You just dropped your youngest child off at college and have officially joined the ranks of the empty nesters. One of the first questions that usually comes to mind is should we downsize our Dallas home. The kids are gone and we probably don’t need this big house. But is buying a smaller home right for you?

There are pros and cons to downsizing. Consider your finances and lifestyle before making a decision.

Reasons not to downsize your Dallas home:

• You want a place for your children and grandchildren to stay when they visit. The family is spread all across the country and you want to have a place for everyone to gather for the holidays and vacations.
• You can’t bear to part with your cherished belongings. You have been in your current home for many years and have filled it to the gills with mementos you don’t want to part with.
• You aren’t you emotionally ready to leave? You are not ready to pack up and leave a lifestyle you worked hard to create. Leaving family, friends and familiar surroundings is more than you can bear.
• You enjoy the prestige that goes along with your luxurious home. A smaller home will not portray the correct image of success.

Reasons to downsize your Dallas home:

• The lower house payments that accompany a smaller home would give you more discretionary funds to travel and enjoy other recreational activities.
• A smaller homes means less to maintain and more time to play.
• You or your spouse, are not able to navigate the stairs like you use to and a single level home is more desirable.
• A smaller, newer home is more efficient, costs less for utilities and is better for the environment.
• You need to be closer to a spouse or parent who is in a nursing home?

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We live in troubling times. Many Dallas homeowners are having difficulty paying for their homes. The number of foreclosures rise each month and it looks like things will get worse before they get better.

Most Dallas homeowners who are behind on mortgage payments aren’t as lucky as Ed McMahon, the longtime sidekick of comedian Johnny Carson. Ed McMahon has been battling off foreclosure for months after defaulting on a $4.8 million mortgage from Countrywide Financial Corp. Then along comes Donald Trump to save the day! Donald Trump told the Los Angeles Times he will buy Ed McMahon’s six-bedroom home in Beverly Hills and allow McMahon to live in it.

A Donald Trump bailout is great news for Ed McMahon, but what about Dallas homeowners who are struggling with mortgage payments? How do we avoid foreclosure? Here are HUDs Top 10 tips to Avoid Foreclosure:

If you have you received a notice from your lender asking you to contact them?

• Don’t ignore the letters from your lender
• Contact your lender immediately
• Contact a HUD-approved Housing Counseling Agency
• Toll FREE (800) 569-4287
• TTY (800) 877-8339

If you are unable to make your mortgage payment:

1. Don’t ignore the problem.

The further behind you become, the harder it will be to reinstate your loan and the more likely that you will lose your house.
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Existing-home sales rose from the first quarter in 13 states, largely from buyers responding to discounted home prices, according to the latest quarterly survey by the National Association of Realtors®. Nearly one-quarter of metropolitan areas showed rising home prices in the second quarter from a year ago, with greatly mixed conditions continuing around the country.  

NAR (National Association of REALTORS) President Richard Gaylord, said foreclosures are distorting the price data. “In many areas with large concentrations of foreclosure sales, homes are being purchased below replacement cost values,” Gaylord said. “Many buyers with long-term expectations are getting exceptional value in the current market. Once the inventory is drawn down, price pressure will return because the costs of construction are rising - today’s buyers are very well positioned to build wealth over time.” National Association of Realtors®

Let’s take a look at Dallas real estate sales statistics to understand whet is happening locally.

Active listings this July dropped 17% compared to July 2007 with the number of homes sold down 11%. Available inventory increased 5%. The median and averages sales prices remained the same and increased 3%, respectively.
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You’ve probably seen lots of financial arguments about why you should invest in Dallas real estate and own your own home rather than rent. This includes budgeting (no rent increases) and the tax savings you’ll most likely have. Now we’re going to give you some reasons you probably haven’t heard.

1. Freedom to pursue other goals in life once the major goal of home ownership is achieved.

   Strange as it sounds, many of our first-time buyers have told us that once they bought the house, other things in their life started to fall into place. It’s as if not owning took so much of their mental energy that other goals were not worked on until that big goal was reached. So buy a home and get on with your life!

2. A greater sense of belonging to the community.

Once you own a home, you feel more attached to the city in which you live. You’re more interested in what happens in Dallas, to the roads, schools, and shopping areas. Some people even become involved in local politics.

3. A commitment to something, a sense of stability.

   Home ownership is an anchor, something that cannot be pulled out from under you. You’ll never get a notice that you have to move. You’re kids will never have to change schools. It gives you freedom to plan years ahead. Read the rest of this entry »

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“Location, Location, Location.” We hear it all the time in the real estate world and many assume that location is the most important criteria to buyers when purchasing a new home. But what is it really that determines why one property sells more quickly than another?

Price. Having the right price was the most important factor in deciding on one home over another, according to 2/3 of the respondents of a recent poll conducted by the National Association of Realtors.

Sellers agreed on the importance of the right price. “Getting the price right” was and is one of the most frequently cited challenges for sellers who are not represented by a Realtor®.

