Provided By Realty Times
It is recommended that you have a real estate agent help you with your transactions. But how do you know which agent to select? The choice can be difficult, but here are some questions to ask during potential agent interviews.
1. Do you have references from past clients? Ask their past clients if they were pleased with the service the agent provided them. Did they communicate in a timely manner, and were they kind and courteous?
2. What does being an agent mean to you? By asking this question you'll be able to see what their work ethic and business philosophy are. You want an agent that puts their priority on your happiness first, and their commission check second.
3. How long have you been in real estate? This is not to say that someone new to the business would not be a great asset. However, depending on the nature of your transaction, you may feel more comfortable with an agent with a proven record of sucess.
4. How many homes did you sell last year? Just because an agent has been in the business for a while doesn't mean they've been successful. You don't want to have your home on the market for months, when a savvy agent could have it sold in weeks.
5. What designations and certifications do you hold? Beyond holding a real estate license, agents can opt to expand their education and skills. There are a multitude of courses and programs available. In general, these certifications mean a more specialized agent.
6. What is your marketing plan? In an ideal world a house would just sell itself, right? But the market swings back and forth on a constant pendullum between being in favor of sellers and then buyers. If you are selling a house in a buyers market, then you need a solid marketing plan to make your home stand apart. Open houses, email campaigns, webcasts, and brochures are just a few of the items your agent may use.
7. Do you do dual agency? Dual agency is when the agent represents both the buyer and the seller. This is legal, as long as disclosed, but it may not be something you're interested in signing up for. Be sure to ask.
8. What are your home sales stats? It is important to ask them how long it takes them on average to sell a home. And then ask what the area average is. They should know this information off the top of their head, or at least have the statistics readily available.
9. How do you communicate with your clients? There is nothing worse than not being able to get ahold of your agent, with questions, for updates, and for feedback. In today's modern world of technology, there is no excuse for them not to stay in constant contact. There is email, texting, cell phones, and a myriad of other options. Ask what they use to stay in touch with their clients.
10. Do you have other connections? Meaning, will they be able to refer you to contractors, mortgage lenders, banks, landscapers, pool maintenance crews, and the like. This will be especially important if you are new to the area.
Finding an agent who is suited best for what you're looking for is easy! Give us a call at 972-772-7000 or email us at rockwall@kw.com.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Easy Fixes for 4 Household Problems
Written By Wendy Cole
Published By Realtor Mag
Problems like squeaky stairs and oil stains on the garage floor can be quick turnoffs to buyers. But these common household troubles need not hold your listing back—particularly if they’re relatively easy for a do-it-yourselfer to fix.
Lynda Lyday—carpenter, professional contractor, and a featured expert on the DIY cable network—provides dozens of simple fixes for common household problems in The Homeowner’s Manual (Que Publishing, 2006).
While it’s always best to bring in an expert to correct big problems, Lyday provides these tips for capable home owners who want to try their own hand at a solution.
Problem: Oil Stains on Garage Floor
Lyday’s solution: "You can remove most of a stubborn stain with a bit of elbow grease and scrubbing. First, remove the surface oil by sprinkling some cat litter on it to soak it up. Then clear away the cat litter and focus on the stain.
Make a paste of hot water and dry dish or laundry detergent. Use a stiff bristle scrub brush to scrub the area with the paste. Hose the area and let it dry. Another method is to use a product such as Spray ’n Wash on the stain for 10 minutes, along with a dry detergent.
Your last option is to spray on some oven cleaner. Use this sparingly, wash it down thoroughly, and keep children and pets away from it."
Problem: Leaky Faucets
Lyday’s solution: "Most faucet leaks can easily be fixed with a rubber washer, an O-ring, or seals—depending on what type of faucet it is. By fixing the problem yourself, you can save a good bit of money since plumbers can be expensive and will charge you a standard fee even if it takes only 10 minutes to fix the problem."
Problem: Nail Pops
Lyday’s solution: "Nail pops are a problem across the country. The term comes from the nails that hold the drywall to the studs actually popping out through the face of the drywall. This is from either a house settling or the wood studs drying out over time, squeezing the nail out of the wood and pushing it through the drywall.
The fix for this isn’t terribly hard, but it’s tedious because there are up to 32 nails in a 4-foot by 8-foot sheet of drywall. My suggestion is to pound the nail through the drywall to the stud. Then, just above it, place a drywall screw to hold the drywall to the stud, and finish it off with a few coats of spackle or joint compound. Finally, seal and paint it.
Most home-improvement stores also sell nail pop kits that can make this job easier."
Problem: Squeaky Stairs
Lyday’s solution: "The most common problems that occur in a staircase are the treads (horizontal surface of the steps) coming loose, which causes squeaking. Also common are the spindles or balusters coming loose. If you can get underneath the staircase, fixing the treads is easy.
You will need to attach an L bracket from the underside of the tread to the stringer (the long piece of wood that connects the treads and runs diagonally up the wall). If you can’t get underneath the staircase, you’ll have to make the repair from above.
Squeaky stair kits are available that allow you to make this fix even through carpet. Otherwise, you can secure the tread to the stringer with a trim screw."
Have you fixed up your home and are now ready to sell? Give us a call at 972-772-7000 or email us at rockwall@kw.com.
Published By Realtor Mag
Squeaky stairs, leaky faucets, or oil stains in the garage? Learn how to fix common household problems so they don't turn off buyers.
Problems like squeaky stairs and oil stains on the garage floor can be quick turnoffs to buyers. But these common household troubles need not hold your listing back—particularly if they’re relatively easy for a do-it-yourselfer to fix.
Lynda Lyday—carpenter, professional contractor, and a featured expert on the DIY cable network—provides dozens of simple fixes for common household problems in The Homeowner’s Manual (Que Publishing, 2006).
While it’s always best to bring in an expert to correct big problems, Lyday provides these tips for capable home owners who want to try their own hand at a solution.
Problem: Oil Stains on Garage Floor
Lyday’s solution: "You can remove most of a stubborn stain with a bit of elbow grease and scrubbing. First, remove the surface oil by sprinkling some cat litter on it to soak it up. Then clear away the cat litter and focus on the stain.
Make a paste of hot water and dry dish or laundry detergent. Use a stiff bristle scrub brush to scrub the area with the paste. Hose the area and let it dry. Another method is to use a product such as Spray ’n Wash on the stain for 10 minutes, along with a dry detergent.
Your last option is to spray on some oven cleaner. Use this sparingly, wash it down thoroughly, and keep children and pets away from it."
Problem: Leaky Faucets
Lyday’s solution: "Most faucet leaks can easily be fixed with a rubber washer, an O-ring, or seals—depending on what type of faucet it is. By fixing the problem yourself, you can save a good bit of money since plumbers can be expensive and will charge you a standard fee even if it takes only 10 minutes to fix the problem."
Problem: Nail Pops
Lyday’s solution: "Nail pops are a problem across the country. The term comes from the nails that hold the drywall to the studs actually popping out through the face of the drywall. This is from either a house settling or the wood studs drying out over time, squeezing the nail out of the wood and pushing it through the drywall.
The fix for this isn’t terribly hard, but it’s tedious because there are up to 32 nails in a 4-foot by 8-foot sheet of drywall. My suggestion is to pound the nail through the drywall to the stud. Then, just above it, place a drywall screw to hold the drywall to the stud, and finish it off with a few coats of spackle or joint compound. Finally, seal and paint it.
Most home-improvement stores also sell nail pop kits that can make this job easier."
Problem: Squeaky Stairs
Lyday’s solution: "The most common problems that occur in a staircase are the treads (horizontal surface of the steps) coming loose, which causes squeaking. Also common are the spindles or balusters coming loose. If you can get underneath the staircase, fixing the treads is easy.
You will need to attach an L bracket from the underside of the tread to the stringer (the long piece of wood that connects the treads and runs diagonally up the wall). If you can’t get underneath the staircase, you’ll have to make the repair from above.
Squeaky stair kits are available that allow you to make this fix even through carpet. Otherwise, you can secure the tread to the stringer with a trim screw."
Have you fixed up your home and are now ready to sell? Give us a call at 972-772-7000 or email us at rockwall@kw.com.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Small Projects That Pay Off Big
Written By Arianne Cohen
Published By Yahoo Finance
Provided By Money on CNNMoney.com
THE ENTRYWAY: TILE THE FLOOR
Do-it-yourself: $200 for tiles (four feet by four feet); $65 for tools
What you'd pay a pro: $1,000
Skill level: 2/4
Time: 1 day
Do this if... Your neighbors all have tile entries and you don't. And definitely if you have carpeting or linoleum, says carpenter Rick Crowe of Albany, N.Y. "The cheapest ceramic tile has more curb appeal than the most expensive linoleum."
