Bonus watering for Murphy Residents!

Posted on: August 22, 2014 by Office of the City of Murphy

 Residents and businesses in Murphy are scheduled for yet another bonus watering day during the week of Aug. 25 as the City temporarily suspends the twice-monthly watering schedule, says City Manager James Fisher.

... “Allowing the additional day gives us a chance to keep the water in our system moving, and that’s important for a number of reasons.”
Residents with addresses ending in an odd number may water on Monday, Aug. 25, a day that is not on the schedule for them. And, residents with addresses ending in an even number may water on Wednesday, Aug. 27, a day that would normally not be one during which watering was allowed.


“These bonus days do not negate the need to maintain the proper watering times,” added Fisher. Watering is prohibited after 10 a.m. or before 6 p.m. to avoid the hottest part of the day during which evaporation is most likely.  Stage 3 seasonal restrictions, which limit watering to twice a month, are in place until Oct. 31. These restrictions apply to all automatic sprinkler systems.

While water conservation is critically important, Fisher says that the effects of using less water results in placing the City of Murphy in the unusual position of having water linger in the storage system longer than normal.  “We need to move the water in our storage system to maintain the system at its peak level of efficiency,” he said. “The residents and businesses in Murphy have done what we’ve asked, and that has put us in this position. We’re actually pleased to give something back for their support of our water conservation efforts.”

Watering restrictions are available for review online at the Customer Service page (and below in this blog)

Murphy, TX Water Restrictions

We got a cool little postcard in May... I don't think I was one for the end of summer.  Since we are in these restrictions apparently until Noah builds another ark, here's the city's guide to keeping you from getting a fine!

Murphy Fine water use water restrictions City of Murphy code water 75094 restrictions

Keeping Your Documents Safe (Backup often and offsite and with security)

Terrible Real Estate Agent Photos

This is a fantastic web page.  Love it!

http://terriblerealestateagentphotos.com/

Trying to Move to Murphy? Better act fast!

Wow... 7 days on market--SOLD.  3 days on market--SOLD!  ONE DAY ON THE MARKET AND SOLD?????  Yup.




How long will this one last?  I mean, Boggess Elementary and under $300K!  $265,000 to be precise. 

240 Seleta Drive 75094

2014 Starts Well for North Texas Real Estate

Steve Brown of the Dallas Morning News, reports what we all suspected.  The market in the Dallas area is healthy and still inclined toward the seller's advantage.  So it's a great time to sell and the advantage you gain in selling will well equip you for being an aggressive and competitive buyer.

Keep in mind, the new home building industry is an easy to read thermometer for the overall housing industry.  When there is an oversupply of new homes, there is likely the same condition  in pre-owned homes and vice versa.  

What this all means to you and me is that our jobs are safe, our incomes are steady, our home values are on the rise, and we can sell your house quick as ever.

      Here's Brown's article:

 Dallas-area homebuilders can’t keep up with demand for new houses
     North Texas homebuilders couldn’t keep up with buyers in the final months of 2013, as new home sales rose to the highest point in more than four years.

     Builders sold 5,218 new homes in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the fourth quarter.  But starts for the three months came in at only 4,514 houses — the lowest quarterly production in almost two years.

     Fourth-quarter starts were held in check by December’s weather and construction constraints including tight labor and shortages of building sites, said Ted Wilson, principal with Dallas-based housing analyst Residential Strategies.  “They have been ready to pour foundations, but the weather has not been good enough,” Wilson said. “It will push some business that normally would have come in the fourth quarter into the first quarter.”

    Finding enough construction workers to meet homebuilding demand won’t be as easy as waiting for a change in the weather. Labor constraints have been haunting the local housing market since 2012.  “When there is so much talk nationally about a need for jobs in the U.S., it is ironic that the D-FW new home industry is facing a labor shortage,” Wilson said.  “The housing downturn wiped out a lot of companies that served the housing industry, and it is taking a long time to bring workers back, especially when there are vibrant industries such as oil and gas and trucking competing for many of these same workers.
“There are shortages of bricklayers, framers, you name it,” he said. “Homebuilders are also having to compete for workers with other parts of the real estate market.”
Local construction labor shortages have increased the average time it takes to build a house in North Texas by as much as a third.

