NEW YEAR CHILE

2 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 16 oz can tomato sauce
1 lb lean ground beef
1 lb hot spicy ground pork
2 onions, chopped
4-5 cloves of garlic
1/2 lemon juiced
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 red or green bell pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped
4 beef bouillon cubes
2 cups water
1/2 cup chili powder
2 tbl spn cumin
2 tsp oregano
1 tbl spn basil
2 tsp sea salt
1 tbl spn black pepper
1 tsp white pepper
16 oz beans cleaned and soaked over night or according to directions.
I used black eyed peas for New Years chile.  Also pinto or black beans.


Saute the pork and beef in nonstick skillet until brown.  Transfer to a large stockpot.

Add onion, garlic, bell pepper and jalapeno to skillet and saute until the onions are slightly translucent.  Add to stock pot.

Add tomatoes and tomato sauce, bouillon cubes and 2 cups of water to the stock pot.

Mix together the spices in a bowl then add water to create a thin paste. Add to stock pot.

Drain and rinse the beans.  Add to the chili.

Simmer for 3-4 hours.

Serve with Fritos, scallions, cheddar cheese and sour cream

10 Grammar Mistakes Almost Everyone Makes on the Web

10 Grammar Mistakes Almost Everyone Makes on the Web With more of your communications going over the web, you, like other business people, may worry about grammar. You don't want to get nailed by the grammar police or, worse, make a goofy grammatical mistake that goes viral. Here are 10 grammar errors to watch out for as you post and comment.  1. "Fewer" or "less?" Use "fewer" when referring to a lower number, as in: "They have fewer than 100 workers." Use "less" when referring to a smaller amount, as in: "We need to get there in less time." 2. "More than," not "over." When referencing a greater number, use "more than," as in: "We have more than 15 new clients." "Over" is simply incorrect. It indicates a physical position in space, or can mean "instead of," but not "more than." 3. "Affect" or "effect?" Think what these words mean as verbs and you'll use them correctly as nouns. To "affect" something means to influence it. So if you influence something, you will have an "affect" on it. To "effect" something is to cause it. So if it's the result of something, it's an "effect." 4. "Me" or "I?" Always use "me" following a preposition, as in: "for me," "with me," "to me," etc. But people can get tripped up when something else is added. They'll say: "for my company and I" or "to my partners and I." Check yourself by leaving out the other element. You'd never say "for I." 5. "I could care less." People say this to be dismissive, but it's incorrect. If you could care less about something, that literally means you care more about it now than you ultimately might! People forget to include the "not" in the phrase. The correct statement is: "I couldn't care less." 6. "Nauseous" or "nauseated?" "Nauseous" refers to something that's sickening to contemplate, but it's not how a person can feel. The correct expression is: "I feel nauseated." 7. Irregardless. This isn't a word. The word is "regardless." 8. The Oxford comma. This is the name for the last comma in a series of three or more items. It appears before the word "and" or "or" at the end of the list. For example: "The shirt comes in Small, Medium, Large, and Extra Large." You can omit the Oxford comma, but there will be times when the sentence won't make sense. Better to always put the Oxford comma in there. 9. Commas for clarity. Always read your copy out loud to see if you need a comma to make the meaning clear. "Let's eat my friend" is not the same invitation as: "Let's eat, my friend." 10. Quotation marks and punctuation. Punctuation belongs inside quotation marks. The best way to make sure your grammar is correct is to check an authoritative source. PR professionals say two of the best are The Elements of Style and the AP Stylebook. Here's to your continued success with grammatically correct online communications, as you keep putting together your best year ever.... Enjoy a great month!

DFW Gains 96,100 Jobs in 12 Months; Gains Over 125,000 Net New Residents

DFW Gains 96,100 Jobs in 12 Months; Gains Over 125,000 Net New Residents

Dallas-Fort Worth appears to be leading the nation’s job growth, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.   For the year that ended Oct. 31, Dallas-Fort Worth recorded a job growth rate of 3.1 percent, tops among the 12 largest U.S. metropolitan areas. Houston was No. 2, with a rate was 2.9 percent.  Both D-FW and Houston beat the nation’s job growth of 1.7 percent.  “Dallas and Houston have ranked No. 1 and No. 2 for quite a while, and that’s partly due to the overall health of the state,” said Cheryl Abbot, a Dallas regional economist for the BLS.   Preliminarily, the Dallas-Ft Worth area is expected to once again have a net population growth of over 125,000 people.

