Plano Real Estate $400.00 per sq. ft.????

Yup.  Well, a Plano business tower has certainly raised the price ceiling for suburban real estate!

Steve Brown of the Dallas Morning News – Reports that Boston-based Intercontinental Real Estate Corp. has purchased the Legacy Tower from Trammell Crow Co. and Principal Financial.  Intercontinental paid nearly $140 million, or over $400 per sf, for the two-year-old office tower, the highest per sf price ever in Dallas' northern suburbs. The previous high point was the $120 million, $375-per-sf sale of the Encana Tower​ in 2012. Located at the Dallas North Tollway and Legacy Dr., the 13-story, 342,033-sf office tower is near the $3 billion Legacy West development.

Changes in the Riveting World of Mortgage Finance

MIB: Men in Black?

PMI
...not, not, MIB, no...

BMI: Body Mass Index?

PMI.  No... that's BMI, Body Mass Index... even more boring than PMI.

IPA: India Pale Ale... yum!

Nope, that's IPA, India Pale Ale.  The most interesting or appealing of the wrong answers but wrong.
PMI.  Private Mortgage Insurance.
C'mon people...

The business of mortgage insurance has been changing--like a baby going through diapers I say. Although most private mortgage insurance companies adhere to a fairly standard pricing model, you might see a difference here and there.

Starting in April 2016 year, most PMI companies made some pretty big changes to mortgage insurance premiums to make mortgage insurance more attractive for some buyers. This change has lowered the monthly payment for some higher credit score consumers. You might have buyers who now qualify for a more expensive home than they would have earlier in the year. Unfortunately, you might also have buyers who see higher premiums.

For the whole story, read Scott Hevel's article here: CCAR.NET

Murphy Marketplace Under New Ownership!

Real Estate Editor Steve Brown at the Dallas Morning News reports that An Ohio-based real estate investment company has purchased a major shopping center in Collin County.  Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT I Inc. said that it has bought the Murphy Marketplace, a 218,598 square foot retail center located just east of Plano in the Collin County town of Murphy.  Built by Dallas' Langford Property Co. starting in 2007, the 48-acre retail center is anchored by... [Lowes,] Michaels, 24 Hour Fitness, [En Fuego cigar lounge,] and Tuesday Morning stores. The retail buildings are constructed around a series of small parks and landscaped pedestrian trails. New owner Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT I of Cincinnati owns and manages 149 shopping centers totaling approximately 15.9 million square feet. Terms of the North Texas purchase were not disclosed.

How much do first-time Texas homebuyers make?

Lindsay Wilson of CultureMap Dallas says that First-time Texas homebuyers make nearly as much as the average U.S. homebuyer, according to data from MortgageHippo. After looking at over 5,000 buyers, the majority of them millennials, the site determined that the average first-time homebuyer in the U.S. ​​makes around ​$65,000 yearly and has a credit score of 730. First-time buyers in Texas come close with an average income of $60,000 and a credit score of 710. While Texans have fewer available assets—$16,000 com​pared with the nation's $20,000—they shell out a down payment of $12,000, only $3,000 less than the national average. Buyers across the country plan to stay in the home for around nine years.  The available inventory​ of homes is affecting first-time buyers the most, but millennials are still gaining traction as the largest group of homebuyers in the nation.

Spring Home Shoppers Will Find a Little More in the D-FW Market this Year

Columnist Steve Brown at the Dallas Morning News reports that the number of new listings in the area's housing market was up 20 percent in February from a year ago, according to data from local real estate agents.  

The total inventory of single-family homes listed for sale with area real estate agents was 4 percent higher than a year ago, marking the first spring in five years that there aren’t fewer houses for sale in the area.

This is an encouraging indicator but more listings are need to balance the market inventory.  DFW's market remains tight by historical standards.

In February there was only a 2.1-month supply of preowned single-family homes for sale in North Texas, according to Texas Real Estate Center data. That's about half the national average. A “normal” housing market has about a 6-month supply of homes. 