    “Typically it takes 120 days to get a house built,” Wilson said. “That’s up by 40 days.  “There is such a backlog they may sell a house and not be able to start it for three months.”
Only about 2,800 finished, vacant new houses were on the market in the D-FW area at the end of the year. That’s less than a two-month supply, Residential Strategies found.  D-FW home starts in 2013 were almost 60 percent ahead of where they were at the bottom of the recession in mid 2009.

     But with 20,778 home starts in all of 2013, builders have a long way to go before the market is back to where it was in 2006 when almost 50,000 new houses were started in the area.

http://www.dallasnews.com/business/residential-real-estate/20140109-dallas-area-homebuilders-cant-keep-up-with-demand-for-new-houses.ece

Santa NOT Welcome in Murphy, TX

Update: the MFD was able to perform this act of kindness and gift to the kids in Murphy!  Way to go MFD!  Express your gratitude so they'll be out again next year:

    Email the Fire Chief's Office and express gratitude here... drounsavall@murphytx.or

----

   Well, that might be a bit hyperbolic but there is a community issue that warrants your attention!

One of the neatest traditions in our little town comes at
Christmastime when Santa rides atop the Murphy Fire Department engines and greets kiddos all over town.  It's a fantastic thing for the kids.  Murphy is a city full of children.
  
Well, a few vocal complainers are ruining it for the silent majority!  After word leaked out that the MFD wasn't doing the Santa thing this year, I contacted the FD and Mayor Barna to see if it was true and how the citizenry could help restore this warm and delightful tradition.

   Mayor Barna was very responsive and highlighted a few challenges and opportunities to get Santa back on the horse... or engine, as it were!  The complete text of the Mayor's email to me is below.

• The Parade of Santa is a voluntary act of holiday kindness performed by our fine MFD.
• Those of us who were excited to watch the children wave at Santa on the big, shiny, fire engine didn't know we needed to wave the flag and beat the drum in support of this local tradition.
• Those few who were eager to ruin it for the majority, found a new target for their whining and without consideration of children, set ablaze a delightful time for little ones rather than allow themselves to be mildly inconvenienced once a year!
• If Murphy wants a Parade of Santa, we need to voice our support to get it back!

1. If you want to show your support for the Fire Department's holiday season gift to our kids and community, email the mayor's office and declare your opinion!   ebarna@murphytx.org

2. The entire city Council can be reached here http://www.murphytx.org/Directory.aspx?DID=5

3. Email the Fire Chief's Office and express gratitude here... drounsavall@murphytx.org

_______________

Mr. Oden,

Thank you again for your email.

The Parade of Santa was originally dreamed up by our Fire Department and uses the on-duty crew. The idea came about as a way to give back to the community. The Fire Department has done this for a number of years and over the years the event has changed due to feedback received. The Parade of Santa started by traveling down every street in Murphy and would take a couple of weeks to complete. If a call was received during the Parade, Santa and his helpers would have to tend to the call. It was a very busy time for our Fire Department. Over the years the Parade of Santa became an abbreviated version in which a selected number of street were visited and a date and time schedule was produced. Last year the Parade of Santa only visited Murphy parks. The families who live close to Murphy parks still thought the Parade visited all streets in Murphy.

Over the years the Parade of Santa has produced feedback. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of feedback had been negative. Everything from waking sleeping babies to scaring residents in their homes. The Fire Department, in hopes of saving the Parade of Santa made adjustments over the years to find a good balance. Those who looked forward to the annual Parade of Santa failed to provide feedback to our Fire Department. As such a minority of opinion became a majority of opinion.

Our Fire Department does this on their own using their own budget to produce the Parade. They aren't on order to provide this Parade and do this because they feel in their hearts they want to do this. I can understand their concerns with the feedback they received over the years. If the feedback was more balanced they probably could see what you and I know - the majority of residents appreciate the time and effort given by our Fire Department in areas other than keeping us safe in Murphy.

