About Kaufman County, TX

From Minter Real Estate Services

Kaufman Texas Homes on Acreage

www.homesmint2be.com

Below you will find the November 2010 market report for Heartland & Forney, TX in Kaufman County. The report is for residential single family homes. All sales statistics are taken year-over-year from our local MLS (2009 vs. 2010). If you would like to buy or sell a home in this area, please contact me.

If you would like to buy or sell a home in this area, please contact me.
I would be glad to work with you!

Click here to view Heartland & Forney Listings

Every year I say that I am going to start Christmas Shopping early. Of course I never follow through with it. Just the thought of buying Christmas presents in April seems weird to me.

But, there are so many traps that we set up for ourselves, when we delay shopping early.

I was reading an e-newsletter that I receive daily and some of the common traps that we could avoid for holiday shopping include:

1. Don't fall for the "discount or door-buster deals" - They are usually not deals at all. If you do your research early, you can probably find the product cheaper than what is being advertised at the door-buster sale.

2. Be aware of giving gift-cards as presents - Usually gift-cards go unused and incur a fee after they are not used within a certain time frame. Also, cards with credit card logos can incur an activation fees that are normally deducted from the amount of the card. It's usually better to give a store gift card that's a favorite of the recipient. More than likely that card will be used.

3. If shopping online watch out for re-stocking fees. Sometimes when we make purchases online, without seeing or touching the item, we take a risk in the item not being exactly what we want. When you decide to return the item, you can incur a 2 to 10% restocking fee. Ouch!!

4. Another shopping trap is EBAY - yes you can find whatever it is you need, and normally for great prices. But the catch is to watch out for what the individual sellers are charging for shipping and handling. If you purchase an item that is $10 and the shipping is $9.95, then that's really not the most fantastic deal, unless it is a rare item.

5. Expect huge price increases for last minute shipping. If you're thinking that you can just use FEDEX, UPS or the USPS at the last minute to get your presents shipped in time for Christmas, then expect to pay huge shipping fees. The last day to ship First Class with the Post Office is December 20, 2010. After that, you have to go Priority, Express or Overnight.

So waiting until the last minute can cost you dearly. I suppose if you're very busy, then the last minute Shopping Traps are bound to happen. As for me, I think I could probably handle setting a goal to have my Christmas Shopping done by Halloween. That way, I don't have to deal with the last minute stress of going through picked over items at the mall.

I usually do my normal internet marketing during the mornings and this week has been very slow. After tracking my weekly stats, I noticed that my web traffic and blog traffic was down.

Last week I had several things working and these prospects were interested in rentals, purchasing and selling. Well when I did my follow-up this week, I learned that they have all decided to wait until after the holidays.

Now as I thought about families preparing for the Holidays and spending their hard earned dollars on last minute gifts, flights to grandma's and other holiday festivities, it dawned on me that people are not willing to use that money to purchase or lease a home during the holidays.

It's tough for Real Estate Professionals to hear these words, as this is the time of year that we are trying to make Holiday Moments for our families as well. But we can't do that if people are not buying or selling during the holidays. With the economy like it is, it seems that more people are just "waiting." That's the response I got today from all of those prospects, "we're going to wait."

So with that, what is a Broker to do during the Holidays? Well, I've started doing a lot of volunteer work that I haven't had time to do all year long. I'm making great connections at my sons' schools and have even volunteered to be the "Classroom Mom." I've also been asked to design the website for a non-profit horse therapy healing center, "Jake E's Riding Round Up in Kaufman, Texas." I was so excited about this opportunity, that I designed the site within two days.

I'm also working on my business plan for 2011 and have decided to add a few new agents to Minter Real Estate Services. I am also continuously following up with my prospects, so by the time January 1 gets here, they can expect to be ready to roll.

So I'm not done for the holidays....I'm just getting started.

DR Horton communities in Wylie, Sachse, Rockwall, Royse City, Forney and Balch Springs have RED RIBBON Home Specials available for immediate move-in and this special runs through December 15, 2010.

The homes include granite countertops in the kitchen and have huge price discounts. Some of the available homes are located in:

Bozman Farms, Wylie, Texas - 1313 Lake Trail: 3 bdrms, 2 bths, 1845sqft. Price $164,490, $149,990 **USDA $0 Downpayment Available

Castle Ridge Estates, Rockwall, Texas - 3921 Betty Street: 5 bdrms, 4 bths, 3157 sqft. $280,990 $265,990

Chateau of Woodbridge in Sachse, Texas - 5703 Chateau Drive: 4 bdrms, 3ths, 3107 sqft.- Custom $274,990 $258,000

Pioneer Bluffs in Balch Springs, Texas - 2532 Cumberland Trail: 3bdrms, 2bths, 1445sqft. $127,990 $124,990 **TDHCA Texas First Time Buyer Program "Assisted &Unassisted Loans"

Verandah in Royse City, Texas - 1221 Alder Tree: 3bdrms, 2bths, 1413sqft. $123,990 $113,990 **USDA $0 Downpayment Available

Villages of Fox Hollow, Forney, Texas - 1037 Hondo: 4bdrms, 2bths, $189, 990 $172,990

Remember, do not go to a New Home Community Unrepresented by a Realtor. At Minter Real Estate Services we are familiar with the new home builders pricing strategies and can leverage the "incentives" to ensure that your new home purchase is your best value.