No WhiteWash!

WASHINGTON – The housing market is facing swelling ranks of homeowners who are seriously delinquent but have yet to lose their homes, and this is threatening a new wave of foreclosures that could hit just as the real estate market has begun to stabilize.

About 5 million to 7 million properties are potentially eligible for foreclosure but have not yet been repossessed and put up for sale. Some economists project it could take nearly three years before all these homes have been put on the market and purchased by new owners.

Read more via New wave of foreclosures threatens market – Washington Post- msnbc.com.

Since the City of Kingsport, Tennessee is buying up real estate, I have included a sample classified ad that could be used by the city.  You can see a list of properties that the city owns by clicking here.  Copy the following in bold, kingsport city of and paste into the Owner Name on the Real Estate Assessment Data form.

Hint:  If you are serious about selling property to the city, then it would be a good idea to become a political ally first with the City of Kingsport elected leaders.

Merriam-Webster – ally

Meaning: someone associated with another to give assistance or moral support <in trying to convince his parents to send him to soccer camp, Toby had a real ally in his coach>

Synonyms abettor (also abetter), backer, confederate, supporter, sympathizer

Related Words well-wisher; accessory, accomplice, collaborationist, collaborator; adjunct, assistant, coadjutor, helper; associate, cohort, colleague, fellow, partner; buddy, chum, companion, comrade, confidant, crony, familiar, friend, intimate, mate, pal

Famous Quotes from the Kingsport Board of Mayor and Aldermen

Mayor Dennis Phillips – ‘We need MeadowView to keep from reducing fire, police protection, and reducing trash pick-up to every two weeks.” October 21, 2008

Mayor Dennis Phillips –“We need to annex so we don’t have to raise taxes”  February 5, 2008

Alderman Munsey – “We need to do the MeadowView expansion to keep from raising taxes” September 15, 2008

Alderman Munsey – Debt is neither good or bad,”   June 3, 2008

Vice Mayor Mallicote – “I do not believe all of the doom and gloom about the economy”.  June 3, 2008

Mayor Dennis Phillips – “If the taxpayers wanted the city to cut the spending, then we could collect garbage every other week”  June 3, 2008

Mayor Dennis Phillips – “If there were no money to spend, then you would not need politicians”  October, 2007

How to Figure Your Property Tax Bill

Property taxes in Tennessee are calculated utilizing the following four components:

To figure the property tax bill, use the last column on the right as your tax rate to use in the above formula. In the table below, if you are going to live in Anderson County, then use the $2.82 tax rate in the above formula. Use the $3.54 if you are going to live in Clinton in Anderson County.

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen recently visited Switzerland, Germany and Poland, where he said he was working to attract investments for a West Tennessee megasite near Brownsville, TN.

It is amazing that a little city and county had the foresight to build a megasite and also was able to get the governor as their top salesman to pitch for them.  It appears that that the only thing that Sullivan County can get the governor to do is to plant flowers at the I-81 rest stop in Bristol, TN.

What are our local elected officials in North East Tennessee doing to bring jobs to Sullivan County, TN?  Maybe our local state elected officials should have spent less time trying to pass all of those gun bills and instead doing things to help the economy.

It is clear to me that the economic development efforts in Kingsport/Sullivan County is not working.  Its time for change and a new game plan.

Haywood County site certified as a Megasite

Brownsville, TN – Haywood County announced in July that a 1,700+-acre site in the county has been certified by McCallum Sweeney Consulting (MSC) of Greenville, S.C., as a “megasite,” or large industrial property suitable for a major automotive manufacturing facility or related industry.

The Haywood County site, known as the I-40 Advantage Auto Park, is located north of Interstate 40, 20 minutes east of the Memphis, Tennessee, suburbs. The site is easily accessible from Memphis, Bartlett, Collierville, Germantown, Jackson and other West Tennessee cities. The site is bounded on the north by U. S. Highway 70/79 and CSX Railroad and on the south by Interstate 40.

“Haywood County thanks the landowners and the many local, state and regional entities that have been part of our community’s diligent work for almost three years as we have strived toward this milestone goal of MSC megasite certification,” said Haywood County Mayor Franklin Smith. “The reality of this certification is that it will increase our potential to attract an industry with high-paying jobs to benefit current citizens and future generations.”

Based on its expertise as a site selection consultant for the automotive industry, MSC was commissioned by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) as an independent source to evaluate community submitted sites in TVA’s service area. MSC established stringent certification criteria and a detailed process to evaluate potential properties.

“Today’s companies, especially in the automotive industry, are under enormous pressures to make better site selection decisions,” said MSC Senior Principal Ed McCallum. “The certification of the I-40 Advantage Auto Park site in Haywood County is a great addition to the region’s catalog of sites that are ready to meet the stringent demands of an automotive assembly plant.”

The I-40 Advantage Auto Park site meets the MSC criteria required for certification, including land availability that has sufficient contiguous and developable acres, infrastructure, utilities, and labor capacity.

Brownsville, Haywood County is a Tennessee Three Star Community where industry, business, agriculture, education, and government work in harmony.

