Fort Worth Real Estate Online

Karen Anne,  I don't know the NYC market that well, but I don't believe that it is going down. People were afraid that Wall Street bonuses - or lack of same would bring the NYC real estate market down, but it didn't. Last year saw record prices - So I'm not sure what they are

talking about. 

Here are a couple of links - they show the concern but point out that prices are through the roof. There has been some leveling in some areas, but no price drops - so where does a 4.8% decline come from?

Delicate Market -  Josh Barbanel

Foreign Buyers Take Manhattan - Christine Haughney 

 

 

 

The price drops come from areas like Detroit, Las Vegas, California, Miami.  Detroit is getting killed with falling prices.  Many homeowners are upside down in their mortgages.  Even if you put 20% down you may be upside down!  In some cities prices have fallen back to 1997 prices or earlier! 

Hi, Karen Anne - Bad news sells more newspapers than good news. :)  Even as our market slowed we are still maintaining a slight lead on our average sales price from '07... so it is definitely not bad everywhere.  It's a shame that won't make a splash on the front page.

Right on Karen Anne! You tell 'em! Here in Brentwood TN we are doing fine too! I sure am tired of losing clients because the national media scared them!

Karen Anne, our market is hanging in there, and it's when the local papers in good markets run these nationwide stories that I get crazy!

Texas is a tough state!!! Go get em Karen!

Your Friend in Charlottesville! 

Karen, As you know I can not agree more.  Here in Houston 2007 was our second best year ever but you don't hear that heralded from the street corners; not even here in Houston.  I have buyers who think the sky is falling.  I have had them make these low ball offers and in turn I have received them on listings because they think everything is crashing.  NOT SO!!!

Karen - You are absolutely right.  In face, Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, and Austin seem to consistently make the "best places to buy" lists that I have seen lately. 

It's more accurate to say that the U.S. economy is absurdly uneven, rather than characterizing it as uniformly bad.  There is a ripple effect under these circumstances though, even when a few states or a particular region is doing well. 

Karen Anne - If it bleeds, it leads.  The mainstream media does not believe the fact that all real estate is local.  They most certainly do like to promote doom and gloom which, in turn, drives our economy, our outlook on personal futures and our hope.

What would happen if there was a withdrawal of advertising dollars by large home improvement centers, real estate companies, etc.?   

Karen Anne- We here in San Antonio are doing fine. The new home builders have backed off on spec. homes but seem to be doing OK. I discuss the SA market with my son-in-law, a new site construction manager for DR Horton, as part of my attempt to keep a good feel of the market.

 

Right on Karen...unfortunately they have lost sight of their reason for being..keeping people informed. It's now about sales and lousy news sells!

Karen, we're holding our own fairly well, but it won't last.  Mortgage money is a necessity in any market. 

Atlanta is overall pretty stable. We do have a couple of areas in the city that are considered declining markets but these do not reflect the overall housing market in metro Atlanta. The broad strokes that are all too frequently painted force us to refute these perceptions almost daily. Real estate is highly localized and countering the negative blitz is important. Check out this blog on this very topic by Rebecca Levinson.

Unfortunately, the media thrives on the negative.  Keep up the good work, and getting out the word!

Denver at 3.1% is much better than the past couple years and we have seen our active listings reduced by almost 20% in the past year! Great news for this market!

Ruthmarie:  I have not clue where the 4.8% decline in home values in New York City came from.  I cannot believe that a city in such demand as NYC would decline at all.  That was part of the irony of this article.  How can they continute to report this nonsense ?

 

Russ:  I know things are bad in Detroit.  I am originally from Cleveland, and actually got married in Detroit on December 31, 1965.  So I have a slight tie or two to the city.  When my parents bought their home in Cleveland in 1957... for something like $12,000 or so... they lived in it for thirty-two years... until they died.  There is so much more mobility these days.  My heart is with the folks in Detroit.

Jesse:  I am glad the Fairbanks market is doing decently well.  And yes... good news does not make headlines that sell newspapers.  Perhaps in times like this... a few good headlines would be a nice thing to see.  It might even sell some papers.

Vanessa:  I'm glad things in beautiful Brentwood, Tennessee are doing well.  It is so silly... even in decent markets, folks see the scary headlines and think it's happening everywhere.  Take care...

Patricia:  There will always be demand in the DC area.  And yes, you and me, and everyone else gets more than a little crazy when we see all these blankety-blank doom and gloom headlines.  And I don't this this world's longest Presidential nomination marathon is helping anything.  Keep your chin up, Pat.