-          Dallas Morning News, December 5, 2013

Nationally 6% Growth in Closings, RMDFW Sees 27% Growth

RE/MAX DFW Associates is expected to close approximately 4,700 units for 2013, up from 3,725 units in 2012.  This is over four times the national growth rate in closed sales.

Texas Market has Massive Influx of New Residents

Texas Market has Massive Influx of New Residents

The Texas housing market is reacting to the massive influx of new residents spurred to move to the Lone Star state in search of high-paying energy and professional service jobs, as well as low cost of living.  As more residents move to Texas from other states with higher median home prices, the housing markets in Dallas, Houston and Austin have been bolstered by rising home prices of double-digit year-over-year growth, according to technology-based real estate brokerage firm Redfin's latest report.  About 2.5 million people relocated to Texas between 2008 and 2012 in search of jobs from more costly regions of the nation, the report stated.  In Dallas, the median list price was $192,500 in October, compared with $389,450 on Long Island and $495,000 in Los Angeles, according to the data.

-          Dallas Business Journal, November 28, 2013

Austin Firms Cut Off Zillow and Trulia

Austin Firms Cut Off Zillow and Trulia

Eight more Austin-based real estate brokerages are taking a cue from their local Realtor association and will no longer send their listings to real estate portals not affiliated with a Realtor trade group.  Earlier this month, the Austin Board of Realtors announced that as of April 30, 2014, it would no longer distribute its members’ listings to third-party listing portals through listing syndicator ListHub, citing concerns about unethical business practices and inaccurate listing data on third-party sites. Members would then be free to decide whether to syndicate their listings to third-party sites on their own.  At the time of the board’s announcement, Realty Austin, which claims to be the second-largest residential real estate firm in Austin, announced that it would stop syndicating real estate listings to national third-party websites.  Today, eight additional firms announced they would take the same step and end listing syndication to what they called “real estate advertising portals.” These include Zillow and Trulia, but not realtor.com, the official site of the National Association of Realtors.  The brokerages cited the desire to protect consumers from third-party sites’ inaccurate listing data and lack of oversight, as well as objections to the sites’ ad-based business models, as reasons behind the decision.  “Our 220 agents are excited to regain control over where their listings are advertised online. We turned off our direct feed to all unregulated third-party websites because we believe they cause distrust between consumers and Realtors by posting inaccurate and outdated listing information, ” said Jonathan Boatwright, co-owner of Realty Austin, in a statement.

-    Inman News, October 30, 2013

Texas Growth Accelerates

Texas Growth Accelerates

Texas, known for its open spaces and cheap property, is experiencing the types of real estate bidding frenzies seen in tightly built markets from New York to San Franciscoas job gains generate a suburban land rush.  Existing-home prices in Dallas and Houston are rising faster than at any time since the oil boom of the 1980s. Homebuilders, caught off guard by the ferocity of buyer demand, are exhausting construction-ready lots as they struggle to recruit workers to complete houses quickly.  Texas, which largely avoided the collapse, is benefiting from employment growth and an expanding population, the more traditional forces of housing demand.   The job market is driving demand. Texas had a 6.4 percent unemployment rate in August, almost a percentage point below the U.S. rate.  The pace of job growth in Dallas was the greatest of the 12 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, followed by Houston, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.   “A lot of good things happen when you have jobs,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics Inc.  “Hopefully what happens in Texas spreads to rest of the country, because it feels real good.”

