Donnie Crotts recently joined Bond Mortgage, LLC as President. He began his career in the mortgage industry in 1999 and has gained a wealth of experience since that time. In the last 19 years, he has served in both sales and operations, which has provided him the opportunity to know the full range of the mortgage business.

Donnie has been committed to his customers in assisting them in meeting their financial needs toward home ownership. He has also supported his colleagues and employees in achieving tremendous success in their careers.

Donnie is a native Tennessean who currently lives in Franklin, TN with his wife and son. On his off time, he is a big fan of his son’s travel baseball team and enjoys watching the many games his son plays. Donnie also enjoys spending time with his family and traveling to different areas of the country. His favorite vacation spot is anywhere with a sunny, white sand beach.

Benchmark Realty would like to extend a big warm welcome to Donnie Crotts, President of Bond Mortgage. We feel blessed to be associated with such a wonderful company.

           Donnie Crotts – President     NMLS – 280259

As Nashville continues to grow, the city is increasingly becoming a hot spot for tourists, helping boost the economy and hospitality industries, including the rise of more Airbnb’s in Nashville and surrounding areas. There’s been some backlash from residents against these short-term rentals. While the voice of the opposition has been loud, it turns out, it’s not representative of Nashville as a whole.

Airbnb recently commissioned a poll conducted by San Francisco-based David Binder Research, gathering responses from 500 voting Nashville residents. Generally, 75 percent of poll respondents supported short-term rentals through Airbnb, and 63 percent said they consider the practice to be good for Nashville.

As for a deeper dive of those results, the survey found only eight percent of respondents thought second-home or investment rentals should be completely prohibited, and only 14 percent said they should be “mostly” prohibited with “some exceptions.” In fact, 60 percent of all respondents felt these types of properties should be “mostly” allowed with “some restrictions.”

While the local government has put certain limitations in place on these types of properties since the start of the year, the state Senate passed a bill—the “Short Term Rental Unit Act”—that would overturn a Nashville ordinance set to gradually eliminate certain types of short-term rentals.

If you’re considering diving into the short-term rental space with the purchase of an additional home, give us a call or go to our website at BenchmarkRealtyTN.com. Our agents can help you find the right property to make it happen.

As our city continues to grow, a number of businesses and real estate companies have begun commissioning local artists to create murals as a part of the design of their buildings. For homeowners living in nearby neighborhoods, this art can have a benefit beyond adding beauty to the city.

Boosting the Local Economy

With Nashville’s status on the rise as a must-visit city, tourism is booming. Music City saw a record 14.5 million visitors in 2017, a 4.6 percent increase over the previous year, and murals are playing a part in drawing that business to specific neighborhoods.

According to the Nashville Business Journal, more than 100 tourists visited the Gulch in a single day to photograph the neighborhood’s latest mural, while restaurants in The Nations hosted nightly viewing parties to watch an artist paint a 165-foot-tall mural over the course of 17 days.

Instagram further points to the power of murals in drawing tourists, with mural-related hashtags having tens of thousands of posts. The hashtag #ibelieveinnashville has close to 25,000 posts while #whatliftsyou is now at more than 100,000 posts.

Murals are Here to Stay

With groups like Nashville Walls Project, the addition of this type of street art doesn’t look to be slowing down any time soon. Founded in 2014 by Greif and Eva Boros, Nashville Walls Project is actively expanding Nashville’s mural scene by partnering with local and international artists.

Their recent East Nashville project included a bright yellow depiction of the word “EAST,” which can be seen from downtown, thanks to the work of four local artists.

Improving Your Property Value

What does all this attention mean to those of us who are living in these neighborhoods? As Nashville’s tourism industry continues to grow, it will bring more jobs and more people to fill those jobs to our city, which may have a direct impact on improving property value.

Not only will homes in hot neighborhoods likely continue to see the benefit of Nashville’s boom, but the draw of tourists to specific areas will likely result in infrastructure improvements: better roads, parks, and more, which can also help improve property value.

Benchmark Realty, LLC, works with top-tier professional agents in Nashville and Middle Tennessee. Visit our website to learn more or find an agent near you at BenchmarkRealtyTN.com.

For many Nashville residents, Airbnb has been a hot topic over the past few years, with many homeowners listing part of their property on the popular site and others buying new homes to serve explicitly as short-term rentals. Controversy has ranged from sales tax collection to arguments regarding negative impact on neighborhoods versus overall benefit to the city. Legislation has been passed at the local level and proposed at the state level on both sides.