Payoff: A buyer's first impression will be a good one. "Tile makes a house look worth something," says Adam Berlin, a contractor in Littleton, Colo. and host of DIY network's Sweat Equity.
What sells a house best: Anything that looks like stone, says Berlin. "Natural stone is timeless - everybody wanted it 2,000 years ago in Rome, everybody wants it now."
It's also pricey ($4 and up per square foot); porcelain is a durable, cheaper alternative ($2.50 and up) that can look similar.
You need: Tiles, spacers, adhesive, notched trowel, grout, sealer and plywood
The basic job: You must pull up the old flooring and install a layer of plywood. Then glue, grout and seal. The hardest part is cutting the tile, which you'll likely have to do around borders. Ask the tile store if it provides this service for free.
Where to find directions: Go to doityourself.com/miscellaneousfloor.
Tip: Go for six-inch tiles or bigger. The less grouting there is, the easier cleanup will be.
THE KITCHEN: PAINT THE CABINETS
Do-it-yourself: $135 for tools and paint supplies; $5 and up per knob
What you'd pay a pro: $1,200, refacing; $5,000, replacing
Skill level: 2/4
Time: 2 days
Do this if... You're selling soon. You won't recoup the cost of fully replacing shabby cabinets with new ones (that's $5,000 and up). Refacing them is harder and costly too ($1,000-plus). A coat of paint, on the other hand, can cheaply do a lot to spiff up what you have, even if it's a bit of a cosmetic fix. "Over the long run, it'll chip and wear," cautions contractor Berlin. But hey, that's someone else's problem.
Payoff: "If buyers like your kitchen, they will go through the rest of the home," says Davis.
What sells a house best: Neutral colors like white or brown, suggests Berlin
You need: Drill, bits, tarp, sandpaper, primer, oil-based or latex acrylic paint or stain, paintbrushes (avoid rollers because they can add unwanted texture) and knobs
The basic job: On the first day, you'll remove the cabinets, sand them and apply primer. Wake up the next morning and paint or stain. Add fresh hardware to make them look brand new.
Where to find directions: doityourself.com/stry/paintcabinets
THE FAMILY ROOM: BUILD BOOKSHELVES
Do-it-yourself: $500 for two six-foot-by-eight-foot oak shelves; $200 for tools
What you'd pay a pro: $1,200
Skill level: 1/4 (fixed shelves); 3/4 (adjustable)
Time: 1.5 days
Do this if... You have an odd nook that otherwise would seem like wasted space - say, under the stairwell or alongside the fireplace - or You need: to add dimension and character to a room that lacks any architectural detailing.
Payoff: "You'll give the buyer an idea of how the space can be used," says realtor Camp.
What sells a house best: Hardwoods like oak ($10 a linear foot) and mahogany ($12) are sturdier and more appealing to buyers than cheaper fiberboard and particleboard (both $15 per eight-foot piece).Fixed shelves are beloved by realtors and designers for their clean look. Read: no unsightly brackets.
But there's also a case for adjustable. "Some people will have vases, others books," says New York City interior designer Chris Coleman. "This gives the buyer some flexibility." As for color, aim for innocuous - natural woods or woods painted off-white or beige are best.
You need: Precut wood, drill, bit, brackets and rails or shelf clips and a handsaw
The basic job: You'll spend the most time screwing brackets and uprights into the wall.
Where to find directions: Go to acehardware.com /infohome and select Project How-To's; then scroll down and click on Building Shelves.
Tip: Avoid installing shelves if your family room is small. They can make tiny rooms too cozy.
THE DINING ROOM: REPLACE THE OVERHEAD FIXTURE
Do-it-yourself: $39 to $300 for the lamp; $40 for tools
What you'd pay a pro: $700
Skill level: 2/4
Time: 4 hours
Do this if... You haven't replaced the lighting in years, and it's not meant to look antique. Brass should definitely go, says Berlin, since "that springs cheap."
Payoff: "Good lighting is critical, especially in the dining area," says realtor Camp. "The right chandelier sets the tone and makes a dramatic impact on the buyer."
What sells a house best: Think universal appeal. In other words, don't go all Liberace if your house is country-style. Also, beware of an oversize or undersize fixture, which can make the room seem out of proportion. Use your dining table as a judge: The chandelier's diameter should be 12 inches less than the table's width.
You need: Chandelier (stick to models that are less than 30 pounds - heavier ones require a fan brace to support, "and you're better off hiring a pro to install that," says carpenter Crowe), metal outlet box, wire nuts, electrical tester, electrical tape, safety goggles, bulbs and wire cutter
The basic job: First you must shut off the circuit breaker. In most homes you'll be able to hang a lightweight chandelier from an existing electrical box (more likely if it's metal). Expose the wires and unscrew the wire nuts to remove the previous fixture; then match up the wires from the lamp with the wires in the box.
Where to find directions: Go to lowes.com and select How-To Projects from the Project Center pulldown menu, then Lighting and Electric from the menu at left.
THE MASTER BATH: ADD GLASS SHOWER DOORS
Do-it-yourself: $300 to $800 for the glass-door kit; $70 for tools
What you'd pay a pro: $1,150
Skill level: 3/4
Time: 4 hours
Do this if... The room isn't particularly spacious. "A curtain divides it and makes it seem smaller," says Camp.
Payoff: Because the eye doesn't stop at the curtain, "glass doors give the appearance of more open space," Camp adds.
What sells a house best: Frameless doors, which have a clean, spa-like look. Thing is, these are hell to install on bathroom walls that aren't quite flush. Framed doors, while less ideal, are still an improvement on a curtain. If you plan to live in the house while you're trying to sell, you might consider frosted glass, "especially if your neighborhood has hard water," says Crowe. "Clear glass will show the soap scum."
You need: Caulk gun, silicone adhesive (waterproof caulk), file, hacksaw, drill, bit, punch, miter box and anchors
The basic job: You'll attach the bottom track with adhesive, then drill in the bottom and side tracks. After you install the door and panels, you'll put in the top tracks; finish by sealing the tracks with waterproof caulk.
Where to find directions: Read the paperwork that comes with the door kit - every model is different.
Tip: Pick out doors in person, visiting the showroom with dimensions in hand. Do you really want to mail back a glass door ordered online?
Are you interested in selling your home? Give us a call at 972-772-7000 or email us at rockwall@kw.com.
Published By Yahoo Finance
Provided By Money on CNNMoney.com
Make your home more appealing to buyers (and yourself) with these easy indoor upgrades you can do on your own.
THE ENTRYWAY: TILE THE FLOOR
Do-it-yourself: $200 for tiles (four feet by four feet); $65 for tools
What you'd pay a pro: $1,000
Skill level: 2/4
Time: 1 day
"The foyer is the buyer's first impression of your house," says Sid Davis, author of Home Makeovers That Sell. "If people walk in and see a bad floor, they're going to wonder, 'What else is wrong with this dump?'"
Do this if... Your neighbors all have tile entries and you don't. And definitely if you have carpeting or linoleum, says carpenter Rick Crowe of Albany, N.Y. "The cheapest ceramic tile has more curb appeal than the most expensive linoleum."
Payoff: A buyer's first impression will be a good one. "Tile makes a house look worth something," says Adam Berlin, a contractor in Littleton, Colo. and host of DIY network's Sweat Equity.
What sells a house best: Anything that looks like stone, says Berlin. "Natural stone is timeless - everybody wanted it 2,000 years ago in Rome, everybody wants it now."
It's also pricey ($4 and up per square foot); porcelain is a durable, cheaper alternative ($2.50 and up) that can look similar.
You need: Tiles, spacers, adhesive, notched trowel, grout, sealer and plywood
The basic job: You must pull up the old flooring and install a layer of plywood. Then glue, grout and seal. The hardest part is cutting the tile, which you'll likely have to do around borders. Ask the tile store if it provides this service for free.
Where to find directions: Go to doityourself.com/miscellaneousfloor.
Tip: Go for six-inch tiles or bigger. The less grouting there is, the easier cleanup will be.
THE KITCHEN: PAINT THE CABINETS
Do-it-yourself: $135 for tools and paint supplies; $5 and up per knob
What you'd pay a pro: $1,200, refacing; $5,000, replacing
Skill level: 2/4
Time: 2 days
"You'll make or break your sale in the kitchen," says Sid Davis, author of Home Makeovers That Sell. "It's the first room people head to when they look at a home, and if it doesn't meet their expectations, forget it."
Do this if... You're selling soon. You won't recoup the cost of fully replacing shabby cabinets with new ones (that's $5,000 and up). Refacing them is harder and costly too ($1,000-plus). A coat of paint, on the other hand, can cheaply do a lot to spiff up what you have, even if it's a bit of a cosmetic fix. "Over the long run, it'll chip and wear," cautions contractor Berlin. But hey, that's someone else's problem.
