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October 2008

13 -- Columbus Day
13 -- U.S. Navy Day
14 -- Full Moon Day
31 -- Halloween

October-Fall Is Here!

The air is getting cooler and the leaves are beginning to make their transition to beautiful works of art painted on our East Tennessee canvas.  As the seasons change and life moves forward our government is wading through the details of this "bail out" and we hope to see results quickly.    Yes, economics play a huge part in the real estate market and now more than ever, it is important to have the right professionals to help you achieve your real estate goals.  Houses are still selling in Knoxville Tennessee!  We are very fortunate that Knoxville is such a wonderful place to live, inventory is plentiful and prices are reasonable. This is no secret!  People are moving to the area and within the area. We have seven closings scheduled in October and four already pending for November.  We are achieving the goals of our clients.  This market does require proper planning and hard work on the part of your real estate agent.  The days of popping a sign up in the yard, entering the MLS and receiving an immediate offer are OVER.  We listen to find out what your goals are and develope a customized marketing plan to achieve them.  We use our detailed data base of buyers and sellers to make "off market" matches.  We show our buyers homes that no one else will show them because many of them aren't even "officially listed"!  If you are a buyer in search of your dream home...let us know.  If you are a potential seller still in the planning phases....we want to help.  Our list of seller haves and buyer wants has achieved two sales this month alone.  Below we have some fabulous West Knoxville listings, some are new and some have noticeable price reductions!   Please call us if you or someone you know may be interested in these properties.  As always, thank you for your continued support of our family business. 

VALUE and LOCATION-click on the for sale sign to visit these properties

1701 Cove Creek Lane-Riverbend  *Basement/Ranch  *4 bedrooms, 3 full baths*3538 square feet*  County taxes only, Sequoyah Hills Elementary-Offered at $334,000

GETTYSVUE WITH A VIEW

ENJOY FULL COVERAGE OF GETTYSVUE COUNTRY CLUB'S 16TH HOLE. THIS ELUSIVE PAR 3 CAN BE VIEWED BY ALL OF THE ENTERTAINING SPACES THIS LOVELY HOME OFFERS AS WELL AS FROM THE SECLUDED MAIN LEVEL MASTER SUITE. A GOURMET KITCHEN, PULL-UP BAR, EAT-IN BREAKFAST AREA, LARGE FAMILY ROOM WITH CATHEDRAL CEILINGS, FIREPLACE, CUSTOM BUILT-INS, OPENING ONTO EXPANSIVE DECK, AND A DINING ROOM WITH ATTACHED SERVING OR CARD ROOM THAT COMPLETE THE MAIN LEVEL. THE LOWER LEVEL OFFERS A LARGE DEN WITH A FIREPLACE AND COVERED PORCH, A 2ND RECREATION ROOM AND A FULL BATH COULD BE WELL SERVED AS 5TH BEDROOM. ALL BEDROOMS OFFER THEIR OWN PRIVATE BATHS. ALL OF THIS...LOCATED ON A WONDERFUL CUL-DE-SAC IN FABULOUS GETTYSVUE- OFFERED AT $830,000  CONTACT TOM FOR MORE INFORMATION 865-806-1886  CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO VIEW ADDITIONAL PICTURES AND INFORMATION ABOUT THIS PROPERTY. 
 

OLD WESTMORELAND

Wonderful Old Westmoreland

COMING THIS WEEK- KENESAW ESTATE

Perched on the top of a beautiful hill this stylishly  redone Kenesaw Estate is the best of all worlds with feature after feature.  From the moment you walk in you will love the high ceilings and open foyer, this is 7200 wonderful square feet in which to entertain, enjoy and have plenty of great family space.  The brand new kitchen offers fabulous space, Travertine floors, a mahogany island countertop, Quartz countertops, a pot filler, Dacor stainless double ovens, extra large Subzero refrigerator, warming drawer, and a Miele dishwasher...just for starters.  There are 5 bedrooms, and office/nursery, craft room or extra large dressing room.  There is an oversized bonus room and more storage than you can imagine.  SIX bathrooms, a sun porch, huge laundry and and oversized two car garage make this the perfect home for the family searching for space and modern convenience only two doors off of Cherokee Blvd. and all located under a brand new slate roof!  Offered at $1,395,000.  Now scheduling private showings, contact Debaran (865)660-4411. 

"I will have no man work for me who has not the capacity to become a partner."
-- James Cash Penney

Tight Mortgage Credit Curtails Sales Activity

According to a recent report from the National Association of Realtors®, existing-home sales were down in August following a healthy gain in July as tight mortgage credit curtailed activity.

Sales rose in the Midwest and South but fell in the Northeast and West. Nationally, existing-home sales -- including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops -- declined 2.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.91 million units in August from an upwardly revised pace of 5.02 million in July.

