This question comes from the Tennessee Association of Realtors Hotline, where agents can ask questions regarding Tennessee real estate law :

QUESTION: Is it still allowable for a real estate agent to apply a portion of her percentage of commission to the purchase price for a buyer? If so, what is the proper way to word this in a contract?

ANSWER: NO, this is no longer permitted. We recently discussed this issue with the Tennessee Real Estate Commission, and they are of the opinion that the new statute regulating cash gifts, Tenn. Code Ann. 62-13-302(b) will NOT allow the paying of closing costs for their client. This new law states “A real estate licensee shall not give or pay cash rebates, cash gifts or cash prizes in conjunction with any real estate transaction. As part of the Tennessee Real Estate Commission’s general rulemaking authority the commission may regulate the practices of real estate licensees in regard to gifts, prizes or rebates that are
not otherwise prohibited by law.”

This is a change in the previous rules governing this type of activity. The Real Estate Commission is of the opinion that the paying of closing costs would amount to a cash gift. You can still offer to cut your commission, but this would require that the sales contract be amended in order to reflect that the price has been changed. For example, if you are offering to reduce your commission by $1,000.00, the sales contract would have to be amended demonstrating that the sales price has been reduced by $1,000.00.

To be clear, sellers are allowed to help with a buyer’s closing costs, but usually only up to 3% on a conventional loan.

And please don’t ask me to cut my commission. It makes me cranky.

If Knoxville sellers won’t listen to us Realtors, maybe they’ll listen to Glen Reynolds:

Since last week’s NOTW was Sequoyah Hills, I thought Lakemoor Hills would be interesting to look at this week. Also known as the “poor man’s Sequoyah” or “Sequoyah South” due to its location across the river from Sequoyah Hills, Lakemoor Hills is a beautiful, established community just off of Alcoa Highway at Maloney Rd. But don’t let the nicknames fool you - with over 250 homes, many with lake frontage, lake views, or ample acreage, Lakemoor Hills is by no means a second class neighborhood.

Lakemoor Hills*

Current On-Market Listings - 6
Average Asking Price: $474,943
Median Asking Price: $369,900
Average Square Footage: 3437
Most Expensive Listing: $995,000 (5 BR, 5 1/2 BA, over 6500 sq ft on over 4 acres)
Least Expensive Listing: $229,900 (3 BR, 2 BA, approx 1833 sq ft)

Current Pending Sales -0
Average Asking Price - NA
Median Asking Price - NA

Closed Sales - February 2007 - 1
Average Sales Price - $495,000
Median Sales Price - NA
Average Days on Market - 160

Closed Sales - February 2008 - 0
Average Sales Price - NA
Median Sales Price - NA
Average Days on Market - NA

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 3/24/08 for Lakemoor Hills proper, and does not include adjacent subdivisions, condos or PUDS.

What neighborhoods would you like to see featured in the future? Any other stats that you’re itching to have?

Today (being Easter) is the first Sunday in I don’t know how long that I haven’t spent doing an open house & I have to admit I never quite know what to do with myself with a whole free Sunday. A Sunday with no open house is like peanut butter with no jelly.

Check out Knox’d, a new website with “the latest headlines from the best of Knoxville” - kind of a one stop Knoxville info shop. Very cool.

Thanks to Michael Silence for the tip.

Just what you wanted this week, more numbers, right? Josh Flory over at Property Scope has done his write-up on the Knoxville February Home Sales Report and he asks an interesting question:

“The median price for homes with two or fewer bedrooms, or four-plus bedrooms dropped, though. At the small end of the spectrum, the median price fell by a whopping 19.9 percent, to $62,500, while the median price at the high end fell by 3.7 percent, to $240,000.

Any thoughts on why this happened? One interesting quirk is the fact that there were 14 homes in the smallest category that sold for less than $20,000 in February, compared to only three in that category during February of 2007.”

I have no idea about the homes under $20,000 quirk, but as for the other, I think the answer has to do with the tightened mortgage qualificaiton criteria. People who would have bought on the lower end last year simply could not qualify this year, while folks looking to buy on the high side wound up qualifying for less loan and had to buy less house.

Does that make sense to anybody else or have I not had enough coffee today?

One question buyers, especially out of town ones, always ask when we’re out looking at property is, “Is this a good area?”

Very fair question. Too bad I can’t answer it.

Due to fair housing laws, not to mention general liability issues, agents really can’t tell you if neighborhoods are “good” or “bad.” Now, you can usually look around and see if you’re in Dumpsville or not - cars up on blocks in the front yard, weeds everywhere, the garbage man is too scared to come and get the trash (don’t laugh, I’ve seen it).

But what about if there are no obvious signs?

Try Zip Skinny, a site that provides US Census and data information by zip code. Basic information on a zip includes education levels, marital status, household income, and occupations of the residents. Zip Skinny will also:

• compare info on different zip codes
• provide information on schools
• show you a map marking the geographic center of the zip code

I looked up my zip, 37919, and found out that over 50% of the residents have at least a BA degree, almost 1/2 have lived in their home for 5 or more years, the median age of residents is 36.8 years, and only 2.1% are unemployed.

Yesterday I posted about Knoxville making the Forbes list of best places to buy foreclosed homes.

Today the Knoxville News Sentinel says Knoxville has once again made the Forbes lists for best metro areas for careers and best cities to do business:

“A low cost of living, an available work force and the region’s location at the intersection of three major interstate highways, are among the factors driving job growth in the area…

The magazine cited the region’s relatively low business costs - 14 percent below the national average - as one of Knoxville’s strengths.”

Knoxville Chamber President and CEO Mike Edwards comments on the rankings to KNS:

“Corporate America continues to look at indicators such as Forbes’ rankings and they continue to see Knoxville listed. … These rankings drive interest in Knoxville and people give us a look that they may not have given us years ago.”

Forbes.com just named Knoxville the 7th best place in America to buy a forclosed home, and no, that doesn’t mean our housing market is tanking. It’s actually a good thing.

Better late than never - the February Home Sales Report numbers from KAARMLS are up. Let’s start with the good news first: