No matter what the condition of the housing market, purchasing a Dallas home is a major commitment and a vital financial decision. A home is much more than a financial investment; it is an investment in a new lifestyle and a new way of looking at property. Those who are unprepared to make the leap from renting to Dallas home ownership can make some costly mistakes, and learning to avoid those blunders is vital.

Think With Your Head Not Your Heart
One of the most common mistakes made by first time home buyers is allowing emotion to rule the day. Although buying a home can be an emotional process, there are some things home buyers can do to prevent emotional ties from getting in the way of sound financial discipline. 

While it is all too easy to picture your family relaxing in the backyard of a new home, take a step back and look at the home with the eyes of an investor. Pretend for a moment that you are not going to live in the house but are buying it as a pure investment. Is it still just as attractive, or has it lost some of its appeal? Emotional attachment is fine, but it should not overrule your good judgment.
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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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