By now we’ve all heard buzz about the supposed “credit crisis,” with tales of all Dallas real estate buyers being required to put 20% to purchase a home and then still having to search to find a lender who will write a loan. It seems the press just can’t get enough of all the “misery” in the Dallas real estate industry. But is this really what is happening?

To be sure, we are in the middle of what might be considered the biggest disservice ever perpetrated on potential home buyers. The truth is that mortgage money is as available today as it was a year ago and loans are being made every day with little or no money down. Who are these lenders and where can you find one? They may be right down the street - you just have to know where to look!

Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans are making a huge impact on the mortgage industry; recent estimates show that about one out of five mortgages is an FHA loan. Although FHA loans never “went away,” their re-emergence is a result of the collapse of the sub-prime market. Technically, FHA doesn’t require a minimum credit score; in reality, however, lenders typically will not approve an FHA loan with a credit score below 500 in Dallas Texas. That is still a far cry from the notion that an 800 score is the only thing lenders care about.
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As an important follow up to my last post, I wanted to point out how strong the Dallas real estate market really is. My last post, “Dallas Home Prices Fall 4 Percent” covered the recent news from a broad view. The fact is, the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex is made up of a lot of smaller cities like Frisco, Plano, Keller and Grapevine to name just a few. Not every city saw a decrease in home prices, in fact many saw a healthy increase in home prices.

Forbes Magazine recently examined the country’s 50 largest metro areas to identify the “economically healthiest cities” and Dallas-Forth Worth, San Antonio, Austin and Houston ALL made the top 10 list. These top 10 cities are areas that Forbes considers practically “recession-proof”. The magazine studied unemployment, job-growth, home price data and metropolitan product growth. (Source: Forbes, Matt Woolsey 04/29/2008)

So while there is a slight dip in home prices, the economy is still strong and what better time to buy a new home than now? If you were a stock market pro and a home was a stock, then this would be a no-brainer. You’re buying a stock from a company that is strong and is facing continued growth. The stock price is low so now is the time to strike… okay, so that was cheesy but I think my point is clear.
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Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index, published Tuesday, reports Dallas home prices fell 4 percent in February. The slowdown in the Dallas real estate market pales in comparison to national figures where home prices averaged a decline more than 12.5 percent compared to last year. The index shows that 17 of the 20 major housing markets had record annual price declines in the period ending with February, with Las Vegas showing the largest decline. Charlotte, N.C., was the only city in Case-Shiller’s report with home price gains, though modest ones.

On a higher note, the Dallas-area had the third-lowest annual decline, behind Portland, Ore., down 2 percent, and Seattle, off 2.7 percent. Case-Shiller tracks the prices of typical single-family homes in each of the metropolitan areas and does not include condominiums and townhouses or new construction.

Dallas Fort Worth did see a few modest gains in home prices however. Collin County as a whole saw an increase in both February and March.

Remember, Dallas home price dips remain modest. If the downturn was huge then there would be a reason to fret but don’t! The boom of 2003 – 2005 caused Dallas home buyers and investors to look at real estate as a short term investment. The buy and flip mentality was prevalent and worked for a few years. But times have changed and we need to adjust our thinking, going back to long term expectations. Even with blips and occasional declines, historically home prices have appreciated. If you buy into the theory to buy low and sell high, now is definitely a good time to buy.
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It’s fun to be able to sit back and watch trends as they change in Dallas Texas. An observant Realtor in Dallas Fort Worth has a prime vantage point since we are constantly showing new and old homes as we work with home buyers.

For a number of years, new home builders in Dallas and home buyers were supersizing their new homes. Terms like McMansion became the descriptive for that newest trend. Bigger was better and more meant status. Now however the trend is changing with both Dallas home builders and home buyers. The new trend across the Dallas Metroplex is smaller homes with more efficient use of space. Forget the formals that are only used once per year.

It seems the negative headlines have done a good job in scaring sensibility into home buyers. The housing market in Dallas is not bad, in fact it’s very good but you’d never know that by reading the newspaper headlines. Regardless, home buyers decided not to stop buying but instead buy more frugally. Smaller homes cost less to buy and less to maintain. As an added bonus, Dallas will be a little greener.
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It seems like everywhere I turn these days, every day products and services I use in Dallas are “going green.” Who knew Dallas Real Estate was going green too! Now, with so many ways available to help the environment, it may be overwhelming to figure out exactly how you as a Dallas homeowner can make changes.

This article from RealEstateJournal.com details five ways homeowners can add “green” upgrades to their home, saving money and increasing their homes’ values at the same time. Below is the list of suggestions, check out the article for full descriptions of each item:

• Washers that save energy and water
• Toilets that conserve water
• No-VOC paints
• Smart thermostat applications
• Low-flow faucets and shower heads

To learn more about owning a Dallas Fort Worth home or other Dallas real estate, please visit TexasHomeCentral.com, or call me at 800-326-9011. I would love to show you how we can help find you that “green” dream home in Dallas Texas.

