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Dallas Real Estate Peeps At The Urban Land Institute

That’s Courtney A. Underwood (and pooch!), Vice President of Asset Management, Underwood Financial, Ltd.

D Sale of the Week: Belmont Beauty, House of Tudor

Fairies, elves, knights in shining armour, I see all this and more in this restored 1931 built Lakewood Heights Tudor that has been restored and remodeled to sustain 21st century living. Yet it has retained the charm of yesteryear, from the exterior brick, roofline, leaded glass windows, moldings and sunroom.  6318 Belmont  is larger than it appears to be,  2703 square feet loaded with four bedrooms, three baths, sun room, large master suite and ginormous closets. And talk about proximity to White Rock Lake — please! This is the Lakewood dream life, biking to White Rock, Whole Foods, footing it to Lakewood Village. Master suite is upstairs with a stunning bath suite. Garage is detached and in back, with an electric gate. The yard: to die for deck and trees. The price: not bad — $479,000. Twist Brett Gray’s arm over at Dave Perry-Miller, but not too hard, please.

Dallas Real Estate News: I Had Lunch With Steve Brown!

It was so much fun: Steve Brown offered his words of wisdom to the Elite 20 Real Estate agents at Bent Tree Country Club Wednesday, and I got to be a fly on the wall. Steve was pretty positive, and said he thinks our market has bottomed out past the worst, which he says was last March, April and May. We could be at the bottom of an “L” pattern or, hopefully, a “V”. He was very encouraged by the Case Shiller report and hopes that by the end of next year we may see some plus signs on our values. Steve is not concerned by the glut in our condo market, either: says condos are now a lifestyle choice, unlike they were in the 80’s. (But those home association fees! Someone recently told him that when you buy a condo, you are buying the the “right” to rent something.) Here’s what concerns him — and me, too: foreclosures — 60,000 for the year. Job losses — 64,000 lost in Texas, and we will have to see if employers step up hiring come next quarter. Buyers are not paying retail, and are in fact treating sellers like their homes are the Dollar Store. This is true: one homeowner told me that a couple from New Jersey came in and offered 40 cents on the dollar for their home. People from other parts of the country are so used to the bargain basement mentality, they don’t get it that our market is not Phoenix. Real Estate bargain hunting is going to be a tough brand to shake. Believe it or not, we will have a dearth of new spec homes in the coming months. We need jumbo credit and we need it now! Oh, and Brad Edgar, who was also at the event, asked him about the DMN’s Sawbuck deal. Said Steve: I don’t think its an issue. All businesses have to diversity and seek incremental sources of revenue. If the real estate market picks up, he said, the DMN’s investment in Sawbuck will be the least of any one’s concerns.

Steve, you are a really great speaker! Sorry I had to rush back to class.

D Sale of the Week: Twin Posts (and Columns) on Twin Post

This is one of those lovely, lazy North Dallas ranches many seek to save from the ’dozer claws. It’s located in a great neighborhood east of Welch Road and north of Forest Lane, and it was built in 1965, when this area was developed. A generous lot—122 by 131—means you can have a pool and some yard. Not too far east and north are scads of builder homes, both spec and custom. Forget about the low ceilings; focus instead on the living, dining, kitchen, vaulted den, and four or five bedrooms—the fifth plus bath located off the kitchen as it is in so many homes of this era, ostensibly designed for household help or in-law visits. (If you put your in-laws near the kitchen, dinner may magically appear!) On the bedroom wing, there’s a Jack and Jill bath between two bedrooms, and one more bedroom has a private bath. Then there’s the master suite, which was designed by Ellen Amador. Set apart from the other sleeping rooms, it features not just a large bedroom but also a sitting room, huge remodeled master with tub and shower, and two walk-in closets. Plus—another reason why this house is so great for the money—there is a study or exercise room off the master that opens to a patio. I think there’s a lot of living packed into 3,679 square feet, and I’d love to see my kids in this home. I also think this might be a perfect empty-nester palace: one floor, with room for grandkids. The kitchen needs new counters, and I’m a big fan of two dishwashers, but the price ($625,000) ain’t too shabby. And just wait until those multiple trunk live oak limbs get TP’d by all the private school kids in the ’hood.

