As often is heard on one of my favorite radio stations, people love lists. The Fort Worth & Arlington area recently found itself on the top ten list of "10 Cities for Real Estate Steals" that was put out by Luke Mullins in the US News & World Report.
With the recent roller coaster ride of the housing industry over the past decade throughout the nation, the DFW area's ride has been less dramatic. Many regions in the U.S.(California, Florida, Phoenix, Las Vegas) had seen meteoric rises to their property values in the early to mid 2000's only to see them come tumbling down like Lindasy Lohan's career in the past few years. Fortunately for property owners in the DFW area, and largely the state of Texas, they have been sheltered from the large decline in property values. That is why the Fort Worth/Arlington area finds itself at #9 on Luke's list of Cities with Real Estate Steals.
Here is Luke's explanation why Fort Worth/Arlington made his list:
9. Fort Worth/Arlington, Texas: In recent years, home prices in the Fort Worth and Arlington, Texas, area have also grown increasingly undervalued when compared with longer-term averages. The area's price-to-income ratio fell from 3.95 in the fourth quarter of 2005 to 1.89 through the third quarter of 2009. Compared with an average price-to-income ratio of 2.02 for the 15 years before 2003, house prices in the Fort Worth/Arlington area are now relatively undervalued. And with a labor market that is projected to perform better than the national average, home prices in this region are expected to hit bottom in 2011 and begin moving higher, according to Moody's Economy.com.
Brian Heltzel
Putting On The Fix Remodeling
Burleson, TX
www.puttingonthefix.com
Friday, February 26, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Green homes sell for higher price, who would have thouth that?
This morning in my daily viewing of newspapers, I came across an article in USA Today titled "Green homes sell for more and faster than other homes." To most people, I would hope that this would come to them as common sense. I am all about promoting the Green living movement, but it just made me laugh to see an article from a national publication that was pointing out the obvious. Apparently, with the stagnation of the housing market, there is very little to write about it.
In the article it states that homes that are "green certified" were selling for 8.5% more per square foot and 22% faster than homes that were not "green certified". The advancements in green products for your home have vastly improved in recent years and have become more affordable to the average homeowner. However, your average homeowner is likely only to make small green improvements at once which typically will fall short of the strict guidelines needed to become "green certified" by the LEED standards.
But a home that does meet the standards set by LEED to become "green certified" should/will garner a higher selling price because it cost more to build or remodel the home to meet the standards set by LEED.
The one point that the article made that makes me happy is that the green homes are selling faster which means that there is more interest for people in making the change to greener living, despite a higher premium. Hopefully that trend will continue to upswing and the green housing products continue to improve and become more affordable so we can go onto living healthier lives while making a smaller carbon imprint with the way we live.
Here is the article
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/02/green-homes-sell-for-more-and-faster-than-rest-of-the-market/1
Brian Heltzel
Putting On The Fix Remodeling
Burleson, TX
www.puttingonthefix.com
In the article it states that homes that are "green certified" were selling for 8.5% more per square foot and 22% faster than homes that were not "green certified". The advancements in green products for your home have vastly improved in recent years and have become more affordable to the average homeowner. However, your average homeowner is likely only to make small green improvements at once which typically will fall short of the strict guidelines needed to become "green certified" by the LEED standards.
But a home that does meet the standards set by LEED to become "green certified" should/will garner a higher selling price because it cost more to build or remodel the home to meet the standards set by LEED.
The one point that the article made that makes me happy is that the green homes are selling faster which means that there is more interest for people in making the change to greener living, despite a higher premium. Hopefully that trend will continue to upswing and the green housing products continue to improve and become more affordable so we can go onto living healthier lives while making a smaller carbon imprint with the way we live.
Here is the article
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/02/green-homes-sell-for-more-and-faster-than-rest-of-the-market/1
Brian Heltzel
Putting On The Fix Remodeling
Burleson, TX
www.puttingonthefix.com
Sunday, February 14, 2010
To follow the rules or to not follow the rules. Is there a question?
