Last Tuesday evening my wife Terri Christian, me and the other Agents at the Keller Williams Boat Club Road office, held our 4th annual Client Appreciation Party at Los Vaqueros Mexican Restaurant on Main Street near the Fort Worth Stock Yards.   The food and deserts were great and the service was excellent.  This party is one way for us to say thanks to all of our friends that have used us as their preferred real estate agent when buying or selling a home, as well as everyone that has referred a friend or family member to us.  We certainly are grateful to them and we want to reward our advocates and friends for their help.  It was a great social outlet for all since many of the attendees know each other, live in the same communities, and go to church together.  Also, it was a chance for everyone to meet new people and make new friends.  We had two tables of gifts the we gave away as prizes to further express our appreciation.  Also, we collected several boxes of canned goods which were donated by many attendees so that we can to give back to the community that we call home and where we also make our living.  Throughout the evening, we took several photos of party goers at the Client Appreciation Party which can be viewed via this link.

We look forward to next year's annual Client Appreciation Party and hope all will be there again to enjoy!

By Bernie Christian

As most readers of my blog know by now, I love to use charts and graphs to present information about changes in the housing market.  The data in the tables below are excerpted from the Texas Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. The subject of this blog highlights some of the various impacts to the different property types in North Texas October 2008.  Probably the most interesting information from this chart is that pending sales of rental properties are up by 19% compared with a year ago.  Also, new listings and active listings are up by 16% for the same property type from a year ago.  It probably is no secret that the market for most property types has declined from the same time a year ago.  However, the broadest adverse impact is on Single Family homes as they are down just slightly more than 1/3.  However, area 109 (covers a large area around Eagle Mountain Lake) is doing comparatively well constrasted against the same data for all of North Texas.

Current Month Summary for: October 2008

In the latest US economic news, Former Fed Chief, Alan Greenspan said on Friday, November 7, 2008, that he thinks that the US housing market could fall another 5 to 10 percentage points, but that he expects the market to stabilize sometime during the first half of next year.  He bases much of his forecast on the increased rate that single family homes are selling.  See the full article Greenspan Sees U.S. GDP Down Significantly in 4Q.

Fortunately for those of us in North Texas, and especially Fort Worth, Texas, we still enjoy low unemployment and a stable housing market where home inventories have been decreasing (which tends to create demand) and home values have even modestly increased in many local housing markets.  Providing the US housing market stabilizes in the first half of next year as Greenspan predicts, our market in North Texas should be moving from stable and transitioning to normal because we are already fairing better than most of the rest of the nation in terms of home values, sales and inventories.  From an inventory perspective, a normal market lies between a buyer's market and a sellers market where home inventories would be at a 5 month supply.  That means assuming a constant rate of sales as measured at the beginning of a particular point in time in a local market, if no other homes were to be absorbed (put up for sale) into that market from that point on, it would take five months to sell all of the homes already available on the market.  I use the term  "local market" in the definition because this measurement would tend to lose significance the farther it is expanded outward into a larger area(s).  For instance, this definition of housing inventory is useful when I'm sitting at the table with a seller consulting with him/her on the value of their home and explaining how home inventories in the local area affect home pricing as a function of time.  Selling a home within the shortest possible time is a function of lower price since a higher price would tend to push outward how long a home would be on the market.  This information and other relevant data is usually provided in the form of a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) by your real estate agent when they come to market your home for sale.

Let us be your Fort Worth Real Estate Agent!  We will provide you a free CMA on your home and give you expert advice based on our knowledge and experience.

