Charles Benton's (charlesbenton) Blog

New Home Builders are cutting prices in communities across the Dallas Metroplex! New planned communities in Collin County just North of Hwy 121 and in the Allen School District have several builders that are offering many incentives to homebuyers that close before November 30th. One homebuilder ...

  Many sellers don’t realize just how important the first few weeks their home in on the market can be. The first impression of their home to potential buyers and Realtors representing those buyers must be a positive one! Why is this time so essential? Realtors who are working with buyers don’t h...

  The unemployment rate for the state of Texas dropped from 8.3% to 8.1% in September of 2010 according to the Texas Comptroller’s Office. Since January of 2010, the unemployment rate has been at least 8% in Texas.  The last reported unemployment figure for Dallas Fort Worth was 8.4% in August. T...

The climate of the real estate industry is changing. In the old days, less than 20 years ago, all real estate agents worked for the seller, and even agents working with the buyers did so in the seller's best interest. But things have changed. New laws and regulations are in place so that today, ...

Summary: A relatively common scam is when a so-called credit repair company claims it can give you brand new credit and wipe your credit history clean. Falling for this scam can do tremendous long-term damage to yourself and your credit. Getting a new social security number to clear your crediti...

A Short sale is the sale of a property by a financially insolvent homeowner who is facing foreclosure for less than the value of the outstanding loan. If a homeowner is interested in pursuing a short sale with their lender they will need to have the lender's consent and approval.   · The lender a...

Here’s a scary statistic: The Dallas area has more than 25 major haunted houses while Houston has three and Phoenix has four. “Dallas is one of the best markets in the country for haunted houses,” said Steve Kopelman, co-owner of Thrillvania in Terrell, one of the largest destination haunted hou...

It depends on what type of loan you are looking for, and how much money you have. Each applicant has scores from 3 different credit bureaus, Equifax, Transunion, and Experian. Lenders are not looking for the average score. They take the score that is numerically in the middle of the 2 others for...

  In an ideal situation, a Comparative Market Analysis should reflect sales of similar properties that have closed within 90 days within a small geographic area around the property. (In a subdivision, it'd be other homes in the subdivision. In a rural area, it might take properties up to 5 miles ...