loan approval: Dallas Real Estate - Appraiser on the Watch List - 08/12/06 08:48 PM
It seems as though I'm not "allowed" to have a smooth transaction. I posted a few days ago about a situation where the buyer wants to meet the seller for a final walk through before closing. Boy did this almost blow up this week.
So, the lender had 4 appraisers take a … (3 comments)
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loan approval: Buyers and Sellers go Full Circle - 08/12/06 08:42 PM
I represented these Sellers. We get to closing 6 days late because the buyer's loan all of a sudden was not in a clear to close mode like we were all told. That was actually ok, because my sellers were buying a new home and we hadn't received the CO yet, … (0 comments)
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loan approval: Dallas Real Estate - Rain Finally Arrived! - 08/12/06 08:31 PM
The Country had the second hottest July on record, behind 1936. I think Dallas having one of it's hottest summers ever, but definitely doesn't beat 1980 or 1998. We've had about 20 days over 100 degrees, and even though people think Dallas is hot, that's actually unusual.
But then, this morning, I … (0 comments)
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loan approval: Dallas Real Estate - Change your Locks after Closing - 08/10/06 05:37 PM
After you close on a house, you need to change your locks. You don't actually have to change the actual lock as rekeying a lock is much cheaper, but you never know who has copies of the keys. If the previous owners didn't change their locks, you could have people from … (2 comments)
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loan approval: Dallas Real Estate- High Rises Missing a Floor - 08/10/06 04:45 PM
This is hilarious... did you know that some developers omit the 13th floor of a high rise building?? I had never heard of this before. There's a new condo conversation going on in Dallas and instead of having a 13th floor for residences, they are putting the pool and workout equipment … (7 comments)
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loan approval: Dallas Real Estate - Mixed-Use Community - 08/10/06 04:35 PM
It seems as though mixed-use communities are sprouting up all over the place. The developers have this plan to make suburban areas more like urban areas so people who move to the suburbs reluctantly can still have the city feel. It's happening all over Dallas and now they're sprouting one in … (0 comments)
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loan approval: Dallas Real Estate- July had 10% Drop - 08/09/06 10:53 AM
My seller's are constantly wondering why the showings have slowed down or why there aren't any showings period. In July, there was a 10% drop in home sales which followed a 5% drop in June.
We currently have 47,391 listings on the market which is about 8% higher than last year!! … (0 comments)
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loan approval: Dallas Real Estate- Specific Performance - 08/08/06 07:54 AM
Within an executed contract, the seller has agreed to sell their home, with no way out of the contract. That's called Specific Performance, as they must perform their end. However, the buyer has a way out almost every time as you can just claim something about financing. Or if they default, … (2 comments)
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loan approval: Dallas Real Estate- Commuting to work - 08/04/06 08:24 AM
I just read about a contest going on in the North Texas area about trying to get people to car pool. They estimated about 3 million people driving to and from work everyday and 9 out of 10 are driving alone. The contest is at http://www.tryparkingit.com/. "Only" 235,512 miles have been … (0 comments)
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loan approval: Dallas Real Estate- Seller's Closing Costs - 08/03/06 06:37 PM
It amazes me how many sellers think they can just get a contract on their house, show up to closing, and get the amount of the sales price at closing. Many sellers don't understand that they have their own closing costs, just like a buyer.
Sellers don't just pay a commission to sell … (0 comments)
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loan approval: Dallas Real Estate- ASP- Accredited Staging Professional - 08/02/06 07:05 PM
I got my ASP today! I am now a certified ASP REALTOR®. The ASP is an Accredited Staging Professional.
Staging is NOT decorating! Staging is de-personalizing. Staging is getting a house ready to sell faster and for higher dollar. A staged home makes all the difference in the world.
