Apr 30, 2013

New Restaurant building planned for Inwood & Forest

The owners of a tract of parking lot along Inwood Road have submitted a zoning request to construct a new 5,600 building on the existing parking lot in front of the Lowes store. Apparently Lowes doesn't need that much parking lot and they want to put in a restaurant. The property is currently zoned as a Planned Development and needs city approval to add a building.

No details yet on what kind of restaurant is in the works.

Update August 15th: The restaurants going in are Rusty Taco and Einstein Bagels.
 [where: 75230]

Apr 16, 2013

Texas Title Policy Rates Increasing

Effective May 1st, title insurance rates in Texas are increasing by 3.8%. This marks the first rate increase in more than 20 years. In Texas, rates are determined by Texas Dept. of Insurance and all title insurance companies must charge the same.

So what is title insurance and do you need it? Title insurance protects you from other claims of ownership, outstanding debts of previous owners, and other title potential problems. It does not insure against fire, flood, or any other types of property damage or loss.

Before selling a title insurance policy, the title company will check for problems with your title by researching public records, including deeds, mortgages, wills, divorce decrees, court judgments, tax records, liens, encumbrances, and maps. If there is a claim against your property after purchase, the company will then defend you in court and will pay you for covered losses up to the amount of your policy.

The following Title Insurance Premium Rates are based on the sales price of the property. Premiums for policies $100,000 and over in Dallas County are:

$100,000 is $843 and going up to $875
$500,000 is $2,979 and going up to $3,091
$1,000,000 is $5,649 and going up to $5,861
$2,000,000 is $10,039 and going up to $10,421

In Texas the title insurance policy is usually paid for by the seller, but it is negotiable. Banks and mortgage companies will require title insurance in order to loan on a property. [where: 75230]

Apr 9, 2013

Why you must stage your Dallas home for sale


Prior to placing your home on the market for sale, it needs to be staged. Professionally staged.
I've talked about the importance of staging before here in 2011, and here 5 years ago.

Today we've got statistics to support the recommendation to stage a home for sale. Staged homes are on the market for sale 83% less time than a home that is not staged. The average days on market for homes is 145 days across the country. For 94% of homes that are staged, the average days on market is only 29 days.

I offer 2 hours of professional staging with every home that I list for sale. It benefits both me and the seller to present these properties in a way that will help them sell faster. [where: 75230]

Apr 7, 2013

Dallas Real Estate Report 1st Quarter 2013

Here is a look at the 2013 1st quarter real estate market in our area. These numbers come from our MLS provider, the North Texas Real Estate Information Systems.
[where: 75230]

Apr 6, 2013

Dallas Real Estate breaks records in March 2013

The Ebby Halliday Companies set a new all-time sales record for both the month of March and the First Quarter of 2013. Our company closed more than $550 million in March 2013 sales - establishing a new all-time record for the month of March. These sales reflect an increase of 47% over March 2012.
We closed sales of more than $1.1 Billion in the first quarter of 2013, an increase of 34% over the first quarter of 2012.
The Ebby Halliday Realtors is the number one brokerage for all areas south of I-635 (LBJ Freeway). No one sells more homes than we do. [where: 75230]

Apr 3, 2013

The Housing Market Headlines

The Real Estate market is back. The headlines say it all ...

Click on the image to see a larger view. [where: 75230]