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Extended and Expansion of Home Buyer Tax Credit
2009-11-06 16:52:00
Happy Friday! Tax credit has been extended & expanded again... I've posted the conditions below, if Obama signs this today it will be effective. More people are eligible for the credit as of Dec 1 but they are carefully chosen, see below.  You can also download the PDF file on the right hand link of the side bar under consumer info.  This is from the National Association of Realtors(R) (NAR).  This might be good if you are ready to buy, don't just buy because of the tax credit. Note: the anti-fraud rule, now you must prove the purchase, like submitting the closing statement.  It would not have been a problem if the credit was part of the closing process and connected to the actual purchase of the property but this is a government thing so, go figure.  Anyway, take a look it does open it up. [where:75093, Plano, TX, first time home buyer tax credit updated]

Where is Plano Pricing from last year?
2009-11-05 21:09:00
Plano: Median Sold Price only down 7% I talk to many clients that are in the hold mode on whether to jump back in in the market. These are some of the new market metrics that are available through the MLS that might make sense of the housing in Plano. You can see prices actually trend higher during the high season before school starts now a slight dip but that is seasonal and normal with the 4th quarter. You can see here that even in a slower market sales for October are up 6% from last year and that's a positive. Also the supply is dwindling, 10% below last October. Another sign is the months supply of homes is down 29% from a year ago. That in itself will push prices higher.  For sellers contemplating selling your home it would be good to break this down by sub area, neighborhood and price to make an educated decision. For buyers, the window is tightening on interest rates and waiting for prices to go lower might cost you more later than sooner. [where:75093, Plano, TX, r...

Shoal Creek Real Estate Update
2009-11-04 11:24:00
Shoal Creek Real Estate Update As you can see the last 6 months has been lower activity. This is due to the upper end market still being slower and much of that is because lenders are making it more difficult for jumbo loans over 417K.  Inventory is plentiful. Days on market is 78 days but that depends on many factors like location, condition and price. Pricing will depend on whether you are looking in the zero lot line location or the larger homes and lots in Shoal Creek. [where:75024, Plano, TX, Shoal Creek]

Trick or Treat?
2009-10-31 09:52:00
   Happy Halloween! Looks like it's going to be great weather for trick or treat! If you're looking for an online photo editing tool, PICNIK is free of charge and easy to use and of course you can upgrade for other tricks.  Have a safe Halloween and don't eat too much candy. [where:75093, Plano, TX, Halloween]
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Plano Real Estate Update: Windhaven and Castlemere
2009-10-28 18:41:00
Real Estate Update for Windhaven & Castlemere Activity is very good in both neighborhoods, take a look at the absorption rate under inventory analysis. This is a very good indicator of how fast your home will sell. It takes the total sales units and divides by the total inventory for a year. You see there is only a two month supply of homes for the absorption rate. A normal inventory is 4-5 months. Also take a look at the median sales price -  there is a 11% increase from last year.  Median Days on market is around 30 days. Of course, this depends on the location, condition and pricing of the home.  This is an example of two neighborhoods that are doing well. [where:75093, Real Estate Update, Windhaven, Castlemere]
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The Fastest Thing the City of Dallas has ever done....
2009-10-27 19:16:00
Woodall Rogers Destroyed in less then 48 hours This was taken from 1999 McKinney Lofts, started late Friday afternoon and this was Saturday evening. Next weekend St. Paul will be demolished and they will fill in for the posh park, kinda like Central Park but a Dallas version to go along with the Arts District.  I bet some never thought this day would come but it will soon be a reality. [where:75201, Dallas, TX, Uptown]
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Willow Bend Real Estate Results
2009-10-26 22:42:00
  Willow Bend Real Estate thru Mid Oct. 2009 Even though the market is tougher, sales have picked up from prior 4-6 months.  23 sales units is greater and inventory is larger, around 89 homes are active.  Prices are holding somewhat too but that is because steep reductions have already been taken and the final sales price is around 96.5% of list.  Lately there is more activity in the high end market with homes going under contract but most I see have a large down payment and keep the loan amount under the jumbo limit of 417K.  Interesting... [where:75093, Plano Real Estate , Willow Bend Update]
More About: Results

Open House - 5908 Wight - Sunday 2-5
2009-10-24 16:28:00
5908 Wight Street - Open Sunday - 2-5 - Windhaven This is perfect weather for House Hunting. If you're looking for that one of a kind luxury home that has been beautifully updated then this very well could be it.  Take the tour below and then come to the open to see the real thing.  It's a very rare find in today's market and a property that is move in ready!  See you Sunday. [where:75093, 5908 Wight, Plano, Windhaven]
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Harvest
2009-10-22 08:22:00
   HARVEST This looks good, doesn't it? My sister is a caterer and this was a recent set up for Bank of America in Plano up at Legacy. One of the main short sale centers in the country. Yep, in our own back yard, if you didn't know. And the corn looks good enough to eat. [where:75093, Plano, Legacy]

