Custom Real Estate Blog

From the beginning of the "COVID impact" on our local real estate market, we have been tracking the health of our home values by monitoring "under contract" data to get real-time indicators.  Since SOLD data is already 30+ days OLD by the time it's published, we use this info to determine what's happening with our market NOW.   Legend:  BLUE is the 1st 10 day timeframe. ORANGE is the midway 10 day timeframe. GRAY is the latest 10 day timeframe. Collin County - April 2020 to NOW It's almost like any other summer buying season in Collin county... Healthy numbers from 200k to 500k.  We are on an upward trajectory for homes being put under contract, with the higher-end ranges making a strong comeback from where we started.  There are plenty of buyers hunting for a great home, so put your house on the market with confidence.  More info available upon request. Learn more about Selling with NO SHOWINGS Right Here. Denton County - April 2020 to NOW BELOW 300k, D

Just because you are feeling optimistic about the health of our local real estate market doesn't mean anything without the data to back it up.  Dive in here to confirm what we all are feeling... We are getting stronger and stronger! Collin County From 250k to 450k, new highs across the board!  This is the result of higher seller confidence, which is resulting in higher quality, move-in ready homes becoming available for purchase. Denton County Color me baffled!  No, it's not the the Sherwin Williams color of the year.  The cause for bafflement is the lackluster number of homes put under contract in this last 10-day segment.  It could be Memorial weekend or just the normal "ebb and flow" of Denton county buyer demand.  All will be revealed by the next update, so let's watch for what happens next. Dallas County New highs from 150k to 300k!  The demand for homes under 300k in Dallas county make this also one of the highest appreciation price ranges.  Nothing pushes r

Riding these Waves of Demand!   Like boats that rise with the waves, home values are being lifted by various waves of buyer demand during COVID.  Every price range is being affected differently, and each county around us as well!  Dive into the deep end with me and find out what is happening in your local market.   Collin County Insights The yellowish column is the latest 10-day segment, so you can see the number of homes being put under contract is going up or at least maintaining it’s momentum of growth.   Most notably, the number of homes in the 450-500k price range more than doubled!   That means that either sidelined buyers in this price range decided now was the time to take advantage of low rates or that more sellers chose to put their homes on the market (and make them available to buyers).   See available home data next. The line is the number of homes available for sale over the past 12 months.   Fewer homes for sale make the ones that ARE for sale more valuable.

Do the Numbers Work? When an investor looks at a property to determine if it's a good deal, they are really applying some of their own formulas to rate each home.  That's the best way to make a very complicated process easy and enjoyable .  So read along to learn how to create your own formulas for buying a great rental property. Your Formula Starts With You What is your goal?  This isn't meant to be a tough question, but like most people that are considering real estate as an investment vehicle, you want to make passive income and retire someday.   That's a fine place to start, but let's make it an official goal by deciding on some specifics.  How much revenue do you want to make in a given time period?  To keep things moving, let's say that you want to make 100k on each property you acquire, every 5 years. Acquisition Formula Every home has a "sale value" and a "rental value".  If a home is for sale for 100k and rents for 500 dollars per m

Buyer Demand?  You Mean People are Buying Homes Now? Looking at the number of homes being put “under contract”, buyer demand has been consistently rising over the past 30 days.    Each column below is a segment of 10 days, with this chart data showing the past 30 days of buyer activity.   For the time being, the demand for good homes WILL INCREASE in value due to scarcity.    It’s a GREAT time to be a seller, that is for sure.   Ok, But I Heard It’s Tougher for Buyers to Get a Home Loan Now… This is true.   I interviewed Jackson Cussons, a lender for more than 35 years, about recent changes to the home loan industry.   It became very clear in our conversation that the home loan world has been affected by the pandemic just as much as the real estate industry. Me: What have been the changes to lending qualification criteria since COVID started?”  Jackson:   Credit scores with FHA/VA system are favoring at least a 660 middle credit score.  Debt to In

We are tracking the number of homes that are being put “under contract” to get some early indicators as to how buyers are behaving in real-time.   Want to take the pulse of our local housing market?   Look no further than right here! [Quick Data Explanation] The charts below are going to have two bars , one for homes being put “under contract” this year AND one to compare against for last year.   To read this right, you have to know that the average home is sold about 30 days after it’s put “under contract”.   So last year’s sold data was put into date ranges based on this corresponding timeframe to give us an active comparison. Collin County The orange bar  represents how many homes went under contract in 2019 (and eventually sold 30 days later).   The blue bar  shows the number of homes going under contract this year. The hottest segment of the market SHOULD BE the 200k to 300k range, but it’s the only price ra nge that didn’t see an increase.  My

The national news outlets say a lot of things.   Stats about mo rtgage applications, new home construction starts, housing markets grinding to a halt… BUT WHAT ABOUT US!?    Below, we have buyer activity data from the first 20 days of the COVID-19 pandemic for Collin, Denton and Dallas Counties.   And it’s not all bad news! This data is a follow up from my previous post , where we started carefully tracking the amount of homes that are being put “under contract” to get some early indicators as to how buyers are behaving in this weird time.   If buyers are still out shopping for homes, then values stay high.   If buyers decide to sit this one out, then sellers are going to get desperate, leading to lower sales prices/lower appraisals.   So let’s dive in and figure out what is going on based on the first 20 days... Quick Explanation!   The charts below are going to have two bars, one for homes being put “under contract” this year AND one to compare against for last year.   To

This update is to calm any fears about how our local real estate market is being affected by COVID-19.   We are all susceptible to fear, so why not have some open and honest dialogue about what's going on all around us?  Since March the 9th, buyers have continued to purchase homes.  In Collin County, 320 homes have been put under contract.  Denton County has had 304 and Dallas County has had 546 properties put under contract since then.   While others have to wait on "sold data", we are getting as close to real-time data as possible by digging into "under contract" property info to give you the inside edge on what the future holds.   Here is a look at the stock market as of yesterday afternoon... March the 9th is the starting place for our data because that is when the current level of panic set in for most of us.  So in the coming weeks, I will continue to provide updates on how many homes have been put under contract since then and

If I really, REALLY want something I will find a way to justify buying it.  Like, "I'll only buy it if I can get a great deal and save loads of money."  I mean, it would be crazy not to buy it if it was discounted enough, right!? Imagine it... Your very own pool, with a spa.  Big summer pool parties, maybe a few laps in the morning for exercise... or relaxing evenings in the bubbles of your spa.... I can see why almost everyone wants one.  But who has 60k or more to spend on adding a new pool to their home? What about buying a home that ALREADY HAS A POOL...?  A home with a standard pool/spa typically costs about 20-30k more than a home without one.  So you get a nicer home that comes with a nice pool.    But wait,  there is a way to get a pool for essentially FREE, but it's not for everyone.   By bundling various discounts, you could save enough money that it's like getting the pool for free.  I have neatly compiled the "nuts & bolts" of