Homeowners Insurance and Katrina: What We Can Learn

September 2nd, 2010

Five years later, tens of thousands of New Orleanians are still displaced from their homes, and many have simply moved on and re-settled in other cities. Nearly 1,000 families in New Orleans itself still lack permanent housing. And as all the TV coverage of the five-year anniversary reminds us, people all over both the private and public sectors were caught flat-footed by the immense scale of the disaster.

Now it’s true that here in Dallas, we’re not surrounded by crumbling levees. We’re nowhere near as vulnerable as New Orleans was at the time of Katrina. But we are located in tornado alley, and the Trinity River is prone to flooding, and there’s no real way to natural calamity-proof our entire city.

So, in honor of those still suffering from Katrina’s impact, let’s talk about one truly important means of preparing for a natural disaster—homeowners insurance.

Here are three things to know:

It’s a Good Idea

While it’s a good bet a flurry of post-disaster government relief initiatives would be launched, the massive scale of something like Katrina would almost inevitably overwhelm their capabilities and leave homeowners in a frustrating, intractable bureaucratic mess.

And while in many ways the private industry didn’t respond much better to Katrina, it’s a good idea to be covered on as many fronts as possible. Be patient, plan ahead with solid coverage, cover yourself from all angles , and you’ll find the help you need.

Floods Might Not Be Covered

One common problem we saw repeatedly in the wake of Katrina was the widespread lack of flood insurance. Many people don’t realize that standard homeowners insurance policies don’t cover flood claims. So hurricane victims are often left scrambling to prove that the damage to their homes was more wind-related than flood-related. They often only get partial compensation, if any at all. (Here’s a nifty list of calamities your homeowners insurance policy might not cover ).

Even without the threat of hurricanes, floods are a real possibility for many homeowners in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. A severe flash flood can do in minutes what the slow drowning of New Orleans did over two weeks.

Check out the flood maps of your area to gauge your home’s flood vulnerability, and whether or not your area is eligible for coverage. And, if so, make sure that you’re covered—either in your homeowners insurance policy, or via a separate flood insurance plan.

Cover Everything

It’s a good idea to insure your house for the entirety of what it would cost to rebuild the whole thing. If you don’t, you could end up in long, drawn-out struggles with the insurance company about what qualifies for coverage and what doesn’t. There are multiple ways to structure your coverage — read here for more specifics — but make sure you consider all the hidden costs of a natural disaster (valuables in the home, temporary dislocation costs, rising re-building costs) when planning for the possibility of a big one.

Check out our homeowners insurance resources section for more information, including 12 tips for how to save on homeowners insurance . Or contact our Dallas mortgage experts for more information.

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Mortgage Q&A: What information can you share with someone looking for a home loan right now?

August 30th, 2010

Mortgage Q&A I always like to be positive in my advice so here it goes.

I can positively tell you that local mortgage bankers like TexasLending.com can help you finance your loan at great rates while closing in less than a month. I can also positively tell you that the 4 largest National Banks are understaffed and will take from 3 to 6 months to close on a home loan right now.

I can positively tell you that at least 2 of the banks will charge you at least 0.75% higher rate than the current APRs that are possible below 4.3%.

A consultant of mine told me he knows of five people with felonies currently working in DFW for national banks. The felons can not work for Bankers and Lenders like Texaslending.com by federal licensing standards but the national banks banks are held to lower standards so they are able to work for the banks.

Thank you for allowing me to share these facts with you. Contact TexasLending.com today, apply online or click the “ask an expert ” tab on the homepage of TexasLending.com .

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Build or Buy a Home? A Few Things to Think About

August 24th, 2010

One consistent glimmer of good news for the Dallas housing market can be found in new home construction. The Dallas-Ft. Worth area is still an enormously attractive place to build, compared to other regions of the country, and the numbers show it. According to the Dallas Morning News , new home starts are up more than 50 percent in 2010.

So let’s take a look at just a few of the myriad reasons for building a house or purchasing a home pre-owned:

Why build?

  • New homes are modern and customizable.

Want a hot tub in your kitchen? How about a waterslide shooting out of your kid’s second-story room? Perhaps an entire room built like a McDonald’s ball pit for your toddler? If you’re building your own home, you’re far more likely to be able to do whatever you’d like with it (ok fine—at least whatever’s architecturally possible that you’re willing to pay for). It’s also easier in new homes to install all the most modern equipment and appliances at once, and you’re much less likely to have to do something drastic like replace a roof five years after you’ve moved in.

  • New homes spark community.

In new, master-planned developments, a large influx of families can create a unique environment to foster a robust sense of community. Everyone is new to the block. Everyone is excited to be a part of something fresh. There are fewer established cliques, and less of a sense of exclusivity against newcomers. The opportunity to create life-long friendships and memories is ripe.

  • There’s simply nothing like a new home.

There’s just nothing like moving into a new home, especially one that you built and helped design. There’s just something about being the first to cook a pie in that new kitchen, or seeing your kid take the first bellyflop into your pool. The wide-spread opportunity to build your own home is a uniquely American experience, and there’s a reason why people are willing to fight long commutes into town each day for the chance to come home every night to a castle that is uniquely their own.

Why buy?

  • Better locations.

The cheapest way to build is way out on a city’s fringes. Land is cheaper, and a continual stream of new developments make for abundant opportunities to build. For many people not wanting to bother with urban traffic and problems at all, this is fine—even welcome. But if you’re going to want to cut down on commute times, live close to work and nightlife downtown, or live in a well-known, established community, building in a more central location is going to cost you a pretty penny, and many neighborhoods don’t allow new home starts at all.

  • Better reputations.

Established, historic neighborhoods come with less unknown risk—both culturally and financially. There’s less risk of community-gone-wrong in pre-existing neighborhoods, and you’ll know more concretely if homes in the area usually gain value. And important factors like schools and healthcare options are also easier to evaluate beforehand in a place that’s been around for decades.

  • Better deals, steals, and market impact.

There’s simply a glut of unsold homes on the market right now, and many homeowners have been slashing asking prices or seen their homes sold in foreclosure auctions. Furthermore, buying from a family who’s struggling to sell their house could be considered a service to the community (yes, builders have been hit hard by the recession as well and also need the help). Do what’s best for you and your family, of course, but the wider communal implications of buying vs. building are something to think about as well.

Contact one of our Texas real estate experts for more information.

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TexasLending.com’s Kevin Miller Interview On Everything Internet Radio On CNN

August 20th, 2010

Internet Radio Recently TexasLending.com’s own Kevin Miller had the opportunity to be interviewed on CNN’s Everything Internet radio show . If you missed it last Saturday, never fear, just click the link below to listen to the entire interview. We’ve also transcribed it to text for you readers out there.

TexasLending.com’s Kevin Miller Interview On Everything Internet Radio On CNN

Lisa: Right now we have Kevin Miller who is the president and CEO of Texas Lending and we’re really excited to talk to him about Texas Lending and all that they do on the internet. So, welcome Kevin.

Kevin: Hi Lisa. Hi Ed. How are you guys doing?

Lisa & Ed: Great.

Lisa: How about you?

Kevin: I’m doing great.

Lisa: Well, tell us about Texas Lending…you guys, by the way, have a fantastic website.

Kevin: I appreciate it, thank you.

Lisa: It’s very robust.

Kevin: Yeah, that’s kind of the way we wanted to have it. It wasn’t always that way. We had a, actually about a 3 or 4 pager and now we have lots of pages, so.

Lisa: Yeah, it’s great. So how did you get started with Texas Lending?

Kevin: That’s a great question because well, the story goes; I had a friend who actually started the web site TexasLending.com back in 1997, 1998. He got out of the mortgage business, sold it to me for $600 bucks. It sounds like it’s not that much or it sounds like hey that’s a very good deal. But I was like you know at the time I didn’t know if it was going to work. But at the time just started doing some things then people started going to the website and applying for loans and so I built a platform on it, build a company on it. And in 2001 we started the company and now we do a lot of stuff on the internet.

Lisa: Oh wow. So this actually started, Texas Lending started as a website as TexasLending.com.

Kevin: It started as a website. I had a friend who had it and I started doing some advertising to send people to the website. They started going there and it started working. So, I again just slowly built it up. Advertised a little more and more people went to it and it’s been a little give and take. So, a little more advertising, a little more employees and then of course we had a lot of fun in the mortgage business a few years ago. So it’s been interesting for the last few years.

Ed: It is interesting. You have traversed the most difficult economy we’ve had since the Great Depression. How’s that been?

Kevin: It’s very interesting because up until a couple of months ago we didn’t know what was going to happen. These mortgage rates we anticipated started rising. I didn’t think they could and still have a recovery. But they’ve actually come down to the lowest levels right now and we’re looking to have our best 6 months that we’ve ever had these next 6 months so it’s been a very trying period but what I’m hoping is these lower rates that we see right now are the rates the propel us into a rebound in the housing market. That might take 6 months - a year, maybe a couple years. I don’t know how long it’s going to take but hopefully that’s what we see. Hopefully we don’t have to see another dip in housing.

Ed: Well, I was looking at that 3 and 3/4 15 year fixed and that looks pretty attractive.

Kevin: Yeah, actually they’ve been moving down the feds this last week kept rates the same and it’s had a positive effect on rates and so keep your eyes peeled because the feds talking about in the future here, uh buying some more bonds funds and more bonds and them buying the bonds may drive the rates even lower.

Lisa: Wow. It sounds like you never have a dull moment over there, huh?

Kevin: Well, we’re trying to hire right now. We’re at about 60% more business right now than we had just a month and a half ago and we still have the same employees. We’re out hiring; we’re hiring all sorts of people in the mortgage business right now, whether they’re loan officers, underwriters, processors, closers. We have everyone here in our office in Dallas, so we can pretty much handle what we have right now but we expect it to get even better shortly.

Ed: Well has the shakeout in the business benefitted you or hurt you?

Kevin: We have, I am always fearful that the shake outs and regulations are going to harm us and all of our competitors. Because I am so attuned to that it actually has helped us. These next 6 months might be our best 6 months because other people, maybe they’re compliance department isn’t as strong as ours. Maybe they’ve been approving some loans they shouldn’t have approved and need to buy some loans back. We haven’t had these issues with compliance and loan buy backs that a lot of companies have had. So while they may be focusing that on or concentrating a little bit more on that than they want to we’ve actually been able to get bigger. And we actually…here’s one thing that’s really helped us, I started Texaslending.com University which is a 6 week course that we put new loan officers through to make sure that they are lined up with all the national regulations, acts of congress, all the things that they need to do to get through the licensing that is now required in the banking and the mortgage banking industry. We went through our first class there, they’ve all passed. Other companies don’t have the size or maybe they don’t have a central office that can offer a University class. We call it a university; it’s gets people licensed so that we can continue to grow.

Ed: Well that’s very good.

Lisa: Yeah, that’s very innovative.

Ed: Now do you use the internet for some of that university work?

Kevin: You know what’s interesting is I’ve been on Facebook recently telling people "Hey we’re hiring." Now I’m getting resumes through Facebook people are saying "I’ve got a friend…" so I’m using Facebook and I’m getting onto Twitter so we’re using that a little bit. As a matter of fact, I use the internet a lot because if you ever go online and ever search Texas home loans or Texas refinance or Texas home purchase , when you go on there you’re going to find that Texaslending.com is usually right at the top of the list. We’re usually in the top 3 all the time. We’ve been doing online advertising for about 4 or 5 years now and this is very important because most of the time at the top you’re going to see the Lending Trees, The Bank of Americas, the Chases, these national corporations, these big banks and we found that we are one of the only companies that have a budget, the size necessary to compete against these companies. Not only compete, but also be #1 when you’re going to search for that so it has helped us greatly that we’ve built up a robust marketing budget so that now we can compete and be listed in the top of these engines so that it continues to propel our growth.

