Nashville real estate - Did you know that your IRA and 401k can hold real estate that used as rental property? I work with an attourney who uses the IRS tax codes to help individuals acquire real estate investments for retirement. If you are like me, and have had enough of the Corporate CEO's, and the federal government wiping out your stocks, then maybe this is a safer way to invest. Most people have no dea how much the federal government taxes corporations, but it's a big concern if you are an investor. The tructh is that you investments get taxed many times over if you invest in the stock or bond market. The companies themselves are usually taxed at the Federal and State level, and then any money left over thats distributed to the stockholders gets taxes again. In some cases the taxe... 04/14/2009

Nashville's best restaurants according to nashville lifestyle magazine are as follows. Boxwood Bistro - 230 Franklin rd, Franklin tn J. Alexanders - 2609 west end and in Cool Springs Germantown Cafe - 1200 Fifth ave. n Calypso Cafe - 2424 Elliston Place Baja Burrito - 722 Thompsons lane Rotiers - 2413 Elliston Place Nashville's Best Deli Noshville - 1918 Broadway and in Cool Springs Jason Deli - 2028 West end ave Mitchell's Deli - 1402 mcgavock pike Best Business Lunch The Palm - 140 fifth ave. s. J. Alexanders - Cool Springs and 2609 West end ave Bricktops - 3000 West End ave. Best Burgers Rotiers - 2413 Elliston Place Fat Mo's - 351 White Bridge rd Five guys Famous Burgers - 2020 West End ave Best Pizza Mafiaoza's - 2400 12th ave. s. Pizza Perfect - 1602 21st ave s Mellow Mushroom - ... 04/14/2009

First ... The tornadoes hit the SouthEast pretty hard yesterday. Thankfully we fared well here in Nashville even though we did spend a little time in our interior hall closet . . . some quality family time in close quarters . . . and we decided to add a storm shelter to our home renovation plans. We are in the middle of Nashville . . . those folks to the South and North of the city were less fortunate as you have likely seen on the news. 2 deaths and relatively few serious injuries . . . 250ish seriously damaged homes - all in JUST one city (Murfreesboro) to the SouthEast . . . Things could have been MUCH worse. Lord knows, we ALL take cover when those Tornado sirens sound off in our neighborhood. I find myself looking for more genuine relationships as I wander through my days of naviga... 04/11/2009

Villages of Brentwood Sales of Homes in Nashville TN - First Quarter 2009 Market Report   The Villages of Brentwood are on tract to equal 2008 sales. There were 2 sales in the first quarter of 2008 and again in 2009. There is currently one pending. Because the prices typically range from the $120s to the $230s it's not possible to see a trend in where the prices are going this year. With only 2 sales the numbers could be anywhere. There are 11 homes on the market. This is a great number for this neighborhood. Over half of the sales here are first time homebuyers. With the economic stimulus of an $8000 tax credit, you can see while we're expecting the sales in this neighborhood to be strong all year. Nashville TN Homes 2009 First Quarter Market Report   Search for Homes in Nashville TN C... 04/10/2009

I woke up this morning thinking that things would be quiet. Of course, I am aware that not all people "participate" in Good Friday - It's not a National Holiday, so Fed-ex and UPS, Postal service banks etc are mostly operating albeit at @ 1/2 capacity as many folks have taken this opportunity to stretch the Easter Week-end. Myself - undieingly committed to maintaining the Lead Generation ritual with our associates journeyed to the office to lead our daily SPRINTS Power Hour session . . . and doggonit, the Stickam was down for maintenance . . . and I have no back-up plan, so @ 1/2 our usual participants were not able to "Be in the room" with us. The session went well - More exploration into the science of working with Sellers to get pricing of houses in alignment with the market and Buye... 04/10/2009

I had an interesting conversation with a good friend a few days ago.  She has been renting a condo from a mutual friend.  Her plan is to find a bigger place to rent, get a roommate and save some money to buy her own home.  I followed her thought process and wanted to do whatever I could to help her.  There are lots of online resources for rentals in the Middle Tennessee area but she couldn't find the right place that would give her the space she needs, allow her to stay near her job and keep her daughter in a certain school.   She wanted me to look at houses that are available for sale and see if there were remarks in the listing that indicate the owners would consider renting the home.  After scouring the Nashville Area MLS, I came to a few conclusions.  Most home owners with their hom... 04/09/2009

