allen real estate: Back to School - Happy New School Year!
- 08/22/11 07:15 AM
If your like me you look forward to the end of the school year, yet equally as summer ends and the new school year approaches, I look forward to the start of the new school year as well. It is sort of like Happy New (School) Year, and we get to make some mid-year resolutions. Summer brings a lot of spontaneous activities and the startup of school sort of forces me back into a normal routine and set of habits. I start to focus more on organizing things again like being more consistent about getting dinner on the table at … (0 comments)
1. Review the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE) report on the property you’re interested in buying. CLUE reports detail the property’s claims history for the most recent five years, which insurers may use to deny coverage. Make the sale contingent on a home inspection to ensure that problems identified in the CLUE report have been repaired.
2. Seek insurance coverage as soon as your offer is approved. You must obtain insurance to buy. And you don’t want to be told at … (1 comments)
This week’s blog is a continuation of last weeks, it this article you will find the how to’s of giving your foundation a little TLC. I again refer to someone more knowledgeable regarding foundation care, I hope you find it just as helpful as I did.
Save your Foundation from the Drought! Source: Yellow Hat Inspections
During periods of severe drought, as has been the case for the past few weeks in North Texas, the clay soils shrink and decreases in size. As the soil dries and shrinks, gaps develop along the side of … (2 comments)
allen real estate: Give your Homes Foundation a Little TLC!
- 08/01/11 12:53 PM
I went outside the other evening and was noticing some sun scorched spots in my yard. It looked like the sprinklers, that I run 3 times a week were not reaching those areas – so I got the water hose to wet them down and noticed a gap between my foundation and the soil that is supposed to butt up next to the foundation. As soon as I saw it I realized my three times a week watering schedule, which has been adequate for many years is no longer enough, at least for my foundation. I couldn’t help but wonder … (1 comments)
allen real estate: Tips for a Healthly Lawn
- 07/22/11 05:12 AM
A healthy green lawn is definitely true asset to any home. If you think about lawn care as a preventive health care program, then it can be easy to create conditions for your grass to flourish. It is a lot easier to prevent lawn care problems, such as weeds, insect attacks and diseases from happening than to try and treat them later. If your real energetic and out to win the your Frisco neighborhood yard of the month you can develop healthy soil by combining a mixture of clay, silt and sand. Then test it occasionally to see if … (1 comments)
The answer is a resounding YES! Just ask the buyers I showed last weekend. We had a good laugh together after viewing several homes that were cluttered and even had untidy bedrooms. This same buyer is also my seller and they jokingly let me know that they did not realize the beds did not have to be made for showings! It definitely gave the homes a more “lived in” feeling, but unfortunately gave my buyer a “this is not the home for us” feeling as well. Hopefully your agent has worked hard to give you home great web appeal … (0 comments)
allen real estate: Happy 4th of July
- 06/29/11 07:49 AM
I love it when the fourth of July gives us a 3 day weekend, here are some 4th of July Festivities and firework shows happening around the metroplex, compliments of my friend and colleague Bill Chesnutt at Commerce Title – Frisco! Hope you enjoy this weekend with your family! … (1 comments)
allen real estate: BuildFax Report - What is it and how can it delay a closing?
- 06/26/11 06:05 AM
Any committed real estate professional should be always listening and learning. Especially in today’s market, while we are not mortgage or insurance professionals we should stay informed and updated on issues that are going on in these industries because they often “crossover” into our area of expertise. The knowledge of other industry related issues can then be added to our knowledge base allowing us to be better fiduciaries to our clients. I recently learned of a partnership relationship in the casualty insurance industry that will allow me to do just that going forward with my clients and I wanted to share … (0 comments)
In a previous blog, I answered the question, What IS a short sale? Now the question I am being asked is, How do I know if I qualify for a short sale? There are a few questions you can ask yourself to help determine whether you qualify, in fact if you can answer yes to all 3 of these questions; chances are you will qualify for a short sale. Have you experienced a hardship? In order for the bank to consider you for a short sale you must have a reason for the request. Examples would range from the … (4 comments)
In today’s real estate market price is everything, it is important to hire an experienced real estate professional who is seasoned enough to not only intelligently help you determine what your home is worth but also brave enough to be straight forward and honest with you about the value of your home. Let’s face it most of you, before you call an agent probably have a pretty good idea of what you think your home might be worth and being the savvy home seller you are, you may call a few agents that you either got advertisements from or … (0 comments)
The majority of neighborhoods in areas of Collin County, such as Frisco, Plano, Prosper, McKinney and Little Elm are individually governed by homeowners’ associations (HOA’s). Originally designed to protect homeowner’s HOA’s now seem to hurt them. Some Frisco neighborhood residents are complaining that HOA’s are getting out of control. So much so that state leaders are saying they are regularly hearing stories of unrestrained HOA’s, not only in our local areas of Little Elm and Plano, but state wide and it has gotten their attention. So much so that homeowners' associations were the target of some of the lawmakers … (3 comments)
We are all bummed about the high gas prices right now. I know personally my car went from $45 a tank to $63 overnight it seems. Strangely enough, I read an article today about gas prices today and got a little tickled by the end of it because I realized that this article about rising gas prices, somehow found a way to include four of the hottest national topics and attribute them to the cause. You may be able to guess what they were but I was amused the topics: the unemployment rate, oil prices, terrorist activity and believe … (2 comments)
allen real estate: In and Out Burger
- 05/12/11 01:21 PM
It’s finally here – In and Out Burger! The recent excitement about In and Out Burger opening got me to thinking. One of the things I love about living in a growing area is all the excitement when a sign is put up on a vacant piece of commercial land that says “Coming Soon” . . . . I have been coming to Frisco since I was 10 years old, I think the old brothel houses were still on Hwy 121 back then and the only grocery store was “David’s” – who remembers that? My husband and I finally realized … (5 comments)
New Power Saver Program = Energy Efficient Renovations Have you heard of the Power Saver loan program? It is a new loan program implemented by HUD to offer low cost loans for homeowners to make energy efficient improvements to their home. Under this program credit worthy homeowners can borrow up to $25,000 to make energy efficient improvements to their homes. The program is backed by the FHA (Federal Housing Administration). The program was designed with a twofold purpose; 1. Offer low cost loan opportunities for homeowners that want to borrow money for energy efficient improvements knowing they will realize a savings over … (0 comments)
allen real estate: Homestead Exemptions
- 05/05/11 03:31 PM
Did you get the letter? I had a few past clients mention to me that they received a letter in the mail that states. "You overpaid your property taxes" and for $55 they offer to help you file for the refund. What this letter typically means in that the homestead exemption in not on your account. Texas is a homestead state with actually gives you a bit of a discount on your taxes. If you got the letter you have two options: •1. Pay the $55 and let them help you file for the exemption •2. Do it yourself, it's … (2 comments)
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