Gatlinburg Real Estate Blog

One of the Sevierville foreclosures that we were assigned last week is a very modest home near the Sevierville Post Office just off of Dolly Parton Parkway (yes, Sevierville is the original home place for Dolly!).  When I visited the house to take pictures and begin the process of filing a Broker's Price Opinion report, I was quite surprised to see that this home had been posted and declared abandoned nearly a year ago.  Banks hire property preservation companies to inspect homes that have severely past due mortgages in order to protect the property.  If a borrower isn't paying the mortgage there's a good chance that they have moved out and nobody is maintaining the home.  This is especially important during the cold of winter when unheated homes can result in frozen plumbing and much unnecessary damage. What makes this particular situation worthy of note is that the property was posted by the property preservation so long ago.  I don't really understand why ba...

One of the Sevierville foreclosures that we were assigned last week is a very modest home near the Sevierville Post Office just off of Dolly Parton Parkway (yes, Sevierville is the original home place for Dolly!).  When I visited the house to take pictures and begin the process of filing a Broker's Price Opinion report, I was quite surprised to see that this home had been posted and declared abandoned nearly a year ago.  Banks hire property preservation companies to inspect homes that have severely past due mortgages in order to protect the property.  If a borrower isn't paying the mortgage there's a good chance that they have moved out and nobody is maintaining the home.  This is especially important during the cold of winter when unheated homes can result in frozen plumbing and much unnecessary damage. What makes this particular situation worthy of note is that the property was posted by the property preservation so long ago.  I don't really understand why ...

Once again, one of the new foreclosures I was assigned to today was a property formerly owned by a Gatlinburg area real estate broker.  Sadly, this is now the FIFTH home that I have recently witnessed being lost to the bank by one of my peers.  Unfortunately, Gatlinburg area real estate brokers have been very hard hit by the state of our local real estate economy.  With a drastic reduction in sales volume, and the continual pressure on profit margins in the vacation rental industry, I'm surprised that more of my friends in the real estate business haven't been seen on the foreclosure list. We have been blessed by being in the depressing but profitable foreclosure end of the Smoky Mountain real estate business.  With 5 new foreclosure assignments since last week, it looks like we are facing yet another wave of new foreclosure properties that will soon be hitting our Sevier County real estate market.  Each time I believe that this debacle...

Once again, one of the new foreclosures I was assigned to today was a property formerly owned by a Gatlinburg area real estate broker.  Sadly, this is now the FIFTH home that I have recently witnessed being lost to the bank by one of my peers.  Unfortunately, Gatlinburg area real estate brokers have been very hard hit by the state of our local real estate economy.  With a drastic reduction in sales volume, and the continual pressure on profit margins in the vacation rental industry, I'm surprised that more of my friends in the real estate business haven't been seen on the foreclosure list. We have been blessed by being in the depressing but profitable foreclosure end of the Smoky Mountain real estate business.  With 5 new foreclosure assignments since last week, it looks like we are facing yet another wave of new foreclosure properties that will soon be hitting our Sevier County real estate market.  Each time I believe that this debac...

So far in July, I have already received over 10 new Smoky Mountain foreclosure property assignments but today's was without a doubt the oddest.  To start with, the Sevierville area address (which isn't too far from my own residence) seemed easy enough but when I arrived, I was looking for house number 2019 which was nowhere to be found.  2017 was easy enough to find and the street numbers had been increasing so you would think that 2019 would be just ahead on the same side of the road but not so fast.  There wasn't a 2019 or any other house (just woods) until I went a good long ways up the hill when the numbers were suddenly in the 2500's.  Going back down and taking a second look, I double checked and sure enough, there were no houses of any sort beyond 2017. With the aid of a tax map, the Sevier County Electric System office, and the kind folks at the Sevier County 911 addressing office, I learned that there are in fact two homes on this lot and that one of them is...

