Nashville Flooding: What do we do now?

After seeing historic flooding in Nashville TN, Franklin TN, and our surrounding communities, many will need a helping hand; especially if reports are true that it may get worse before it gets better.

Whether you are concerned for yourself and your family, or for your neighbors - please see the guide from the American Red Cross “Repairing Your Flooded Home.”
1) Take Care of Yourself First
2) Give Your Home First Aid
3) Get Organized
4) Dry Out Your Home
5) Restore Your Utilities
6) Clean Up
7) Check on Financial Assistance, etc

If you are looking to get involved for those around you – and we appreciate it so much – Hands on Nashville is thinking the same thing (please feel free to add updates below as more opportunities arise around the region): (HT @GiveEmKel) OR DONATE.

For firsthand accounts, check into this grouped photo blog @Flickr.

Thank you again to @nashvillest and everyone who contributed to #othersituation2010, #flood2010, #splashville, #Nashvenice, #nashlantis

((what is working with Kevin like?))

Kindest regards,

Kevin Pellatiro
(615)714-7918
kpellatiro@realtracs.com

Hoping to help you take advantage of the market – when you are ready.
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Keller Williams Realty
Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated.
9175 Carothers Pky Suite 110
Franklin, TN 37067
Office: (615) 778-1818

More than schools or curriculum - Teachers Matter

From your list of wonderful influences in your earliest classrooms, to mine (Mrs. Bloom in Homeroom, Mr. Martin and Mr. Foggianno in Math, Miss Jones in American History, Tim Paggard with English Lit) the obvious takeaway is that we need more of these influencers in our schools today. The next step might be the question that Amanda Ripley asks for the Atlantic magazine in their latest issue: What Makes a Great Teacher?

“One outfit in America has been systematically pursuing this mystery for more than a decade—tracking hundreds of thousands of kids, and analyzing why some teachers can move those kids three grade levels ahead in one year and others can’t. That organization, interestingly, is not a school district.”

Data has a way of being objective, or at least has the potential to be used that way. In a city that needs all the help it can get with it's Metro Schools, can Nashville make the change by taking a cue from the nation’s deepest well of analytics for educators?

“First, great teachers tended to set big goals for their students. They were also perpetually looking for ways to improve their effectiveness. For example, when Farr called up teachers who were making remarkable gains and asked to visit their classrooms, he noticed he’d get a similar response from all of them: “They’d say, ‘You’re welcome to come, but I have to warn you—I am in the middle of just blowing up my classroom structure and changing my reading workshop because I think it’s not working as well as it could.’ When you hear that over and over, and you don’t hear that from other teachers, you start to form a hypothesis.” Great teachers, he concluded, constantly reevaluate what they are doing.

Superstar teachers had four other tendencies in common: they avidly recruited students and their families into the process; they maintained focus, ensuring that everything they did contributed to student learning; they planned exhaustively and purposefully—for the next day or the year ahead—by working backward from the desired outcome; and they worked relentlessly, refusing to surrender to the combined menaces of poverty, bureaucracy, and budgetary shortfalls.”

Kevin Pellatiro
Hoping to help you take advantage of the market – when you are ready.
(615)714-7918 kpellatiro@realtracs.com http://signswemustobserve.blogspot.com/

5 Offers on a $550,000 foreclosure in Brentwood, $499k Short Sale Sold, and deals to be had…

There is good reason for responsible concern in housing today with shaky unemployment / economy numbers, shadow inventories from the banks, and homes taking longer to sell for less – but the on the ground activity is still more active than the popular buzz.

People are taking advantage of the market, even with these freezing temperatures:

This Brentwood foreclosure is listed for $550,000 (just over the median home value in Brentwood Tennessee) and has five offers in less than a week. It likely sold, and ready to have its new homeowners within 30 days. Below is the market data for this STEAL…

Another short sale in Brentwood is about to make a lucky homeowner (of a near custom quality residence in the Woodlands at Copperstone) very happy. Almost perfect condition, with beautiful old growth trees in the backyard.

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The deals are out there, but the market is moving quickly below the water line. If you really want a steal – be ready to act NOW. Cash is king, prepared and experienced lending can be almost as good.

Are you ready and prepared to take advantage of this market before all the spring competition?

Kevin Pellatiro
Hoping to help you take advantage of the market – when you are ready.
(615)714-7918 kpellatiro@realtracs.com http://signswemustobserve.blogspot.com/

Nashville: 2,700 NEW Jobs Created?

