Do I Need a Home Inspection?

Yup. Home inspections are good, good, good!

I think most Murphy, Plano, Rowlett, Richardson, etc., home buyers naturally gravitate toward having a home inspected by a licensed inspector when they buy. The federal Housing and Urban Development folks even have a handy flyer about buyers home inspections you can read here. http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/hudclips/forms/files/92564-cn.pdf

But what about the value of home inspections to sellers? Well, did you know that the Texas Real Estate Commission's mandatory contract for resale says that if your buyer finds a needed repair, you have to pay big bucks to a licensed person for that repair?

COMPLETION OF REPAIRS AND TREATMENTS: Unless otherwise agreed in writing, Seller shall complete all agreed repairs and treatments prior to the Closing Date. All required permits must be obtained, and repairs and treatments must be performed by persons who are licensed or otherwise authorized by law to provide such repairs or treatments. At Buyer's election, any transferable warranties received by Seller with respect to the repairs and treatments will be transferred to Buyer at Buyer's expense. If Seller fails to complete any agreed repairs and treatments prior to the Closing Date, Buyer may do so and receive reimbursement from Seller at closing. The Closing Date will be extended up to 15 days, if necessary, to complete repairs and treatments.

So, let's say you have a GFCI plug that's bad (those outlets with the little test button) and you need to replace it to sell your house. Those sell at Lowes for $14.99. To have a licensed electrician come out per the contract you will spend $85 to $125!

So, if your pre-listing home inspection had revealed that issue, a simple and cheap DIY project would have saved $$$!

For more information on home inspections for buyers and getting your home ready for sale, contact us at JTOden Realty.

Mortgage Industry Update

Buying a home in Murphy, Plano Richardson, etc? You'll likely need a Mortgage.

So what's up with mortgages today? Keith Bazzell at Integrity Mortgage in Dallas tells me that rates are holding strong and should be promoting some good growth in the economy. Bazzell says that 30 year fixed rates on FHA and Conventional loans are right at 5% with a couple of recent days actually dipping into the high 4’s and the 15 year rates are in the 4.25% range. Now more than ever, these rates are subjective based upon credit scores, down payment and loan amount due to investors changing their risk assessments. Overall these should be good incentive for you.

Also, Bazzell reminds us that the First Time Homebuyer and Move-Up Buyer loans are drawing closer and closer to an end. Contracts on homes in Murphy, Richardson, Dallas, Plano, etc. must be in place by April 30^th in order to take advantage of these programs! So far there hasn’t been a push to extend this any further.

For folks interested in more info, Mr.Bazzell is available by phone and email and also points us toward a long but good read about the housing market (Review Housing Market Indicators.).

Your Broker Matters!

February is Black History Month

Matthew "Bones" Hooks was born to former slaves, best remembered as a cowboy & Amarillo, Texas civic leader.

Hooks was also a religious leader, businessman, cowboy and horse breaker and became one of the first black cowboys to work alongside whites as a ranch hand, and the first black person to serve on a Potter County grand jury.

Morris Overstreet

is the first African-American

elected to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 1990 and served 8 years. He grew up in Amarillo graduating high school from Amarillo High School (GO SANDIES), earned a BA from Angelo State University, earned his Juris Doctor Degree from Texas Southern University School of Law in Houston.

February is Black History Month

The United States has many historical figures that have achieved notably and well represent the African American community. From current figures like Bill Cosby, Michael Steele and President Obama to historical figures like George Washington Carver, MLK, and Harold Washington the country is ripe with black achievement. This February, I'd like to blog about noteworthy black TEXANS.

Barbra Jordan. Ms. Jordan served as a congresswoman in the United States House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979. She was the first black woman elected to that post from Texas.

Daniel Webster (80 John) Wallace.

Mr. Wallace was a cowboy, born into slavery, worked

until his freedom was secured and died Texas'

first Black Millionaire.

How About a Ranch in the City?????

Click HERE to see the REALTOR.com listing for this property

Click HERE to see the REALTOR.com listing for this property

225 Mortgage Companies failed in 2009

225 Mortgage Companies failed in 2009.

Here's one that didn't:

Intergrity Mortgage Corp.

& Keith Bazzell -- 214-342-0044

http://imcoftx.com/

Record Year for Mortgage Company Failures

More than 225 mortgage-related companies ended their operations or failed in 2009, more than any year since MortgageDaily.com began tracking data in 1998.

