Dallas Real Estate Blog

With all the talk about the collapsing real estate marketing and mortgage troubles, many people might be scared about buying or selling, but if you look at the data about the Dallas market, there is no reason to be scared. The truth is real estate was artificially inflated by investors, and now we are just getting back to normal.

When I first got my real estate license, I was working in Austin. Real estate was good and consistent. The housing prices slowly increased each year, and the city was growing. But even though everything was good, there was still a surplus of houses. It is the same 9 months of homes on the mark that we have now. So why do we think it is getting so bad? Are people going to stop needing places to live? Are we all going to move into apartments because we can’t get a loan?

With Dallas still growing and with such a low unemployment rate, everything is actually looking good for our city. I think we can all agree we got a little out of control with credit. Many of us bought homes a little out of our price range and have too many credit cards that made us feel financial secure. Now, we are tightening our purse straps and taking a good hard look at our spending habits. Investors are doing this, too. It is a long needed reality check. It is better to have a small down turn in the market now than a huge slide later.

So, lenders have taken a few steps back. At the turn of the millennium, FHA loans were the best to get a low rate and down payment, but they had guidelines to follow. The FHA guidelines have not changes much. The private loans are what loosened making it possible to get a house you did not need. Today, FHA loans are a great option again. You have to prove your income and pay your bills, and you can get a great loan for a home up to $205,000 with little or nothing down.

Whether you are thinking about buying or selling right now, there are a few things to consider. If selling, a clean and nicely staged home still goes fast. There are still people buying or relocating to the area. It is extremely helpful to have help getting your home listed for the right priced, advertised properly, and set up to appeal to the largest market.

If buying, you have more to choice from than a few years ago, and there are many great deals. Just make sure when you are looking that you keep in mind you true financial ability. Don’t let a good deal get you into a higher payment or loan amount than you wanted. You don’t want to be “house broke”.