Nashville may see 2,700 new jobs and see Market Center Management Company update one of our most visible downtown intersections - at Commerce and Broadway - with the Nashville Medical Trade Center. There are still two huge contingencies 1) pre-lease the space and 2) Metro Council approving $585 million Downtown Convention Center project… but Nashville and the Ryman Auditorium are ready for the new neighbors – and like anyone right now; we want the influx of new jobs.

Rendings of the exterior of the proposed Nashville Medical Trade Center. Market Center Management Company announced today the location for its $250 million Nashville Medical Trade Center project: the site of the current Nashville Convention Center at 601 Commerce Street in downtown Nashville. The medical center will feature permanent manufacturer showrooms, temporary exhibition space, and conference facilities within a 2 million square foot complex. (Courtesy Market Center Management Company)

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Kevin Pellatiro
Hoping to help you take advantage of the market – when you are ready.
(615) 714-7918 kpellatiro@realtracs.com

Bank Error in Your Favor

Okay, not an actual bank error (perhaps that depends on our political persuasions, grin), but it feels about that good for Rob and Linda. They woke up to the news that they are suddenly going to receive $6,500 on their new home purchase (later this month). Not bad when you are expanding your living space - and who doesn’t want all the help we can get when talking on the expense of a move?

How come? What is the NEW tax credit about? Check with your tax guys and gals to confirm… 1) If you are a first time homebuyer, you are still going to receive the $8,000 tax credit through April 2010. 2) The new addition: If you have lived in your own home for five consecutive years over the last eight years – you are getting $6,500 if you are under contract before April 30th 2010 (just under 6 months from today). 3) If you are a builder, you can get back some of taxes you paid over the last five years.

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Here are some of the most frequently asked questions on the changes to the Homebuyer Tax Credit


Question: Existing homeowner credit: Must the new house cost more than the old house?
Answer: No. Thus, for example, individuals who move from a high cost area to a lower cost area who meet all eligibility requirements will qualify for the $6500 credit.

Question: I am an existing homeowner. On October 25, 2009, I signed a contract to purchase a new home. I have lived in my current home for more than 5 consecutive years and am within the new income limits. I will go to settlement on November 20. If
President Obama has signed the bill by the time I go to settlement; will I qualify for the new $6500 tax credit?
Answer: Yes. The existing homeowner credit goes into effect for purchases after the date of enactment (when the bill is signed). There is no reference to the date of contract for the new credit. The provision looks solely to the date of purchase, which is generally the date of settlement.

Question: I am a first time homebuyer but was not within the prior income limits at the time I entered into my contract to purchase on October 30, 2009. I will be covered, however, by the new income limits. If the new rules have been signed into law by the time I go to settlement, will I be eligible for a credit?
Answer: Yes. The new income limitations go into effect as soon as the President has signed the bill. The income limit and other eligibility rules will look to your status as of the date of purchase, which is the settlement date. So if the new rules have been signed when you go to settlement, you should be eligible for the credit (or a portion of the credit if you're within the phase-out range).

Question: I am an eligible existing homeowner. I have a fair amount of equity in my home. I have found a home with a nonnegotiable price of $825,000. Will I be able to use any of the $6500 tax credit?
Answer: No. The $800,000 cap on the cost of the purchased home is firm at $800,000. Any amount above $800,000 makes the home ineligible for any portion of the credit. The $800,000 is an absolute ceiling.

Question: I owned my home for 10 years, but sold it two years ago year and have been renting since. If I purchase a home, will I be eligible for the $6500 tax credit if I meet all the other eligibility tests?
Answer: Yes. Because you lived in the home for more than 5 consecutive years of the previous 8, you will qualify for the $6500 credit. For example, Say John and his wife bought a home in 2000 and lived there until 2008 when he got a divorce. Whether John has been renting or bought in the interim, he WOULD INDEED be eligible for the credit because he owned a home and occupied it as his principal residence for 5 consecutive years out of the last 8 years. The keyword here is "consecutive." As long as he lived in that house for 5 years straight what he did since 3 years doesn't impact eligibility.

Question: I am an eligible first time homebuyer. I entered into a contract to purchase on
November 1, 2009. Do I have to go to closing before December 1? How does the extension date affect me?
Answer: You do not have to close before December 1. Once the legislation has been signed, it will be as if the Nov 30 date had never existed. Therefore, so long as the contract settles before April 30 (or July 1, worst case), the purchaser will be eligible for the credit.

National Association of REALTORS® Government Affairs Division