Short Sales and Foreclosures Explained

The Wall Street Journal posted a good article explaining the differences between short sales and foreclosures. They're good deals, but they're not for the faint of heart. The frustration level get turned up to 11 for a lot of folks and would-be-buyers.

Lock your rates if you can

Just ran across this on one of the mortgage blogs I'm reading. It'd be a good time to contact your lender today.

Open Houses in Dallas this weekend

Here is a list of every open house that was entered into MLS for this weekend in Dallas. The list is sorted by the time the property is open and not by geographical location perse. Here's the list. Have a good weekend!

New Construction in Dallas is in the ditch.

Well, pre-owned homes don't have it as bad as the builders do these days. Sales are down 30% for 2008 per the Dallas Morning News. Several builders have gone under recently. If you've moved into a new home recently and that builder has ceased operation, then you might want to make sure your warranty is still in place.

Centex Homes is offering $5000 Realtor bonus

I've never been swayed to push a builder, community, etc. by a bonus, but they're always a nice when you get one. In case you didn't know, these bonuses paid to Realtors are required to be disclosed to their clients. There's no under the table dealings or anything like that. They're designed to catch the Realtors eye in an otherwise vast sea of new communities, home builders, etc. Occasionally, home sellers will offer similar bonuses, but they're not near as frequent.

Here is the ad they sent me. It's a $5,000 bonus to agents if they sell in their Woodbridge community. Woodbridge is located in Sacshe, TX. I've played the golf course (www.wbgolfclub.com) out there before. It's a nice track for the money.

They're also offering "We also have a great offer for your Clients! They will receive $17,000 in incentives on any floor plan, which may be used towards upgrades in the home or closing costs."

Centex is a huge builder here in town and across the nation. In fact, they've got they're involved in several facets of the real estate industry including Title Insurance, Mortgages and Pest Control. Centex is traded on the NYSE under CTX. You can find out more here.

I've got a buddy that works for CTX Mortgage. Give him a call or drop him a line if you have questions about the lending side of the home buying process or refinancing. You can find his contact information at www.ChasePinkston.com.

Eric Holmes
REMAX DFW Associates
www.TeamHolmes.com
Eric@TeamHolmes.com
Yahoo IM: eric_holmes_realtor

Foreclosure for Dummies

Have you ever wondered what happens if you're put in position to default on a home loan? This article walks through the process from start to finish and gives you a list of some of the terms that are used if you're ever in that position.

http://recenter.tamu.edu/pdf/1786.pdf

If you can't tell it's from the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. It's a great resource for all things real estate in Texas, commercial and residential.

Eric Holmes
REMAX DFW Associates
Eric@214House.com
yahoo IM: eric_holmes_realtor

Highland Homes deals in Allen, TX

Just got an eflyer with "awesome deals in Allen". Specifically these are Realtor incentives, "$5000 Realtor bonus plus 3,4,5", with Highland Homes in Twin Creeks . You can view the incentives via this link: Twin Creeks Phase 8 * Realtor Inventory Flyer 042308. FYI - It's a MS word doc not a .pdf.

We get these emails periodically from random builders here and there. I'll see if I can't get subscribed to buyer specific incentives soon.

Eric Holmes
Eric@214House.com
yahoo IM: eric_holmes_realtor