Ed: So do you use a consulting service to help you with your online placement, SEO or Pay-Per-Click?

Kevin: We have a little of that but I actually handle a great deal of our Pay-Per-Click myself. I do have a consulting company that helps me with some of that. We are expanding, you mentioned we do have other states that we are doing business in and the other states that we’re doing business in, we’re going to have another website for the other states, it’s not going to be TexasLending.com. When that gets up and going, these other companies will have a great impact in helping me build out our search in the other states.

Lisa: It definitely sounds like the internet has helped you to level the playing field for you in terms of being competitive with the big guys, huh?

Kevin: Yes, it’s getting crazy right now. I think the biggest thing that’s scary for most people now is they go on and they say I want to start a mortgage company and they want to do internet marketing but they don’t realize that the budget to do online is as much…I’m not going to give anyone inside information but it’s a very large budget and you have to go deep and you have to have people who know what they’re doing to help you out with it because you think you’re just going to put your name on the internet and show up #1 you’re sadly mistaken. You really need to make sure you have the right people lined up to do it. So, we have had a lot of success and just to give you an example back in about 2003 I would say about 60% of our business used to come from the phone and 40% came from online. Now 60% of our business comes from the internet and 40% comes from the phones. I expect that to continue to grow. Everyone goes online to shop for these things these days. When everyone is going online, again if that’s where they’re going to go shopping you need to go deep and strong if you want to get into it.

Lisa: Right. Like you said you also specialize in loans in other states like Oklahoma, Florida, Michigan, Missouri and Kansas. So do you feel like the web has helped you to achieve this kind of reach?

Kevin: It’s really helped me more in the Kansas, Missouri. We have an office in overland park, Kansas and it’s helping me more there. Again, when I start our new URL we actually are using the name TexasLending.com in Kansas and Missouri but we’re checking that out and going to test it versus another name that I put together and see how that works for us as we start to expand into more of a national presence over the coming years.
Ed: So, would you consider yourself an internet geek? You started with the website and built this great enterprise through the internet. It sounds like you have some fascination with it as well.

Kevin: Well you know what to tell you the truth I’m really not an internet geek and I’m not a computer geek. I’ve had some good people that have helped me. I’ve kind of learned some of this from scratch. I started out doing the Pay-Per-Click myself. Taught myself a little bit of that and then I got some help so that by getting help and having things explained to me, I became more well versed in it. But doing the Pay-Per-Click, again I do a lot of that myself but I do have the search engine people that help me but there’s so much that goes into a lot of these companies will call me and say "Hey you guys could be better in the engines, you could be listed a lot higher if you just do this." there’s a lot of people out there that say we can get you up there fast. I think it’s a one trick pony kind of reach. I think if you’re going to build a robust search engine optimization platform that it’s not just going out there and putting a bunch of tags in your website and getting listed up top because that can go away real quick. You need to build a robust platform and have a wide reach with all the things that are available.

Lisa: All the necessary parts.

Kevin: So you can continue to sustain it and not just let someone bump you because someone put some more meta tags up there.

Ed: So you’ve had good expertise who’s advised you, you understand it because of that and you’re able to deal with it effectively.

Kevin: It also helps, since I’m in charge of marketing, I run the company, I own the company and I’m in charge of the marketing so all these national corporations that are out there doing this internet stuff, they have some people in a back room, or maybe they have just consultants doing all this for them but they’re not keeping an eye on it. The great thing about me handling it myself is i can see someone out there trying to make a move and I can be able to determine if that company is going to be able to make a move for a long period of time. A lot of times these guys get on there for 2 or 3 days and then they’re gone because they realize that they just can’t afford it. It’s helped me because I am in charge of it, I’m watching it daily and I have a pulse.

