New in 2009, Collin County voters can now vote at any of 57 Countywide Election Day Vote Centers. So, you have the option of voting where it is most convenient for you.

There is a text service available this year, too. Text your 5-digit zip code to 469-713-INFO (4636) and receive back up to 3 Vote Center addresses. (Standard text messaging rates do apply).

If you don't have a computer, you can call 972-424-1460 ext. 1990 (Metro) or 1-800-687-8546 (toll free) and ask for the address of the nearest Voting Center.

We have some important issues up for vote today. Please be sure to make time to vote.

Have a blessed day!

Ronda

Prosper began as a settlement in 1846, known for its lush soil and ideal growing conditions for cotton crops. Four years later the two settlements of Rock Hill and Richland were developed, and lived side by side until the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad came through in 1914, and forced them to merge into what is known today as "Prosper".

The optimistic name choice was not without merit, as this community of 500 residents became a market center for area farmers and their plentiful bounty of corn and cotton crops. Even then, people knew there was something special about this North Texas area, but little did they know, Prosper would become the "Diamond" of Collin County between now and 2035.

Today, Prosper has come into its own with a population of approximatley 7,116; adding a resident per day and projecting a future population of 85,000 by year 2035. Although it is growing, at an alarming rate, Prosper has retained much of its small town charm and family values. Residents can relax in a setting far from the sounds of traffic and hustle and bustle of urban living. Yet, when the big city calls, access to the Metroplex is minutes away via Dallas North Tollway and Highway 380, Preston Road and Central Expressway.

Quick shopping needs are found in downtown Prosper or the Prosper Town Center, plus an abundance of choices located at the nearby Stonebriar Center, Frisco, Park & Preston in Plano, Legacy Town Center and Shops of Willowbend and The Dallas Galleria. One of the largest retail areas in Collin County will find its home along Hwy. 380, just outside of Prosper in the next few years.

Prosper is 9 miles long and 3 miles deep with Hwy. 380 as a Southern border and extending 9 miles along prime commercial land. The entire city of Prosper was master-planned with a variety of communities to suit everyone's needs and lifestyle.

Gentle Creek Estates is surrounding a 18 hole golf course. 1/5-2 acre lots. Golf course lot available. Home Builders: Stonegate Custom Homes, Kings Hollow, Dave R.Williams and Alford. Price range from $600K-$900K.

Whitley Place borders an extensive greenbelt that winds through the community. Residents can access it via the strategically placed walking paths and parks. Whitley Place also has its own community pool and lake pavilion. Home prices range from the $300s to $1.5 million.

Whispering Farms provides the ultimate setting for horse and nature lovers. This 300 acre planned community boasts oversized lots, lakes, trails, parks, and a world-class equestrian center. Elegant, luxury homes start from the $500s.

At Lakes of Prosper, residents can obtain a home in the $230s with upgraded amenities, sports center, playground, pool, splash park and hiking/biking trails.

Schools here are part of the Prosper ISD, a recognized district with many exemplary campuses. With a low student-teacher ratio of 12:1, it's no wonder Prosper ISD students achieve higher than average scores that state averages. A school population growth of about 700 students during the 2008/09 year has justified the addition of a new school.

In August 2009, Prosper welcomed the modern American high school, Texas style. Prosper High School is a $113.5 million, 590,000-square-foot behemoth, complete with a medical tech lab, a restaurant-worthy kitchen, a greenhouse, a broadcast studio and, of course, an indoor football practice facility. http://www.prosper-isd.net.

Prosper has come a long way since its early beginnings as a farm community, but its residents have still maintained a sense of pride in their town, and the desire to preserve its historic legacy and small town values.

I am very proud to live in Prosper, represent the community as a Realtor and a Prosper ISD Substitute Teacher. I am very happy that my husband and I chose this wonderful town to raise my children and "plant roots". I love the schools, the small town atmosphere and pride! The "Dahlhouse" is proud to call Prosper "our town"!

http://www.prospertx.org

This blog post can apply to any home. But, a trend I am seeing come back with some newer listings is the lack of preparation before putting the home up for sale. The make-ready stage cannot be ignored by any smart seller in our area. At the very minimum, these are the things a seller must do to get the home ready for sale anywhere in the DFW Metroplex:

1. Strip out enough personal possessions to allow the focus of attention to be the bones of the home and not the decorations. Staging a home for sale entails stripping away distractions. You may have to walk in and out of your front door and through your own home many times to know when you have it right. Did you notice the size of the rooms and the condition of the flooring, or were you focused on photographs and knick-knacks? If your eye carried to stuff and not structure, keep removing.