Black History Month: Barbara Jordan

Barbara Jordan (Born 21 February 1936 – Died 17 January 1996) was a lawyer, educator, an American politician, and a leader of the Civil Rights movement. A Texas Democrat, she was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction, the first southern black female elected to the United States House of Representatives, and the first African-American woman to deliver a keynote address at a Democratic National Convention. 


She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among numerous other honors. She was a member of the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors from 1978 to 1980. On her death, she became the first African-American woman to be buried in the Texas State Cemetery--final resting place of Governors, Senators, Legislators, Congressmen, Judges and other legendary Texans who have made the state what it is today.

Jordan taught political science at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama for a year. In 1960, she returned to Houston, passed the bar and started a private law practice.

Jordan campaigned unsuccessfully in 1962 and 1964 for the Texas House of Representatives. She won a seat in the Texas Senate in 1966, becoming the first African American state senator since 1883 and the first black woman to serve in that body. Re-elected to a full term in the Texas Senate in 1968, she served until 1972. She was the first African-American female to serve as president pro tem of the state senate and served one day, June 10, 1972, as acting governor of Texas; albeit for one day, to date Jordan is the only African American woman to serve as governor of a state (excluding lieutenant governors).  During her time in the Texas Legislature, Jordan sponsored or cosponsored some 70 bills.

In 1972, she was elected to Congress, the first woman to represent Texas in the House in her own right. She received extensive support from former President Lyndon B. Johnson, who helped her secure a position on the House Judiciary Committee. In 1974, she made an influential televised speech before the House Judiciary Committee supporting the process of impeachment of Richard Nixon, Johnson's successor as President. In 1975, she was appointed by Carl Albert, then Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, to the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee.

In 1976, Jordan, mentioned as a possible running mate to Jimmy Carter of Georgia, became instead the first African-American woman to deliver a keynote address at the Democratic National Convention.

Jordan retired from politics in 1979 and became an adjunct professor teaching ethics at the University of Texas at Austin Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. She again was a keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention in 1992.

In 1994 and until her death in 1996, Jordan chaired the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, which advocated increased restriction of immigration, called for all U.S. residents to carry a national identity card and increased penalties on employers that violated U.S. immigration regulations. Then-President Clinton endorsed the Jordan Commission's proposals.  While she was Chair of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform she argued that "it is both a right and a responsibility of a democratic society to manage immigration so that it serves the national interest." Opponents of modern U.S. immigration policy have cited her willingness to penalize employers who violate U.S. immigration regulations, tighten border security, oppose amnesty or any other pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, and broaden the grounds for the deportation of legal immigrants. In 1994, President Clinton Awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom and The NAACP presented her with the Springarn Medal. She was honored many times and was given over 20 honorary degrees from institutions across the country, including Harvard and Princeton, and was elected to the Texas and National Women's Halls of Fame.

...

Murphy Craft Beer Festival and Community Concert 14 May 2016

http://www.murphytx.org/332/Tunes-Tails-and-Ales

Black History Month: Ida B. Wells

"The Winchester rifle deserves a place of honor in every black home." said the 4'6" African American school teacher.  The Winchester repeating rifle was the "assualt rifle" of it's day.  And here in the dark days after the American Civil War, is a black school teacher and eventual icon of African American History recommending that EVERY black household have such a weapon at the ready and help in conscious reverence!

What Ms. Wells lacked in stature she made up for beauty and many times over in spirit.  Few in the black narrative have had so little to lean upon and propped up so many from so far down.  Ms. Wells survived what Professor Johnson labeled the nadir of black history.  The lowest, darkest point in the experience.  Yes, lower than the days of slavery.  For in the middle and late part of the 19th century freedmen had graduated from slaves to victims and targets.  Lynchings were rampant. Blacks were killed indiscriminately and terribly and the law was seldom on their side to protect, defend, and certainly not to provide justice.

In this treacherous environment the diminutive Wells struck blow after blow for justice and security for the black community in America.  She initially sued railroads for discrimination and abuse of black passengers.  However, her greatest victories were against the horrific practice of lynching. The modern day American has no clue that in the 1890's if you accused a black man in the south of any crime, chances were that within 24 hours he would hang by the neck (or worse) until dead .  Nevermind the police, courts, lawyers--fairy tales in 1890--black men and women were slaughtered because a white person said they did such and such.  This simple violation of core human rights was the target of Well's keen aim and the justification for her call to arms.