“The difficulty in obtaining a mortgage increased over the past couple months, making it more challenging for creditworthy borrowers to find financing,” said NAR President Richard F. Gaylord, adding the pendulum in the mortgage market has swung too far. “Our hope is that overly tight lending criteria can be loosened with reasonable standards and credit so that sales activity can catch up with demand. Interest rates have already declined, but there is a serious question as to whether a cash infusion by the U.S. Treasury into Wall Street would help consumers by improving mortgage funding.

“We urge Congress to restore access to sound mortgage credit so people have the ability to make and keep a long-term investment in the American dream of homeownership. Congress needs to take care of Main Street and not just bail out Wall Street.”

According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage rose to 6.48 percent in August from 6.43 percent in July; the rate was 6.57 percent in August 2007. However, as of late September, the 30-year fixed had dropped to 5.78 percent, the report said.

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The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.
-- Thomas Jefferson

More to Homework than Just the ABCs

The right amount of homework teaches children more than just reading, writing and mathematics -- it serves several constructive purposes:

• Practice -- Participating in learning tasks, such as homework, should improve your child's achievement. If they do the assignments correctly, they'll learn more, get better grades and master basic academic skills.
• Responsibility -- It teaches your child to work on their own, at their own pace. They learn to gather and organize necessary materials to complete the assignment and turn it in to receive a grade.
• Time Management -- Personal skills such as time management are learned by completing homework on time.
• Communication -- Homework helps keep parents informed about class activities, policies, and the child's education; it works as a bridge that joins schools and parents.
• Monitoring -- Homework gives parents the chance to check on their child's progress, and appreciate what they're learning. It also helps the parent know if the teacher is assigning too little or too much homework.
• Family Time -- Homework gives parents the opportunity to spend some quality time with their child and helps enhance the family relationship.

The amount of homework varies from school to school, but in general, there's little homework in the fist grade and increases thereafter. Some student take naturally to homework and enjoy it, while others need a little push. Following are are some helpful tips to help your child succeed without you having to nag them to do it:

• Be Consistent -- Set a specific time every day for schoolwork. Maybe give him an hour or two after school to run around and burn off some energy, knowing they'll be expected to have their homework done by dinner.
• Role Model -- Don’t watch television or be playing a game with another child when it's homework time. It's distracting. Set this time aside to read, pay bills, prepare dinner or perform some other errand.
• Work Space -- Make sure your child has a quiet, well-lit place to work. In addition, it will help if they have all the tools necessary to complete the assignment (paper, pencils, markers, etc.) so they can focus on the work, and not finding the tools. Be available to help out if necessary.

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What matters is not the idea a man holds, but the depth at which he holds it.
-- Ezra Pound

Understanding Loan Discount Points

The term "loan discount points" is somewhat misleading. First off, there's no discount involved. Secondly, it's not about points, it's about dollars.

Loan discount points are a one-time fee charged by the lender at closing in order to give you a lower interest rate on your loan. Each point is 1 percent of the mortgage amount; for example, one discount point on a $100,000 loan equals $1,000.

Each discount point paid on a 30-year loan typically lowers the interest rate by 0.125 percent. That means a 7.5 percent rate would be lowered to 7.375 percent if you purchase one point. Paying for points lowers your interest rate because the lender receives the income in a lump sum at closing rather than collecting the interest as you make payments.

Buying points to lower your interest rate is not always a good idea. While buying points is sometimes a good decision, many times the purchase costs you more than it saves. It's very important that you analyze the costs to figure out how many years you need to keep the loan to break-even on paying points. Sometimes it takes 10+ years to reach the break-even point. Do you plan to live there that long?

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Polished brass will pass upon more people than rough gold.
-- Lord Chesterfield

Clean Your Screens Before Winter Hits

Many home owners remove and clean their window screens before storing them for the winter. This can prolong the life of the screen, and -- if you clean the windows too -- will make your winter view crystal clear. Here are a few tips to make the task easier:

• Remove the screens from the window frame, following the manufacturer’s instructions. Be careful not to bend or damage the screen.
• Put the screens on a flat surface, such as the driveway or lawn, and wet the screens thoroughly with water.
• Dip a scrub brush into a solution of 3 parts water to 1 part ammonia and apply to the screen using a very light scrubbing motion. Be sure you don't scrub too hard or push the fabric which can stretch or cause damage to the screen.
• Lightly brush both sides of the screen using overlapping, rotating strokes. In addition, clean the interior and exterior of the frame.
• Rinse the screens thoroughly with fresh water (preferably lukewarm) to make sure all cleaning solution is removed.
• Shake or tap the screen gently against the ground to remove excess water. Let the screens dry naturally, or give a quick wipe with an absorbent towel to speed up the drying process.
• Never pressure wash screens because the force will likely damage them.
• Cover the screens in plastic and store in an out-of-the-way place in an upright or flat position.

