Ebby & Jackson's H&G

The Ebby House and Jackson's Home and Garden have teamed up for a benefit book signing this Saturday.

Drop by Jackson's on Lemmon Ave in Dallas this Saturday, March 29th and meet Susie Black Holamon, author of “My Five Moms,”. She'll be signing books to benefit the Ebby House.

The Ebby House, under construction at Juliette Fowler Communities in East Dallas, is a residential cabin for women ages 18-22 who have aged out of the foster-care system. “My Five Moms” is Holamon’s story of growing up in and out of foster care. It will take you on a journey of “Riches to Rags,” all with Susie’s therapeutic sense of humor! http://bit.ly/1hf5YGv

The Jacksons are some of my favorite clients and I love their store! They carry everything from fine linens to garden furniture to fountains and flowers.
[where: 75230]

Best Dallas Real Estate since sliced bread

In Dallas, we're experiencing the highest sales since sliced bread! Demand for homes is up and still rising. Prices are up and still rising.

It's worth pointing out that my boss, Ebby Halliday is older than sliced bread.
Otto Rohwedder of Iowa invented sliced bread in 1928, while Miss Ebby was born in 1911. Bread had existed prior, just not in the pre-sliced form.

Here in a recent birthday photo, you can see that she's also the best thing to happen to Dallas real estate since sliced bread.
[where: 75230]

Home Shopping is like Dating

I've always said that home shopping is like dating.
The process can be really fun or surprisingly dreadful.
As a home matchmaker, I advise would-be lovers to set their expectations right from the start. Here is my analogy:

• You don't want to fall in love too fast. Look around a bit.
• Sometimes you have to kiss a few frogs before you find 'the one'.
• Outside appearances are important, but it's what's on the inside that matters.
• Online shopping is fine, but you have to get out there and meet them in person to really know if it's a match.
• It helps to have a list of deal breakers, and a list of what makes your heart flutter.
• Shop within your league - it's more practical and less heartbreaking.
• You may not be the only one that wants to live happily every after with them.
• If they don't love you back (accepting your offer), be prepared to move on to the next one.
• But if you're too picky or move too slowly, you may end up lonely.

In a recent realtor.com survey of 1,000 consumers, 69 percent of them admitted to having a “home crush”—a house they liked so much that they were drawn to looking at it repeatedly either online or in person. We call that house stalking.

And the survey results revealed that women tend to swoon over open floor plans, great curb appeal, new appliances and fixtures. And men are more likely to lust after good garage space, curb appeal, and open floor plans.

Whether it’s love or real estate, just remember - the better the prospect, the more competition you'll face to win them over. Are you looking to date the beauty queen or the dreamy hunk? Are you shopping in the popular areas?

Finally, don't get discouraged. They say there is someone for everyone.
[where: 75230]

Why Realtors know the Best Mortgage Lenders

Successful, active agents know who the best mortgage lenders are and which ones are disappointing and often inept. We hear what our clients have to say about their lenders, we see the rates and services they get and we see how efficient or inefficient they are.

Home buyers sometimes ask me to recommend a mortgage lender. But more often, they already have an idea of a company they intend to use for their financing. Sometimes they're great. Sometimes they're horrible.

I encourage anyone buying a home to get a second opinion on their home loan before committing to a mortgage company. The issue that usually prevents this is timing. When you put a contract on a home, the clock starts ticking. Buyers must get their home loan process started immediately. The application is usually lengthy and requires a lot of documentation. Appraisals must be ordered, underwriting reviews are done, ... they take a while. Not all lenders are the same and some take a lot longer than other. A whole lot longer.

Step one is to get a pre-approval letter before making an offer on a property. Step two is applying for a loan as soon as the ink is dry on the contract. The time to get a second opinion and finalize your lender is during one of these first steps. A good mortgage lender will respond quickly to your request.

My favorite mortgage lenders that I hear great things about from clients and I know from personal experience are:

Alison Hannah, PrimeLending, 972-348-6141 ahannah@primelending.com

Alan Felch, Lending Partners, 214-683-1770 alan@thelendingpartners.com

Steve Hakes, Affiliated Bank Mortgage, 214-643-6021 steve.hakes@affiliatedbank.com

[where: 75230]

Dallas spring real estate market update

The only thing keeping home sales from soaring in the spring of 2014 is the lack of homes to sell. Inventory is at its lowest point and demand is climbing. I'm itching to put more homes on the market.

As you can see from this great graph, sales are set to pick up as they do every year. This chart represents the month when a home sale is completed. In today's market, it typically takes 30 to 45 days for a transaction to close. So a sale in June likely went under contract in April or May.

Click on the graph to view it in detail.

 

As of March 1 this year, we have 3.7 months of inventory available for sale. If no other properties come on the market and demand does not increase, it will take just 3.7 months to sell every house on the market.

What does that mean for prices? They are rising. In some North Dallas neighborhoods, they are back to our high 2007 levels. In a few pockets they are not their yet and in others they are at record highs. In short, inventory is down everywhere, demand is up and prices are rising with variations by neighborhoods.

Thanks to Hexter Fair for this information. [where: 75230]

How much have Dallas home prices really risen?

Dallas newspaper headlines over the past year have regularly broadcast that home prices are up. A week ago they announced that area prices are up 13%. So does that mean your home's value is up 13%?

Don't get excited too quickly. Let's take a closer look at these statistics and what they really mean. The average home sales price across North Texas was up 13% in February 2014 from February 2013. Broken down, this means:

• these statistics are across the entire North Texas region - not just Dallas or your neighborhood.
• this represents the average home sales price and this is where it gets tricky.

If we sold 100 homes that averaged $200,000 each one year and the next year we sold 100 homes that averaged $500,000 each, then statistically the 'average sales price' would have risen more than 100 percent. It doesn't mean that the price of home A or home B went up 100 percent. It just means we sold more expensive homes this year than we did the previous year.

Remember the first time home buyers incentive offered just 3 or 4 years ago? It gave a boost to our sluggish real estate market. But most of those sales were for 'lower priced' homes. Average sales prices were low because cheaper homes (that first time buyers could afford) were selling a lot more than the more expensive properties.

In today's market, we're seeing sales of more expensive properties and that is driving up the 'average sales price'. Just a couple of years ago we had some neighborhoods with more than a 3 year inventory of homes priced over $1 million. Today those same neighborhoods have less than a 6 month inventory of homes priced over $1 million.

That said - home prices have risen and are still rising.

The only true way to know how much your home has increased in value is to get an appraisal or a market analysis of your property. Your individual property is evaluated based on recent sales in your neighborhood of similar properties of comparable size, age and condition. I gladly give a comparative market analysis to potential clients in the Dallas area to help determine how much their property value has risen.

[where: 75230]

Don't forget Sunday time change

Two important things happening this Sunday. Daylight Savings Time takes back that hour we got last fall.

And Ebby Halliday turns 103 years old. Happy Birthday to her!
[where: 75230]