An opportunity of a lifetime....

Warren Buffet says, "A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful." While Mr. Buffet was writing about buying stocks, the same can be said for housing today.

Housing issues have permeated the economy both locally and nationally. This week, one index that tracks housing prices, S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, indicated home values fell the most since 1968, declining 18.5% in December from the year before.
Looked at from a different perspective, this means home prices have fallen to levels not seen in six to twelve years, depending on individual markets. Following the Case-Schiller report was the report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently. The NAR reported that home prices for the month of January fell by 14.8%.

The bright spot though in contrast was that the number of homes sold in December increased. Home buyers from coast-to-coast have been buying distressed properties at the rate of 45% of total sales.
Recognizing that now is the time to buy, everyone – from those looking to purchase their first home to seasoned real estate investors – is buying homes today. Bruce Norris, the head of an investment group in Southern California, expects to buy at least 100 homes this year as, "This is the buying opportunity of our lifetime."

Fundamentals Point to Strength
The basic fundamentals of the housing market point to higher prices ahead. Almost half of the properties being sold today are existing homes that are either owned by banks or homes on which banks are accepting short sales, allowing them to be sold for less than what is owed.
New homes or homes under construction are near all-time lows. The country's demographics point to more potential buyers coming into the housing market than projected inventory in coming years. This all points to higher prices on the horizon as demand will be greater than supply. This is supported by the fact that the inventory of unsold homes fell 2.7% in January.

Why Buy Now?
Three very important reasons to buy now are:
Interest rates are near all time lows;
Home prices have declined to levels not seen in years; and
Qualified first-time home buyers are now eligible for up to an $8,000 tax credit.
Lower Prices Don't Always Equate to Lower Payments
One final point to consider. Even if you believe that home prices will continue to decline, it's very difficult to believe that interest rates will remain at these low levels.
Did you know that even if home prices were to decline 10% but also during that time, interest rates available for home loans were to increase by 1.00%, your monthly principal and interest payment would actually be higher? It's true. So, if you are thinking of buying or the end of your lease is near, get busy and get in the game. To quote Mr. Buffet again, "If you wait for the robins, spring will be over."

Call me and we can discuss the best options for you today.

Labor day weekend fun.

As most of you know, first of September is always a very busy time in our lives. This year was even more chaotic with Danielle opening her new building on the pre-school.

With Bailey's birthday (Sept. 5), Ian's birthday (Sept. 4), Kennedy's Birthday (Sept. 1) and Danielle's birthday (Sept. 13) we are always hoping from all the birthday cake.

This year, I took Kennedy, Bailey, Liberty on a little daughter daddy camping trip to my hometown of Canyon, Texas. Canyon is the home of the Palo Duro Canyon. We also went to a Texas Tech football game. We really need to get out more often because the trip was short, but the memories will last forever.

Problem lenders

An issue has come up, yet again, with a large (not gonna name names...wells fargo) lender that one of my clients has choosen to do their loan.

This is the second time in less than 3 months that this particular bank has delayed closing and could cost my client big bucks. The issue with large lending institutions is that they are to burecratic. To many chefs in the kitchen and their worker bees aren't even required to get a loan officers license.

You can always choose which lender you work with, however, a Realtor knows good lenders who are going to be able to get the job done, no excuses, no delays, no dishonesty. I always recomend Carroll Dyer with Bankers Financial. He, and his staff are very good at what they do.

The heat and your foundation

Wow. It is hot outside.

When the temperatures are this high, it is vital, that homeowners inspect and maintain their foundation on a daily basis.

The last couple of years were very wet summers. The previous summers were very hot. These wet summers sandwiched between hot summers are the perfect conidtion to create serious foundation problems.

Foundation repairs are the number one expense to home owners even beating out termite damage.

I have personally seen foundation issues cost a home seller in negotiations.

Discount brokers

ex-employee
As an insider, I wanted to chime in. I bought a BuyOwner internet only package in August of 05' for $2,000. I was so impressed with the program, I applied for a job, and to my suprise, I was hired.

I started in Oct. of 05' and quit in March 06'. I still have not sold my house, one year later. I quit because I came to the conclusion that in my geographical location, BuyOwner does not work effectively. I could not justify selling a product that was not up to par.

At the sales meetings I kept asking what my customers were asking me, 'what is the average time on market, and what percentage of houses sell'? In training, we are told to respond, 100% of our homes sell, because we advertise until sold. O.k., than what is the average time on market? We don't know, because we only advertise the property, not sell the property.

A lot of customers do not tell us when their house sells. (I personally do not believe this). The reality of it is that if BuyOwner wanted to know these statistics, all they would have to do is a simple follow up phone call to the customer. It states in the contract that after six months of no contact, you will be taken out of the system. This would lead me to believe that BuyOwner does know.

