Dallas Housing is still a Bargain

From the Dallas Morning News...

The annual price report says houses in Dallas cost about 28 percent less than the national average for similar houses. Here is the full story...

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/092707dnbushomepricereport.110ab686c.html

Dallas Area to Dodge price declines

Dallas will probably dodge home price declines as a result of the housing shakeout, a new forecast predicts.

Moody's Economy.com predicts that the Dallas area will gain about 3 percent in home prices while most other U.S. cities will see declines over the next couple of years. Here are the top markets for home price declines:

1. Stockton, Calif., -25%
2. Palm Bay, Fla., -24.9%
3. Sarasota, Fla., -24.8%
4. Reno, Nev., -22.4%
5. Modesto, Calif., -22.3%
6. Detroit, -21.3%
7. Fresno, Calif., -20%
8. Oxnard, Calif., -19.2%
9. Sacramento, -19.1%
10. Las Vegas, -18.7%

The latest residential outlook from Moody's Economy.com says more than three-fourths of U.S. housing markets will suffer drops in prices.
But the Dallas area will continue to see modest gains in median home prices, the research firm predicts.
Moody's anticipates that nationwide, home prices will fall by almost 8 percent by the time the housing downturn bottoms out.
But prices are forecast to keep rising by about 3 percent in Dallas over the next couple of years, says Moody's researcher Ed Friedman. Other Texas cities, including Houston, Austin and San Antonio, may also avoid home price declines.
"Texas does so well for a variety of reasons," Mr. Friedman said. "It didn't have as much of a big housing boom, so less of a bust.
"More important, the overall Texas economy, metro by metro, is doing better than the U.S. as a whole," he said.
Brownsville and Harlingen top the nationwide list of cities Moody's anticipates will see housing appreciation in the next two years, with prices expected to rise almost 8 percent. Killeen is next in line, with a forecast of 4.6 percent price gains.

Moody's forecast calls for the Fort Worth area to see about a 2 percent drop in home sales prices.


Moody's forecast for Dallas home prices is consistent with other recent upbeat reports.
An August report from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight found that home prices in the Dallas area were up about 5 percent at midyear compared with the second quarter of 2006.

10 Remdoling Projects with the Biggest Payoff

Great article to find out the smartest way to add value yo your home...

https://www.lowesrealtorbenefits.com/newsletter/pdf/082007.pdf

20 Things That Can Alter the Value of Your House

This came from Yahoo Finance and I wanted to pass it on....

http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/103338/20-Things-That-Can-Alter-the-Value-of-Your-Home#1

YTD Real Estate Statistics Through July

Total number of active listings are up 8% from last year.

Total number of homes under contract are down 4% from last year.

Total number of sales is down 4% from last year.

Here is the link for the full report...

http://recenter.tamu.edu/mls/ntreis/jul07/table1YTD.html

Do Your Really Need Title Insurance?

Do You Really Need Title Insurance?

When a home is purchased, title insurance is one of the closing cost items on the closing statement. This insurance protects the buyer from defects in the title that are not discovered until after the closing. There are two kinds of title insurance--coverage that protects the lender for the balance of the mortgage if the buyers have a loan, and coverage that protects the buyers' equity in the property.

It is prudent to purchase owners' coverage because most of the title problems that arise after a closing are not from a sloppy title search, but are the result of inaccurate information in the public records. The ownership chain goes back a long way, and fraud or misrepresentation anywhere in the chain could mean big problems. Title insurance will protect you if a wife or husband did not properly sign off on the ownership papers or if the property was sold as part of an estate that was later disputed.

Most people do not have to deal with the title insurance company after the closing, but this coverage could save your investment if a problem arises.

First-time home buyers throughout Tarrant County can tap into a $15 million home mortgage program starting Thursday that helps cover down payments and closing costs.
The program is also available to people who have not bought a house in the last three years.
The home loans, however, must be generated between Thursday and Oct. 1, 2008, by eight mortgage lenders that can draw from the pool administered through the Tarrant County Housing Finance Corp., county officials said.
"This helps young families that don't have the savings to get into their first home," said Patricia Ward, the county's community development director. "It's important to maintain stable communities through homeownership."
The Single Family Mortgage Revenue Bond Program offers several advantages, including:
Low interest rates. The county mortgages are all for 30 years at a fixed interest rate of 6.38 percent, Ward said. That's below the market interest rate of about 6.75 percent, said Judith Smith, one of the participating lenders.
Financial help. Home buyers are given a closing cost and down payment assistance grant of 4.5 percent of the loan, said Brian Cramer, the county's assistant community development director. On a $100,000 loan, for example, the buyer would receive $4,500.
Low down payments. The required down payment is generally between 1 percent and 3 percent of the home's cost, Cramer said. The down payment for a regular market mortgage can range from nothing to 20 percent and sometimes more, Smith said.
To be eligible, a family of two can earn no more than $63,400; a family of three or more, $72,910. And the homes cannot be valued at more than $237,031, officials said.
Residents in Arlington and Grand Prairie are not eligible because those cities don't participate, Ward said. To assist qualified first-time home buyers in Arlington, the Arlington Housing Finance Corp. has been issuing bonds since 1997. Last year the corporation backed $8 million.
The Tarrant County program was last offered in 2005, Ward said. Since then, 111 families have participated. The program is typically offered once every two years, she said.
Grapevine real estate agent Barbara Nunn said she will present the program to her first-time home buyers.
"It will definitely make Grapevine more affordable," she said.
For more information, call 817-850-7940 or go to www.tarrantcounty.com.
Staff writers Patrick McGee and Susan Schrock contributed to this report.
Home loans
The mortgage companies participating in the program with the Tarrant County Housing Finance Corp.:
Countrywide Home Loans, www.countrywide.com
Home Loan Corp., www.homeloancorp.com
Judith O. Smith Mortgage, www.josmg.com
NTFN, www.ntfn.com
WR Starkey Mortgage, www.wrstarkey.com
DHI Mortgage Co., www.dhimortgage.com
Market Street Mortgage Corp.,
www.marketstreetmortgage.com
CTX Mortgage Co., www.ctxmort.com
Source: First Southwest Co.

