The idea of not selling ones current home for the purpose of moving to another of equal or greater value because of today's market conditions is a bankrupt one.

Realtors continue to hear their friends and clients say, "I can't move now.  If I were to sell my home in this market, I'd lose a fortune."  And I suppose most Realtors believe the same thing, or are unable to prove to their friends and clients that the statement is not empirically true.

You see, for it to be true, the seller would have to be selling a home in a depressed market area in order to buy one in an area that is not depressed.  We'll call that a reverse arbitrage.

There is an investment procedure that is called arbitrage.  The idea is that the investor takes advantage of a specific but temporary oddity in the market.  For an example, let's say an owner of 100 shares of Widget stock would sell you his shares for $1.00 each.  And let's say that you knew someone who wanted to buy 100 shares of Widget in Canada and would pay $2.00 each.  Buying the 100 shares for $1.00 and immediately selling them for $2.00 would be an arbitrage transaction.

There are actually professional investors who specialize in arbitrage, and they are called arbitrageurs.

So in my home sale example, reverse arbitrage would be selling your home in a specifically depressed market area to buy one in a non-depressed market area.  You would sustain a loss.

But that's not typically what will happen in today's economy.  If home prices have decreased by 15% in Dallas, selling yours at a price that's 15% lower than it would have brought two years ago, and then buying another of equal or greater value in that same marketplace would probably mean that it had experienced a similar decrease in value.  Consequently, there is no arbitrage.  This is trading apples for apples.

By using a watchful eye and adding to it the solving of a simple math problem to your desire to change homes, there is no reason for someone who wants to sell their existing home and buy one of equal or greater value to postpone the transaction.

If you're in the Dallas market and need help with this analysis, call me.  If you are elsewhere, your Realtor will help you determine whether or not your buy-sell would result in a reverse arbitrage.

Copyright 2010 - William S. Cherry
All Rights Reserved

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - PARK CITIES

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If you know anything about Galveston's past, you surely know that it's always been the town's hobby to cover up one body of water while opening up another. 

For an example, 25^th Street used to be a canal.  For some reason it was filled in, then named Bath Street. Never mind the water was gone.

And then there's what's known as English Bayou.  It's the big pond that's on the east side of 61^st Street.  It's manmade.  The dirt and sand and stuff that were there were dug up and used to raise the area to its east.  From that came streets like Bayou Shore and Borden.

My lifelong friend, Bob McCulley, passed away a few days ago by the hand of a very aggressive cancer.  Bob was a great storyteller.  This is one that he told me.

<<==Jody and Bob McCulley

Ellis Badgett was the father of the famous Galveston quadruplets, Joan, Joyce, Jeanette, and Jeraldine.  But he and his friend James R. McCulley, who was Bob's dad, also owned a small heavy equipment company.

They dug, dredged and filled-in holes all over Galveston Island.  Built an entire company around this Island obsession with finding water in one place, hiding it in another.

One time they were digging a big hole in the sand just after the west end of the Seawall.  The sand was being used to fill parts of the undeveloped area around Harve Lafitte. 

And like you'd suspect, they'd hit the water table and the water was rising around Sis, the old tractor.  The hole had grown in its perimeter to a gargantuan size.

McCulley was operating Sis; Badgett was driving the dump truck.

Sis, began belching smoke and coughing even more than usual. 

And then wouldn't you know, one morning just before noon, Sis coughed, wheezed, bounced up and down a few times, and then died. 

McCulley and the tractor were now sitting in this huge water hole, and neither of them was moving.

"Ellis, what do we do now? McCulley yelled at Badgett.

"Aren't you about ready to retire?" Badgett responded to McCulley.

"Yep," McCulley said back.

"Wade on over here. I'll take you home in the truck." 

Badgett and McCulley and their loyal friend Sis retired on the same day. 

Sis, left all alone, stayed behind, knee deep in the muck of that big hole filled with water, for many years thereafter.