2. Don't over-strip the house. You don't want to be compared to a vacant home, REO, short sale, or foreclosure. Minimal decor should only shift the focus back to the house, but it should not take out the life of the home. A whole wall of family photos can be intimidating to the new buyer. One tasteful framed photo in an art niche can still show that real people live in the home. Empty art niche=sad.

3. A trip to the thrift store might help. Staging the home doesn't have to be high dollar. I once had a homeowner who didn't use her gameroom at all. Just before putting the home on the market, she found the hardware for pool table accessories and a few of mismatched pool cues at at thrift store and mounted them to the wall. The buyers assumed she had already sold or moved the pool table, but the room had a purpose and personality.

4. Pets - I'm an animal lover myself, but pets can kill a home sale effort. When we tour a home and there are pet bowls in the kitchen, a big dog bed in the living room, one more big dog bed in the master bedroom, and pet toys inside and outside of the home, we know who is master of that domain. Buyers assume the worst of pets. All signs of pets should be removed from a resale home. We compete in the DFW Metroplex with new construction. If it helped to have pet supplies in the house, the builders would be putting them in the models.

5. Mulch in the landscaping. Yes, it's great to freshen the landscaping with new mulch just prior to listing the house. But, keep in mind that you need to keep the mulch level BELOW the weep holes in your brick or you are not allowing moisture to escape. Soil or landscape materials higher than your weep holes will be noted by a home inspector as being conducive to bringing on wood destroying insect issues. And, one more tip on mulch: Pput the mulch out at least a week prior to the listing of the home. Some mulches smell like they came straight from the cow pasture, and that's not the nicest smell to encounter when bringing a buyer to see your home.

6. CLEAN and CLEAN and CLEAN! After staging the house, it's important to clean the house thoroughly. But, that level of clean needs to be maintained the entire time the home is up for sale. Buyers HATE dirty homes. That's why they go buy new. Oreck makes a terrific product that I use on all my vacant listings. It's a granite countertop cleaner that smells like freshly baked while cake. Yummy! And, the smell lasts for days. The last time I sold my own home, I would put a roast on every time we had a showing. That crock pot would put out dinner smells all afternoon. It's easy to make an emotional connection to a home when it's clean and smells like good food.

7. Be unique. I blogged a few weeks ago about the house we toured where the owner had built a tower of Twinkies on the dining room table for visitors. We talked about that house all afternoon. Another seller left a Starbucks gift card for the buyers and the showing agent, as a thank you for visiting the home. These are nice gestures and different from the usual bottled water. Last year, I had a creative homeowner who glued a small picture card of her home on packs of Extra chewing gum. Here home had lots of 'extras' (gameroom, media room, media room equipment, double kitchens, double utility rooms, and lakefront) that she wanted to keep fresh in the minds of the buyers as they toured. I sold my first home in the month of December, so the home was fully decorated for the holidays and the table was set for Christmas dinner from day one on the market (we just shifted the holiday settings and re-set the table each morning). The house went under contract in 7 days. It didn't cost anything. I just treated the house as if we were having special company - which we were. Our buyer was coming!

I hope these ideas help you get sold this quarter.

Have a blessed day!

Ronda

It is with a heavy heart that I write this post. We have tried everything we could to gain their attention, but every single time, it falls on deaf ears. Including going up to the top of the food chain. This post is a complaint about my clients' home buying experience with Bowen Family Homes.

Back on May 15 2009, my clients close on both their homes: the sale of their former home and the purchase of the home they reside in now. 30 days prior to that, my clients wrote a contract to purchase a Bowen Family Home in Prosper TX. In their contract, Bowen agreed to add some additional items to the list as part of the sale. During the final walk-through, more items were added. All of these items were supposed to be completed prior to closing.

It is 165 days later that by Bowen Family Homes did not honor their part of the contract.

During these 165 days, my clients made numerous attempts to get them to perform on their contract. Phone calls to the builder who was suppose to oversee this list completed always get pushed back. Next week, next week. But next week never came. Phone calls to the higher up that oversee the Texas division of the Bowen Family Homes always get pushed to this "builder". By then, it falls on deaf ears again. My clients have made several connection with the entire Bowen company - from their corporate office in Georgia to Texas and right down to the builder. Phone calls, certified mails, emails, etc. All lead to No progress.

Today, October 27 2009, my clients filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

We closed on the property on Friday (May 15) with the expectation that Bowen will fulfill their responsibilities the following Monday (May 18) as agreed with the Builder. Looks like it's still not May 18 yet on the Bowen's calendar.

Here's the painful lession my clients learnt: Do not close on the house until all the repair items promised to be fixed will be taken care of. In hind sight, we feel that should have happened, but in the end, this is where we are at.