For our final exam, … (1 comments)
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loan approval: Yesterday's National Night Out - 08/02/06 07:10 AM
National Night Out was fun in my neighborhood. There was a live band, a jump house, and some other air blown slide thing for the kids. I definitely think we had enough people to keep you Crime Watch signs up for another year. You have to have something like 40% of … (0 comments)
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loan approval: Big Dallas Business Cutting Jobs- EDS - 08/01/06 07:03 PM
Plano based EDS announced that they will be cutting anywhere from 3000-4000 jobs, globally, in the second half of the year. IKES!! Collin County is already seeing high foreclosure rates and this does not look good. I imagine many of those people will have problems finding comparable jobs and then I get … (1 comments)
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loan approval: Texas Schools Unacceptable - 08/01/06 06:56 PM
This is ridiculous!! Last year, there were 264 schools that were ranked as unacceptable and this year, that number jumped up to 321! How does this happen? What's funny (not really) is all the schools that cheated on their TAKS Tests (standardized tests) didn't help much as most of those are … (0 comments)
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loan approval: Dallas County in Heat Emergency? - 08/01/06 08:15 AM
The Dallas County officaials are thinking about declaring a heat emergency. There are now 8 heat related deaths across the county as even the night time temperatures are staying above 80 degrees.
The news keeps reflecting back to the summer of 1980 as the hottest summer with 69 days over 100 degrees, … (2 comments)
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loan approval: FBI Investigates Dallas Independent School District - 07/31/06 06:26 PM
Like it's not enough that Texas is getting a bad rap about all the cheating on the standardized tests, but now the FBI has come to town to investigate DISD and their credit card use. About a month ago, DISD found out that some of their employees were using the district … (3 comments)
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loan approval: Texas Registration Tags Change - 07/31/06 06:17 PM
This past year, many people griped and moaned about the new registration tags for our cars. They're were much bigger than the previous years and they had this awful, cloudy, almost clear boarder with the Texas Flag in the middle... It was huge and it obstructs some view out the front … (0 comments)
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loan approval: Dallas Real Estate- CSS bought eHomeshowings.com - 07/28/06 01:37 PM
It was announced yesterday that eHomeshowings.com has been bought by CSS, Centralized Showing Services. It was inevitable. EHS was never as big as CSS. I used CSS when I was with a previous broker, so when I had to sign up with EHS, a much smaller company, I was disappointed. I … (5 comments)
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loan approval: Dallas Real Estate- A Reason for Everything - 07/28/06 01:33 PM
I truly believe there is a reason for everything... the latest event that happened to fuel this theory more is that I met my grandmother for the first time in almost 18 years and I have to thank real estate for that.
If I wasn't in real estate, I would have had … (0 comments)
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loan approval: National Night Out - 07/28/06 01:28 PM
I just wanted to remind everyone about National Night Out on August 1. It's coming up pretty quick. This is a great way to meet your neighbors and create new friendships. I've only been in my neighborhood for about 10 months, so I'm definitely looking forward to meeting new people.
I really … (0 comments)
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loan approval: First A/C'd Mall in the South Demolished - 07/26/06 09:17 AM
Big Town Mall in Mesquite started demolision, but it was just a procedure as the mall has been dead for years. Me? I say, "Where the heck is Big Town? I've never heard of it!" I've been here for 22 years and never heard of Big Town Mall.
It was the first … (1 comments)
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loan approval: Dallas Real Estate- Best Places to Live in Dallas - 07/25/06 11:15 AM
Money Magazine did their usual rankings for this year and four Dallas areas made the top 100 list for the best places to live: Carrollton, Denton, Plano, and Richardson. Not to be biased, but i moved to Richardson 22 years ago and currently still reside here, so I could have told you … (2 comments)
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loan approval: Dallas Real Estate - Writing an Offer - 07/25/06 09:48 AM
Verbal contracts are not held up in a Real Estate transaction. Everything must be in writing. All terms of everything must be discussed. I love it when an out of town buyer tells me to just call up the listing agent and ask if such and such price is ok. I'm … (1 comments)
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loan approval: Dallas Real Estate- DFW Area Ranked 9th Largest Across Country - 07/23/06 04:48 PM
I always thought DFW was in the top 10 of largest metropolotan areas, but I guess I was wrong. People always think Ft Worth is larger than it really is, but it's actually a small fraction of the metroplex, whereas Dallas holds well over the majority of the population. Granted, Ft … (0 comments)
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loan approval: Gas Price hit an All Time High - 07/23/06 04:35 PM
Can you believe the price of gas these days?? We just hit an all-time high of $3.015 across the country. The high we beat was set in September of 2005 and it was at $3.0117.