Charles:  It's all we can do... keep on sluggin' until all those blue headlines turn to green.  Take care...

Marchel:  I agree.  All this negativity is just so... negative !  This is just one more reason why we need to keep pumping out posts into our home town Localism.  I think if everyone on Active Rain who used Localism could make a concerted effort... perhaps we could make a dent in the negativity.  Keep the faith !

Jason:  Yes... I cannot remember seeing a negative article about anywhere in Texas.  We have a lot of bloggers in the major cities here... and we need to make an effort to churn out as much positive signs as possible.  And... in Texas... those positive articles are not pin-in-the-sky... they are true !

Eric:  Well said !  Absurdly uneven.  Things are in no way uniformly bad.  There are so many good markets, and so many fair to middlin' markets.  The major negative markets are mostly where there has been double-digit price increase because their markets have been so hot over the last five of six years.  If this were the stock market... the papers and the pundits would be referring to it as a "market correction."

Carol:  I think that is already happening.  Print media advertising has been decreasing for the past few years... as the usage of the internet has become more widespread.  I don't think that is a good club to hold over them.  Perhaps boycotting sponsors of Fox Noise and MSNBC and CNN until they start putting forth an effort to report on ALL the markets... not just those experiencing "price corrections."

Shirley:  Horton and the rest of the builders in Fort Worth have really cut back on their specs, too.  That, in turn, has really helped the resale market start to bubble again, because it no longer has to compete as heavily with all the builder giveaways.  I'm glad your market in San Antonio is doing decently.  Keep the faith, Shirley !

Joan:  Lousy news is going to continue to sell until the public... Realtors included... let them know that we won't put up with it anymore.  Perhaps a sponsor boycott might be in order.  Something needs to be done.  I have a funny feeling that things may not turn around until mid-November... hopefully when a major change takes place in Washington.  We need some "new hope" from our so-called leaders.

Bill:  I am sure the Dallas market... with a little help from your vast genteel abilities... will keep on bubbling along.  In Town and Uptown seem to be bubbling away, and I have not heard any negatives out of your Park Cities areas.  You must be doing something right !  Yay Bill.  Keep up the great work.  PS... love your posts !  You're a great story-teller.

Rich:  I went to the blog link to Rebecca's post.  Great Post !  I think I'm going to have to give this idea a bit more thought, and see what I can do with it.  Rich, I am glad the market in Atlanta is going decently well for you.  Thanks so much for the links.  Keep the faith !

I am glad for you and all Denver-ites that the market there has been turning around.  The Denver area is so beautiful.  I really think the phrase "market correction" makes so much more sense.  It has been working for the Stock Market for decades... and somehow... the market just keeps ticking and ticking.

Karen:

Keep blogging the good word. It is true things are good here and we need to spread the word. You are a bright light in the heart of Texas. Ha.

Great news for investors!

Michael Veri

Realty Executives Ocala

www.BuyOcalaHomes.com

352.502.4661

Karen Anne, You are right.  Texas is doing okay in the real estate industry.

Kay:  We just have to keep on writing about all the wonderful things our Texas cities have to offer... and keep all the positive news alive that the networks don't seem to either know about, or care about, or both.

I don't agree that Texas is doing well.  We are currently buying a home in Plano, zip 75075, and the appraiser flagged it as Declining Market, so our lender (who is backed by Fannie Mae) is requiring 5% more for a down payment to close with the rate we have!  Or, we can pay the same down payment but purchase a different loan product, and our rate will go up .76%.

Dear Ryan:  I am sorry that the area your home is in has been flagged by your appraiser.  Real Estate is very local.  Some say "city by city."  It is even more local than that.  Remember the phrase "Location, Location, Location."  What this means is that obviously, the most important thing about a home, and about determining it's value, is it's location. 

I do not know exactly where your home is, other than 75075, but there must be something about it's location that, in the appraiser's opinion, is not good.  Now, it might be the exact street, the area right around it... a couple of blocks... or that subdivision, or perhaps the builder of the home has a poor reputation, or perhaps it is in an area where the soil is unstable, and there is a lot of foundation problems in many of the homes on that street.  It could be anything.

If you are using a Realtor to purchase your home, perhaps she can help you by making some suggestions.  If you do not have a Realtor, perhaps I might be able to help, or at least make a further suggestion... or point you in a different direction for help... but I can only do that if I had more information.

