Eric Cates...Leading You Home

The Blog Has MOVED!!!

2010-01-03T06:17:00.000-08:00

With the launch of my new website, www.ericcates.com, I decided to integrate the blog and the website into one! Click the link above and you will find the blog links in the bottom left corner of the page. See you there!

Going Green

2009-10-05T13:01:00.000-07:00

In the words of Kermit the Frog, "It ain't easy being green," but it is financially beneficial to homebuyers...

This week, I picked up the Dallas Morning News and read a piece about green loans. Some lenders, like J.P Morgan Chase, will discount closing costs on a home that meets certain green requirements, while others, like Bank of America, will offer credits to be used for closing costs or buying down your mortgage interest rate. Even FHA and the Department of Veteran Affairs have gotten on board and are offering energy efficient programs.

If you have any questions, or if you are interested in going green in a new house, give me a call: (972)965-8673.

For more information on green loans, visit www.dallasnews.com.

Foreclosure...It's on my Heart

2009-09-11T15:56:00.000-07:00

I just heard a story of a family that lost their home to foreclosure. So, why would I share this on my blog? Simple. This blog was created to educate consumers on the many positive aspects to being a homeowner. Because a financial hardship can happen to anyone, anytime, it is also my job to educate homeowners on the negative aspects as well.

Facing foreclosure is a very hard, very humbling experience. I have sat across the kitchen table with a husband and wife, proud people, facing the "embarrasement" that comes along with foreclosure. While sometimes foreclosure is inevitable, it doesn't have to be. There are alternatives that can save your home or dispose of it in a different, less detrimental way.

1. Short Sale - By definition, a short sale is when the lender agrees to take less money than they are owed in order to avoid the expense of foreclosure. While this avenue does show up on your credit report, it is not as damaging as a foreclosure.

2. Loan Modification - When a lender realizes that you are in a financial situation that renders you unable to make your payment, they are much more willing to work with you in an effort to prevent a foreclosure. The lender will collect your monthly budget, income and other pertinent information and based upon a review, they will adjust your payment to reflect an amount you are capable of paying. They will put the deferred payments at the end of the loan. I should point out that this is not a permanent fix. This is a fix designed to get you through the short term. With your mortgage modified, you are able to live in the house while you put it on the market and get it sold.

If you find yourself in the position I just described, don't ignore it. Make the moves today to avoid foreclosure down the road. Feel free to contact me at 972-965-8673 or ecates@remax.net to discuss your particular situation.

First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit

2009-08-31T19:32:00.000-07:00

Well, August is coming to a close. In about 2 hours we will officially be in September and suddenly we find ourselves on the slippery slope toward Christmas! Where has the year gone?! If you are a first time homebuyer and you intend to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit being offered by the US Government, now is the time to get moving! Under the plan, you have to be CLOSED AND FUNDED on your new home by December 1st. This means you need to be under contract by the beginning of November at the very latest...and let's be honest, do you really want to cut it that close? If you are thinking you are going to take advantage of this great opportunity and you haven't called me yet, it is time to get on the ball! Give me a call at 972-965-8673 or email me at ecates@remax.net. I'm ready to help!

Energy Efficiency

2009-08-11T06:59:00.000-07:00

Is your home Energy Efficient?

Yesterday, we had the folks from Energy Conservation Concepts (ECC) come out to the house to test our energy efficiency. They are working with the Government and Oncor Electric Delivery to provide this service for FREE! They showed up at 8 am and went straight to work. First, they hooked up a fan to the garage door and sucked air out of the house. They tested each window and door to see if they were sealed properly. Of course, ours weren't! Then they put new weatherstripping on all doors and added some additional seal plates to every window in the house. After that, they sealed all the wall penetrations from our plumbing (the pipes under each sink) and put a gasket behind every electric outlet. Next, they went into the attic and gave our air conditioning system a check up. They also measured our insulation levels to make sure they were adequate.

Once they were finished, they told us they would mail our report within a week. I have included the contact information for this service below:

To schedule your appointment

Please call Jannie Leverett at
972-517-3966

OR

Email your name, address, phone number, square footage of home and electric service provider to jannie.leverett@yahoo.com

This is a great way to spend a hot August morning!!

Lake Lewisville Bridge is OPEN!!!

2009-08-04T06:56:00.000-07:00

Well, life just got a whole lot easier if you have been commuting around Lake Lewisville! The new toll bridge that connects Swisher Road on the west side with El Dorado Parkway on the east side will shave large amounts of time off the commute for thousands of drivers. This connection will also provide for expansion in Little Elm and Lake Dallas as an additional new customer base will be just 1.7 miles across the lake!

This road will cost $1.00 if you have a toll tag and $1.50 without.