- Bloomberg News, October 9, 2013

DFW pre-owned home sales up 20 percent in 2013

DFW pre-owned home sales up 20 percent in 2013

Through the third quarter, pre-owned home sales in North Texas are up 20 percent from 2012 levels. And median sales prices are 10 percent higher than they were in the first nine months of last year.  This year’s increase in home sales and prices has propelled the Dallas-Fort Worth pre-owned home market to above where it was before the recession.  But with mortgage rates rising, analysts wonder how much longer the large double-digit gains will continue.  “I keep thinking it’s going to slow down, but it hasn’t so far,” said Dr. James Gaines, an economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. “Yes, the rates are higher and the builders may be feeling it a little, but really, the rates are still very good and don’t seem to be hindering sales much.  “Also, if people expect the rates to continue to increase, they’ll buy now rather than wait.”

- Dallas Morning News, October 8, 2013

Real Estate Sale Forecast 2014 Predicted to be Similar to 2013 in Sales

Just the Facts

All-Cash Deals Make Huge Comeback Nationwide

Call it the summer of the cash sale.  All-cash home purchases skyrocketed during the summer months of 2013, with their share of total sales growing by more than 40 percent from the beginning of June to the end of August, amid sustained appetite from investors, a recent spike in interest rates and tight inventory.  Cash purchases accounted for 45 percent of sales in August, up from the 2013 trough of 32 percent seen in April and May, according to RealtyTrac data provided exclusively to Inman News.  (Note cash sales in Miami almost 80% of sales; in Dallas about 20%.).  Graph below is from Realty Trac 

2014 to be Similar to 2013 in Sales

Although total existing-home sales this year will be up about 11 percent to nearly 5.2 million, little change is seen in 2014, with sales forecast to increase less than 1 percent. The national median existing-home price should rise 11 to 12 percent for all of 2013, easing to an increase of 5 to 6 percent next year, with general improvement expected in inventory supplies.   Pending home sales slowed in August, with tight inventory conditions, higher interest rates, rising home prices and continuing restrictive mortgage credit impacting the market, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.   Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the decline was expected following elevated levels of closed existing-home sales at the end of summer. “Sharply rising mortgage interest rates in the spring motived buyers to make purchase decisions, culminating in a six-and-a-half-year peak for sales that were finalized last month,” he says. “Moving forward, we expect lower levels of existing-home sales, but tight inventory in many markets will continue to push up home prices in the months ahead.”

-       RISMedia, September 29, 2013

Market Update! For the week of September 30, 2013

Keeping you updated on the market! For the week of  September 30, 2013

---

MARKET RECAP Lower Mortgage Rates Prevail Mortgage rates can be as difficult to forecast as the flight path of a butterfly, but forecast we do. Last week, we said we expected to see the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fall after the Federal Reserve announced there would be no tapering of quantitative easing. Our forecast was for the rate on the 30-year loan to fall below 4.5%, and possibly trade in the 4.25%-to-4.5% range for the near future. It looks like we got it right. Bankrate.com's latest survey shows the 30-year loan averaged 4.47% nationally. Of course, some local markets didn't see quite that much reduction, while others saw more. But all in all, we are seeing rates lower than we've seen in the past four months. We expect the 30-year loan to hold near today's levels. The fact is that economic growth remains sluggish. The latest and final revision of 2 nd quarter gross domestic product (GDP) shows less growth than expected. The consensus estimate was for GDP to grow at a 2.7% annualized rate, but the final number shows a 2.48% growth rate. Sluggish GDP growth gives the Federal Reserve reason and room to continue buying $40 billion worth of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) each month. In addition, concerns over a looming federal government shutdown, due to political wrangling over the debt ceiling, will keep interest in Treasury notes and bonds high. Investors are also pondering what impact the Affordable Healthcare Act (Obamacare) will have on businesses when it's implemented next month. In short, there's a lot of uncertainty that will keep investors interested in haven securities like Treasury notes and bonds and MBS. Their interest should help hold mortgage rates at these lower levels. To be sure, we see little impetuous for mortgage rates to move much high. But keep an eye on next Friday's employment report. Should that come in stronger than expected, rates could temporarily spike. On the flip side, if the employment report comes in weaker than expected, rates will move lower. The past couple employment reports have disappointed, so it's likely most economists have proffered less-optimistic predictions. Our crystal ball points to job growth meeting or slightly exceeding exceptions. In that case, we could see an uptick in mortgage rates at the end of the week. But with all the other uncertainties baked into the credit markets, we doubt rates would move meaningfully higher. So we see an extended opportunity to take advantage of lower rates. Keep in mind, though, the long-term bias – an eventual tapering and higher inflation – points to higher mortgage rates down the road. The risk, as we've said so often, remains in procrastinating.