So far in July, I have already received over 10 new Smoky Mountain foreclosure property assignments but today's was without a doubt the oddest.  To start with, the Sevierville area address (which isn't too far from my own residence) seemed easy enough but when I arrived, I was looking for house number 2019 which was nowhere to be found.  2017 was easy enough to find and the street numbers had been increasing so you would think that 2019 would be just ahead on the same side of the road but not so fast.  There wasn't a 2019 or any other house (just woods) until I went a good long ways up the hill when the numbers were suddenly in the 2500's.  Going back down and taking a second look, I double checked and sure enough, there were no houses of any sort beyond 2017. With the aid of a tax map, the Sevier County Electric System office, and the kind folks at the Sevier County 911 addressing office, I learned that there are in fact two homes on this lot and that one of them ...

I've always believed that in the real estate business, if you aren't busy you're broke or headed there.  Being busy is to be counted as a blessing, not a curse, but we're getting close lately.  Today was the day that my inventory of listings and future listings for the first time reached 100 properties!  That's right, I currently have 78 active Gatlinburg area listings and 22 more "Coming Soon" properties that will eventually become active listings.  That seems like an incredible number and it is huge but consider that I have been very blessed in 2010:  With 57 sold or pending properties already this year we're selling these properties at a pretty good clip too. To generate this pace of sales and manage this number of properties requires a lot of organization and a hard working team of professionals.  Our office manager and transaction coordinator, Kim Breeden is the hardest working person I know.  Often staying after everyone else has gone h...

I've always believed that in the real estate business, if you aren't busy you're broke or headed there.  Being busy is to be counted as a blessing, not a curse, but we're getting close lately.  Today was the day that my inventory of listings and future listings for the first time reached 100 properties!  That's right, I currently have 78 active Gatlinburg area listings and 22 more "Coming Soon" properties that will eventually become active listings.  That seems like an incredible number and it is huge but consider that I have been very blessed in 2010:  With 57 sold or pending properties already this year we're selling these properties at a pretty good clip too. To generate this pace of sales and manage this number of properties requires a lot of organization and a hard working team of professionals.  Our office manager and transaction coordinator, Kim Breeden is the hardest working person I know.  Often staying after everyone else has gone...

One of the most difficult things I do regularly is speaking to sellers who need (sometimes most desperately despite our current very difficult market conditions) to sell property here in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee.  Although residential sales volumes continue to gradually increase over the pitiful numbers recorded during the drought of the last two years, it is still almost impossible to sell any Sevier County property for a premium price.  In our current buyer's market, sellers generally have to price their property very aggressively if they wish to sell.  There are however exceptions to this rule that I have witnessed over my nearly 15 years of experience in marketing Gatlinburg area real estate. Last year, I accepted a listing from a very pleasant young couple who desired strongly to relocate to Branson, MO to accept an employment offer there.  Their home, while attractive, was absolutely identical to dozens (if not hundreds) o...

One of the most difficult things I do regularly is speaking to sellers who need (sometimes most desperately despite our current very difficult market conditions) to sell property here in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee.  Although residential sales volumes continue to gradually increase over the pitiful numbers recorded during the drought of the last two years, it is still almost impossible to sell any Sevier County property for a premium price.  In our current buyer's market, sellers generally have to price their property very aggressively if they wish to sell.  There are however exceptions to this rule that I have witnessed over my nearly 15 years of experience in marketing Gatlinburg area real estate. Last year, I accepted a listing from a very pleasant young couple who desired strongly to relocate to Branson, MO to accept an employment offer there.  Their home, while attractive, was absolutely identical to dozens (if not hundreds)...

It seems that we will indeed have many new Gatlinburg area foreclosure properties coming onto the real estate market soon.  Since February 1st we have had several new foreclosure properties assigned to us by various banks.  Here are links to some of the upcoming foreclosure homes we will be listing that aren't yet priced by the banks but should be offered for sale soon: 1726 Zurich Rd., Gatlinburg 1730 Zurich Rd., Gatlinburg 2513 Friar Wood Lane, Sevierville 1945 North Star Way, Sevierville (actually closer to Pigeon Forge ) 4386 Chamberlain Way, Sevierville (Wears Valley Area) 2476 Tarr Rd, Talbott, TN 1005 Tanrac Trail, Gatlinburg 413 Glens Lea, Sevierville (in the New Center community) 732 Shady Gap Way, Cosby With these nine properties and a few more that we don't yet even have pictures of, it looks like we will have an ample supply of homes - Both rental cabin/second home type as well as properties better suited to be full time residences.  It is ...

