The Bains

As America celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act, REALTORS continue to be
outspoken advocates, working with home buyers & sellers to ensure they receive equal access
to affordable housing & ownership.
The Fair Housing Act protects the basic right of all Americans to pursue the dream of home-
ownership free from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status & national origin, & REALTORS have a strong committment to partner with diverse real estate
partners, education & grant & awards programs.
Pushing for flexible FHA, the National Association of Realtors is working with Congress to make
permanent the new FHA conforming loan limits, mandated by the stimulus package, so that
Americans can access affordable financing in all areas of the country. REALTORS also continue
to push for a stronger, more flexdible FHA program, to give more first-time buyers access to
affordable & safe financing options.

best location for investors are DALLAS & HOUSTON, according to HomeVestors of America,
the company famous for the “We Buy Ugly Houses” billboards. The list is based on number of
homes bought in each market.

The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro grew by 162,250 residents between July 1, 2006 &
July 1, 2007, the biggest population gain the country. Two other Texas metro areas were in
the top 10. This is from the U. S. Census Bureau.

With last week’s blog, this is one of the areas that the market is correcting itself - folks moving away from pricier areas to less pricey, creating a population change.

With the giddiness of the price increases of the early 2000s, we are seeing a price adjustment.
By the summer of 2006, the U. S. housing inventory hit 4 million units - double its level in 2000.
The recent boom and bust in real estate could ultimately benefit the industry and the economy
at large. 1. In the past few years formerlly blighted urban areas have been renewed,
2. the flight from overpriced markets has yielded a long overdue internal
redistribution of the country’s population,
3. more sophistication of American’s knowledge in home financing,
4. greater availablity of information about all components of the house sale
process,
5. price wars are returning affordability to real estate consumers.
For now the housing and real estate bubble served as an important catalyst for the growth
at a time when one was sorely needed.

after 6 straight months of decline according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales
of existing homes rose by 2.9% in February or the biggest increase in a year. The median
sales price fell to $195,000. This is the largest year-over-year drop since 1999. The
surge in the South was 2.1% with the Northeast at 11.3%. The only region to decline was
the West.
Watch what mortgage lenders are doing. They have glagged more than 9,600 ZIP codes in
34 states. This means certain types of loans will not be financed or are more riskier, meaning
a HIGHER INTEREST RATE & HIGHER CREDIT SCORES. Entire states on the list are California,
Florida, Arizona, Michigan, Ohio & Nevada. Generally these are in markets where home prices
are falling, BUT even regions where property values are rising are NOT IMMUNE. Check with
your lender before you get a loan OR refinance.

2,435 residential units closed & average price $171,946 in 2006.
2,370 residential units closed & average price $170,119 in 2007.
Commercial slightly higher as are commercial remodels with average price per sq ft LESS.

According to Dr. Mark Dotsuz, Texas A&M Real Estate Center, prices have slightly increased
in most metro areas, with foreclosure rates are much lower than the national trends.
Inventory in Texas is 5.7 months, compared to national average of 10.1 months. However,
it is noted by the Office of Federal Housing Eenterprise Oversight that price INCREASES in
most Texas metro areas to be GETTING SMALLER.

Go to our website at www.thebains.com and in the center of the page click on the
links & the top one takes you to our Realtor.com list of listings, click on any you want to
view, then go the the top menu bar & CLICK ON THE BLUE TAB to search all listings in our area. Call us at 903-561-4346 for any information you need.

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50% of TX sellers who undertake home improvement projects sell within 3 months,
$2,470 is the medium amount spent on home improvement projects,
$990 - medium amount spent on home improvements for homes priced UNDER $100,000,
$3640 - median amount spent on improvements by sellers of homes priced $300,000-499,999,
$20,690 - median aound spent by sellers of homes priced $500,000 & over

READY TO MOVE INTO & pricing appear to be the key to selling a home in a reasonable amount
of time. Having some taste in the improvements is important & hire some help to do that, if
need be.

throughout the country to build green houses - NOT necessarily a place to put plants, but a
home that is ENERGY EFFICIENT. The builder can accrue points in 7 categories:
water,
energy & resource efficiency,
lot & site development,
indoor environmental quality,
global impact,
homeowner education
Program set forth by the National Association of Home Builders.
The key is keeping our hot summer sun out and the warm winter sun in.
HOUSTON is the first large U. S. city to accept the 7 point challenge. Also promoted by the
Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA)

according to the latest report from the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. TX
non-farm employment rose 2.2%, but national was 0.9% from December 2006 to December 2007.
States mining industry ranked 1st, followed by professional & business services, the leisure &
hospitality industry & the financial activities industry.
All TX metro areas has positive employment growth rates during the above period, with
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission first, followed by Tyler, Austin-Round Rock & Brownsville-Harlingen.
Midland had lowest unemployment rate, followed by Amarillo, Lubbock, Odessa & College Station-Bryan.

Factors are: population growth,
job growth,
income growth,
house prices & affordability
What could disrupt this: insufficient development infrastructure,
politics & public policies - limited growth & state fiscal policies,
worldwide 1930s-style depression - no control in TX
By 2030 TX is expected to add 13.6 million people, the equivalent of adding another Dallas-Fort
Worth, San Antonio, Houston & Corpus Christi