I've been asked many times if the price of gas is going to change my business and … (1 comments)
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loan approval: Cold Front this Weekend - 07/21/06 01:39 PM
I can't wait for this weekend! We have had 10 days in a row of triple digit temperatures. We even hit 107 earlier this week, which was the highest recorded temperature in over 3 years! This weekend, we will be dropping to 95 degrees!! Can you believe it?? 95 degrees, possibly … (6 comments)
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loan approval: Dallas Real Estate - New Frisco Development - 07/21/06 01:29 PM
A new development is slated to start next month in Frisco, Crosswinds. This will be 1000 acres of Residential and parks off Lebanon and west of the Tollway. It looks as though the lot sizes might be a bit larger than what we're used to seeing these days. The original plot … (2 comments)
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loan approval: Dallas Real Estate - 5% Appreciation - 07/21/06 11:13 AM
With the latest statistics coming out, it looks as though the North Texas area has actually seen some apprciation instead of just being "flat" as most people would say it's been. Compared to the same period of 2005, the first half of 2006 showed 5% appreciation! Granted, we still have around … (2 comments)
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loan approval: Texas Longhorns #2?? - 07/20/06 06:57 PM
What?? Can this be right?? The latest poll that was conducted shows Texas rated as #2 with Oklahoma as #1... no way! I mean, sure Texas lost some big players this year, but they're on a 20 game winning streak! OK was 8-4 overall last year. How could a team with … (2 comments)
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loan approval: A New Kind of Tooth Fairy - 07/20/06 06:52 PM
There was an article published on www.dallasnews.com today about a new company in Austin that will store a child's baby teeth for future use to potentially cure diseases. This is supposed to replace embryonic stem cell research. They aren't sure whether this will work or not, but it's $595 for the … (0 comments)
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loan approval: Dallas Real Estate- Increase in Foreclosure - 07/14/06 02:48 PM
This is the latest information posted on Dallasnews.com about foreclosures in the Dallas area.
Residential properties scheduled for foreclosure auction in August and the change from last year.
Dallas County 1,412 +30% Collin County 342 +34% Tarrant County 897 +17% Denton County 310 +30% Rockwall County 43 +23% D-FW area 2,961 +26% SOURCE: … (2 comments)
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loan approval: Dallas Real Estate- How Many Homes to View - 07/14/06 02:29 PM
How many homes is too many to view at a time?I've asked several Realtors this question and most like to show only 3 or 4 houses at a time. 3 or 4?? I can understand viewing that few homes when you're in a market that doesn't have many listings, but there is … (7 comments)
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loan approval: Dallas Real Estate- Another Reason for Loan Approval - 07/13/06 12:54 PM
There are still no good leads for the killing of the builder's rep in McKinney. I just wanted to take this time to point out, again, why I get my buyers pre-approved for their loans.
Many people think this is just so I don't waste my time showing buyers who don't qualify … (0 comments)
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loan approval: Dallas Real Estate -What Makes you a Negotiations Specialist? - 07/12/06 04:41 PM
Recently, I've noticed some agents putting an alphabet of real estate classes after their name, CNS. This CNS stands for Certified Negotiations Specialist. They are receiving this designation after taking a class on negotiations. Does that make you a specialist? I would have to scream out the answer as NO!
