OK, so I actually didn’t move to Beverly Hills. In fact, I didn’t even load up a truck.

But I did move. Visit me at my fancy schmancy new site: www.JuliaOdom.com

It’s got all the things you’ve come to know and love: Crimes Against Paint, *How to buy a house for 50¢,  local images. You know, the good stuff. But now in a shiny new package!

*Just kidding about that second one!

Yes, this is an actual house for sale. I can only assume that this room is in the basement and their agent never bothered to go down there (or is profoundly blind). Scroll down to see it – if you dare.

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They were right, I was wrong.

So I thought I’d take this opportunity to slip a little flask of vodka in my pocket (for warmth of course!) and take a walk around the neighborhood for some pictures. I live in the Highland Park/Ridgedale area between Missionary Ridge & downtown Chattanooga so seeing some of the quaint old cottages in the snow is a real treat.

OK, so that didn’t really happen. What DID happen was I took a picture of the house across the street from me from my toasty warm library (yes, I have a room that I call “the library” –  when you live in a hundred year old house you get to be pretentious like that) and then shamelessly used the photos from our last snow that Jason Kelley, a kindly Highland Park neighbor, posted to the local listserv (and graciously gave me permission to use).

Wouldn’t you like to live here? Click to see what’s available.

While the city has a lot to overcome if they truly want to change the image of their fair city, it sounds like they are headed in the right direction with plans to beautify the I-75 Exit #1 area as well as both the Chattanooga & East Ridge sides of the tunnels. Sprucing up the de facto entrance and exit to the city will go a long way toward making East Ridge a player in the competition for Chattanooga real estate dollars. Efforts toward tighter codes enforcement designed to make landlords, and the businesses along Ringgold Road, clean up their properties are already underway. If you ask me, storm water management to help control flooding in those areas that are prone to it would be even better.

Having said all that, these guys really do have a point. Prices are rock bottom in East Ridge but without the crime and marginal schools that you might see in other areas with similar home values. There aren’t many areas in Chattanooga where you can find a nice home for sale at less than $100,000. East Ridge is one of the few. Hey, even if you end up having to pay for flood insurance, your new home is probably going to cost you less each month than something comparable elsewhere. With 100% financing by using THDA grant money, the low overall cost of ownership here might be enough to turn some renters into honest-to-God homeowners. Who knew?

Do you want to be a part of East Ridge’s renaissance? Click to see homes for sale.

*I just made up those names myself. Hmmm, wonder why they didn’t hire me to do the PR?

I will not even pretend that I get up all raring to go and take photos of gorgeous downtown Chattanooga. I have a child who goes to school at Brown Academy right there in front of UTC, otherwise I would totally have snoozed through this bit of loveliness.

That dark blurry bit at the bottom right corner is Park Place, the old school building turned loft/condo. The various units have square footage from 790 all the way up to 2,750 so there’s a good choice of space, whatever you may need. And for buyers with kids who may have avoided downtown condos in the past due to a lack of outdoor play areas, Bryant Park – a fenced playground – is right next door.

It’s a pretty easy walk to UTC and the nightlife of downtown, especially Nightfall and the Bessie Smith ‘Strut’.

Want to hear about another great perk when it comes to buying at Park Place? As of right now, the Lyndhurst Foundation is offering a $10,000 grant to buyers. Yep, you can negotiate your best price on the condo of your choice and then Lyndhurst will give you a $10,000 credit at closing. In some cases you might even be able to use this cash as part of your down payment (your mileage may vary – check with your lender on this).

Click here to see what’s currently for sale at Park Place. None of these are my listings, FYI…

Crye Leike is scheduled to auction the former home of Lula Adeline Rackley at 862 Oak St. Chattanooga, TN 37403 (smack dab in the middle of the Fort Wood historic district) on February 11, 2010 at 5pm.