Lisa: That is great. Now you use something also called esignature technology for your loan application to speed up the application process. Tell us a little bit about that.

Kevin: We started years ago, probably about 5 years ago, utilizing that. I think we were the first ones in Texas – I never like to say we were the first ones because you never know, but we were one of the first utilizing esignature technology. We’ve been using it for so long, there’s actually a couple of companies out there that dominate the market one of them is a company called ala mode. Okay and ala mode allows and helps corporations with esignature technology, not just for signing loan applications but for other business. And so some of the things that may concern people or scare them; there’s “oh no I’m signing this esignature”; these are used primarily for loan applications, it’s like if you want to apply for a job you can just say click here, yes I want to apply for this job by clicking a button it signs your name. When we go to closing, we actually get real signatures, that’s when you’re really getting the mortgage. But to apply, it’s really nice to have people that can sit at home, they can go online, we’ll call them, we’ll contact them, we get their information, we send them all their forms and esignature platform and they just click a button. We have their full application, they scan in some documents to us, we’re processing their loan and all they’ve done is sit at home and scanned in some documents and pushed a button. We have people show up in our commercials, our TV commercials, they’ve never met their loan officer, they show up and their finally meeting them and they’re “Hey it’s great to know ya, great to meet ya! I did it all online.” So it makes it really easy for them.

Lisa: That’s awesome!

Ed: The virtual world – we’re in it. Well, hey thanks for being with us today, Kevin. We really appreciate the insight that you’ve shared with our listeners who have websites of their own and look for this kind of real life experience. So thanks for being with us and good luck with your expansion and your boom season.

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August Numbers Update: Summer Slip & Slide Continues

August 16th, 2010

Summer’s almost gone, and the housing slump still continues. One lesson? There’s simply less room for error when buying or selling a home now than ever before, and doing things the right way can still help you find gold in this mess and land in a secure, long-lasting home for your family.

According to the Dallas Morning News :

The North Texas housing market hit a big pothole in the road to recovery last month. Sales of pre-owned homes plunged 29 percent in July from a year earlier. The drop followed the expiration of federal homebuying incentives, which had brought out thousands of buyers.

Condominium and townhouse sales also slid — by 37 percent last month from a year earlier.

"We expected the numbers to be negative, but perhaps not quite this much," said Dr. James Gaines, an economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.

July’s 5,143 single-family home sales was the lowest monthly total since February, according to the latest report from the North Texas Real Estate Information Systems and the Real Estate Center.

Bad news all around. But, as usual, we’re here to help you read between the lines and better understand what all these numbers mean. And we encourage you to look more closely than just what the region-wide trends show.

While Dallas-area numbers might still be slumping, looking at individual Dallas communities paints a different picture. For example, while pre-owned home sales in Richardson and Duncanville both dropped a startling 48 percent, pre-owned home sales in the Park Cities happily rose by 34 percent and those in North Dallas jumped 17 points. If you’re considering buying a home, it’s important to look neighborhood by neighborhood, street by street before giving up altogether on finding a good home-buying situation.

Still, bad numbers are bad numbers, and a lot of homeowners in Dallas are suffering. With the market in a much less forgiving state, it’s more important than ever to have people willing to help you navigate the home-buying and selling process with your best interests in mind.

At Texas Lending , we think this means things like:

  • Educating our customers about the broader ins and outs of home-buying and mortgages, and connecting them with local Dallas real estate experts who we trust.
  • Working closely with families to find the right type of home loan for their unique finances, and making sure that they can afford a beautiful, memorable home both now and ten or twenty years into the future.
  • Service. Service. Service. Being there to answer any and all questions.

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Radio Reminder: TexasLending.com on KLIF AM 570

August 9th, 2010

Never. Stop. Learning. Even when in the car, on the way to soccer practice, stuck in traffic on Central Expressway, or while running errands around town.

