Tennessee Dam Helps Residents Find Debt Consolidation Loans

By Joe Taylor Jr.
Local Lender Columnist
Nov 8, 2006
In most of the country, cooling real estate markets have made it harder for many homeowners to find good mortgage refinance deals - especially debt consolidation loans. In eastern Tennessee, however, longtime property owners are benefiting from a surge in lakefront living popularity. As city dwellers seek vacation homes (or simply a change of pace), homes on Tennessee’s lakeshores are fetching higher prices and creating relatively stable debt consolidation opportunities.

For the past few decades, eastern Tennessee has been a popular place for retirees from colder regions, like Michigan and Ohio. Residents have also flocked to the region from Florida, where a cooling market and hurricane threats have made it hard to refinance. Many of the "Volunteer" state's newest residents were drawn by relatively inexpensive property near recently-constructed lakes.

Tennessee Government Intervention Creates Opportunity for Safe Debt Consolidation

Even better news for many of these homeowners is that the Tennessee Valley Authority still controls much of the undeveloped property in the region, and real estate experts doubt that Tennessee lawmakers and regulators will release that land for development any time soon. Therefore, lakefront homeowners in eastern Tennessee can refinance their homes and take out debt consolidation loans with the assurance that their property values will continue to climb.

Real estate market, homeowners can still take advantage of mortgage products and lending programs that have fallen out of favor in other parts of the country, thanks to the relative safety of the Tennessee real estate market. Debt consolidation loans can help eastern Tennessee residents use the growing equity in their homes to eliminate credit card balances and other high interest debts.

Sources
New York Times
Treasure Coast Palm

About the Author
Joe Taylor Jr. has covered business and finance news for Financial Times Television and CNBC. He coaches beginning mortgage brokers to provide better customer service and to understand creative financing opportunities.