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How's the Market in Plano?
2008-05-07 15:13:00
Inventory, New Listings and Days on Market Stats come out on the the 8th of each month for the previous month. That's tomorrow - but let's look at these charts today to get a bearing on what's happened in the last year.  So here's some Altos charts regarding the market in Plano for single family homes and all zip codes from an historical point of view. You can see from this chart when the market started changing - last Sept. but you have to take into consideration that's typically when the market slows down too. Inventory is around 400 units off from last June, that's substantial.  Even when the selection of homes is lower it does make pristine homes more valuable, even in a buyers market. New listings are down more than 50% - so if your targeting a certain neighborhood your choices could be limited.  This is good for every seller, less competition... It's going to take about a month longer to sell your home from last year.   In this market ...

Buying Online
2008-05-06 17:28:00
Buying Online is Efficient and Private It's becoming more the norm that people are buying homes online. Here's a note from a seller we just received: Dear Mr. Smith, "Thank you for bringing me a very good buyer. Hope we have the chance to work again in the near future." Thanks Shelia This particular buyer bought in two weeks!  Now that's unusually fast but it does happen. Most online buyers are either immediate or 3-6 months out. Usually buyers search for homes, call or email from Plano Homes and Land. There are many ways to start your hunt.  Some buyers will ask to see properties that they have selected.  Sometimes we set up a separate search from the MLS to specially target needs. With the MLS TAX mapping capabilities we can edit out bad locations without even going to see the properties, see more in photo above - you can also get the Solds and Pendings on the Microsoft Virtual Earth. Then take a google street view for a close in look. When bu...
More About: Buying

New Listings 75093
2008-05-05 18:24:00
New Listings 75093 Lots of good eye candy this week. These listings are the freshest in West Plano, from the last 7 days. There are 25 brand new properties, prices are from 159.9K to 5.4 Mil.  Most are in the community of Willow Bend. Here's the list. Subdivisions include: Willow Bend Country, Creeks of Willow Bend, Willow Bend Lakes, King Court of Willow Bend, Lakeside on Preston, Willow Bend North, Shepards Glen, Parkbrooke and more... [where:75093, Plano, New Listings]

What's Your Walk Score?
2008-05-05 08:00:00
Forget about the car and just walk... With gas prices here to stay wouldn't it be nice not to have to drive! So here's a new tech tool that rates how walkable your neighborhood is. Dallas is a lot like LA, it's very spread out, so NO car is really NOT an option. But if you live at The Shops at Legacy and work at EDS, you really don't need a car.  Take a look at walk score, it's fun, not always right but gives you an idea of what the available amenities and life styles are offered in any U.S. neighborhood.  Something else to bookmark. Shops at Legacy is the starting point on this walk score. var ws_address = "5800 Legacy Drive Plano, TX 75024"; var ws_width = "450"; [where:75093, Plano, Shops at Legacy]
More About: Score , Walk

What You'll See in Plano
2008-05-04 22:28:00
Horses, Highways, Houses and Shiny New Buildings If you wonder what Plano is like, here's a typical site in West Plano.  Still open land, this is at Corporate and the tollway on JCPenney property.  Beautiful horses and their foals, about 25 horses and 10 babies, I think we kind of take this for granted.  In the distance is the Dallas North Tollway and Shops of Legacy - a stones throw away.  Just so you know there are lots of SUV's and pick up trucks too but most the cowboys are in Ft. Worth. [where:75093, Plano, Shops at Legacy]

Open Houses for Sunday
2008-05-03 20:09:00
Open Houses Sunday - 75093 Here's the Customer Open House list for Sunday May 4th. 14 properties in West Plano include the subdivisions of: Windhaven, Hills at Prestonwood, Preston Ridge, Willow Bend Estates, Willow Bend Lakes, Creeks of Willow Bend, Lakeside on Preston and the gated Cliffs of Gleneagles. Times and locations are available with a photo, brief description and stats about each property.  All info is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Enjoy the nice cool weather and your open house tour! [where:75093, Open Houses]
More About: Open

Friday Foreclosures
2008-05-02 09:06:00
Foreclosures in West Plano Friday again! And Fridays are for Foreclosures. List for this week is West Plano Zip Codes 75093 and 75024. This report has the cumulative days on market - you can see there are new ones as well as properties that have been on the market - a long time.  Like 387 days... You can base your offer on this info but be sure to check the house out thoroughly - it's probably going to need a lot of work. There are 24 properties in this PDF file and neighborhoods include: Willow Bend, Shops at Legacy, Hills at Prestonwood, Cypress Creek, King Ridge, Indian Creek, Shoal Creek and more... DallasHomesCenter has lists on Fridays as well for various zip codes inside the loop.  And due to the market and the amount of foreclosures watch for luxury neighborhoods in Frisco to be available in the near future. Have a great weekend and remember all info is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. [where:75093, 75024, Foreclosures]
More About: Foreclosures

