In an article posted on CNNMoney.com which was titled “7 Ways to Fight Property Taxes”, they had a decent check list for fighting your property tax value when it seems too high which can definitely happen with Dallas Real Estate. From my experience, Denton County is notorious for raising property value each year for the max amount. Then the county will leave it up to the owner to fight the value set by the county appraiser. If they don’t, it’s more money in the county’s pocket. Read more on the “7 Ways to Fight Property Taxes“

TexasHomeCentral.com now offers the ability to search for new home construction in Dallas Fort Worth using an innovative map-based home search tool. Try it out now and search for new homes in Dallas. Some of the homebuilders include David Weekley Homes, Darling Homes, Highland Homes and more. Read more of this article “Dallas New Home Search feature is now available“!

In my last post, Good News for Home Buyers, I talked about how the Fed continuously lowering rates was something to get excited about. I didn’t mean to leave out our Dallas home sellers and home owners. I believe it’s reason to celebrate for everyone in Dallas Fort Worth!

Thanks to the Dallas real estate market, this is great news for home sellers for a lot of obvious reasons. Lower interest rates mean more home buyers in Dallas that will apply and get approved to buy your home. More home buyers in Dallas means buyer competition which equals increased sales prices (hint: do not wait home buyers, prices will be going up, not down). That’s great news for any home owner in Dallas that has their home on the market. Read More on “Good News for Home Owners and Home Sellers“

The Fed is continuously lowering rates (latest was largest cut in over 20 years) so home buyers and home sellers in the Dallas real estate market have a few things to get excited about.

We haven’t seen really tough times Dallas Fort Worth like the rest of the U.S. has but still, the news headlines can likely scare any buyer into hiding. With the latest Fed cut, Dallas real estate analysts are expecting respectable improvements in home sales. We have already seen a tremendous increase in home buyers visiting the home search feature on our Dallas real estate website. Read more on “Good news for home buyers“!

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Fair Isaac Corp., the company that made the FICO credit score popular, is changing the way it determines that score. The model, named “FICO 08” should do a better job predicting loan defaults, according to the company. It is set up to be more forgiving of occasional slips by a consumer, but will take a tougher stance on repeat offenders. This new version will still score from 300 to 850 and will still take into account level of credit indebtedness, credit length, number of new accounts and inquiries, and types of credit, to determine scores. But, it will do a better job of separating “good risk” from “bad risk”, with thin, or young credit files, as well as consumers who are actively seeking new credit, being a part of the client profiles that will be more heavily scrutinized. The model will also be more lenient to people with serious delinquencies (greater than 90 days) if they have other accounts in good standing, which backs up their claim of forgiving occasional slips.

The VP of global scoring for Fair Isaacs is predicting that more consumer scores will go up than go down!

As far is this relates to the mortgage industry, good credit is always a plus when you are trying to buy a house. Read the rest of this post!

I am asked constantly whether it’s a good idea to add a Realtor on to a new home contract. Is it a good idea or will a homebuilder penalize you by holding back on available incentives. Let’s discuss a few basic truths to answer that question.

SET INCENTIVES AMOUNT

The sales person in a new home model has a set dollar amount that they are allowed to use to discount the home in an effort to close the sale. That dollar amount changes month to month based on sales needs but there is rarely an opportunity to get more off on the home. Some weak sales people will give that money away the second you walk in the door. The good sales person will hold back and offer a little off the price to see where you stand and then offer just enough more to close the sale. This tactic makes you believe you got a better deal by negotiating them down when in fact they were playing on your emotions. They typically hold back on some of the money for later in the homebuilding process if something goes wrong and they need to offer money or free appliances to make the problem go away. A Good Realtor can make sure you get the full discount or more.

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RESEARCH NEW HOME BUILDERS IN DALLAS FORT WORTH
Highland Homes
David Weekley Homes
Darling Homes
Huntington Homes
New Lineage Custom Homes

If you are thinking about selling your home in the Dallas Real Estate market, you will be happy to know that the Dallas area has one of the lowest average sales times in the country. According to research conducted my Altos Research Co., only Denver has a faster average sales time than Dallas. The report estimates that it takes about 80 days to sell a home in Dallas, compared to 110 days for the other cities surveyed. So, how do you beat the market average?

THERE ARE 3 WAYS TO SELL YOUR HOME QUICKLY!

1. Price your home to sell! If you prepare a truly accurate Market Analysis, then you will have a good idea of what price your home should sell for if it sells in the average sales time. If you want to sell faster than 80 days, then consider coming down on the price by $3,000 to $4,000. Anything more (on an average priced home) and buyers may think the price is too good to be true and worry. This will help your home stand out to a buyer’s agent and encourage the buyer to jump on a good deal. Research has shown that the average Dallas home, priced $4,000 below average market sales price, sold in significantly less time.

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Most Realtors and Home Sellers will tell you that a detailed home inspection is the responsibility of the Home Buyer to have done for prior to closing. I would like to offer another point of view on this subject. One that may help you sell your home a little faster and help ensure your home closes.

In today’s housing market, homes are not selling as quickly as before. You need every tool available to ensure your home sells and closes. So, how can a pre-listing inspection help? I believe there are 3 ways a pre-listing inspection can help which I have listed below.

1. Create confidence and trust for potential home buyers. When a home buyer knows of potential problems ahead of time, they are more likely to feel comfortable with the purchase and prepare themselves for the repairs. They are going to find out later anyway and deals have a tendency to fall apart when problems are discovered at the last moment.

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The real estate housing market in the Dallas area is still very good with home sales prices up in almost every Metroplex city. The down market for us has been mainly slower home sales which I’d take any day over a dramatic drop in sales prices. With slower sales, what can you do to help drive traffic to your home increasing your chances at finding the right home buyer to sell your home quickly?

This is where technology can really help! Today, over 80% of home buyers begin their home search online. While home buyers are viewing homes online, they are spending the majority of their time looking at a home’s pictures. Pictures speak a thousand words… especially when you only have a few hundred words available for an MLS listing description.

It absolutely amazes me that a Realtor would bother listing a home online without posting a photo with it immediately. Tens of Thousands of potential home buyers receive “just listed” properties emailed to them each month from our website, TexasHomeCentral.com. If an agent fails to post that home with at least a few pictures, most of those home buyers will not give that property a second look.
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