We’ve been helping Dallas homeowners and homebuyers do exactly this for more than six years now. Every weekend, Texas Lending CEO and Dallas real estate guru Kevin C. Miller takes to the air to discuss the behind-the-scenes ins and outs of the local housing market and home loan industry. Information is power, and Kevin’s goal every time is to help Dallas families make informed decision about home loans that will both guide listeners through the current economic slump and lay the foundation for a stronger, more sustainable future.

In fact, you can catch him on the air in Dallas/Ft. Worth every a weekend:

  • Each Saturday on AM 570 KLIF from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m (you can also listen online at www.KLIF.com ).

Why listen?

Because Dallas real estate and the Dallas housing market are fluid, ever-evolving organisms, and understanding them takes constant information and analysis. Just as how we try our best to keep our readers ahead of the real estate curve here at Texas Lending Today, so too is our aim over the airwaves to educate, educate, and educate.

Each weekend, Kevin and his excellent expert co-hosts cover topics relevant to Dallas homeowners and prospective homebuyers like:

  • The latest news and trends concerning the Dallas-area housing market.
  • Practical advice concerning topics like homeowners insurance, home inspections, and possibilities for leveraging home equity .
  • The effect of local, state and national government policies on the housing market.
  • Insights and expertise about neighborhood-by-neighborhood Dallas micro-markets.
  • Common sense tips homeowners can use to boost their home values, and tips prospective buyers can use to land the best possible deal for their budget.

Information is gold in this complicated, volatile economy. We just want to help make learning what you need to know as interesting, compelling, and painless as possible. Tune in!

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Home Purchase Loan Down Payments - All You Need To Know

August 2nd, 2010

We want your money… just not too much of it. Just take a look at how little we ask for up front on a home loan .

In fact, we make sure that our rates give qualified people the best possible chance to buy a home. This means rock bottom numbers like:

  • 96.5% financing for first time home buyers
  • 96.5% financing with no limit on credit collections
  • 96.5% financing if you are in consumer credit counseling
  • 96.5% financing 3 years after foreclosure on FHA loans
  • 100% financing on VA loans
  • 96.5% financing if you are in a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy for the past year and paying on time with a minimum credit score of 620
  • 96.5% financing on FHA loans with credit scores as low as 620
  • 95% conventional financing with credit scores as low as 680
  • Interest-only payment options for up to 15 years

Credit is the fuel that makes the American economic system go, and we’re passionate about giving responsible people who are obvious candidates to be responsible homeowners the ability to buy a home. For many potential homebuyers, this couldn’t happen without low down payments.

But perhaps more important is how we dole out such friendly financing carefully. After all, as we saw recently in the nationwide housing collapse, many predatory lenders trapped unwitting homebuyers in loans they obviously couldn’t afford—loans that padded those lenders’ bottom lines at great risk to both the individual homeowners and the larger economic system.

To prevent this, we work tirelessly to educate our customers about their options and responsibilities, help simplify what can be a very complicated process and system, and match our customers’ capabilities to the most helpful, least risky forms of financing available.

Here’s just a bit of the reading we recommend about home purchase down payments :

  1. Everything you need to know about mortgage insurance
  2. Some advantages and disadvantages about using gifts and 401k contributions for a down payment
  3. Information about down payment grant programs
  4. Basic guidelines about how to decide whether or not you qualify for a loan
  5. A list of state housing and financing authorities from around the nation

The last thing we want, for our sake, your sake, and the country’s sake, would be to contribute to the foreclosure crisis. Contact our Dallas home loan experts —we’ll help you finance a house the right way.

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Bid. Buy. Beat the Housing Slump: Real Estate Auction Possibilities

July 21st, 2010

Real Estate Auction Let’s say you’ve been stung by the recent housing crisis and are considering a move to a cheaper property, or perhaps even lost your home to foreclosure. Real estate auctions just might provide a way to start over and move forward.

Foreclosed properties can often be won at steep discounts, as many banks, local governments and lenders are desperate to clear out their gluts of foreclosed homes and get local housing markets moving again.

