Filling the Gaps Downtown

One of the greatest things about the redevelopment and new construction happening around downtown is how Nashville is becoming less segmented. Many of the 'margins' between very distinct areas are getting harder to find.

For example, do you remember just a few years back when Demonbrean Street by Music Row was lined with vacant buildings? Now the street is lined with trendy restaurants and boutiques and a new Condo/Retail tower, Rhythm on Music Row, is coming soon. The street itself has also improved as a new bridge over I-40 connects the area to SoBro where the Schermerhorn Symphony Center and the Frist Center are located.

Speaking of SoBro, I found this really cool interactive graphic from the Tennessean depicting many the developments south of Broadway. It's a little outdated, but a great way to explore the area.

Downtown, just inside I-40, is a quickly developing area dubbed the "Gulch". Not long ago this was a dark area known for its 'seedy' businesses. Now the area has been transformed as several high-rise condo towers are planned and currently under construction. It's become one of the hottest neighborhoods in town.

On the other side of downtown, two new bridges have come along in the past few years connecting Sobro to LP Field and East Nashville with easy access to I-24. Hopefully coming soon, the ambitious Riverfront redevelopment will further join downtown with greenways and river recreation. The 5th and Main condominiums are also helping to fill some of the 'gaps' between downtown and East Nashville.

-Peter

www.NashvilleCityHomes.com
REALTOR. City Home Specialist.

Custom Home Costs in Nashville

Having your very own custom dream home built is the dream of many homeowners. It's an exciting venture and one that can be quite complex and difficult at times.

If you're considering it, the first question you should probably ask yourself is, "How much can we afford to spend?"

That's an important question to ask and have answered before you do too much dreaming about a 5 car garage and an Olympic-sized pool at your new home.

I have some clients are at this stage of the game so I called one of Nashville's top builders, Nashville Construction Company, and asked Sam Burgess about it.

Sam gave me some good 'rules of thumb' to at least help us have a ballpark idea of what the home might cost to build. First, he said that generally the home value comes out to about 4.5 times the value of the lot. That means that if you're looking at a $100,000 lot, then you'd probably expect to spend around $450,000 building a home on it.

That's somewhat helpful, but in my client's situation the lots aren't so expensive, but the neighborhood rules require that any home that is built must be 4000-8000 square feet. This size of home will cost more than $450k to be sure.

That's when Sam mentioned that we should expect to spend $175-185 per square foot for a custom home. This would include the upscale finishes, etc. that you'd expect in a custom home. Sometimes you can 'cheat' a little by having a portion of the home that is left unfinished like a basement or a bonus room. That way you can afford a larger home and finish that space off later when you've got the cash.

As I mentioned, this is just the very beginning of what can be a complex project. However, if you have realistic expectations on the front end, you will save yourself a lot of grief along the way!

If you're weighing the options and considering a custom built home, please give me a call.

-Peter

www.NashvilleCityHomes.com
REALTOR. City Home Specialist.

NY Mag Highlights 12th South,East Nashville

New York Magazine released a article recently highlighting travel tips for 'escaping' to Nashville for a weekend. Several of our downtown businesses were highlighted, and rightly so!

Top O' Woodland, a Queen Anne Victorian built around 1904, was mentioned as a "bed-and-breakfast ideally located in the once bedraggled, now hippified district of East Nashville". Check out the Top O' Woodland website for more history on the home and the surrounding area we know as Lockeland Springs.

Also in East Nashville, Margot Café , Marché Artisan Foods, Family Wash, Cantrell’s Bar-B-Que Pit and Dee's Q were all mentioned as places you don't want to miss.

Some places in 12th South neighborhood made the article. If you're a musician, you know about Corner Music and the drummer hangout, Fork’s Drum Closet. They also mentioned one of my favorite places to get coffee, Portland Brew.

Anyway, click here to read the NY Magazine article and see what else they picked.

-Peter

www.NashvilleCityHomes.com
REALTOR. City Home Specialist.

Wireless Hotspots in Nashville

Ever wonder where all the wireless hotspots in Nashville are? I came across this neat website today with a map showing where to go. It does seem to be missing a few, but still might be a great tool for you if you're looking for a new place to check email and get out of the house!

I guess I'm going to have to start having business meetings at Krystal.... (just kidding)

-Peter

P.S. My son, who is not yet 3 years old, is currently surfing the Sesame Street website looking for Big Bird. Unbelieveable!

www.NashvilleCityHomes.com
REALTOR. City Home Specialist

Keep Everything on the Table (and Avoid Jail)

It's not unusual in a real estate transaction to have the Sellers contribute toward the Buyer's closing costs. Buyers that are short on cash, but have the credit to get a mortgage often ask for this to help cover their out-of-pocket expenses. This is all fine and acceptable as long as it's DISCLOSED to all parties and APPROVED by the lender.

This means that all the transfers of monies related to a specific real estate transaction are listed on the HUD settlement statement at closing. This disclosure is important, mainly because the lender wants to make sure that the money being borrowed is actually paying for the property that secures the loan and not going to the buyer as cash under the table at closing.