Cowboy's Stadium Arches Begin To Rise-See the video

Here is the link to the Star-Telegram site that has the video.....

http://www.star-telegram.com/330/story/156360.html

Kennedale to Develop New Town Center

KENNEDALE -- When you're inviting guests, you want to spruce up the place and then put forth your best hospitality.
That's what Kennedale city officials have been focusing on as they work to get the city on the radar screen of developers; they see a new TownCenter project as the ticket to get it there.
In early May, a few dozen commercial real estate brokers from throughout Tarrant County attended an informal gathering in the community room of Kennedale's new city library, in what can best be described as a come-out-and-get-to-know-us meeting.
The brokers enjoyed a catered Mexican food lunch from Angelo's, one of the few restaurants in Kennedale, a city of 6,150 nestled between Arlington and Fort Worth along Interstate 20. They heard brief remarks from several city officials, including Mayor Bryan Lankhorst and economic development director Mike Soab.
Within a couple of weeks, Lankhorst and Soab were among a contingent of Kennedale representatives who traveled to Las Vegas to hawk the city to retailers and developers at the retail industry's massive International Council of Shopping Centers trade show, where representatives from the country's largest cities flock in an attempt to attract businesses and developers.
Lankhorst said he has received several inquiries from interested developers from their Las Vegas appearance.
Getting Kennedale noticed is getting easier to do now that a multiyear project to rebuild and widen Kennedale Parkway, also referred to as U.S. Business 287, the city's main thoroughfare, from a rural two-lane road to a four-lane thoroughfare with a turning lane, is completed, the men said.
Moreover, city officials have caught on to the "new urbanism" phenomenon that is crossing the nation, making Kennedale even more attractive to developers who want to be able to mix zoning uses, such as houses and shops, on a single parcel.
Fixing the road "has taken away one of the objections standing in our way," Soab said. "Roads are very important to developers. The city wouldn't have had a chance in the world of doing any of this the old way."
Earlier this year, the city's Economic Development Corp. bought nearly 3 vacant acres off Kennedale Parkway that lie between its municipal buildings -- the library, senior center, police station and City Hall. Plans are to spend about $500,000, collected from a half-cent sales tax, to develop a plaza and park area to be called Kennedale TownCenter.
It will feature a walking trail, water feature, gazebo, clock tower and picnic tables, and will serve as the city's core. As soon as a project manager is hired, construction will begin, Soab said. It should be completed by this time next year.
"Town center is a misnomer a lot of times because developers call everything town centers," Soab said. "A town center to me is the new urbanism concept, which is really old urbanism where people live, work, play, eat, relax and share community in close proximity."
Southlake, Keller and Colleyville have town centers that include office, single-family units, stores and shops.
The Economic Development Corp. will add to its holdings in early July when it closes a deal to buy 4 acres adjacent to the TownCenter. It is home to a 50,000-square-foot strip center with a Dollar General and Surplus Warehouse. City officials, though, will be sending proposal requests to developers soliciting ideas on how to redevelop the area with residences, shops and restaurants.
Soab said he wants to attract businesses that provide goods and services that Kennedale residents have never had. For example, there are no professionals, such as doctors and dentists, in Kennedale, he said, and the city also lacks a grocery.
A 2005 retail study conducted by Buxton Co. of Fort Worth shows that there are $1.1 billion worth of retail transactions within a seven-minute drive of Kennedale City Hall.
"We're capturing almost nothing of that," Soab said.
Nita Wilson, president of Kennedale's Economic Development Corp., said that residents have told her they will shop in Kennedale if there are places to do so, and that the city needs to be proactive in attracting retailers.
"If you take pride in your town, you want to support businesses there," Wilson said. "We don't want to be left behind. We need to take advantage of the growth surrounding us."
Kennedale covers only about 6.5 miles, and its retail growth can only come on the south side of Kennedale Parkway, Soab said.
Half the city, or the land on the north side of Kennedale Parkway, is primarily residential. Soab said home builders have about 500 lots in the pipeline. Projections are that Kennedale could triple in population, he said.
But south of Kennedale Parkway is just the opposite. It is underdeveloped, with stagnant growth, yet offers the best opportunities for commercial development, Soab said.
"We're growing residentially," he said. "We're never going to be 100,000 people; we're going to be a small community. But what we're missing are the goods and service you normally find in a community."

April Real Estate Statistics Are in For Our Area..

You can access the sales info for North Texas at...

http://recenter.tamu.edu/mls/ntreis/apr07/table1YTD.html