Before we get started, we’d like to remind you to ask us about properties in H.E.B—short for Hurst, Euless, and Bedford, Texas homes—that may be available during the current housing difficulties.  You might find a hidden gem right here in our Featured Listings.  “Click your mouse for your new house!”

Now, the first fact is that there is a difference between a real estate agent and a Realtor.  These terms are not synonymous.  The State of Texas licenses real estate agents to represent clients in real estate transactions.  A Realtor, on the other hand, is voluntary member of a professional organization that has chapters around the United States.  This professional organization requires its members to operate by a code of ethics.  It also provides resources and options that assist real estate agents to better serve you.  All Realtors are real estate agents but not vice versa.

Next, we’d like to point out that licensed real estate agents in Texas are only legally required to provide very minimal services.  This is why you may see advertisements from some agents who may offer to sell your home for only a couple hundred dollars.  Legally speaking, real estate brokers are only required to accept and pass along offers and counteroffers to their clients, help the client to develop and present offers and counteroffers, and answer questions relating to offers and counteroffers.

There is not such a thing as a standard commission.  There are wide variations from one firm to the next for services.  Besides those who charge a bare minimum, others market their top-dollar no-worries services to target buyers and sellers that can afford their rates.  You may see real estate agents charge set commissions based on the sales price; a flat fee for services, regardless of sales price; or a menu of services to select from, similar to ala carte dining.

And, finally, realize that a well-reputed Realtor can help you to buy at the best price and to prepare your home for sale at the best possible market value.  Myth:  Real estate agents are trying to run away with your equity.  Fact:  They can save you money and hopefully make the transition period shorter.  Why not find your dream home in a day or sell your home within a week?  You will be able to get along with your life and dreams.

Contact Dave Warden at (817) 706-3291 or e-mail dave@davewarden.net for the inside scoop and details about real estate in the area.

So, today, we are going to begin explaining some common mortgage terms to help you along on the journey to owning Greater Fort Worth real estate. 

Alternative financing:  This term refers to the types of mortgages that are in the news this year and include adjustable rate, graduated payment, buy-down and hybrid mortgages.  Some start at an initially lower rate.

Amortization:  These types of loans apply a large portion of the payments in the early years of the loan to the interest, leaving the principal to be paid during the later years.

Assumable loan:  When a buyer takes over payments for someone else’s loan, he can save thousands of dollars in closing costs and loan origination fees by only paying a small assumption fee.  FHA and VA loans are assumable but most conventional loans are not.

Closing costs and prepaids:  Money needed in addition to the down payment on closing day.  These can include fees for an attorney, loan origination, appraisal, credit report, document prep, escrow, survey, recording, tax escrow, hazard insurance, flood-zone certification, and private mortgage insurance. 

Disclosure:  Document describing terms, conditions, interest rate caps, A.P.R. and other parameters of the loan.

Down payment:  The difference between mortgage amount and the purchase price.

Earnest money:  Deposit given to seller to show seriousness of buyer’s intent; this money is applied to down payment or may be forfeited if deal does not go through.

Equity:  This is the difference between the home’s fair market value and the loan amount.

Lock-in:  A period of time between 30 and 270 days that a lender will guarantee an agreed upon interest rate and points.

Market rate:  The average rate being charged by lenders for conventional, FHA, or VA loans.

Negative amortization:  This happens when the principal balance of the loan increases when payments are too low.

Origination fee:  The lender’s fees included in the closing costs.

Points or discount points:  Prepaid interest of one percent of the loan amount that can be paid to the lender to issue a loan below market rates.  Points may be tax deductible.

Prepayment penalties:  Fees charged to borrower for paying off a loan early.

Private mortgage insurance (PMI):  Insurance required with conventional financing if a buyer puts down less than 20 percent.  This is different from credit life insurance.

Qualifying:  After undergoing the process of proving to a lender the capacity to repay a loan, the lender agrees to a certain loan amount and terms.

Title:  A title to a piece of property that shows that the buyer has clear ownership.

Title insurance:  The lender requires the buyer to insure the title against future claims.  A borrower may also purchase it to protect their equity.

Your North Texas real estate agent can give you referrals, but it is important that you are personally comfortable with the company and the mortgage-lending professional that will be working with you.  Buying is a big commitment for most folks and stirs up plenty of emotion.  You want to work with someone who will facilitate a smooth transaction.  In addition, it is important to know exactly what they expect of you and what paperwork and documentation will be required.

Looking at the companies out there, you’ll find a wide range.  Some are very large, efficient, and well-advertised, but you’ll still need to look beyond the cover.  Some people prefer the personalized relationship and customer service that is characteristic of a smaller company.