2009-07-29T08:05:00.000-07:00

U.S. Housing Optimism Surfaces

Thu Jul 23, 2009 11:06am EDT

By Lynn Adler

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fixed U.S. mortgage rates rose after falling for three straight weeks but remain sharply lower than a year ago, improving chances of a stabilization in the worst housing market since the Great Depression.
The average 30-year home loan rate climbed 0.06 percentage point in the week ended July 23 to 5.20 percent. That was up from April's record low of 4.78 percent but well below 6.63 percent a year ago, Freddie Mac said on Thursday.
"Newly released housing indicators contain positive signs that the worst may be behind us," Frank Nothaft, chief economist at the second largest U.S. home funding company, said in a statement.
Lenders charged an average of 0.7 percent on 30-year loans in the latest week, unchanged from the prior week, Freddie Mac said.
More frequent signs of housing stability are surfacing.
Sales of existing homes rose more than expected in June, the National Association of Realtors said on Thursday, which meant sales rose for the third straight month for the first time since 2004.
"Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke, during his July 22 Senate testimony, noted that mortgage rates are lower than they were last fall, in part because of the Federal Reserve's actions, and housing affordability right now is the highest its been in many years," Nothaft said.
Chief among the U.S. central banks' interventions has been a massive bond purchase program, of up to $1.75 trillion in mortgage-related and Treasury securities this year, aimed at keeping borrowing costs low to stimulate housing and the economy.
In other signs of housing life, building of single-family homes jumped 14.4 percent in June, the fastest rate in 4-1/2 years, the Commerce Department reported on Friday.
The National Association of Home Builders gauges of market conditions in July and the rest of this year rose to a 10-month high.
Housing is not without significant tempering factors: record and rising foreclosures, the highest unemployment rate in almost 26 years, and still-falling home prices that keep buyers waiting for even better bargains.
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price indexes have toppled more than 32 percent from peaks three years ago. The pace of descent is slowing, but is widely seen continuing.
The last batch of home sales reports shows gathering traction as buyers take advantage of low mortgage rates and incentives such as a federal first-time buyer tax credit, wrote Millan Mulraine, economics strategist at TD Securities.
"In the grand scheme of things though, while we are encouraged by the recent flow of favorable housing sector reports, the considerable headwinds that U.S. households continue to face will likely limit the pace of recovery in the sector," he said.
(Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved

DFW dominates Forbes list

2009-07-08T18:16:00.000-07:00

Forbes: 25 Best Places to Move

The Metroplex dominates the Forbes Best Cities:
#6 – Flower Mound
#7 – Frisco
#9 - McKinney
#12 - Carrollton
#19 – Allen
#25 – Plano

Other notable mention:
Coppell and Corinth

The Forbes List is one of the most respected annual reports in the nation.

Click here for the link to the whole story.

Kristen Carlson

2009-07-07T13:45:00.000-07:00

In my line of work, when you find a great lender, you tell everyone! I have been working with Kristen Carlson at W.R. Starkey Mortgage for about four years now, and I am continually impressed. Whether you need to get pre-approved or just refinance, contact Kristen!

Kristen Carlson

W.R. Starkey Mortgage

www.kristencarlson.com

(972) 599-5283

2009-07-01T13:05:00.000-07:00

Great Real Estate Quotes

It seems that owning a home or land is a pretty good idea!

"Property is surely a right of mankind as real as liberty"
- John Adams, 2nd President of the United States of America

“Ninety percent of all millionaires become so through owning real estate.”
- Andrew Carnegie

“The major fortunes in America have been made in land.”
- John D. Rockefeller

“I would give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren ground.”
- Shakespeare

“The small landholders are the most precious part of a state.”
- Thomas Jefferson

“He is not a full man who does not own a piece of land.”
- Hebrew Proverb

“A man complained that [on] his way home to dinner he had every day to pass through that long field of his neighbor’s. I advised him to buy it, and it would never seem long again.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The best investment on earth is earth.”
- Louis Glickman

“It is a comfortable feeling to know that you stand on your own ground. Land is about the only thing that can’t fly away.”
- Anthony Trollope

It’s tangible, it’s solid, it’s beautiful. It’s artistic, from my standpoint, and I just love real estate.
- Donald Trump

“Buying real estate is not only the best way, the quickest way, the safest way, but the only way to become wealthy.”
- Marshall Field (1835-1906)

Anthologie Images

2009-07-01T11:41:00.000-07:00

I just had new professional photos taken last week and they turned out great! I would like to recommend Anthologie Images to anyone looking for a great photographer. The owner, Courtney Christianson, did a fantastic job with the photos and her editing skills are second to none. You can contact Courtney at www.anthologieimages.com OR at 214-707-3425.

Thanks for the great pictures Courtney!

2009-06-29T18:13:00.000-07:00

Dallas area ranks high in home price performance report

By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
stevebrown@dallasnews.com

The Dallas area is getting high marks from another national housing forecast firm.

Dallas ranks among the top metro areas based on expected home price performance this year, according to Local Market Monitor, a North Carolina housing sector consultant.

"Home values for the Dallas-Plano-Irving Metropolitan Statistical Area are forecast to remain constant over the next 12 months," Local Market Monitor spokeswoman Lauren Brown said. "This is compared to a 6.6 percent forecast decrease in home prices nationally."