Copyright 2010 - William S. Cherry

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - PARK CITIES

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 Biography

Our neighbor and close friend is Lou Johnston. 

In fact, now that I think about it, I believe she's the first person I met when I arrived, Patty remaining behind in South Shore Harbour until her counseling contract with the schools ended.

Lou is one of those bright stars that most of us rarely encounter. 

 Throughout her professional life, she was one of the administrators of the federal court district in Dallas. 

Consequently, she's frequently interviewed and consulted about the legalities of the John F. Kennedy assassination.

But I think she's much more than that.  I named her the Poet Laureate of Lake Highlands, even though I did it without any official office of my own which would make the appointment legitimate.  (Remember, a poet laureate is a poet that has been officially appointed by a government.  The idea is that that poet will be the one to compose all poems for government occasions and events.)

Nevertheless, I feel confident that any government would like to have Lou as its Poet Laureate, and would if the members could see her works.

Here's one:

THE PASSING OF TIME

So you're worried about aging
oh, dear son of mine;
standing at a crossroads,
you're thinking of time

This process of getting older
let it bother you not at all;
your only concern should be...
am I standing tall?

The only questions to ask
at this stage of the game;
have I lived each day fully.
given pride to my name?

Showed malice to no man,
planted flowers when I found none:
used my talents wisely...
walked boldly in the sun?

If a positive answer
to the above...you can give;
at the young age of forty...
you've learned how to live.

Lou gave Patty and me a whole scrapbook of her poems with the photos and drawings she picked to help illustrate them.  What treasures -- Lou, her poems and scrapbook, and her friendship.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - PARK CITIES

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BIOGRAPHY

Sometimes Dallas politics really gets on my nerves. 

And like the various U.S. Political Steamrollers, I wonder why it seems impossible for the voters to stop political stupidity.

In order to help balance the city's budget, Dallas has decided they could make a heavy advance in that direction if they were to limit residential garbage pickup to once a week rather than twice, and continue the previously initiated awkward practice of picking up trash once a month.

Here is a town loaded with massive skyscrapers, shopping malls, and millions of real estate taxpayers, and it can't figure out how to pay for city services. 

Remember, property owners are already paying a fee for garbage and trash pickup in their water bills.

Instead, the city would rather compromise the health of citizens by allowing rotting garbage to sit idle for a week at a time, while it further putrefies and attracts rodents, insects and feeds germs. All in a city where rodents are already a major uncontrolled problem.

HERE'S THE PARADOX:  Even fiscally poor Galveston, Texas, the little island of less than 60,000 residents that has few major property tax payers, is still able to sell its citizens water cheaper than Dallas does, and it provides garbage pick-up twice a week, and trash pick-up once a week to its residential customers.

Perhaps it's time for Dallas taxpayers to look to the city's professional staff to become accountable for problems like this one.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - HIGHLAND PARK

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BIO

My friends of many years, Victor and Judy Damiani sent this.

13 THINGS YOUR BURGLAR WON'T TELL YOU.

1.  Of course I look familiar. I was here just last week cleaning your carpets, painting your shutters, or delivering your new refrigerator.

2. Hey, thanks for letting me use the bathroom when I was working in your yard last week. While I was in there, I unlatched the back window to make my return a little easier.

3. Love those flowers. That tells me you have taste ... and taste means there are nice things inside. Those yard toys your kids leave out always make me wonder what type of gaming system they have.

4. Yes, I really do look for newspapers piled up on the driveway. And I might leave a pizza flyerin your front door to see how long it takes you to remove it.

5. If it snows while you're out of town, get a neighbor to create car and foot tracks into the house. Virgin drifts in the driveway are a dead giveaway.

6. If decorative glass is part of your front entrance, don't let your ! alarm company install the control pad where I can see if it's set. That makes it too easy.

7. A good security company alarms the window over the sink. And the windows on the second floor, which often access the master bedroom-and your jewelry. It's not a bad idea to put motion detectors up there too.

