Brad Lynch

As a man who LOVES SPORT, I grew up fishing and not hunting. As the mind matures, one is able to enjoy nature a little better. It would have NEVER been a glimpse of a thought in my brain to ever have an interest to live or even own property with acreage, but the mind has changed for me. Then after looking, wow is rural land even with out the addition of an improvement on it expensive if it's within 2-3 hours driving distance from Dallas or the surrounding cities.

After a second trip to Camanche, a piece of land that has a large fish tank/pond on the property and deer blinds that make it really cool to watch wildlife at night, I would love a piece of land like this for myself and family...accept for the chiggers. It would be nice to find 40 acres or more with or without a home on it and build it up through the years so it is ready years down the road when the kids make it to college and the wife and I get more free time.

Is it possible to find such an area for $50k-$75k? I'll just keep my eyes open.

First a disclaimer. This is a simple and easy way to know. Yes, there are other options and this and that, but this is a quick "how to tell" if you are talking to a good buyer.

If you have 700 or better credit scores and have 5% down payment and money for closing costs, your a stud buyer. Yes, loans still allow for seller contribution for closing, but lets work that out when we have to.

If you have under 700 and even more specifically, under 680, you'll need FHA financing if you are looking for low down payment financing...you are going to need 10% down payment with those scores probably outside of FHA, and VA. Yes, there are a couple places you can find conventional financing with 5% down if you have under 680, but it's time for "THAT" buyer to save for 10% down payment and have a better loan availability to choose from.

If you have 610 or higher and only have 3.5% down payment, it's likely you can get FHA financing, but you need to submit all your income and assets to the lender up front and give up your whole story so they can run it through their system or get an underwriter to look at it first.

I don't know if any of you readers have seen the cartoon movie, Cars, but this is where it stops. "Welp, G'NITE" as all the Cars drive off and leave Towmator in the night alone...he's afraid of the ghost light. Yeah, that's it. It's easy and simple these days isn't it?

It's hard to THINK like a home buyer again...since it's been so long since I bought and I too was clueless about the process. Today, buyers in Frisco, Plano, McKinney, and North Dallas hear the news and read the newspaper about the difficulty our banking industry is in, and it makes it hard for them to take that first step into buying a home. They know that the first step is a tiny one in a commitment to a LOT of progressive other tiny steps before they get to the end. THEN, because they hear so much about the industry going sideways, they would almost rather not fully commit in fear of finding out they can't get financing and not have to go through all the "work" it takes to contact their Realtor, get preapproved, and so forth.

The new buyer seems to want to move forward and talk a good game, but they won't fully commit to the work it takes to get there. Don't get me wrong, their are still those buyers that just jump in with both feet, but it seems like right now their is a lot of "hanging the carrot out in front of the horse" routines to get progress moving. The last two buyers I met were very able and willing buyers, but I could tell they just weren't in it with both feet. It took at least 3 weeks to a month to get all the income and asset documents so that I could really put them in the system and size them up properly. Additionally, my Realtor alliance had a harder time keeping them accountable for their appointments to see homes. They would schedule a week out, and the day or two before, they had another priority pop up. It's always transparent to me where priorities are when someone isn't committed to moving, because for some reason their life is busier and crazier than anyone elses in America. On the other hand, as soon as that person gets REAL, they don't have anything else in the world going on. ha ha I'm sure we've all seen that one.

This situation called for a meeting between me and my realtor alliances. We sat down and I said, "I need you to ask our clients to get their W-2's, pay stubs, etc... at day one"...before you refer me and I talk to them. I told them to let the new buyer know that they need to have those documents together before they dial my number.

As times got tough, and pipelines got lean, there were more folks getting to see homes before they were fully preapproved, and it still just creates more work for everyone. "Desperation doesn't call for desperate measures, it calls for better measuring."

We need help to make it possible for needy families to continue to get World Class help for their Children at Scottish Rite Hospital. One of my dear friends in the Title Business in McKinney TX had a daughter born a couple years ago that has had operations and other services by Scottish Rite and he wants to help raise money for the next needy families. He has had some last minute players that can't make it, and sponsors that fell through. Any help you can provide would be great. Don't hesitate to call me or email me if contacting him directly from the flyer picture below doesn't work. My number is 469-450-2723 and my email is bl@fmillc.com

My friend Brian Hazlewood and his wife Brandi need help for their daughter Presley who was born with Arthrogryposis (a muscle, joint and tendon disorder) that also caused her to have severe bilateral clubfoot, curvature of her left wrist and bilateral hip dysplasia. She has attended Texas Scottish Rite Hospital (TSRH) for Children since she was two weeks old. From the age of two weeks to twelve weeks she went to a clinic weekly for manipulation of her feet and to change her casts that went from toe to upper thigh and at one point she had a heel lengthening procedure done as well. At the age of twelve weeks, it was determined that the casting was not working as well as we would have hoped, and we switched to the Ponseti Method, which is manipulation through therapy, taping and splinting of the feet. They first attended appointments everyday and then they started to spread out to further appointments. During this process, in February of 2006 she had her first surgery at TSRH to try and fix her hips. For three months following the surgery she was in a half body cast from her chest to her toes, also known as a spica cast. After the cast was removed, she went back to therapy in the "baby room" for her feet. Then in October of 2007 she had her second surgery with TSRH which was her foot surgery. Following this surgery she wore full leg casts with pins in place through her heels for six weeks, then had a cast change to smaller casts in which she wore for four weeks, and then moved to orthotic splints that she continues to wear today to keep her feet in place. She started walking with the help of a reverse walker at the age of 18 months, and continued to use this until she took her first steps in January of 2008. She now walks on her own and is also in a gymnastics class for special needs kids.

Presley's Promise: Is a charity golf tournament that Brandi and Brian are putting together for their daughter to give back to Texas Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas. She has been going regularly since birth and will continue going most all of her life as a child. Scottish Rite is a great organization and we feel we would not be where we are today without their help. It's truly a gift for us to be a part of such a great place. **************************************************************** Update***** We are looking for 72 golfers and as of today I have 56. We are also wanting to get 18 hole sponsorships and I'm sitting at 14 right now. All the other sponsorships are now full thanks to our boy Scotty Hoyes on the Beverage Cart! That a boy Hoyes! PRIZES***** 1. Best Dressed Golfer............I'm going with Tony A. on this one. 2. First Place 3. Last Place................Probably me. 4. Hole In One/Closes To Pin 5. Longest Drive 6. $5 Raffle tickets to be sold before and after golf for the drawing after lunch. We have some very nice donations to be given away. The more tickets you buy, the better chance you'll have to win AND it's more money for Texas Scottish Rite Hospital!

Checks payable & mailed to: Presley Hazelwood @ 802 Cedar Street. McKinney TX 75069. OR Call Brian

at 214-402-2281.

My best friend since about 4th grade and his wife are trying to sell a condo in Irving TX. They've had it listed for at least 8 months now, and after plenty of showings, and after dropping the offering price from around $97k to about $81k, they are losing hope. They even mentioned this weekend that it would be hard to so no if someone offered $75k right now. As a lender myself, I've seen some of the crunch on purchase guidelines specific to condos in loans and I wonder if that has an influence on the sell of condos today. They have recently suggested that on the 16th of next month that their contract is coming up on it and they want to sell it by owner so that they can "give it away" and not lose money on it.

For those who are in the Dallas and Irving area, how do you feel that condo sells are going right now? Are any of you having trouble moving your condo listings, even at what appears to be very reasonable costs?