DFW Area Home Prices Climb According to Latest S&P/Case-Schiller Index

Good news DFW! The Dallas/Fort Worth area pre-owned homes showed a price increase this past November, up 1.4 percent from a year previous, according to the lastest statistics released by the Standard & Poor's/Case-Schiller Home Price Index. This is the first positive increase in DFW in the past 2 years. The Dallas area also placed 1st out of 20 cities tracked monthly according to the index. Based on the numbers, our area has been on a steady increase since the market bottomed out in March 2009.

It's not time to celebrate yet however. There is still much speculation about mortgage rates increasing if the Fed stops buying mortgages and mortgage backed securities this April. 30-year fixed rates have already risen by one-quarter of a percent this past month to around 5.2%, according to HSH Associates. This could be the beginning of a steady rise in rates. With this in mind, NOW is the time to lock in your mortgage on the purchase of your next home or a re-finance of your current home.

Visit BW Home Team to find all the homes available on the market today, whether it is homes in Frisco, homes in McKinney, or homes in Flower Mound, pre-owned or new construction. Quit searching and start finding with us!

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!

Good News for DFW Pre-Owned Home Market To Be Released in Dallas Morning News on 9/8/09 by Steve Brown!

Dallas-Fort Worth preowned home sales skyrocket as homebuyers take advantage of tax credit

By STEVE BROWN/ The Dallas Morning News

The North Texas housing market came roaring back in November.

Preowned home sales rose by 31 percent last month from a year ago – one of the biggest such increases on record.

And median home sales prices were up 5 percent.

The big jump in residential transactions came as large numbers of homebuyers rushed to take advantage of the federal home buying tax credit, which has been extended.

Real estate agents in October sold almost 5,500 preowned homes through their multiple listing service, according to statistics released Monday by the North Texas Residential Information Systems and the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.

And condo and townhouse sales were up more than 60 percent from a year ago.
November’s robust sales activity is the latest in a string of recent indicators, which show that the North Texas home market has bottomed out and is turning the corner.

Through the first 11 months of 2009, North Texas home sales are down 12 percent from the same period of last year. And median home sales prices are unchanged year to date from 2008.
November was the second consecutive month that Dallas-Fort Worth area home sales rose from the previous year – ending more than a year of consecutive declines.

Some neighborhoods that weren’t impacted by the federal homebuying incentives saw dramatic spikes in home sales last month.

In the Park Cities, preowned home sales soared 81 percent in November from a year ago.
Sales in close in North Dallas neighborhoods rose 48 percent.

And at the end of November, the inventory of unsold homes on the market fell below 6 months which is considered a balanced market.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/120709dnbizhomesales.32d657683.html

Great Article Regarding Housing Market Recovery in Your Local Area!

I just read a great article entitled "When Will Your Housing Market Recover?" This article goes into detail about how to find out if your own local market is recovering and where to find the information. They mention researching the supply of for-sale homes, median home prices and volume of homes sold, along with other information such as the foreclosure rate for your area. If you've read my blog for long, you know that I post good information about the DFW housing market with hard facts and statistics that can help you if you're not into doing your own research. Read this article though to educate yourself a little more on the process. As always, when you are ready to find that next great home at a great price, visit www.BWHomeTeam.com first and then request a showing from one of our great agents!

Short Sales 101 - Could This Be the Answer To Your Problems?

According to the latest Realtors Confidence Index (RCI), one out of every 10 recent homes sales has been a short sale. What's a short sale you ask? A short sale is when the lender agrees to let the homeowner sell their home for less than what they owe that lender to avoid a foreclosure, which can be a win-win for both the seller and the lender. How can this be? Typically a foreclosure will cost the lender more than taking less than what is owed on the property due to legal fees. The win for the seller is the fact that they will be able to get another home loan within 24 months after the short sale. Those looking to get a home loan that have been foreclosed on would have to wait at least 5 years.

Something a potential buyer of a short sale property needs to remember is that yes, you can get a good deal on a short sale, most of the time better than when a property has gone into foreclosure, but the deal has to make good business sense to the lender. It must make the lender more money than what they would make if they foreclosed, paid the legal fees, and sold the property closer to market value. Thus, most lenders will not agree to a short sale for 50% of asking price!

Homeowners, remember that the short sale must be approved by your lender. If you financed your home with two liens, a first and a second, the secondary lender in theory should receive nothing if a short sale doesn't cover what the first lien holder is owed. However, the second-lien holder must release their claim in order for a short sale to proceed, which gives them some leverage. There is not much incentive for them to agree to a short sale and receive nothing, so both lenders and your real estate agent must work together to make the process come together. This is just one of the reasons why short sales are known to be a long process. Still, the benefits to a short sale are well worth patience from both a buyer and a seller.

Are you behind on your mortgage payments, facing foreclosure, and think a short sale may be the answer for you? First, find a good real estate agent (BW Home Team has excellent, highly trained agents in the short sale process!) and start gathering documentation. Your real estate agent can help you with this.

The paperwork you will need for most lenders is:

1) Authorization to release information to your real estate agent. You can't start the file without this.
2) Detailed financial information. This includes 2-3 months of bank statements, federal income tax returns for the past two years, and paycheck stubs for the last 2-3 months. These must be provided by all borrowers on your lien. You must state you are unemployed if you are.
3) Financial worksheet - Each bank may have their own you can download. This worksheet shows all assets and debts. This will establish whether you are financially going through hardship.
4) Hardship Letter - You must state the hardship you are facing. Lenders would like to see that the hardship is not temporary. Make sure the letter is clear and legible and have your real estate agent proof it for you!
5) Bankruptcy - Are you going to decide to file for bankruptcy? This can cause delay to the short sale. Make sure your short sale is done before any legal proceedings begins.
6) Listing agreement with your real estate agent - Lender would like to know that you have made an attempt to sell the property.
7) Offer - The lender will not start or take your short sale seriously until you have an offer on your property.

Contact the BW Home Team today if you are interested in finding out more about short sales, whether you are a buyer or a seller. As a buyer, you can even search our website via keywords such as short sale, lender must approve, etc.! It's as easy as typing those words in the description box.

List courtesy of Jimmy Nguyen and Short Sale Rockstars - Facebook

The Tax Credit Extension for Homebuyers is Official!

Obama has officially signed the bill that extends the first time homebuyer tax credit of up to $8,000 through June 2010 as long as the homebuyer executes a contract by April 30, 2010. This new legislation expands the tax credit program to include an up to $6,500 tax credit for existing homeowners who buy another home as long as they have lived in their current residence 5 years or more.

The bill caps the eligibility for the credit to homes costing less than $800,000 and raises the current income limit from $75,000 per year for a single person or $150,000 per year for a couple filing jointly to $125,000/single and $225,000/jointly.

For all future homebuyers that have been waiting for this, visit www.bwhometeam.com for all your homebuying needs!

Voters Strongly Support All 11 State Amendments

Yesterday, with expected low turn out, Texans approved all 11 Texas Constitutional amendments on the ballot Tuesday.

Voters approved three amendments related to Texans' property taxes that the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association said will lead to "the most signifigant property tax reform in 30 years."

The specific results on these 3 propositions are as follows:

Proposition 2, which requires tax appraisals of a person's primary residence be appraised to the property's value as a homestead instead of the "highest and best use" standard, including a property's potential value as a commercial site: For - 68 percent / Against - 32 percent

Proposition 3, which allows the state to enforce uniform property appraisal standards across all of Texas' 254 counties: For - 65 percent / Against - 35 percent

Proposition 5, which lets adjoining counties consolidate review boards that hear appeals to appraisals: For - 61 percent / Against - 39 percent