It seems that we will indeed have many new Gatlinburg area foreclosure properties coming onto the real estate market soon.  Since February 1st we have had several new foreclosure properties assigned to us by various banks.  Here are links to some of the upcoming foreclosure homes we will be listing that aren't yet priced by the banks but should be offered for sale soon: 1726 Zurich Rd., Gatlinburg 1730 Zurich Rd., Gatlinburg 2513 Friar Wood Lane, Sevierville 1945 North Star Way, Sevierville (actually closer to Pigeon Forge ) 4386 Chamberlain Way, Sevierville (Wears Valley Area) 2476 Tarr Rd, Talbott, TN 1005 Tanrac Trail, Gatlinburg 413 Glens Lea, Sevierville (in the New Center community) 732 Shady Gap Way, Cosby With these nine properties and a few more that we don't yet even have pictures of, it looks like we will have an ample supply of homes - Both rental cabin/second home type as well as properties better suited to be full time residences....

After my recent post about the home built directly over a sewer line easement you would think that I wouldn't have another survey story for at least a little while but here it is. My client, the foreclosing bank, is selling a home in the Sterling Springs cabin community in Sevierville. We have a ready, willing, and able buyer who smartly decided to obtain a survey. Here is a link to the survey they received . Congratulations to my friend Tim Wallace who owns Wallace Surveying. For a very reasonable $250.00 the buyer was able to avoid what could have been a very major problem. We are now working to get the property line moved and the adjoining owner is being very cooperative. There is however no assurance that the adjoining owners in other cases will be as helpful. In fact, if the house (or more commonly a driveway) is over the property line it can be a 5 figure expense to make things right. Just like any other form of insurance, you don't really need a survey until you need it...

After my recent post about the home built directly over a sewer line easement you would think that I wouldn't have another survey story for at least a little while but here it is. My client, the foreclosing bank, is selling a home in the Sterling Springs cabin community in Sevierville. We have a ready, willing, and able buyer who smartly decided to obtain a survey. Here is a link to the survey they received . Congratulations to my friend Tim Wallace who owns Wallace Surveying. For a very reasonable $250.00 the buyer was able to avoid what could have been a very major problem. We are now working to get the property line moved and the adjoining owner is being very cooperative. There is however no assurance that the adjoining owners in other cases will be as helpful. In fact, if the house (or more commonly a driveway) is over the property line it can be a 5 figure expense to make things right. Just like any other form of insurance, you don't really need a survey until you need ...

It's been a very busy August for the Schoenfield Team and we're not done yet. With over a dozen pending Gatlinburg area real estate sales my entire team has been working long, hard hours and I really appreciate their effort. In case this wasn't enough to keep us busy, we are adding around 5 new bank owned properties each week to our future listing inventory as the pace of Sevier County foreclosures remains very high. Because of a number of last minute hitches several of the transactions that I expected to close during August remain as pending but these are gradually being resolved. If the rest of the area's Realtors have had a month like I am having the numbers for August should be very good. Unfortunately, I doubt that many other agents are in fact having a month like ours. While I am very grateful for our success I feel for my peers who are still very definitely struggling. A very sad reminder of this was the new foreclosure property in Sevierville that I wa...

It's been a very busy August for the Schoenfield Team and we're not done yet. With over a dozen pending Gatlinburg area real estate sales my entire team has been working long, hard hours and I really appreciate their effort. In case this wasn't enough to keep us busy, we are adding around 5 new bank owned properties each week to our future listing inventory as the pace of Sevier County foreclosures remains very high. Because of a number of last minute hitches several of the transactions that I expected to close during August remain as pending but these are gradually being resolved. If the rest of the area's Realtors have had a month like I am having the numbers for August should be very good. Unfortunately, I doubt that many other agents are in fact having a month like ours. While I am very grateful for our success I feel for my peers who are still very definitely struggling. A very sad reminder of this was the new foreclosure property in Sevierville that I wa...