Nashville-area home sales posted a big October, following three months in which sales were either flat or down slightly.
The Greater Nashville Association of Realtors announced Tuesday that there were 3,324 home closings reported in the Nashville area last month, up 9.7 percent compared to October 2015.Local home sales were up 0.8 percent year-over-year in September, and down in August and July, by 0.8 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively.“We are continuing to sell more homes with effectively less inventory every month, and that’s keeping the Nashville market among the hottest in the country,” GNAR President Denise Creswell said in a news release. “We finished 19th on the list of the hottest markets for October according to Realtor.com, and were the only Southern state, not including Texas, to make the list. Even if sales remain flat for November and December, our region is set to finish ahead of 2015 with overall sales.”
Year-to-date, Nashville-area home sales are up 4.5 percent compared to 2015.
The median sales price for a single-family home sold in the Nashville area last month was $261,000, up from $230,000 a year ago. The median sales price for a condo unit was $186,000, up from $171,737.
November sales appear on track to be higher than last year, with 3,309 sales pending at the end of October. A year ago, there were 2,905 pending sales.
We have entered the final quarter of 2016 in the best possible way,” Creswell said. “Our housing market is maintaining the kind of stable growth needed to sustain a healthy market in the last few months of the year. These mild gains in sales are exactly what it takes to build the foundation for a solid housing market in 2017.”

1) Motivation/Entrepreneurial SpiritBeing a real estate agent is essentially running your own business and new agents have to build their business from the ground up. It is not a job where someone will necessarily be told what to do or where exactly to be. As much as our managers can offer guidance and support the drive, determination, and self-discipline, must ultimately come from the agents themselves.

2) Communication Skills

Being a real estate agent one needs to be able to effectively communicate both verbally and in writing. Whether it be explaining the tax implications of a pied-a-terre apartment purchase or why in a rental application a landlord requests a W-2 form in addition to a federal tax return. Real estate agents have to explain complicated, nuanced material to their clients in a coherent and easy-to-understand way. Additionally, much of the correspondence in this day and age is via email. So real estate agents also have to be able to communicate the same material through written word. This skill has become so important that we include a writing skills and spelling/grammar section on our interview form.

3) Personality/”Likability”

Real estate agents will be spending long periods of time with their clients showing properties. So their clients have to like to be around them! If an agent has a good personality and the “likability” factor it lays the groundwork for the client. This will make the client be comfortable and trust that agent with handling their transaction. The real estate agents that are successful always have a fantastic rapport with their clients and many become life-long friends.

4) Professional Appearance

An agent should look and dress the part of a successful businessperson. The clients who meet the real estate agents for the first time will quickly form first impressions about the competence and professionalism of that agent based on their appearance. Rightfully or not so agents have to have the ability to be well groomed and look the part.

5) Organizational Skills/Time Management

Much like a juggler in a circus a busy real estate agent will be “spinning many plates”. He/she has to have the ability to be organized and highly efficient with his/her time. As a real estate agent is a commission based position the effort and work that is put in should always be focused and very deliberate. A successful agent will always be on top of their schedule and give the proper focus needed for each one of their “spinning plates”.

When it comes to male-dominated industries, one that regularly tops the list is commercial real estate.
The numbers bear that designation out. White men represent more than 58 percent of all professional positions in commercial real estate and more than 77 percent of senior executive positions, according to the 2013 Commercial Real Estate Diversity Report. Women comprise just 35 percent.
On the other hand, residential real estate appears to attract far more women. About 62 percent of all certified Realtors are women, according to the National Association of Realtors.
We took a closer look at the dynamics of the real estate industry and its pronounced gender divide to understand why one segment draws women in droves and the other struggles to diversify.
One potential reason: the difference between fighting for a seat at the table and being at a distinct advantage with clients.
“[In residential real estate], most of the time women make the decisions about wanting to move, what house they want to buy… Men go along for the ride,” said Ellen Klein, an agent with Century 21 Christel Realty in northern New Jersey. “Women can relate to women. The advice that women Realtors give is trusted advice.”
On the commercial side, Tracy Dodson, vice president of brokerage and development at Lincoln Harris in Charlotte, N.C., said being a woman helped her stand out against the suits in the room when she entered the industry.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean it was easy to get there.
“In this industry, it’s hard in a lot of ways. You have to have a lot of success to work your way up,” Dodson said. “It’s not just the hours. You’ve got to have successful projects and you’ve got to have successful deals.”

MCLEAN, VA–(Marketwired – Oct 27, 2016) – Freddie Mac(OTCQB: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS^®), showing average fixed mortgage rates slipping from last week’s spike and the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage easing back to its summertime range below 3.5 percent.

News Facts

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.47 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending October 27, 2016, down 5 basis points from 3.52 percent last week. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.76 percent.

• 15-year FRM this week averaged 2.78 percent with an average 0.5 point, down slightly from last week when they averaged 2.79 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 2.98 percent.

• 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.84 with an average 0.4 point, down slightly from last week when it averaged 2.85 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.89 percent.

Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining the mortgage. Visit the following link for the Definitions. Borrowers may still pay closing costs which are not included in the survey.

Quote
Attributed to Sean Becketti, chief economist, Freddie Mac.

“Mortgage rates continue to be relatively stable and at near record lows. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 5 basis points week-over-week to 3.47 percent, erasing last week’s increase. At the same time, the 10-year Treasury yield ended the week relatively flat — up about 2 basis points.”

Freddie Mac was established by Congress in 1970 to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the nation’s residential mortgage markets. Freddie Mac supports communities across the nation by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Today Freddie Mac is making home possible for one in four home borrowers and is the largest source of financing for multifamily housing. Additional information is available at FreddieMac.com, Twitter @FreddieMac and Freddie Mac’s blog FreddieMac.com/blog.