Bonuses of Using a Realtor When Buying a Home

1. It's FREE - As a buyer, you pay absolutely nothing for the services.
2. You Could SAVE THOUSANDS- Realtors are experienced in the market, and have the ability to negotiate any price on a home for you.
3. You SAVE TIME - With a good Realtor, you just find the home, choose whether or not you want to view it before putting in an offer. Then, you just tell your Realtor how much you're willing to pay, and he/she will put in the offer. They will set up the closing, and all you have to do is sign.
4. Did I mention it's FREE - The seller will pay all Realtor fees from the proceeds of his/her home's sell.

Coppell

One of DFW's most desierable areas is Coppell. A strong school district coupled with strong resale values has made Coppell one of the areas most desired neighborhood.

Refi applications climb 16.9%

Refi applications climb 16.9%
Lower rates fuel rush, but tighter credit could deny many
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Inman News
Applications for home loan refinancings jumped by double digits last week as interest rates continued to fall, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported today.
The group's market composite index, a measure of home loan application volume, got an 8.3 percent boost last week on a seasonally adjusted basis from the second week of January as refinance applications climbed 16.9 percent during the period. Filings for purchase loans, however, fell 4.6 percent, MBA reported.
Since the beginning of November 2007, refinance applications have risen 92 percent and purchase-loan applications are up 7 percent, according to Jay Brinkmann, MBA's vice president of research and economics. "With tighter credit conditions we do not know how many of these applications will become loans, but it is clear that borrowers are responding to the 40- to 80-basis-point drop in rates we have seen since Nov. 2 across products."
Borrowing costs on all loan products sank again last week, as the average contract interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 5.49 percent from 5.62 percent; the average rate on 15-year fixed loans dropped to 4.96 percent from 5.07 percent; and average rates on the one-year adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) tumbled to 5.51 percent from 5.77 percent.
Points, or loan-processing fees expressed as a percent of the total loan amount, averaged 1.07 on the 30-year loans, 1.22 on the 15-year, and 1.01 on one-year ARMs. These points include the origination fee and are based on loan-to-value ratios of 80 percent.
According to MBA, the refinance share of applications increased to 66 percent last week from 62.7 percent the previous week, and the ARM share grew to 9.3 percent from 9.2 percent.
The Mortgage Bankers Association survey covers approximately 50 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage originations, and has been conducted weekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts.

Shh! Don't tell anyone....this is our secret!

Local builder announces their intent to leave Texas

An area home builder has announced their intent to withdraw their homebuilding venutres in the State of Texas.

With these plans, the homebuilder is having a blow out "fire sale" to get all their inventory sold within the next 30 days.

This is great news for local buyers who can capitalize on instant equity. Homes with hard surface counter tops, ceramic tiles, stainless appliances and large and open floorplans are up for sale at drastic discounts.

In one instance, there was a 2700 sf home listed at $240k sold to a lucky buyer for only $170k. Don't miss out on this great opportunity. Call 972-254-2011 for more information.

FREE Service

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