General Statistics for Brownsville-Haywood County

City/County Taxes
There is no state tax on real estate property in Tennessee. The following property tax rates per $100 of assessed value prevail in Brownsville-Haywood County:

City General Fund: $1.50

County General Fund: $2.39

Total – $3.89

Population

2000 Census – 19,797

2007 Projection – 22,500

Housing

Median Property Value – $85,000

Average Rent (House) – $500

Average Rent (Apartment) – $450

Households

2005 Estimate – 7,500

Cost of Living (Based on the U. S. Average – 100 percent)

Groceries – 97.1

Utilities – 87.4

Healthcare – 90.1

Housing – 96.1

Misc. – 98.1

Composite – 96.6

Sales Tax

State – 7.75%

Local – 2.00%

Total – 9.75%

The corporate owners of numerous Coldwell Banker real estate brokerage offices in southern Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island will pay $66,700 for violations of lead paint disclosure rules.

The two real estate corporations are NRT New England LLC and Coldwell Banker Real Estate Services, Inc., both doing business as Coldwell Banker Real Estate Brokerage.

EPA inspections and review of submitted information indicated that Coldwell Banker Real Estate Brokerage offices in North Haven and Fairfield, Conn.; Lincoln and Somerville, Mass.; Dover and Manchester, N.H.; and East Providence, R.I. together allegedly committed numerous violations of the Lead Disclosure Rule during multiple real estate transactions between 2005 and 2007. The companies have since certified that they are currently in full compliance with the Disclosure Rule.

Federal law requires that landlords and property owners or their agents disclose to prospective tenants or purchasers about the potential for lead paint hazards in residential properties built before 1978. Disclosure of potential lead hazards in housing to prospective tenants helps parents protect young children from lead poisoning.

Infants and young children are especially vulnerable to lead paint hazards, which can cause harmful effects to intelligence, reading and learning disabilities, impaired hearing, reduced attention span, hyperactivity and behavior problems. Women of child-bearing age with high lead levels can suffer difficulties during pregnancy. Adults with high levels of lead can experience high blood pressure, nerve disorders, memory problems and muscle and joint pain.

More information:
-Lead paint health hazards (epa.gov/ne/eco/ne_lead/index.html)
-Lead-based paint disclosure rule (epa.gov/ne/enforcement/leadpaint/index.html)

via Two Real Estate Firms Fined for Lead Paint Disclosure Violations in Four New England States.

WHEN it comes to selling your house or planning your next home equity line of credit, being a nosey neighbor could very well pay off.

Read more via Mortgages – Beware of Neighbor’s Home Foreclosure – NYTimes.com.

Despite efforts to crack down on risky lending practices, sketchy housing deals are making a comeback.

In the throes of the subprime meltdown, most mortgage lenders tightened lending standards, requiring borrowers to have credit scores of at least 700 and down payments often of 10% or more. But as the credit crunch takes a toll on consumers’ credit scores and cash positions, those questionable lending practices are beginning to pop up again.

“Since early this year…a new wave of people are finding ways to scam [home buyers],” says Dani Babb, founder of The Babb Group, which offers real estate consulting to consumers, and dean of business at Andrew Jackson University.

Read more via 5 Risky Real Estate Deals at SmartMoney.com.

Many folks have asked questions concerning the property taxes in Tennessee. Below is information on how to calculate your tax bill for the county/city that you live in. You can see the rates for the different areas by going to 2008 Tennessee Property Tax Rates. The 2009 property tax rates are not available so far from the state.

To figure the property tax bill, use the last column on the right as your tax rate to use in the above formula. In the table below, if you are going to live in Anderson County, then use the $2.82 tax rate in the above formula. Use the $3.54 if you are going to live in Clinton in Anderson County.

The real estate house prices in the Kingsport area appears to have stopped its rising trend.

Kingsport area had one of the largest 1st quarter 2009 house price decrease of all of the cities in United States that are listed in the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s House Price Index (HPI report.

Kingsport’s first quarter house prices were down –2.9 percent.  This gave Kingsport a rank of 288 out of 294 MSA’s ranked on the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s House Price Index (HPI report. There were six other MSA’s that had a lower 2009 first quarter than Kingsport and they are:

Much has been said about the housing values in the Kingsport area. It seem that Kingsport is not doing as well despite what the local politicians have stated.  While it is true that Kingsport did beat other Tennessee areas with its one year growth of 1.27 percent, but, one needs also to look at what has happened in the first quarter of 2009 and also look at the 5-year growth.

There are other areas of Tennessee that did not experience the loss that Kingsport had in the first quarter of 2009 and the other areas have an equal or better 5-year growth.

The table below show other Tennessee areas that are not ranked in the home price index report.

(Estimates above use all-transactions HPI which includes purchase and refinance mortgages)

**Note: Rankings based on annual percentage change, for all MSAs containing at least 15,000 transactions over the last 10 years.

The graph below shows the last nine quarters for the Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA MSA.

Data below is used for above graph.

++ 28700 Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, TN-VA Metropolitan Statistical Area
Principal Cities: Kingsport, TN; Bristol, TN; Bristol, VA
Hawkins County, TN; Sullivan County, TN; Scott County, VA; Washington County, VA; Bristol city, VA