Mary Benton

If you or someone you know is afraid you have waited too long to take advantage of the $8000.00 home credit, never fear! There is still time if you can take care of these items really soon.

Pre-qualify - You should get pre-qualified with a mortgage lender through a bank such as People's Bank or a mortgage company such as Prime West. This is not painful - takes maybe 30 minutes of your time. Some are worried that their credit score may prevent them from qualifying. Regulations have made your credit score more important and some people who have too much debt or a history of late payments may not qualify right now. It is better to know than to deal with the doubt and fear. I would hate for anyone to pass up the opportunity to own a home simply out of fear of what might be on their credit report. If problems do surface, your bank or mortgage professional has seen it before, and can give you tips on how to improve your credit score.

Review your budget - Decide what you can reasonably afford to pay monthly and how much you can pay down on your home. Most first time home buyers finance through FHA and the minimum down payment is 3.5%. Additionally, there are closing costs. These funds may be your savings or possibly a gift from a family member. In some cases the seller of a home is willing to pay some of your closing costs to assist you in the purchase of their home. Armed with your own research, you and your lender can determine the maximum price home you should consider.

Consider your now and future needs - Do you need a two, three, or four bedroom home? Do you have children or parents living with you or know that your family size may increase in the next few years? It is good to purchase a house that gives you room to grow. Experts estimate that a buyer should plan to live in their home for 5 - 6 years if they want to break even or make a small profit when they sell. Make a list of desired features and decide which five are the most important to you.

Call me - I can help you with research and find you a home that stays in your budget. Custom searches of the homes in the multiple listing service can be done and the results emailed to you. If you provide me with your needs, wants, top five features I can save you a great deal of time by previewing, screening, and eliminating homes that don't meet your needs or would bust your budget.

For first time home buyers the magic date when the $8000.00 tax credit goes away is November 30. Be aware that it could take a few weeks to find the home you want and then it takes around 30 days for the closing process to run its course. So please email or call me today if you are motivated to get into a new home by that time. My assistance costs you nothing and I am glad to answer any questions you may have.

If you are not a first time home buyer but know someone who would be, please forward this to them. For those who currently own homes, all this information, except for the incentive and deadline, still applies. I'd be glad to help you move-up, down size, or find an investment property.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

Sincerely,

Mary Benton
Keller Williams Realty
790-1026
marybenton@kw.com

Oh my goodness, we now have 41 homes for sale in the Tech Terrace area! There are fixer-uppers starting as low as $65,000.00 and gorgeous estates for just under $1 million. And luckily for most buyers there are lots of great homes that fall somewhere in between.

Price range Homes Available

Under 100,000.00 9

100,000 - 150,000 6

150,000 - 200,000 7

200,000 - 250,000 10

250,000 - 300,000 2

300,000 - 400,000 3

400,000 - 500,000 2

Above 500,000 2

Mary's Picks - Please check out these homes that I think are the best of the best for sale in Tech Terrace right now.

MLS 9963827 - 3323 20th Street - A beautiful home with Austin Stone exterior. 3/3/2, 2764 sq. ft. Beautiful inside. Kitchen is not large but completely updated with granite. $229,900.00

MLS 9966344 - 3101 20th - History plus completely updated. Built in 1938, updated throughout in the last few years, this home captures the essence of Tech Terrace. 3/2.5/4, 2960 sq. ft. $299,000.00

MLS 9966614 - 2620 31st Street - A cute bungalow, mature trees, with apartment out back. House and apt. have been remodeled and are move-in ready. 3/2/0, 1312 sq. ft. $139,900.00

Tech Terrace as a neighborhood and Tech Terrace homes have tremendous appeal. I've found though that the appeal is not universal. For those who have a romantic notion (and I don't mean huggy kissy) of what home should be, Tech Terrace is delightful.** This is a neighborhood where you can walk to the park or the coffee shop, greet neighbors, move at a slower pace, and enjoy a concert in the park at 26th and Boston. You can walk or bike to TTU. The homes are often described as "charming" and said to have "character". While some are fixer uppers, others have already been completely updated with great panache. However, even if extensive, this updating does not make a Tech Terrace home into a new home. Much of the appeal would be lost. If the words historical, charming, mature trees, character, retro, vintage, or distinctly different ring your chimes, then please let me show you some Tech Terrace homes.

Shopping for a home in Tech Terrace is a quite different experience from looking at new construction. For individuals who want the expected 3/2/2 brick home with a large walk in closet in the master, an open concept, and granite countertops a new home might fit the bill. You won't find a new home (or very rarely) within biking or walking distance of Texas Tech.