She advocated, wrote for multiple papers and publishers and artfully refuted both white and black detractors. Her discovery, declaration, and condemnation of lynching was the chief accomplishment of her life's work.  Americans of every race, then and now, were and are largely ignorant of the number of killings that took place via the sham-justice of the lynch mob.  Black folks were emblazoned by oratory servants like Wells to fight back against the KKK, Jim Crow, and lynch mobs.  Godly whites were awakened to help and often opened the door for leaders like Wells, W.B. DuBois, and others who eventually became the NAACP.  It was a slow, bloody, fiery struggle.  Through forceful effort even to victory, Ida B. Wells-Barnett earned her place in Black History.
#blackhistorymonth


*My thanks to Professor Nicholas Johnson of Fordham Law School and his book Negroes and the Gun: the Black Tradition of Arms. 2014, Prometheus Books.  And some wikipedia stuff too. 

Black History Month: Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass advised the best defense against slave catchers was a good revolver. I think that detail was omitted from my history lesson as a child.  Douglass knew that in 1854 the law could not be relied on to protect blacks straining to regain their natural state of freedom and liberty.  The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Interestingly, Abolitionists began to fight the measure as an overreach of the federal government. But while politicians debated and citizens resisted, the black man was hunted, kidnapped, or worse.

The most inspiring story I've read of Frederick Douglass is the moment young Fred Bailey stood up to the "N***er-Breaker" Mr. Edward Covey.  This despicable fellow was known for breaking the will of strong willed slaves by any means necessary.  Young Fred defeated Covey and another white man with nothing more than his fists, dignity, and perhaps Divine blessing. For that moment of resistance began the inevitable evolution of Fred Bailey the slave to Frederick Douglass the orator, abolitionist, freedman advocate, and statesman.

Consistently and advocate for self defense rather than political violence, Douglass was welcomed by both ethnicities bent on freedom for all men--and his enemies could never match his wit and mind in civil discourse.  At the 1888 Republican National Convention, Douglass became the first African American to receive a vote for President of the United States in a major party's roll call vote. Ever the orator and advocate Douglass is one of the most important figures in African American history.

A man's rights rest in three boxes.

The ballot box, jury box and the cartridge box. 

--Frederick Douglass

*My thanks to Professor Nicholas Johnson of Fordham Law School and his book Negroes and the Gun: the Black Tradition of Arms. 2014, Prometheus Books.

29 Texas Walmarts among 154 closing nationally

​BENTONVILLE, Ark. (Walmart) – Walmart is closing 154 stores across the country — 29 in Texas. The company said 95 percent of the stores impacted are within ten miles of another Walmart. Walmart also announced plans to open at least 50 Supercenters and at least 85 Neighborhood Markets over the next 13 months. In the same period, Sam’s Club plans to open at least seven new stores. Except where noted, all Texas stores will close Jan. 28. Stores are: Walmart Express 721 Dale Evans Dr., Italy 221 S SH 274, Kemp 504 W Pine St., Edgewood 301 Hwy 69 S, Whitewright 122 Commercial Ave., Anson 1003 Telephone Cir., Merkel 5 N 14th St., Haskell 1010 N Main St., Winters 501 N Main, Godley 416 N Third St., Grandview 420 S US 69, Leonard 428 N Dallas St., Palmer 440 E Pine St., Frankston 1787 US 259 S, Diana 1005 Texas Ave. E, Waskom 870 Taylor St., Hughes Springs 914 North Main St., Lone Star 504 WL Doc Dodson, Naples 12522 FM 1840, Dekalb 114 Redwater Blvd. West, Maud Supercenter 14091 FM 490, Raymondville 7480 Padre Island Hwy, Brownsville 8201 N FM 620, Austin 7075 FM 1960 Rd W, Houston Neighborhood Market 2218 Greenville Ave., Dallas (Greenville) 2740 Gessner Rd., Houston 2201 West Southlake Blvd., Southlake 1901 S. Texas Ave., Bryan 4268 Legacy Dr., Frisco (closing Jan. 17)​​

Wintertime is Surely Here, is Your House Ready?

