Is your tank running on empty?  If you answered this question yes, you probably are not getting the best gas mileage you can get today in Chattanooga.  I recently read a blog article, which I can’t remember where, and I was amazed by some of the tips that were provided on getting better gas mileage with just a few minor changes to the way we fill our gas tanks.  I have actually spoken to several people who had no clue, like me, on ways to save money and increase gas mileage.  When driving down the road these days, the prices of gasoline can really scare us and we wait until the last minute to fill up to get the best price, not always the best answer.  Here are some great tips to better mileage

1. Don’t let your gas tank get below half full!  You might say, well what will that do for me, well in the heat of the summer the gas in your tank actually evaporates.  The more gas you have in your tank the more gas you are actually able to use.  If you have more gas in your tank, you will get better gas mileage.  You also won’t be hit with a $50-$70 hit at one time.  Spread they payment out over time, filling a tank that is half full will cost you $30-$45 instead.

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On behalf of Andy Hodes and The Scenic City Team, we would like to thank our troops, both past and present for defending this great country and giving us the opportunity to celebrate our Independence Day!

There are tons of celebrations going on around town, and we wanted to share a few of them with you.

Tuesday, July 2, 2008 - Lake Winnepesauka - 10 pm, synchronized to music with finale to Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA.

Wednesday, July 3, 2008 - Pops on the River at Coolidge Park in Chattanooga - an outdoor musical concert, will be held from 8:00 p.m. to 9:45 p.m., concluding with a patriotic fireworks finale over the Tennessee River. The public is invited to bring lawn chairs and blankets to enjoy a picnic during this concert and fireworks display. Food, beer and non-alcoholic drink concessions will be available on site. A rain date for the concert is scheduled for Sunday, July 6th. Coolidge Park will be closing to vehicular traffic at 4:30 PM on the day of the show.  Attendees are encouraged to park in UNUM parking lots between 4th and 5th Streets at no charge, where, beginning at 6 PM, busses will transport passengers across the river, unloading near the Chattanooga Theatre Centre.  

Friday, July 4, 2008 - Soddy Daisy 4th of July Festival and Celebration - Billed as one of the Tennessee Valley’s largest 4th of July festivals and firework shows, the Soddy-Daisy/North Hamilton County Chamber Council and the City of Soddy-Daisy Annual 4th of July Festival & Celebration will be held on Friday, July 4 at Soddy Lake. This family-themed event is free and begins at 9 a.m. and continues until the City’s grand fireworks show at dark. Bring a blanket, a cooler and picnic lunch and relax under the big tent listening to local musicians playing a wide variety of rock, country, Christian contemporary, gospel and bluegrass music.

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As you listen to and follow Cheryl Crowe’s advice, “Soak up the Sun”, don’t forget to pay attention to the kids in the Pool.  Today there are more pool accidents than ever before.  In Chattanooga, not every home has a pool like where I grew up in Florida, but there are many private and community pools.  There is no better way to spend the summer than by the pool and safety must be the highest priority.

I recently read an article on Pool Fence.com that talked about safety and gave some pretty scary statistics, so I thought I would take the time to share them with you since I love spending time in the pool at my friend’s home in Chattanooga.  Here is a study conducted by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission that investigated child drowning incidents.  It indicated that SUPERVISION CAN AND DOES FAIL.

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Usually the monthly Employment report is the main event of the week, but Fed Chief Bernanke stole the show.   Following the theme of other Fed officials in recent weeks, Bernanke focused on inflation risks in multiple speeches, and his comments were unexpectedly direct. According to him, inflation expectations are a “significant concern.”  He explained that the decline in the value of the dollar and the increase in the cost of energy were adding to inflationary pressures.  Inflation is negative for mortgage investors, and mortgage rates rose for the fourth straight week due to increased concern.

At the end of a volatile week, investors were closely watching Friday’s important Employment report.  The headline number came in right on target, with a loss of -49K jobs in May.  The big surprise came from the change in the Unemployment Rate.  Expected to rise slightly to 5.1% from 5.0% in April, it instead jumped to 5.5%, the highest level since October 2004.  Economists attributed the spike to an unusually large influx of young adults entering the labor force to find summer jobs, so the reaction in the mortgage market was modest.