Economic Indicator	Release Date and Time	Consensus Estimate	Analysis
Construction Spending (August)	Tues., Oct. 1, 10:00 am, ET	0.6% (Increase)	Important. Gains in residential spending slowed in recent months, but commercial spending is moving higher.
Mortgage Applications	Wed., Oct. 2, 7:00 am, ET	None	Important. Purchase applications jumped to their highest level since July, which points to strength in underlying home sales.
Factory Orders (August)	Thurs., Oct. 3, 10:00 am, ET	0.3% (Increase)	Moderately Important. Orders remain subdued, thus reflecting sluggish economic growth.
Unemployment Situation (September)	Fri., Oct. 4, 8:30 am, ET	Unemployment Rate: 7.3% Payrolls: 180,000 (Increase)	Very Important. Another month of sluggish job growth and low-employment participation ensures continued quantitative easing.

Laws of Economics Still Work Higher prices bring in more supply; more supply leads to lower prices. This is how things are shaping up in the new-home market. Sales jumped 7.9% to an annual rate of 421,000 units in August. The number of new homes for sale rose 6,000 for the month. Supply stands at five months, a considerable improvement over the 4.6-month supply that prevailed a year ago. More supply – more new homes – means pricing pressure. The median new home price slipped 0.7% to $254,600 in August, marking the fourth-consecutive monthly decline. This follows the news on existing-home sales, which showed a slight downtick in the median price to $212,100. Over the past couple months, we've been warning that price appreciation will likely slow. The latest data from the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index support our contention. Case-Shiller's 20-city index shows price growth slowed to 0.6% in July, down from 0.9% in the prior two months. Trends don't last in perpetuity, so a slowdown in price-appreciation was (is) inevitable. Because trends don't last in perpetuity, we pounded the table hard in 2010 and 2011 for buyers to get in the game. We were adamant back then because we expected the downward price trend to soon reverse course, which it did. We expect price-appreciation growth to continue to slow. More supply will come to market, because more sellers will see slowing price growth and will want to capture gains. In turn, their actions will further slow price-appreciation growth. That said, if anyone is waiting for slow-to-no price growth, he or she needs to keep in mind that any money saved on a purchase price could easily be offset by higher financing costs.

 The largest real estate company in the world goes public--

RE/MAX set to go public Wednesday

All eyes in the world of real estate world will be watching Wednesday as franchisor Re/Max Holdings Inc. goes public, an event that expected to shed light on investor sentiment about the housing recovery.  “We know that the real estate market has cooled off since the spike in rates, and while Lennar just told us that the home building business is doing much better than we thought, this may not be the ideal moment for a real estate brokerage play like RE/MAX to be coming public,” Mad Money host Jim Cramer said today.  “I do think Re/Max is worth watching, if only to see which way the market jumps — it could be an important tell for everything associated with residential real estate.”

According to Nasdaq.com, shares in Re/Max will begin trading on Wednesday, Oct. 2, sharing the limelight with Burlington Coat Factory.  Re/Max has said it expects to net at least $177 million from the initial public offering.

The franchise network serves more than 90,000 agents in 6,300 offices and 90 countries. The IPO of 10 million shares is expected to be priced at between $19 and $21 per share.  Re/Max will also grant underwriters of the IPO a 30-day option to buy up to 1.5 million additional shares.  If underwriters fully exercise their option to purchase additional shares, the net proceeds will total $205.2 million, the company said in an amendment to its S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

-         Inman News, September 26,2013

What's Trending in Real Estate

What's Trending in Real Estate

These six hot topics are gaining traction.

SEPTEMBER 2013 | BY GRAHAM WOOD

Be sure to stay ahead of the curve.

