There is no better way to streamline your home buying process than to know what you are looking for before you start walking through doors.  Even before you start browsing Smoky Mountain MLS listings and doing drive-bys you can save a lot of time and energy by sitting down and discussing what exactly it is that you are looking for in a Smoky Mountain home.
Just to set the record straight from the beginning, the only way you will find a home that is exactly what you are looking for is to have a home custom built.  If you are shopping existing homes in Tennessee, you need to be flexible and know in what areas you are willing to be the most flexible.  There are thousands of great Smoky Mountain homes in Tennessee and there is sure to be at least one that will meet very closely to your criteria.
The very first step when you are looking at homes for sale is to know what price range is right for you.  Contact several lenders to get pre-qualified for a loan.  Knowing your spending limits is quickly going to change your Smoky Mountain MLS search.  You should always get pre-qualified or a loan pre-approval first so that you do not overspend on your future property.  Buying a house isn’t about what you think you can afford, it is about what the lender feels you can pay. 
Once you know for sure you that you are interested in existing Smoky Mountain homes and you know your financial limitations, if any, you are ready to start ironing out the finer details of finding the perfect home.  Here are some important questions to answer when you are ready to start shopping. 
*What type of house are you looking for? Cabin, duplex or single family? Townhouse or condo? 
*How old or new do you picture your house to be?
*How much square footage is too much or too little?
*What about location? Rural, residential, suburban or in town?
*How much yard are you willing to care for? What lot size would be ideal?
*Is there a particular school district or community that you are most interested in?
*What outdoor amenities are you looking for? A pool, garage, shop or just a carport?
*Do you need a fenced yard, mature trees or room for a garden?
*How many bedrooms and bathrooms does your family need?
*Do you want an attic or basement?
*Are you interested in extra features like a fireplace, office, and security system or laundry room?
Asking yourself questions of this nature will make your tours of Smoky Mountain homes for sale more worthwhile and your home search that much easier.  Providing your experienced Realtor this information will make the hunt for your future home that much easier as well and in no time you will find that almost perfect home in Tennessee. 

When we live in a house for years and years, we grow attached to its quirks and find beauty in even its most modest corners.  This is especially true when raising a family is part of a home’s history.  It is all this emotional attachment that can make a home sale an emotional roller coaster.  The scariest hills on that coaster are usually realized at the negotiation table.  This is when knowing the rules of negotiation can make your Smoky Mountain home sale less of a fighting match and more of the exciting life change it truly can be.

The underlying element in all successful negotiations is trust.  You need to trust yourself, trust your real estate agent and trust the buyer.  The best way to establish trust is through full disclosure and an overall attitude of goodwill.  Having your best interests in mind won’t likely be a problem, but considering the best interests of the buyer will make for a far more considerate negotiation as well.  Follow the basic rules of engagement by asking questions and more importantly, listening to answers and be willing to put the buyers at ease.

Negotiations are not a game.  This isn’t a tennis match of back and forth, offer and counteroffer over and over.  If you make your Smoky Mountain home sale a competition, you run the risk of losing.  One easy rule to follow is to not let negotiations go too many rounds.  The first round of negotiations will likely iron out the contract specifics and a second may iron out money matters, but don’t go beyond a third negotiation as things will likely get personal and take a turn for the worse. 

Likewise, don’t push for the buyers to give concessions.  It would be unfair to assume that you will get or deserve everything you are asking for and the buyer is in the same position.  If you go into negotiations willing to meet in the middle, you are going to come out with a quicker and effortless home sale.  Staying focused on the goal, the goal being actually selling your Smoky Mountain house, the little things are going to be less irritating and your good energy will be rewarded.

No doubt there will be rough patches in every negotiation.  It would be foolish to believe that all parties are going to agree on everything.  If you find yourself hitting a point of discord with the buyer and emotions appear to be escalating, take a break from this one issue and work through the others.  As you move through the bigger issues, other problems have a way of working themselves out.  It is totally possible too that a bit of persistence on an issue is better received after all other issues are resolved. 

At the end of the day, don’t make any verbal agreements, get everything in writing and keep your game face on.  Don’t let on that you just got the best offer on your Smoky Mountain home sale; treat even the best offer with the same vigor of your worst offer.  Most of all don’t get overly excited about the best offers until you are at the closing table ready to sign papers. 