ALSO NOTABLE:

* In May, the Unemployment Rate showed the largest monthly increase since February 1986

* The Bank of England and the European Central Bank both held rates steady

* The Fed’s Lacker suggested that the programs put in place to ease the credit crunch may encourage excessive risk taking

* Oil prices declined as low as $122 per barrel, but then rose again to record levels near $135 per barrel

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Multiple offers?  In a buyer’s Market?  Yep, they still exist!  With some foreclosure sales they are inevitable, because sme banks will wait for them, but when a Seller has a great home at a great price, multiple offers can happen more often than you think.  Here in Chattanooga the great deals go quickly and, if you don’t move fast enough, you’re likely to end up competing with other offers!

And . . . it’s not always the new homes on the market.  Multiple offers can also occur with a home that has been on the market for a while.  Sometimes it can be that another buyer appreciated the same features in the home that you did, and decided it was the perfect home for them.  Other times a price reduction on a home can bring buyers back to a home causing greater interest.  So make sure your Realtor gives you all the facts they can when you are looking for a great place to live.

If you get into a multiple offer situation, it’s time to put all your cards on the table.  Most Realtors will call for “highest and best” offers.  This is your chance to make your offer shine and possibly your last chance to get in the game.  It’s important to review the comps (i.e. comparable sales and listings) of the neighborhood with your Realtor to help you tweak your offer price.  Keep in mind that offers can easily go over the list price - especially if the home is competitively.  So keep in mind what you are asking for when you determine your purchase price.  Closing costs and other concessions will lower your offer in the seller’s eyes, and they are going to be looking at the bottom line.  Basically sellers are looking at what they will walk away from closing with, and how soon they will be able to get it.  So price and closing date are usually the most important focus.

As a Buyer, this is definitely an ideal situation, but if this is the perfect home for you, competition is what it might take to get it.  Make an offer that you can walk away from if you don’t get it, or an offer you can sleep with if you do!  Knowing that multiple offer situations still exist - even in a buyer’s market is important.  So if you find that perfect home, don’t hesitate!  Write an offer now before there is competition . . . you’ll be glad you did!

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Every year around this time, Relocate America comes out with their top 100 list of the best places to live.  This year Chattanooga, Tennessee, yes our great Scenic  City, was chosen third, only behind Charlotte, NC (1) and San Antonio, TX (2).  Notably, this is the only list that bases their decision on statistical data and feedback from the people who live, work and play in each communitiy.

Throughout the calendar year, Relocate America accepts nominations for cities and towns throughout the country to be considered as a “great place to live”.  The nominating parties must include their own reasons why they feel their city should make the list.  The nominations, along with key data regarding education, employment, economy, crime, parks, recreation and housing are reviewed, rated and judged by an editorial team.  Special consideration is taken on the Top 10 Cities as they are listed in a ranked order of America’s Top 10 Places to Live.

To those of us whom have chosen to move to the “Scenic City,” this is no surprise to us.  Chattanooga has everything a large city has, just on a smaller scale.  A beautiful downtown area, minutes from the mountains, great biking trails and a wonderful arts community, among other great options.

The rankings were as follows:

Top 10 Cities
1.  Charlotte, NC
2.  San Antonio, TX
3.  Chattanooga, TN
4.  Greenville, SC
5.  Tulsa, OK
6.  Stevens Point, WI
7.  Ashville, NC
8.  Albuquerque, NM
9.  Huntsville, AL
10.  Seattle, WA

We hope you will read the article on the Top 100 Cities and consider a move to the Scenic City where you will find great views, fun people and outstanding home values.  We’ll even invite you over for a real “home cooked” dinner.

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Mortgage rates ended the week close to where they began the week, but the end result masked a lot of movement. The week began poorly for mortgage markets.  Stronger than expected Retail Sales data and tough talk on inflation from Fed officials pushed mortgage rates higher on Monday and Tuesday.  In particular, Tuesday’s Fed speakers suggested that the economy was beginning to recover - even if there is still a long way to go - and that inflation concerns have increased.  The tide turned on Wednesday, however, when CPI, the most closely watched inflation report of the month, showed a lower than expected increase in inflation. Mortgage rates fell every day through the remainder of the week.

The April Core Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose at a 2.3% annual rate, below the consensus forecast of 2.4%.  So far, higher food and energy prices have not been passed through in a large way to the prices of other goods.  The Fed has been emphasizing inflation fears for a couple of weeks, which has had a negative impact on mortgage markets, so the good news on inflation was a relief to many investors.  The Fed is generally considered to be comfortable with Core CPI readings below 2.5%.