1. Generation X jumps to the top. Generation X—those ages 33 to 47—made up the largest chunk of home buyers, at 31 percent, between July 2011 and June 2012, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ “Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends” report. Generation Y—those 32 and younger—made up the second-largest group, at 28 percent, followed by younger baby boomers (18 percent) and older baby boomers (14 percent).
2. Mobile real estate search. Consumers are taking to their mobile devices in droves for real estate searches. According to online marketing firm The Search Agency, real estate ad clicks on smartphones grew 10.7 percent between the fourth quarter of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013. Tablet ad clicks shot up even higher, increasing 20.2 percent quarter over quarter—and 87 percent year over year. It all goes to show that consumers are becoming far more comfortable searching for real estate on mobile devices.
3. Paperless business. Want to spend more time helping clients and less time dealing with all that paperwork? There’s a plethora of online tools that allow you to file and manage documents electronically, One option is RES.NET. In addition to keeping all his paperwork stored securely online, San Diego sales associate Jesse Zagorsky of SDREOSold likes that it lets him link his profile to all of his transactions. It also allows him to communicate with everyone involved in each transaction. “The system [frees] up my time to spend helping customers,” he says. And don’t forget DocuSign, a program for creating and transmitting documents electronically from any device. (Discounts are available to NAR members through the REALTOR Benefits® Program.)
4. Reversal of fortune in inventory? The complaint is widespread: Housing inventory has been stubbornly low in the past year. Well, perhaps that’s starting to change. The number of listings nationwide ticked up by 4.3 percent to 1.9 million homes on the market in June, according to realtor.com®. That’s the highest monthly jump in a year, and rising home prices could persuade more sellers to throw their homes on the market in the coming months.
5. Drone photography. The use of miniature remote--controlled -helicopters for taking aerial photos and -video of properties is piquing interest among real estate agents. But it’s important to note that this marketing practice currently violates Federal Aviation Authority rules pertaining to the use of drones for commercial purposes. The agency is expected to release proposed rules for such use later this year. Congress has given the FAA until September 2015 to finalize a plan. Six states have put laws on the books restricting the public and private use of drones. NAR recommends that REALTORS® avoid using drones until the FAA has released clearer rules.
6. Micro apartments. In some major metropolitan areas, people are living large in smaller spaces. So-called micro apartments—which are often less than 200 square feet—are becoming popular in San Francisco, New York, Seattle, Boston, Providence, R.I., and Portland, Ore., reports CNN Money. But it’s not only those just-out-of-college grads flocking to these tiny units. In some “micro buildings,” the average tenant is 33 years old and makes less than $35,000 a year, according to Reuters.

Dallas Home Prices Now 4% Over the 2006 Boom

Just the Facts

Top Schools Equal Higher Home Prices

An analysis by Redfin illustrates the steep price premiums that homeowners are willing to pay for homes served by top-ranked schools, offering the latest concrete evidence that buyers place remarkable importance on the quality of schools.  Redfin’s study found that buyers pay an average of $50 more per square foot for homes served by top-ranked schools than for those served by average-ranked schools. It also found that, even within the same neighborhoods, buyers will pay substantially more for homes served by top-ranked schools than they do for comparable homes served by average-ranked schools.  The online survey, conducted this summer, found that of those who said school attendance boundaries were important:

* 23.6 percent would pay 1 to 5 percent above budget.

* 20.7 percent would pay 6 to 10 percent above budget.

* 9 percent would pay 11 to 20 percent above budget.

* 40.3 percent would not go above budget.

        -      Inman News, September 25, 2013

Dallas Home Prices Now 4% Over the 2006 Boom

Dallas and Denver are now the two American cities where home prices has reached and surpassed the levels in the 2006-2007 boom.   And price increases are expected to continue into 2014.  Most Americans (55%) think home prices will go up over the next 12 months, according to a new Bankrate.com report.  "It seems like Americans' love affair with real estate has returned," said Greg McBride, CFA, Bankrate.com's senior financial analyst.   There is concern on the part of some prospective home buyers that prices may be running away from them, said McBride.   "The housing market is aiding the economic recovery," he said.   