My clients recently added a new addition to their family. Instead of completely enjoying their new home with their children, their days are spent trying to resolve this issue with a company that will not take responsibility to what they agree to. They also know that the value of the repairs are not substantial enough to hire a real estate attorney to fight this for them. It is with their permission that I tell this story so that others do not fall into the same pitfall like they did.

So, the next time you want to buy a new home, do make sure you have all the repair items completed to your satisfaction prior to closing.

Bowen Family Homes did not take responsibility to performing to their side of the contract. They were paid and went on the merry way. During the sale, they made it very clear to my clients, that all warranty issues and contract to-dos will be handled professionally. Now, they will receive this BAD report from my clients and I. Think twice about doing business with companies that cannot will not take personal accountability with the utmost respect.

Please share your thoughts. I really want Bowen to start holding some personal accountability. Please help my clients so they can help put this behind them.

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Contact:

Loreena Yeo
Realtor®/ Broker of 3:16 team REALTY
(214) 783-2210
loreena@loreenayeo.com

Super-serving Frisco, Plano, Dallas, McKinney, Allen, Little Elm, Prosper, Celina, Richardson, Dallas M-Streets, Dallas White Rock Lake area communities and other surrounding areas.

Copyright © 2009 by Loreena Yeo (3:16 team REALTY)
Bowen Family Homes did not honor its contract & did not live up to their part of the bargain

Now that twitter.com tweets will be included in google.com search results, it is more important than ever that all Prosper Resident Realtors get on board with using social media as an added piece of an effective marketing strategy to draw attention to Prosper, Texas.

Here are just a few ways in which you can use twitter.com as a real estate tool:

1. Tweet about all open houses you have scheduled. Be consistent in the wording.

Instead of 'holding open three homes today in Prosper, Texas', do three separate tweets. Be consistent in using the words 'open house' so buyers can find you. (Example: 'Open house in Prosper at xxxx Willowview 2-4pm'). Anytime the buyers want to search for open houses in our area, they can go to google.com or go to search.twitter.com and type in OPEN HOUSE IN PROSPER. All your tweets will show up.

2. Tweet about each home listing in your home listing inventory.

Again, consistency is key on searches to getting found. Think like the buyer. They are most likely to search as HOME FOR SALE IN PROSPER. So, make that the start of your tweet. Then, give the street address and a few key details. (Example: Home for sale in Prosper: 1140 Monticello, Lakes of La Cima 4bdrm/study/gmrm/3-car $359,900).

3. Tweet about price reductions or incentives added to your home listing inventory.

PRICE REDUCED HOME IN PROSPER. Those words are magic to the buyers. They know Prosper is still a ground-floor opportunity, so any price reduction is going to get noticed. (EX. Price reduced home in Prosper: Gentle Creek Estates 5brdm/study/gmrm/media now $750,000).

4. Tweet for your buyers.

Looking for a home in the MLS or searching new construction options and not finding an exact match. Tweet for what you want to find and let sellers find you. I've used this to much success. Recently, I had a Prosper buyer who was searching for what would have had to be a pre-foreclosure home to work. We needed a seller who was willing to sell at a break-even from when they purchased in Prosper earlier in 2004-2007. We had a seller step forward and the showing was arranged. The house matched their needs and an offer was written. If you can't find the right house from the available inventory, then use twitter.com to help you find the right seller.

5. Tweet TO your buyers.

Twitter is a great place to throw an incentive out online for your followers. There have to be payoffs for them continuing to read your updates, right? I offer short-term incentives to clients through twitter to keep my income stream from being interrupted. I also tweet to my future buyer clients. If I go through a neighborhood and preview a home with another client, it may or may not suit that buyer. But, if I tweet about that home and my preview on twitter.com, I may find someone else who suits that house. (Example: GREAT DEAL IN PROSPER: Whitley Place. Darling Homes. Final spec home of 2009. Was $465,000. Now $417,000!).

6. Tweet to and for leases.

Leasing, selling, and buying all benefit from using twitter.com. Maybe a home that was only offered for sale is now for sale or lease. That's huge in Prosper in 2009. Residential leasing is growing in popularity, as many of our sellers were not willing to give up their equity at the height of the recession. Leasing was a great option to get them into 2009 to where we saw home sales pick up. Again, be consistent. FOR SALE OR LEASE IN PROSPER, or FOR LEASE IN PROSPER should start out the tweet.

We're self-employed. People are interested in where you are and what you are doing. Twitter.com is an excellent tool for real estate agents, and both twitter and google will help us be found by our clients.

Have a blessed day!

Ronda