there:

Priced at $109,790 check out this 3 BR, 2 Bath home with 1133 s/f living area:

Need something larger?  Check out this 3 BR, 2 BA, 1248 s/f living area plan at $116,990: 

Here is another awesome plan with 3 BR, 2 BA and 1316 s/f living area at $116,990

And for those wanting a larger 2 story home, check out this 3 BR, 2.5 BA 1615 s/f living area home..priced at $129,990!

All kitchen appliances are included!  And we will even pay ALL of your closing costs, using Ole South Financial, our SunTrust Mortgage Joint Venture.  ZERO-DOWN financing is even available for first-time buyers!

Forbes Magazine ranks Nashville #5 on the list of most affordable cities to live.  ( I still cannot undertand why it costs more to live in Birmingham!)   If Forbes had only known about this new Ole South neighborhood, Nashville certainly would have been ranked #1!  For more information on Spencer Hill, or any of our Middle Tennessee communities, please contact me!  615.593.6340 or TLewis@olesouth.com.

Another cat got out of the bag last month and you will not believe the unbelieveable new home values we are offering in Williamson County!  Check out this monster-all-brick-home at $254,990 in Benevento East:

The election of 2008 was all about change.  The election of 2010 was all about changing the change.  You can bet on one thing, this is an unprecedented time to purchase a new home! 

Interest rates are historically low.  This will change.  Inflation, although present, is not yet being passed to the consumer.  This too will change.  The foreclosure crisis we keep hearing about is going to make lending procedures criteria more difficult, which always means more costly.  Again, more change.

So, if you’ve ever dreamed of owning a new Ole South home,  take a LOOK NOW, before more change takes effect!

Trey Lewis is a licensed Real Estate Broker in the State of Tennessee with Ole South Realty, 615.896.0019  direct 615.593.6340.  Specializing in new home sales in the Greater Nashville area to include Nashville, Murfreesboro, Smyrna, and Spring Hill, Tennessee.

Nashville New Homes: Affordable Housing…Provide it, or it will create itself.

I have been tossing this blog topic around in my head for some time now, just waiting for the inspiration to address it.  Just minutes ago, today became the day.

Bank of America just announced they are suspending foreclosure actions in all 50 states.  Don’t just take my word for it, click here for the full story.  http://money.cnn.com/2010/10/08/real_estate/bank_america_50/. 

Okay, now that you read the story, lets take a real indepth look at the situation… and we’re going to have to look way back!

I was fortunate to enter my Real Estate career in 2000.  Business was good.  Along came 9/11 and America pulled together as a nation.  Values and home ownership were prevailing themes.  With demand for new homes increasing and no end in sight, inflation and greed took over.  Land prices skyrocketed.  Development projects went to the higest bidder willing to pay the premium for quick response.   The cost of building materials soared.  Many predicted there was no end to the good times in sight.  I believed them too, and had a lot of fun in the meantime!

Then one day, we look around and see that affordable housing had all but disappeared.   Home prices had escalated over the capabilities of the typical first-time buyer.  Rather than allowing market forces to adjust pricing THEN, along comes the mortgage industry to further facilitate the ever-growing “bubble.”  Interest-only loans, Adjustable Rate Mortgages, and Stated Income Loans allowed buyers to continue paying even higher sale prices.  If you could breathe and move toward light, you could be approved for a home loan with certain unscupulous lenders, even with them knowing you could not afford it. 

Consciencious and Professional Mortgage Originators and Underwriters continued to use the established and acceptable lending criteria that were in place.  Unscrupulous Mortgage Originators and Underwriters did not.  Rules are rules only when they are being enforced and these guys knew no one was watching.  Greedy investors lined up with money to lend.  Increased rates for increased risk.  Everybody wins!  After all, the properties were increasing in value exponentially each year.

YEP!  They sure were…until the first-time buyer segment of our economy put their foot down and said “NO MORE.”  The first-time buyer’s inability to participate in the housing market was about to topple the very market that they had helped create.  There were no more logs to place on the fire.

Fast-forward to “the wake-up-call.”  Housing values dropped, and will continue to fall until the housing market is once again within the grasp of the first-time buyer.  In my opinion Government has over-reacted with numerous new lending criteria initiatives.  These initiatives are sound fundamentally, but a wiser path would have been to simply enforce the criteria that was already there.  The fire was already burning down as a result of market forces, and government poured mass-buckets of cold water on it – and that continues to this day.  Lots and lots of affordable housing options have now been created, mostly at the expense of the taxpayer.

Thankfully, the Greater Nashville housing market was not hit as hard as other areas of the country.  I truly believe that is because of our accessibility to affordable housing. 

At Ole South, our mission has always been to provide the very best selection of  homes that address the needs of the first-time buyer.  That mission is alive and well today!  With brand new maintenance-free town homes starting at $89,990 and brand new traditional neighborhood homes starting at $119,990, we remain committed to keeping the Greater Nashville area an affordable place to live.

But that’s not all… We have become very good at building new homes for the “move-up” buyer, as well as the buyer that wishes to down-size and simplify their life.  Learn more at www.OleSouth.com.

We’ve always worked with responsible lenders too!  Ole South Financial, our SunTrust Mortgage Joint Venture, has made new-home ownership a reality for thousands of buyers and they are ready to assist you too!  Give them a ring at 615.907.2296.

Please do not hesitate to contact me anytime we can be of assistance in any way.  You can rest assured that our neighborhoods in Nashville, Murfreesboro, Smyrna, and Spring Hill will be your best new home value…guaranteed!

Trey Lewis is a licensed Real Estate Broker in the State of Tennessee with Ole South Realty, 615.896.0019  direct 615.593.6340.  Specializing in new home sales in the Greater Nashville area to include Nashville, Murfreesboro, Smyrna, and Spring Hill, Tennessee.