Another reason your home might be deemed in a "Declining Market" might be if it is in a subdivision where the New Home Builder is still active.  If your home was built just a year or two ago, and the builder is still selling brand new homes there... over the last 12 months many builders overbuilt, and then were stuck with too many homes just "sitting."  So, they had to either drop prices... sometimes by quite a bit... or wheel and deal, give lots of free stuff with the home, pay for stuff for the buyer, or even give Realtors big bonuses to bring them buyers.  If that is the case, the builder has an advantage that a re-sale home does not.  When that is the case, sometimes a home that is one or two years old, and the builder is still there, and the builder is doing the stuff I mentioned above, sometimes that home drops in value until the builder leaves, and then the value jumps up again... mostly because you don't have the really tough competition from the builder any longer.

Again, I am at a disadvantage in helping you, because I don't know your full story.

If your loan is a Fannie Mae loan, that probably means it is a conventional loan.  Many conventional lenders are very nervous right now.  Many of them have made some really dumb loans in the last year or 18 months, and they have been burned.  So... they are really skitzy right now... and may only want to make loans in the absolute BEST neighborhoods where they have every possible thing going for them. 

If your loan IS a conventional loan, perhaps you could switch to an FHA loan... if the price of your home, and the loan you want, is under the top amount allowable for an FHA loan.

I am just rambling away here... trying to hit any type of information that may help you.  Please email me back, and give me an email address if I can be of any further help to you.  Take care... and best of luck to you and your family.  Karen Anne Stone  (817) 929-3400

Ok Ryan:  I looked up the zip code 75075.  That is in west Plano, just a bit west of Collin Creek Mall.  Mapquest puts the middle of 75075 right at Custer and W. 15th St, or Custer and W. Park Blvd.  That used to be considered a very good area of Plano, but now there are many newer areas that are more "in demand."  The value of homes, in many ways, is very much determined by demand.  With the homes in that area being perhaps 25 to 35 years old, perhaps older, it may be very nice, but it also is "older", and many Plano-ites want new, new new.  That can have a very noticeable effect on value.  Again, I am just groping around in the dark, but at least this is a little more information for you. 

Now also, I might guess that the price of this home is lower than homes of similar size but in "newer" neighborhoods.  This may be more of a positive for you, because you can get a larger home for a lesser price, but it may be that very fact that is causing the lender to be a little nervous... because that home is worth less than newer homes of similar size... in newer neighborhoods.  So... what is good for you, price-wise, also is somewhat of  negative for the mortgage company.  Take care... if I can help further... email me.  Best of luck to you.

Ryan... perhaps another Loan Officer could help you.  I know a great mortgage loan person... Tom Burris.  He is awesome... very good at what he does.  Call him... he may be able to help.  His number is (214) 763-4629.  Tell him Karen Anne Stone suggested that you call.  He will be glad to help you if he can.

Ryan/Karen

When the appraiser checks off that the home is in a declining market, then the 5% applies.

If you feel that this is in error, maybe get a second opinion from another appraiser. Because a few foreclosures in the area do not make an area 'declining;. So the appraiser could have made a mistake.

Regardless, if the appraiser does NOT deem it declining, the lender still can using alternate valuation tools.

Karen, good idea on flipping this to FHA.
Ryan, ask your loan officer about this. Otherwise, you may have to get a second opinion from another lender. Said lender can ask the new appraiser up front whether this is deemed a declining market.
I seriously doubt that it is. I know that area. Unless that whole neighborhood is owned by investors and they are all rentals, values should hold there.

Good Luck!!

Let me know if I can help in any way!

Thanks for the comments.  My realtor and I did our own research that showed the area is not declining, and the lender agreed.  They went back to the appraiser and asked him to change the designation, which he didn't do.  The lender then ordered a new appraisal and agreed to pay for it, so I'm not out the extra money there.  If the new appraisal comes back as flagged in a declining market, then I already have a different lender lined up...

-Ryan

Hi Ryan: I am glad things seem to be working out for you.  I hope some of my suggestions were of some help to you.  Plano is a great city.  I lived there for awhile when I first moved to Texas.  Take care...

Everything is bigger in Texas..... including house prices!  Good for you!

Hi Joe:  One of the great things about Texas is... although our prices are somewhere between steady to having gradual growth... perhaps averaging from 2% to 5% a year, our home prices are very reasonable.  A family can still get a nice-sized home... and still not be "house poor."