8. It's raining, you're fumbling with your umbrella, and you forget to lock your door-understandable. But understand this: I don't take a day off because of bad weather.

9. I always knock first. If you answer, I'll ask for directions somewhere or offer to clean your gutters. (Don't take me up on it.)

10. Do you really think I won't look in your sock drawer? I always check dresser drawers, the bedside table, and the medicine cabinet.

11. Helpful hint: I almost never go into kids' rooms.

12. You're right: I won't have enough time to break into that safe where you keep your valuables. But if it's not bolted down, I'll take it with me.

13. A loud TV or radio can be a better deterrent than the best alarm system. If you're reluctant to leave your TV on while you're out of town, you can buy a $35 device that works on a timer and simulates the flickering glow of a real television. (Find it at faketv.com.)

8 MORE THINGS A BURGLAR WON'T TELL YOU:

1. Sometimes, I carry a clipboard. Sometimes, I dress like a lawn guy and carry a rake. I do my best to never, ever look like a crook.

2. The two things I hate most: loud dogs and nosy neighbors.

3. I'll break a window to get in, even if it makes a little noise. If your neighbor hears one loud sound, he'll stop what he's doing and wait to hear it again. If he doesn't hear it again, he'll just go back to what he was doing. It's human nature.

4. I'm not complaining, but why would you pay all that money for a fancy alarm system and leave your house without setting it?

5. I love looking in your windows. I'm looking for signs that you're home, and for flat screen TVs or gaming systems!  Items I'd like.  I'll drive or walk through your neighborhood at night, before you close the blinds, just to pick my targets.

6. Avoid announcing your vacation on your Facebook page. It's easier than you think to look up your address.

7. To you, leaving that window open just a crack during the day is a way to let in a little fresh air. To me, it's an invitation.

8. If you don't answer when I knock, I try the door. Occasionally, I hit the jackpot and walk right in.

Sources: Convicted burglars in North Carolina , Oregon , California , and Kentucky; security consultant Chris McGoey, who runs crimedoctor.com; and Richard T. Wright, a criminology professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, who interviewed 105 burglars for his book Burglars on the Job.

Protection for you and your home

If you don't have a gun, here's a more humane way to wreck someone'sevil plans for you.  I guess I can get rid of the baseball bat.

Wasp Spray

A friend who is a receptionist in a church in a high risk area was concerned about someone coming into the office on Monday to rob them when they were counting the collection.  She asked the local police department about using pepper spray and they recommended to her that she get a can of wasp spray instead.

The wasp spray, they told her, can shoot up to twenty feet away and is a lot more accurate, while with the pepper spray, they have to get too close to you and could overpower you.  The wasp spray temporarily blinds an attacker until they get to the hospital for an antidote. She keeps a can on her desk in the office and it doesn't attract attention from people like a can of pepper spray would. She also keeps one nearby at home for home protection... Thought this was interesting and might be of use.

Wasp And Hornet Spray on the heels of a break in and beating that left an elderly woman in Toledo dead, self defense experts have a tip that could save your life.

Val Glinkateaches self-defense to students at  Sylvania Southview High School.  For decades, he's suggested putting a can of wasp and hornet spray near your door or bed.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - PARK CITIES

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For at least fifty years, I have studied and sometimes marveled at the way different businesses approach and attempt to solve similar problems.

And one of the oldest kinds of businesses is churches and synagogues.  The fundamental business plan for all of them is this:  We will give you a place and a staff where you will find and get spiritual guidance among others who seeking that as well.

But contrary to most businesses, churches and synagogues don't require a fee for a person to participate in their services.  All are expected to make appropriate contributions, however, contributions that are conscious driven.

Some denominations like Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopal, and Church of the Latter Day Saints are themselves affiliated with a ministerial hierarchy. For an example, the Roman Catholic churches are known as parishes.  They are branches of a nearby diocese, and ultimately overseen by the Mother Church at the Vatican.

