Buying in a Seller's Market

When looking to buy a house, it's important to know the kind of market you're stepping into. Currently, we are in what's known as a seller's market-- that means that there is a higher demand for homes than there is a supply. Despite the new construction that is happening around Clarksville, there are many families looking to buy within our beautiful community. This can make it a little harder to find a dream home, but nothing is impossible. With a few tips, you can get a good start on house hunting in our seller's market!

First and foremost: get yourself a sharp agent. Your real estate agent is your guide through the buying process, and you need one with experience and expertise. Pam Cash of the Cash Team has been working diligently since 2006 and has lived in Clarksville for the majority of her life. With a passionate work ethic and a knowledge of the community, the Cash team is one of the best options for buyers in the Clarksville area.

Get preapproved. Receiving a preapproval will help you know just how much you have to work with. In addition, it will give your offer more credibility than an offer made without a preapproval!

Don't lowball. Right now, sellers have the upper hand and are most likely receiving multiple offers on their homes. Submitting an offer below the price asked is useless when most offers will be going well above that. You are navigating a competitive market, so be prepared to make a competitive offer-- and maybe even offer to go higher than competing offers to a certain price point!

Lower your standards. With houses going so fast, you may not have time to wait for the perfect house that may not come on the market. While this can seem disappointing, any home can be made perfect with the right attitude and dedication-- every home is an investment. Know what you want for sure such as location and size, school zone, land. You can finish the basement yourself, but you can't uproot your home to a larger lot!

Stay alert. Be on the lookout for new houses coming on the market, or have an agent like those on the Cash Team that keep up with homes that fall in the range of their clients! With houses in high demand, they can go fast-- it's good to be the first to see a newly listed house and put out the offer!

The Fair is in Town!

 If you're looking for some summer fun through this week, look no farther than the Clarksville Speedway! There is still a week left to enjoy the Montgomery County Fair, which is coming to a close this Saturday on the 19th of June. While the Monster Truck show was unfortunately canceled this year, there is still a great deal of things to do!

My boyfriend and I attended the fair this past Saturday. With a $5 admission fee and $25 wristbands (which allow visitors unlimited access-- tickets for rides are also available), we found the price very worth full access to all of the staple fair rides. My favorites were the spinning strawberries and, of course, the classic ferris wheel. I especially liked the Montgomery County Fair's F\ferris wheel which, instead of the usual two-person seats, had little carriages that could fit a small group or family-- and is far better for someone with a fear of heights! 

The Pig and Duck races were an absolute must to watch, and fair-goers can find showtimes displayed in the fair if you too enjoy watching cute animals race! At the pig race, children were given the chance to be active participants as head cheerleaders of different sections. Who wouldn't want to cheer for adorable potbelly pigs with racing names like "Ham Solo"? Winners, of course, walked away with a pig nose. Though I'm not a child, I still thoroughly enjoyed watching the pigs complete racing laps.

Admission prices to the fair are as follows: $5 for adults as well as children 12 and up, and $3 for children ages 4-11. Children ages 3 and under are free to enter! Wristbands that allow unlimited access to rides are $25 with military and first responders receiving a $10 discount on Monday the 14th as well as Wednesday the 16th! 

Every Little Life Enjoys Flowers

 

Docked: The Pinta at McGregor Park

 If you're looking for something a little different to do this month, or if you're interested in historical style sights, you'll want to head to McGregor Park at 640 Riverside Drive! Currently, a replica of one of Christopher Columbus' ships, the Pinta, is docked. For a small price, guests can go aboard the replica ship in order to get a closer look at the mechanics of the deck. The ship is open to self-guided tours from 10am to 5pm with admission prices as follows: $6.50 for adults, $6 for seniors, $5.50 for children 5-16, and free for children for and under. 

This beautiful historical replica of the Pinta will only be docked at McGregor Park and open for viewing until Sunday, June 20th. If you have a free afternoon this week, be sure to head out to see this little piece of history on the Cumberland!

A Name that Says it All: Juicy Seafood

With restaurants reopening their seating areas, I have been enjoying going out to eat more lately. Yesterday, I was introduced to a new place that took the place of a closed buffet at 2355 Madison St-- next to the Sango Walmart. I'll admit, I wasn't expecting much of a seafood restaurant in a very landlocked state. I was incredibly surprised by how amazing my meal was.

Juicy Seafood holds a rather kitsch interior that I loved-- large parties may be able to eat at a table within a pirate ship addition, and anyone can pose with the beloved pirate captain Jack Sparrow on a bench within the restaurant. There's also a wall of Pirates of the Caribbean pictures towards the back. If you're a fan of the series, I would suggest going for that alone.

The food, though, is obviously the main attraction. Advertised as a 'cajun style' seafood eatery, there is no disappointment in what you'll be getting. Something I found notable was the options given for seasonings and spice level-- an important aspect for people more sensitive to spicy foods, or for people who just don't like it. My mother, realtor Pam Cash, and I tried out one of the combo meals consisting of crab, shrimp, mussels, boiled potatoes, and corn on the cob with a mild spice and garlic butter seasoning. It was incredible. Most cajun-styled food I've had has been too spicy for me to really dig in, but the allowance of just how spicy the diner wants their boil made all the difference. After emptying our boil bag into its tray, we dug in. Juicy Seafood provides guests with bibs and gloves, to prevent excess mess, but I passed them up to get right to the crab legs.