-          Dallas Morning News, September 25, 2013 (excerpts)

All Top 100 Markets Gained in July

The July report for Homes.com showed gains for single-family properties in all 100 markets, up from 87 in the previous reporting period.  The Homes.com Local Market Index has been expanded to include midsized markets ranked from 101-300. It provides a closer look at smaller markets nationwide, showing increases in 293 of the top 300 markets, up from 250 the previous month. Year-over-year, all midsized markets increased.  Rebound data for July 2013 in the top 100 markets revealed that 22 markets across the U.S. are fully recovered – up from the previous month’s 19 markets. Additionally, 44 U.S. markets now show a rebound of 50 percent or more, up from 41 in last month’s report.

-          RISMedia September 25, 2013

Dallas Cowboys to Bring $23.4 Billion to Frisco, Texas

Dallas Cowboys to Bring $23.4 Billion to Frisco

Elizabeth Morris, CEO for Insight Research, recently presented to the Frisco City Council how the Dallas Cowboys mixed use development would impact the region.

Here are the details of the 91 acre project:

• This section alone will add around 400,000 square feet of new commercial space and 50,000 square feet of new restaurant space

• 2 Hotels plan to be developed

• An addition of 4,500 jobs by full development in 12 years which is the year 2026

“The Economic Impact she projected was 23.4 Billion in 30 years!”

She also mentioned that the tax revenue alone will bring the city of Frisco 1.2 Billion in the next 30 years!

Dallas/Fort Worth in Top Three US Cities for Small Business

• 

Everything may be bigger in Texas, but the state also does well by the little guy. A new study from personal-finance website NerdWallet.com finds four of the five best cities for small businesses are located in the Lone Star State, with Austin topping the list.

Looking specifically at the 20 largest cities in the United States, NerdWallet.com examined data from the Milken Institute and Thumbtack to figure out which cities make it easiest for businesses to launch, grow and thrive. In particular, NerdWallet.com’s Dana Lime says the study focused on taxes at the state and local level, as well as the licensing environment.

Lime says she also took into consideration each city’s growth rate, based on five-year statistics on job creation, salary increases and the expansion of technology firms.

Ray Keating, the director of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, agrees on the importance of the factors examined by NerdWallet.com.

He says it’s no surprise that Texas cities rank highly, given the state’s tax structure; there is no individual income tax or corporate income tax in the state.

Lime says Texas cities are also great for SMBs due to a more relaxed regulatory environment.
“It’s the degree to which it’s easy for businesses to get up and running. It’s a huge roadblock potentially if they can’t get approvals [for licenses],” says Lime.

Interestingly, three of the country’s largest cities didn’t make the cut when it came to finding the best cities for SMBs. New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles all fell toward the bottom of the list.

For businesses earning $100,000, Lime says New York City is the worst city from a tax standpoint, and the Big Apple ranks 12th in terms of licensing.

San Francisco and Los Angeles also placed at the bottom due to high taxes and stringent licensing requirements. Additionally, Lime says that California’s environmental regulations put a high burden on small businesses.

Here’s the full list of the top ten cities for small businesses, according to NerdWallet.com:

1. Austin, TX
2. San Antonio, TX
3. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
4. Baltimore, MD
5. Houston, TX
6. San Jose, CA
7. Charlotte, NC
8. Indianapolis, IN
9. Jacksonville, FL
10. Phoenix, AZ
11. 
    

Fox Business News

Read more: http://smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com/entrepreneurs/2013/08/28/study-ranks-best-and-worst-cities-for-small-business/#ixzz2dMd2SY00

Dallas Texas- Rare Find Full Duplex For Sale

           
   
           
                       
               
                       
               
                       

                            Unique Investment Oportunity
                           

Fantastic location. Rare opportunity for investor. Both sides of duplex are for sale Owner wants to sell together. Fabulous 3 Bedroom 2.5 Baths floor plan with spacious living areas.  Other side is 4 Bedrooms and 2.5 Baths and Pool.  Each side has two car garage.

                       
                   
               
                       
                                                       
                           
                                                       
                           

RE/MAX DFW Associates II

                           
                            Kim Raine

                                                       

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            Information herein deemed reliable but not guaranteed
       
                   
            ©2013 Imprev, Inc.
           