This especially true in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. In fact, according to the Denton Record-Chronicle :

Denton County foreclosure postings led the pack of the four-county Dallas-Fort Worth area for the August auction and year-to-date. A total of 561 homes were posted for the county’s foreclosure auction in August, up 5 percent from July , according to information released Friday by Addison-based Foreclosure Listing Services Inc.

Collin, Dallas and Tarrant counties all saw a drop in residential foreclosure postings for August. Overall, Dallas-Fort Worth postings dropped 17 percent for August, with 4,671 homes posted for auction, according to the data.

[...] “The higher real estate activity will actually bring us out of the doldrums or the recessionary time we’re in,” Roddy said. “The activity levels [in the housing market] are healthy, as far as sales, compared to other markets. It’s just a matter of time getting the deadwood out and getting that behind us, which will allow the market to act like it’s supposed to.”

One way of clearing out the “deadwood,” of course, are auctions. And it’s here where savvy house hunters can walk away with a steal—a welcome tactic at a time when many are struggling to figure out how to move on from the crisis.

So what should you expect when looking for a house via a real estate auction? Here are a few tips:

  • Auctions are done both online and in person.
  • You’ll often need to register (usually free) for the auction in advance. A number of sites listing upcoming auctions are available on line, like this one , or check out Dallas County’s listings of tax foreclosure resales .
  • We recommend getting pre-qualified for a home loan before entering the bidding process. Some auctions require it.
  • Inspect the property before bidding. This seems obvious, but you might be surprised about the number of people who show up expecting to learn everything they need to know about a potential property just from what’s available during the auction (a fast-paced frenzy with little time for contemplation). Furthermore, most properties are not open for inspection after the auction. Contact the sales agent ahead of time for an inspection, and consider bringing a broker, licensed inspector and contractor (if you plan to make upgrades or repairs) along with you.
  • You can’t change your mind once you’re declared the winner and the purchase contract has been signed. So make sure that a) you know what you’re buying, and b) that your finances are in the order needed to follow through.
  • The day itself can be a flurry of foreclosure sales, often up to 25 properties per hour. If you win the bid, you’ll usually go straight to the closing area in order to get the purchase contract signed and remaining financing loose strings tied up. Closings usually occur within 30 days of the auction.

Contact our home loan specialists for more of the nitty gritty details you’ll need to know before a Dallas real estate auction.

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The HOA Blues

July 14th, 2010

There’s been a spat of negative stories recently about housing association civility gone awry. These cash-strapped times are making life stressful for all levels of government, and HOAs in communities slammed by the housing crisis are far from immune.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution :

When Helen Burgess fell behind on her bills after being diagnosed with cancer, she was able to work out payment plans on her mortgage, car note, credit card and tax obligations to the Internal Revenue Service.

Georgia is one of about 30 states where HOAs are empowered to take such drastic action. Though solid data on the trend is not available, by all accounts, such foreclosures — and other get-tough tactics — have occurred more often during this recession than in previous downturns.

Her neighbors weren’t so accommodating.

Because Burgess was late on her condo fees, the Magnolia Lane Condominium Association cut off her water soon after she returned home from surgery. That was June 27, 2009.

Since then, Burgess has been hauling water from her niece’s house 10 miles away. The condo group also tried in vain to garnishee the Marietta woman’s pay to collect the dues it’s owed, which, including attorneys’ fees, now totals more than $5,000. Most recently, it banned Burgess or her guests from using the clubhouse and other facilities in the 76-unit Marietta community.

“This is the craziest mess I’ve ever had to deal with. It’s been an ordeal,” said Burgess, 59, who has been unable to reach a financial agreement with the association. She even asked her pastor to intervene. It didn’t help.

The condo association and its attorney declined to discuss Burgess’ situation, other than to say they are “trying to work with her.”