Payoff: "If buyers like your kitchen, they will go through the rest of the home," says Davis.
What sells a house best: Neutral colors like white or brown, suggests Berlin
You need: Drill, bits, tarp, sandpaper, primer, oil-based or latex acrylic paint or stain, paintbrushes (avoid rollers because they can add unwanted texture) and knobs
The basic job: On the first day, you'll remove the cabinets, sand them and apply primer. Wake up the next morning and paint or stain. Add fresh hardware to make them look brand new.
Where to find directions: doityourself.com/stry/paintcabinets
THE FAMILY ROOM: BUILD BOOKSHELVES
Do-it-yourself: $500 for two six-foot-by-eight-foot oak shelves; $200 for tools
What you'd pay a pro: $1,200
Skill level: 1/4 (fixed shelves); 3/4 (adjustable)
Time: 1.5 days
"Since about 20 years ago, when builders started putting in family rooms off kitchens, these spaces have really come up in importance," says Sid Davis, author of Home Makeovers That Sell.
Do this if... You have an odd nook that otherwise would seem like wasted space - say, under the stairwell or alongside the fireplace - or You need: to add dimension and character to a room that lacks any architectural detailing.
Payoff: "You'll give the buyer an idea of how the space can be used," says realtor Camp.
What sells a house best: Hardwoods like oak ($10 a linear foot) and mahogany ($12) are sturdier and more appealing to buyers than cheaper fiberboard and particleboard (both $15 per eight-foot piece).Fixed shelves are beloved by realtors and designers for their clean look. Read: no unsightly brackets.
But there's also a case for adjustable. "Some people will have vases, others books," says New York City interior designer Chris Coleman. "This gives the buyer some flexibility." As for color, aim for innocuous - natural woods or woods painted off-white or beige are best.
You need: Precut wood, drill, bit, brackets and rails or shelf clips and a handsaw
The basic job: You'll spend the most time screwing brackets and uprights into the wall.
Where to find directions: Go to acehardware.com /infohome and select Project How-To's; then scroll down and click on Building Shelves.
Tip: Avoid installing shelves if your family room is small. They can make tiny rooms too cozy.
THE DINING ROOM: REPLACE THE OVERHEAD FIXTURE
Do-it-yourself: $39 to $300 for the lamp; $40 for tools
What you'd pay a pro: $700
Skill level: 2/4
Time: 4 hours
"People who do a lot of entertaining will pay attention to this room," says Jay Fellhauer, a ReMax agent in Grand Junction, Colo.
Do this if... You haven't replaced the lighting in years, and it's not meant to look antique. Brass should definitely go, says Berlin, since "that springs cheap."
Payoff: "Good lighting is critical, especially in the dining area," says realtor Camp. "The right chandelier sets the tone and makes a dramatic impact on the buyer."
What sells a house best: Think universal appeal. In other words, don't go all Liberace if your house is country-style. Also, beware of an oversize or undersize fixture, which can make the room seem out of proportion. Use your dining table as a judge: The chandelier's diameter should be 12 inches less than the table's width.
You need: Chandelier (stick to models that are less than 30 pounds - heavier ones require a fan brace to support, "and you're better off hiring a pro to install that," says carpenter Crowe), metal outlet box, wire nuts, electrical tester, electrical tape, safety goggles, bulbs and wire cutter
The basic job: First you must shut off the circuit breaker. In most homes you'll be able to hang a lightweight chandelier from an existing electrical box (more likely if it's metal). Expose the wires and unscrew the wire nuts to remove the previous fixture; then match up the wires from the lamp with the wires in the box.
Where to find directions: Go to lowes.com and select How-To Projects from the Project Center pulldown menu, then Lighting and Electric from the menu at left.
THE MASTER BATH: ADD GLASS SHOWER DOORS
Do-it-yourself: $300 to $800 for the glass-door kit; $70 for tools
What you'd pay a pro: $1,150
Skill level: 3/4
Time: 4 hours
"If you're going to put money into a home, you should start in the rooms with running water," advises Adam Berlin, a contractor in Littleton, Colo. and host of DIY network's Sweat Equity.
Do this if... The room isn't particularly spacious. "A curtain divides it and makes it seem smaller," says Camp.
Payoff: Because the eye doesn't stop at the curtain, "glass doors give the appearance of more open space," Camp adds.
What sells a house best: Frameless doors, which have a clean, spa-like look. Thing is, these are hell to install on bathroom walls that aren't quite flush. Framed doors, while less ideal, are still an improvement on a curtain. If you plan to live in the house while you're trying to sell, you might consider frosted glass, "especially if your neighborhood has hard water," says Crowe. "Clear glass will show the soap scum."
You need: Caulk gun, silicone adhesive (waterproof caulk), file, hacksaw, drill, bit, punch, miter box and anchors
The basic job: You'll attach the bottom track with adhesive, then drill in the bottom and side tracks. After you install the door and panels, you'll put in the top tracks; finish by sealing the tracks with waterproof caulk.
Where to find directions: Read the paperwork that comes with the door kit - every model is different.
Tip: Pick out doors in person, visiting the showroom with dimensions in hand. Do you really want to mail back a glass door ordered online?
Are you interested in selling your home? Give us a call at 972-772-7000 or email us at rockwall@kw.com.
Monday, May 24, 2010
MAY BRINGS 2010'S LOWEST MORTGAGE RATES
Written By Nathan Becker
Published By The Wall Street Journal
Home-mortgage rates fell to the lowest level of the year in recent days as Treasury yields slumped due to investors seeking a haven following last week's stock-market turmoil, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey of mortgage rates.
Mortgage rates tend to follow Treasury yields. The benchmark 10-year note dropped to a five-month intraday low last Thursday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered an intraday drop of nearly 1,000 points.
The latest week was the fifth in a row that interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages fell, noted Freddie Chief Economist Frank Nothaft.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.93% for the week ended Thursday, down from last week's 5% average but up from 4.86% a year ago. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages were 4.3%, compared with 4.36% and 4.27%, respectively.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 3.95%, a low since Freddie began tracking such mortgages in early 2005, down from last week's 3.97% and 4.82% a year earlier. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs were 4.02%, down from 4.07% and 4.71%, respectively.
To obtain the rates, the 30-year fixed required payment of an average 0.7 point and the other mortgages required an average 0.6 point. A point is 1% of the loan amount, charged as prepaid interest.
Are you interested in hearing more about how mortgage rates lowered this year? Give us a call at 972-772-7000 or email us at rockwall@kw.com.
Published By The Wall Street Journal
Home-mortgage rates fell to the lowest level of the year in recent days as Treasury yields slumped due to investors seeking a haven following last week's stock-market turmoil, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey of mortgage rates.
Mortgage rates tend to follow Treasury yields. The benchmark 10-year note dropped to a five-month intraday low last Thursday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered an intraday drop of nearly 1,000 points.
The latest week was the fifth in a row that interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages fell, noted Freddie Chief Economist Frank Nothaft.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.93% for the week ended Thursday, down from last week's 5% average but up from 4.86% a year ago. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages were 4.3%, compared with 4.36% and 4.27%, respectively.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 3.95%, a low since Freddie began tracking such mortgages in early 2005, down from last week's 3.97% and 4.82% a year earlier. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs were 4.02%, down from 4.07% and 4.71%, respectively.
To obtain the rates, the 30-year fixed required payment of an average 0.7 point and the other mortgages required an average 0.6 point. A point is 1% of the loan amount, charged as prepaid interest.
Are you interested in hearing more about how mortgage rates lowered this year? Give us a call at 972-772-7000 or email us at rockwall@kw.com.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Backyard Pool Safety Tips
Source Sally Morrow
Published By Keep Kids Healthy.com
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, an estimated 260 children under five years of age drown each year in residential swimming pools and spas. The Commission estimates that another 3,000 children under age five are treated in hospital emergency rooms following submersion accidents each year. Some of these submersion accidents result in permanent brain damage.
Nationally, drowning is the fourth leading cause of death to children under five. In some states such as California, Florida and Arizona, drowning is the leading cause of accidental death to children under five.
CPSC offers the following tips for pool owners:
CPSC requests that consumers report incidents of drowning or "near drowning" by calling the Commission toll-free at 1-800-638-2772.
Are you looking for a home with a pool side view? Give us a call at 972-772-7000 or email us at rockwall@kw.com.
Published By Keep Kids Healthy.com
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, an estimated 260 children under five years of age drown each year in residential swimming pools and spas. The Commission estimates that another 3,000 children under age five are treated in hospital emergency rooms following submersion accidents each year. Some of these submersion accidents result in permanent brain damage.
Nationally, drowning is the fourth leading cause of death to children under five. In some states such as California, Florida and Arizona, drowning is the leading cause of accidental death to children under five.
