Rain in North Texas

By Tom Branch, on January 25th, 2012

Raain In North Texas

Wow! It’s hard to believe but it’s raining in North Texas. With Stage Four Water Restrictions looming, this is a welcome sight.

Last year’s drought left our lakes and reservoirs dangerously low. People living on Cedar Creek Lake and many of the local lakes could not get their boats in the water. A positive side was that it was a good time to do any repairs or maintenance on their retaining walls.

While low lakes may seem like an inconvenience, there’s a much larger implication for those of us living here. Those lakes and reservoirs are also the source of our drinking water. When the levels are low, cities begin the various stages of water restrictions in an effort to insure we have water to drink.

The droughts also have an impact on our homes. The vast majority of our foundations are slab foundations. These foundations are sensitive to changes in the water content in our expansive soils. Last year we saw a dramatic rise in homes with foundation issues due to the drought. This cost north Texas homeowners millions of dollars.

Let it rain!

Photo Copyright 2012 Imaged2Sell

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First Time Homebuyers Are Finding Few Homes

By Tom Branch, on January 21st, 2012

Seaching for a Home Online

Over the past couple of months we’ve seen lots of first-time homebuyers entering the market. They are enthusiastic, pre-approved, and ready to buy a home. The problem is a general lack of good homes under $150k.

Gina and I are currently working with four first-time home buyers looking in the Allen Texas area and we have only been able to find one of them a home. Don’t get us wrong, there are homes on the market in this price range, but the vast majority of them are foreclosures, short sales, or are in poor condition.

If you are a home buyer, you need to move quickly when you find a home to view. You simply cannot wait because the good homes are moving quickly. Homebuyers can click here to sign up for home alerts on The Branch Team website. This free service sends you an alert as new homes come on the market that meet your needs.

If you are considering selling your home this may be a great time to list it as homes that show well and are priced right are going quickly. Further, plenty of qualified buyers and low inventories present an opportunity to sell quickly. While prices are down in some areas, Collin County and DFW in general have weathered the storm well. Click here to read “Internet Marketing – The New Curb Appeal” and click here to read “Are You Show Ready?“

Please feel free to contact us at 214-705-2470 if you have questions or need help buying or selling a home.

Photo licensed from iStockPhoto

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Do I Really Need a Real Estate Agent for a New Home Purchase?

By Tom Branch, on October 16th, 2011

New Home Under Construction

We get this question all the time from potential new home buyers. Do you really need one? No. Would retaining an agent to represent you in the transaction be a good idea? Yes, it would.

Some people believe they can get a better “deal” on a new home by working directly with the new home sales staff.

Most of the builders we know will not lower the price of the home simply because you don’t have an agent. Agent commissions are usually paid from a different fund that is not related to the sale of the home. Further, real estate professionals often know about unadvertised discounts and close-out pricing on new homes.

More importantly, there are many pitfalls in the buying process that are not related to pricing! Real Estate Professionals have the experience and knowledge to negotiate and guide you through the new home buying process.

Looking for a great deal on a new home?

Photo: Licensed from ShutterStock

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It is a Landlord’s Market in Dallas Texas

By Tom Branch, on August 9th, 2011

For Rent Sign in Front of Home

I’ve been watching the rental market in the greater Dallas area for a number of years. It’s finally a landlord’s market again.

Since 2008 we have seen a steady increase in capitalization and occupancy rates. We’re to the point today that any decent rental property is leased in less than a week.

There’s nothing magic about the increase. It’s simple economics. As the availability of easy money dried-up in 2008, those would-be buyers went back to leasing homes. This allowed the glut of inventory we once had to slowly decrease.  This stabilized occupancy rates and prevented the downward spiral of capitalization rates we saw during the market boom.

Come forward to 2010 and there are a couple of other factors that are driving the need for rental and lease homes in DFW.  As homes went into foreclosure or were short-sold, those homeowners had no choice but to look for rental homes. While the Texas economy is stable, many of the people who could still qualify for a mortgage decided to sit it out and continue to rent. These two factors have basically drained the rental market in the area.

Currently I have almost 50 people looking for rentals and there are so few available. As soon as they come on the market, there are lots of showings and multiple lease applications.

