The Borrowers Right to Inspect Closing Documents Act of 2009

A new bill was introduced to the House of Representatives late last year. This bill, titled "The Borrowers Right to Inspect Closing Documents Act of 2009" was co-sponsored by Reps. Melissa Bean, D - Ill., and Shelley Moore Capito, R - W. Va. The bill, if passed, would require that borrowers receive their closing documents at least three business days before their scheduled closing. This would mean that the lender would be required to provide the title company or other settlement agent:

• the completed promissory note
• the deed of trust or other mortgage instrument
• all items needed to complete the uniform settlement statement
• the final closing instructions

at least four days before a borrowers scheduled closing in order to allow the settlement agent time to prepare the closing documents and get them to the buyer within the required 3 days prior to closing.

Like most pieces of legislation, this bill is a double-edged sword in my opinion. Most legislators blame the housing crisis on predatory lenders having taken advantage of sub-prime borrowers ignorance of the paperwork they were signing and the terms they had agreed to. I give borrowers I little more credit than this. Having sat through many closings, settlement agents do a good job of explaining the paperwork in layman's terms that all but the dimmest can understand. "A 5 year ARM will keep your payments at this level for 5 years and then your interest rate will increase by no more than a certain percentage (stating what that percentage number is) PER YEAR, which will increase your payment to this, etc."

I believe everyone should have the right to read what they are signing and are smart to do so. A large amount of lenders are notorious for getting paperwork to the title company/settlement agent as late as the afternoon of a borrower's closing, if not later. Closing documents are generally stacked together in a pile a good 6 inches thick, with several documents being full of legalese and the buyer is expected to get through a closing within the scheduled hour to hour and a half. Thus, in a Utopian society where all runs smoothly in the world, this bill would seem like a good idea. However, here's the other side of the sword. We do not live in a Utopian society and like good ol' Murphy stated, if something can go wrong, it will. Most buyers arrange their movers or rent their moving vans for the day of closing. If they are selling a house and do not negotiate a temporary lease back, they have nowhere else to put their belongings. Will these lenders be able to keep up with these new guidelines or will this cause the process to bottleneck even more? It seems smart and logical to get to the root cause of the bottleneck. I don't have faith that our legislators can even comprehend this concept. I believe that if required closing documents were more universally standardized between all lenders, closings could be more streamlined. Buyers could compare apples to apples when looking at good faith estimates and all the lenders would need to do is fill in the blanks. Borrowers could review blank closing documents before they ever get into contract on a house and hidden fees would not be so hidden anymore.

Only time will tell if this legislation will pass and if these new requirements will further bog down the closing process. The good news is, the home market is looking up in 2010! There are lots of homes for sale in Frisco, homes for sale in Highland Village, homes for sale in Southlake, and homes for sale in Flower Mound , along with other areas of Dallas/Fort Worth that are just waiting for that new buyer to move in, that is, as long as they get through the closing process first!

Our Agents KNOW New Construction! Way to go Jeannette!

If you are interested in buying a new construction home in Prosper or anywhere else in the Metroplex, we have the some of the most knowledgable agents in the area! Click Here to see Jeannette Rohan of Team Rohan, who was one of the agents featured in this past Sunday's Hot On Homes! television show, discuss D.R. Horton Homes at the Glenbrooke Subdivision in Prosper.

Way to go, Jeannette!

Customer Satisfaction of New Home Construction Gains Ground

I read an interesting article on CNNMoney this morning that should be of some interest to anyone considering purchasing a new construction home this year, especially those interested in taking advantage of the $8000 first time homebuyer tax credit. According to the 2009 J.D. Powers and Associates U.S. New Homebuilder Satisfaction Study, although less new construction homes are being built, overall customer satisfaction increased for the second year in a row, up 32 points to 811 on a 1,000 point scale. Fierce competition amongst builders has lead to benefit for home buyers. Only the strongest builders have survived and they have survived by offering better home construction quality, more upgrades, and functional floorplans all at a discount from previous years. Also, of special interest to first time homebuyers, there are many homes at the finish out stage or almost there, that can be closed on by the November 30th deadline to qualify for the new homebuyer tax credit. To read more, click here.