CPSC offers the following tips for pool owners:
- Never leave a child unsupervised near a pool.
- Instruct babysitters about potential hazards to young children in and around swimming pools and the need for constant supervision.
- Completely fence the pool. Install self-closing and self-latching gates. Position latches out of reach of young children. Keep all doors and windows leading to the pool area secure to prevent small children from getting to the pool. Effective barriers and locks are necessary preventive measures, but there is no substitute for supervision.
- Do not use flotation devices as a substitute for supervision.
- Never use a pool with its pool cover partially in place, since children may become entrapped under it. Remove the cover completely.
- Place tables and chairs well away from the pool fence to prevent children from climbing into the pool area.
- Keep toys away from the pool area because a young child playing with the toys could accidentally fall in the water.
- Remove steps to above ground pools when not in use.
- Have a telephone at poolside to avoid having to leave children unattended in or near the pool to answer a telephone elsewhere. Keep emergency numbers at the poolside telephone.
- Learn CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation).
- Keep rescue equipment by the pool.
CPSC requests that consumers report incidents of drowning or "near drowning" by calling the Commission toll-free at 1-800-638-2772.
Are you looking for a home with a pool side view? Give us a call at 972-772-7000 or email us at rockwall@kw.com.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
ECONOMICALLY SPEAKING, TEXAS MSAS RANK HIGH
Source RECON
Published By Policom Corporation
Houston, Dallas and Austin are among the 20 strongest metropolitan areas in the nation, according to POLICOM Corporation’s annual economic strength rankings.
“The top-rated areas have had rapid, consistent growth in both size and quality for an extended period of time,” said William H. Fruth, president of POLICOM. “The rankings do not reflect the latest ‘hotspot’ or boom town, but the areas which have the best economic foundation.”
Of 366 metro areas nationwide, Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown ranked fourth, Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington ranked tenth and Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos ranked 12th.
POLICOM specializes in analyzing local and state economies.
Are you interested in homes in one of DFW's rapidly growing communities? Give us a call at 972-772-7000 or email us at rockwall@kw.com.
Published By Policom Corporation
Houston, Dallas and Austin are among the 20 strongest metropolitan areas in the nation, according to POLICOM Corporation’s annual economic strength rankings.
“The top-rated areas have had rapid, consistent growth in both size and quality for an extended period of time,” said William H. Fruth, president of POLICOM. “The rankings do not reflect the latest ‘hotspot’ or boom town, but the areas which have the best economic foundation.”
Of 366 metro areas nationwide, Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown ranked fourth, Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington ranked tenth and Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos ranked 12th.
POLICOM specializes in analyzing local and state economies.
Are you interested in homes in one of DFW's rapidly growing communities? Give us a call at 972-772-7000 or email us at rockwall@kw.com.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Texas Dominates Rankings for Best Cities for Jobs
Source RECON
Published By Fort Worth Star Telegram
For the second year in a row, Texas cities took half of the top ten spots in Newgeography.com's annual ranking of the best cities in the nation in which to find a job.
Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos ranked first, San Antonio–New Braunfels second, Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown third, Dallas-Plano-Irving fifth and Fort Worth–Arlington seventh.
Among the medium-sized cities that Newgeography.com ranked, El Paso was fifth, McAllen-Mission-Edinburg was sixth and Corpus Christi was seventh.
College Station–Bryan was the third best smallest city in which to find a job. Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood was fourth.
The rankings are based on three-month rolling averages of monthly employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics from November 1999 to January 2010.
To read more of this story click here.
Are you looking for a home closer to your job? Give us a call at 972-772-7000 or email us at rockwall@kw.com.
Published By Fort Worth Star Telegram
For the second year in a row, Texas cities took half of the top ten spots in Newgeography.com's annual ranking of the best cities in the nation in which to find a job.
Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos ranked first, San Antonio–New Braunfels second, Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown third, Dallas-Plano-Irving fifth and Fort Worth–Arlington seventh.
Among the medium-sized cities that Newgeography.com ranked, El Paso was fifth, McAllen-Mission-Edinburg was sixth and Corpus Christi was seventh.
College Station–Bryan was the third best smallest city in which to find a job. Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood was fourth.
The rankings are based on three-month rolling averages of monthly employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics from November 1999 to January 2010.
To read more of this story click here.
Are you looking for a home closer to your job? Give us a call at 972-772-7000 or email us at rockwall@kw.com.
Friday, May 14, 2010
kw.com is now LIVE!
Check out our new and improved site, kw.com. We now offer Keller Williams Realty mobile! Learn more at mobile.kw.com.
Whether you are looking to buy a home or sell your home, our real estate professionals can help make this a simple and exciting experience for you! Give us a call at 972-772-7000 or email us at rockwall@kw.com.
Whether you are looking to buy a home or sell your home, our real estate professionals can help make this a simple and exciting experience for you! Give us a call at 972-772-7000 or email us at rockwall@kw.com.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
How To Make Your House Irresistible
Provided By Sally Morrow
Source Good House Keeping
Dianna Lenz, 32, and her husband were ecstatic the day they got the permit to start building their dream house in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. One catch: They had to unload their current home first. "I was really nervous," Lenz says. "We needed to sell quickly so we could use the proceeds for the new construction."
She needn't have stressed: The house sold to the first person who looked at it -- and for several thousand dollars more than its appraisal price. The credit, Lenz says, goes largely to Joanne Hans, a real-estate enhancement expert in Mechanicville, N.Y. In this new but rapidly growing specialty, professionals help clients stage their homes - either for sale or just for a face lift - by using little more than the furnishings and accessories that the client already owns.
"A well-staged house creates a vision of a beautiful life," says Donna Marie Baldwin, a top agent in Hillsborough, Calif., for Re/Max Realtors. "When buyers walk through a house, they feel like they're going to have the same life as the people who live there. So the picture has to be a happy one - clean, uncluttered and tranquil." As Lenz discovered, making small adjustments in furnishings and presentation can determine how fast your house sells.
So how do you create that "buy me" feel? Good Housekeeping mined the top enhancement experts for their best-kept secrets and came up with a package of tips that will take your abode from ho-hum to Hollywood-perfect. Maybe you'll be so impressed with your home's new look, you'll decide you really don't want to move after all!
5 easy fixes to make your home more inviting
Fake more space
Source Good House Keeping
The longer your house sits on the market, the less cash it commands. To maximize your profits, use these expert tricks.
Dianna Lenz, 32, and her husband were ecstatic the day they got the permit to start building their dream house in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. One catch: They had to unload their current home first. "I was really nervous," Lenz says. "We needed to sell quickly so we could use the proceeds for the new construction."
She needn't have stressed: The house sold to the first person who looked at it -- and for several thousand dollars more than its appraisal price. The credit, Lenz says, goes largely to Joanne Hans, a real-estate enhancement expert in Mechanicville, N.Y. In this new but rapidly growing specialty, professionals help clients stage their homes - either for sale or just for a face lift - by using little more than the furnishings and accessories that the client already owns.
"A well-staged house creates a vision of a beautiful life," says Donna Marie Baldwin, a top agent in Hillsborough, Calif., for Re/Max Realtors. "When buyers walk through a house, they feel like they're going to have the same life as the people who live there. So the picture has to be a happy one - clean, uncluttered and tranquil." As Lenz discovered, making small adjustments in furnishings and presentation can determine how fast your house sells.
So how do you create that "buy me" feel? Good Housekeeping mined the top enhancement experts for their best-kept secrets and came up with a package of tips that will take your abode from ho-hum to Hollywood-perfect. Maybe you'll be so impressed with your home's new look, you'll decide you really don't want to move after all!
5 easy fixes to make your home more inviting
- Place a box of chocolates and a water pitcher with lemon slices in the kitchen.
- Hide pet toys, bowls and litter boxes.
- Heat an apple pie in the oven. Studies show that the smell of baked goods makes people nostalgic for childhood.
- Light candles in every room to create a glow.
- Put away toilet brushes, plungers, sponges, toothbrushes and medications.
Fake more space
- Buyers always want more for their money. Here are seven ways to create the illusion of extra square feet.
- Bedroom: Remove one piece of furniture - an ottoman or a second nightstand. Too-tight spaces are a major buyer turnoff.
- Windows: Take down worn drapes. Don't worry about replacing them - bare windows always make your home look bigger.
- Closet: Empty closets by two thirds to create a plenty-of-storage feel. Box and store out-of-season clothes and shoes.
- Den: You can double other people's perception of your home's play space - just pack up and put away half of your kids' toys.
- Kitchen: Clear small appliances off your counters. Experts say reducing the number of items visually triples the work space.
- Cabinets: Stop buying in bulk at the warehouse club.
- Reducing inventory lets you arrange supplies so that the shelves seem roomier.