By Bernie Christian

• Applies to Homes purchased from April 8, 2008, to July 1, 2009

• Reduces the home buyer's bill or is a refund to the buyer dollar for dollar

• The credit must be repaid as an interest free loan over 15 years time at a rate of $500 per year for 15 years

• Vacation homes and Rental Properties are not eligible

• A tax payer that has owned a home during the last three years is not eligible

• The credit is 10 percent of the home purchase with a maximum available of $7,500

• The limit is $3,750.00 for a married person filing separately

• Income limits:

• The phase out range is $150,000 to $170,000 for a married couple filing jointly - This means that the full credit is available for married couples filing a joint return whose Modified Adjusted Income is less than $150,000 or less

• For a single person it is $75,000 to $95,000 - This means that the full credit is available for other taxpayers who's Modified Adjusted Income is $75,000 or less

• If your income is out of range: Joint filers with income over $170,000 or other tax payers over $95,000.00

• Those buying a home from a close relative

• Those who stop using their home as their main residence

• Those who sell their home before the end of the year

• Non Resident Aliens

• Those who have taken advantage of the District of Columbia first time home buyer credit

• Those who have financing which comes from tax exempt mortgage bonds

• Those who have owned a main home from 3 years back from the date of purchase

According to Michael Kitchen, Foxnews Marketwatch Pulse, Mortgage Rates surged during the 3rd quarter this year (get the full report at Mortgage Rates Surge to 3 Month High).  Prospective homebuyers shouldn't worry so much why rates shot up, but they should worry about just the fact that they did and that we don't know when this trend will ease up or stop.  Can we ever really know or predict what the rates are going to do? No, the best market analysts and experts are simply unable to predict with any degree of certainty or reliability where rates are heading.  Today is the best day to begin working with a solid lender (preferrably one that your real estate agent recommends) and lock in a rate.  Hopefully you already have a house in mind to buy.  Why, because you don't know where the rates are heading tomorrow.  This blog post should be a clarion call to all of you sitting on the fence and waiting out the market.  You may have heard that mortgage rates were in the double digits back in the 1970's and they can go there again!  Even modest rate increases can significantly raise the cost of a mortgage both in terms of monthly payments as well as the cost of financing over the lifetime of the loan.  Because of home forclosures and the slowdown in the housing market, there are fantastic bargains waiting for investors, first time home buyers and trader uppers.  But your brain has to be in gear if the opportunity is to be siezed upon. If the market shifts back in the other direction where pricing favors the seller, you will have waited too late.  And if the market should shift back to a seller's market, that unfortunately does not mean that mortgage rates will be low under that scenario either.  The primary advantage to any buyer in todays home finance market is to base decisions upon known terms and with given quantities.  And if after crunching the numbers it still does not work for you then don't buy the home but at least investigate the opportunity.  In a few months...maybe a year...the present housing market could be referred to as "The Good Ole Days". Urgency folks...how can I create a sense of ...urgency?

Who's a great lender?  WR Starkey Mortgage is highly recommended!

Who should you call to help you find your dream home? The Christian Group of course!

By Bernie Christian

Thinking of buying a home in Fort Worth, Texas?

Process is important, so use a professional agent to guide you early on:

• Find a real estate professional and they will guide you through a time tested and proven process to help you find a dream home.  The Christian Group is someone you might use.  We stand ready to assist and guide you in the buying process.
• Save time in online and offline searching and researching - Get prequalified with a Wr Starkey Mortgage, a reliable and trustworthy lender and understand what you can afford from the beginning.  It is recommended that you ask your agent to provide you with some local lenders that are known to follow through and who value their reputations.  The Christian group has a list of preferred lenders that won't let you down or disappoint.
• Establish selection criteria for a home, ie., location, size, price, amenities etc. and conduct your search with specific goals in mind.
• As a guideline, consider 30 homes that meet your criteria, narrow these down to 10, look at 3 of them and buy 1.

There are bargains in the market today!  Don't wait for a seller's market to return because there will be fewer bargains from which to choose!

Our office is located on 4516 Boat Club Rd, Suite 100B, Fort Worth, Texas 76135.  Come by and visit with us or give us a call or email.

Best Regards!

by Bernie Christian

Considering putting your home up for sale in Fort Worth, Texas?  Thinking of hiring a real estate agent? What about the commission, that is negotiable isn't it?

