Thursday, August 30, 2007
Eagle Mountain Lake Waterfront Foreclosure
The foreclosure on Eagle Mountain Lake listed for $103,000 has been returned to active status. I've shown this house in the past, before it became a foreclosure. It's been listed as high as $279,900. The area is not one of the best on the lake of course. It's a pretty run down.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Need a Home for You and Your Horse?
Fossil Creek is a nice gated horse community north of Saginaw. Lots range from 2.5 acres to about 4 acres. It has riding trails and an arena. Many of the homes have barns, but some don't. Of the three houses available at this time, two have barns, one doesn't. One has a pool. These are priced from the $340s to the $370s. The school district is Northwest ISD.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Waterfront Homes on Eagle Mountain Lake - Fort Worth Texas
Eagle Mountain Lake has houses on open water with wonderful views of the lake and there are houses on sloughs, coves, and canals. Some of those have pretty good views, others don't. Many lakes in the area are Corp of Engineer lakes and don't allow private docks. Most homes on Eagle Mountain lake either have a dock or could have one built.
Lake levels can vary from year to year, but they are building a pipeline from Richland-Chambers and Cedar Creek to help keep the levels up. It should be ready next spring. Of course we've had tons of rain this summer, so the lake if full and houses are selling well.
There 59 houses (4 are condos) available on the lake right now. Days on market ranges from 3 to 775. It's not unusual for lake front homes to take a while to sell. There are 14 pending contracts and 34 homes have sold in the past 6 months.
Some interesting homes available at this time:
There is a small one bedroom one bath condo available for $84,950. It's on the southern portion of the lake. No boat slip, but very close to a marina. It's been on the market for a couple of weeks.
Snug Harbour is a small community of homes and condos. I believe the HOA dues are $400 per year. The condos pay an additional $150 per month that I understand includes yard care and water. They have a pool, tennis court, and a play ground. There are 4 homes available. One is a condo. I've seen all 4.
The condo is offered at $168,000. It has 2 bedrooms. The master is a loft on the second floor. It has 2 decks and a boat slip.
My favorite is a home listed for $300,000. It has 2 bedrooms and 2 baths. It doesn't have a dock, but the listing agent says one could be built. Most of the homes in Snug Harbour face coves so your view is the boat docks and other homes. This one is at the end with views of open water.
That's enough for now. Call or email me if you want more information about these or others on the lake.
Lake levels can vary from year to year, but they are building a pipeline from Richland-Chambers and Cedar Creek to help keep the levels up. It should be ready next spring. Of course we've had tons of rain this summer, so the lake if full and houses are selling well.
There 59 houses (4 are condos) available on the lake right now. Days on market ranges from 3 to 775. It's not unusual for lake front homes to take a while to sell. There are 14 pending contracts and 34 homes have sold in the past 6 months.
Some interesting homes available at this time:
There is a small one bedroom one bath condo available for $84,950. It's on the southern portion of the lake. No boat slip, but very close to a marina. It's been on the market for a couple of weeks.
Snug Harbour is a small community of homes and condos. I believe the HOA dues are $400 per year. The condos pay an additional $150 per month that I understand includes yard care and water. They have a pool, tennis court, and a play ground. There are 4 homes available. One is a condo. I've seen all 4.
The condo is offered at $168,000. It has 2 bedrooms. The master is a loft on the second floor. It has 2 decks and a boat slip.
My favorite is a home listed for $300,000. It has 2 bedrooms and 2 baths. It doesn't have a dock, but the listing agent says one could be built. Most of the homes in Snug Harbour face coves so your view is the boat docks and other homes. This one is at the end with views of open water.
That's enough for now. Call or email me if you want more information about these or others on the lake.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Buying a Brand New Home - Should You Use an Agent?
You can walk into a model home and buy directly from the sales rep, but who does that person work for? Not you! They aren't trying to figure out which floor plan, which builder, which subdivision is right for you... they are trying to sell you their product. A good Realtor® will talk to you and match you up with the builder that is offering the best home for your needs. Do you have kids? Do you want to live in a community with pools and parks and walking trails? Would you rather live in a quiet neighborhood with little or no HOA dues?