I've received lots of questions recently about the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit from friends and clients.  I wanted to have an easy way to look at the basic information and I found this chart from the National Association of Realtors.  It compares the tax credit for home purchases from January 2009 through November 2009 with those offered for purchases during most of 2008. If you'd like more information about this First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit visit these government links for Tax Credit General Information and Tax Credit Frequently Asked Questions.  It's also a good idea to consult with your tax accountant or CPA to verify if you qualify for the tax credit.  Are you looking for an affordable first home?  Need someone to guide you through the home buying process? Visit www.Tiffany... 04/09/2009

Here's what the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors just sent out to let us know about March Home Sales... ...which reminds me, I need to get on my market reports!!! There were 1,521 home closings reported in March, down 31.7 percent from the 2,227 closings during March last year. First quarter numbers are also down from last year, with 3,672 closings in the first quarter of 2009 compared to 5,763 in 2008.     The median price for residential was $158,000, with $155,704 for condominiums. That compares with $178,388 and $160,573 respectively in March of last year. There were 1,731 sales pending at the end of the month.  Single-family homes spent an average of 89 days on the market. Inventory was up slightly at the end of March at 23,886, compared to 23,730 last year. Click HERE to ... 04/09/2009

After many sessions missed I am present for Larry Brewer's bloging class. This is why Keller Williams is light years in front of the competition when one of your own agents teaches all the other agents the secrets that make them successful.  Larry Brewer is the #1 featured agent on Active Rain after one year of hard work and several mistakes and lesson learned.  This is another reason why the Franklin, TN Market Center (#359) is on the quest to become the #1 real estate company in the Southeast. Thank you Larry for all the tips that you have given me to make my business a success! Cheers, Ross 04/09/2009

Ho-Hum Ready, willing, and well qualified Buyer meets motivated seller. Found the perfect house . . . Negotiated a great deal . . . Had the home inspection with only minor repairs indicated . . . Termite inspection was clear . . . Appraiser does his thing - WHEW! Comes in $500 over the Purchase price . . .  All paperwork goes to title company . . . Title search is clean . . . 10 days into the deal and virtually EVERYTHING is DONE . . . We've all got nothing left to do but show up at closing in 3 weeks. Relax! After all, 3 weeks is PLENTY of time for the lender to complete the loan, Right? 10 days before closing, we begin our normal pre-close calling. Everyone's still ready to roll the Loan Originator says: "I checked on-line, and the loan seems to be on track . . . It's still in underwr... 04/08/2009

"Span of Control" is a phrase I first learned in college in a Management class. When I first heard and understood the phrase, I instantly felt a wash of relief . . . It seemed to take some of the burden away from the Manager just out of the acknowledgment that a single person can only maintain direct "control" over a relatively small number of people at any given time. The challenge becomes . . . How to scale the operation up to numbers beyond this direct span of control without losing all semblance of control. There are 2 issues . . . and one solution . . . Issue 1) How many people can a Manager actually "control"? Can some Managers "Control" more people than others. Issue 2) How actually CAN a Manager "CONTROL" other people? What in this world can you REALLY control? The Solution: LEA... 04/07/2009

The only certainty is change. I like change. It keeps my brain active . . . Keeps us all moving and fluid. These days, you've gotta keep your finger on the pulse of what's going on or you're gonna goof. For several years, there was change in a different way than today - Seemed like things were changing for the better darned near every day. Most REALTORS could literally sleep through the news and sell houses . . .  Today's environment is morphing and transforming every day. This brings a vision in my mind of a volcanic cauldron - Hot and potentially explosive. Up until VERY recently, we could write just about any deal with a high certainty that it could close in 2-3 weeks as long as there were no anomalous occurrences. As long as the Buyers were prequalified and the property was priced w... 04/07/2009

Are y'all havin' fun yet? I had a series of interesting "events" happen today. It all began with our SPRINTS session when . . . HORRORS! There was NO Keller Williams Power Hour Video to watch. OMG! How could we POSSIBLY start the day without our "fix"? With a room full of people and several people watching us @ www.stickam.com/barryowen I quickly launched KWConnect and asked someone to toss out a topic of interest. "Creating Buyer Urgency" came out of Scott's mouth almost immediately resulting in us watching a fabulous video of Gary Keller and Dave Jenks giving us plenty of food for thought and discussion . . . and the discussion was VERY rich. I captured the whole thing on video and then lost the video - bummer! Where we went with this topic was to create a list of as many Buyer Object... 04/06/2009