- Dining room: Create a feeling of uninterrupted flow by taking out dining-room table leaves and removing all but four chairs.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Dallas-Fort Worth Does Well in Home-Price Survey
By Steve Brown
Source Dallas Morning News
The Dallas-Fort Worth home market got good marks in a just-released national survey of home prices.
Home sales prices in the D-FW area were up almost 5 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, California-based Clear Capital said Thursday.
And the real estate data provider rated the D-FW area among the country’s top five markets for home price growth so far in 2010, according the new survey.
Most of the cities Clear Capital looked at for its first-quarter report had annual increases in prices. But more than half of the markets lost ground with price declines from March to April.
The price reductions were worse in areas where large numbers of foreclosed homes were on the market.
More than 40 percent of the houses for sale in the D-FW area are previously foreclosed properties, Clear Capital estimates, compared to about a 29 percent nationwide rate.
But many North Texas home markets continue to see slight increases in home sales prices.
Are you interested in selling your home? Give us a call at 972-772-7000 or email us at rockwall@kw.com.
Source Dallas Morning News
The Dallas-Fort Worth home market got good marks in a just-released national survey of home prices.
Home sales prices in the D-FW area were up almost 5 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, California-based Clear Capital said Thursday.
And the real estate data provider rated the D-FW area among the country’s top five markets for home price growth so far in 2010, according the new survey.
Most of the cities Clear Capital looked at for its first-quarter report had annual increases in prices. But more than half of the markets lost ground with price declines from March to April.
The price reductions were worse in areas where large numbers of foreclosed homes were on the market.
More than 40 percent of the houses for sale in the D-FW area are previously foreclosed properties, Clear Capital estimates, compared to about a 29 percent nationwide rate.
But many North Texas home markets continue to see slight increases in home sales prices.
Are you interested in selling your home? Give us a call at 972-772-7000 or email us at rockwall@kw.com.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Own Your Piece of Paradise
Provided By Yahoo Finance
Source Kiplinger.com
Four-year-old Jonathan Killmer dips his toes into a creek and watches, enthralled, while his dad unloads sacks of deer feed from a pickup. As he works, Bill Killmer explains to a visitor why he bought hundreds of acres of rolling pine and hardwood forest in northeastern Georgia. Killmer, 50, grew up in Ohio, the descendant of farmers. He says he's "sort of retired" after selling a travel business and a building-maintenance company in Atlanta. He doesn't intend to plant corn or soybeans on his spread, which he calls Rosser Creek Farm -- the upcountry red clay wouldn't be suitable. His agenda: Hold the land as an investment for at least five years and "have a lot of fun while we own it." Then he may sell the farm in pieces, subdivide some land at the edges for estate-home sites -- or perhaps do nothing at all.
Killmer has counterparts all across the country, mostly in Texas, the South and the western mountain states. Investors are paying anywhere from $1,000 to $20,000 an acre for land that doubles as a private recreational escape and a diversifier for a long-term portfolio. Killmer hunts some, but as the parent of Jonathan and three teenagers, he sees the farm as a family retreat -- a place to spend lazy days angling for bass, catfish and brim in the property's ponds, as well as camping, hiking, swimming, spotting turkeys and other wildlife, and just hanging out.
About 75 miles east of Atlanta's beltway, Killmer's acreage isn't exactly in the wilderness. But it wasn't easy to acquire because it wasn't on any multiple listing service. Kevin Teston, a land broker in Augusta, Ga., worked with Killmer for a year to find the tract.
Teston believes that the land, formerly the property of a big timber company, has doubled in value since Killmer bought it two and a half years ago. Some of that appreciation is a result of its location. Atlanta is close enough that nearby crossroads towns, such as Madison and Greensboro, are sprouting coffee shops and nice restaurants. But similar vacant land twice as far from Atlanta is also heating up.
Just as other real estate investments have started losing their appeal, a growing inventory of recreational land is attracting more buyers. Major landowners, such as International Paper, Mead Westvaco and Weyerhaeuser, are divesting their forest holdings, usually to banks and insurance companies. Hardscrabble farming no longer provides a living, so kids raised on former crop land have long since marched off to Atlanta or Nashville or New York City. Old home places end up in the hands of banks and other groups of investors, who carve the property into tracts of 200 to 1,500 acres and sell it to small-scale developers and hunting clubs -- and people like Bill Killmer.
Is this a backwoods version of the investor-owned real estate glut that sank the condominium markets in Florida and Las Vegas? Possibly. Chris Hawley, chief executive officer of Mossy Oak Properties, a network of recreational-land brokers in nine states, says a recreational expanse "is just a different kind of condominium. It's just not at the beach and there are trees growing on it." But for now, Hawley, who lives and works in rural Livingston, Ala., is a very busy man.
What's it worth?
Unlike the values for homes and crop farms, prices for recreational property -- land that's not being actively farmed -- don't appear in familiar real estate indexes. The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City studied wildlife-related recreational land use -- hunting, fishing, camping -- and concluded that recreational appeal adds to land values, but it couldn't pinpoint precisely how much. Besides, many land investors will tell you they have no idea what their return actually is. They just know they are ahead.
Drew Kyle is one of them. Kyle, 47, owns an office-supply business in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and is an avid investor in stocks and mutual funds. But he's also accumulating Alabama forest property 50 miles west of Tuscaloosa. Kyle added 585 acres in 2006, bringing the total owned by himself and his family to 2,300 acres.
Kyle earns a little income by harvesting timber (see the box at right), but his priorities are peace and isolation, family time at the weekend house he built on his property, and a plan to restore an old, wooden tenant-farmer's house. "I can't tell you the rate of return on any of this," says Kyle.
He could probably make an educated guess. It's likely that timber revenue offsets taxes and the cost of maintenance, such as clearing kudzu and other invasive plants. Kyle paid $360 an acre 15 years ago and $1,820 an acre in 2006 for similar land in adjacent counties. That's a compound annual growth rate of 11% -- less than the 14% annualized total return for the average real estate investment trust that owns domestic property.
But when you consider that raw land doesn't generate dividends -- a hallmark of REITs -- that's a handsome rate of appreciation. And the values seem to be accelerating. Plum Creek Timber, an investment company that's the nation's largest private owner of timberland, says land it has sold for recreational development has gone from $2,300 an acre in 2004 to more than $4,000 now. There are regional variations, but Plum Creek's chief executive, Rick Holley, thinks more and more of his company's timber holdings across the country will go from wood production to residential or recreational use, especially with wood prices falling.
Off the beaten path
When you're traveling 60 miles per hour on the highway, all recreational land looks the same. Indeed, Bill Killmer's and Drew Kyle's properties could be side by side, even though they're 300 miles apart and in two different states.
But once you leave the main road and bounce along dirt tracks in a heavy-duty four-wheel-drive vehicle, you discover that every spread has its own character, with creeks, ponds, man-made lakes, hiking trails, clearings and mountain views. Trees aren't just trees. Thirty-year-old hardwoods are valuable timber, but young pines aren't worth harvesting even for pulp and eventually need to be thinned so that they don't kill off other trees. If you're interested in anything larger than a building lot, you'll need to do more than cruise the Internet. You ought to walk the land yourself.
Teston, who calls himself a buyer's broker, says your first step is to know what you want to do with your property. If you're into hunting, you'll need a minimum of 300 to 500 acres for a varied terrain and patches of cleared pasture to plant food crops for deer and other wildlife. If you just want a secluded house with a pond and enough forest to hear the wind and the birds, 25 acres is enough. But you'll pay more per acre for a smaller piece.
Water is a big deal. If you get permission to dig a lake, which opens up opportunities for private boating, fishing and swimming, prepare to spend tens of thousands of dollars to complete the work. A tract that already has a pond or riverfront land will cost more at the outset. But in the end, water is worth the price.
President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Tex., is an example of the value of water access. Texas land appraisers say that plain-old dry pasture land in McLennan County, Tex., is worth $800 an acre today, or just about what Bush paid in 1999 for his 1,600-acre property. But creek or river access (which came with the ranch) or a lake (which the President added later) adds value. Appraisers say rural land that comes with water access in Bush's county now sells for $1,800 to $5,000 an acre.
With its security and other infrastructure upgrades, Bush's ranch isn't your run-of-the-mill property. But even if someone else had purchased it, the place would still have more than doubled in value in eight years. And the waterside section would be as much as six times more valuable.
When Killmer purchased his land for about $2,700 an acre, he financed it by making a tax-deferred exchange for other land he owned closer to Atlanta. Buyers of rural property who own other real estate investments often use these so-called 1031 exchanges to delay paying capital-gains taxes. Other buyers simply pay cash.
If you borrow, know that a land loan is a cross between a mortgage, which is secured by the property, and a personal loan, which has more stringent terms than a mortgage. Figure on putting 25% to 30% down, with a loan term of ten to 20 years. Interest rates were recently about 8%.