Darling Homes tops the builder satisfaction study for the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Drees Homes and Ashton Woods homes follow Darling in the number two and three spots.

Looking for a new construction home? Visit our website's new construction home search for the Dallas and Fort Worth area! See floorplans, community information, and many homes that you won't find on the MLS.

Top Dallas/Fort Worth home builders
Based on 2009 survey of consumer satisfaction with 1,000 being a perfect score:

1. Darling Homes 876
2. Drees Custom Homes 865
3. Ashton Woods 864
4. Pulte Homes 860
5. Standard Pacific Homes 858
6. David Weekley Homes 850
7. Highland Homes 849
8. Horizon Homes 836
9. Ryland Homes 816
10.K Hovnanian 813
11. Del Webb 811
D-FW average 809
12. Lennar 805
13. Meritage Homes 800
14. D. R. Horton 792
15. KB Homes 783
16. Beazer Homes 779
17. Centex Homes 774
18. Grand Homes 761
19. First Texas Homes 752
20. Fox & Jacobs 752
21. History Maker 749
22. Toll Brothers 716
SOURCE: J.D. Power and Associates 2009 New-Home Builder Customer Satisfaction Study

DFW Reports 2nd Largest Employment Gain

Tuesday, January 6, 2009, 2:54pm CST Modified: Tuesday, January 6, 2009, 4:05pm

DFW reports 2nd largest employment gain
Dallas Business Journal

The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro area reported the second largest year-over-year employment gain nationally in November 2008 by adding 46,900 jobs. The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area trailed only the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown area, which reported a non-farm employment gain of 54,300 jobs.

A report from the U.S. Department of Labor also said 121 metropolitan areas had jobless rates reaching 7% or above, up from only 18 areas the year before. In addition, 34 areas had rates below 4%--far fewer than the 133 areas that had jobless rates below 4% in Nov. of 2007.
The report goes on to say the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington unemployment rate hit 5.7% in Nov. of 2008, which is higher than the area's unemployment rate of 4.1% a year ago.

Over the previous year, non-farm employment rose in 11 of the 38 metropolitan areas surveyed with the largest year-over-year percentage employment gain recorded in Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown (up 2.1percent), followed by San Antonio (up 2 percent); Austin-Round Rock (up 1.6 percent) and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (up +1.6 percent).

Areas with the largest year-over-year employment decreases included: Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-3.7 percent); Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (-3 percent); Atlanta-Sandy Springs- Marietta, Ga. (-2.7 percent); as well as Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-2.7 percent).

The report says the largest year-over-year percentage employment gains by metropolitan divisions included Fort Worth-Arlington (up 1.8 percent); Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. ( up 1.6 percent ); Dallas-Plano-Irving ( up 1.5 percent) and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (up 1.1 percent).

Is your Realtor still around and if so....for how long?

In response to the recent problems in our nation's economy, 8% of the real estate agents in the DFW area have decided to give up on our market. Predictions are, we will see another 2% - 5% before the end of 2008. Is your agent still in business?

Most agents that get out of the real estate market when times are slower are generally considered in our profession to be "hobby agents". These are agents that try to do real estate on the side, helping an occasional family member or friend. However, generally instead of "helping" that family member or friend, they are hurting them, in most cases more than that client would expect. Hobby agents do not have the experience that full time agents, that is, agents that earn their living through helping people buy and sell real estate, have. 80% of the agents in America typically only handle 2 closings PER YEAR! How can those agents negotiate and get their clients the best deal possible, leaving no money on the table? How can they look out for all the contract loopholes and know how to solve all the unique problems that pop up on almost every contract?

When it comes to choosing your next agent, remember, YOUR family, and YOUR income comes first. Don't worry about hurting someone's feelings. Choosing a Realtor is a business decision and you should go with someone or some team that has experience, education, and also makes you feel comfortable and can easily answer most if not all of your questions. You want an agent/team that is stable and can last through all the highs and lows of the market. Don't cheat yourself!