When you put your home up for sale, you should think long and hard before you hire just any real estate agent.  You should use an agent that is experienced and who has a proven track record of success in their business.  If you don't see their individual yard signs up around your neighborhood, that may be a sign itself that you should investigate further before you hire them to sell your house.  Also, you may need to change the way you think about real estate agents.  I mean, some people are just ordinary real estate agents while others are professional real estate consultants.  The difference is in how real estate people think about themselves and how they respond to their buyers and sellers as well as what are the overall expectations that you (the seller) have of them (the agent).  The Christian Group markets itself as a group of professional real estate consultants under the care and expertise of myself and my wife Terri.  We come from contribution (a mindset), because in order to differentiate ourselves from ordinary real estate agents we must service our customers and clients with value that goes beyond the basic sales approach to marketing a home.  We stay ahead of our competition through research, training and by finding new ways of marketing.  We strive to be the local economist and area experts on the local housing markets.  We contribute expertise that yields the maximum return to our home owners and that can only happen when you know what your doing.  To provide the highest quality service, we consult with our customers and clients and provide marketing solutions that are unique to the property that we are hired to sell.  As with any real estate professional, our commissions are negotiable.  We consider several factors when taking listings at a particular rate of commission:

• Scale and cost of the home to be sold
• Does the seller have a realistic sales price in mind after the consultation?
• Is the seller going to buy another home and are they using us as their agent on that purchase?
• Are there other challenges and difficulties involved which require an unusual effort to market the home
• Overall expectations of the seller

Three things that home sellers should keep in mind about hiring a real estate professional at any particular rate of commission:

• Be wary of agents who agree to sell your home for a low or reduced fee - you will have to take up any of the slack in the activities that a full service professional would otherwise provide and their marketing approach will likely be at only a very basic level, leaving you at an overall disadvantage in a housing market where you are competing with home sellers who have hired professional full service consultants like The Christian Group.
• Agents who cannot negotiate their own fee will probably not be effective at negotiating the best sales price for your home (emphasis added!).
• Quality full service professional agents will likely bring you a higher net sales price for your home and more than make up any difference that you might pay in higher commissions for their services.

I hope this information has been useful to you!  Please call us today for a free market consultation on your home!

By Bernie Christian

To give people an idea of how the recent and current activity in the Fort Worth housing market compares with that of previous years activity, I've attached below a graph excerpted from a Texas Real Estate Center report.  This graph compares the most recent 2008 data with the previous two years. 

Although market activity is off this year as expected, a consistent and predictable pattern can be seen (so long as our local economy and employment remain in stable condition) in the graph.  Something worth noting is that home sales always peak until about the middle of the summer season with the first sign of significant increasing sales beginning in March of any given year.

As economic cycles are concerned, it will be interesting to see in upcoming months whether there will be a trend toward a more normalized market accompanied by a decrease in availability of housing inventory.  One thing that I've noted in our real estate business is the recent decline in seller listings which I attribute in large measure to the upcoming elections and fear of the future.  However, a modest decline in housing activity usually occurs during the fall season of any given year anyway and one cannot be certain what is the significance of impacts (either positive or negative) current events have influence over market cycles. Although we desire to have more seller listings here at The Christian Group, Keller Williams Realty, to offer to our buyers, the good news is that these conditions could be indicating a potential decrease in housing inventory (providing demand remains constant), having a similar effect as would an increase in demand for housing.

Setting aside the negative aspects of the economy, this is a good time to buy real estate in Fort Worth where we have one of the best markets in the country.  Our market here is stable and affordable yet modest declines in the market have created certain opportunities for investors, first time home buyers and anyone wanting to trade up.  Indeed, there are bargains in the Fort Worth housing market today that will not be as plentiful once a turn around begins.  When that happens, the opportunities will be harder to find and the potential gains in equity will be much less obtainable.

If you would like to comment about this blog you may do so at my personal email address rbciii@earthlink.net or if you would like information about housing etc. you may contact me at 817-480-8425.

by Bernie Christian