Given the economic and social struggles we currently face as a nation, it's not great surprise that the topic of conversation at Starbucks, around the water cooler, on the DART Rail train or in office elevators frequently turns to how the effects of our national economic or other challenges is affecting each of us personally. Nobody is happy about $4.00/gallon gasoline or high food and energy costs. Many people are disappointed that we are still stuck in Iraq so many years after the president proclaimed "Mission Accomplished". But while talking about these matters may make us feel a bit better for having "vented", our real opportunity... actually your real opportunity... to Speak Out comes in just 9 weeks when you have the opportunity to cast your ballot on November 4th.

Make sure that you are registered to vote and if not, that you get registered. October 6 is the last day to register to vote in the upcoming elections. You can get more information on voting in Texas (including voting locations and early voting dates) on the Texas Secretary of State website: http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/voter/index.shtml

Check it out and whomever you support, make sure that your voice is really heard in the only way that really matters... VOTE!

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If you are considering buying or selling a home, I would appreciate the opportunity to assist you. Contact me today and let's get started on putting you in the White (or other color) House of your Dreams!

The biggest news continues to be in the new construction part of our market. For those "old home" owners (homes built before 1975), prices are up, , days on market are down, inventory is down and the numbers are actually looking pretty balanced. Hopefully you know that Dallas has been doing much better than the national averages in terms of the housing slump. Its nice to see the old homes that are the backbone of the neighborhood holding their value.

Original Homes: Looking at this August snapshot, the market looks to be ideal for old homes owners. The average price is up about 2% over last month. Days on market is down slightly from 143 days to 139 days. Of course, antyhign over 60 days is usually not good, but for our neighborhood where people are more prone to overpricing, its an improvement. The best news is that "Months of Inventory" is down to 5.2 months. Generally speaking, 4 or less is a seller's market and 7 or more is a buyer's market. So that puts us firmly in the middle as a balanced market.

Newer Construction: The market is reacting to the last several years of overpricing and adjustments are finally being made. Sold prices for new construction homes have decreased almost 10% in the last month reflecting the large number of builders who have gone through and made price reductions to their entire inventory. Pre-owned new construction has also responded by pricing more attractively. In the month of August, preowned new homes outsold never lived in home almost 3 to 1, even though the prices were within 5% of each other. This may reflect the fact that the preowned homes are likely to have more mature landscaping and more owner stylized finished out. (Note to builders: flat-white is not acceptable in a $650,000 home.) While new construction inventory level is just shy of 12 months, the "gently used" inventory is getting quite low at just over three months.

Condos: The Palomar (at Mockingbird/Central) just dropped about 20 new units onto the market this week. As a result, that will be skewing averages for a while. This month it pushed the average $/sqft for condo property to $198/ft which is fairly high for this area.

Lot Values: Ouch. They've fallen 10% in the last 6 months. I can count at least half a dozen lots in recent months that sold at $230K a year ago and are now selling at $205K or less. Zero lots sold this month, not a good thing. Now that the builders have found the ceiling at $700K, hopefully they will resume business with more realistic prices and not completely abandon the area. I'm not always a fan of new construction but we still have a lot of unsalvagable homes in our area that need to be replaced.

And Now for the Numbers:

The Typical Home

Starting today, September 5, through the weekend, September 7, is the Dallas Home & Garden Show at Dallas' Market Hall.

The Dallas Market Hall is located at 2200 Stemmon Freeway in Dallas. Admission is $8.50 but kids under 12 are FREE!

It starts today at 2pm and ends at 6pm on Sunday.

You can get a coupon for $1 off at your nearest Tom Thumb. We all love discounts!

Come see all the latest and greatest ideas for the house and home. I always get a couple of good ideas, though I never implement. Maybe this time I will!

This time last year , Home Star Staging along with another Plano-based home staging professional (and my good friend), Barie Pinnell, with WRE Interiors, were interviewed for an article by the Dallas Morning News. It was an article regarding of course Home Staging for sellers.

As we all know, in today's tough real estate market, home staging is fast becoming a way of setting a home apart from the competition, but not everyone understands how to work with a home stager.

Barie and I, along with a few other local home staging professionals had actually gotten together for the article and collectively staged a property that was photographed to be part of the story.

While we waited and waited for the article to appear it just never seemed to make it. Barie called me a couple of weeks ago and said she'd been contacted by the Dallas Morning News and that the article would run on September 5th.

Well, I'm happy to say my Google Alerts this morning showed me just that.

Here is the link to the Dallas Morning News article: How to Stage Your Home to Sell Fast

Proudly serving, Collin County and North Dallas, Realtors, Developers, Sellers , Investors, and news publications, Home Star Staging is here for you Texas!

It is not a secret that selling in today's market if you live in "most" of America will be a challenge. Some markets are tougher than others. I sold my rental property a year ago in yet another tough market - Norman, Oklahoma. But my objective was clear: to get this condo SOLD - once and for all and put it on a page of my history book. Like most sellers today, the odds against my success were high. I would not be telling the truth if I didn't mention that yes, I was a little fearful with my market and of my competitors. Buyers of condominiums are not readily available and it in February that I had put my property on the market: the timing factor.

If you knew Norman, Oklahoma at all, it is a university town. My alma mater - the University of Oklahoma. The Spring semester had already started and most students move back home in the Summer until school starts back in the Fall. So, clearly I had some time factor stacked against my sale. I employed the best Realtor® in Norman, Patrick Moore. Patrick understands the college town real estate. He is not a pushy salesperson and he is very respectful of my opinions (if you know me by now, you know I have too many!). Together, Patrick, my husband and I did the impossible: Sold this condo in 30 days when others took over 180 days.