Other money matters
Your best sources of credit are local commercial banks and farmers' cooperative banks. Even as lenders tighten credit for suburban housing lots and condos, they're eager to finance recreational properties, especially within three hours of a major city, because they are gaining value. Steer clear of so-called land-loan specialists, which are finance companies, not banks, and charge double-digit interest rates.
If you're buying land for personal use, the interest is not deductible. If you're buying it as an investment, the interest is considered investment interest, like the margin interest on stock purchases. That makes it deductible to the extent that you report taxable investment income, but the deduction does not shelter capital gains and qualified dividends. To get a more useful deduction to offset the cost of the land, finance part of the purchase with a home-equity loan. Interest on up to $100,000 in home-equity debt is deductible.
While you're waiting for your acreage to appreciate, it'll be yours to enjoy. But there will be expenses. Most rural land for sale lacks accommodations other than maybe a rude cabin, so you may want to build a house. Figure on paying $700 to $1,000 an acre to clear land for a pasture or a building site. You'll need a well and a septic system. Roads suitable for vehicles that don't have four-wheel drive can cost thousands of dollars. Digging a lake is a major undertaking because of drainage concerns and the need for a specialized contractor familiar with environmental and other regulations. And you'll need liability insurance, in case someone drowns in the lake you've just dug or has a hunting accident.
Without a house on the property, taxes should be low. Land is generally taxed based on its current use, so taxes on timberland may set you back as little as $2 per acre per year.
The more improvements you make, the more valuable the underlying land will be. But don't expect to cash out quickly. Well-heeled investors can afford to be patient and particular. It takes an average of about six months to sell 500 acres, and it may take as long as two years.
Still, it's comforting to know that land is one investment that won't crater on news of an unexpected earnings shortfall or the madness of crowds entering trades on computers. The saying that money is "tied up" in land endures as surely as the red-clay soil of northeastern Georgia.
Make your land pay
Unlike rental property, land doesn't provide you a regular rent check or a tax break for depreciation. But you may be able to eke out enough cash to pay your property taxes and set up a reserve fund for maintenance and small projects.
Timber. Hardwoods, such as ash, hickory, maple, oak and poplar, take as many as 50 years to mature. They're more valuable than the ubiquitous pine, which can be cut for pulp after 15 years. You'll need advice from a forester, and you'll probably sell to local sawmills.
Hunting rights. You can rent your land for anywhere from $5 an acre per year to several times that, depending on its location, the lay of the land, the length of the hunting season and the variety of wildlife. Deer and turkey are common; quail hunters pay top dollar.
Energy. Most recreational land isn't in oil-and-gas country, but you might be on the periphery of, say, a known Appalachian gas field. You could find a taker for drilling rights in exchange for a royalty of one-eighth to three-sixteenths of production plus an annual per-acre retainer.
Copyrighted, Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc.
Looking for your future paradise to call home? Give us a call at 972-772-7000 or email us at rockwall@kw.com.
Source Kiplinger.com
Enjoy your rural getaway and at the same time diversify your investments.
Four-year-old Jonathan Killmer dips his toes into a creek and watches, enthralled, while his dad unloads sacks of deer feed from a pickup. As he works, Bill Killmer explains to a visitor why he bought hundreds of acres of rolling pine and hardwood forest in northeastern Georgia. Killmer, 50, grew up in Ohio, the descendant of farmers. He says he's "sort of retired" after selling a travel business and a building-maintenance company in Atlanta. He doesn't intend to plant corn or soybeans on his spread, which he calls Rosser Creek Farm -- the upcountry red clay wouldn't be suitable. His agenda: Hold the land as an investment for at least five years and "have a lot of fun while we own it." Then he may sell the farm in pieces, subdivide some land at the edges for estate-home sites -- or perhaps do nothing at all.
Killmer has counterparts all across the country, mostly in Texas, the South and the western mountain states. Investors are paying anywhere from $1,000 to $20,000 an acre for land that doubles as a private recreational escape and a diversifier for a long-term portfolio. Killmer hunts some, but as the parent of Jonathan and three teenagers, he sees the farm as a family retreat -- a place to spend lazy days angling for bass, catfish and brim in the property's ponds, as well as camping, hiking, swimming, spotting turkeys and other wildlife, and just hanging out.
About 75 miles east of Atlanta's beltway, Killmer's acreage isn't exactly in the wilderness. But it wasn't easy to acquire because it wasn't on any multiple listing service. Kevin Teston, a land broker in Augusta, Ga., worked with Killmer for a year to find the tract.
Teston believes that the land, formerly the property of a big timber company, has doubled in value since Killmer bought it two and a half years ago. Some of that appreciation is a result of its location. Atlanta is close enough that nearby crossroads towns, such as Madison and Greensboro, are sprouting coffee shops and nice restaurants. But similar vacant land twice as far from Atlanta is also heating up.
Just as other real estate investments have started losing their appeal, a growing inventory of recreational land is attracting more buyers. Major landowners, such as International Paper, Mead Westvaco and Weyerhaeuser, are divesting their forest holdings, usually to banks and insurance companies. Hardscrabble farming no longer provides a living, so kids raised on former crop land have long since marched off to Atlanta or Nashville or New York City. Old home places end up in the hands of banks and other groups of investors, who carve the property into tracts of 200 to 1,500 acres and sell it to small-scale developers and hunting clubs -- and people like Bill Killmer.
Is this a backwoods version of the investor-owned real estate glut that sank the condominium markets in Florida and Las Vegas? Possibly. Chris Hawley, chief executive officer of Mossy Oak Properties, a network of recreational-land brokers in nine states, says a recreational expanse "is just a different kind of condominium. It's just not at the beach and there are trees growing on it." But for now, Hawley, who lives and works in rural Livingston, Ala., is a very busy man.
What's it worth?
Unlike the values for homes and crop farms, prices for recreational property -- land that's not being actively farmed -- don't appear in familiar real estate indexes. The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City studied wildlife-related recreational land use -- hunting, fishing, camping -- and concluded that recreational appeal adds to land values, but it couldn't pinpoint precisely how much. Besides, many land investors will tell you they have no idea what their return actually is. They just know they are ahead.
Drew Kyle is one of them. Kyle, 47, owns an office-supply business in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and is an avid investor in stocks and mutual funds. But he's also accumulating Alabama forest property 50 miles west of Tuscaloosa. Kyle added 585 acres in 2006, bringing the total owned by himself and his family to 2,300 acres.
Kyle earns a little income by harvesting timber (see the box at right), but his priorities are peace and isolation, family time at the weekend house he built on his property, and a plan to restore an old, wooden tenant-farmer's house. "I can't tell you the rate of return on any of this," says Kyle.
He could probably make an educated guess. It's likely that timber revenue offsets taxes and the cost of maintenance, such as clearing kudzu and other invasive plants. Kyle paid $360 an acre 15 years ago and $1,820 an acre in 2006 for similar land in adjacent counties. That's a compound annual growth rate of 11% -- less than the 14% annualized total return for the average real estate investment trust that owns domestic property.
But when you consider that raw land doesn't generate dividends -- a hallmark of REITs -- that's a handsome rate of appreciation. And the values seem to be accelerating. Plum Creek Timber, an investment company that's the nation's largest private owner of timberland, says land it has sold for recreational development has gone from $2,300 an acre in 2004 to more than $4,000 now. There are regional variations, but Plum Creek's chief executive, Rick Holley, thinks more and more of his company's timber holdings across the country will go from wood production to residential or recreational use, especially with wood prices falling.
Off the beaten path
When you're traveling 60 miles per hour on the highway, all recreational land looks the same. Indeed, Bill Killmer's and Drew Kyle's properties could be side by side, even though they're 300 miles apart and in two different states.
But once you leave the main road and bounce along dirt tracks in a heavy-duty four-wheel-drive vehicle, you discover that every spread has its own character, with creeks, ponds, man-made lakes, hiking trails, clearings and mountain views. Trees aren't just trees. Thirty-year-old hardwoods are valuable timber, but young pines aren't worth harvesting even for pulp and eventually need to be thinned so that they don't kill off other trees. If you're interested in anything larger than a building lot, you'll need to do more than cruise the Internet. You ought to walk the land yourself.
Teston, who calls himself a buyer's broker, says your first step is to know what you want to do with your property. If you're into hunting, you'll need a minimum of 300 to 500 acres for a varied terrain and patches of cleared pasture to plant food crops for deer and other wildlife. If you just want a secluded house with a pond and enough forest to hear the wind and the birds, 25 acres is enough. But you'll pay more per acre for a smaller piece.
Water is a big deal. If you get permission to dig a lake, which opens up opportunities for private boating, fishing and swimming, prepare to spend tens of thousands of dollars to complete the work. A tract that already has a pond or riverfront land will cost more at the outset. But in the end, water is worth the price.
