Death, Divorce and Moving are the three most stressful experiences in life. There are two very different kinds of needs that people have when moving and buying a Dallas home. First, there are the transactional needs, like finding the home that is just right for them, finding a seller who is realistic, negotiating the price, filling out the paperwork, handling the escrow, and arranging for the move. Then, there are the emotional needs that are involved when moving, and this is where the biggest stress comes in. Any competent real estate agent will handle the transactional needs for you, but if your emotional needs remain unfulfilled, you’ll be frustrated and may not act in your own best interests. The ideal real estate agent is one, who is competent with paperwork and numbers but can also guide, direct, and counsel you through the emotional ups and downs of moving.

‘6 Ways To Beat The Stress Of Buying A Dallas Home.’

1. Begin with the end in mind. Have an ultimate scenario of where you’re trying to be. What will life be like when you get there? How will it be better than where you are now? Dwell on that picture and write it out, fill up at least a page about how it feels in the new place. This is imperative. Having the goal in front of you at all times energizes you to achieve it, in spite of setbacks and frustrations. Emotions will run high and you need an anchor. You too must focus on that future goal when anxiety threatens to get the better of you. (more…)
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There is much doom and gloom reported about the real estate market these days. The media makes it hard to decipher whether the doom and gloom is local or elsewhere. No, I wont get up on my soap box this time though I am very tempted. If you are thinking about buying a Dallas Fort Worth home, it is difficult to know if the time is right. There are many factors that go into a buyers decision to buy. The Dallas real estate market is NOT like the rest of the US. Here’s a list that will help you to make that decision.

Ten Top Reasons To Buy A Dallas Fort Worth Home Now

1. Plenty of home inventory to chose from.
2. No bidding wars on homes in Dallas.
3. Home sellers are welcoming offers.
4. No pressure to make really quick decisions.
5. Home inspections are welcomed. Home sellers and REALTORS® expect you to be cautious.
6. Lots of brand new homes with incredible incentives being offered by home builders.
7. You can actually negotiate with home sellers for repairs and help on closing costs.
8. No real estate investors pushing prices up.
9. Good, reliable FHA loans. No funny financing!
10. Real estate continues to be an excellent long term investment in Dallas.

According to a study by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 60 percent of a homeowner’s wealth is from the equity they have built in their home. A Federal Reserve study has shown that the average homeowner’s net worth is 46 times the net worth of the average renter.
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Have you ever wanted to tour an area before visiting in person? Maybe you’re accepting a new job and now relocating to Dallas. Leave it to Google to come up with a cool new toy that allows you to drive around the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex long before hopping on that flight into the DFW Airport.

Google Street View is a fantastic tool that allows you to do just that. You can find it on any Google Map, well, almost any. You can find it at maps.google.com or even in our map-based home search on our website. Most Google Maps mash-ups do not have this implemented but that will probably change before too long once more web developers catch on to the cool factor of Google Street View.

Almost all of the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex is available on Google Street View, though areas north of 121 in North Dallas like McKinney and Frisco are not available yet. Same is true for the areas north of 121 and 114 in the Tarrant County like Coppell, Flower Mound and Lewisville though I think this will change very soon. Check out this example of Beverly Drive in Highland Park which is just north of downtown Dallas Texas.

If you are relocating to Dallas and would like a Free Relocation Package for any of the cities that make of the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex, please do not hesitate to contact us. If you are relocating across town, like Flower Mound to Frisco and you buy a home with us, you can use our moving truck for free. Click here for more information on using our moving truck for free.

If you could sue one company to become an overnight millionaire, which would it be? Hopefully your answer was none because you are NOT a greedy person that thinks the world owes you something.

Apparently a Pittsburgh area couple’s answer was Google. They have sued Google Inc., saying a picture of their home that appears on Google Map’s Street View violates their privacy, devalued their property and has caused them mental distress.

Google’s Street View function shows street-level images of homes & businesses in quite a few places across the country. Cool, right?

This couple didn’t think so. The couple suing the Google, claim the reason they bought their home was a desire for privacy. They claim that the images of their house on the Google website included their driveway which is labeled “Private Road,” and were likely shot from that vantage point, which meant the Google photographer trespassed. So, where does the mental distress come in? What, because someone drove on your road, you had countless sleepless nights? And the depreciated home value? Do they think a picture will steal their home’s soul and therefore it’s worth less?
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You have to really start appreciating the Texas Real Estate market when Texas has four of the top twenty real estate markets. A recent article in BusinessWeek listed the best housing markets and in it, Austin-Round Rock, Beaumont-Port Aurthur, San Antonio and El Paso all made the list. Of course that is just telling most of us what we already knew. Below are the stats for those Texas markets.

Austin-Round Rock
Median home price: $188,200
One-year change: 9.67%
Five-year change: 28.82%

Beaumont-Port Arthur
Median home price: $129,100
One-year change: 9.44%
Five-year change: 33.27%

San Antonio
Median home price: $154,700
One-year change: 8.41%
Five-year change: 39.39%

El Paso
Median home price: $135,800
One-year change: 7.94%
Five-year change: 54.54%

*The price appreciation data was provided by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. Unless otherwise noted, third-quarter 2007 median home prices were supplied by the National Association of Realtors.

As if the real estate in McKinney Texas’ Stonebridge Ranch wasn’t amazing and beautiful enough, Jeffory Balckard, developer and president of The Blackard Group is developing the Adriatica at Stonebridge Ranch. This is a vision that you need to see for yourself! You may find yourself moving to McKinney Texas.