Bank failures lead the decline with 140 suspended and forced into bankruptcy. There were 66 non-bank closures and 19 credit union failures.

The most notable 2009 failures included Ocala, Fla.-based Taylor Bean Whitaker Mortgage Corp., Melville, N.Y.-based Lend America, and Montgomery, Ala.-based Colonial Bank.

Source: MortgageDaily.com (01/04/2010)

REALTOR® Magazine-Daily News-Record Year for Mortgage Company Failures

Home Buyer Tax Credits

So what? So, who can qualify for this and what does it look like when you get your check?

Well, the law qualifies a first time home buyer as a buyer who hasn't owned a principal residence in in the last three years. Those folk can buy a new or resale home and get up to $8,000 in a tax credit. Here's the part no one knows about: home owners who make a "move-up" may be eligble for a a $6,500 tax credit! That means that if you move from your existing property to a new one, Uncle Sam may pay over six thousand dollars to you via a tax credit. HUD may even allow you to use that money as closing costs. That's a lot of closing cost assistance! But the jig is up in April, so it's time to start moving TODAY.

For more information, call JTOden Realty, or read more at www.irs.gov

Some details were lifted from http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/ by the NAHB.

Toys, Toys, and More Toys!!!!

Go Murphy!

CITIZENS OF MURPHY, TEXAS GO ABOVE AND BEYOND AT HOLIDAY CELEBRATION TOY DRIVE

Murphy, Texas (Dec 10, 2009) -

The City of Murphy would like to extend a big thank you to our community. With over 1000 friends and families in attendance at the December 3 Annual Christmas Tree Lighting and Holiday Event, the outpouring of kindness shone through.

Attendees were asked to bring and donate a new unwrapped toy benefiting the Collin County Children's Advocacy Center. The amount of toys donated that night exceeded all expectations and once again proved the strong sense of community in Murphy and coming together when neighbors are in need.

On Friday, December 4, staff delivered a truck load overflowing with generous toy donations from the citizens of Murphy. With excitement, hundreds of toys were unloaded at CCCAC and are on their way to children in need this holiday season.

"The children served by Collin County Children's Advocacy Center (CCCAC) need our help year round, but when it comes to the holidays, we work hard to do what we can to make it special for the kids," says Vanessa Gill, Holiday Project Coordinator of CCCAC. "We have many children who would otherwise have no gifts at the holidays and communities such as Murphy are a tremendous blessing." The mission of Collin County Children's Advocacy Center is to identify, protect and improve the lives of abused and neglected children in Collin County.

For more information contact Kristen Roberts, Assistant to the City Manager at (972) 468-4006 or kroberts@murphytx.org. For additional information on Collin County Children's Advocacy Center, please call Betsey DeVenny at (972) 633-6608 or visit www.cacplano.org.

Real Estate Sales Soar in Collin County

October sales of homes in Collin County and surrounding areas are projected to be 23 percent higher than in October 2008, reports the Collin County Association of Realtors (CCAR). In addition, "under contract" listings also increased by 27 percent from a year ago. "This is a tremendous rebound for real estate sales in this area, especially for this time of year," says Steve Haid, CCAR member services director. The CCAR Pulse, which delves into the real estate markets of 36 local communities, also reports that the time it took to sell a home in October decreased 8.2 percent from 100 days a year ago to 92 days. Year-to-date, median sales price is approximately 1 percent less than the same time last year, which is mostly due to the large number of sales of foreclosure listings. "As we continue to absorb the large number of lower-priced foreclosure properties that were listed earlier in the year, we can expect those sales to continue to impact the overall median sales price," notes Haid. "However, sales prices have held pretty steady because the prices of non-foreclosure listings has increased and offset the impact of the foreclosure sales." In addition, buyers continue to enjoy record low mortgage interest rates and very affordable homes. In fact, the Housing Affordability Index is up 18.4 percent over the same time a year ago. This means that most people in this area could afford to purchase the median priced home -which is not the case in many other parts of the country. Collin County and surrounding areas remain in an overall balanced market, as has been the case all year. However, there is a shortage of homes priced below $200,000 and an oversupply of houses priced above $500,000. "Overall, we are enjoying a strong rebound in our local market," says Haid. "Closed sales and homes going under contract are very brisk for this time of year. And, homes in the area are very affordable with low mortgage interest rates. These are the right ingredients for a strong local real estate market."

