Hot Home Sales In Nashville Mean Sellers ‘Ain’t Fixing Nothing’

For the first seven months of 2014, GNAR reports home closings are up 3.2 percent compared to 2013. Credit: American Advisors Group via Flickr

It continues to be a sellers real estate market in Nashville. New figures from July show high demand and low supply of homes.

According to the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, closings rose three percent compared to the same period in 2013, a bit of a slowdown from the pace of sales in June.

“That’s just steady reliable growth,” says GNAR president Hagan Stone. “When you’re looking over the long term, we see 10, 15 percent, you raise your eyebrow. But when you see three to five percent, that’s a comfortable number.”

Realtors say people are having no trouble selling. But the buying experience is a little more unpleasant.

In the most desirable neighborhoods, a prospective buyer may have to decide within just a few minutes whether they’re going to make the biggest purchase of their lifetime.

“Especially in areas like East Nashville, if a house comes on the market and a person goes and looks at it on the first day, and they spend 15 minutes in the house, and it’s basically acceptable, that agent is running out the door with a contract to get it in line,” says Nashville home inspector Bill Carlson.

The bidding wars have driven up the median home price to $220,000 for July, slightly less than June’s record-high $221,000.

Since sellers know they can get their price, they won’t even consider making repairs when an inspection uncovers problems, Carlson says. He replays a typical conversation with a seller:

“All this stuff is wrong? Eh, ok, you don’t like the house, you want me to fix this stuff? I ain’t fixing nothing. I’ll go to the next contract.”