Fort Worth, Houston, McAllen and San Antonio were also on the list of markets with "the best expected performance in home price," according to the report released Tuesday.

"These are markets that did not have a large boost in home prices over the last few years and therefore, even though the economy is doing poorly, no adjustment in prices has been necessary," housing economist Ingo Winzer said in the report.

Actually, home prices are down more than 15 percent in the Dallas-Fort Worth area during the last two years based on sales of pre-owned homes through the Multiple Listing Service.

But that's still one of the smallest home price declines among major U.S. metropolitan areas.

The National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday that nationwide median home prices in May were down almost 17 percent from a year earlier.

And in 2008, nationwide prices fell more than 15 percent, according to the real estate trade association.

DFW ranked 3rd nationally!

2009-06-18T15:42:00.000-07:00

According to a recent report published by the Brookings Institution, DFW ranked 3rd best housing market nationally! Click here to read more!

The Government is giving me what??

2009-03-01T20:30:00.001-08:00

2009 First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit

The new credit is greatly improved compared to the old credit.
It is a true credit and does not need to be repaid as long as you occupy the home for 3 years.
NAR estimates that hundreds of thousands of potential buyers will take advantage of the credit.

Credit Details

The new Credit is an $8,000 REFUNDABLE Tax Credit (or up to 10% of the purchase price).
- So if the property is $75,000, the credit is only $7,500. (Assume a property over $80,000 for the rest of the discussion).
Refundable means that if your total tax liability in the given year is less than $8,000, the IRS will send a refund for the balance.

Refundability –Why it’s Important

Many taxpayers do not have tax liability that exceeds $8,000.
- For example, according to the 2008 IRS Tax Tables:
A single filer would need $46,600 in taxable income to have $8,000 in tax liability.
A couple would need $58,600 in taxable income to have $8,000 in tax liability.
Those with less tax liability will in most cases get a refund meaning they get the full value of the credit.

Who cannot take the credit?

Any of the following would prevent someone from taking the credit:
- Your income exceeds the phase-out range. This means joint filers with Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) of $170,000 and above and other taxpayers with MAGI of $95,000 and above.
- You buy your home from a close relative (includes a spouse, parent, grandparent, child or grandchild.
- You stop using your home as your main home.
- You sell your home before the end of three years.
- You are a nonresident alien.

First-Time Homebuyer Definition

Defined as someone who didn’t own a main home at any time during the three years prior to date of purchase.
- For example, if you bought a home on January 15, 2009, you cannot take the credit for that home if you owned, or had an ownership interest in, another home at any time from January 15, 2006 through January 15, 2009.
- So if the last time you owned a home was 2005, you are eligible for the credit even though it is really not your “first” home.
- For married joint filers, both must meet the 1st time homebuyer test to take the credit on a joint return.

More on Income Limits

For Single Filers, the limit is $95,000 and the phase out starts at $75,000.
For Married Filers, the limit is $170,000 and the phase out starts at $150,000.
This means that for singles making over $75,000 and couples making over $150,000, the credit is proportionately reduced as incomes approach $95,000 and $170,000 respectively. So if a couple makes $165,000, the excess amount is used to create a fraction 15,000/20,000 (.75) times the credit amount. 75% or $6,000 of the credit would be disallowed. They would still get a $2,000 credit.

The Home

Must be the “main home” i.e. principal residence. Which is generally considered to be the home where you spend 50% or more of your time.
It can be a condo, Single Family detached, co-op, townhouse or something similar.
The home must be located in the United States.
Vacation homes and rental properties are not eligible.
For new construction, the “purchase date” is the date you occupy the home. So the move in date must be before December 1, 2009.

Recapture-3 Year Residency

If the home is sold prior to three years of ownership, the tax credit must be repaid.
- This is an improvement from the prior credit. That credit needed to be repaid in total over 15 years or the
balance had to be repaid on sale.
This provision is designed to prevent flipping homes in order to get the credit.

Other Provisions

The new credit is available to residents of the District of Columbia
Purchasers who utilize state/local revenue bond financing can now use the credit.
Purchasers who bought before January 1, 2009 are still subject to the terms of the repayable credit.

When Can The Credit Be Claimed?

It can be claimed on your 2008 Tax Return (to be filed by April 15, 2009), an amended 2008 Tax Return, or your 2009 Tax Return.
NAR and industry partners tried to get the credit made available at closing but policy makers balked. In addition, it was explained that even if a system could be devised, it would delay closings by several weeks.

Welcome to my Blog!

2009-03-01T20:19:00.000-08:00

My name is Eric Cates and I sell real estate in and around the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex. I have been in the business long enough to see a few market swings here and there. I decided to start this blog because I believe that people, in general, are misled by the local and national media. They only report what they want you to see and often times, there is much more than meets the eye! I hope by reading this blog, you will feel much more comforable about the housing market, and if you are looking to buy or sell, much less apprehensive about doing so!! Please feel free to contact me direct if you have ANY questions. Happy Reading!