By cleaning your screens in the fall, you'll appreciate looking through clean windows all winter, and you'll have clean, ready-to-install screens next spring.

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Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.
-- Twyla Tharp

4 Tips to Judging a Wine Before Tasting It

You're in a fancy restaurant. You order a "nice" bottle of wine you've never tasted before. How do you know if it has "gone bad" versus just "tastes bad"? Following are some pointers to help you determine that before you taste it:

1. Clarity -- Hold the glass towards the light; the wine should be clear. There may be some sediment, which is normal, and provides no indication of quality. Cloudy wine indicates possible bacteria spoilage, so you should return the wine without further inspection.
2. Color -- Wines that have aged too long or have been exposed to oxygen have tints of reddish-brown (for red wines) or amber-tawny (for white wines). These wines will taste flat or stale, so request another bottle.
3. Cork -- If the cork is cracked, brittle or penetrated by wine, the bottle has most likely gone bad. A small taste will quickly tell you the whole story.
4. Smell -- If the wine smells moldy, musty or dirty, the wine is likely corked (caused by the Trichloronisole). An odor of vinegar or sherry indicates a high level of volatile acidity and oxidation. And if the wine smells like rotten eggs, it has likely been subjected to excessive hydrogen sulfide and should be rejected. If the wine smells like burnt-matches when uncorked, this may be due to the sulphur dioxide which was added in the bottling process to keep the wine fresh. In this case, the smell should disappear after a few minutes and the wine should be just fine.

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Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride.
-- John F. Kennedy

5 Tips to Help You Stay in Shape at Work

Life is busy -- and if you work 40, 50, 60 hours a week -- it's not going to be easy to find time to exercise. But, with a little motivation and creativity, you'll be able to get some basics done while at work. Here's how:

1. Take advantage of your lunch hour. Pass by the cafeteria and skip the McDonalds drive through by packing a light lunch and going outside for a thirty-minute walk. You'll lose weight, clear your mind, and de-stress, all while getting some fresh air and exercise. Note that you should exercise first, eat lunch later.
2. Keep a small pair of hand weights in your desk drawer so you can do lateral raises and biceps curls a few times throughout the day; after all, it's good to take a break from your computer at least once an hour. This will help tone your upper body, help deter many computer-associated problems, and keep you pumped up.
3. Take advantage of every opportunity to get up from your desk and move around. Park at the far end of the parking lot, take the stairs to your office, run down the hall to make copies. Over the course of the day, these short sessions help keep you in shape.
4. Develop a series of stretching exercises you can do quickly and easily several times throughout the day. On one break you might lift weights; on the next you stretch.
5. This may be impractical for many, but if you have a health club nearby, go do a quick 30 minutes. Believe it or not, you could eat a small, health snack, workout, and shower and dress on your lunch hour if you really wanted to. The key is to plan properly and workout harder. On the days you plan to workout, make sure you've packed your gym bag with everything you'll need for the day, from a healthy packed lunch to shampoo and a towel. Several recent studies claim a 15-minute, high-intensity workout can have nearly the same effects as a 60-minute, low-intensity one.

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October Movie Releases

• Oct. 3
  • An American Carol
  • Beverly Hills Chihuahua
  • Flash of Genius
  • Blindness
  • How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
  • Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
• Oct. 10
  • Body of Lies
  • City of Ember
  • The Express
  • Quarantine
  • Ashes of Time Redux
  • Happy Go Lucky
• Oct. 17
• Max Payne
• Sex Drive
• W.
• Oct. 24
• High School Musical 3: Senior Year
• Saw V

Chicken Capellini Caprese

Ingredients - Serves 4

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts -- cubed
• 1/2 lb. capellini or angel hair pasta -- uncooked
• 1/2 cup Italian dressing (Tuscan or sun-dried tomato)
• 3 cups halved grape or cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup shredded low-moisture part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/3 cup fresh basil -- finely sliced
• 1 onion -- finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic -- minced
• 1 tbsp. olive oil

Directions

1. Cook pasta per instructions. Brown chicken cubes with a drop of olive oil in a separate pan.
2. Heat dressing in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic; cook and stir about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and chicken cubes; cook 5 min. or until heated through, stirring occasionally.
3. Drain pasta. Add to tomato mixture; mix lightly. Sprinkle with cheese and basil.

Wine Pairing

• Selva del Moro Chianti Classico 2005

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Tom & Debaran Hughes
1200 Forest Brook Road
Knoxville, TN 37919

This eNewsletter contains information, facts and opinions from various individuals and organizations. This eNewsletter is provided on an "as-is" basis without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. I/We are not responsible for any errors or omissions. Consult with your doctor, fitness consultant, attorney, accountant, or other professional advisor when necessary. © 2008 eNewsletterSolutions.