Tag Archives: Humor

Nashville New Homes: Man in the Mirror

What a beautiful day it is here in Nashville, Tennessee!  Not a cloud in the sky, and the chilled morning air will soon turn into a near-summertime afternoon.  Today would be a great day to purchase a new home, wouldn’t it?

Earlier this morning, I checked my e-mails on the droid-phone thingy and found the usual “chain-forwards” from friends.  You know, the e-mails that you really want to delete but you are afraid you may be asked about it later?  Yes, those kind.

One such e-mail grabbed my attention.  It said:

10-10-10  – This day will not happen again for another 1000 years.  You will not be here for it.  Make this day count.

Ok, so today is a special day.  Shall we plan now for next year’s 11-11-11 special day?   Surely there is something we can do.  Anyway, it is Sunday and I am running late for church.

While driving, I was thinking through everything that I simply have to get done this week.  The list keeps growing and I am avoiding admitting that there simply will not be enough days in the week to accomplish everything.  Some things simply won’t get done.  Its that simple.  I’m doing all I can do, right?  Or wrong?   

In many churches, the time of year is now focused on Stewardship.  You know, where you are asked to search far and wide within your soul and give everything you are capable of  – and then just a little-bit more.  (If you don’t feel you are doing your part in your church, these are great Sundays to miss.)  :0)

A friend at church shared a poem.   It applies to women too, but was written before “gender-neutral” verbage became the norm.  You can change the reference to “woman” or “person”  if it makes you feel better.

Allow me to share it with you because it was just what I needed to hear today:

The Man In The Glass

When you get what you want in your struggle for self

And the world makes you king for a day

Just go to the mirror and look at yourself

And see what that man has to say.

For it isn’t your father, or mother, or wife 

Whose judgment upon you must pass

The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life

Is the one staring back from the glass.

He’s the fellow to please ‘ never mind all the rest

For he’s with you, clear to the end

And you’ve passed your most difficult, dangerous test

If the man in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years

And get pats on the back as you pass

But your final reward will be heartache and tears

If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.

 

Then I got in my car and turned on the radio only to hear Michael Jackson singing “Man in the Mirror.” 

Yes, this really is a special day. 

(It will be even more special when someone buys a new home!)

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.

Nashville New Homes: Blessed are the “Risk-Takers”

Have you ever noticed just how obsessed some people are on making life decisions based on what is guaranteed?  Very seldom is there reward without risk, and reward is never guaranteed.

Face it, we all love guarantees.  Guaranteed income.  Guaranteed performance.  Guaranteed success.  Guaranteed results.  Guaranteed home values?  

In real life, there are no real guarantees.  There are no defined patterns on which to base a guarantee.  Staying put in our “comfort zone” could turn out to be more risk than the alternatives.  Be the risk-taker!

Let’s look at home-ownership.  The print media in this country is having a field day saying “The American Dream” of home ownership is “The American Nightmare.”  Even funnier, many people actually believe what those idiots print!   Now that most have stopped reading print media, they now place their gloomy garbage online.

Every day, I hear people say “I’m not going to buy until ‘things’ get better…”  What “things?”  Do you have a steady job?  Can you pay your bills?  Are you planning to stay in the area for a while?   If you answered “YES” to those questions, then you need to act now before the rules change again and take you out of the game!    Be the risk-taker….and get a historically low fixed-rate mortgage payment to boot…..guaranteed!   If you don’t take the risk, how will you ever know when “things” are better?  You damn sure won’t read about it.

Think interest rates will get even lower?  Considering that the current Federal Reserve Rate is ZERO, how can they go much lower?  And even if they do, you can count on inflation to offset any perceived savings.  The lower rates are, the tighter lending criteria will get too.   Be the risk-taker!

Think home prices will fall?  In some areas of the country, they might.  No one can guarantee your home’s future value, but the one guarantee is that YOU will one day own it! 

Assuming you have a good job and want to stay in the area, the only reason I can think of NOT to buy a home would be if your world-travelling parents have a palatial estate complete with a guest house, which they have given to you as long as you want to live there – at no cost of any kind, not even yard work.   Another possible exception would be if Sandra Bullock wants you to be her “roomie.”

Regardless of what property values do, you are better off owning your home than renting it.  Rents rise.  Leases not always renew.  Every day you continue to rent is an added day that you will pay for your home, if and when you do buy.  Thirty years may seem like an eternity, but it goes by really fast.  After 30 years of renting, you own nothing.  After 30 years of owning a home, you own the home out right… unless you borrowed money against your equity.  I’ve never heard of an “apartment equity loan” either. 

That said, how old do you want to be when your home is paid for?   Could it be that being a risk-taker is not really a risk at all?

The Greater Nashville area is loaded with new homes for every need and lifestyle.  At Ole South (www.OleSouth.com) you will find new homes from 99,000 to 299,000 in a variety of desirable neighborhoods – in Nashville,  Smyrna, Murfreesboro, and Spring Hill.  You can be assured you will receive the very best new home value – not just in price, but quality and service too!

Please contact me anytime I can be of assistance in any way!  615.593.6340 or e-mail TLewis@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 home sales in the Greater Nashville area to include Nashville, Murfreesboro, Smyrna, and Spring Hill, Tennessee.