Safe Havens in Real Estate

With foreclosures skyrocketing and home prices plummeting, real estate has had a tough year. But in certain pockets across the country the damage has been minimal -- if nonexistent. Read more about this hot issue by clicking this link: Save Havens

November Tennessee Tailgate Party is Great Success:

There is a secret recipe for great college football…even when your favorite team isn’t doing so well. One part Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Que ribs, one part chopped Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Que chicken, corn-on-the-cob, some of Wilbur’s Famous Green Beans, a very special apple cobbler, toss in a salad and a couple gallons of tea. Mix with eight lucky winners of the Cottages at Governor’s Landing / Keller Williams Realty tailgate party give-a-way and you’ve got yourself some great college football game day fun. Earl and Peggy Hagler with guest Geoff and Suzanne Emery, Scott Fawver & Kelly Shipe with guest Gary and Sandy Maples were all lucky winners of this year’s Tailgate party. The four couples met at the Clubhouse, were escorted to the game via The Cottages’ very own limo service (aka Chuck Fethe and Keith Foster) and were treated to a stadium side tailgate party hosted by Nancy Keith of Keller Williams Realty. It was a picture perfect fall day. Everyone enjoyed meeting new friends, eating some great food and watching the Vols in Neyland Stadium.

Model Homes Build Schedule On Target:

Over the past 45 days we have made enormous strides in the construction of our model home display center. When completed, you will be able to tour and inspect every detail of your future home at the Cottages at Governor’s landing. Many of our future residents have already taken personal tours to begin learning about the quality construction features incorporated into every Epcon Communities® home. Plans are to complete a Ducal, Colonade, Bramante and Aboreta model by February, 2009. A variety of options will be displayed in display center and will be useful when deciding how you want to customize your home. We encourage everyone who is interested in learning about our process, to stop by for a “hard hat” tour of the construction site. We promise you won’t be disappointed.
(P.S. wear comfortable shoes! You will be in an active construction site.)

Clubhouse and Community Center Opens

October 24, 2008 was cold and rainy, yet somehow the perfect day to celebrate our official ribbon cutting to open the new community clubhouse. With over 50 guests; including future residents we celebrated our first major milestone as a community. Our ceremony was brief with comments from Cottages Group CEO, Ken Russell; Tennessee State Senator, Tim Burchett; and Knoxville Chamber Executive Vice President, Mark Field. Continuing the celebration, the crowd enjoyed catering along with music from a local jazz trio. All in all, it was a great way to meet new friends while enjoying the new community clubhouse. If you have not had a chance to take the tour, stop by for your own personal tour. In the mean time, if you have a question or need special arrangements please call 865-544-4348 or email cfethe@cottagesgroup.net or bquigley@cottagesgroup.net .

Join Us December 13th for Our Special Christmas Open House and Party

Mark your calendars and plan to join us for our first December Christmas open house and party. We will get together with friends and future residents on Saturday, December 13, 2008 from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Dress is casual / festive. We want to encourage everyone to come out and to get to know new friends and see how far we’ve come over the past few months. Feel free to bring a friend to help us show off our new clubhouse facility. We promise to keep it light, sweet and simple. In “Epcon” speak that means simple fun, great food, and an unhurried atmosphere.

A “Tennessee Homecoming” Tailgate Party

That’s right folks; it’s still football time in Tennessee. Okay, so the Vols are off to a rough start. That’s when they need their fans the most. So, what can we do to help? How about a chance for eight lucky Vol fans to win a trip to Tennessee’s homecoming game with Wyoming on November 8th? Winners will be treated to a trip by boat to the stadium, a catered tailgate party, and some very good seats in Neyland Stadium. For your chance to win, make sure you register beginning October 24, 2008. This event is sponsored by Nancy Keith of Keller Williams Realty and the Cottages Group. For more information, please call 865-544-4348 or email cfethe@cottagesgroup.net.

Community Update

The Cottages at Governor’s Landing continues to attract today’s active adults in record numbers. It is easy to see that our community’s members are looking for a place where they belong and are a part of something special. “With commitments on a little more than 20% of the neighborhood, we could not ask for a better place to be as an active adult community developer,” says Keith Foster, Cottages Group Vice President of Sales. “Everything from the tree lined shores of the Holston River to the superb onsite amenities provides the perfect backdrop for what we believe will be an exceptional lifestyle at the Cottages at Governor’s Landing. It is no surprise why we have enjoyed such an early success. People love the area and love East Tennessee! But more importantly, they love Epcon’s idea of community.” For a chance to meet Keith Foster along with the rest of our development team, plan to attend our ribbon cutting ceremony Friday, October, 24 at 3:00 pm.

Fall Festival and Ribbon Cutting Rapidly Approaching

Get ready, set, and go! The excitement continues to build as we prepare for our official ribbon cutting ceremony at The Cottages at Governor’s Landing. Our special event is scheduled to begin Friday, October 24, at 3:00 pm. Invitations are in the mail and we are expecting a great turn out as we introduce Epcon Communities’ newest development to the Knoxville Tennessee area. Everyone is welcome. Mark your calendars and plan to come out and help us celebrate in style. We promise you will not be disappointed. In the mean time, if you have a question or need special arrangements please call 865-544-4348 or email cfethe@cottagesgroup.net.

