Rebecca Byers

Thank heaven for Fall. This morning in McKinney Texas I sat on my patio with my coffee watching the sun climb into the sky. Today though, the air was cool, if only for the lack of humidity, but still it reminded me that soon the cool air will be crisp. It encouraged me to to plant some mums, put out a few pumpkins, get some fresh mulch around my still blooming roses, get out my costumes and decorations. A perfect day for playing with my grandkids, remembering how I used to love to hang the little die-cut bats, black cats and witch hats in the front windows of my smalltown home as a child. I love this time of year! I'm going to invite my little ones over for a day of play and decorating! Halloween is close, and the days are getting shorter.....make the most of them!

As we all go through this process of a recovering economy. Assuming that is that we can call it recovering. I have had several interesting conversations with friends and business associates across the country. Interestingly enough, they all pose the same question. Have we bailed out the people who were most hit by all of this, or have we simply bailed out banks, who have then turned these properties to investors? I agree with my friends and colleagues on this one. We have simply lowered prices, through foreclosure's and short sales to make the 150K price point even sweeter for already liquid investors. where is the help for those who were foreclosed on? Where are they now, except right back at the mercy of landlords.

Certainly I have investors in my portfolio of clients, as well as first time buyers. Everything in between is slow right now. I hope we see an increase in the number of owners who occupy their properties. The idea was to create a more stable housing market. Ownership creates stability. At the risk of alienating investors, I must ask, what are we doing as a community, (nationally) to create stability for those who lost and have little in the way of choices to recover?

I need professional help!!!!!

Okay, maybe I should clarify that. I need a professional from the mortgage industry. Someone I can trust with my clients. Someone who wants to participate in being successful. So many clients, so few professionals.

McKinney Texas awaits!

Congratulations! You may want to read that again in a few weeks. You may be like thousands of "Happy Homeowners" or not! I bet you got a great price and can't believe the great rate. Congratulations again!

Now it is time to consider how much of the purchase price you saved, is going to be put back into your new property. There are many things to consider, and you need to consider all the possibilities in to be a TRUE LY, Happy Homeowner. Sometimes the degree of "Happy" is directly connected to our sale price down the road as compared to the original purchase price. Still your home is an investment and what you spend on that investment determines the rate of return.

First consider, who is going to reside there, and for how long. This is important because it tells us what the next question is. From this point the questions and the answers change.

The next question is, how extensive is the scope of work? Followed by, what is the budget? And, Which repairs are NECESSARY, and which ones are WISH LIST. Your answer to the previous questions will determine the next steps and so on.

My point is, if you are new to the re-hab world of Real Estate, talk to someone before you jump in, and find you spent thousands you could have saved....my client nightmare stories are scary, and then they hire me to do twice the work I would have originally done. Keep your profit margin high, use professionals!

Having worked in both design and real estate, I've heard nightmares in both realms!