Other factors that were included in the poll were – no surprise – location, but also condition of the property, staging, and upgrades.

If you are interested in learning about Dallas TX real estate prices and are thinking about selling your home, you may request your free house value report by clicking here.

If you are a home buyer and want to know more about home prices in any city or neighborhood, please feel free to call me at 972-562-0896. I am always happy to help!

Not so long ago helping the environment meant recycling plastic and newspapers, but today it has evolved into “green” thinking and extends to our homes and our living environments.

According to a recent NAR survey, nine out of 10 Realtors® said their clients are interested in energy efficient features of green homes and the potential cost savings of such features. An overwhelming 90 percent agreed there will be even more interest in green building practices a year from now.

Results of a Harris Interactive poll by Move, Inc. show potential home buyers consider “green” building features more important than luxury amenities. Almost half of the adults surveyed (49 percent) said features such as solar panels or energy-saving appliances were “important,” compared to just 31 percent who rated luxury amenities important.
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Dallas home buyers don’t buy a house thinking they will lose it to foreclosure farther down the road. But poor buying decisions lead to difficulty when you are ready to turn around and sell. What do I mean by this…making the bad decision to buy a home on a major road even though the price was a steal? Or foregoing a home inspection because the sellers seemed like nice people and said there were no problems with the house.

Many Dallas homes buyers study the market; ask questions, hire pros, yet even so, some are headed into foreclosure before the ink is dry on the deed.

Here are About.com’s 10 fool-proof ways you can, without meaning to, set yourself up to fail at home ownership:

1. Attending No Money Down Seminars
Start by calling that toll-free phone number to make a reservation. Then sit through a three-hour sales pitch for books, tapes, CDs and specially discounted services hawked by seminar gurus who most likely never bought or sold a piece of real estate in their lives but are getting rich off the backs of their naïve audience. Then go out and make dozens of lowball offers that get rejected until you find a seller who will carry all the financing at 18% interest with a 3-year balloon payment.

If you stop and think about it, if the tactics they teach at these seminars actually worked, every real estate agent in existence grabbing up the good deals and getting rich quick.
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You have probably heard, last week President signed into law the Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act. This is the most comprehensive housing bill to be enacted in over a decade. The bill is designed to help more buyers of Dallas real estate realize their dreams, as well as, boast the struggling housing and mortgage markets.

One of the biggest benefits, and probably one of the most talked about provisions in this legislation, is the $7,500 tax credit to first time home buyers. Tax breaks are all well and good, but they have to be paid for somehow. While first time home buyers are getting a break, second home sellers will be paying for the $15.1 million dollars in tax cuts.

Up until the new legislation went into effect last week, homeowners could exclude up to $250,000 taxable profit on the sale of their home if they’re single taxpayers and $500,000 if married filing joint returns. The catch being, they had to live the in house as their primary residence for two of the five years before it is sold.
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President Bush signed into law this week The Housing and Economic Recovery Act. This is the most sweeping change to housing reform since the New Deal of 1934. It is designed to assist more Americans invest in home ownership and shore up the faltering housing and mortgage markets. Like any legislation, it comes with the good and the bad. I encourage you to write your Congressmen to see if we can get legislation to revoke some of the bad. For example, effective October 1, 2008, FHA will increase the minimum required down payment from 3% to 3.5% for Dallas home buyers. The legislation also calls for the elimination of seller down-payment assistance programs such as AmeriDream and Nehemiah by October 1, 2008.

As of July 14, 2008, upfront MIP premiums became risk-based on credit scores and the annual premium increased across the board. Instead of the original plan of making FHA loans more affordable for potential Dallas home buyers; the new legislation is doing the exact opposite and makes it more expensive.

Details of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act:
Here are some key provisions of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act that most affect Dallas home buyers:
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If you love to run… or just prefer to watch others do it, then join us, this Saturday, August 9th, at the third annual McKinney Historical Run. This event is a 5K for runners or walkers. The course takes you on relatively easy terrain through McKinney Historical District, beginning at the Old Library. Click here to view the map!

Come and bring your family to join the McKinney community, enjoying free snacks and music after the race. The first 200 people to enter the race get a t-shirt. It’s not too late to register! On-site registration is $20. Check-in is at 221 N. Tennessee, McKinney, TX. The gun goes off at 7:30am, so they recommend that you arrive prior to 7:00am. For more event information visit the event website at McKinneyHistoricalRun.com.

There are twelve divisions ranging from 9 and under to 70+. Each division will have awards given to the winners of each division, as well as awards to the overall male and female winners. This is a great event to bring the whole family to in McKinney.

Part of the proceeds of the race will go to Michael Helms, a teacher and coach at McKinney High School. He is experiencing medical complications that leave him unable to work and support his family. If you are unable to attend the event, the website provides information on how to make donations for the Helms’ family.

Who knew that you could have fun and help others in your McKinney community at the same time?