Those searching for a home in Lubbock are going to have to make a choice. If you want to be near TTU, the hospitals or just in central Lubbock you will be looking at homes built from 1920 through 1970. If you want a new home or home built since 2000 you will almost certainly be looking at newer subdivisions that are outside Loop 289, typically in South or West Lubbock. There are now some new subdivisions North of the Loop that are closer to central Lubbock.

If you are in town and have always wondered about homes in Tech Terrace, call me and let's go look. If you are out of town and would like more information about this area I can help you. Call 790-1026.

REALTORS from elsewhere - I love establishing referral relationships with agents in other cities who have folks coming to Lubbock. Please call me!

** I fall into this category. Here is my Tech Terrace story. Seven years ago I picked up my granddaughter from swim lessons at the Texas Tech rec center. We were driving through the Tech Terrace neighborhood when I saw a charming home for sale by owner. It was unpretentious but lovely with a lush lawn and one enormous oak tree. A desert willow on the east side of the home branched out to the street. My granddaughter snagged a bloom from the tree through the sun roof. I think she and I both fell in love with that home. I watched it for awhile, set an appointment to see it even though it was out of my range but the appointment fell through. A month later the home was listed with a REALTOR. (I was not in real estate at that time) A month after that a 'REDUCED' sign was posted and soon after we bought the bungalow on 22nd.

A note I received from Charles McMillan, 2009 President of the National Association of Realtors, made my heart sing. Well, at least it lifted my spirits.

He said...

"On Monday, June 29th, I will be in New York to meet with the Deputy Attorney General and his staff who worked directly on the Home Valuation Code of Conduct. I plan to share our concerns, as well as your stories, and ask for their assistance in resolving any problems related to the HVCC."

I have had three, actually four, recent transactions here in Lubbock where low appraisals caused lots of pain and angst. The pain has been shared by buyers, sellers, REALTORS, and home builders. I am pleased that in each case we were able to negotiate and make it to closing, but people lost money.

I believe most if not all the appraisers involved are hard-working and honest professionals but there has to be some common sense allowed in the process. My hope is that a new method of valuation can be developed and used in times of significant market shift.

For more information -

Economists Podcast
http://www.realtor.org/research/research/research_podcast062309?LID=RONav0021

HVCC
http://www.realtor.org/government_affairs/gapublic/gses_hvcc_announced

Appraisal Blog
http://narblog1.realtors.org/mvtype/appraisalinsight/

I hope you are having a great day with family and friends. We had a hotdog cookout and swimming party which was well attended. A good time was had by all.

Next week I have two closings - tentatively. One is still pending the final appraisal to see if the house appraised sufficiently. If all is okay there and if the lender can get everything together, we will close on Wednesday at Lubbock Abstract and Title. My first HUD closing is set for the 28th and the closing will either be at City Bank or at our Keller Williams office.

Next week I have my first VA closing. It is set for June 1 and I have let Service Title know that it will be a mail out for the sellers. Nice home for the buyers in a relatively new southeast Lubbock neighborhood.

All this is wrapping up a nice busy spell for me in the real estate biz. I am excited to have the three closings, grateful for the good business, but also looking forward to a breather. I'll take a day or two off with the grandkids. They are out of school as of this Friday.

TECH TIPS

MOZY - I learned about Mozy in my GRI class. It is an online service that will automatically back up your computer files and data. From brief research it looks like the least expensive program is 4.95 per month. The peace of mind and ability to recover all your date in event of a virus or crash would be well worth 4.95. A similar service I'll check out is Carbonite.

I am taking my final GRI class in San Antonio. Dwight Hale is the instructor and he is great. More later...

Later. It is now Memorial Day but I did want to finish my thought and report about my GRI class in San Antonio. To reiterate, Dwight Hale was great. But mid-afternoon of day one of the subject of technology had me coming close to sawing logs. The info was a bit dry. Day two was lots better. He had each group of students develop a list of favorite websites. This could be business or personal. Here are a few of the ones that were shared:

Mozy.com - backup computer/data

Costco.com - computer shopping, good warranties

easysite.com - build personal, family websites - easy breezy

neighboroo.com - Neighboroo lets you visually explore and search local trends across the nation including real estate

loopnet.com - commercial properties

Each group also shared some favorite new technology related purchases. Here are some of those highlighted:

Neat Receipts receipt scanner

Parrot speaker phone for Auto - a universal bluetooth solution

Livescribe Pen - writes notes and records audio

Skype - be able to see and talk to friends family via your computer. Some say gmail also has a similar feature, no charge.

And of course many realtors preferred their recently purchased phones...blackberry, smartphone touch pro, Iphone,