The U.S. Metros Least Touched by Recession

A combination of stable home prices and sizable sectors in health care, energy, government, and education kept these metropolitan areas relatively stable

By Prashant Gopal

America's strongest economies have one thing in common—home prices that never got too hot or too cold.

Home prices in metros such as San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Pittsburgh, Rochester, Little Rock, Ark., and Baton Rouge, La., remained steady through boom and bust. Although no metropolitan area entirely avoided the economic downturn, the most resilient metros were protected by a potent mix of recession-resistant jobs.

The upstate New York areas of Syracuse, Rochester, Albany, and Buffalo suffered from declining jobs in manufacturing, but got significant boosts from sizable health-care, education, and government sectors. Construction is booming in Baton Rouge, Louisiana's capital, as firms take advantage of financing for post-Katrina hurricane recovery work and service-related companies expand to meet the needs of a growing population. Omaha and the state of Iowa have relatively strong insurance sectors.

Texas, the last state to enter recession, has been bolstered by its oil and gas industries—which have also helped Oklahoma, North Dakota, and Louisiana. Texas also has many other things going for it, including affordable home prices and relatively low wages, which attract corporations.

BusinessWeek.com used data and analysis from the Brookings Institution's new MetroMonitor to come up with the nation's 40 strongest economies. The MetroMonitor, which measures the nation's health on a quarterly basis, ranks the top 100 metros based on job growth, unemployment, gross metropolitan product, and home prices.

A relative boom in Baton Rouge

"No place has been untouched by this recession. This is a change from previous recessions," said Alan Berube, a senior fellow and research director of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program. "But there's a big difference in losing one-tenth of a percentage and losing 15% of jobs."

Baton Rouge, which was ranked No. 6, "grew jobs every month until August 2009 and in August it only lost nine-tenths of a percent, compared to 5.1% nationally," said Lauren C. Scott, professor emeritus of economics at Louisiana State University.

Scott said $5.1 billion of construction projects have been announced or are under construction in the Baton Rouge metro, including a new plant for French chemical company SNF and the expansion of an ExxonMobil (XOM) chemical plant.

"One nice thing after another thing happened that has countered what's happening in the rest of the country," Scott said.

Ernie Goss, an economist at Creighton University in Omaha, who studies much of the nation's energy and farm belts, said the strong dollar early this year hurt farm exports. "But the dollar has now weakened significantly and that will be good for the farm sector and energy commodities," Goss said. "I think 2010 is going to be much better than 2009. But we are still not going to have a lot of job gains.

A 22-year unemployment high in Texas

Although the metros in the ranking are strong by relative standards, their unemployment rates in many cases are now peaking because they entered the recession late. Texas, which had 5 metros in our top 10, including No. 1 San Antonio, is a good example.

The unemployment rate in Texas hit 8.2% in September, rising above 8% for the first time in 22 years. But that's a very low unemployment rate, compared to the national rate of 9.8% or to Nevada's 13.3% rate.

Texas is unlikely to face a prolonged downturn, said Terry Clower, an economist at the University of North Texas. The state's affordable cost of living make it attractive to new residents and corporations, the largest of which tend to be based near Houston and Dallas.

"It's perceived as a low-cost place to do business," Clower said. "Because housing is affordable, the wage rates reflect that."

Marisa Di Natale, a director at Moody's Economy.com, said late arrivals to the recession will generally face mild downturns.

These metros "haven't had a big erosion in housing wealth, which has kept consumer spending stronger than it would otherwise be," Di Natale said.

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX

Overall rank: 5

The sprawling, vibrant, and diverse metro has a major international airport, professional sports teams, and large corporations. It is home to ExxonMobil, J.C. Penney, and TXU Energy. Employment in the Dallas metro peaked in the second quarter of last year. Gross metropolitan product in the second quarter was down just 1.7% from the peak in the third quarter of 2008. Home prices grew 3% in the second quarter compared with the same period a year earlier. And the unemployment rate in June was 8.2%, up 3.1 points from a year earlier. (Please see below for the various criteria used by the Brookings Institution to determine the overall ranking.)

Job growth (since peak) rank: 13
Gross Metro Product (since peak) rank: 11
Unemployment change (year over year) rank: 32
Home price change (year over year) rank: 3

The link below will allow you to view the entire list of the 40 strongest economies

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/10/1022_40_strongest_us_metro_economies/2.htm

Have a Great Weekend.

Why Business is Slow...