               
           
   

First Look at the Dallas Cowboys New Indoor Training Facility

First Look at the Dallas Cowboys New Indoor Training Facility

The Dallas Cowboys will share the complex with the Frisco Independent School District.    The stadium will seat a minimum of 12,000 fans for games. The practice facility will also be a multi-use facility that can be refigured to accommodate 22,000 seats for other events like concerts.  Current plans are that the Frisco ISD will have use of the facility on Thursday and Friday evenings for football games. As the first school district in the state with an indoor stadium, it will also be an attractive destination for “Blue Star Stadium” to host potential Texas playoff games as well.   Frisco will oversee design and construction of the stadium and parking facilities while the Dallas Cowboys will oversee design and construction of their headquarters.

-                      Dallas Morning News, August 16, 2013

Rising home prices in DFW brings influx of new listings

Rising home prices in DFW brings influx of new listings

Dallas-Fort Worth's rising home prices -- reaching double-digit increases year-over-year -- have prompted more homeowners to put their houses on the market.   The North Texas area increased its new listings by 18 percent year-over-year in July to 10,176 listings, after the median home prices rose 14 percent in the same time period. The median home price in Dallas was $192,500. In the U.S., the number of new home listings rose 14 percent, with a median home price of $282,034.  Dallas-Fort Worth area homes sold at an average 98.7 percent of list price, compared with the national average of 99.1 percent of list price, according to the data.  With the new listings and an increase in inventory, home prices will moderate in coming months, but the housing market shows no signs of stopping.

-          Dallas Business Journal, August 12, 2013

Who are the Middle Class?

Who are the Middle Class?

Many economists define the middle class as those adults whose annual household income is between two-thirds and twice the national median – today, that means roughly $40,000 to $120,000.   .  By this standard, according to the Pew Research center, the middle class is significantly smaller  than it was.   In 1971, America had the following make-up:

·         14% - Upper Class

·         61% - Middle Class

·         25% - Lower Class

Four decades later in 2011, the middle class share has declined, with the following results:

·         20% - Upper Class

·         51% - Middle Class

·         29% - Lower Class

-          Wall Street News, August 7, 2013

Cash Sales Over 40% in 10 Markets

Cash Sales Over 40% in 10 Markets

Home buyers who require financing for their home purchase can struggle to compete against buyers who have offers of all-cash.  Where are all-cash deals are the most prevalent? Cash deals represented 80 percent of home sales in June in Vermont; 58 percent in Nevada; 57 percent in Florida, and 51 percent in New York, according to RealtyTrac. Cash deals represent a very small percentage in Texas, Utah, and New Mexico.  The markets with the most all-cash transactions tend to have a high number of foreclosures and depressed home prices, which attracts investors and private equity firms, according to RealtyTrac.   The following 10 metros had 40 percent or more all-cash deals out of the total home sales in June, according to RealtyTrac:

·         Miami/Ft. Lauderdale: 64%

·         Las Vegas: 62%

·         Tampa, Fla.: 58%

·         Detroit: 56%

·         Orlando: 53%

·         New York: 49%

·         New Orleans: 43%

·         Memphis: 43%

·         Jacksonville, Fla.: 42%

·         Atlanta: 42%

-           CNNMoney, July 25, 2013

Obama Administration to “Social Engineer” Neighborhoods

Obama Administration to “Social Engineer” Neighborhoods

In a move some claim is tantamount to social engineering, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is imposing a new rule that would allow the feds to track diversity in America’s neighborhoods and then push policies to change those it deems discriminatory.   The policy is called, "Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing."  It will require HUD to gather data on segregation and discrimination in every single neighborhood and try to remedy it.  HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan unveiled the federal rule at the NAACP convention in July.   "This is just the latest of a series of attempts by HUD to social engineer the American people," said Ed Pinto, of the American Enterprise Institute. "It started with public housing and urban renewal, which failed spectacularly back in the 50's and 60's. They tried it again in the 90's when they wanted to transform house finance, do away with down payments, and the result was millions of foreclosures and financial collapse.”