Fall Festival and Ribbon Cutting Update

The clubhouse looks beautiful!!! Our furniture arrived on schedule and is now in place. Boy, what a difference a day makes! Everything from the rich leather sofa in the main hall, to the O’Hausen billiards table in the game and theatre room looks fabulous. We can’t wait to show off everything to our future homeowners and special guests on October 24 during our official ribbon cutting ceremony. Plan to come out as we kick off our exciting fall festival and celebration of Knoxville’s newest Epcon community. The ceremony begins at 3:00 pm.

Updates from Governors Landing

CLUBHOUSE
The Governor’s Landing clubhouse is nearing completion. Furniture, pool table and exercise equipment has been installed and the place looks great. The sales team can not wait to call it home. Our plans are to move in once we receive our certificate of occupancy later this month. Our final hurdle is getting the utilities hooked up through Knoxville Utility Board. We expect this to take place any day now.

Ribbon Cutting Update
Due to a delay in getting our utilities hooked up, our ribbon cutting ceremony has been delayed until October 24, 2008 at 3:00 pm. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend. In celebration, we will have all of or future home owners, friends and special guest in for a treat. Expect a fall festival of sorts with great food, beverages and a chance to meet our developers to learn more about their vision for the active adult Epcon lifestyle they intend to create at this community.

Model Homes Update
Is September already gone? Well, believe it or not, it is. We initially planned to begin our model homes in August in hopes of having homes well underway by now. Due to the many changes in the economic environment, we took the necessary steps to focus on completing the infrastructure (streets and utilities) and clubhouse before moving onto the next phase. Simply put, this allowed us to manage our resources, control cost, while limiting risk and exposure to our lenders. What does this mean for our future homeowners? It means that we started taking proactive steps long before the national news reported the many problems associated with the financial markets. As a result, you can be assured that our funding is secure and remains favorable as the project continues.

Cottages at Feathers Chapel August Event Calendar

Clubhouse happenings this month:
--The bridge club meets every Monday and Friday at 1pm.
--Texas Hold'em Night, every Friday at 7pm
--There is a community breakfast every Wednesday at 9am.
--Game Nights will be held on Tuesday, August 5th and Tuesday, August 26th at 6:30pm.

Join us for a Texas Hoe-Down on Saturday, August 16th starting at 6pm!

August Birthdays:
Mary Hill Dail (8/5)
Jim Street (8/16)
Carol Ann Jerrigan (8/26)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

10 House-Selling Secrets

Great article on CNN - how to stage your house to sell quickly and for the price you want! Click here to view

An update from Cottages at Governors Landing

This development located in Knoxville is moving ahead by leaps and bounds - Senior Site Superintendent Angel Maddox has the following to report: "Our cul-de-sac road is now paved and we will be starting our curbing tomorrow!"

Glad to see the end of the gravel and clay! We will keep you updated as preparations for the grand opening ceremonies continue.

FIRECalc: A different kind of retirement calculator

From The Wall Street Journal, Nov 2002:
Online Calculators
Do the Math for You

By JONATHAN CLEMENTS
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

...
[W]ith Web sites, what I particularly look for are slick calculators that can help investors make smarter decisions. At the same time, I also favor instant gratification. Forget plugging in a litany of financial information. I want quick answers. On that score, check out ...

To gauge your strategy's likely success, [FIRECalc] looks at investment returns since 1871. But the calculator doesn't use average historical rates of return. Instead, it analyzes what would have happened if you retired in 1871, in 1872, in 1873 and so on. It then calculates how often your strategy would have panned out historically.

Click here to learn more and try it for yourself!

Who is Epcon, anyway?

Here is a link to a great article about Epcon and why they do what they do!

Marketing Strategies Shift Focus From Product to Boomer Consumer

Cottages at Governors Landing Announcements!

We are breaking ground on the models at Governor's Landing and hope to have them framed by August 11th.

Governor's Landing hopes to be having their Grand Opening on September 1st, 2008. More information will be available soon!

Welcome!

Welcome to the Cottages Group blog! As an Epcon communities builder, our goal is to provide you with one remarkable experience. From the patented floor plans to the quality construction, all of our communities are designed and built with you in mind.

Each of our active adult communities consists of spacious luxury single-level condominiums with shopping, health care and restaurants located within minutes of each community. Exterior maintenance is provided, so there’s more time for you on your schedule. With three distinct locations, you can now retire to the lifestyle you deserve while surrounded by the beauty of east Tennessee.

The Cottages at Feathers Chapel is located in Bristol, Tennessee next to Tri-Cities Golf Course. The Cottages at Governor’s Landing sits on lovely bend of the Holston River in east Knoxville, and the Cottages at Pryse Farm in Farragut offers luxury living near west Knoxville.

The homes feature soaring ceilings, an open floor plan, and two car garage. The community clubhouse is an extension of your own home. A full kitchen makes it easy to prepare for parties. The bright and open sitting area is a comfortable place to relax in front of a warm fire or watch the big game on the plasma screen television. The fitness room is the perfect prescription for your wellness plan. Escape to the out of doors and enjoy the scenic mountain view by the heated swimming pool or take a walk by the lake surrounded by lush landscaping with lighted fountains.

Come check out our newest floor plans featuring single family homes at our website, www.cottagesgroup.net