Churches like these seem to work under the business plan that they will have many branches of the whole, so that no one seeking their ministry will have to go far to find one of their churches.

And then there are what I'll call stand-alone denominations.  They may be members of a general alliance of churches who, in general, follow the same dogma, but each church basically stands alone.  Baptist churches are like that as are the non-denominational churches and synagogues.

Those churches and synagogues usually have one campus, and they must convince most of their members and participants to commute away from their neighborhoods to the church or synagogue.

My denomination, the Episcopal Church, has about twenty-four parishes in Dallas.  Each is charged by the bishop of the Diocese of Dallas with serving those nearby and thus, building membership and contemporaneously building revenue to support its work.

Downtown Dallas' First Baptist Church $130 Million Expansion

Dallas' First Baptist Church is an old congregation.  It's among the office buildings and busy streets of downtown.  It takes a while for most of its members to get there for services and activities because most have to drive some distance..  And as they do they pass many churches -- some are also Baptist churches.

Dallas' First Baptist Church has a membership in excess of 10,000, and it is currently beginning a renewal and expansion of its campus that will cost $130,000,000. 

They already have a major portion of that in cash and in the bank.

What does First Baptist know about the church business that others don't? 

Whatever it is, it's based in this principle:  "Whatever we accomplish for the glory of God, we must do it without the help of satellite churches and universal church hierarchies.  We determine our fate."

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - PARK CITIES

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WIKIPEDIA BIOGRAPHY

TRAVIS VIDAURRI & SCOTT FORREST

TIP TOP ROOFING

Dallas - Fort Worth

817 829-1992

It was the last week or so of August.  The skies in Ft. Worth were clear, it wasn't overly hot or humid, and I was enjoying sitting in the porch swing on the big front gallery. 

My clients, the Metroplex's iconic W. Neil "Doc" Gallagher and his wife, Gail, were strolling through the home they had under contract, looking one more time at this and that.  I was their Buyer's Broker.

In a few minutes the couple who owned and were selling the home joined me.  He was a law enforcement officer with bunches of degrees; she was a State Farm Insurance executive who had just been promoted.  They were relocating to The Woodlands, a great planned community on Houston's northern edge.

Within what seemed like seconds, Scott Forrest joined us.  His firm, Tip Top Roofing, had just completed replacing the house's roof because it had been damaged by a hail storm. 

I figured if the State Farm executive had picked Tip Top to do her work, and since Patty and I are 30-year clients of State Farm, the handwriting was on the wall.  We needed to have Tip Top come check our Dallas home's to see if our roof had incurred any serious damage from a recent hail storm.

Within a couple of weeks, Scott Forrest, who owns Tip Top, sent his right-hand man, Travis Vidaurri, by to meet with the State Farm adjuster, Shelly Punke.  Together they climbed up on, and walked every inch of our roof.  The agreement was that we needed the roof and deck replaced, and State Farm would pay the claim.

Within three days, Shelly had sent the full description of the work that State Farm would require Tip Top to do, and with it was a check for about one-half of the claim.  State Farm, she said, would send the balance when we notified them that the work had been completed satisfactorily.

A week or so later, Jose Menjivar and his crew arrived and began tearing off the old and putting on the new.  Two days after beginning, they were finished.

Because I've been in the real estate industry for so long -- 45 years -- I know more than a casual amount about roof construction.  Jose and his crew did a great job.

If you're looking for a home roofer in the Metroplex, I suggest that you visit with Scott and Travis. 

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - PARK CITIES

Our 45th Year

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The Game of Life:  Beginner's Handbook.  It's a pocket size book that's about forty pages long, and it was written by my friend of more than half-century, Jerry L. Vaughn, Sr.

<<<====JERRY L. VAUGHN, SR.

In the Preface, Jerry makes a profound petition:

"It is my fondest desire that this book will become required reading and discussion for all high school and college students.