Here's a real life example: I know of a situation where a lender (off the record, of course) told a buyer that in order to get some extra cash that she needed for repairs she could raise the sales price and then ask the seller to cut a personal check back to her outside of closing. At first, this may sound like a great idea, right? Why not? The seller gets their money, the buyer gets the house, the lender closes the deal. Here's why: IT'S FRAUD.

Mortgage fraud, actually, which makes it extremely odd that the lender would even suggest it 'off the record'. Lenders usually have a cap on how much can be contributed by the Seller- typically 3-4% of the sales price. If the buyer needs more cash for repairs, they can get a second home equity loan or get a second job, but they can't get it from the Seller outside of closing.

Cash-Back Schemes: The buyer and seller collude to deceive the lender as to the true sale price of a property. The seller gives the buyer a cash rebate which is not disclosed to the lender. As a result the lender lends too much, and the buyer and seller pocket the overage. This scheme usually requires appraisal fraud to deceive the lender. "Get Rich Quick" real-estate gurus' courses frequently rely heavily on this mechanism for profitability. (From Wikipedia)

Mortgage fraud is a federal crime and penalties can be quite severe. For me, I prefer to stay out of jail so don't call me if you're planning to try it!

Click here for a great article about if from Bankrate.com.

-Peter

www.NashvilleCityHomes.com
REALTOR. City Home Specialist.

Pictures of Nashville Developments.

I love to browse renderings of the developments going on around Nashville. This morning I found a great message board at Urban Planet with most of them listed in one place. Some of these are complete, but many are still underway or will be soon underway.

Put on your seatbelts because changes are happening in Nashville! Here are some links to the renderings:

1811 18th Ave.
Art Avenue Lofts
Belmont University College of Heath Sciences Building
Belmont University Thrailkill Hall
Bristol West End
Metro Civic Square and Parking Structure
Demonbreun Street Bridge
Rolling Mill Hill
Shermerhorn Symphony Center
The Adelicia Condos
The Encore
The Icon
The Midtown Lofts
The Viridian
The West End
Vanderbilt Commons Dining Hall
Vanderbilt Commons Freshman Dorms
Werthan Mills
Vanderbilt UMC Imaging Science Building
Vanderbilt UMC Langford Light Hall
Summer St. Lofts
Suntrust Building
MTA Transit center
The Meridian
The West End Summit I & II
The Signature Tower
Sounds Baseball Stadium
5th and Main
The Woodmont & Kenner
The Belle Meade Theater
The Terrazzo
Cumberland Yacht Harbor
East Bank Arts Project

Any questions about these? Looking for a condo downtown? Give me a call!

-Peter

www.NashvilleCityHomes.com
REALTOR. City Home Specialist.

Looking North on I-65

Last weekend we took a couple days to visit my family in Indiana. On the way home I was checking out some of Nashville's 'competition' in Indianapolis and Louisville. Of course, I'm a little biased about our fine city, but I was curious to know if these other large cities were seeing the same sort of massive demand for downtown living as we're having here in Nashville.

My first impression on my quick drive through the cities is that I didn't notice near as many super-sized cranes and building projects as we have in Nashville. I didn't want to be quick to judge so I did a little research to see what I could dig up.

Louisville has some incredible things happening downtown. Most impressive to me is this Museum Plaza development (see picture). Wow! That is one amazing structure. Inside will be a little of everything including apartments, condos, retail, office space and, of course, a contemporary arts museum. There are lot of other projects going on as well in this city famous for sluggers and the riverfront. Here's a great article with more from the City of Louisville.

Growing up in Indiana, I know that Indianapolis has seen a lot of movement downtown. A few years back the Circle Centre Mall opened as well as the highly rated Conseco Fieldhouse, home of the Pacers. It was a little more difficult to find a lot of new development here although there are proposals coming in for redeveloping the site where the demolished Market Square Arena once stood. The condo market is in high demand, however. Here's an info guide to Indianapolis condos.

Though these cities are also seeing a rise in demand for downtown living, Nashville definitely seems unique in the amount of projects that are currently underway. Read more about Nashville's downtown developments here.

-Peter

www.NashvilleCityHomes.com
REALTOR. City Home Specialist.

The Ripple Effect and Gallatin Road

Many of my East Nashville home buyers have told me that they're not interested in "anything west of Gallatin Road". However, as the demand continues for homes in East Nashville, many neighborhoods surrounding the hot Lockeland Springs or Historic Edgefield areas are experiencing the ripple effect. Places west of Gallatin Road such as Renraw, East Hill, Cleveland Park and Maxwell Heights are seeing more demand and more homes being renovated.

As an example, let's take a closer look at Maxwell Heights. I just posted a CITY NEWS article about some of the happenings in this neighborhood. From the new street signs to the new West Eastland condo development to the numerous homes that are being renovated, it feels like the entire area is getting a facelift. Driving through the other day, I could feel the excitement. (I know I'm a little strange!) Click here for an interesting article with more pictures from the Tennessean.


I've always loved seeing neglected buildings and historical neighborhoods given a new life. I'm excited to see what's ahead for these neighborhoods that contain so many incredible historic homes and wonderful people.

-Peter

www.NashvilleCityHomes.com
REALTOR. City Home Specialist.