Blackard’s vision for the Adriatica comes from the harbor village of Supetara on the island of Brac in Croatia. This Mediterranean harbor town is being transported to Adriatica at Stonebridge Ranch and is estimated to cost over $250 million. So far, the “Kastel” (castle), a 28,000 square foot office building, a retail structure housing Starbucks, The UPS Store and a Spa has been completed and are open for business.

The Front of the Kastel in Adriatica

If you think the Adriatica is only for work and play, then you’re sadly mistaken. George Fuller, a local Luxury home builder in the DFW Metroplex is building a residential area in the village, with 75 villas and 297 condominiums and lofts available. The designs are beautiful and the homes will be very close to the water.

A central feature of the community that my kids will love is the village harbor and will provide a mooring place for a scale replica of an Old World sailing ship… the “Dubrovnik”. Argh!

For those of you that are not familiar with Stonebridge Ranch, it is located in McKinney, Texas in the north east corner of the DFW Metroplex. It is primarily residential with some commercial near the center. It’s an amazing place for relocation and even when the housing market is slow in the surrounding areas, it’s almost always a hot real estate market here.

Are you looking to buy a home? Did you ever wonder what $250,000 could buy you? I’m amazed at how much more home you can get here in the Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) Metroplex. Just to give you an example of what I mean, I went to the MLS and pulled up homes selling for $250k in a few different cities. Below you will find a picture of a typical home for sell at the $250k price. I tried to be fair with the home selections, enjoy! If you would like to find homes in Dallas Texas or the DFW Metroplex, please visit us at www.TexasHomeCentral.com (I hope you’ll forgive my shameless plug).

McKinney, TX (North Dallas)
$249,900
4 Bed, 3.5 Bath
3,435 Sq. Ft.
0.15 Acres
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.

Seattle, WA
$249,950
3 Bed, 1 Bath
970 Sq. Ft.
0.15 Acres
.
.
.
.

Sacramento, CA
$250,000
3 Bed, 2 Bath
1,267 Sq. Ft.
0.14 Acres
.
.
.
.

Miami, FL
$249,000
4 Bed, 2 Bath
1,008 Sq. Ft.
0.17 Acres
.
.
.
.

Denver, CO
$250,000
5 Bed, 3 Bath
2,380 Sq. Ft.
0.2 Acres
.
.
.
.
.
.

Building a new home in Dallas Fort Worth can be an exciting process. Choosing your favorite community, the best lot, your dream plan and then selecting every little detail. Not only do I have a background in new home construction with a top local home builder, I also went through the building process recently and had both good and bad experiences. I was asked by a friend how they should choose which builder to go with… Can you say loaded question?

Many people fail to realize that choosing the right new home builder is far more important than having the perfect floor plan. The wrong builder means a life filled with stress and sleepless nights while the right builder will ensure your home is built to last with relatively low stress. Notice I still said there was stress involved. It’s kind of hard to avoid stress when your dreams are in someone else’s hands combined with the fact that a home is not a perfect product! I have found that there are 5 things you can do to increase the chance of choosing the right home builder.

5 Steps to Help Choose the Right Homebuilder

There are more things you can do but in the end, go with your gut. Humans haven’t completely outgrown their animal instincts and sometimes you just know something isn’t right. Building a home is very exciting and if you choose the right builder, your home dreams can come true (sorry, that was corny). Good luck and have fun!

With so many reports across the nation detailing the decline in real estate, I was excited (dare I say, giddy?) to read the positive reports coming out of the local Dallas real estate market. I devote time everyday to reading about real estate and market trends. My goal is to provide you with accurate information to make informed decisions. The information that follows, though a dull read, is an exciting and upbeat note in the otherwise flat real estate tune.

According to a new report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, the Texas economy remains strong and is continuing to outpace the national economy, year-to-date employment growth in Texas through August 2006 was 2.7 percent (an increase of 177,300 jobs). This is more than twice the national rate and consumer sentiment is currently 62% (anything above 50% is considered healthy). With so many markets witnessing a decline in home sales for 2006, the Dallas and Fort Worth metroplex saw an increase in sales with over 116,000 pre-owned homes and over 46,000 new homes sold. The number of homes sold for $1 million or more increased 18%.

A September 2006 report by analysts at Global Insight and National City Corp. lists Dallas as the most under-valued home market in the country. Prices in the city are 21.2 percent behind the nationwide norm. Fort Worth is also on the list at -19.3 percent. This is what has and will protect Dallas and Fort Worth from any type of “Real Estate Bubble”.

According to the latest housing outlook by Fiserv Lending Solutions, the D-FW area is expected to see a 4 percent gain in home prices in 2007. Fiserv estimates that since 2001, Dallas-area home prices have risen about 17 percent, compared with more than 53 percent nationwide. They predict this steady and paced growth helps to insulate the Dallas market from price declines. James Gaines, an economist with the Texas AM University Real Estate Center expects appreciation rates across the board in the state to be at least 5 percent to 6 percent or even better.

You can see why I am excited to be part of this amazing Texas real estate market. Now I just wish that the news media would stop looking for ways to spin this positive information into negative headlines. I recently read a local newspaper article with a headline that read, “Home Sales Fall 2%”, but then went on to talk about how Dallas and Texas in general saw positive growth and showed few signs of weakening. This is what the headline should have read, “Texas Home Sales Show Few Signs of Weakening”… but that apparently doesn’t sell newspapers.

If you’re local to DFW or looking to relocate here and were waiting to see what the economy would do before buying or selling… well, now you know!