After finding out how big the company is, ask how long they’ve been in business.  A company with longevity will have more references for you to check.  The Better Business Bureau may also have information such as consumer complaints.  If a company endures time, chances are they will have a pretty solid reputation.

Ask if the company is a mortgage banker or broker.  The difference is that a mortgage banker loans its own money to a homebuyer for a home loan.  Many of them will retain the loan and service it for the duration of your contract.   However, they are free to sell the loan to a secondary market.  A mortgage banker is considered a direct lender and can give the homebuyer loan approval.

A mortgage broker, in contrast, will shop around for mortgage sources such as the mortgage banker mentioned above.  Many of their source lenders do not deal directly with the public and the broker is the only go between.  Thus, mortgage brokers are called “wholesale lenders.”  Although, mortgage brokers charge fees for their services, they usually have access to many more options than a mortgage banker.

After you narrow down the field of lenders, there are questions to ask the mortgage professionals.  What are the upfront costs?  What is the interest rate?  What points will I have to pay?  What fees are involved?  Is a down payment necessary?  What will be the closing costs?  They should each be able to give you a good-faith estimate for your mortgage expenses.

When you can trust your instincts and knowledge and make a decision, it is time to apply.  Be prepared to open up your private financial affairs to the people who will be handing you hundreds of thousands of dollars.  To process a loan, most companies require a couple of years of federal tax returns, several months of pay stubs, recent bank statements, W-2 forms, and sometimes much more.

Enjoy the journey and you’ll soon be right at home.  Call Dave Warden at (817) 706-3291 or e-mail him at dave@davewarden.net for a tour of great deals in the area.

A little planning and you’ll avoid drilling multiple unnecessary holes or damaging the walls of your new North Texas real estate. 
What steps do you take to assure a level and secure placement for large, heavy pictures?  First of all, locate the studs with an electronic stud finder.  If you do not have access to this handy tool, try tapping the wall lightly with your knuckles or a hammer wrapped in cloth and mark the places where the sound is different.  If the sound is solid, there is a stud; if hallow, then no stud.  You can test the area by driving a thin nail and feeling for wood.

What type of nail or screw should you use?  Long nails and screws will go into the stud but it is better to use lag bolts and hanger bolts.  If the studs are metal, you will need to use sheet metal screws, No. 4 for light loads up to a No. 8 for heavy ones.  Drill up to the stud.  Then use a center punch to dent it, continuing the drilling with a narrow bit that is half the diameter of the screw.

How about mounting cabinets or very heavy items or pictures?  After you find the studs, using lag bolts install a board horizontally between the studs.  To install the lag bolt, you’ll need to drill a hole in the board that is slightly larger than the bolt’s diameter.  That hole will be the guide for you to drill the hole into the stud.  It should be slightly smaller than the bolt’s diameter.

If you are mounting lighter loads in this fashion on plaster walls, use hollow-wall anchors or toggle bolts.  Procure anchors long enough to extend through the walls.  Plastic anchors can only be used for very light loads.  To install a hollow-wall anchor, drill a hole about the same size as the anchor and insert it.  Tighten the screw until it flattens against the inside of the wall.  That part is removable.

Some units or objects need a toggle bolt to be secure and they are a bit more temperamental.  Drill a hole large enough to pass the folded wings through.  Before installing the bolt, attach the hook of your unit or object to it.

Another option is a modern invention called a Hercules hook which is designed to hold up to 150 pounds.  It is made of thin heavy metal and is laced directly into the wall.

Any picture or mirror weighing over five pounds should be equipped with a hanging wire.  Install screw eyes one-third of the way down from the top of the frame on each side.  Slip one end of a piece of hanging wire that is eight inches longer than the frame’s width into a screw eye.  Pull it out four inches and slip it through again.  Twist the short end tightly around the main wire and repeat the process with the other eye screw.

For expert and friendly assistance finding the right home for your family’s needs, contact Dave Warden at (817) 706-3291 or e-mail dave@davewarden.net.

While banks are tightening up some of the loose credit requirements that caused the mortgage fiasco, people with good credit scores are able to line up for some of the lowest mortgage rates in a generation or two.  If you are in that category, this is your opportunity to pick up some investment properties to supplement your income while the more “risky” buyers take a back seat.  Some banks are actually advertising the number of bankruptcies in their subprime-lending business and looking for people with good credit.  If you have worked hard to establish and maintain good credit, it will pay off in today’s market. 

Costly subprime mortgages, usually those with adjustable interest rates, were sold to borrowers with not-so-perfect credit or people with difficulty being approved for fixed-rate mortgages.  Lenders earned record profits using these tools during the housing boom.  However, as the borrowers default on the loans, these lenders also lose out.  They need a new clientele.  So, in walks the person with good or above average credit and the lender is willing to reduce the interest rate to gain the business.