While Burgess’ treatment may seem harsh, she’s more fortunate than some homeowners in similar situations. Some who have fallen behind on homeowners association fees — despite being current on their mortgages — have been sent into foreclosure by associations determined to collect.

Still, a housing development or neighborhood with a robust housing association can offer several advantages over less-organized communties. Let’s review some of the goods and bads of HOAs:

Take My Dues, Please!

  • Value. Value. Value. Usually, the rules, conditions and restrictions are there to protect the value of your home and make life just a little bit better for everyone living around you. You’ll be thankful for an HOA’s power when someone decides to start raising rowdy roosters next door.
  • Neighborhoods with an active HOA tend to have a stronger sense of community. HOAs maintain common areas like pools and clubhouses, organize events, and help build an atmosphere of safety and security that allows people to get out and mingle.
  • Curb appeal. It’s HOAs who usually take an active interest in a neighborhood’s entrances and appearance from the outside.
  • HOAs can be a handy arbitrator in local disputes—say, when you finally get fed up with your neighbor’s backyard cock-fighting ring.
  • Imagine not spending your Saturday mowing the lawn or shoveling snow off the driveway. HOA dues will often be used to pay for these sorts of services (at discounted bulk-rate prices).

Get Off My Lawn!

  • Dues are probably mandatory. Even if you could promise to never use the pool or clubhouse, you can’t really opt out of the security and home values boost that is common for everyone in an HOA-active neighborhood.
  • Dues may rise. Even if you are satisfied with the space they clog in your budget when you move in, the numbers may change over time. Find out about potential changes before you sign.
  • Your beloved purple window shutters might have to go if they don’t fit the desired overall neighborhood feel.
  • Your beloved purple poodle might also have to go. Some HOAs (especially in condos and smaller urban spaces) might not allow pets, and still others (retirement communities) might not allow kids.
  • If you keep your beloved purple shutters, poodles and progeny, you could be fined. If you don’t pay these fines, they could try to foreclose on your home (see above).

It can be a community-boosting, home value-boosting, experience. Or you might find yourself locked out of your house for missing HOA payments while serving a tour in Iraq . You never know.

Fortunately, our Dallas-Ft. Worth real estate experts know the local markets inside and out. Contact us —we’ll help you find the right community.

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Homebuyers’ Tax Credit Extended…Sort Of

July 6th, 2010

Homebuyers tax credit Remember the $8,000 first-time home buyers tax credit passed last fall to stimulate the slagging housing market (thanks, in part, to the efforts of readers like you )? Well, it was so popular that it almost didn’t work. Imagine a stampede of Tickle Me Elmo-mad Wal-Mart mothers on the day after Thanksgiving.

Last week, Congress voted to extend the credit (and its sister $6,500 tax credit for home buyers who have owned their current homes for at least five years) until September 30th for those who signed a contract on a new house by April 30, but, because of the mad mother rush on lenders, couldn’t quite break through and close by the original June 30 deadline.

According to NPR :

The fix could help as many as 180,000 people who signed contracts to buy homes earlier this year, but then faced delays in closing the sale.

Lucien Salvant, a spokesman for the National Association of Realtors, told Keith that "the pipelines for lots of lenders got jammed up, so these folks were going to be denied the tax credit through no fault of their own, and that’s a shame."

The bill was passed earlier this week by the House of Representatives, and it was approved unanimously by the Senate.

According to Keith, it won’t open up the tax credit to any new buyers, but for those already in contract, it extends the deadline to close until Sept. 30.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t re-open the window for those of you who are just now finding themselves in position to buy. Rather, it’s simply a corrective measure aimed to help those who tried earnestly to take advantage of the tax credit, but couldn’t for systemic reasons.

Still, while limited, it’s good news for those first-time buyers who did sign in time—and it’s a move that will hopefully continue to nudge the wheezing housing market along. If you started the process during the tax credit window and think you might be eligible, contact one of our Dallas-Ft. Worth housing experts —we’ll help you figure out if you still qualify for this valuable incentive.

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