Well, the Christmas Season is almost upon us and everyone is trying to find the perfect gift for their loved ones.  Many married couples are giving themselves a new home this year.  We have one young couple that will be closing on their new house and moving in just in time for holidays...ho,ho,ho!.  And we have two families that will be moving in just in time to bring in the new year.  It must be a great feeling to give yourself such a wonderful gift.  Next thing you know, there will be Valentine's Day where you can get her that porch swing for the back patio.  Then it'll be his birthday, a nice excuse to buy him that big table saw to help him put up the new crown molding that you've been wanting in the den.  Then there is Memorial Day to have that back yard barbeque and get that new four burner stainless steel built in grill.  I could go on with one improvement excuse after another.  I don't think I've ever left that zone myself.  You know how it is too! We all want to be comfortable and enjoy our surroundings.  We are constantly improving things to make them better.  But hey, that's living the American Dream and I wouldn't change it for anything!  To those of you who let us be part of your dream and your home buying and selling this year, we want you to know we appreciate it and we are greatful!  We wish you a Christ filled Merry Christmas and a happy new year! 

Thanks again for everything!

Bernie and Terri

Right now, there are eighteen waterfront properties for sale on Eagle Mountain Lake and Lake Worth for under $300K.

Regards,

Bernie

m.b5z.net/i/u/6105420/f/feeds.opml

 MLS data for our inquisitive readers:

Active: 0

Pending: 0

Sold: 299

Other: 0

Total: 299

	Bedrooms	Bathrooms	Square Feet	List Price	Selling Price	Days on Market
Minimum	0	0.00	600	$450	$450	0
Average	3	2.22	2,186	$151,582	$146,027	76
Median	3	2.00	1,777	$123,900	$120,000	50
Maximum	5	6.00	60,370	$1,599,000	$1,509,750	453
Total Dollar Value					$43,662,151

Average DOM Breakdown and Average % of List Price received on Solds by Market time:

	0-30 Days	31-60 Days	61-90 Days	91-120 Days	120+ Days
No. of Listings	99	69	37	39	55
Breakdown %	33.11	23.08	12.37	13.04	18.39
Avg % SP/LP	100.26	92.92	95.58	96.22	93.97

This information is provided for your consideration and education.  If you have any questions about the data above, please respond to this blog or email me at rbciii@earthlink.net and I'll be glad to share my thoughts about the real estate market.

Regards,

Bernie

Recently I showed several commercial properties (around the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex) to a couple from out of town who are in a hurry to purchase.  They had called me late in the afternoon from a listing I had previously posted on Craig's List and gave me the criteria that would meet their needs such as pricing, location, size, etc.  They wanted to be near a city and shopping malls for their business.  We set the appointment to meet at my office on the afternoon of the next day to begin the search.  The experience did not go as well as I envisioned since upon inspection the properties were in depressed areas and were unsuitable for their particular type business.  I could tell they were becoming frustrated and disappointed as they explained to me and repeated again what type of property they were searching to find.  Realizing I needed to reassert my credibility in the process, I brought them back to my office and showed them the searches I had previously performed and the criteria that was plugged into the various MLS services we use for commercial properties.  To demonstrate how searches worked, I started from scratch using an interactive map based search tool on my laptop screen and showed them that if price was not an issue that well over a hundred commercial properties (depicted by icons on the map) were currently available.  Of course price always matters!  So, I plugged in "X"  dollars into the MLS program as one of their criteria, and a few seconds later most of those properties disappeared (as expected) from the map.  Then I plugged in the acreage criteria and even more properties disappeared leaving about 15 for consideration.  About 10 of these were ruled out because of location, flood plain issues etc.  The  5 remaining properties we had just seen during an onsite visit where upon we ruled them out also.  Being at a dead end, the logical thing to do is to consider one or more of several options.  That is, change the price, location or size of the property that is being searched and chances are that you'll get a different outcome.  Unfortunately, due to time considerations, they may not find what they want without making appropriate and realistic changes in their criteria.   

If you're in the market for a home or other type property, please give yourself sufficient time to search when you arrive at your location.  If that is not possible, do as much market research as possible and start working with an agent prior to your arrival.  Also, be realistic about your expectations.  Real Estate professionals can only provide information and show you properties that sellers have placed on the market for sale.  Buyer's control the criteria and terms under which they are willing to purchase.  Being in a hurry to locate a property under limited or specific terms can sometimes ask the impossible of the real estate agent.  However, we're always happy to try and we sometimes even surprise ourselves!