Collin County Real Estate - September Update
2009-10-21 21:37:00
Collin County Update Here's a look at Collin County results for September. The most positive thing about this is prices have fallen very little compared to other regions in the country. Still a buyers market, but inventory levels are down 21.1% from a year ago and with mortgage rates lower it presents a wonderful buying window right now.  To be honest, I don't know how long the low rates will last because they have been low for so long...that will change. I don't have a crystal ball but timing is crucial.  If you're ready to buy the timing is excellent.  If you're ready to sell the inventories are low and this presents a good time to consider your options. [where:75093, Collin County, real estate update]
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West Plano Real Estate Update: September 2009
2009-10-16 17:00:00
Plano Real Estate Update by Neighborhood As you know there a lot of great neighborhoods in West Plano and today we'll look at Deefield, Whiffletree, Preston Meadows and Glen Meadows.  There are so many conflicting reports and real estate is local, so neighborhood information is very valuable. That tells you how the market is.  The charts below are from the MLS and although it goes back a year it's broken down by prior periods as noted.  The best rule of thumb now is go with the last 3 months for a more accurate picture but it's good to see where we come from and  if the market is better or worse...    DEERFIELD - WHIFFLETREE As true in many West Plano neighborhoods inventory is down in Deerfield and Whiffletree.  Sale price has drop but has been fluctuating, days on market is 74, less than 3 months, that will be a home in good condition, location and priced to sell.  And they can sell quicker than this.   PRESTON MEADOWS Sales ha...
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Your MLS Search is About to Improve Drastically
2009-10-15 21:27:00
Big Changes Coming October 28 The MLS rarely does updates, in fact,  it's kind of behind but with great sites like Trulia and Zillow that have pushed the envelope as far as what consumers want and demand, they are making progress.  Accurate information is key and using technology is mandatory.  Here are 3 great things for you to look forward to: For example, by the end of this month 25 photos will be allowed to be entered for each listing on NTREIS, North Texas Real Estate Information System). All Open House Dates and Times will be on all full customer reports and all IDX feeds (Internet Data Feeds) those are the listings that come directly from the MLS, like on this site. And Clarus Market Metrics, California MLS's have been using this for awhile, you can run reports on the median home prices and many other report options pulled directly from local MLS data, results can then be sorted and distributed to clients and/or posted online.  ...
More About: Search , Improve

40 Days and 40 Nights, the sun came out!
2009-10-14 23:51:00
Finally Some Sunshine... I don't have to tell you that the last 12 days of rain and Seattle-like weather can put a damper on things. Especially real estate, when trying to view homes.  Well, the sun poked its head out today along with a coyote roaming it's way around The Hills at Prestonwood. If you're playing a few rounds of golf tonight, beware. He was too quick and running scared to get a photo.  Anyway, it's nice to see the sun. [where:75093, Plano, Hills at Prestonwood]
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Plano Real Estate Update - September 2009
2009-10-12 22:40:00
Plano Real Estate Overall Results - September 2009 So, how did Plano Real Estate do this past month? The answer is better. For the month of September sales were down 10%, Dallas was down 8%, at least going toward single digit results.  Price per sq ft. is $95. which is only down 1% from a year ago.  You should be glad you live in Plano. Sold to list price is 97% which means properties that are priced correctly, that have come down in price are selling at this acceptable level. Days on market are 59 days, down 11% from last year.  Pending sales are only down 4% and more properties are actually closing in less time. Normal escrows are back to a 30 day close, less or more depending on the lender.  What Plano needs now is more inventory, new listings are at 314 which is down 10% from last year and active listings are 997, down 22% from last year, months inventory is at 4.3, which is low. On a year to date note, the average price in Plano stands at $261,312,...
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Storm Brewing
2009-10-06 07:52:00
Storm Brewing Looks like some more weather is coming our way, this photo was taken last week while showing town homes in the Shops at Legacy.  The moon makes an interesting addition.  The building is EDS -  now HP. [where:75093, EDS, Plano, TX, Storms]
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5908 Wight, Plano TX 75093 - Windhaven, Completely Updated
2009-10-02 20:28:00
New Listing! 5908 Wight, Plano, TX 75093 - $519,000 This is a brand new listing! It is completely updated, newer home in Windhaven. Basic info is: 4, bdrm, 3.1 bath, 3435 SF, Plano ISD, built in 2000.  Check the slide show on the right side bar to see this incredible featured home.  If you've been looking at homes in West Plano, you know most need some updates...this luxury home is already done, even new freize carpet installed. Take a look at this awesome property: please see MLS 11281288 info here and click the photo above for the full blown tour.  Give us a shout if you're an interested party or know someone that is.  If you'd would like more information or a showing, just let us know.  Enjoy the weekend and the weather! [where:75093, 5908 Wight, Plano, TX, For Sale]  