The Fire Department isn't trying to play Grinch this year but trying to balance the desires of many Murphy residents and their own time and effort. I can't think of many people who will continually provide something when the majority of feedback is negative, no matter how small the feedback. The men and women of the Murphy Fire Department aren't elected officials. They are staff members who are actually going above and beyond to provide a little more Christmas joy to our residents.

I'm currently down in Houston with a family emergency but will return next weekend. I will meet with the Fire Chief and City Manager as soon as I can in an attempt to reach a compromise which will allow the Parade of Santa to continue. But, please realize this event is not a budgeted expense and done through the hearts and goodness of the men and women of the Murphy Fire Department. Positive feedback is very important to keep events like this continuing in Murphy.

Warm Regards,
Mayor Eric Barna

Houston Based Lionstone Group now Owns Preston Park

Ever shop at United MARKETPLACE at Preston Park in Plano?

The Preston Park shopping center anchored by Marketplace has just recently been acquired by The Lionstone Group, a privately owned real estate investment firm in Houston, Tx.  Lionstone was founded in 2001 by partners Tom Bacon, Dan Dubrowski, and Glenn Lowenstein.  As reported by Steve Brown of the Dallas Morning News this is the first Dallas area shopping center added to its portfolio.

The 169,842-sf Preston Park shopping center is at Park Blvd. and Preston Rd.  Anchored by grocer Market Street, the center built in 2009 is 66 percent leased.  Dallas-based PegasusAblon will handle asset management of the property and United Commercial Realty will lease it.

HFF LP brokered the sale.

USAA Brings over 600 IT Jobs to Plano

PLANO (Dallas Morning News) – USAA is bringing almost 700 high-tech jobs to Plano.
The San Antonio-based insurer and financial services firm is turning the former AT&T campus in Legacy business park into an information technology center. The firm purchased the 255,000-sf property earlier this year.
USAA received $5 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund and will receive an economic incentive package for the project.
The IT center will be on Legacy Dr., east of Dallas North Tollway. It will cost $31 million and employ 680.

FHA Extends Mortgage Insurance Offer

  HousingWire reports that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is offering mortgage insurance to those who fell on hard times during the recession.

Borrowers who filed for bankruptcy or lost their homes through a foreclosure or short-sale proceeding and can prove they are no longer financially compromised are eligible if they meet all other FHA requirements.

"Besides the burden of proof on the borrower to demonstrate a recovery from the 'economic event,' the potential homeowner must also complete housing counseling," reports HousingWire. "This event would need to result in a minimum loss of 20 percent of the household income."  Lenders also must verify that at least a year has passed since foreclosure and that the economic event was responsible

SOLD -- Allen Office Center

 

Gladstone REIT has purchased a fully leased 115,200-sf office property in this north Dallas suburb.
The two-story Allen Office Center was built in 1998. Among the tenants are Frontier Communications Corporation and Micron Technology.
CBRE arranged the transaction.

Billingsley Starts Two Office Buildings

 Steve Brown, Real Estate Editor for the Dallas Morning News reports that Billingsley Co. has begun work on two office buildings in Plano.  Construction is underway on a 180,000-sf building at 6111 W. Plano Pkwy. 

The building is slated to be completed next summer. ReachLocal Inc. will lease 100,000 sf as its headquarters. 

The company has also started the three-story, 180,000-sf speculative building at 8951 Cypress Waters Blvd. Expected to open mid-2014, the structure will be in Billingsley’s 1,000-acre Cypress Waters development.  Pritchard Associates Inc. is the construction manager for both buildings.

A Record-Breaking May!

Well, that was fun!  

The Dallas Morning News reports that May was a record-breaking month for the North Texas housing market.Seemed like that around here too.  DMN says that nearly 9,200 existing single-family homes were sold last month — the most ever in one month, according to Real Estate Center and North Texas Real Estate Information Systems data. Sales were up 23 percent from over a year ago.

The median price was $180,000, a record for the area and an 11 percent increase over last year.  Homes were on the market an average of 54 days, the shortest time in almost ten years.  New listings were up 8 percent, but the total number of houses for sale was down 22 percent from last year. Inventory was at 3.4 months.

So, what are you waiting for?