President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Tex., is an example of the value of water access. Texas land appraisers say that plain-old dry pasture land in McLennan County, Tex., is worth $800 an acre today, or just about what Bush paid in 1999 for his 1,600-acre property. But creek or river access (which came with the ranch) or a lake (which the President added later) adds value. Appraisers say rural land that comes with water access in Bush's county now sells for $1,800 to $5,000 an acre.
With its security and other infrastructure upgrades, Bush's ranch isn't your run-of-the-mill property. But even if someone else had purchased it, the place would still have more than doubled in value in eight years. And the waterside section would be as much as six times more valuable.
When Killmer purchased his land for about $2,700 an acre, he financed it by making a tax-deferred exchange for other land he owned closer to Atlanta. Buyers of rural property who own other real estate investments often use these so-called 1031 exchanges to delay paying capital-gains taxes. Other buyers simply pay cash.
If you borrow, know that a land loan is a cross between a mortgage, which is secured by the property, and a personal loan, which has more stringent terms than a mortgage. Figure on putting 25% to 30% down, with a loan term of ten to 20 years. Interest rates were recently about 8%.
Other money matters
Your best sources of credit are local commercial banks and farmers' cooperative banks. Even as lenders tighten credit for suburban housing lots and condos, they're eager to finance recreational properties, especially within three hours of a major city, because they are gaining value. Steer clear of so-called land-loan specialists, which are finance companies, not banks, and charge double-digit interest rates.
If you're buying land for personal use, the interest is not deductible. If you're buying it as an investment, the interest is considered investment interest, like the margin interest on stock purchases. That makes it deductible to the extent that you report taxable investment income, but the deduction does not shelter capital gains and qualified dividends. To get a more useful deduction to offset the cost of the land, finance part of the purchase with a home-equity loan. Interest on up to $100,000 in home-equity debt is deductible.
While you're waiting for your acreage to appreciate, it'll be yours to enjoy. But there will be expenses. Most rural land for sale lacks accommodations other than maybe a rude cabin, so you may want to build a house. Figure on paying $700 to $1,000 an acre to clear land for a pasture or a building site. You'll need a well and a septic system. Roads suitable for vehicles that don't have four-wheel drive can cost thousands of dollars. Digging a lake is a major undertaking because of drainage concerns and the need for a specialized contractor familiar with environmental and other regulations. And you'll need liability insurance, in case someone drowns in the lake you've just dug or has a hunting accident.
Without a house on the property, taxes should be low. Land is generally taxed based on its current use, so taxes on timberland may set you back as little as $2 per acre per year.
The more improvements you make, the more valuable the underlying land will be. But don't expect to cash out quickly. Well-heeled investors can afford to be patient and particular. It takes an average of about six months to sell 500 acres, and it may take as long as two years.
Still, it's comforting to know that land is one investment that won't crater on news of an unexpected earnings shortfall or the madness of crowds entering trades on computers. The saying that money is "tied up" in land endures as surely as the red-clay soil of northeastern Georgia.
Make your land pay
Unlike rental property, land doesn't provide you a regular rent check or a tax break for depreciation. But you may be able to eke out enough cash to pay your property taxes and set up a reserve fund for maintenance and small projects.
Timber. Hardwoods, such as ash, hickory, maple, oak and poplar, take as many as 50 years to mature. They're more valuable than the ubiquitous pine, which can be cut for pulp after 15 years. You'll need advice from a forester, and you'll probably sell to local sawmills.
Hunting rights. You can rent your land for anywhere from $5 an acre per year to several times that, depending on its location, the lay of the land, the length of the hunting season and the variety of wildlife. Deer and turkey are common; quail hunters pay top dollar.
Energy. Most recreational land isn't in oil-and-gas country, but you might be on the periphery of, say, a known Appalachian gas field. You could find a taker for drilling rights in exchange for a royalty of one-eighth to three-sixteenths of production plus an annual per-acre retainer.
Copyrighted, Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc.
Looking for your future paradise to call home? Give us a call at 972-772-7000 or email us at rockwall@kw.com.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Bank of America Offers Home Loan Forgiveness
Provided By Shelley Dudley
The last thing that mortgage companies want to do is forgive their customers' debts. Bank of America will make an exception for a few borrowers.
Around 45,000 homeowners will be offered reductions in mortgage debt as part of the bank's foreclosure-avoidance effort. If all of them accept the offer, and if all of those customers faithfully make their reduced monthly payments for the next five years, the amount forgiven could total $3 billion.
Before you get your hopes up, keep this in mind: These 45,000 borrowers are a small subset of the bank's customers. Principal forgiveness will be offered only to people who got certain kinds of loans from Countrywide Home Loans. Bank of America bought Countrywide in 2008.
When Bank of America bought Countrywide, it took possession of $25 billion in pay-option adjustable-rate mortgages. That's how much the customers owed on pay-option ARMs; their total value as an investment was $13.9 billion last September, because Bank of America knew that billions of dollars' worth of these loans would go belly-up eventually.
Countrywide did a lot of subprime loans, too. Bank of America stayed away from subprime. But when BofA bought Countrywide, it ended up with $1.8 billion in Countrywide's subprime ARMs on the books. The borrowers who got those loans may be eligible for principal forgiveness, too, along with a few people who got prime, two-year ARMs from Countrywide.
Bottom line: Principal forgiveness may be offered to 45,000 customers who got pay-option and subprime ARMs from Countrywide. If your loan officer sported a Bank of America ID badge, you won't be offered principal forgiveness, because you didn't get your mortgage from Countrywide.
What is a pay-option ARM?
Pay-option ARMs are adjustable-rate mortgages in which the borrower chooses the payment. The borrower usually has four options. One option is to pay less than the interest accumulated that month. In other words, the borrower might rack up $1,200 in interest in a given month, but have the option of paying $1,000. The $200 difference was added to principal. After making the minimum payment, the borrower owed more on the house. When borrowers end up owing more after making a payment, it's called negative amortization. According to an SEC filing, 72 percent of pay-option customers made negative-amortization payments in June 2008. From July through September last year, half did.
"In our experience, we have found that severely underwater homeowners are reluctant to accept a solution that does not offer some reduction in principal," says Barbara Desoer, president of Bank of America Home Loans.
Bank of America says it will offer principal reductions as the first step of HAMP-style loan modifications to this 45,000-strong subset of Countrywide customers. Pay-option ARM customers will get a different offer from subprime ARM customers.
For pay-option ARM customers, Bank of America will offer to forgive some or all of the debt that was added as negative amortization. If all of the negative-amortization debt is erased, the customer still ends up owing the original mortgage amount.
Forgiving principal
If that's not enough to qualify for a modification under HAMP guidelines, then Bank of America moves to the next stop: "earned principal forgiveness."
Earned principal forgiveness may be offered on subprime ARMs as well as on pay-option ARMs. To qualify, the borrower has to owe at least 20 percent more than the house is worth. For these customers, Bank of America will "forbear principal" for five years. The bank will forbear as much as 30 percent of the loan amount, down to 100 percent of the home's current value.
"Forbear principal" means you still owe the money, but the bank doesn't charge interest on the entire loan amount. For example, if you owe $120,000, and the bank forbears $20,000, then you pay interest on $100,000 -- but you still owe $120,000.
If Bank of America forbears part of the amount you owe, you can have some of that debt forgiven if you stay current on the loan. One-fifth of the forborn amount is forgiven each year if you make your payments on time. That happens for at least the first three years.
In the fourth and fifth years, debt won't be forgiven if the home's value has risen and you're no longer upside-down on the loan. "This helps strike a critical balance between customer and investor interests," says Jack Schakett, who heads Bank of America's loss-mitigation efforts.
The bank's message to borrowers who think they might be eligible for this program: Don't call us, we'll call you. Schakett says that every month, the bank evaluates its customers' payment histories, amount owed and estimated home value. The bank will contact borrowers who might qualify for the program, beginning in May.
Schakett estimates that the average amount of principal forgiveness or forbearance will be around $62,000 to $65,000. If 45,000 people take the offer and ride it to completion, that will total around $3 billion.
The last thing that mortgage companies want to do is forgive their customers' debts. Bank of America will make an exception for a few borrowers.
Around 45,000 homeowners will be offered reductions in mortgage debt as part of the bank's foreclosure-avoidance effort. If all of them accept the offer, and if all of those customers faithfully make their reduced monthly payments for the next five years, the amount forgiven could total $3 billion.
Before you get your hopes up, keep this in mind: These 45,000 borrowers are a small subset of the bank's customers. Principal forgiveness will be offered only to people who got certain kinds of loans from Countrywide Home Loans. Bank of America bought Countrywide in 2008.
