Donna Harris, REALTOR® & ASP - Hill Country Austin Lakeway Homes

Foreclosures are going down! It's true! It was on the news last night, and I had to pause the TiVo to make sure I wrote down the numbers correctly.

The Dallas/Ft Worth Metroplex area had a 16% DROP in foreclosures compared to last year. WOW! They compared this to the National foreclosure rate that INCREASED 57%. That is a huge difference.

To put the number into perspective, approximately 10,700 houses started the foreclosure procedures last month.

For those of you who follow my blogs, this just reiterates what I keep saying, that it doesn't make sense to compare your local market to the National market if the facts show different results.

Remember, I work all of North Dallas County and Collin County including Richardson, Plano, Allen, Frisco, Carrollton, Garland, Rowlett, McKinney, etc... my car will take us anywhere you need to go!!

ARE YOU PACKED YET?!

As a listing agent, when I have a listing priced at $182,000, why do I care that the buyer only wants to pay $165,000 for a house? I had a listing that closed a couple of weeks ago, but negotiations were a little difficult. We were listed at a very competitive $182k for a 2700 sqft home built in 2002. I know buyers in many parts of the country are drooling over that price!

I get a call from a buyers' agent asking if my seller would take $165k. I tell her she can write up an offer and I'll present it, but that it seems pretty low for this house and not sure how the seller would react to it. Of course I knew how the seller would react because I prepare my sellers at our initial listing appointment. I run through several scenarios with my sellers so they know what to expect, the good and the bad.

She continues to tell me that her buyers are already approved to $169k, but only feel comfortable staying around $165k, oh, and they'll need closing costs. It's like she's trying really hard for me to discuss confidential information about my seller to see if he'll take less, but I never fall for it. I again tell her to send me an offer. So, I let my seller know about the conversation. By the way, the house was only on the market about 6 weeks.

I end up getting an offer the next day for $169k with no closing costs. Great, it's better than she said it would be. We countered it back since it was still fairly low. The buyers' agent is very upset that we countered and reiterated that her buyers' comfort level was only $165k and by submitting the offer at $169k with no closing costs, that they were serious about the house.

"I'm sorry, but what part of your buyers wanting to pay $165k has to do with my seller listed at $182k? Why are you showing your buyers houses that they can't afford?"

"Well, it's a buyers' market and my buyers thought your seller would be excited to receive an offer."
It's been 6 weeks, not 6 months... "Umm, what market do you typically work in that it's a "Buyers'" market?"

For people across the country who are in buyers' markets, we're not in Dallas. Yes, we have a lot of inventory, but in most areas, houses are selling about 97-98% of asking price, and some individual communities are selling at a full 100%.

I looked up the agent in the MLS. She has sold only a handful of houses in the past couple of years. Great, another agent who "dabbles" in real estate as a hobby. Just so you know, my seller sold for a very nice price at 98.11% of asking price, and the buyers' comfort level increased when another offer was on its way.

Remember, I work all of North Dallas County and Collin County including Richardson, Plano, Allen, Frisco, Carrollton, Garland, Rowlett, McKinney, etc... my car will take us anywhere you need to go!!

ARE YOU PACKED YET?!

As a listing agent, when I have a listing priced at $182,000, why do I care that the buyer only wants to pay $165,000 for a house? I had a listing that closed a couple of weeks ago, but negotiations were a little difficult. We were listed at a very competitive $182k for a 2700 sqft home built in 2002. I know buyers in many parts of the country are drooling over that price!

I get a call from a buyers' agent asking if my seller would take $165k. I tell her she can write up an offer and I'll present it, but that it seems pretty low for this house and not sure how the seller would react to it. Of course I knew how the seller would react because I prepare my sellers at our initial listing appointment. I run through several scenarios with my sellers so they know what to expect, the good and the bad.