My expectations for Juicy Seafood were far exceeded, and I have to say I'll be excited for any opportunity to get back to the pirate-themed restaurant. If you have a craving for some cajun-style seafood, Juicy Seafood should be at the top of your list.

An Oddly Amazing Shop: Oddly Amazing Antiques

I have always adored antique shops, but many of them seem to be more 'fashionable' these days rather than an eclectic collection of interesting odds and ins. In the end, I really enjoy any antique shop from the ones pristinely organized to the ones that feel like mazes of items. Oddly Amazing Antiques is something that feels a bit different from both-- probably because along with antiques, this store sells 'oddities' as well as generally weird items. I would say it is the more maze-like shop, though-- with that magical feeling that you might find anything within its walls.

This shop is still fairly new to my knowledge. It sprung up on my radar nearly two years ago and I was immediately enraptured with the place. When it was at it's first location, I sometimes went three times a week to poke around and ask about the antique composition dolls I collected. The staff was always incredibly friendly and always seemed to have interesting stories about the items they had in the shop. And, of course, I always had a fun time spotting new things that had been moved around in the store. 

Currently, Oddly Amazing Antiques is located near Riverside Drive at 11 Jefferson St. With a shop twice the size of the first, this location allows for even more interesting things to be stored to be found by the eager antiquer or just any person interested by cool things. Just yesterday I looked over a wall of vintage cameras, browsed shell bowls full of crystals, and debated on buys a jawbone. Antique toys are also sprinkled through the store with some more modern figures. Really, if you can imagine it, Oddly Amazing Antiques probably has it! If you don't believe me, you can check out their Instagram page here!

All in all, if you're looking for a new place to explore or you're wanting some interesting antiques, this is my top suggestion. You really never know what you might find.

Take a Day for Hobbies!

 

Beautiful Fabrics at Country Lane Quilts!

If you’re in need of some new fabric or just want to take a drive to someplace new, this is the blog post to be reading today! Country Lane Quilts isn’t in Clarksville, but it is close enough to make it a fun trip. Not to mention the scenery. This quilt shop is located in Kentucky in an Amish community meaning that there are plenty of open fields and animals to see out the car windows on the way; occasionally, you’ll even see a horse and carriage going down the road. Last time, on one of the thinner roads, we got to stay behind one for just a bit!

Of course, the scenery isn’t the main perk of Country Lane Quilts—that would be the amazing collection of fabric with incredibly affordable prices. Most of these fabrics are what might be considered ‘last season,’ but that doesn’t do any harm to their quality or their beauty. The majority of these fabrics are still on bolts and cost about $4 a yard. Personally, I tend to look at every stack of bolts because I adore eclectic fabrics and I always find plenty of interesting patterns. Along with well-branded fabric, there are also occasionally licensed fabrics—recently I got some Wiggles fabric to add to my scrap quilts in the future.

Overall, this is one of my favorite places to go for fabric. With incredibly affordable prices per yard, I can always leave with a good stack of fabrics for different projects—far more than I would usually splurge on at Joanne’s! If you are wanting a place to find some interesting fabrics at a low price, Country Lane Quilts at 10837 Jefferson Davis Rd in Pembroke, Kentucky!

Game Hub: Old and New Games Galore

Looking for a new game to play? Whether you’re seeking new or old, the recently founded used game store Game Hub probably has it. As a fan of video games myself, I always love to visit game shops around town—especially ones that still sell for the Gamecube and the Gameboy, two of my favorite counsels to this day. While chains like GameStop are great for the newer releases for current systems, they don’t always have what I’m looking for. Game Hub was an unexpected stop for my boyfriend and I a few weeks ago when we saw a sign that held the words “video games.” I am obsessed.

While this store is relatively small and cozy, it holds
one of the largest collection of games that I’ve seen in any used store with multiple copies of even harder to find titles like Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life available on the PS2—though after my last stop, there is only one copy available. The owner of the shop is incredibly friendly, and his prices are fair. It seems like he’s been waiting a good while to get this shop running given the vast number of games he has ready and organized on the shelves; I had no trouble hunting down the titles I wanted and left incredibly happy with my purchases.

Game Hub is a shop getting started, and already it’s proven to be pretty great. If you’re looking for a game on any system—and I mean any system—swing by this awesome spot on 507B Fort Campbell Blvd. This shop is 100% local and as a community, we should definitely show it some love!

A Day of Rest on Sunday

 

A Lovely Weekend for Tea: The Mad Herbalist

Interested in a place to take it easy this weekend as the clouds and rain threaten to continue? Consider taking a trip to the Mad Herbalist! This local tea shop has an amazing atmosphere to relax in with the full upper level serving as a lounging room with a comfortable chair and, my favorite, a window seat. The building, though in the middle of the city, is happily tucked into a grove of trees which gives a very rustic feel, like being nestled in a cabin.

While the Mad Herbalist does have a small select menu for meals, the biggest selling point is obviously the amazing tea. Their house brews rotate seasonally, allowing patrons to sample unique flavor mixtures throughout the year. Currently, you can find flavors such as Sweet Cinders (smoked lapsang tea, cedar, balsam fir, vanilla) and Spring Fever (sencha green tea, rosemary, lemon rind, cardamom, vanilla, peppermint) available! Personally, I’m excited to try the Apple Orchard flavor next time I stop by.

While this weekend looks like it might be drab, take the chance to make it into a great experience! Head over to the Mad Herbalist on 1601 Madison St, and have a warm house brew to counteract the cloudy weather!