These statistics, are held closely to the vest, and are not givin to consultants. In addition, all the people you see in the comercials, are from other parts of the country (Florida) where real estate is 'HOT', not Houston.

Best regards,
Lyle
Houston, TX

Apartment locating

Just in case you didn't realize, the J.J. Chapa real estate team does offer free apartment locating. Just in case you are not ready to purchase but need a place to call home, use the www.JJChapa.com website to search for your new apartment home.

Who do you know that needs to buy/sell a home OR who needs an apartment home OR who needs a competitive insurance quote for auto/life/home/renters insurance. Turn to the professional who can manage all these needs for you.

This is the best week.....

This week is the best week to get your home on the market. It is going to be a very competitive selling environment this selling season. It is important to be one of the first in your neighborhood to get your house on the market.

Call my office today, to get a free copy of my real estate report, "Home Buyers; How To Sell Your Home For the Highest Price Possible".

Happy birthday Liberty, Happy Anniversary Danielle

While not as busy as a month as September (we have 4 birthdays to celebrate); March is a busy month for my family.

My wife, Danielle and I, celebrated our 12 years of being married to each other. Not quite as impressive as a client that I recently picked up who is celebrating their 40th anniversary. In our years we have seen many happy moments but we've faced the challenges that most families suffer. Probably more. We have faced challenges from our sons autism, our two businesses, going through the terrible twos four times and the list can go on and on. I couldn't have asked for a better partner to march with me through the trials of life. Danielle gives me the courage and strength to continue every day. Thanks to you!

Liberty is our NOW four year old. She is one day into her new age but she is still as sweet and sour as she was the day before. We had an awesome family meal together last night to celebrate. Nothing really planned. It was just one of those last minute things that was thrown together that turns out really spectacular. We took her to a little mexican food resturant and then treated all the kids to an ice cream sunday at a little whole in wall. Liberty (also called LuLu) will have her big birthday tomorrow at her school when the pettying zoo will come out to celebrate with her.

$3000 paid for buyers closing costs by seller

This beautiful starter home is in move-in-condition. Wonderful mature landscaping , recent interior paint upgrades, large bedrooms, ceramic tile and a huge secondary living area are just some of the amenities that make this home one of the best values in the area. The seller is also willing to pay up to $3,000.00 of the buyers closing costs with a full-price offer in addition to the many amazing features that this light, bright and airy home has to offer.

For more information call:

1-800-284-0913 x 3069

Buying vs. Renting

The question that every person comes across at least once in his or her lifetime.

My husband and I moved to the DFW metroplex 4 and-a-half years ago. He worked, and I got to stay at home. We decided to rent when we came up here because

1. We didn't know the market, and

2. His job was just a stepping stone, and we didn't want the commitment if he took a better job somewhere else. (Which, by the way, he did!)

After a year-and-a-half of his job, he received a much better offer for another job. So. . .we moved from Grand Prairie--which is South of Fort Worth-- to Plano--which is North of Dallas. At that point, I was very glad to be able to get out of our lease without having to worry about who would take over payments of "our" apartment.

At this point, we still were unsure where life would take us, so we went through the apartment management company to find another complex managed through them.

At this point, though, there were now three of us, so we had to upgrade to a 2 bedroom, and my husband paid for the best so we wouldn't have to stay home in a high-crime area. We'd learned though that if you plan to rent long-term, you'd better lease long-term because each time you re-sign, they WILL up your rent.

After a year of living in the apartment community, we had a major business go up across the road that brought in a LOT of employees, so. . .

My husband and I decided that when our lease went up for that year, we would buy our first home. So, we began looking. . . .EVERYWHERE. . .ALL the time!!!

We found some land and set up with a builder in the small town of Anna--north of McKinney, which is north of Plano. The plan was to close on the house

December 23rd, 2005.

~~~~~~~~~~Talk about nervous.~~~~~~~~~~

We were going to go from about $300 of credit card debt to over $100,000! This was huge! But, we were right in our judgement. Our rent was going to go from $800 a month to $1100 a month if we renewed!

In the end, our monthly mortgage was less than $1100!! And, the best part, we actually have something to show for that monthly payment:

1. An entire structure in OUR name

2. A front yard w/ a porch, trees, and shrubs

3. A back yard w/ a patio, a fence, a lots of play area for the new puppy.

4. Three bedrooms, two baths, a living room, 2 dining areas, a huge kitchen

5. Our own outer walls, where we don't have to listen to the neighbors TV or other activities. AND they don't have to hear our's.

6. No worries about whether or not to renew a monthly or annual contract, Nor if our monthly payment will go up.

But, really, everyone has their own reason for getting out of the "rent race." These were just some of ours.

Now, I encourage you to sit down and write all the pros and cons of

Buying vs. Renting

~Latisha Huckins, Administrative Assistant

J.J. Chapa Real Estate Team