ATTN: Seller's Charge Your Broker for the Listing
2008-05-01 19:22:00
The Truth about Home Searches and Real Estate Online Got your attention...read on... Let me ask you a question? When you go look for real estate online - where do you go? Might be Realtor.com. Zillow, Trulia, Remax or many other brokers site. The truth is if you are looking at a national site nobody has all the listings, except the brokers who are actually licensed to buy and sell real estate. Even then you are probably going to get their listings first, before you see other brokers listings. Might be wrong on that but just a hunch. Now I love all the new web 2.0 technology, like demographic info, mapping, Zestimates etc. What I'm talking about is just really being able to get the best and most information about a property with the fewest clicks. For example, Trulia only has one photo then you are redirected to the broker or agent site.  But the community info, street views and walk the neighborhood are awesome. Realtor.com used to be the only game in town, even th...
More About: Charge , Listing , Broker

Plano May Flowers
2008-04-30 21:20:00
May Flowers Photo by: SKWomack All the rain is giving us an awesome spring, despite the rough weather. Photo by: SKWomack [where:75093, Plano , May flowers]

Plano ISD Bond Election and What it Will Cost You
2008-04-29 16:53:00
How Much Will Plano ISD Bond Program Cost ? Texas has some of the highest property taxes in the nation mainly because we have no state or city income tax. So big brother collects it in property taxes, you pay either way.... Last year the Texas Legislature lowered our property taxes considerably. In Plano rates went for 2.25% to 2.06%, that's a nice chuck of change for everyone. Most of you know that a large portion of your taxes go toward schools. If you read between the lines last year, when taxes were lowered all school districts were going to hold bond elections to make up for the difference. Plano ISD Bond Package So without fail came the Plano Proud bulletin to ask district voters to consider a $490 million bond proposal on May 10th. See the complete package here. How it Affects Plano Real Estate Taxes Will it raise my property taxes? How Much? Yes, it will raise your property taxes, according to the brochure no more than eight cents over the life of the bonds.  Sou...
More About: Election

Coming Home and New Listings
2008-04-28 08:00:00
Coming Home and New Listings Photo by SKWomack Last week I was out of town and my sister took this photo on the way back home. Clear blue skies above all the nasty weather Texans have had this month.  It's always a good feeling to come home, especially when your back is sore from not being in a familiar bed. Looking out the window there's a certain peace knowing you're going home. Of course, Southwest is like home too because of their service, seems like everyone is always happy!  That's a good thing and so is the $39. online fare. So whether your coming back to your old diggs or looking for a new place to call home, here are the new listings for 75093.  There are 26 brand new listings hot off the MLS in a favorite neighborhood near you. Check it out here. New listings are posted for various Plano zip codes on Mondays so check back often for up to date real estate info and data. [where:75093, new listings]

Open Houses for Sunday
2008-04-26 17:58:00
Open Houses in 75093 - 4-27 Open houses for this week are in Hills at Prestonwood, Creeks of Willow Bend, Meadows of Willow Bend, Willow Bend West, Willow Bend Estates, Glenhollow Estates and Windhaven.  Times and location are available from the link with a brief description and photo.  All these properties are in excellent locations. Enjoy the tour! [where:75093, open houses]
More About: Open , Sunday

The Perfect Amaryllis
2008-04-26 08:33:00
Here's an Amaryllis that started out as 1 bulb, if the ground doesn't freeze in winter it can stay in the ground and the bulb multiplies - this one is two years old, must like it's home...it's had a lot of babies. Pretty picture for Saturday.
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Friday's Foreclosures - 75023 and 75025
2008-04-25 09:00:00
Foreclosures in Plano - 75023 and 75025 This week went fast..this weeks foreclosure list is for zip codes - 75025 and 75023. Subdivisions include: Independence Village Chase Oaks Village Cross Creek Estates of Forest Creek Whiffletree Ridgeview Ranch Many foreclosures are sold AS-IS, what this means is no repairs will be made to the property, make sure you include this into your budget and have an inspection to reveal other issues that could effect your purchase price. [where:75025,75023, foreclosures]
More About: Foreclosures