No matter where you stand, Airbnb’s growth isn’t looking to slow any time soon. This year, the company celebrated its tenth anniversary and announced its plans for growth for the next ten years as it seeks to achieve 1 billion guests annually by 2028. With only 300 million guests hosted to date, that’s a pretty significant jump.

One of the ways the company plans to get there is with the introduction of new categories. Currently, rentals are sorted into groups by entire home, private room and shared room. The new categories will expand options and make searching easier for the consumer.

Airbnb has revealed four new property categories as a part of its initial changes:

• Vacation homes: Residences dedicated to short term use
• Unique: Yurts, igloos, tree houses, air streams and other novelty properties
• Bed and breakfasts
• Boutiques: Professional hospitality businesses with unique styles or themes

Additional categories are in the works, including Social Stays, where hosts offer to spend time with their guests by sharing a meal and showing them around their city.

The company also plans to incorporate higher-end designations including Airbnb Collections, properties ideal for specific occasions such as weddings or family reunions, and Airbnb Plus, homes inspected and verified to meet high standards for cleanliness, comfort and design.

What these changes mean for the property owner is yet to be seen, but if users are better able to find a rental that suits their needs, hosts may find that they end up with more amenable guests over the next ten years.

If you’re considering getting into the short-term rental market with the purchase of an additional home, give us a call or go to our website at BenchmarkRealtyTN.com. Our agents can help you find the right property to make it happen.

Forbes recently released its list of America’s 25 fastest growing cities, and Nashville once again made the cut, jumping from rank 20 to seven in just one year for the Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin metropolitan area.

The list considers a number of figures including population growth, employment, wages and economic output, and incorporates home price growth as a proxy for wealth.

At the top of the list of factors contributing to Nashville’s growth are a 2.24 percent increase in population in 2017—with a projected 2.15 percent increase this year—and a 3.07 percent increase in job growth in 2017—with a 2.05 percent increase anticipated this year. With those new jobs come higher wages, 5.02 percent higher to be exact.

This year, Forbes anticipates another 6.2 percent increase.

As Music City grows and attracts new talent, those residents need somewhere to live. It’s no surprise home values are also on the rise. In 2017, home prices increased by 10 percent, and Forbes expects another 3.72 percent increase in 2018.

Other areas at the top of the list include Boise City, Idaho (1); Seattle, Washington (2); Dallas, Texas (3); Orlando, Florida (4); Fort Worth, Texas (5); and Las Vegas, Nevada (6). You can read the full list on Forbes’s website.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/samanthasharf/2018/02/28/full-list-americas-fastest-growing-cities-2018/#2b34c50a7feb

If you’re looking to take advantage of rising home values and put your house on the market, we can help! Find a Benchmark agent near you at BenchmarkRealtyTN.com or give your local office a call today.

Many millennials are beginning to take the step from renting to homeownership. With 50 percent of millennial homeowners moving out of the city and into the suburbs as they hunt for more affordable spaces—according to a recent study by Zillow—developers and builders are looking for ways to attract these new buyers.

Millennials are starting to grow their families, and many are finding that traditional city living no longer meets their needs. High rents, lower quality schools, and crime rates have them turning their sights elsewhere. But, still, the traditional view of suburban life is out of the question.

Meet the new “Surban” living.

A term created by John Burns Real Estate Consulting in Chicago, Surban is defined as a suburban area that has the feel of the city, combining urban energy and walkability with the space and affordability of the suburbs. It perfectly defines what this new generation of homebuyers is looking for.

While they want some of the benefits of living outside of the city, they’re not ready to give up the essentials that make city life interesting. Rather than the big box retail and sprawling spaces that the suburbs are known for, new Surban living creates neighborhoods within the suburbs (or not quite as far out as the suburbs) that have an urban flair to them. Think boutiques, mom and pop shops, bike paths, and community events such as festivals and art fairs.

Many city and town leaders are starting to respond in kind, redeveloping downtown areas or rezoning suburban land for a mix of retail, housing and jobs. Even Nashville is starting to see the effect of this shift, with small oases being built in up-and-coming communities around the city proper.

For agents, this means being tasked with helping millennial clients find homes in areas that bring together the best of city life with the benefits of the suburbs.

For new homebuyers, it means finding an agent who knows Nashville—from the heart of the city, to the far-reaching suburbs, to the communities in between—who can help you find the place that meets your needs. If you’re looking for this type of agent, you’re in luck. Give us a call today and we’ll help pair you with a Benchmark agent or learn more about what makes Benchmark different here.