In the housing sector, this week’s news was mixed.  Against a consensus forecast of 940K, April Housing Starts rose 8% to an annual rate of 1,032K units.  Building Permits, a leading indicator of housing market activity, rose 5%, the first increase in in five months.  The construction of single family homes remained weak, however. The strength in the Housing Starts report came from new apartment construction, which is extremely volatile on a monthly basis.  Separately, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that median home prices fell 8% during the first quarter from the same period one year ago.  The chief economist of the NAR suggested that the data may be a little misleading, since a smaller percentage of high end homes were sold during the period due to the difficulty in obtaining jumbo mortgages.  In addition, the results varied in different parts of the country. 100 out of 149 metropolitan areas saw price declines during the first quarter.

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I have now been living in Chattanooga, Tennessee for almost 4 years, and my “Best Week Ever” is less than 30 days away.  Riverbend ‘08 is almost here.  For those of you who are reading about this festival for the first time you are certainly in for a great treat.  The festival began in 1981 on a small strip at Ross’s Landing and it has grown to a nine day event with over 100 performers on 6 stages.  In fact Andy attended the very first Riverbend festival.

This year’s three biggest headliners will be ZZ Top, The Black Crowes and America (who will perform with the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera).

The festival organizers have pretty much mastered this event.  You do not need to purchase individual tickets, instead you purchase a pin.  This pin gets you into the festival.  So, if you buy the pin today through June 5th at our local Favorite Markets the cost is $28 (a $9 savings).  Imagine all the entertainment you can gather up in an evening, for nine evenings, for only $28, talk about a bargain.

If you go, and you should, you will be amazed at how incredible the performances are.  From the headliners on the Coca Cola Main stage to the performers on the other 5 stages.  Last year we went and watched a Pink Floyd Cover Band play at one of the smaller stages.  It was standing room only.  We, and I say we because we were in the thick of it, were totally blown away by the performance and the crowds were huge.  This was the first time the festival had a cover band play and from the success I witnessed, they will be doing it again.  There is a great mix of performers throughout the week, from country, rock and everything in between. 

You have to visit the Riverbend ‘08 to see a full lineup of performers for this year. The fun begins Friday night June 6th through Saturday night June 14th.

Riverbend is a festival on the Tennessee River, they actually bring in a huge barge for the Main Stage that pulls up along the bank of the river in downtown.  The festival is a family friendly week of performance by national and local performers.  There are also local talent shows, clowns, and so much more.  Many people travel to Chattanooga for Riverbend, so if you live here and you’ve never been before, consider putting Riverbend 2008 on your schedule.

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Many times Buyers ask about the importance of a home inspection if they are getting an FHA or VA appraisal.  When the FHA or the VA is involved, the appraisal, in addition to establishing value, looks for certain standards in the home so that its loan can be insured (FHA) or guaranteed (VA) by the federal government.  These standards include several, but not all, of the same items covered by the home inspection.  Last year the FHA loosened their standards and we now rarely see any FHA concerns while the VA’s standards remains vigilant.

In either case it is essential to obtain a complete home inspection by a licensed home inspector.  While the FHA and VA appraisers are looking for certain things during the 15 to 20 minutes they spend in a home, a good home inspector will spend three to four hours (and sometimes even more) completing a thorough inspection of all the various home systems including the roof, attic, electrical, plumbing, most appliances, heat and air, foundation, crawl space, drainage, etc.  Home inspectors provide a detailed report of their concerns that a buyer can use to negotiate repairs with the seller.

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So an agent wants you to sign a Representation Agreement.  This binding agreement may not be something that you want to sign if you don’t know all of the benefits, facts about representation, and you are not yet comfortable with the agent that is asking you to sign it.

“How having a Representation Agreement” benefits you - 5 great reasons:

1.  Your have the loyalty (and the legal requirement) of your Realtor to put your best interests first.

2.  Your Realtor has systems in place to make sure you and he/she are up to date on a regular basis with all of the homes that come on the market with your criteria, so when your perfect home comes along, you are one of the first to know about it!

3.  It educates you on the home buying process, and gives you all of the information available for you to make an educated decision on what home is right for you.

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