Hit The Links In Las Colinas

Not that I am much of a golfer, but I do appreciate the fact that the Irving Las Colinas area boasts a plethora of golf courses. You can come to play or come to stay, as many of these courses are home to residential subdivisions. These have lots with homes on the course or not, depending on your tolerance of my tee shot smashing through your living room window.

There are 28 golf courses located within 10 miles of Irving, you can view these on Golflink.com. They range from private country clubs to municipal courses to independently owned ones. Most are able to be played just by calling them up and reserving a tee time, others you might need some friends in high places.

Some of the more notable ones are the 4 championship courses located in Las Colinas. One of which is the TPC course where the Byron Nelson Golf Tournament is played every year by the PGA players.

TPC Las Colinas Course

Cottonwood Valley Course

Hackberry Creek Country Club

Las Colinas Country Club

Rising Prices in Irving Always Good News

A great article appeared in MSN Money yesterday ranking 291 metro areas in price appreciation as of Dec 31, 2007.

The stats were lumped together as Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX but it showed...
1 quarter appreciation to be 0.16%
1 year appreciation to be 2.95%
5 year appreciation to be 15.82%

The article also stated

"Prices are still rising in many areas. Utah, Texas and Washington
put multiple cities on the 20 best-performers list."

As I have said before, I am always an optimist when it comes to Real Estate in the Irving las Colinas Area. This article just affirmed for me that others seeem to feel that way as well.

Las Colinas New Construction

Looking for new construction?

Here are some of the projects in and around Las Colinas.
These include some wonderful areas and gorgeous subdivisions.
Easy access to Highway 114 and the 635 Loop.

La Villita
K. Hovnanian Homes & CityHomes

Positano
North American Properties

Versailles Villas
David Weekly Homes

Emerald Valley
Monterey Homes & Ryland Homes

Hidden Deals That Will "Motivate" You

My last post was about bank owned properties. After explaining the potential pitfalls of those types of properties I wanted to mention an alternative that can get you a great deal on a home.
Motivated sellers are by far my favorite type of purchase. Those people who have equity in their home but cannot make payments anymore.

Imagine if you will an Irving/Las Colinas homeowner that has been living in his home paying off his mortgage for 10 plus years. His home was purchased for $100,000 and his loan was originally $90,000. (he put down 10%) His current principle balance is $80,000. He has taken care of his home and it has appreciated to a value of $120,000. He has been unable to make payments and the bank is looking to foreclose.

Not many people want to go through a foreclosure, so the opportunity for a great buy is available as well as helping someone avoid foreclosure and losing all of their equity and down payment. If you pay him the balance of the loan plus his original down payment you are still buying a home $30,000 under value. Motivated sellers are everywhere, look for properties that have been on the market for a long time, ask the right questions, find the motivation and you just might get a heck of a deal.

To Buy Or Not To Buy (a Foreclosure)

Right now there are ALOT of bank owned properties in Irving and Las Colinas. The question I get asked quite often is "Can you find me a great deal on a foreclosure?".The answer is a bit complicated. If the bank is ready to sell the property and is realistic on true value than sure they are out there.

However many banks acquire a property from an owner that is in really rough condition and let's say that the balance on the loan is $80,000. The market analysis shows that homes of similar size and location are selling for $120,000.Without any repairs the bank puts the property on the market "as is" for $120,000. Let's say that the repairs needed will cost you about $15,000. Buying it for anything more than $105,000 would be overpaying.

People generally assume that by buying a foreclosure you are paying what the bank was owed on the property, thus maybe getting a great deal on a home. But the banks are in it to make money. It is doubtful that they will sell a property for less than what was owed, and when they do sell for what they were owed, it usually comes months after it has been sitting on the market.

In today's market of people who have refinanced to many times that loan balance might actually be HIGHER than what the home is worth. There is alot of research that must go into buying a home especially when it is bank owned.

New Developments in Las Colinas

Irving/Las Colinas is in the midst of numerous development plans. The area in and around Williams Square and the Mustangs looks to soon be the epicenter of retail , residential and commercial projects. check out The Irving Las Colinas Chamber for information on all the developments that are in the works.

I am looking forward to the completion of these projects, as are many others who remember when the developing kind of just stopped years ago. Well, the recently renewed interest in Las Colinas has prompted developers to take another look at the area I have long described as a diamond in the rough.

Welcome back.

Manipulating the Market

Today I was curious to see how many homes there were "Active" on the market in the Irving Las Colinas area. Meaning these where not under contract yet. I was pleasantly surprised to find only 675.

Everyone talks about a market downturn, or a stagnant market. I agree that if you live in Florida, Nevada, Michigan...I am probably missing a few. But the numbers of homes on the market in those areas is much higher than here.

With a flood of properties on the market it always makes it much harder to sell. Once those properties go away, properties get scarce, obviously a good case of supply and demand.

Now think of this... a rough average of sales per month in Irving is about 100, over the last six months it has actually been 93 homes per month.

If starting from today no one listed their home for sale it would take 7 months to have absolutely no inventory. What would happen to prices then?

Alot of these other cities have a supply that would last them years. Fortunately for us the market looks pretty bright!!

Now if I can get everyone to stay put for awhile :-)

Open Houses...Worth it?

In the past open houses have brought many tire kickers as well as serious buyers. However the internet age seems to have turned the tide. Why get in the car if you can see it online?

Real Estate agents in Irving used to caravan to go see all of the new listings so getting them inside, (the only true way to get a feel of a home) was easy. Now that they can click a few links and view pictures, or even a virtual tour, most buyers and agents just monitor listings online.

My suggestion is to try one, if the guest list is limited, there are many other ways to market your home. Try them all and figure out what works.

How's The Market?

If I had a nickel for everytime I have heard that question....
Some quick stats, in Jan of 2008....

In Irving Las Colinas...
14% increase in sales over same period last year
Average sales price $158,699
We have had a 9% reduction in days on market over same period last year.

I am pretty much always an optimist when it comes to Real Estate.
Bottom line, if you buy right, your good.