Listen for opportunities to invest in properties that others have left behind.  The sharp rise in foreclosures has fueled a glut of for-sale properties.  Sellers are consequently lowering their prices in many markets and accepting bids that for many years were not acceptable in a booming market. 

If you are new to investment real estate, we will help you determine which properties within your price range are good candidates for your investment portfolio.  As lifelong residents in the area, we know the neighborhoods and schools, the amenities and the market.  We will tell you of the latest listings, foreclosures, and plain old good deals.  The process is a bit more than our motto would lead you to believe—Click your mouse for your new house!—but we would enjoy introducing you to some really good bargains and guiding you through the sale.  Contact Dave Warden at (817) 706-3291 or e-mail dave@davewarden.net. 

Thankfully, a wide variety of quality childcare resources are in place near homes in Southlake TX, including several Montessori schools, between here and major employers around the DFW airport.  North Texas real estate includes more than 200 childcare facilities.  Many are nonprofit, church and community sponsored centers.  There are private centers and company-sponsored childcare facilities. 

As the providers differ, so do the needs of parents and children.  Some parents are looking for a larger facility with state-of-the-art equipment; others want a home-based operation.  Many facilities now accommodate very young newborns and others begin at age 3 or 4.  Many working parents need to find a provider that offers afterschool care, part-time care, or weekend care.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services recommends following a step-by-step path to choosing the right childcare for your children.  First of all, create a list of possible licensed providers.  Much of the pertinent information you need can be found in the facilities’ history of inspections online.

Narrow down the list and make appointments to visit each one for an initial tour.  The next step is to casually drop in on your favorites during a second visit when you are not expected to observe how safe and healthy the environment actually is from the parents’ vantage point.  Are there ponds, pools, or water features that could lure a small child into danger?  How does the facility ensure the safety of the children?

Children all adjust differently to moving from familiar surroundings to new ones.  Once you decide on a facility, speak with your child about the exciting new adventure at school and the new friends waiting to meet him.  It is best to stay in the classroom for a time each day until you are sure that your child is happy and secure in his or her new school.  Listen to your child’s concerns and encourage any accomplishments that are shared with you.

It is important to stay involved with your child’s caregivers.  If they are too busy at drop-off and pick-up times, make special appointments to discuss any concerns.

Daily, as we drive through the subdivisions and variety of smaller communities, we notice important details that will help you to decide which neighborhood surrounding Grapevine Lake is best suited for you and your family.  We can highlight facts for important considerations like amenities, appearance, crime rate, environment, nuisances, property values, schools, transportation, and utilities.  Additional information can be gleaned by talking to neighbors, local media, police, and the school staff.

As your property search narrows, if you revisit your top picks at different times of the day and night, you will get a better idea of everyday life in the neighborhood.

Amenities:  Life is much easier when handy locations like grocery stores, parks, recreational facilities, a post office, dry cleaner, and doctor are close to home.

Appearance:  Look around the entire neighborhood for signs of neglect like overgrown landscape, trash, junked appliances, litter, and rundown homes.  No matter how nice a home looks, if it is in the middle of other properties that are not kept up, your property value will suffer.

Crime rate:  Be sure that your home is in a safe neighborhood.  Ask the police about burglaries and other crimes in the area.

Environment:  Find out about the quality of the air, water, soil, and other environmental concerns such as cell-phone towers.

Nuisances:  Listen for traffic noise, barking dogs, airplanes overhead, and other nuisances during various times of the day and night.

Property values:  We can use our real estate resources to research selling prices of homes over the past several years and determine future trends.

Schools:  Talk to neighbors with children and study the data from school assessments in the area.

Transportation:  Make sure that public transportation and major highways are convenient to access your employment.

Utilities:  Find out the utility costs—water, electric, cable TV, phone, gas— before you decide to purchase.

Contact Dave Warden at (817) 706-3291 or email dave@davewarden.net for the best neighborhood information in the area.

Along with some resort areas in the nation, residents of homes in Southlake, Keller, Grapevine, Texas and in Tarrant County and Denton County real estate continue to enjoy a diverse and thriving economy.  Thankfully, there is an underlying stability of home prices and the real-estate market in this region, reflecting a great quality-of-life that has been noticed with honors like “Best Place to Live” and “Best Cost of Living.” 

However, stocks are a different ball game.  So many variables are driving stock prices that it is worth pondering some of them to keep our perspective.  Here are some basic facts to sharpen our saws.

• Home-building stocks are leading the pack in 2008 with a gain of 24.6 percent in Standard & Poor’s home-building index, making it the top-performing industry.  Next, by the way, are casinos and gambling, oil exploration, merchandise, and household appliances.