Dallas Real Estate: Grand Prairie Is Smokin’, Everyone Else “Less Bad”

Case-Shiller tells us that Dallas home prices fell at the annual rate of 1.2 % between August ‘08 and August ‘09, which is a smidgen compared to the rest of the world — double digit declines almost everywhere. Only Dallas and Denver are edging closer to positive numbers, our decline at 1.2%, Denver’s 1.9%.

Then ZipRealty (Emeryville, CA) tossed out it’s third quarter report to find this quirk:  Grand Prairie, Texas emerged as one of the top ten “hot” markets in the U.S., a hot market being one where accepted offers come in higher than list price. I had no idea this was happening in Grand Prairie. Further, Texas is a non-disclosure state so I am just baffled and have emailed the company for an explanation.

Help if you are from Grand Prairie — we need a clue!

Ask Candy: What Should I Do About Selling My House?

DallasDirt wants to help buyers and sellers of properties. Home not selling? Should you buy now and can you afford that new home? Questions about a certain ‘hood? Ask Candy and we will enlist the help of an entire city of real estate experts!

Dear Candy:

My house has been on the market now for 95 days with about 30 showings. It’s a sprawling North Dallas ranch, great neighborhood, large lot near Inwood and Royal. I’m told this is a “highly sought after” area. We are considering lowering the asking price from $999,500. Do you think we should? By how much? My husband says we should take it off the market and wait until spring. Do you think this market is going to get any better?

Here’s the feedback we have received: not big enough; too big; yard not visible enough; too much of a “project” at this time, buyers need to sell their Uptown home first, buyers want new construction and less yard, buyers want quarters for their parents, buyers wonder why the walls are so big, buyers want a contemporary, open and updated kitchen. (Does no one remodel homes anymore? We didn’t thinking buyers would want to make their own statement.) Jeesh.

I just don’t know what to do, can you help?

Love, Amy

Dear Amy: Wow, you have had a busy last few months there, that’s a lot of showings. I know your area and it is hot, but this is a buyer’s market. It’s like the ultimate Last Call. In a market like this, buyers can afford to be picky picky and when they do make offers, they are coming in 20% to 40% below asking. Plus there’s still lots of inventory, so if they want new, they can find spec inventory from a builder who’s willing to let go. The biggest problem, I hear, is the out of towners who do not yet understand that our tongues are not hanging out like the sellers in New York, Florida, Phoenix and Nevada. (California is seeing a blip of euphoria, ha!)

Have you staged your home? Offered a remodeling credit for those who have no vision or inclination to redo that kitchen? Home warranty? Maybe fill the counters with ideas of what they could do. Most buyers today want turn-key — they are too busy to mess with a remodel. I’m the exception — I prefer to do it myself.

Take a cue from what you are hearing? Can you make the yard, which is one of your huge plusses, more visible? Can you draw people out there with furniture? Can you offer any perks with purchase — a face-lift for the new owner?

Just kidding.

As for lowering the price, the buyers will probably do that for you — sorry. The problem is this: the experts think interest rates are going to go up, and that kind of noise always gets the buyers off the pot, so to speak. But I am also hearing worries of inflation, which means all our homes will be worth more. Wish I had a crystal ball. Maybe hang in there ’till spring, or let her go for whatever you can without wanting to kill yourself. This administration had better get the credit market for jumbos — $417,000 and above — un-constipated real fast. After all, we bailed them out, right?

Keep us posted…

xo

Dallas Real Estate: Barclays May End Up With Some Morgan Stanley Props

I told you last week that Morgan Stanley was going to have to do some talkin’ on nearly $2 billion in loans from Barclays Capital by November 2 — now Steve Brown tells us that one option may be turning over stake in some of the buildings they owe money on to Barclays outright.

Damn, Steve, you are so good. Can you imagine what would happen if we were a couple?