I recently wrote a post about how to use a house value report. In that post I briefly mentioned using one for determining the value of your home improvement projects. Since writing that article, I have received a lot of requests for more information about this. Understanding the true return on your home improvement investment is mostly science with a little art mixed in.

Before you start a project, there are 3 steps to determining the value of your home improvements.

1. Step One - Find a good Dallas area Realtor that really knows your area or hire a professional appraiser. An appraiser is expensive (around $300) but will be more accurate than a Realtor. Plus, many Realtors have never done a TRUE comparative market report, opting only to compare bedrooms, bathrooms and square footage so they do not understand the intricacies that go into this science called an “Appraisal”.
2. Step Two - Have your Realtor or appraiser prepare a comparative market analysis or full appraisal to determine the value of your home compared to other homes in your neighborhood. Once that first appraisal is completeld, have them provide a second house value report comparing your home with future home improvements to homes in your neighborhood with those same improvements.
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Thanks to increasingly tightening credit standards and rising interest rates, there has been a lot of buzz about the startling increase in foreclosure rates across America and the Dallas Fort Worth area.

Many Dallas Fort Worth home owners think it cannot or will not happen to them, but what would you do if you were actually faced with the prospect of foreclosure? It is important to know the “lingo” of lenders and understand what the options are so that you can make an informed decision on the best way to move forward in a stressful situation such as foreclosure.

This article from FreddieMac.com is a good resource that defines the terms associated with foreclosure and walks through the steps to take if you think you may soon be unable to pay your mortgage. Among the topics covered in this helpful article:

• What to do if you can not pay your mortgage
• What if you can no longer afford to keep your home
• Beware of scam artists

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Every day, we receive over a dozen requests for a free house value report for homes across Dallas Fort Worth (strangely enough, a large percentage are for house values in Frisco and Keller Texas… does that mean something? huh). The vast majority of the house value requests are for home owners thinking about selling their home. They want to see what their Dallas Home would potentially sell for compared to what they own it for. Did you know that this is only one of many examples of how a free house value report or comparative market analysis (aka CMA) can be used?

Here Are 5 Ways To Use a Dallas House Value Report aka CMA

1. Selling Your Dallas Home- The first and most obvious way to use the free comparative market analysis that you receive from Texas Home Central is to compare your home against other homes that have sold in your neighborhood. I wont go into too much detail here since this one is pretty obvious. What I would like to add here is that an “automated CMA” is not enough to give you a clear picture of what your home will sell for. Sometimes you will get a false sense of value and be too high or too low by thousands of dollars. Price too high and people will not bother looking at your home, too low and people will think something is wrong with your home and try to negotiate you even lower or again, not even visit. It’s imperative that a professional that knows the real estate market take the time to do a deeper analysis, comparing more that just bedrooms, bathrooms and square footage. A good agent will also compare lot size and location, upgrades, home features as well as what other homes have that your home may not have. (more…)
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It’s smart to take advantage of all of the free mortgage calculators available on the web when deciding to buy a new home in Dallas Fort Worth. When deciding to buy a new home, most home buyers work backwards. They start by looking at homes, then get pre-approved for a home and many times find out that they can’t get approved for the homes they spent months looking at and visiting.

Ideally, a home buyer should first create a budget to determine what mortgage payments they can afford comfortably and still have money left for savings. Once you know your budget and have a monthly mortgage payment in mind. You can use our mortgage payment calculator to determine how much home you can afford within your bedget. You should then contact a lender like our very own Texas Mortgage Team to get pre-approved for a home mortgage. I don’t mean pre-qualified… they are not the same thing. Pre-qualified just means that a lender says IF you make what you say you do and IF your credit is as good as you say it is, THEN you are qualified up to a certain dollar amount. No one pulls your credit and that letter is really quite worthless. A pre-approval is when your credit is pulled and a lender is willing to stand behind you and say, “This buyer IS qualified AND approved to buy this home”.
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McKinney Texas has been growing rapidly and the developers have done an amazing job in keeping the area beautifully laid out. Below is a list of changes that have been made since January 1st of this year.

John and Judy Gay Library at Gabe Nesbitt Park in McKinney, located along the South side of Eldorado Parkway and East of Alma Road.

Collin County Community College District, 125,000 Square Foot Education Facility, located along the North side of Spur 399 and West of Medical Center Drive in McKinney Texas.

Baylor Medical Center at McKinney, on approximately 57.75 Acres of Real Estate in McKinney, located on the Northwest corner of F.M. 1461 (Lake Forest Drive) and U.S. Highway 380 (University Drive).

Cornerstone Worship Center, 17,615 Square Foot Worship Center, on approximately 12 Acres of Real Estate, located North of Wilmeth Road and along the East side of C.R. 943 in McKinney.
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