1st Quarter Real Estate Results for Plano
2008-04-22 22:50:00
More Plano Data Needless to say we get a lot of  blast emails on real estate marketing and truth be known I don't open that many, sound familiar?  Anyway, a couple days ago I received a great report on 1st quarter results for all of North Texas from Shannon at Chicago Title. Thanks, Shannon. Despite the double digit sale decreases all over the metro area, Plano stands out as one of the communities that is doing better than the rest. Take a look. Sales are down 11% and average sales price down just $4K, Days on market is reasonable (under 100 days) for $300K and under and that's what is selling in Plano.  Not unusual to only see good properties on the market less than 7 days. Congrats to those sellers! As you can see the inventory is lower or not that much greater than last year except for over $750K. With the inventories tighter seller's will see properties move quicker in prime locations. I'm posting a lot of data lately because that's what our clien...
More About: Estate , Real Estate , Results , Real

New Listings in 75093 - 4-21
2008-04-21 17:21:00
New Real Estate Listings in West Plano Every week Plano Homes and Land posts brand new listings for the past 7 days. There a 22 new properties this week in 75093.  Prices are from $169.5K to over 1 million. Neighborhoods include: Preston Ridge, Hills at Prestonwood, Glenhollow Estates, Glen Meadows, Stone Lake Estates, Parkbrooke, Castlemere, Windhaven, Lakeside on Preston and Willow Bend Polo. [where: 75093, plano, new listings]

Open Houses for Sunday Plano, TX 75093
2008-04-20 03:47:00
Open Houses for Sunday 4-20 Excuse me, I'm a little late in posting the open houses for Sunday.  I usually post early Sat. morning but it was a busy real estate day today!  So without further delay here's the open house customer report for 75093. Info is deemed reliable but not guaranteed and if the weather is as pretty Sunday as it was today - it's perfect to start the hunt!  Enjoy. [where: 75093, plano, open houses]
More About: Open , Plano

Dallas Real Estate Monthly Indicators
2008-04-19 01:30:00
Latest Real Estate Activity Belonging to the Collin County Association of Realtors does have its benefits.  Each month around the 18th we receive info on month and year to date activity for each Dallas Area.  The side bar on the right has just been updated with the latest reports for areas we cover under Monthly Real Estate Indicators. Links are a PDF file. Reports include: closed sales, new listings, days on market and an RE overview.  Good Stuff! If you're buying or selling this will give you an excellent place to start for market data. [where: 75093, plano, dallas, real estate data]

Friday Foreclosures
2008-04-18 08:00:00
Foreclosures in 75093 and 75024 There are 22 properties to review this week. Neighborhoods include: Kings Ridge Stone Lake Estates Indian Creek Windhaven Cypress Creek Shoal Creek Greens of Gleneagles I post this list each week to hopefully help out the banks and lenders with properties they don't know what to do with.  With that being said, In this market foreclosures are frightening, it's difficult to make a deal and takes a long time. Always have a pre approval letter and know your comps, some are over priced - institutions trying to get more money than what the market will bear. (no pun intended) There is one property I've been watching on the Gleneagles golf course that's taken quite a price reduction and is close to being priced right... to be a good investment. As always, info deemed reliable but not guaranteed. [where: 75093,75024,foreclosures]  
More About: Foreclosures , Friday

Where are Plano Homes Prices Now Compared to Last Year?
2008-04-16 20:58:00
No Problem in Plano Pricing If you read or visit this blog you know I'm a freak about analytics.  This Altos chart shows West Plano real estate prices for the past year compared to the city of Plano as a whole. You can see all lines are pretty steady with a slight downward trend when all the financial markets went bear.  Take a look at each zip code: 75093 is on an upward trend, orange line. 75024 is steady, 2nd black line 75025, bottom blue line is following an upward trend as well. All of Plano, the third line that's black has been very consistent since last May. So, No fear, if you're ready to sell - this is a green light - prices are good to go in Plano. [where: 75093,75024,75025]
More About: Homes , Year , Prices

New Listings and New Lots for Sale
2008-04-14 16:25:00
New Listings and Lots! Every Monday new listings are posted for various West Plano neighborhoods. This week 75093 and 75024 are targeted: these 42 properties are brand new on the market. As a side note, Normandy Estates is a new sub division just North of Shoal Creek. Two lots have popped up on the MLS this past week.  The roads aren't in yet, but these primo lots are for sale by Peckham builders. It's Plano Schools and the two lots are waterfront views. Check the first two listings... The development will be one of last new home sites with coveted West Plano Schools. Normandy Estates is 75 acres of rolling terrain, lake views and spacious greenbelt. A luxury home development with all the amenities and privacy expected by you. It's gotten off to a slow start but it's the new premier development in West Plano. [where: 75093]
More About: For Sale , Sale