D Sale of the Week: David Feld’s Southern Comfort

This charming brick and clapboard cottage, designed in 1936 by Charles Dilbeck, is owned by Dallas native and former D Home editor David Feld, who now lives in Connecticut and works in New York. (The house was also featured in D Home.) Every room of the just-under-2,000-square-foot cottage is a designer’s paradise, including the remodeled kitchen with sleek cabinetry, granite countertops, gourmet appliances, and skylight. A beautiful turreted staircase leads to two bedrooms—the master is on the first floor—and one serves as a study with charming views, bookcase-lined wall, and faux fireplace. Among the bells and whistles: hardwood and seagrass floors, cedar-lined closets, sandstone counters in the baths, speakers in every room, large backyard with patio, flagstone terrace, and tended perennial garden. But the real treat with this home is the grounds: 50-year-old pecans and live oaks on a 55-by-117-foot deep lot. List price: $439,000.

A Deason in the House at Briggs-Freeman

That’s Briggs Freeman agent Holly Bock Deason, who just married one of the Deason kids, as in Darwin’s offspring. I was reminded of this when I read our “sista” blog, SweetCharity. Charity and Real Estate always go hand-in-hand…

Potential Abuse From First Time Homebuyer $8K Credit Program?

Apparently, so. The IRS is investigating more than 100,000 suspicious claims for possible abuse of this program that has helped prop the entry level real estate market over the past few months, so says the Wall Street Journal. And as I heard from Ebby Halliday herself last week, the real estate industry is lobbying for an extension of the program. One proposal would stretch the date ’till June, 2010, and also raise the income ceiling on participants:

“One proposal by Sen. Johnny Isakson (R., Ga.) and others to extend the credit and make it available to all home buyers through June 2010 carries a price tag of about $16.7 billion. That proposal would raise the income ceiling for eligible home buyers to $150,000 per year for an individual and $300,000 for a couple. Currently the credit phases out for individuals earning more than $75,000 and married couples earning more than $150,000.”

Of course, there is the usual whining from those who claim this program, as well as the standard mortgage deduction, is nothing more than welfare for the middle and upper classes.

Dallas Realtors tell me the program has helped keep our local market hopping, particularly with affordable homes and in such entry-level neighborhoods as Little Forest Hills and others bordering Lakewood, east of Central.

“The under $300K market is really showing improvement,” said David Brown with MetroStudy. “The biggest weakness is in the $500,000 and up market, because there’s no secondary market for jumbos.”

Sign of the Times: 1.45 Acres, Lennox Lane, Under $1,500,000

That would be 10011 Lennox Lane. OK, so this home is a bit south of Ross and Margot, edges on Walnut Hill Lane, still — you get 1.45 acres of prime dirt, a mid-century modern home that doesn’t have to be scraped and replaced by a 20,000 square foot mansion. And get this price: $1,295,000.

Reminds me of what I was telling my husband the other day: the minute you move in these palaces, the place starts depreciating. All downhill, just like cars. Put the keys in the ignition, turn her on, the dollars start falling before you get out of the parking lot. Structure may decrease in value, but that dirt does nothing but hold hold hold.

So here’s my new theory: we should all live in tents on one acre lots. This place? One fancy pants tent.

Update: My first headline said $1.5K — was just trying to get your attention.

Dallas Real Estate: Why Does Preston Tower Look Like A 1960’s Christmas Tree?

Simple: to make it more appealing to those younger folks who grew up in the 60’s. Karen Lukin, who lives in Preston Tower, tells us:

“I have lived in my building for 11 years. Imagine my surprise to drive up and see that they’ve added uplighting, blue-revolving-to-green, that shines up 30 floors on the sides of the building. Was told it might make our 1960’s high-rise appeal to the “younger folks.”

The 29-story Preston Tower was built in 1966 and was one of Dallas’ very first high rise buildings. Only the very cool need move in.