Quick Video on First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit
2009-09-30 18:53:00
Quick Video On 1st Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Now, I might think twice about posting something from the IRS but this is actually a short and sweet explanation of the first time home buyer tax credit which expires Nov. 30, 2009.  A bill is in the Senate to extend it for another 6 months, hopefully...pass this on if you know someone this might help. [where:75093, Plano, TX, real estate, first time home buyer tax credit]

Is the List Price the Right Price?
2009-09-25 21:30:00
How do you know if the List price is the Right Price ? You know that searching for homes online as well as physically touring homes can be exhausting!  It's a lot of work.  You want to be efficient and save time so most assume that the list price is the correct price of a given home, or let's say within an acceptable range.  If your home price is 400K, you would look between 375K to 425K, usually a 25K difference either way.  And if your in the 800K range you might be 50K to 100K range depending on your goals. Even in this market I see some properties totally overpriced. I recently found one 250K over priced. Why? Because that's what a seller wanted.  If you toured this home you would soon realize it did not even compare to other homes by quality and location. So, how do you know if a home is way overpriced?  You won't unless you know the area but you can check the tax roles (appraised value) if you think something doesn't look right.  The ...

Hills at Prestonwood and Indian Creek Real Estate Market Conditions
2009-09-19 18:28:00
Hills at Prestonwood - Indian Creek Real Estate Update These days you need to know the numbers before you buy or sell and it's good to take a look at the current trends by neighborhood.  You can see the Hills at Prestonwood and Indian Creek sales are better than the spring season 9 vs 11.  The median sales price has come down considerably due to the lower end market being much more active, under 500K due to scarcity of jumbo loan financing.  417K is the threshed before you jump into jumbo lending.  The sale to list price is 94.68% which indicates some properties might be priced too high in the beginning because sellers are making concessions.  As far as inventory goes almost 70% of the homes are selling within 90 days. You can bet the other 30% are high end properties over 600K. Pending properties has picked up (waiting to close).  If you have an opening price point home, chances are you have a great chance of selling it within 30 days and it looks li...
More About: Real Estate , Real Estate Market , Market

Windhaven Real Estate Market Conditions
2009-09-18 00:17:00
Windhaven Market Conditions It's no secret that inventory is low in some West Plano neighborhoods. So the good houses go quick, meaning updated and nothing to do unless you have a buyer that wants a project.  The biggest shout out is that around 70% of the listings in Windhaven sell within 60 days and 92% sell in 90 days, that's good news for sellers.  And for home buyers:  it's a great location in the Willow Bend area. Also you can see the sale to list price is 100% for homes on the market for over 120 days...and that's because the home was overpriced in the first place and by the time price reductions are taken, slowly but surely, the price gets low enough for a buyer to buy for the condition of the home.  It's a painful journey.... [where:75093, Windhaven Real Estate , Market Update]
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If you can't sell a house, sell the lot! - Normandy Estates
2009-09-17 20:00:00
Normandy Estates Lots for sale!   This came on the MLS around 30 days ago. two lots for sale @$299K each... first listing. Living on the west side of Plano you're familiar with this amazing new development.  You can't see it yet but it's a 5.5 acre development with lake, fishing dock and beautiful rolling terrain.  There will be a community center with pool and it's gated. There are few gated communities in Plano - so this is huge if you desire the privacy and security.  And it's right off the Dallas tollway and Shops at Legacy.  This location is a winner! Now these lots are the smaller zero lots for town homes.  This project has gotten off to a slow start but progress has been made last 6 months, take a drive by and see.  This development will be stellar once it's completed, just a little vision is needed. The lot prices seem high since there are town homes available for $535K. I don't know, guess there is always room for negotiating. ...
More About: House , Sell , A House

Willow Bend Real Estate Market Conditions
2009-09-16 22:40:00
Current Market Conditions for Willow Bend If you want to know the truth about real estate you really need to drill down to each sub division to see what's really going on. General information is good but rarely depends on your exact location.  The report below is just for Willow Bend, a glimpse into this area. The results go back to September of last year when the bottom fell out and things got quieter.  The current last 3 months of sales is better than the prior, much better.  The absorption rate is important because it tells you how deep the inventory is.  Now 7.67 months supply is not ideal but financing issues on jumbo loans have a great deal to do with that. Median prices have adjusted considerably and you do have to figure in a few foreclosures for that.  Days on market are almost 50% lower than a year ago, a good sign.  And sale to list price is better also at 96.48%.  As a buyer you can see that activity has picked up and going the right ...
More About: Estate , Real Estate , Real Estate Market