Nashville - One of our local TV stations did a report of the Police protective fund, and not surprising to me, it seems to be a fund charity that keeps most of the money themselves. They have a local Nashville number, to use for soliciting, but the calls are actually made out of Florida. The Fund is supposed to help the families of Policemen who were killed in the line of duty. Many Nashville families have been contacted by this charity for donations, but when they reached one of the families of a fallen officer by mistake, and asked for money, the cat was out of the bag. The family wanted to know where the money was going if none was coming to them. The next call went to the local TV station, and information about this organization is now available for the general public. The have rece... 04/06/2009

Interesting article in the City Paper today about the rise of the EcoBroker in Tennessee. Although growth of "green" educated Realtors has been slow, it now seems to be really taking off. Hopefully, we will continue to see growth in the number of Realtors who are educated and qualified to help consumer purchase and sell green homes. We certainly need more educated Realtors who understand the value of green construction and can relay that value to consumers. Click here to read the article. 04/06/2009

I know there's probably nobody out there who needs to read this . . . :-) After all, it's a happy-go-lucky world and all is well . . .RIGHT? REALLY! It IS! Of course for it to be so for you, you've gotta drink the cool-aid. Wherever you go - There your are! "Cogito, ergo sum" (English: "I think, therefore I am") . . . used by René Descartes, which became a foundational element of Western philosophy. The simple meaning of the phrase is that if someone is wondering whether or not he exists, that is in and of itself proof that he does exist (because, at the very least, there is an "I" who is doing the thinking). It's all good! Sh_t Happens! Get over it! Let it go! What comes around, goes around! Karma will even the score. Don't sweat the small stuff! It ain't nothin' but a thing! Bless you... 04/05/2009

Nashville real estate - Working with buyers right now is almost as tough as working with sellers. The buyers have been told that houses are being sold for huge discounts, and the inventory is so massive, that they can find anything they could ever want and make crazy offers that will be accepted. When they come to Franklin and Brentwood to try this out they find out that the national news media has not exactly told the whole truth. In some parts of Florida right now houses are being sold for 50 percent of what they would bring two years ago. THe same thing is happening in California. But in Franklin, you may get lucky and find a home that needs a little work, and an owner or bank who can no longer wait. In those cases, the prices are at best 20 percent off of the peak price of 2006. And... 04/05/2009

Have you ever seen those folks that can bend, twist and contort their bodies in to positions that many of us can only fantasize doing in our wildest dreams? Man, I am doing to touch my toes. When I see folks do things like that, it kinda makes me want to wolf down another Twinke and chase it with a pitcher full of Half & Half - (helps relieve the guilt trip ya know). And, being flexible can certainly be an asset when it come to our day-to-day activities especially when our day goes to you-know-where in a hand basket! It certainly helps to keep your plumbing system from getting all upset. Speaking of plumbing... While inspecting a property in the urban area of Nashville, TN I ran across this situation where the home owner decided to be flexible when it came to installing the under sink ... 04/03/2009

A Series for the First Time Homebuyer, Nashville Style!  STEP FOUR:  MAKING AN OFFER! So you have decided that you want to take advantage of the First Time Home Buyer's $8000 Tax Credit?!!  This may be a great idea for you because in Middle Tennessee, you have got LOTS of homes to choose from!  Your dream of homeownership may soon become reality!   If you have never bought a home before (believe it or not, a "first time home buyer" just means that you have not owned a home in the past three years), the idea of it might be a little bit daunting.  This series that I am putting together strives to help clarify the steps that will lead you into your new front door! _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ STEP ONE of this series d... 04/03/2009

Just take a wander on over to my stickam site - www.stickam.com/barryowen and mosey on down to the bottom of the page to the videos . . . and click the one "April 2 09 - Price Reduction" and there you will find about a 30 minute video shot this morning in our training room using a $40 camera and the Stickam program. OK OK . . . Yes, the video quality is VERY poor (HEY! It's a $40 Camera) . . . and the audio is even worse, so you've gotta crank your speakers up to hear what's happening. But LISTEN to this . . . It's worth the effort, and I promise to work on the quality of the feed in the future. We do this EVERY morning at 8:30 AM CST and end sharply at 9:00 to send everyone to their "private places" to do their lead generation calls. Every morning, I stream these sessions LIVE through ... 04/02/2009