Looking For Happy Pill Real Estate News? Then Don’t Read This

It’s still not Miller Time, especially once you cross the Red River or head east, west. And guess who’s hurting the most? Folks with homes valued over $500,000 on up to $3,000,000. This Reuters story has it right, and is about the same as what I’ve heard here in Dallas: the big ticket homes are not moving without negotiation IF loans are to be found. Roddy’s Foreclosures reports a 30% increase in postings – remember, that does not mean that all those homes will make it to the court house steps. Many will be re-negotiated prior to the public auction. However, it is not good news that more than 5,000 D/FW homes are threatened with foreclosure.

I also read somewhere this week not to count on rising values in “bottomed-out”  communities where investors are buying up foreclosures: hello Arizona, Florida, Nevada, we are talking about you. Their point: investors don’t get rooted in the community, they may lease homes for cash flow, they are the quick in and out guys. For pricing to get solid, you need jobs and families to move in, become established. No one night stands.

However, maybe one toast: the very best place to be in this mired mess is Texas, according to David Brown, Director of Metrostudy, Dallas/Fort Worth. And guess what: we may actually have a shortage of new construction in the not too distant future.  I’ll have an interview up with him next week, so stay tuned. Also of note: I spoke with Ebby Halliday on Friday, who told me the NAR is doing all they can to extend that $8,000 first time home buyer’s credit. There is no doubt which side of the political aisle Ebby prefers.

“The first-time home buyer credit is the one good thing this administration has done,” said Ebby.

House Porn with a Capital P: Home Theatre

Look at this Home Theatre at 9339 Hathaway — could you not just settle in there on a weekend night and avoid the Texas/OU crowds?

House Porn With a Capital P, a House Built On Credit

We are talking 9339 Hathaway. Oh boy, this is FANCY living in the honey pot of Old Preston Hollow. New on the market with Erin Mathews of Allie Beth Allman. How much? Get your smelling salts handy — $12,550,000. A true French manor house: 10,000 plus square feet on 1.9 acres, gated, loaded to the hilt (there’s a Card Room), owned by Thomas and Sandra Rouse, Mr. Rouse being the founder of TransFirst, a provider of credit card processing services. He founded the company in 1995, took it through seven acquisitions and annual revenue up to $25 billion, servicing 155,000 merchants and 965 financial institutions. We love us some credit cards.

I’ve got to get you all inside this one…

Sawbuck Launches in San Diego

This the real estate company that has $2 million Belo buckeroos in its belly — which prompted a lot of anger from local brokers — says Good Morning, San Diego, can I sell you a house?

Overheard: Real Estate Continues To Move To The Internet

Realtor eavesdropping:

“Two years ago, they told us that 69% of all real estate searches started on the internet. Today, they say 89% of all real estate sales are coming in off the internet…”

Is Dallas (Like America) Getting Less Mobile?

Moving companies, earmuffs. Are people NOT switching houses every few years to move up, are Baby Boomers NOT abandoning the ‘burbs to move to downtown condos where they can have it all? No, they are – -we all are — staying put more than ever, says Joel Kotkin in this week’s Newsweek:

“…in reality Americans actually are becoming less nomadic. As recently as the 1970s as many as one in five people moved annually; by 2006, long before the current recession took hold, that number was 14 percent, the lowest rate since the census starting following movement in 1940. Since then tougher times have accelerated these trends, in large part because opportunities to sell houses and find new employment have dried up. In 2008, the total number of people changing residences was less than those who did so in 1962, when the country had 120 million fewer people. The stay-at-home trend appears particularly strong among aging boomers, who are largely eschewing Sunbelt retirement condos to stay tethered to their suburban homes—close to family, friends, clubs, churches, and familiar surroundings.”

As I said in an earlier post, aging baby Boomer’s driving is going to very interesting. Joel says the trend is to not just stay put in your home but to enjoy it, too, fill it up with boomerang kids, even work there.

Does this mean D Home needs to launch a home-office column?