When it comes to marketing your home, it is important to be objective.  The way you look at your house is going to be very different from the feelings a potential buyer will have about the property.  Making a sale in today’s market can be tough. Competition is pretty fierce and sellers and their real estate agent need to have a few tricks up their sleeves to turn a property into a hot commodity. 
Every home is unique in some way and it is your job to showcase just what makes your home stand out in the sea of available properties buyers are looking through.  On that same note though, that selling point should be something structural or architectural not a decorating feature.  Point being, even if you love dragonflies and have them in every nook and cranny of your house, the buyers may not be quite as fond of this fancy winged creature.  Instead open up hard wood floors and high ceilings.  Make every effort to look at your home from a buyer’s perspective and go for a clean slate with just a hint of personality to make the sale.
You won’t be able to sell your home, if you don’t get buyers in the door.  Make accessing your Smoky Mountain home for sale overly easy by providing easy access for showings.  Declutter your house in advance so that even the spur of the moment showing gets the best presentation of your home for sale.  Remember also that something as simple as making sure parking spaces are available out front of the property, can win over an eager buyer. 
While you are making your home accessible to buyers, you don’t want to hover as they examine your Smoky Mountain home for sale.  Buyers naturally have to be critical on their walk through of a property.  This is for many a huge purchase and giving them the freedom to explore and speak freely with their agent about their thoughts on a property will actually make the whole experience more positive overall. 
The other secret to getting quality face time with buyers is to market your Smoky Mountain home for sale in as many ways as possible.  Today, most people start their home shopping online and your real estate agent should have a marketing plan that includes maximum online and offline exposure.  From virtual photo tours for multiple real estate websites to an exquisitely written property description, the marketing plan of your real estate agent can really make a difference in the time your home spends on the market. 
Finally, pricing is everything in today’s buyers market.  While in years past you were likely competing with other traditionally marketed homes, today’s home sales are up against a large number of foreclosures, short sales and REO properties.  Make sure you are pricing accordingly and use your realtor’s comparative market analysis to your advantage.  It never hurts to get a home inspection prior to putting your home on the market as well and make whatever repairs you can so the buyer has fewer chips to bring to the bargaining table. 
Following the lead of a great real estate agent, it is possible to make a home sale happen.  Make your property a hot ticket item and get buyer’s through the door!



There are often misconceptions about the value of a home inspection.  Today many sellers are getting home inspections completed before putting their home on the market.  Buyers however should still get their own home inspections completed too.  Seem like everyone is forking out big money to get a home inspected? It is the best way to play it safe when buying or selling.
Regardless of whether you are buying a new construction property or a rustic classic, every house should get an inspection before any contracts are signed.  Most real estate agents have established relationships with home inspectors, but this does not mean that you have to use an inspector that your agent suggests.  You can find lists of certified inspectors from The National Association of Home Inspectors or the American Society of Home Inspectors.
One factor that many buyers and sellers for that matter don’t understand about home inspections is that the inspection is for your eyes only.  The information revealed in an inspection does not and, in many cases, should not be disclosed to the mortgage company or even between buyers and sellers or either of their agents.  This is true except in an instance when you will be using an issue discovered during inspection to leverage price negotiations on a property.  You will sign an agreement with your home inspector and they can not disclose any information about the inspection to the sellers or real estate agents without your permission.
Wondering what exactly an inspector will do during the inspection process? Well, if you home inspector is in and out in 20 minutes, it’s not likely that they did a proper inspection.    A quality home inspection will run between an hour and three hours depending on the size of the property that is being inspected.  Inspectors will walk on the roof, access the attic, crawl spaces and basements, open electrical and furnace panels, check switches, outlets and appliances that are part of the purchase, check water pressure and plumbing issues, chimneys and flues, as well as doing a visual inspection of interior and exterior walls, doors, ceiling and floors.  This is not a complete list of inspection points, but each certified home inspector will work from their own list and be aware of issues common to certain locations like soil drainage and flooding problems.
At the end of the inspection, your hired home inspector will sit down with you and go over his or her report and, in many cases, an experienced home inspectorwill provide estimates on the cost of repairs.  These estimates should be backed up by an evaluation from a licensed contractor before being used in negotiations.  Once you have your home inspection in hand, you are ready to make an offer and start the negotiation process.  Home inspections are an invaluable tool for protecting your return on investment.