"As a book focused upon relationships, particularly those relationships that have been so divisive in the world of education, the roles and ethical relationships, described should qualify this as a primer for any student or person.  Yes, anyone with a basic interest in how "things work"...in a non-judgmental and ethical way...will be enriched by what they read."

When Jerry was younger, he worked as a lifeguard in the summers.  And now at about seventy years old or so, Jerry's taken on saving lives again, this time with his Game of Life: Beginner's Handbook.

In recent years, Jerry has been a financial planner for a great number of his lifelong friends and, before them, their parents.  With his worldly counseling has always come spiritual counseling, and it's that combination that has made his life's involvement the benchmark for many of his peers.

Archbishop Daniel Cardinal DiNardo wrote to Jerry after reading the first copy of The Game of Life:  Beginner's Handbook, ‘I think it's a great idea to offer your wisdom to others."

Here's one of Jerry's profound statements explaining Faith and Truth:

            Faith is not Truth in Itself

            Faith is simply faith that a stated belief is truth.

            Truth, wrapped in faith, acquires validity when scrutinized under the

            Microscope of scientific methods that include:           

            1.  Historical documentation

            2.  Survival of Tradition

            3.  Applicable scientific evaluation methods

            4.  Utilization of technology for accuracy 

You can order copies of The Game of Life: Beginner's Handbook from Jerry at the Lifestyle Development center:

Minimum Order - 5 copies             $50.00

Sales Tax                                             4.13

Shipping                                            _ 7.00

                                                         $61.13

Jerry L. Vaughn, Sr.

The Lifestyle Development Center

7104 Spanish Grant

Galveston, Texas 77554

********************************

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - HIGHLAND PARK

Since 1964

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WIKIPEDIA BIOGRAPHY

The Dallas Morning News has researched and reported that new home sales ended the last quarter of 2009 at a 10% rise.  There is a nonsense statement, though:  "...the first increase in annual start rate since second quarter 2006...." Here they are comparing apples and oranges.

Nevertheless, the report is interesting.

DALLAS (Dallas Morning News) - Home starts in Dallas-Fort Worth jumped almost 10 percent in fourth quarter 2009, the first increase in the annual start rate since second quarter 2006, according to Residential Strategies.

Builders started 3,615 homes in the last three months of 2009, compared with 3,200 starts in the same period in 2008. Homes priced between $150,000 and $200,000 saw the biggest increase.

However, DFW new home starts during 2009 fell to their lowest point since 1991 - 13,499 units.

Fourth-quarter new home sales were the strongest in 2009, but they fell 15 percent from fourth quarter 2008 to 4,710.

"Home starts were generally up fourth quarter nationally, but that level is still way below where it was several years ago," said Dr. James Gaines, research economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.

While there is almost an eight-month supply of new homes nationally, DFW has a 6.5-month supply. A six to 6.5-month supply is considered market equilibrium.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - HIGHLAND PARK

Since 1964

214 503-8563

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WIKIPEDIA BIOGRAPHY

Cynthia Mitchell passed away just after Christmas at her home at The Woodlands.  She was 87 and had suffered from the ravages of Alzheimer's disease for about ten years.

Her funeral was held at Trinity Episcopal Church in Galveston, the church she and her family had attended fifty years earlier when they lived on the Island.  Her ten children were there to celebrate her life as was her husband, George Mitchell, 90.  And the church was packed with friends. 

Another lifelong friend, Trish Clason, sent me one of the printed programs and told me about the service.

The program shows that five people, four of them family members, eulogized her.  And I know they did a great job, doing their best to remind all present of how remarkable Mrs. Mitchell was.

But the one who captured and told it all was the person who thought printing this picture of Mrs. Mitchell on the program would be a worthy contribution to her last rite.  For me, this is what said it all.  It left me to ponder with a smile our many year friendship.

Cynthia Woods Mitchell

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - HIGHLAND PARK

Since 1964

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WIKIPEDIA