Park Hollow Preston Center Condos To Be Sold At Auction

Downtown condos are not the only units moving as slowly as molasses. That new condominium community at Northwest Highway and Hillcrest, the hot “behind the pink wall” area, is ablaze with yellow signs describing the November 5 auction of these units: Park Hollow. To be clear, these are not foreclosures. The developer, Drexel Development, has apparently decided that an auction might clear out more units so they don’t linger. This advertised starting bid is $215,000 for a unit that “retails” at $620,000 — 1962 square feet, 1/1.5/den. The auction house is Kennedy Wilson out of Los Angeles, and I’ve got interviews with them scheduled tomorrow. Apparently there will be more inventory in this auction that just Park Hollow: raw land for five homesites and 15 luxury homes in McKinney.

Before you get too excited over the prices, the developer has a reserve – -that is, he reserves the right to set the sales price in his head and reject that starting bid. So let’s say I buy that 1962 square foot unit at $215,000 — the developer (who knows what he wants to clear) can refuse or make me a counter offer. According to my sources, that magic number is $150 to $175K more than these low starting bids. All buyers must be pre-qualified for financing, unless they bring cash.

I went through the units, too, and have some opinions — stay tuned.

How To Add Value To Dallas Real Estate: Make Sure It Has Walkability

Walkability raises home values in cities — not too surprising for any of us who have lived in a large metropolis — for me Chicago and New York. It gives you an instant understanding of the value of location when you are mere blocks from work, a market, a decent coffee shop and entertainment. So I was surprised to read this paper to find out that walkability adds value to almost every major market with the exception of Las Vegas and Bakersfield, CA. The Dallas plus surprised me, because I still think of us as a car-centric city:

“Interestingly, walkability was positively correlated with prices both in metropolitan areas with relatively high levels of walkability and those with relatively low levels of walkability. For example, Walk Scores had a positive impact on values in Jacksonville and Dallas (median Walk Scores for the metro area of 35 and 46 respectively) and also in Seattle and Austin (median Walk Scores 68 and 62). Walkability has a larger impact on housing values in more populous, denser metropolitan areas and those with larger transit systems.”

Walkability is going to be an even bigger factor, I think, with an aging population. Can you just imagine what is going to happen when someone tells the Baby Boomers they can no longer drive? Will they sit patiently and wait for the children they once schlepped to load them up into the Volvo station wagon and buckle up for bingo? I doubt it. As their kids had fake ID’s, Boomers will  probably cook up fake driver’s licenses, anything to keep their wheels. (I have no idea how my darling late uncle managed it, but he had a license until he was 97 in DuPage County, Ill.) I’ve just skimmed this piece but find it interesting, and hopeful: maybe those downtown condos will be moving once we no longer are.

Don’t Faint: A Shortage of New Construction In Dallas Real Estate?

That’s what Steve Brown wrote Friday, but this little quote peeped right out at me because I’ve had this nagging fear —

“Tim Jackson, a Collin County custom builder who is president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas, predicts new-home prices will rise next year unless starts increase.

“We just can’t get the funding to start new houses,” Jackson said. “I’m fortunate to have a good relationship with a local lender, and they allowed me to start a speculative home four or five months ago.

“But I doubt they would allow me to start another one,” he said. “Even if we have a customer who wants to build, they are oftentimes finding it difficult to find construction financing, too.”

What’s my fear? That all the elements putting the brakes on the market — in effect, constipating it — will ultimately raise prices on construction costs, new homes, taxes, closing costs, materials and labor so much that homes will be out of the average or lower-income individuals grasp.

Dallas Real Estate: Is The North Texas Condo Market Finally on its Knees?

The Fort Worth Star Telegram’s Mitchell Schnurman says yes, that both Dallas and Fort Worth share a glut of condos but that Dallas is in more trouble because we have more unsold units — more than 400 vacant properties, a host of million dollar plus homes, and about one foreclosure for every four condo units posting.

It could be worse — we could be Miami. And I’ve heard that condos in Austin are moving like molasses, this in a town where parents often buy real estate for their UT undergrads.