A good Realtor® stays informed about special and closeouts being offered to get you the best deal on your new home. A good Realtor® represents YOU throughout the process. It doesn't stop when the contract is written. It doesn't stop at closing.
One of the great deals available now - For the month of August Centex is offering buyers 3% for closing costs, the owner's title policy, and will include a washer, dryer, and refrigerator in one of their communities. Buyers must use CTX Mortgage. This deal includes specs and build jobs! The community doesn't have pool. Centex Homes was rated 2nd in the J. D. Power new home builder survey for 2006.
A good Realtor® stays informed about special and closeouts being offered to get you the best deal on your new home. A good Realtor® represents YOU throughout the process. It doesn't stop when the contract is written. It doesn't stop at closing.
One of the great deals available now - For the month of August Centex is offering buyers 3% for closing costs, the owner's title policy, and will include a washer, dryer, and refrigerator in one of their communities. Buyers must use CTX Mortgage. This deal includes specs and build jobs! The community doesn't have pool. Centex Homes was rated 2nd in the J. D. Power new home builder survey for 2006.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
HUD Homes
I have a lot of people ask me about buying HUD foreclosures. A HUD home is a property that was financed with an FHA insured loan. The government ends up with it instead of a bank or other lender. You must use a HUD registered agent. Sometimes they offer certain homes in a lottery period before they are listed with a real estate agent and available to the general public. These are designated for disaster evacuees, policemen, teachers, etc...
Once they are listed and available to the general public, they start with a 10 day bidding period. During this time owner occupants are given preference over investors. If the home isn't purchased during this time, it goes to daily bidding where each morning they review any offers from the day before and choose one IF they've received an acceptable offer. Usually they will start dropping the price if it hasn't sold in about a month. When they drop the price they go back to a bidding period instead of daily bids. This lasts 5 days. If they still don't have an acceptable offer, they go back to daily bids. You can go to the HUD website http://firstpreston.com/ and see what offers have been submitted on an available property. You can also see the winning bid on a closed property.
If you're bidding as an owner occupant you can ask them to pay some of your closing costs. Owner occupants must sign an addendum stating that they haven't purchased a HUD owned home within the past 24 months and that they will use the home as their primary residence for 12 months after purchase.
It takes about 30 - 45 days to close once your bid is accepted. The earnest money is $500 for a sales price of $50,000 or below. $1000 for homes over $50,000. This must be in certified funds and in your agent's possession at the time the offer is submitted.
Well there's more to it, but this is getting long. Play around with the HUD website http://firstpreston.com/ and call or email me if you have any questions.
Once they are listed and available to the general public, they start with a 10 day bidding period. During this time owner occupants are given preference over investors. If the home isn't purchased during this time, it goes to daily bidding where each morning they review any offers from the day before and choose one IF they've received an acceptable offer. Usually they will start dropping the price if it hasn't sold in about a month. When they drop the price they go back to a bidding period instead of daily bids. This lasts 5 days. If they still don't have an acceptable offer, they go back to daily bids. You can go to the HUD website http://firstpreston.com/ and see what offers have been submitted on an available property. You can also see the winning bid on a closed property.
If you're bidding as an owner occupant you can ask them to pay some of your closing costs. Owner occupants must sign an addendum stating that they haven't purchased a HUD owned home within the past 24 months and that they will use the home as their primary residence for 12 months after purchase.
It takes about 30 - 45 days to close once your bid is accepted. The earnest money is $500 for a sales price of $50,000 or below. $1000 for homes over $50,000. This must be in certified funds and in your agent's possession at the time the offer is submitted.
Well there's more to it, but this is getting long. Play around with the HUD website http://firstpreston.com/ and call or email me if you have any questions.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Why a Blog?
I guess it's time to jump into this. I often have information I'd like to add to my website, but it takes so much time to create a page and make sure it's linked to the rest of the site correctly. I create and update the site myself, and if I spend all day on it, I'm not showing houses, etc...
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