When Bank of America bought Countrywide, it took possession of $25 billion in pay-option adjustable-rate mortgages. That's how much the customers owed on pay-option ARMs; their total value as an investment was $13.9 billion last September, because Bank of America knew that billions of dollars' worth of these loans would go belly-up eventually.
Countrywide did a lot of subprime loans, too. Bank of America stayed away from subprime. But when BofA bought Countrywide, it ended up with $1.8 billion in Countrywide's subprime ARMs on the books. The borrowers who got those loans may be eligible for principal forgiveness, too, along with a few people who got prime, two-year ARMs from Countrywide.
Bottom line: Principal forgiveness may be offered to 45,000 customers who got pay-option and subprime ARMs from Countrywide. If your loan officer sported a Bank of America ID badge, you won't be offered principal forgiveness, because you didn't get your mortgage from Countrywide.
What is a pay-option ARM?
Pay-option ARMs are adjustable-rate mortgages in which the borrower chooses the payment. The borrower usually has four options. One option is to pay less than the interest accumulated that month. In other words, the borrower might rack up $1,200 in interest in a given month, but have the option of paying $1,000. The $200 difference was added to principal. After making the minimum payment, the borrower owed more on the house. When borrowers end up owing more after making a payment, it's called negative amortization. According to an SEC filing, 72 percent of pay-option customers made negative-amortization payments in June 2008. From July through September last year, half did.
"In our experience, we have found that severely underwater homeowners are reluctant to accept a solution that does not offer some reduction in principal," says Barbara Desoer, president of Bank of America Home Loans.
Bank of America says it will offer principal reductions as the first step of HAMP-style loan modifications to this 45,000-strong subset of Countrywide customers. Pay-option ARM customers will get a different offer from subprime ARM customers.
For pay-option ARM customers, Bank of America will offer to forgive some or all of the debt that was added as negative amortization. If all of the negative-amortization debt is erased, the customer still ends up owing the original mortgage amount.
Forgiving principal
If that's not enough to qualify for a modification under HAMP guidelines, then Bank of America moves to the next stop: "earned principal forgiveness."
Earned principal forgiveness may be offered on subprime ARMs as well as on pay-option ARMs. To qualify, the borrower has to owe at least 20 percent more than the house is worth. For these customers, Bank of America will "forbear principal" for five years. The bank will forbear as much as 30 percent of the loan amount, down to 100 percent of the home's current value.
"Forbear principal" means you still owe the money, but the bank doesn't charge interest on the entire loan amount. For example, if you owe $120,000, and the bank forbears $20,000, then you pay interest on $100,000 -- but you still owe $120,000.
If Bank of America forbears part of the amount you owe, you can have some of that debt forgiven if you stay current on the loan. One-fifth of the forborn amount is forgiven each year if you make your payments on time. That happens for at least the first three years.
In the fourth and fifth years, debt won't be forgiven if the home's value has risen and you're no longer upside-down on the loan. "This helps strike a critical balance between customer and investor interests," says Jack Schakett, who heads Bank of America's loss-mitigation efforts.
The bank's message to borrowers who think they might be eligible for this program: Don't call us, we'll call you. Schakett says that every month, the bank evaluates its customers' payment histories, amount owed and estimated home value. The bank will contact borrowers who might qualify for the program, beginning in May.
Schakett estimates that the average amount of principal forgiveness or forbearance will be around $62,000 to $65,000. If 45,000 people take the offer and ride it to completion, that will total around $3 billion.
Monday, May 3, 2010
MONEY 101: BUYING A HOME
Provided By CNN
1. Don't buy if you can't stay put.
If you can't commit to remaining in one place for at least a few years, then owning is probably not for you, at least not yet. With the transaction costs of buying and selling a home, you may end up losing money if you sell any sooner - even in a rising market. When prices are falling, it's an even worse proposition.
2. Start by shoring up your credit.
Since you most likely will need to get a mortgage to buy a house, you must make sure your credit history is as clean as possible. A few months before you start house hunting, get copies of your credit report. Make sure the facts are correct, and fix any problems you discover.
3. Aim for a home you can really afford.
The rule of thumb is that you can buy housing that runs about two-and-one-half times your annual salary. But you'll do better to use one of many calculators available online to get a better handle on how your income, debts, and expenses affect what you can afford.
4. If you can't put down the usual 20 percent, you may still qualify for a loan.
There are a variety of public and private lenders who, if you qualify, offer low-interest mortgages that require a down payment as small as 3 percent of the purchase price.
5. Buy in a district with good schools.
In most areas, this advice applies even if you don't have school-age children. Reason: When it comes time to sell, you'll learn that strong school districts are a top priority for many home buyers, thus helping to boost property values.
6. Get professional help.
Even though the Internet gives buyers unprecedented access to home listings, most new buyers (and many more experienced ones) are better off using a professional agent. Look for an exclusive buyer agent, if possible, who will have your interests at heart and can help you with strategies during the bidding process.
7. Choose carefully between points and rate.
When picking a mortgage, you usually have the option of paying additional points -- a portion of the interest that you pay at closing -- in exchange for a lower interest rate. If you stay in the house for a long time -- say three to five years or more -- it's usually a better deal to take the points. The lower interest rate will save you more in the long run.
8. Before house hunting, get pre-approved.
Getting pre-approved will you save yourself the grief of looking at houses you can't afford and put you in a better position to make a serious offer when you do find the right house. Not to be confused with pre-qualification, which is based on a cursory review of your finances, pre-approval from a lender is based on your actual income, debt and credit history.
9. Do your homework before bidding.
Your opening bid should be based on the sales trend of similar homes in the neighborhood. So before making it, consider sales of similar homes in the last three months. If homes have recently sold at 5 percent less than the asking price, you should make a bid that's about eight to 10 percent lower than what the seller is asking.
10. Hire a home inspector.
Sure, your lender will require a home appraisal anyway. But that's just the bank's way of determining whether the house is worth the price you've agreed to pay. Separately, you should hire your own home inspector, preferably an engineer with experience in doing home surveys in the area where you are buying. His or her job will be to point out potential problems that could require costly repairs down the road.
Are you looking for a home to buy? Give us a call at 972-772-7000 or email us at rockwall@kw.com.
Top things to know
1. Don't buy if you can't stay put.
If you can't commit to remaining in one place for at least a few years, then owning is probably not for you, at least not yet. With the transaction costs of buying and selling a home, you may end up losing money if you sell any sooner - even in a rising market. When prices are falling, it's an even worse proposition.
2. Start by shoring up your credit.
Since you most likely will need to get a mortgage to buy a house, you must make sure your credit history is as clean as possible. A few months before you start house hunting, get copies of your credit report. Make sure the facts are correct, and fix any problems you discover.
3. Aim for a home you can really afford.
The rule of thumb is that you can buy housing that runs about two-and-one-half times your annual salary. But you'll do better to use one of many calculators available online to get a better handle on how your income, debts, and expenses affect what you can afford.
4. If you can't put down the usual 20 percent, you may still qualify for a loan.
There are a variety of public and private lenders who, if you qualify, offer low-interest mortgages that require a down payment as small as 3 percent of the purchase price.
5. Buy in a district with good schools.
In most areas, this advice applies even if you don't have school-age children. Reason: When it comes time to sell, you'll learn that strong school districts are a top priority for many home buyers, thus helping to boost property values.
6. Get professional help.
Even though the Internet gives buyers unprecedented access to home listings, most new buyers (and many more experienced ones) are better off using a professional agent. Look for an exclusive buyer agent, if possible, who will have your interests at heart and can help you with strategies during the bidding process.
7. Choose carefully between points and rate.
When picking a mortgage, you usually have the option of paying additional points -- a portion of the interest that you pay at closing -- in exchange for a lower interest rate. If you stay in the house for a long time -- say three to five years or more -- it's usually a better deal to take the points. The lower interest rate will save you more in the long run.
8. Before house hunting, get pre-approved.
Getting pre-approved will you save yourself the grief of looking at houses you can't afford and put you in a better position to make a serious offer when you do find the right house. Not to be confused with pre-qualification, which is based on a cursory review of your finances, pre-approval from a lender is based on your actual income, debt and credit history.
9. Do your homework before bidding.
Your opening bid should be based on the sales trend of similar homes in the neighborhood. So before making it, consider sales of similar homes in the last three months. If homes have recently sold at 5 percent less than the asking price, you should make a bid that's about eight to 10 percent lower than what the seller is asking.
10. Hire a home inspector.
Sure, your lender will require a home appraisal anyway. But that's just the bank's way of determining whether the house is worth the price you've agreed to pay. Separately, you should hire your own home inspector, preferably an engineer with experience in doing home surveys in the area where you are buying. His or her job will be to point out potential problems that could require costly repairs down the road.
Are you looking for a home to buy? Give us a call at 972-772-7000 or email us at rockwall@kw.com.
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