Blogs by Author - Stephanie Crawford

Aug 13, 2026 • 8 min read

Do You Have to Wait for Probate to Sell an Inherited House in Brentwood?

Everything downstream runs off that answer — who has authority to sign a deed, whether you need a court's permission before you list, how long the whole thing takes, and whether the proceeds go to the heirs at closing or sit until the estate closes. Families call us worried about the house. The house is usually the easy part. The paperwork behind it decides your timeline.Short answer: Often, no.

Selling & Home Equity

Recent Blogs

Mar 19, 2014 1 min read

How a 1% increase in interest rates will affect your mortgage.

I’m loving this cool infographic from Zillow. Today interest rates are hovering in the mid-4% range. Last year they were in the mid-3%-ish range. We are expected to crest 5% by the end of 2014 and perhaps even 6% in 2015. The long-term historic average is in the mid-6% range. Image by Zillow Mortgage […]

Feb 10, 2014 1 min read

“Is that home under contract?”

Your time is valuable. Why spend precious time considering homes that are already spoken for? If you’ve been looking at real estate online for any length of time you will have realized that it’s pretty darn difficult to tell if a home is already under contract (but not yet officially closed). As agents, we can […]

Oct 21, 2013 2 min read

The Case for Giving Loyalty to your Buyer’s Agent

Have you ever given only part of your attention to a project and gotten lackluster results? Might you have given it your full attention if you were assured of a reward upon successful completion? Well, that is kind of how real estate works. All agents WANT your business, but most agents won’t go out of […]

Oct 9, 2013 1 min read

Steps to Selling Your Nashville Home

View Our Latest Home Listings [idx-listings linkid=”124659″ count=”10″ showlargerphotos=”true”]

Sep 10, 2013 2 min read

Can I Break A Buyer Representation Agreement With My Current Agent?

[SOURCE: TAR’s Legal & Ethics Hot Line Attorneys] QUESTION: We have an agent that showed a buyer a property. Afterwards, we learned the buyer had signed a buyer’s rep agreement with another agent; however, the buyer does not want to use that other agent. Is there any way to get around paying the other agent? […]

Sep 9, 2013 2 min read

Buying Condos in a College Town (Vanderbilt & Belmont Grad Students Take Note!)

Buying Condos and Homes near Vanderbilt University (Updated post. Originally printed in Fall 2010). A few months back I wrote about post about how a substantial portion of my business every spring typically involves helping the parents of local grad students at Vanderbilt and Belmont Universities buy local condos (a guide to Nashville university real […]

May 21, 2013 1 min read

Why are Closing Costs Higher in New Construction?

It’s true. It can cost more if you decide to buy a brand new home. It’s all about the cost of title insurance policy. Title insurance can vary in price. A half a percent of purchase price is a decent estimate. In Nashville, it’s generally accepted that the seller will cover the cost of the buyers title […]

Apr 22, 2013 3 min read

Realtor Comments On Nashville Public Schools

Each week our the Tennessee Realtor Association sends out a newsletter. I found this Q&A regarding public schools to be most interesting. As agents we often have to scoot around questions in regards to demographics, schools, and crime. Here’s why: HOT LINE: Negative Comments on Area Schools? QUESTION: Are Realtors permitted to influence their […]

Mar 20, 2013 3 min read

Making An Offer With an Escalation Clause?

The following is exerted from the most recent Tennessee Association of Realtor’s newsletter. It is a timely article. This week I have run into three separate multiple offer situations and I lost another bid that was over asking price. QUESTION: Now that the market has heated up again, I have received multiple offers on a […]

Feb 14, 2013 1 min read

Spotlight From REALTOR Mag Online on NestingInNashville.com!

I was pretty stoked when Stefanie Hahn told me she was planning to feature my site on an upcoming post at Realtor Mag Online. All million or so of us REALTORS receive the magazine in the mail each month so it’s a pretty big honor. Check out Best Practices For Your Real Estate Web Site Home […]