For its age and lack of updating, the house is in surprisingly good shape. With the exception of some flooring that has buckled in the living room (parlor? salon? Sunday go-to-meetin’ room?) the wood floors are lovely, if worn, and not at all wonky like most old houses. I’m not saying you could play a fair game of marbles on these floors, but they’re not bad at all.

Lula enjoyed three large rooms downstairs, all with their own pocket doors, a full (albeit small) bathroom and a kitchen that is large and remarkable for its lack of cabinets.  Upstairs, Ms Rackley rambled around in 5 bedrooms, each of which has at least one decent sized closet – not common in houses this age. The smallest bedroom is just crying out to be turned into a master bath since it shares an interior door with a larger bedroom.

For the purist, one of the best things about this house (I’m gonna need a drum roll for this one……..) NONE OF THE WOODWORK HAS BEEN PAINTED! Yeah, that deserves both a drum roll and cyber yelling. And beautiful woodwork it is.

So, if you’re interested in taking on a project of stupendous magnitude – this is not a task for the faint of heart or short of cash – call or email me and I’ll hook you up.

Click to see the photo gallery provided by the auction company.

For the eBay uninitiated, an absolute auction means that there is no reserve and no minimum. The person holding the highest bid at the sound of the gavel will be the purchaser, no ifs ands or buts.

Here’s all the legal mumbo jumbo from the auctioneer (with whom I am completely and totally unaffiliated):

REAL ESTATE TERMS: A Non-refundable deposit of 10% will be required on the day of the sale. Funds are accepted in the form of a Cashier’s, Personal, or Business check. Closings shall take place no later than 30 days after the auction. 10% Buyers Premium will apply.

Under title X the purchaser of a single-family residence built before 1978 has a maximum of 10 days to inspect the property for the presence of lead base paint. The period of inspection is 10 days prior to the auction. All bidders must sign a waiver of the 10-day post inspection period

Disclaimer: All Property sells as is, where is with no warranties either written or implied, any announcement from the Auctioneer on day of sale will take precedence over any other statements, either written or oral.

I’m talking about actual blue skies, the kind you see when it’s neither freezing cold nor raining. You know, the kind of thing we haven’t seen yet in 2010.

And so, I give you (drum roll please!)…..

BLUE SKIES

(peeking from behind dark clouds)

Even though it’s cold outside, baby, it’s warm inside the carousel at Coolidge Park in North Chattanooga. One dollar per person per ride and it even accepts credit cards.

Interested in the history of the grand old lady? Click here.

Check out this link to see current operating hours for the carousel.

Think you might want to live within walking distance of the park? Click here for currently available homes within just a half mile.

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Julia Odom enjoys long walks on the beach, debating the restoration vs. renovation question and hanging out with plumbing inspectors

Visit her website to search for homes.

Do you have a Chattanooga area image you’d like to share (credit given),

a community event to promote or maybe even a crime to report?

Don’t want to miss a thing?? Subscribe to Chattanooga Real Estate.

Today, HUD announced new rules for FHA mortgages that will go into effect in the near future (“summer” whatever that may mean). Those who don’t eat, breathe, and live real estate finance like I do may not know this, but FHA has become the go-to loan for most borrowers, especially first-timers and lower income, but really for everyone who doesn’t have 20% to put down.

Here are the proposed changes:

Anyone with a credit score under 580 is required to put down 10%

Hey HUD, maybe we should call you Captain Obvious! In practice, most banks aren’t lending to anyone with a score of less than 620 these days anyway so this one won’t have much of an impact.

The up front mortgage insurance is being raised from 1.75% to 2.25%

For a $100,000 loan amount, this means that the house would cost you an extra $500 which can be financed into the loan. Again, not great but not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things.

Seller concessions limited to 3%

This is the one that gives me heartburn. What’s a seller concession, you ask? In most cases, it’s your closing costs. With FHA, you can get a loan with as little as 3.5% down. For first time buyers without a lot of savings, that means you can buy a $100,000 house with not much more than $3,500 out of your pocket, assuming the seller pays your closing costs. That last part is the kicker. Currently, the seller is allowed to contribute up to 6%. And 6% is plenty when you are talking about a $100,000 loan. You aren’t usually going to go over $6,000. But you are probably going to go over $3,000, the new limit in this scenario.

