The real estate market in El Paso, TXis humming right along. Interest rates are still low and there seems to be alot more buyers out there right now. El Paso and most of Texas is not in the slump (thank goodness) that alot of parts of the rest of the country are in currently.

Prices are remaining pretty steady and most homes (if priced correctly from the beginning) are selling pretty close to list price (96-98%) because sellers are offering to help buyers with closing costs.

There is still time for first time buyers or those who have not bought a home in the past 3 years to get into a home and be eligible for the tax credit.

Most of our buyers still come from our web site but we still get referrals from past clients and from other agents throughout the country that we have met at conventions etc.

Now is a great time to buy a home in El Paso and if you are moving to El Paso or selling a home in El Paso, please be sure to give me a call.

After trying to catch up from almost 5 days in DC, I am back to normal now. I am still waking up at 4:30 AM in El Paso thinking it is 6:30 in DC but oh well, I guess I am ok with that, just starts my day a little earlier! If you are ever in a town that had Duck Tours, I would suggest that you take the time to go on one. We were picked up at Union Station in Washington on a World War 2 amphibious vehicle that goes on land and water. We started from Union Station and then went all around the downtown and saw all the sights from the US Capitol to the Washington Monument(do you know why it is called a monument instead of a memorial?-we learned all sorts of neat historical facts). We drove past the White House, Japanese Memorial, Justice Bldg, Lincoln Memorial and eventually into the Potomac River and we got to go by the Pentagon and ended up just by the Regan Airport where we got to see a plane land just literally over our head, that was amazing. Once back on land we drove past the Jefferson Memorial and then back to Union Station. It takes about 1 1/2 hours for the tour and is well worth the money $32.00. Next we went to the National Cathedral and the Bishops Gardens. What an amazing building our Cathedral is. If you have never been I would suggest that too. The gardens were the highlight- as soon as you step into the garden you feel like the you have been immersed into a magical place, it was soooo relaxing and peaceful. What a great way to end the day. Real Estate in El Paso, TX is starting to really pick back up again and we are seeing more and more buyers moving to the area and alot of 1st time buyers want to take advantage of the tax credit that they will get for purchasing a home. Now is a great time to buy a home in El Paso. Contact your El Paso Realtor for more information.

I just got our market report for March 09 for our Multiple Listing Service <a href="http://www.teamolivas.com">for homes in El Paso, TX </a> and we were up over Feb 09. In Feb 332 homes were sold and in March 435! And that is for a down economy.

The average sales price for March of 08 was $154,446 and March of 09 was $153,181. Not bad for a tough real estate year. Average days on market is about 114 days and homes are selling at about 96% of list price.

Seller are making more concessions for sure but we are not seeing drastic reductions in price.

Now is the time to buy <a href="http://www.teamolivas.com">real estate in El Paso, TX</a> so now is also the time to call a <a href="http://www.pattisellselpaso.com">Realtor in El Paso, TX</a>.

I attended the Fort Bliss Housing Seminar last week and boy was it informative. Our  Congressman Sylvestre Reyes was there as well as people from Freddie Mac and Fannie May and numerous Generals from Ft Bliss and people from the housing office.

We know that we will be short in the number of units that will be available for soldiers to live in once they all arrive unless something can be done and be done very soon.

The city of El Paso is offering incentives to builders and developers by reducing the permits prices required to build and the bigger the complex you build or the number of homes, then the bigger the incentive.

The Army is even looking into renting homes themselves for the going rate and then renting them back to the soldiers. The housing office told us how to put our rentals on thier web site to further enhance advertising. You can go to www.ahrn.com and register your homes and it gets great exposure.

It is a great real estate market in El Paso, Tx right now and if you wait too long then you will miss the opportunity to get a good deal. Prices will go up, buy now.

I attended the Fort Bliss Housing Seminar last week and boy was it informative. Our  Congressman Sylvestre Reyes was there as well as people from Freddie Mac and Fannie May and numerous Generals from Ft Bliss and people from the housing office.

We know that we will be short in the number of units that will be available for soldiers to live in once they all arrive unless something can be done and be done very soon.

The city of El Paso is offering incentives to builders and developers by reducing the permits prices required to build and the bigger the complex you build or the number of homes, then the bigger the incentive.

The Army is even looking into renting homes themselves for the going rate and then renting them back to the soldiers. The housing office told us how to put our rentals on thier web site to further enhance advertising. You can go to www.ahrn.com and register your homes and it gets great exposure.

It is a great real estate market in El Paso, Tx right now and if you wait too long then you will miss the opportunity to get a good deal. Prices will go up, buy now.

You know with all the negative news we all hear about the real estate market, I have some positive news about the El Paso, TX real estate market.

Ft Bliss Military Base will be adding about 90,000 more soldiers and their family members by 2103. We already know that we are going to be way short on homes for the soldiers to rent or to buy. The city of El Paso is offering incentives to apartment developers in order for them to start building right away.

