Everything Bellaire, Anything Houston and Some Real Estate
A new word has been coined: the Texaplex. We already have the Metroplex to designate the Dallas-Fortworth area, but Houston is now part of the Texaplex: the Houston-Austin-Dallas triangle. To familliarize yourself with it and find out why this triangle has become an entity of itself, you can watch this very informative video at: http://www.texaplex.com/watch-the-texaplex-video/
Way to go Texas!
Is it a glimpse of good news towards recovery? I want to believe so. As sales increase, the backlog inventory will decrease, helping prices to stabilize. The Federal Reserve estimates home prices could fall 18 to 29 % more by the end of 2010. Job loss is one of the major factor affecting housing this year. More details about this national statistic is available by reading this article . Real estate is local and to learn more about what is happening in your neighborhood, contact a Realtor or sign-up for Market Snapshot!
I ran into a friend of mine today, and she asked me the question “How’s the market?” She knows I am in Real Estate. I gave her a fact: a house in Bellaire closed last week after being 3 days on the market. She could not believe it. So I told her it sold for a little over $2 million and she was even more perplexed! Yes, this is how Real Estate is. There are no generalizations to be made. We can pull alot of statistics and look at numbers, however it will not tell you how long your particular house will take to sell… I sold an older home in West U in November the day after it hit the market…To get a better idea of what your home will sell for, get the help of a professional. Or, if you’re just playing with the idea of selling or purchasing, you can sign-up for an automatic email update that will send you information on recent sales around your house. It is free! Just email me at Lucie@kw.com with your email address, street address and the frequency of the updates you would like (weekly, bi-weekly or monthly). You can remain anonymous. Why not take advantage of it? It is based on real MLS sales data as opposed to assessed tax values you find on many “real estate valuation” websites. Now you can get the answer first hand on how YOUR market is doing!
This is a contribution by Jennifer Hernandez:
Merry Christmas….oh, is it not Christmas yet? I thought the 4.875% 30 Fixed I saw this morning was Santa’s gift to me for being such a good girl this year. Then it vanished into thin air hours later, and we are at 5.25% . We should be careful what we wish for. Rates are extremely low, but the economy is in the tanker. There are so many things making the yields (rates) of bonds go down on a daily basis. Remember that yields/rates down means prices are up. Prices up means that there is more demand for bonds. This happens when investors lose confidence in stocks, and they buy more bonds. For the mortgage coupons these days, no one seems to know what they are buying. The spreads between buying a point are unreal, anywhere from .500% – .750%. Never in 14 years have I seen that much of a spread. So save your money to buy that point down, otherwise, you will be paying dearly in the interest rate.
Some headlines for you, that affect the market in every way: Foreclosures have risen in every state in the nation (out just hours ago), foreclosures are forecasted to double in 09, California is on the verge of literally running out of money (all of Arnolds muscle flexing and charm means nothing now!), car giants are folding, we are officially in a recession (since Dec 07- ya think?), major corporate layoffs, terrorist attacks in Mumbai, changing regime in USA for the presidency, and to top all this off, there are pirates attacking ships off the coast of Somalia. Pirates? Are we living in some fairy tale now? Some days it sure feels like it.
But let’s look at the bright side! Gas is under $2.00/gallon, every consumer product imaginable is on sale, cars prices are rock bottom, and we have a new President that has given hope to the country, and seems like the world. There are right this very minute, 4,000 job openings in the Texas Medical Center that need to be filled. Houston is adding jobs! The Medical Center led us through the 80’s, and it will lead us through this, I can assure you.
I had a thought this week that should solve our country’s problems: why don’t we use part of lottery winnings to finance these bail outs!? The mega jackpot was $146 million! Who needs that kind of money anyway?
Have a great weekend!
JENNIFER HERNANDEZ
Jennifer Hernandez
Vice President/Mortgage Consultant
Patriot Bank Mortgage
Office: 713-337-8400
Mobile: 713-446-7791
E-mail: jennifer@patriotbankusa.com
Web: www.loanwithjennifer.com