Regards,

Bernie

I wanted to take a few minutes to say a word or two about our client appreciation party last Tuesday night at the Pasta Fina Restaurant on Boat Club Road.  We had a similar party last year at a local country club.  This year was much better since the restaurant was glad to have us, the food was great and the wait staff was plentiful.  Fun, food and drink was plentiful.  Throughout any given year, we make friends with so many people and we are so appreciative that they used us as their preferred real estate agent to list or purchase their home or they referred us to a friend or a family member to list or purchase a home, that we have a party to say thank you!  Without our customers and clients we would not be listing and selling property.  This year, we (and few of our fellow agents in the Boat Club Rd. Keller Williams Realty office) had over 260 quests at the party making it a resounding success.  Last year's count was around 220 people.  So, we're making friends and were growing.  Once you're on the list, we invite you back every year.  It's also a great way to get into the Christmas holiday spirit.  We gave away countless gifts from our prize giveaway drawing.  All seemed to enjoy and have fun.   Who knows, maybe you will be our guest next year.  It would be our pleasure to entertain you.  If we can help you find, locate or search for a residential, waterfront or investment property, or list a your property, please contact us.

To those of you who have been loyal customers and clients, we want to say thank you and we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Bernie and Terri Christian

If you're a real estate investor, house flipper or a wanna be and would like to give your efforts an unmistakable edge, I recommend that you get a copy of 'The Millionaire Real Estate Investor' or a copy of 'FLIP'.  These books were written by Gary Keller, a self made millionaire, and founder of Keller Williams Realty.  I recommend these books because they will provide the practical information you need to invest and hold or to buy and flip properties.  There are no gimmicks, just lots of practical how to information that most people are lucky to learn after years spent in trial and error investing and flipping.  You can avoid many of the booby traps and mistakes that novice and even experienced investors make in acquiring, fixing, renting and flipping houses.  More bargain properties are out there than ever before and you should be equipped with the tools of success that comes from experience acquired by seasoned professionals.  The only thing left for you to do after obtaining the time proven knowledge of real estate industry professionals is to put the right real estate agent to work for you.  We want to be on your team.  Together, we can help you achieve your goals, realize your dreams and succeed at what you love to do.  Buy, Invest, sell and flip with us, The Christian Group!

Regards,

Bernie

According to National Association of Realtor (NAR) 2006 statistics,  the method used to sell a house has trended over time to ever increasing use of realtors/agents by home sellers.  The NAR report states, "The share of home sellers who used an agent or broker, has risen over time from about 80 percent in the late 1990s to 84 percent today.  At the same time, the share of FSBO (For Sale Buy Owner)  sellers has declined from 18 percent in 1997 to 12 percent today".  While NAR does not provide the reasons behind the trend, from my experience it seems as though a significant factor behind the change is due to technological changes brought on through ever increasing use of the internet.  Although technology and use of the internet has tended to help educate buyers and sellers, it seems that they are ever more aware these days of the need to utilize the services of a professional agent skilled in the use and interpretation of data and information from systems integrated with the internet.  Indeed, sellers are putting ever increasing pressure on realtors to market their properties on venues beyond the tried and true multiple listing system (MLS).  Virtual Tours are now commonplace on MLS listings and home video tours are now touted as one of the latest marketing tools to display properties in a compelling manner.  Although the jury is still out on the impacts of other venues like Craig's List, eBay, etc., it is the local MLS that is the mainstay of access to information that helps realtors bring buyers and sellers together.  Technology continues to improve the MLS too, and the result is that what was once exclusive to brokers and agents has now been made widely available to the public (through various realtor and related sites) who wants to search the real estate market for available homes and research sales trends etc.  In fact, prospective buyers and sellers can view all of the properties in the local MLS on our site as well as view our featured listings (where your home could be featured too!) It is our desire too simplify the search for buyers who want market information, and attractively market our sellers listings.  This is a value added proposition!  Your agent should add value to your search/research as well as to the overall process of buying and selling.  If you are considering selling your home, please give us a call, send us an email or register with us to request an appointment.  I'm certain there's a buyer out there right now waiting to find your home and make it theirs.

Hope your weekend was great!

Bernie