I agree with Schnurman and the folks he consulted — Residential Strategies’ Ted Wilson and RECON’s James Gaines: too many condos were built. They knew it, we all knew it. As I was purging papers for our move to Saint Paul Street last week,  I found a brochure from the Cresta Bella — remember that? And Museum Tower was supposed to break ground this spring or fall. Schnurman says Mandarin Oriental pulled the plug last summer; I heard the writing was on the wall last March. And a reader asked me this week what, if anything, could be done with that sad Stoneleigh Residences shell — the ghost condo is the view from her front window. The Ritz opened The Tower Residences last Tuesday — all of phase one sold, though re-sales are slow and have seen two foreclosures, and the new 95-unit Tower Residences has 30 units left to sell. (David Farmer reminded me how bullish I was on the Stoneleigh; I still think it’s an excellent location for a high-rise. I asked what they thought would happen to that shell — nothing, I was told, until someone starts lending some money.) What was their secret to success? Great timing.

Here are the problems: a lack of financing in the jumbo market  ($417,000 or above in Dallas); if you do obtain funds, getting an appraisal through the new Home Valuation Code of Conduct; and in fact getting any money at all. Buyers are also skiddish over HOA’s, which I hope to examine more on this blog.  But why do lenders get the heebie jeebies still with Dallas condosl? Last Wednesday night at The Travis, one of the developers told me it was like pulling teeth to obtain financing on those units, but they did get a bank to sign on. I maintain that the real estate market would be a whole lot healthier if the lenders would just start lending again — not to anything that has a pulse, but to qualified people.

The good news is that Dallas now has 30,000 people living downtown — and I saw with my own eyes last weekend how we are becoming a city that never sleeps. (Yes!) The units will get absorbed, but it will take time, a few foreclosures,maybe even an auction or two.

Meantime, hold the cranes, please. Just please pass the credit.

Dallas Real Estate: Haute Night at the Travis at Katy Trail

Whoa, see what I mean? A great hot crowd Wednesday night for the debut of The Travis at Katy Trail Condominiums, the one-time apartments converted into condominiums by a Canadian developer, acquired by Hall Financial Group earlier this year. The space has been reconfigured somewhat — larger, lighter & brighter lobby, expanded fitness facility, and re-vamped units decked out by Dawn West Interior Design, Baron and J, Minivir, Jesica Sharp Designs, Rachel Dauphinee, Abi Ferrin, and Geoffrey Henning. Really interesting building: I was a little confused by the hallway configuration, but impressed with all the designers work. The price is right for these units, starting at less than $300,000 though the 3600ish penthouse is available for $700,000. I’m told four sold Wednesday night, and real estate management guru Worth Ross is moving into one of the units — stay tuned. Best attribute: location, right off Knox Street, stone’s throw from both Central and Highland Park, and an Uptown resident’s very best friend, Toulouse.

D Sale of the Week: West Highland Park Honey

Just popped on the market, 5337 Edmondson (Joe Kobell, Ebby Halliday) is more than a diamond in the rough. First of all, you get location: smack dab in-between the Dallas North Tollway and Inwood Road on Edmondson in West Highland Park — minutes from anything, well inside the loop. Second, this home has great bones and a great floorplan — look at the walls, the woodwork, the yard and gardens. The hardwoods are in fabulous original shape, and the kitchen… OK I might lose the wallpaper and lighten up those cabinets. Or maybe go dark.  The appliances are new stainless. But here’s the deal: you are getting 2445 square feet, two bedrooms, two baths, sitting area in master, and a study. Now what do we think about the glass blocks in the master? Personally, not a huge fan — too Windex intensive. I suggest saying goodbye glass blocks, hello open shower with huge crema marble slab walls and an overhead rainfall shower. Oh that sounds so good! The two-car garage is in the rear, and the one-quarter acre lot is lushly treed, beautifully landscaped. All for $599,000. Go in, ask for some re-surfacing allowances, and get yourself a West Highland Park honey.

Update: DallasDirt has just learned that the owners have already moved to the Hill Country. They are what you might call MOTIVATED!

Update II: Checking to see if this home is truly in WHP, which is NOT in the HISD school district. Thanks always for catching me on this!

Dallas Real Estate Memory Lane: Best Deals of 2004?

“Visible corner: Hotel Palomar and Residences will be constructed on the site of the Hotel Santa Fe at the busy intersection of… ”

I really need to pack!