I would … (2 comments)
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loan approval: Dallas Real Estate -How Do You de-Personalize Your Home? - 07/10/06 01:53 PM
Look around your house. Now, take another look and count how many times your eyes move to all the photos of your family sitting on the shelves and hanging on the walls. Did you notice your college degree? I've had buyers not buy houses because they were Longhorns and they saw … (0 comments)
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loan approval: Builder Rep Murdered in Model Home - 07/10/06 01:52 PM
This is crazy!! I'm sitting home on a Saturday evening and I refresh my homepage of www.dallasnews.com and there's a story that catches my eye: "Sales Agent Found Dead in McKinney Model Home."It draws my attention immediately as I'm a Realtor and I go to model homes all the time. I … (1 comments)
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loan approval: Dallas Real Estate -Making a First Impression - 07/08/06 04:12 PM
The most important thing you need to keep in mind when putting your house on the market is that you only have one chance to make a first impression. Many people think the first impression is the drive- up appeal in order to get the people from the car into the … (3 comments)
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loan approval: Another Non-Qualified Buyer won't Learn... - 07/07/06 01:25 PM
As I've said many times within and outside this blog, a buyer must be, at minimum, pre-approved for a loan before looking at houses. I got a call from one of my online ads to look at a house. I asked the questions I ask all prospects that call. The difference … (0 comments)
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loan approval: Dallas Real Estate -Do I need a Realtor when I buy a Brand NEW home? - 07/06/06 02:25 PM
Of Course You Do!!!Think of it this way... when you walk into a Builder's model home and you're greeted by the nice lady or man, he or she works for the Builder and works for the Builder's best interests, not yours! You are the buyer wanting to buy one of their … (0 comments)
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loan approval: Dallas Real Estate -What is Earnest Money and How much is acceptable? - 07/05/06 10:37 AM
I get asked two questions a lot:1. What is Earnest Money?2. How much Earnest Money is acceptable for an offer?The easiest answer to what earnest money is, is that it's "good faith" money. When you put up earnest money with your offer, you're offering good faith to the seller that you … (0 comments)
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loan approval: Happy 4th of July!! - 07/03/06 08:58 PM
For me, Real Estate is a 24/7 career, and I don't mind. But, around this time of year, I'll tend to take at least one personal day off to enjoy with my Husband and friends. This year, with the actual Holiday on a Tuesday, it seems as though the weekend is … (1 comments)
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loan approval: Experienced Agent verse Newer Agent - 06/29/06 06:32 PM
When I first got into real estate, I had just turned 24 and I looked about 18. It was no wonder people always asked my age and how long I was in the business. I always had to prove myself as to why they should use me as a newer agent...Now … (0 comments)
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loan approval: Full Service Listing Verse Limited Service - 06/29/06 06:14 PM
One of the things I have to explain to sellers when I'm on a listing appointment is why I can't take a reduced commission to sell their home. My first response is, weren't you paying attention to all the marketing I do for your house to get it sold and do … (1 comments)
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loan approval: Understanding Your Credit - 06/28/06 01:35 PM
There are many myths when it comes to your credit. I'm not a mortgage person, so I don't know everything that goes into what can be ignored on a report and what can't, but I've learned quite a bit over the years and here are some of the important things to … (0 comments)
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loan approval: Shopping for a House before a Mortgage - 06/27/06 10:11 AM
Are you trying to shop for a house before a mortgage? Do you find that you keep ending up in neighborhoods that are beyond your price range? How did you come up with your price range? And do you even know what your price range means? These are just some of … (1 comments)
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loan approval: Pre- Qualified verse Pre-Approved - 06/26/06 08:16 PM
Are you Pre-Qualified or are you Pre-Approved? Do you know the difference?
There are many ways to differentiate the difference between being pre-qualified and being pre-approved. The easiest thing to ask yourself is, "Did I just make a phone call and talk with someone? or Did I turn in any paperwork like … (4 comments)
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