Are you looking to buy a home here in Nashville with little or no money down?  There are 2 loans that allow people to borrow 100% of the purchase price, VA and USDA Rural.  Unfortunately, these loans are only available to a select few as you must be a veteran of the armed services or your property must be in an outlying area deemed rural by USDA.  In Tennessee however, the is another option available for cash strapped individuals. 

THDA Grant Money

The Tennessee Housing and Development Agency (THDA) offers grant money assistance to first time homebuyers and buyers who have not owned a home (or lived in a home owned) for the last 3 years.  There are actually counties that are exempt from the 3 year requirement.  THDA has 3 different loans scenarios

Average interest on long-term mortgages slid to a NEW record low for the eighth time in nine weeks and could dip more. Freddie Mac reports that 30-year fixed loans averaged 4.36 percent last week, down from 4.42 percent a week earlier; the 15-year fixed rate fell to a new low of 3.86 percent from 3.90 percent; and adjustable-rate mortgages were also below 4 percent. The Mortgage Bankers Association's Michael Fratantoni said the group expects that rates "will begin to rise as the economic situation improves along with jobs."

The steep drops in July that were reported last week - in both existing home sales and new home sales -- obviously added to worries about the speed with which the real estate market may recover. National sales of new homes hit a

Armando SanMiguel of Brand Mortgage took some time to try and sum up the current situation and future for mortgage rates in the Nashville real estate market.

The US Financial Market is still facing recession type circumstances and as a result interest rates continue to remain low.  The Federal Reserve is helping drive rates down in hopes of jump starting the economy by consumers borrowing money and refinancing their homes. 

As a result, interest rates for home mortgages are at an all time low.  Furthermore, they have stayed relatively unchanged for the last 2 months. 

FHA Mortgage Rates 

Currently, 30 year FHA and Conventional rates are nationally in the mid to low 4% range.  It is unlikely that we will see any dramatic changes in the remaining 4

I've manged to travel to quite a few of the major cities in North America and have witnessed the difference in levels of traffic and the locals perception of distance and time when it comes to navigating the city streets in a car.

Drive Times in Different Cities

Some where like San Francisico has a totally different dynamic to some where like Guadalajara in Mexico. Both are big cities, but Guadalajara has over 4 million residents and the driving culture us totally different!

Los Angles is a good example of not being able to measure the travel time in terms of distance from point A to B. When suggesting to friends in LA that this will take about 30 minutes to drive they usually reply.."that will be more like 1 and a half hours...if we can beat a SIG

On Wednesday I had the opportunity to tour the Titans football stadium and get a fantastic behind the scenes tour. Luckily I have managed to be a spectator at quite a few games over the last two years, and was present at the amazing comeback game when Vince Young seemed to shake off any of the chains of his past performances!

LeAnne Constantine, one of the realtors on my team, was actually responsible for getting me on the tour as she had sold a home, or two, with Ol South Builders who are based in Murfreesboro TN. They are actually Tennessee's number 1 home builder. The tour was put on by Ole South for the successful agents and luckily for me LeAnne had a previous engagement and so hse arranged for me to take her place.

Ole South Builders

I was

One of the toughest questions a Realtor has to deal with usually involves an out of state buyer asking the Realtor to tell them about certain socio economic features regarding a particular home or subdivision and which is the best school in the Nashville area for their kids.

As Realtors we can not give information that may be seen as "steering" the client to a particular neighborhood or area but we can comment on the value of the home and also provide links to assist the buyer make an informed decison.

Useful Links

if you are looking for information about Nashville Schools then this link will provide you great information about the public schools available and provides a link to the State website which will help you research the academic

After 10 years in Florida, my main interests here in Nashville seem to revolve around music and real estate.  I moved to Nashville to enhance my musical career and soon realized that this city was full of musicians who had a lot more talent than me and were still working for $20 plus tips on Broadway in the Honky Tonks. Luckily, some of my friends have gone on to bigger and better things in the musical world and play for names such as Carrie Underwood, Montgomery Gentry, and Sugarland.  Hence my decision to get in to real estate...an area of life that has always interested me.

The real estate market has changed in terms of technology over the years since I became a licensed realtor in 2001.  Fortunately for me, I have managed to combine my

One of my hobbies is photography and I get to use this for a good cause occassionally and one such event was the charity golf event held by Cortland Finnegan and Vince Young of the Tennessee Titans.

Ark31.org Golf Event

The location for the golf tornament was at the Governors Club in Brentwood TN. This is a gated residential community and has some of of the most expensive real estate in the Nashville area and perhaps the highest concentration of million dollar homes in Brentwood.

Governors Club Residents

The number of high profile residents meant that the golf tournament was an invitation only event and also by paying for a spot on a team. The benefit for the teams was that each team was accompanied by a Titans player so it turned out to