• At the same time, the government reported sales of new single-family homes have fallen to a 13-year low.

• One prominent home builder, Toll Brothers, reported a quarterly loss of $96 million but their shares rose 71 cents each. 

• The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction exchange-traded fund rose 1.4 percent.

On the side of caution and slightly pessimistic, USA Today comments that crazy figures—like the fast run-up of home-building stocks from 2000 to 2005—parallel the rise in dot-com stocks from 1995 to 2000.  As with any stock that loses value, the lower prices of the stock may actually encourage the optimist to buy more, driving up the price.  For example, one building-company executive bought 300,000 shares of his company stock at $5 each.  Others followed suite and that company’s once-$5 stock costs $10 today.

Homes are not going out of style.  Everyone needs a home and, in one sense, homes are necessities.  Regardless of the fluctuating stock market, common sense says that the growing population in the United States, and especially in the great State of Texas, will eventually fill up what appears to be a glut of houses on the market and then some.  The question is how fast will that happen and how fast will builders need to raise more roofs?  Probably not in an instant during 2008 but we are hopeful that our territory will continue to appreciate far ahead of the crowd.  

We’re putting our cash directly into the real estate itself.

All North Texas real estate owners, however, can cut down their utility bills by listening to the advice from TXU Energy. 

The first place builders can help homeowners is in the walls, floors, and attic.  They need to be properly insulated.  If the original builders skimped in these areas, homeowners can investigate the latest ways to add insulation after the fact.  Homeowners also need to check around the windows and doors for drafts.  Weather-stripping and caulking are relatively inexpensive fixes.  Some people install double-pane windows and thicker doors.  Sealing leaks in air ducts will reduce cooling costs by 10 to 20 percent. 

Did you now that compact fluorescent lights could save hundreds of dollars a year or that putting your computer into sleep mode will reduce electricity usage?  Have you considered that running the dishwasher or clothes washer half full will cost you twice as much in electricity?  Do you check your filters every month and empty the lint filter every load?  Is there at least an inch of space all around your refrigerator for air circulation?  If not, it could cost you 10 percent more.

If you keep your water heater at a very hot setting, you will pay more.  Lower the temperature 10 degrees and save $30 to $60 a year.  Did you ever think about the attic?  Do you have any blocked vents?  Opening the upper vents will let the warm air out.

TXU recommends air-conditioning units with a 13.0 or higher Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER).  But it is also important to consider your thermostat settings and efficiency.  During the summer, the thermostat could be set at 78 degrees or higher, especially when occupants are not at home.  Householders can have programmable thermostats installed and lower costs by 20 percent.  However, one thing that may fool you is an inaccurate reading.  The accuracy of the thermometer can be checked by placing a thermometer next to the unit and comparing the readings for room temperature.  If the thermostat is two degrees off, adjust the settings accordingly.

We suggest that homeowners and future homeowners access their real estate and potential homes for energy efficiency.  Try some of these money saving tips and let us know about your successes!

Buyers of Tarrant as well as Denton County real estate always need to keep the bigger picture in mind.  North Texas real estate has steadily gained in value over the last few decades.  With such a great location in the Metroplex, there is no stopping the trend.  Homeowners are enjoying property value increases. 

That means that there is more to the equation than the interest rate, which is now going down a bit again.  We offer a wonderful quality of life where our homes in Southlake are near Grapevine Lake, the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, a vast amount of employment options, the best schools and universities, and a vast array of cultural and leisure activities.  Our quality of life has a value and many of our communities are ranked Best Places to Live, Most Affordable, etc. 

Even if the interest rates move back up, the inflation means that your home is also worth more, goods cost more, and you are making more money, right?  So, it is best not to make the interest rate or even the price of the home deter you from considering real estate that meets the needs of your family.

Ask around for good references for a mortgage company—they are not all equal.  The best companies will have mortgage products that can mitigate some of the costs that you anticipate when buying a home.  It is important to be sure that your loan officer has experience, can come up with creative solutions, will follow the transaction each step of the way, and is able to deliver effective customer service. 

Choosing a professional with sincerity and professionalism will simplify the myriad options for loans that can be confusing for the first home buyer.  Fixed-rate mortgages offer an interest rate that stays put for 15, 20 or 30 years.  There are adjustable rate mortgages that are the best option for a select group of people to start out with.  Many of the loans originating in our state have lower rates than other areas of the country.  Add to all of this the point system and Private Mortgage Insurance, and you’ll see that it takes skill to present clients with the best possible package.

We are happy to assist the homebuyer to find a good mortgage company in the area.  Contact Dave Warden at (817) 706-3291 for assistance when relocating to the Metroplex.