Are you a homeowner of home that was built prior to 1978? If so, there is an 80% chance that your home contains Lead Based Paint. Lead based paint presents health risks for you and your family. That is why the EPA has recently imposed a new law to make sure that your family's health is a priority when you are having it remodeled. You can view it in its entirety at the following link:
http://www.epa.gov/lead/
However, the question remains, will homeowners be more concerned about their family’s health or their budget. Sadly, many people are willing to cut corners so they can have the home they have pictured in the dollar range they have set. Many times overlooking the quality of products, quality of contractor, perceived added value to their property, and what should be most importantly being their health.
Many people when they hire a contractor, their deciding factor in choosing that contractor is the price. However, if you own a house built prior to 1978 it might be to your and your family's benefit to make sure that price includes a contractor who is certified to remodel your home properly so that your health is not affected.
Brian Heltzel
Putting On The Fix Remodeling
Burleson, TX
www.puttingonthefix.com
http://www.epa.gov/lead/
However, the question remains, will homeowners be more concerned about their family’s health or their budget. Sadly, many people are willing to cut corners so they can have the home they have pictured in the dollar range they have set. Many times overlooking the quality of products, quality of contractor, perceived added value to their property, and what should be most importantly being their health.
Many people when they hire a contractor, their deciding factor in choosing that contractor is the price. However, if you own a house built prior to 1978 it might be to your and your family's benefit to make sure that price includes a contractor who is certified to remodel your home properly so that your health is not affected.
Brian Heltzel
Putting On The Fix Remodeling
Burleson, TX
www.puttingonthefix.com
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Home Energy Tax credits, do they work?
Are you planning on taking measures to make your home more energy efficient? If so, according to the latest reports, it appears you are a member of a slight minority of Americans who are utilizing the opportunity to save money on your electric bills and get money back from the government backed Energy Tax Credit program.
Why haven’t more people jumped at the opportunity to take advantage of the tax credits and to save energy when electricity rates are at such high levels? My belief is that there are two major reasons why people refrain from making the energy saving changes to their homes.
The first is that I feel that most Americans just aren't fully educated on the benefits that an efficient home provides (personal health, economical, ecological). Most people don't see that making minor changes such as new windows or upated caulking would make much of enough a change personally or globally to entice them to make the changes.
The second probably most critical is cost. At time when unemployment is in double digits and a family's discretionary spending budget is minimal, I don't think that refunding 30% up to $1500 is a large enough incentive to entice people to make the changes that otherwise would not. I think the people that are making energy efficient changes to their homes are a large majority of people that had already had plans to make the changes and are excited to know that they will get money back.
So hopefully the government will do more to educate the American public and provide greater incentives to get more people on board with the program before we find ourselves at a major energy crisis point years down the road. Hopefully it won't be too late!
Brian Heltzel
Putting On The Fix Remodeling
Burleson, TX
www.puttingonthefix.com
Why haven’t more people jumped at the opportunity to take advantage of the tax credits and to save energy when electricity rates are at such high levels? My belief is that there are two major reasons why people refrain from making the energy saving changes to their homes.
The first is that I feel that most Americans just aren't fully educated on the benefits that an efficient home provides (personal health, economical, ecological). Most people don't see that making minor changes such as new windows or upated caulking would make much of enough a change personally or globally to entice them to make the changes.
The second probably most critical is cost. At time when unemployment is in double digits and a family's discretionary spending budget is minimal, I don't think that refunding 30% up to $1500 is a large enough incentive to entice people to make the changes that otherwise would not. I think the people that are making energy efficient changes to their homes are a large majority of people that had already had plans to make the changes and are excited to know that they will get money back.
So hopefully the government will do more to educate the American public and provide greater incentives to get more people on board with the program before we find ourselves at a major energy crisis point years down the road. Hopefully it won't be too late!
Brian Heltzel
Putting On The Fix Remodeling
Burleson, TX
www.puttingonthefix.com
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