I listed a large home in Frisco on a Friday. I had four applications on Monday. These were solid applicants with high credit scores, little debt, and substantial incomes.

We recently purchased a property for a local investor and leased it for him in less than a week. The Gross Rent Multiplier exceeded 10 with a Capitalization Rate of about 6.5 percent. This is prior to taxes and does not factor in appreciation over time.

It’s a great time to purchase investment property! Prices are low and the need for rental homes continues to climb.

Are you looking to purchase investment properties? Contact us! We have the experience and knowledge to find good investment properties, lease them to suitable tenants, and provide on-going property management if needed.

Tom Branch, Broker, CDPE, SFR

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The Soil is Pulling Away from My Foundation

By Tom Branch, on June 18th, 2011

Soil Pulling Away from a Foundation

I received an email from a past client asking me why the soil is pulling away from his foundation. The short answer is, “The soil is drying out and shrinking. You need to water.”

For those of you interested in a more detailed explanation, read on.

North Texas is known for its clay soil. Clay soil expands and contracts substantially based upon the moisture in the soil. If the soil dries out, it contracts. If it gets wet, it expands. While this seems simple enough, that shrinkage and expansion can have a dramatic impact on a slab foundation.

A slab foundation sits directly on the soil. Since clay soil expands and contracts, the slab is actually “floating” on the soil. Keeping the moisture level in the soil around the foundation stable is critical to the long-term stability of the foundation. While the in-ground sprinkler system often provides enough water, many times soaker hoses are installed to help regulate the moisture level.

The bottom line is if the soil is pulling away from the slab the moisture content is dropping and steps should be taken to add water. Doing so early can save thousands in foundation repairs later.

If you think you may have an issue, contact a DFW professional engineer or a foundation company.

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Are Dallas Home Buyers Sitting On The Fence?

By Tom Branch, on June 4th, 2011

Home Buyers Sitting on the Fence

I was out working in one of my new home developments today.

As I chatted with the sales staff about how things were going, a common theme became apparent. Potential buyers are sitting on the fence waiting on home prices and interest rates to drop further!

This has been fueled by the reports of nationwide home price drops by many of the national media outlets. The old adage,”location, location, location” comes to mind.  All real estate is local!

I did an interview locally last week when this news was released discussing the local numbers.   Dallas Fort Worth is actually bucking the national trend with average sales prices up 3.2 percent in North Texas and 5.4 percent in Collin County. Prices are not going down here.

I looked deeper into the numbers and found that new listings are down 17 percent while sales volume is down only 14 percent. What these numbers indicate is that the market is absorbing inventory at a rate greater than new inventory is coming on the market. The supply of available homes is getting smaller. This helps keep prices stable or rising.

To be fair, values may continue to drop in other places depending on a number of factors.  Contact a local real estate professional to find out what’s going on in your area.

Mortgage interest rates are at 50 year lows. They may fluctuate slightly but I don’t see them trending much lower. The only reason they remain so low today is because the government is buying most of the mortgage paper and holding the rates low. Eventually the government is going to want to push this back into the private sector but the private sector is not going to get back into mortgage backed securities until rates climb.

What does all this mean for Dallas Fort Worth home buyers? Now may be one of the best times to purchase a home. Prices are stable in most areas and we’re seeing an upward trend over the past year.  Mortgage interest rates are at 50-year lows.

It’s time for home buyers in DFW to get off the fence.

Search the North Texas MLS

Tom Branch, Broker, CDPE, SFR

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Lake Homes in North Texas

By Tom Branch, on May 11th, 2011

Lake Front Homes in Texas

I don’t know what it is about lake-front properties in Texas. Perhaps it’s because it can be hot and dry in the summer or maybe we simply like the idea of seeing water and the trees that usually call the area around our lakes home.

Water-front homes run from $30k for a small one bedroom cabin on a remote lake to several million dollars for a mansion on a large body of water close to one of the major cities. There is truly something for everyone.

See all water-front homes in the Dallas – Fort Worth Metroplex.

See all lake homes in North Texas.

Looking for that perfect lake home? Contact us!

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