It is almost certain that the apartments will rent out very quickly and where can you get incentives to build right now?  Investors are needed to start buying rental homes as not all soldiers will live in apartments.

Home buyers are making some great purchases right now and they are getting help from the sellers to buy the homes too and that includes new and resale. For normal buyers(not investors) interest rates are at an all time low and now with the tax credit for 1st time buyers or even for buyers that have not bought a home in the past three years there  is  some good tax relief. To get all of the up to minute information on that credit please go to http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com to get the correct information.

Why wait for prices and interest rates to go up again. El Paso is going to boom again, not only with the Base but with the 4 year medical school that will start its first class this August, the new Children's Hospital being built and the $154 million expansion of the county hospital. All these mean more jobs and more houses being sold so ultimately prices will go up again.

Please feel free to give me a call if you have any questions. My office is 915-584-5430 and ask for Patti Olivas

After many years of being with a Franchise we have decided to go Independent. Our new company is Dan Olivas and Associates and we are very excited about being on our own so to speak.

We are still in the same location and have all the same contact information but decided that now it the time to make a change.

Wish us luck.

Patti Olivas

State of the Economy in El Paso

 

The El Paso Chamber of Commerce hosted an event this morning at the Univ of Texas at El Paso called State of the El Paso Economy.

It was a two hour session and a question and answer period followed. The speakers were from the local sector and spoke on everything from working in Juarez to the local real estate news.

The speakers were: Allan Russel with the Maquila Industry in Juarez and he spoke about how important it is to keep that industry strong and he also spoke about the violence in Juarez, Mexico.

Dana Vogelmeier-with State Farm and how call centers worked and how they were hiring ( showing that jobs are still available in El Paso).

Dan Olivas(my husband) spoke about the local real estate market and why it is the best time to buy in El Paso and why our home prices are not falling but remaining stable.

Harold Hann from Rocky Mountain Mortgage spoke about local lending and how although it takes a more qualified buyer than in the past and that his company services most of their loans that their foreclosure rate was less than 3%.

Bob Ayoub and Adam Frank spoke about the commercial real estate market and how they have been fairly busy and renting up some of the commercial business spaces that have become vacant.

Larry Patton with Bank of the West spoke about local banking and what is going on there.

The questions were answered by various professor from UTEP and even included a person from the Federal Reserve.

I think that everyone who attended went away with a positive note on the El Paso Economy. Posted by El Paso, TX Real Estate at 12:29 PM 0 comments

Friday, February 13, 2009

We have been working with potential doctors that are being recruited to the brand new  4 year medical school and research center that is due to open in August of this year.

Touring the city has been a great experience for the potential doctors and for me personally too. I think when you live in a city you seem to take it for granted and when you are tyring to show it off to new people it really opens your eyes to the what made you fall in love with El Paso in the first place.

Most of these doctors are coming from humid climates and El Paso has very low humidity levels 99% of the time and that is one of the best things about El Paso.  If you like outdoor activities you can do them almost 365 days out of the year. Today is Feb 16, 2009 and it is about 65 and sunny and I am walking around without a coat and it is not cold at all. You really can't beat that.

Most cities that people come from have a higher crime rate than El Paso and in fact for the last 5 years (more or less) we have been awarded the 2nd or 3rd safest city for cities over 500,000 people. Most people can not believe that for a border city and especially with what is happening in Mexico right now with the drug wars. Our police, DEA, Customs, military and all the other federal agencies make EL Paso a very safe city to live in.

Our home prices have remained steady and have gone up slightly so if you want a home now is the time to buy in El Paso, Tx

I know in some markets that sounds pretty unbelievable but the  El Paso, TX real estate  market is starting to improve.

We have not been on the roller coaster ride that many markets have(thank goodness!) but we have had our slow times and ever since the first part of December we have seen a definite increase in sales and in buyers wanting to buy.

I relate our market to a rocket ship (in 2006 we were taking off) and right now we are back on the launch pad getting ready to take off again.

There are so many factors that make El Paso a great place to buy. By 2012 we will have approx. 90,000 new soldiers and their families living in El Paso and we know that there are not enough rentals and homes for these soldiers to live in. Guess what, that will bring in investors again. Hopefully by then the banks will be lending to investors again (they are now-but the rates and terms are pretty lousy).

We have a new 4 year Medical School and Research Center that is currently hiring professors and researchers and they are buying homes, a new Children's Hospital will break ground this month and when done will need new doctors and nurses.

Our downtown revitalization is going strong (thanks to a local person) and he is re doing about 4 buildings right now . The news today showed that El Paso actually had an increase in the job market not a decline.

All of these things are great POSITIVE NEWS about real estate and needs to get out there so that someone can finally see a bright future.