All That Jazz!!!

There are plenty of cultural events to enjoy in and around the Dallas area, contrary to the too-often heard comment that "there's nothing to do around here" by the locals. With just the slightest effort you can discover a treasure of fun, interesting, educational, entertaining things to do for some fun. We'll give mention to some of those here on a regular basis to keep you informed on what's happening.

The North Texas Jazz Festival will wrap up during the day on Saturday, March 31 in Addison at the Hotel Intercontinental. A joint venture between the Town of Addison and the University of North Texas, it's a great day for jazz lovers to enjoy some terrific student musicians. The Saturday evening concert kicks off at 7pm and the headliner, The Kenny Barron Trio, takes the stage around 9:45pm.

Great music! Fun atmosphere! Affordable entertainment! Don't miss it.

D/FW Foreclosures Continue to Climb

According to the Dallas Morning News, the foreclosure postings in the area continue to increase, with an overall jump of 18% in the properties posted for April foreclosure. Dallas County itself actually helped keep the average down with an 11% increase while other areas jumped as much as 40% (Collin County).

The big question coming from so many is "Will it get better any time soon?" The short answer is, probably not. There are still multitudes of homeowners that took advantage of the generosity of mortgage lenders, purchased with no money down with and Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) and these loans are reaching the time to start adjusting. For those that are living paycheck to paycheck, already there is often too much month at the end of the money. Factor in an increase of a mortgage payment that goes up even $150-$200 or more, then the choices are limited. When the creditors are already barking about the past due credit card bills, car payment is late, the kids need new shoes, and the desire for more than mac & cheese for dinner, something's gotta give! With an intense feeling of dread, perhaps a sense of failure, the house unfortunately has to go back to the lender. What a disappointment.

But the cycle has already begun and it's hard to tell how much worse it may get before it gets better. The "experts" are all over the board with some forecasting a recession and others a little less drastic outcome. All anyone knows for sure is that it will take a considerable amount of time for this cycle to complete, with likely a fair amount of government investigation, tightening of lending practices, and more lenders going out of business.

Silver lining: if you're a home buyer there may be some opportunities. As the foreclosure inventories grow, the lenders holding these properties may start to come down on their pricing in order to get them off the books. Keep your eyes open for that trend in the not too distant future.

Stay off that bed!!!

Thank goodness for HGTV! Seems like nearly everyone I know is watching it, making plans for their next remodeling project, learning how to "flip" properties, and why to put in a gazillion dollars worth of landscaping improvements. Most importantly, I rarely have to explain any more what I mean when I talk about "staging" a house for sale. Most of the home sellers know about it, and many of them are doing it very well, oftentimes with professional help. And it works! Buyers like those homes better that are well staged, they sell faster and at a higher price as a rule.

There is an image that comes to my mind sometimes though, probably fueled by my sense of humor that has been referred to as "pure corn" (spent a lot of years in Oklahoma). I envision the sellers coming home, eating their evening meal (Hot Pockets perhaps) standing up in the laundry room so as not to disturb the table setting (permanently in place until the house sells) and to keep any crumbs off the den furniture and floor. Can't stay up and watch TV now or the furniture will be mangled by butt prints and deemed unpresentable to the next buyer prospect walking through the door. Might as well go to bed. Get out the sleeping bags, lay them next to the beds and do not, I repeat DO NOT pull the covers back and ruin the balance of the 8-15 pillows of various sizes and shapes on top of the bed! Sleep well...

You get the picture. Living in a house while trying to sell is very different from "real life". The sellers that do the best job staging their home are usually rewarded -- and should be. They need to sell quickly so they can get a good night's sleep -- in between the sheets.

Bottom line: properly staging a home to sell works extremely well. It's not always easy to live that way, but it is so worth the sacrifice. Check with your favorite Realtor for tips and/or referrals to professional home stagers.

Be careful what you ask for...

We all wanted it. Begged the powers that be to let it happen. This is America! Land of Opportunity! We've all been assured of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We must ALL own real estate!!!

So that's where it begins. Pressure is put on the mortgage lenders and the regulators to loosen the purse strings, ease up on the requirements for someone to qualify for a mortgage to purchase a home. And it worked! The floodgates opened up and the money poured into the subprime mortgage market and nearly anyone with a job (and some without) and about a C- credit score was able to borrow money for real estate. Down payment? Not necessary. Closing costs? Don't make me laugh -- we'll just add it to the sales price and you can pay for it over time. Oh, and if you'd prefer to not pay anything toward the principle balance, that's fine too and we'll just make it an interest-only loan. Certainly the HUGE increase in the property value will create equity in the home for you. You'll be just fine... right.

Given the liberal lending practices, it's hardly shocking that we've been hearing so much lately about the record setting pace of foreclosures around the country. The Adjustable Rate Mortgages that were so popular have started to adjust now causing the monthly payment for so many homeowners to have drastic increases, often out of the financial reach of the borrower. They may have already purchased every bit of house they could qualify for. And they may have never even considered the higher utility bills of the larger home. Already before buying groceries for the family, many folks are already pinching the last few pennies of the month. Fortunately, the lenders have been kind enough to not always require monthly payments into an escrow account for taxes and insurance. So at least that cash is freed up for that month. Surely there will be a windfall before the tax bill comes in and the insurance is up for renewal. Yeah, sure...

This is a situation that we've all brought on ourselves and we must now live with the market we've helped create. Not to be accused of being totally negative, just realistic about the near future of the market while the recovery goes on. While the supreme mortgage lenders such as New Century are dealing with their own problems, the cashflow to potential home buyers is sure to slow to a trickle, especially in the subprime market. Less mortgage money available, fewer buyers for the enormous amount of housing inventory currently available in most areas. Lower demand for that inventory will most certainly have a negative effect on property values in many areas.

Bottom line: home sellers are going to have to be diligent about pricing their property correctly when they first go on the market -- don't test it at an obviously unrealistic price. You'll be very disappointed at the least. And hopefully you'll have a Realtor that will be firm and tell you the truth straight up about what you can expect to sell for. Don't fall prey to the agent that gives you "pie in the sky" and tells you how much more money they can get for you. Unless they are buying it, they don't control the market.