I agree with Jane that it is difficult to say if your home will sell for top dollar without seeing it. Many of the residential neighborhoods here in Gatlinburg have maintained their values. I too live in an all residential subdivision which prohibits overnight rentals in Gatlinburg. I believe our values have not been affected as much since speculators and investors were never interested in our homes to begin with. However, buyers have many choices right now and your home should not have too much deferred maintenance in order to attract the most buyers and reduce the time your home will stay on the market. Good Luck, Justin

Mr. Westfaul,
I have lived in Sevier County for 25 years and in the last few years I have started to sell real estate. Naturaly I keep a close eye on this area. Sevier County has always been in its own little world in the economy as far as compared to other major cities. We are one of ther few areas that has been above average when other markets have been in decline. The real estate market has taken some big hits in the last few years but Sevier County has stayed steady with the exception of secondary homes. Your house sounds as if it would be the primary residence of a good size family.

As far as the full value of your home depends on several things. Such as, how good of a deal you got when you bought your house, have you made upgrades, ect....I have seen some houses gain value while others have declined.

Most homes that I list the first question is " How long until it will sell?" Unfortunatly the money lenders play alot bigger part in real estate than ever before and often there is a buyer or several people interested but they cant get approved or they dont have a big enough down payment. So, houses sit on the market collecting dust. It is very hard to say how long to expect it to be on the market.

The first step to answering some of these questions would be to sit down with an agent and do a market analysis of your home and discuss some ideas that both you and an agent have in mind to sell your home. It doesn't take long to do it and best of all its free! If I can ever be a help to you please email me at kmcmahan@c21reg.com or kmcmahan08@comcast.net.

Hi--it would be hard to answer that question without knowing the specifics about your house. There have certainly been declines in some area of our market, but on the other hand we still have a flow of interested buyers, too. And this is an area that is increasingly attractive to those seeking permanent residences. Probably the best thing to do is to talk with a realtor about a comparative market analysis, where you can see homes similar to yours that have sold or are currently on the market. This would allow you to judge if this is the right time to place your home on the market. I'd be happy to provide you with that information if it would help you reach a decision. Jane Terrell