Open Houses for Sunday
2008-04-12 22:11:00
Open Houses for 75093 Time for Sunday 's Open House Tour! Link is a customer open house report from the MLS. All homes will be open this Sunday 4-13-08. Tour includes homes in: Indian Creek, Lakeside on Preston, Creeks of Willow Bend, Willow Bend Estates,Meadows at Willow Bend, Pebble Brook at Willow Bend and more... Brief home info with photo and times are on report. Enjoy the Tour! All info deemed reliable but not guaranteed. where: 75093]
More About: Open

More Weather Damage West Plano - Even EDS
2008-04-12 00:33:00
More Damage in West Plano News media that sirens didn't go off in Plano because there were no tornadoes, just straight line winds - there was more damage than trees snapping into - take a look... Kings Ridge roof damage - seems like if you were really low or really high you got hit. Even EDS... [where: 75093,75024]
More About: Weather

Friday Foreclosures
2008-04-11 16:09:00
Foreclosures in 75093 and 75024 There are 21 foreclosures properties on this weeks list. These properties are actually listed as foreclosures on the MLS by the seller type being identified a such - make no doubt about it.  These aren't all the foreclosures, but properties that are active as of today.  Some of these properties are in good shape, but always get an inspection to know for sure. All info is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Open houses for Sunday will be posted on Saturday. [where: 75093,75024]
More About: Foreclosures , Friday

Wicked Weather in North Texas
2008-04-10 21:44:00
West Plano Neighborhoods Hit Don't know exactly if it was a tornado, because luckily not any houses were damaged that I could see.  Sadly, many 100 year old trees were taken in two West Plano neighborhoods, Wolfe Creek and Shoal Creek. Above is Jeff and Lisa's tree that's going to be missed, no house damage but a mess to clean up, it took the root, concrete and all - looks like 100 mph winds to me. The storm hit around 3:00 A.M. this morning and woke up to no electricity, no wireless anywhere and no noise....so on to QT for coffee and this is what we found plus lots of comforting neighborhoods.  We're going to miss our trees! [where: 75093]
More About: Weather , North , Texas , Wicked

Real Estate Update and Plano Realities
2008-04-08 17:06:00
Real Estate Realities Yesterday the data came out for March as reported by Steve Brown, the journalist for the Dallas Morning News. He only reports the overall picture: Sales down 25% from a year ago.  When you think of what happened in March, the financial market meltdown and sub prime mortgage mess you would expect a decrease in sales. The market will reposition yet again. Now, all real estate really is local and Plano Sales are actually much better than many of our neighbors south. Here's a breakdown by MLS Area: Area      & nbsp;               ;  Sales             Pending     &nbs p; Months Supply Plano               ;      &nbs p;  -9%      &n bsp;    ...
More About: Real Estate , Update , Real

New Listings 75093 - 4-7
2008-04-07 18:20:00
What's New on the Market? Glad you asked... Here's your weekly list of new listings in 75093 that were entered the last 7 days on the MLS.  Only includes brand new listings, no re-lists here, that's when a home has been on the market too long and is given a new MLS number so it looks like a new listing but it's really not. Sometimes a price reduction has been taken.  It's a good thing for sellers and buyers need to be aware of it - affects days on market. These are all neighborhoods in 75093 from condos to mansions and all price ranges. The market has picked up so the lists are getting longer. And it's the time of year to move... All info is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. [where: 75093, new listings]
More About: Listings

Open Houses for Sunday 75093 - 4 -6
2008-04-06 01:14:00
Open Houses on Sunday 4-6 Well, the market is heating up, being that it's two months behind and that's a good sign for everyone. Lots of open houses on Sunday in 75093... Willow Bend, Pebble Brook, Hills of Indian Creek, Prestonwood Village, Glenhollow, Lakeside, Preston Lakes and more.. Take a look at the customer open house report from the MLS. for times and locations and enjoy the nice weekend! All info deemed reliable but never guaranteed, you know the drill. [where: 75093]
More About: Open

Friday Foreclosures
2008-04-04 18:26:00
Current Foreclosures for 75025 It's that time again, Friday Foreclosures. Every week we take a different zip code in Plano and list the most current foreclosures on the MLS. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Here's list for 75025 Foreclosures as of 4-4-08. If you want to know Dallas foreclosures we post that list on DallasHomesCenter. [where: 75025]

General Community Info About 75093
2008-04-02 07:00:00
Plano,  TX  75093 Community Info If you're moving to West Plano or already live here in 75093 then these are a few interesting stats to know. West Plano also includes 75024 which combined population is around 91,000.  It's a great community and almost totally built out. [where: 75093,75024]
More About: General