-          Fox News, August 7, 2013

Dallas-area home prices inch ahead of pre-recession levels

A strong spring selling market has finally pushed Dallas-area home prices ahead of where they were before the recession.

The gain in the monthly Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Index isn’t much — up 1 percent from where Dallas-area prices were in June 2007. That was just before the housing crash and economic meltdown hammered residential values across the country.

The latest Case-Shiller report is another strong sign for the Dallas area’s economy and real estate market, said D’Ann Petersen, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

“Other measures of North Texas prices indicate the same improvement,” Petersen said. “While the North Texas market suffered during the downturn, the depth of the decline was not as bad as many other areas of the country.”

Prices of pre-owned homes in the Dallas area were up 7.6 percent in May from the same month in 2012, Case-Shiller reported Tuesday.

It’s the largest year-over-year percentage gain since Case-Shiller started tracking Dallas home prices in 2000.

At the worst of the housing market downturn in early 2009, Dallas-area prices were off by about 11 percent in the Case-Shiller index.

Both Dallas and Denver in May were about 1 percent above pre-recession price levels.

“This is the first time any city has made a new all-time high,” the Case-Shiller report said.

Fueled by energy

Jed Kolko, the chief economist with online real estate firm Trulia Inc., said both Dallas and Denver have strong economies fueled in part by the robust energy sector.

“And they both had a milder housing crash to bounce back from,” Kolko said. “The places now with the biggest home price increases are those having the rebound off the lowest bottoms.”

The rate of home price growth in the Dallas area in May trailed the 12.2 percent nationwide rise in the index.

The biggest year-over-year price increases were in San Francisco, 24.5 percent, and Las Vegas, 23.3 percent.

While Dallas and Denver are ahead, nationwide home values are still about 24 percent lower in the Case-Shiller report than they were before the recession. The biggest deficits are in Las Vegas, still down 51 percent from the peak, and Phoenix, down 41 percent.

“On a relative basis, I guess it is a big deal as one compares Dallas to all the other major metropolitan areas around the country,” said James Gaines, an economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. “It sure beats still being down by 25 percent or more as some of the cities are.”

The prices in Dallas and Denver really haven’t caught up, Kolko points out.

“Remember, since the peak of the bubble, there has been modest inflation,” he said. “In real terms, prices are still a little lower than they were then.”

Case-Shiller’s index tracks the prices of specific single-family homes in each metropolitan area. The index survey does not include condominiums and townhouses.

Record levels

North Texas home prices have been at record high levels for several months based on sales of houses by real estate agents.

In June, the median price of homes sold through Realtors’ multiple listing services was up 13 percent from a year earlier to $185,820.

Total pre-owned home sales through the first half of 2013 were up 19 percent from the same period a year ago, a new high for the six-month period.

MLS sales prices for pre-owned single-family homes in North Texas last month were about 45 percent greater than they were in January 2009, according to numbers from the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M.

But the types of properties that sell each month, not just overall changes in values, can heavily influence those numbers.

A decline in the number of distressed and previously foreclosed homes on the market has no doubt had a big impact on overall median home sales prices and values. Foreclosure filings this year are running almost 40 percent below 2012.

But not every neighborhood is experiencing a boom in home prices.

“We have seen very little, if any, change in the average sale price of properties,” said Charles Wilmut, who lives in Irving’s Hackberry Creek neighborhood. “It appears the brass ring is out there, but we are not getting it.”

Tim Slavin, who lives in Frisco, fretted for months reading about increasing North Texas home prices while his home’s value continued to lag. He was pleased by a recent appraisal one of his neighbors got.

“The appraisal came back closer to what I bought my house for in 2007,” Slavin said. “I hope the home values continue to improve.”

Improving prices should bring more homes to the market, which will relieve the lack of inventory. The number of homes for sale in North Texas has been at a 20-year low this year.

“There are many homeowners who might have wanted to move up but could not sell their homes without taking a loss,” said David Brown, a housing analyst with Metrostudy Inc. “They are now capable of selling their existing home and purchasing a move-up home.”

Source: Dallas News