PSSST! Small Tax Hike was approved last night...
2009-09-15 21:11:00
Plano City Council Raises Property Taxes in a Small Way How Much? 1.5 cent, a 3% hike, The new rate will be 48.86 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. See Collin County Observer for the details here.  When they lower rates you always know it will go the other way sooner than later.  And so it goes... [where:75093, Collin County, property taxes]
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Collin County Foreclosure Facts
2009-09-10 22:05:00
Collin County Foreclosure Facts A client called yesterday and wanted some foreclosure info to help fight property tax increases, the criteria went something like this: can you do a search for all sold foreclosures in Collin County this year by Fannie Mae? The answer is yes, I can do by seller type: as in foreclosure but to break it down by owner type is difficult because this is not an input field that every listing agent fills in.  So we broke it down to all foreclosures sold in Collin County since 2009 and all prices.  Can you guess the number? Don't think you'll be surprised.... 1172 units have sold in Collin County.  When I ran the report today 10 more had closed.  Yes, friends that world is fast and furious.  68% of these properties are under $200K.  But there are some upper end gems out there.  Over $500K represents 2.2% of the sold inventory. Just to give you another idea of the break neck activity, there are only 201 active foreclos...

Amazing Clouds
2009-09-09 21:53:00
   Amazing Clouds Always something about this time of year.  The light and clouds are different and the temperature is below 100, which is huge...much better for house hunting!  This was taken in West Plano on Sunday afternoon while grilling ribs. The light reminded me of Santa Fe, that ethereal thing... [where:75093, local photos, Plano, TX]

New Listings and Why Your Home is Selling in this Market
2008-06-09 19:22:00
Pockets of Opportunity in Plano Numbers for May are out and again they are down, needless to say. Plano sales are off 17% from last year, but I'll digress - What's interesting is Plano is new listings are down 34% from a year ago and active listings down 16% . Months supply is at 5.0 which is 5% below last year. What does that mean? Inventory is low and the selection for the buyer could be limited in certain neighborhoods of choice. It's still a buyers market so pricing has to be reasonable but Plano has its own bubble if you will... So if you sold your home recently and were surprised it sold fast this is why...I've talked to several folks that are looking for new diggs because of this. I'll post May figures later this week so for now here are the new listings in 75093. 23 properties to review.. [where:75093, new listings]
More About: Selling , Market , Home , Listings

Sunday Open Houses in West Plano
2008-06-08 04:00:00
Open Houses for Sunday in West Plano Hope you're having a great weekend and if you're in  the mood to house hunt here's the open house list for Sunday - June 6th. West Plano zip codes are 75093, 75024 and 75025. The photo above shows the open house customer report from the MLS - that you can download from the PDF link above.  It's gives basic info about a property and times of the open. There aren't that many, only 10 but that's probably enough with the heat. Stay cool...and remember all info is deemed reliable but never guaranteed. [where:75093, 75024, 75025, West Plano, Open Houses]
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Foreclosures in West Plano
2008-06-05 23:43:00
More Foreclosures ... It's Thursday (I'm sure you know that) and tomorrow is a busy real estate day so I'm posting for Friday now... And that means Foreclosures. List this week is for 75093 and 75024. Heads up for this week - I know Kings Ridge is a popular place and a hot bed of foreclosures, even in the new section! There are some great opportunities here but don't trust the for sale price as a foreclosure deal.  Know the value of the condition and location of the home. Why are they not priced like a real foreclosure? Because banks don't know how to sell real estate! Some are way over-priced...just so you know. Buyer beware... [where:75093, 75024, West Plano , foreclosures]

Foreclosures in West Plano
2008-06-05 23:43:00
More Foreclosures ... It's Thursday (I'm sure you know that) and tomorrow is a busy real estate day so I'm posting for Friday now... And that means Foreclosures. List this week is for 75093 and 75024. Heads up for this week - I know Kings Ridge is a popular place and a hot bed of foreclosures, even in the new section! There are some great opportunities here but don't trust the for sale price as a foreclosure deal.  Know the value of the condition and location of the home. Why are they not priced like a real foreclosure? Because banks don't know how to sell real estate! Some are way over-priced...just so you know. Buyer beware... [where:75093, 75024, West Plano , foreclosures]

How to Cool Off in the Texas Heat
2008-06-03 18:37:00
Cat Pool If you have cats this is a familiar sight.  I wish I could do that!  Godiva has the right idea, it won't mess up her hair. [where:75093, texas weather, cat pool]
More About: Cool , Heat , Texas