Sunday, someone asked me, "How's business, how's the market?" So I thought a second and replied, "Business is slow, but the market is fine!" **

So why is business slow? Because of my new addiction to Ragdollcannon.net I warn you, don't try it if you are responsible for running a business, being productive, or have any life apart from your computer.

**Actually business is brisk, but I do love that game!

$115,000 is the "new" $100,000

www.mymesquite.info

When I started my real estate career, you could still get a good house for right at $100K. Rowlett, Mesquite, South Garland were good neighborhoods with 1,500 sq. ft. or so and perfect for the starter-home-buyer. First time buyers ate those homes up and all an agent had to do was show them about 35 or so and BAMN! A Sale was Born!

Today, that market is very much the same, just a little more expensive. Becky and I sold our $100K home for about $115K and that's indicative of the starter-home market today.

Behold, one of JTOden Realty's best in that price range, the Flood's home at 809 Parker in Mesquite. MLS#11179085.

Two Cities in Texas are in the Top Five

By Forbes

Austin, Texas, is No. 2 on the list of cities where Americans are relocating. © Brandon Seidel/Shutterstock

Unemployment is on the rise, credit is tight and consumers aren't spending — which means they aren't picking up and moving much, either. Very few places in America saw significant population growth in 2008.

Despite the overall economic slowdown, some parts of the country keep on moving ahead, attracting more and more newcomers — even if it's at a slower pace than in more sound economic times. These places still offer a semblance of stability, as well as great weather, cultural life and, in many cases, affordability.

Behind the numbers

To determine the fastest-growing metro areas in the country, Forbes used 2008 population estimates for metropolitan statistical areas with a population of more than 1 million, released March 19, 2009, by the U.S. Census Bureau. MSAs are geographic entities defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for use by federal agencies in collecting, tabulating and publishing federal statistics.

Forbes then compared the 2008 population estimates to the previous year's data to see which areas had grown the most, percentagewise.

The cities that made the list share similar qualities: more business opportunities, better weather and more affordable housing. The top three areas according to the data are Raleigh, N.C., ranking first, which jumped 4.29% to nearly 1.9 million; Austin, Texas, which came in second, with a 3.77% increase to almost 1.7 million; and Charlotte, N.C., which moved up 3.36% to 1.7 million.

All these areas' increases were smaller in 2008 than they were in 2007 (Raleigh increased by 4.7% in 2007, Austin by 4.29% and Charlotte by 4.2%), but a slight slowdown is not necessarily a bad thing, says William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, an independent research and policy group based in Washington, D.C. "Part of the story here is the rapid rise in growth in the middle of decade," he says. "That growth was unnatural."

The in-migration that happened in the middle of this decade certainly had a lot to do with the housing boom. When that went bust, so did those crazy population balloons. But these particular places are still growing because instead of building an economy that relies heavily on one industry, most of the metro areas on Forbes’ list serve as headquarters for a diverse range of companies.

For example, Austin's biggest employers include the University of Texas, Advanced Micro Devices and Dell. That wide range might have something to do with the area's relatively low January 2009 unemployment rate of 6.4%.

This is the opposite of what happened in true housing boom-and-bust towns like Las Vegas. In 2004, Las Vegas — a foreclosure mecca — saw a population increase of 4.6%, followed by 3.66% in 2005, 3.98% in 2006 and 3.22% in 2007. In 2008, that number fell to 2%.

The power of business

When it comes down to it, a buzzing business community is a metro area's most important characteristic, says Sean C. Safford, a professor at the University of Chicago and author of “Why the Garden Club Couldn't Save Youngstown: The Transformation of the Rust Belt.” He studies the social economics of U.S. cities and metro areas.

However, that doesn't mean that these metros won't suffer from a slowdown in population growth when 2009's numbers are released next year. Charlotte, for example, reported a 10.5% unemployment rate for January 2009, likely related to the fact that Bank of America is headquartered there. That high unemployment rate almost guarantees stunted growth in 2009.

"We don't quite yet know what the impact (of the ongoing recession) will be for 2009 populations," Frey says. "But we do know it's not going to get any better."

Indeed, where Americans are relocating today has little to do with where they'll be moving tomorrow.

Top 5 cities where Americans are relocating

1. Raleigh, N.C.

2. Austin, Texas

3. Charlotte, N.C.

4. Phoenix

5. Dallas

This article was written by Lauren Sherman for Forbes.