Girl Power: More Women Are Buying Real Estate Before They Put a Ring On It To The Tune of $72 Billion
Sure, it’s easier to buy a home when you have a spouse. Dual income households tend to be a no-brainer to some mortgage lenders. But that hasn’t kept all the single ladies from becoming independent women with homes of their own and, of course, bills, bills, bills.
Where oh Where Do Those Hamptons Buyers Come From? The Big Apple
This is pretty cool to those of us obsessed with second or vacation homes. Which is, like all of us. Everyone knows that the Hamptons is the vacation home playground of Manhattan — or it is? Actually, yes. A cool blog called PropertyShark did all this research to find that 35 percent of Hamptons vacation homes are owned by Manhattanites, who have poured $20.8 BILLION into homes here, paying $100 million in property taxes. Overseas buyers own only about 100 vacation homes in the area, with three quarters of those owners hailing from Britain.
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Everything’s Bigger In Texas: Hair, Homes and Now CLOSING COSTS????? Thanks, Of Course, To Washington, D.C.
According to Bankrate.com’s recently announced 2011 Closing Costs Survey, Texas once again has the second-highest closing costs in the country, behind of all places, New York – ouch! While the nationwide average is $4,070 (up nearly 9% from last year), Texans pay $4,944 on average. This is the fifth year in a row we’ve had the dubious honor of being #2. I chatted recently with Marcus McCue, SVP of Guardian Mortgage Company about why our closing costs are so high and what, if anything, can be done about it.
76% of Vacation Home Owners Say Now is the Time to Buy a Second Home — SecondShelters
Vacation homes are now hotter to lease out than hotel rooms! All the deets over on SecondShelters.com, our sister blog (sista sista!).
This REO is a Doozie: Talk About Strategic Default, the Former Homeowner Even Went to West Point – Dallas Real Estate News
Not totally local Dallas Real Estate news, but the house IS on Mockingbird Lane — in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Paradise Valley is like the Highland Park — no wait, make that Vaquero — of Phoenix. Paradise Valley is in Maricopa County, home to twelve resorts, and one of Arizona’s top tourist destinations. Very pricey dirt: the median home price is about $2.74, many homes exceeding $10 million, some over $40 million. So when there is a foreclosure there, people drop their fingernail files.
Six Worst Home Renovations That Will Not Get One Penny More Out of Your Home When You Sell
There is one phrase we are hearing a lot less of these days: ”We’ll get it back when we sell the house.”
Used to be, you could sink money into your home almost endlessly and rest assured it would come back to you, maybe even at a profit, when you sold. Buyers often have little vision to see how great a home can look, how it can change with new paint or minor renovation. So many agents advise sellers to have homes looking perfect, as if they were ready for a shelter magazine photo shoot. Perfect walls, floors, everything. Many sellers think they can create the rooms of their dreams and recoup the cost upon selling.
Now That He’s Running For President, Let’s Take a Look at Rick Perry’s Real Estate Deals in the Texas Version of Pebble Beach
I was in Pebble Beach last week, and everyone in California kept asking me about Rick Perry. He is the California Republicans’ hero because of our strong Texas economy. In fact today, I think he’s leading in the polls. While in Cali, I recalled a story I wrote last summer about Perry’s real estate deals, a story which is bound to crop up. It all began with this article in The Dallas Morning News about a real estate flip. Or how “a series of professional courtesies and favors helped Perry buy a lot at the toney Peninsula at Horseshoe Bay, the “Pebble Beach” of Texas, for $139,000 below market value and sell it for $350,000 above market value.” Bloomberg coughed up much of the same stuff last week.
Posted in Austin real estate news, Celebrity Homes, Dallas real estate news, Economy, emerging real estate markets, national news stories affecting second homes, Real estate market news, Second Shelters
Tagged California Republicans, Dallas Morning News, Irs Data, Lake Lyndon B Johnson, Lyndon B Johnson, Professional Courtesies, Rick Perry, Rick Perry's real estate transactions
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What Does This S&P Downgrade and Stuff Mean for the Dallas Real Estate Market? Another Nail in the RE Recovery Coffin?
Another nail in the coffin of the struggling real estate recovery?
That’s Jonathan Miller and me in San Francisco at Real Estate Connect. I am glad we are friends because Jonathan is about the most quoted real estate consultant and expert these days, and one of the most knowledgeable appraisers I know. (I’ve given up on the PhD’d economists. Get me real people who work.) Money Magazine calls JM the “Best Online Real Estate Expert”; The New York Observer says he’s one of the 100 Most Powerful People in Real Estate; Inman News crowns him one of the top 25 most influential real estate bloggers in the U.S. and his blog, Matrix: Interpreting the real estate economy, was voted one of the top five U.S. real estate blogs. While I chatted with him in his New York office in June, Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times called him within an hour. So when we got the news that Standard and Poors had downgraded the U.S. credit rating from Triple A to AA, the person I most wanted to call was Jonathan to learn. What the hec does this mean to housing?
Posted in Economy, emerging real estate markets, national news stories affecting second homes, Real Estate, Real estate market news, Second Shelters
Tagged Credit Boom, Economic Uncertainty, Estate Economy, housing market and interest rates, Jonathan Miller, New York Observer, Standard And Poors, Wall Street Journal
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Do Designer Dogs Sell Properties? Staging a Home to Sell With Live Pets – Dallas Real Estate News
I knew it was only a matter of time before this happened. After all, Realtors have been stealing tips from ad pros for years to make homes look glorious in photographs to entice buyers. What have I been telling you for years — it’s all about the photos, right? Now we hear that ”placement pets“, as they are known in the advertising world, are increasingly showing up in home listing photos. The point is to convey a subliminal message to would-be buyers, and make them feel as warm and fuzzy about the house as one of my fluffy Golden Retrievers. Let’s face it, pets have become status symbols and are increasingly the “children” of empty nesters and gay couples. A hunting dog looks great snuggled on a hearth; Vizsla’s or Standard Poodles are chick magnets, so why wouldn’t they lure in buyers? You may have noticed that my furry child, Bree, is proudly displayed on this blog.
Posted in Dallas real estate news, emerging real estate markets, national news stories affecting second homes, Real estate market news, Stage Me
Tagged Becky Frey, Cavalier King Charles, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Dave Perry Miller, Golden Doodles, home stagers, King Charles Spaniels, Placement pets, Portuguese Water Dog, Prudential Douglas Elliman
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