Market Shifts Open Houses in Plano

In recent years there has been a change in real estate’s way of thinking when it comes to Open Houses. For many years Sunday was the king of Open Houses. It was the cultural habit at the time and the public adapted to it. Before the internet many dollars were spent on advertising in the local newspapers to the point that for some brokers it became more of a status symbol seeing who’s ad could out do the other. But times are changing...

People no longer flock to the homes held open on Sundays anymore. Lifestyles have changed and with it so have the efforts to market a home. Presently there are about as many Open Houses on Saturdays as Sundays. Sometimes an agent will hold a home open for both days. In addition to the public Open Houses there is also an increasing popularity for the agent Open House.

What is an agent Open House? This type of Open House is designed to attract the professionals within the real estate market. Typically the host of the event will provide some type of incentive to bring in the pros. It may be a luncheon, wine & cheese after 5, dessert only, a giveaway or a combination of incentives.

Whether it is a public or professional Open House both methods are intended to help market a home and it remains a great way for buyers and buyer’s agents to see the homes as well as the neighborhood.
 
Above the map indicates properties with Open Houses on Saturday, February 25, 2011. 

If you are in the market to buy a new home call today for an appointment; let me help you.

The building of new high school, McMillen, in Murphy TX is progressing along quite well and looks significantly different than when I first posted. McMillen is scheduled to open its doors for the Fall of 2011/2012 school year and will be hosting grades 9 and 10.


In the shadow of the new high school sits the small historic First Baptist Church of Murphy and can be seen in the far left side of the photograph. It will be interesting to see how the new neighborly relationship develops. Afterall, there is a time and a reason for everything.

President's Day 2011

In honor of President’s Day below are some of the famous sayings from our great leaders of these United States. Do you happen to know which President said each of the quotes?

Please feel free to share any presidential quotes of your liking in the comments. Happy President’s Day and, to all those who would rather be shopping the sales, hope you save some Washington’s.

* The only thing to fear is, fear itself.

* Labor disgraces no man, but occasionally men disgrace labor.

* A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits.

* Read my lips. No more taxes.

* You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.

Ringing of the bell in Murphy, TX. It’s been a little more than a year since Christmas Eve 2009 when the congregation of First Baptist Church of Murphy was able to return to their newly located and remodeled church building. Today marks the first day of the ringing of the bell since they moved off the original location at the corner of FM544 and Murphy Rd.
The old bell tower was torn down and the iron bell was stored away during construction of the new site. The new bell tower has been under construction over the past couple of months and, as you can see from the photo, still remains to be completed. But that didn’t stop the children from ringing the bell to let local residents know that it was time for Sunday Worship in the city of Murphy.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Psalm 150:6

All About HVAC Filters: A Video

All About HVAC Filters: A Video

"S" Words

Saturday and Sunday are two “S” words that I really like since weekends are a good time to spend with family and friends. The “S” word, I believe, on most people’s mind is Spring especially after the extreme cold we have been enduring. Today’s sunshine sure has me thinking about it even more.
 
Along with Spring comes the opportunity to spend more time in the great outdoors. It brings in the days of watching or participating in sports. I have had the good pleasure of watching my grandson, Seth practice soccer with his new team. Seth puts a smile on my face and is the best of the “S” words yet, 

I perform quality service as a Realtor that leads to the success of reaching my desired goal: SOLD!

What's in a CMA?

Within the City of Murphy 39 houses have sold as tracked within NTREIS over the past 3 months. Looking closer at the information about these houses reveals that 24 of them were built in the decade of 2000; with a sales price range of $180,000 to $480,000 and calendar days on market, CDOM between 11 and 390. The top selling subdivision was Rolling Ridge with Windy Hill Farms close behind followed by Murphy Farms.

Looking again at all 39, only 4 houses had 3 bedrooms, 24 houses with 4, 10 houses with 5 and 1 house had 6 bedrooms. Now the house with 6 bedrooms was not the only house sold with 4 bathrooms. There was 5 houses with 5 bedrooms and 2 houses with 4 bedrooms all with 4 bathrooms.

At this point you can probably appreciate the benefits of a table when dealing with so many numbers and features. Let’s look at a table of information that reveals the average sales price of the 24 houses that sold in the last 3 months built in the decade of 2000.

As we’ve already seen the 24 houses that sold have differing variables. Also, some have 2 car garages others have 3 or more. When deciding to sale your house knowing your variables helps you to understand the market value at the time of listing.

For example, if your house was built in 2000 and has 3 bedrooms with 2 baths and no other unique features you can pretty much know that the fair market value will fall below the average sales price listed above. The same would be true for a house built in the 1980’s especially if it lacked any updates.

One exception could be like the one house built in the 1960’s with 4 bedrooms and 4 baths that sold on nearly 4 acres of land. This house sold with a greater value as the house was fairly comparable and was attached to a fair amount of land.

These are some of the variables that are taken into consideration when an agent puts together a Comparative Market Analysis, CMA. The more the seller can share with the listing agent about their house and neighborhood the better the pricing process will be. A listing agent goes through this discovery process to reveal all known information and establishes a fair market value for your house based on that process and market knowledge.

Contact me if you are ready to list your home in the Murphy Plano area.

2011 Dallas Blooms at the Arboretum

Dallas Blooms 2011 opens its doors on March 5, 2011 at the Dallas Arboretum. Reported to be a  world class event with visitors coming from all over the globe. I know it is a favorite of mine! 
 
I have found it to be a wonderful opportunity to share with my family. I plan to take them again this year and celebrate the coming of Spring in Dallas.

With over 500,000 bulbs in bloom and a brand new one from Holland named “Dallas Blooms” it is always a beautiful sight to see. Tulips, daffodils and hyacinths are amongst the many blooms on the 66 acre garden that overlooks White Rock Lake and Downtown Dallas in its background.

It’s a Fairy Tale World, the newest exhibit,  featuring Fairy Tale Castles hosts seven unique designs to inspire children and promote literacy. A sure delight for young ones. Although Dallas Blooms ends on April 10th the Fairy Tale Castles will continue its exhibit right on through December 2011.

The Arboretum is located at 8525 Garland Road in Dallas, Texas 75218.