Avoid Costly Repairs with These Winter Maintenance Must-Dos (a helpful reminder from my friend Joe Boggs at Supreme Lending)

Failure to prepare your home for the upcoming winter months can have dire consequences on your wallet, as well as pose a safety hazard for others. Even those in warmer climes will want to be careful this time of year: Everyone can benefit from an annual maintenance tune-up, and even in the South a winter frost can come as a nasty surprise.

Fortunately, there are some relatively easy preventative measures you can implement in the fall months to help ensure a smooth winter. The list below provides a few of the low-cost measures you can take now that will save you from the hassles of repairs and from the cost of winter issues.

Winterize pipes and outdoor spigots. As the temperatures start to dip below freezing, any water that is exposed to the lower temperatures will freeze. When water freezes, it expands; water left in a hose has nowhere to expand to. The copper piping that feeds the water to the hose will eventually split because of this expansion.

The easy fix here is to remove all the hoses and make sure that there is no water left in them. Also, for more protection, you can place a foam box over the spigot.

Additionally, if you live in a place where the temperatures drop dramatically or stay cold for an extended period of time, you need to make sure the pipes inside the home are protected. This is very important if your home has a crawl space underneath the house with exposed pipes. Simple and inexpensive foam pipe covers can accomplish this.

Clean roof gutters. If your home has gutters you need to make sure that you inspect how they are attached to the roof and that they are clear of debris. You want to make sure no dams or clogs are created. The best time to check is after all the fall leaves have dropped and then again during the spring thaw. Cleaning the drains will help ensure that the drains do not get ripped off from the roof and that water will not back up, which can cause a leaky roof.

Remove foliage and potential tree hazards. Trees and foliage provide great shade for your home in the summer and help keep the heat at bay. However, you want to make sure that you do not have branches and other foliage over your roof or potentially covering electric lines, cable, gas, or any other cables you may have running to your home. It is easiest to trim back or remove any potential problems in the fall. Snow on branches can weigh them down and potentially cause utility problems or even roof damage.

Inspect your furnace. Winter typically requires the use of a heater. Schedule an inspection of your furnace to make sure it is venting properly and will not be obstructed by winter weather. Check and/or replace your carbon monoxide alarms, which is a low-cost fix that may just save your life.

Dryer exhaust.  Much like your furnace, inspect your dryer vent. Make sure no lint is backing up the exhaust and that winter weather will not cause any issues. A backed-up exhaust can lead to house fires.

These few safety precautions will help ensure that the winter months pass safely and protect your home. Take a few minutes and make your home as safe as possible for you and your family.

Home Builder D.R. Horton's New $20 Million Campus

The  Dallas Business Journal reports that D.R. Horton is planning a $20 million campus in Arlington on the I-30 frontage road just east of Collins St. The home builder, which was founded in Arlington in 1978 but is currently headquartered in Fort Worth, will bring 500 jobs with it.  The new campus will have 150,000 sf on six acres. It will include a parking garage. During the North Texas new home boom of the late 1990's through the turn of the century, Horton built an enormous number of DFW home and developed dozens of full featured housing developments. Today, the Arlington City Council will consider the company's request for $5.5 million from the city for improvements and drainage, roadways, structured parking and other infrastructure.

What a Crazy Market

 Crazy Market.

Ok, "in the old days" this beautifully updated home in a sweet spot of Richardson would have sold quickly.

Maybe since folks seldom move from here, it might have gone over a modest list price.  But WAY OVER list price and in ONE DAY!  Nuts.  Totally nuts.

 Time to sell is now.
Now.
Now.

 Folks, the builders are building as fast as they can.  Cool, hip apartments are poping up in neat locations.

Prices WILL level out, and when there are finally more choices for buyers, prices will gow down, some.

Right now they are up, BUNCHES.

Now.

You DO have options if you want to cash in on this hugely seller-driven market.

Call me.




http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/2208-Victoria-Ln_Richardson_TX_75082_M75115-58219