And if you are looking at an even smaller amount, say $50,000?  Three thousand dollars would probably cover your closing costs so you could buy a $50k house for as little as $1,750 out of pocket. Now, with the seller only contributing $1,500 toward your closing costs, that almost doubles what you’re going to have to pull out of the old tin can in the back yard. That’s HUGE!  Anyone looking to live in a $50,000 – they’re rare, but they do exist in Chattanooga – probably doesn’t have that extra $1,500.

And that’s why I don’t like this change. Looking at houses in the $200,000+ range? You probably won’t notice a difference. But all of those first time buyers who are near and dear to my heart (yes, it’s far more gratifying to sell someone their first house), to put it bluntly, are getting screwed.

So to all those who need to use FHA financing and who don’t have an extra couple thousand dollars in your mattress, now just became an even better time to buy. Don’t wait until ‘summer’!

Click to search Chattanooga houses for sale.

Disclaimer: all those closing costs number I’m throwing around up there don’t mean that I (or anyone else) is offering a loan with those exact costs, those are big round numbers to illustrate the point.

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Julia Odom enjoys long walks on the beach, debating the restoration vs. renovation question and hanging out with plumbing inspectors

Visit her website to search for homes.

Do you have a Chattanooga area image you’d like to share (credit given),

a community event to promote or maybe even a crime to report?

Don’t want to miss a thing?? Subscribe to Chattanooga Real Estate.

What are you talking about, Jules?

Why, the Homebuyer Tax Credit, of course!

Time is running out to take advantage of this Fab. U. Lous. opportunity. As of today, you have 101 days to get a house under contract and then you’ve got another 60 days from then to get it closed. Some buyers that I’ve talked to have casually mentioned something along the lines of ‘Oh, they’re going to extend it again, so I’ll probably just wait a while longer.’

To those I say: WHAT, ARE YOU CRAZY???

There’s a chance that it might get extended. But then there’s also a chance that interest rates, which are hovering around 5% right now will go up. Up a lot. In the very near future. Very smart people are predicting that for very good reasons. Will it happen? I’ll let you know when my crystal ball gets back from the shop. At the very least they aren’t going to stay where they are indefinitely.

So if you are a first time buyer (that includes anyone who hasn’t owned a home in the last 3 years) or if you have owned and lived in your current home for 5 of the last 8 years then you probably qualify for either the ‘first time buyer credit’ of 10% (max of $8,000) or the ‘move up credit’ of 10% (max on this one is $6,500).

There are income and purchase price limits but those won’t apply to most of you looking for a house to buy in Chattanooga or northwest Georgia. If those limits do apply to you? Well, sorry, but my heart doesn’t exactly bleed for you ($225,000 is the income limit for couples and $800,000 is the purchase price limit). You’re probably doing just fine on your own. Thanks for being in the upper income tax bracket and covering for the rest of us poor schlubs!

It doesn’t really matter what house you are buying. It’s the buyer that qualifies for the tax credit, not the house.

So if you’ve been sitting on the fence wondering if you should buy now or wait until later…STOP WAITING! DON’T MISS OUT! YOU’LL ONLY BE KICKING YOURSELF LATER!

And that was my public service announcement for today.

You’re welcome.

Interested in seeing what’s out there for sale right now, this very day? Click to search Chattanooga metro area homes for sale.

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Julia Odom enjoys long walks on the beach, debating the restoration vs. renovation question and hanging out with plumbing inspectors

Visit her website to search for homes.

Do you have a Chattanooga area image you’d like to share (credit given),

a community event to promote or maybe even a crime to report?

Don’t want to miss a thing?? Subscribe to Chattanooga Real Estate.