She continues to tell me that her buyers are already approved to $169k, but only feel comfortable staying around $165k, oh, and they'll need closing costs. It's like she's trying really hard for me to discuss confidential information about my seller to see if he'll take less, but I never fall for it. I again tell her to send me an offer. So, I let my seller know about the conversation. By the way, the house was only on the market about 6 weeks.

I end up getting an offer the next day for $169k with no closing costs. Great, it's better than she said it would be. We countered it back since it was still fairly low. The buyers' agent is very upset that we countered and reiterated that her buyers' comfort level was only $165k and by submitting the offer at $169k with no closing costs, that they were serious about the house.

"I'm sorry, but what part of your buyers wanting to pay $165k has to do with my seller listed at $182k? Why are you showing your buyers houses that they can't afford?"

"Well, it's a buyers' market and my buyers thought your seller would be excited to receive an offer."
It's been 6 weeks, not 6 months... "Umm, what market do you typically work in that it's a "Buyers'" market?"

For people across the country who are in buyers' markets, we're not in Dallas. Yes, we have a lot of inventory, but in most areas, houses are selling about 97-98% of asking price, and some individual communities are selling at a full 100%.

I looked up the agent in the MLS. She has sold only a handful of houses in the past couple of years. Great, another agent who "dabbles" in real estate as a hobby. Just so you know, my seller sold for a very nice price at 98.11% of asking price, and the buyers' comfort level increased when another offer was on its way.

Remember, I work all of North Dallas County and Collin County including Richardson, Plano, Allen, Frisco, Carrollton, Garland, Rowlett, McKinney, etc... my car will take us anywhere you need to go!!

ARE YOU PACKED YET?!

Please keep an eye out for your new Property Tax valuations in the mail. They'll be going out the week of May 5. It's very important to look at this document and make sure there are no problems. I am currently working with some home owners who just found out that they've been assessed with a pool, and they don't have a pool. They've been in the house for 30 years, and who knows when the pool was added to the documents, but even if it's $10k high because of this error, that's a lot over 30 years.

Dallas County will only mail out new assessments if your value changed. If you don't get it, there is nothing wrong with calling the county's office and making sure you weren't supposed to get one. Everyone in Collin county will get one even if the value hasn't changed.

You will have until June 2 to file a complaint with the Appraisal Review Board. If you don't like your value after talking with the ARB, you can then file Arbitration with the state, and I am actually on the state comptroller's list for value arbitration.

For further information, Dallas county residents can go to http://www.dcad.org/. Collin County residents can go to http://www.collincad.org/.

Remember, I work all of North Dallas County and Collin County including Richardson, Plano, Allen, Frisco, Carrollton, Garland, Rowlett, McKinney, etc... my car will take us anywhere you need to go!!

ARE YOU PACKED YET?!

WOW! Can you say B-U-S-Y?? I feel so sorry for other parts of the country right now, but in the past 4 weeks, I have contracted 9 properties!! Yes, 9!! Seven of them were in March, and I contracted two today. It's only April 1, and I already have 2 contracts. Granted, I don't count my chickens before they hatch, especially since one buyers' financing already fell through on one of the properties (going through Banco Popular in case anyone is familiar with them), but their agent is going to get one of her investors to buy the house and seller finance for these buyers.

What does this mean for the Dallas market area? We're going STRONG! The housing market news is regional, so will you please stop listening to the national news. I feel like I preech this every week. Dallas did not have a huge price appreciation. Dallas did not have a bubble. There is no bubble to survive. Yes, Dallas is having a lot of foreclosures, but those people shouldn't have been able to qualify for loans anyway, with scores in the low 500's.

Bottom line, if you're relocating here, we've got a great amount of inventory for you to look at. If you live here and are thinking of buying, stop thinking, and actually do it! Rates are awesome right now. If you're thinking of selling, as long as you work with my marketing strategy, it's going to sell!!

Remember, I work all of North Dallas County and Collin County including Richardson, Plano, Allen, Frisco, Carrollton, Garland, Rowlett, McKinney, etc... my car will take us anywhere you need to go!!

ARE YOU PACKED YET?!