Monday, November 9, 2015

What is a Hard Money Lender?

What is a Hard Money Lender?



Here is a great tip for first-time investors. What is a hard money lender? A hard money lender is a lender that specializes in loaning out "hard money" on investment deals, these can be fix and flip properties, rental properties, and even sometimes (if you know what your doing) wholesale properties. Many people assume you need all cash to start buying and flipping or renting out houses, but that is not the case if you can get qualified through a hard money lender. Some hard money lenders can lend you money if you've got as little as 13% of the home purchase price in reserves. They will typically require you to put that money towards the purchase price on the home, and can lend you the rest. But, they only loan on investment properties! They are looking for a quick return on the money they lend, and often have very high interest rates.

Of course, different lending companies have different requirements for what they are looking for in qualifying investors to lend money to, so I always recommend, as with any lender or other vendor you will be using, that you shop around and find the company with the best rates and qualification terms for you. Each person is different and is looking for different conditions that best match their own needs, and you need to find the hard money lender that fits your specific situation, as with a regular home loan on a property you are looking to purchase for yourself.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

How to Price Your Home to Sell Quickly and for the Most Money

Pricing a Home

When you are trying to price your home to sell quickly and for the highest price, there are certain variables you must take into account. First, you must know what homes comparable to yours have sold for in the area. The tax records, Zillow, Trulia, and other websites that give an estimate of property value are often off by as much as 30 percent or more. Tax records are assessed based on the county with the purpose of generating tax revenue. They are often inflated or can be completely inaccurate in a rapidly changing market. For example, many homes throughout the dallas metroplex have increased more than 10 percent in price from the previous year and continue to escalate. As Texas is a non-disclosure state (a state where the sales prices of homes is not publicly available), the estimates on Zillow, Trulia, and other sites are not based on actual home sales and are often completely made up based on limited market knowledge.


Another thing to take into considersation when you are pricing a home is you can only compare homes in the same neighborhood. Though two neighborhoods may be adjacent, their values can be completely different. One subdivision may go to a lower rated school or have been built much earlier, while the other may have more desirable floor plans or better builds.


Once you have found other homes from your neighborhood to compare, you will have to choose the three to five homes most similar to your own. You would not price a 1500 square foot home based on what a 2400 square foot home sold for. Try to find properties as close in square footage, bedroom/bathroom number, and year built as is available. The condition of the homes is also important. There are certain upgrades that can add value while poorly maintained homes will be worth less.


Adjustmemts will have to be made to each comparable sale because no two homes are exactly the same. That is why your best resource for accurate information will always be a real estate professional. Real estate agents have access to a plethora of accurate data related to homes and previous home sales in a specific area due to our paid MLS access. We can pull up all the homes in an area that have sold within a specific number of days, what they sold for, what they were originally listed at, how long it took to sell, the price per square foot, and information on the property including square footage, bedrooms/bathrooms, and even the dimensions of specific rooms.


Interested in seeing what homes are available in your area? Click here for a detailed search of properties for sale in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex

Monday, October 12, 2015

Selling Your Home for the Most Money when you have Pets

Selling Your Home When You Have Pets


There are several reasons why, as a pet owner, you need to take certain extra steps when selling your home. As an avid dog lover myself, I understand the attachment we have to our pets. However, if you are trying to get the most money for your home, as most sellers are, pets can negatively effect the value.

Believe it or not, many people are scared of even small animals. I personally had an experience where I was showing a home to my client and there was a cat in the home. There were no pet stains or smells in the home and it was very clean and well kept. The cat lived upstairs and was very friendly and well behaved, but my buyer did not even want to finish looking at the property after she noticed the cat lurking in the upstairs landing. She loved the home until the cat's presence was noticed, and she had so many preconceived notions about the home that were non-existent until she saw the cat residing there. Needless to say, this seller lost my clients potential offer just because the pet was in the home, and there are many people that feel the same way. As extreme as it may be, there are many buyers who refuse to look at properties with a pet in them because of very real fears about specific animals.

There are also people who are very allergic to animals (my father is deathly allergic to cats and a visit in a home in which a cat resides can put him in the hospital), and though they may not be scared of a particular animal, they will not be able to buy the home without some serious renovating to even a beautifully maintained home. This can create lower offers and longer days on market.

The best thing you can do while trying to sell your home is remove your pet from the property until the home has been sold. Put yout pet in boarding, have a family member or close friend take care of them, or put them in a pet hotel. Of course, this is not always possible and is merely a best case scenario. If you can, it is always great to remove your pet from the home while there is a showing. Sometimes, this is not possible either, and you will need to have the pet put away. Preferably,  you will be able to put the pet out of sight and somewhere it cannot be heard. If you do not have an enclosure or carrier for your pet, you will want to invest in one because people will want to look in the utility room, garage, backyard, or any other rooms used to keep a pet.

You will also need to have the carpets professionally steam cleaned when you list the home to eliminate any odor that may be in the carpet. If your pet has urinated on the carpet you may have to replace the carpet and may have to have the concrete underneath scraped to get rid of any lingering smells. Walls may need to be scrubbed or painted with special odor masking paint (see KILZ website) and couches and furniture should be vacuumed and cleaned to get rid of extra hairs. Vacuum at least once a day and before every showing to ensure your home is in the best shape when a potential buyer comes to look for their new home.

You should also remove any sign you can that there is a pet in the home. Hide litter boxes or puppy pads, toys, accessories, food and water bowls, and anything else that indicates a pet lives in the home. You should clean your backyard of any pet droppings. Fill any holes your pet may have dug and manicure your lawn to remove traces of pets.

We love our animals, and enjoy sharing our home with them. Unfortunately, many buyers do not feel the same. Keep these steps in mind when selling your home and you will help the buyer see beyond your pets to the beautiful home underneath. 

Saturday, October 3, 2015

The Legends Community, The Colony, Tx

The Legends The Colony, Texas


The legends neighborhood in The Colony Texas boasts of well-planned and affordable luxury throughout. With rolling hills, custom landscaping, multiple jogging trails, parks, a community pool, and several pavilions, this neighborhood is like no other. Unlike most communities, The Legends HOA uses your money to benefit you by offering the residents exclusive access to family oriented neighborhood events. They hold back to school bashes, Easter egg hunts, holiday tree lighting ceremonies, fall festivals, movie nights, neighborhood nights out at the local water park, and more. Click here to view The Legends HOA website and information

The community pool, which is manned by a security guard to keep it private and safe, is open daily during the summer from 6 AM to 10 PM. Only families that live in The Legends are allowed entry to the pool along with a select number of guests. There is a main pool in which a shallow toddler pool is sectioned off from the rest that is no more than 1 and a half feet deep. The deepest end in the main pool is just over 4 feet, making this the perfect place for children to enjoy a hot summer day. Recently, the HOA has added a fountain for children to play in which the water squirts up from the ground, and a separate pool for adults who are 18 and older to give people without children a private area where they can enjoy a more peaceful swim. This second pool is located next to the first and is gated off from the main pool. In the adult pool there is a volleyball net and the depth is just over 6 feet. The pool is next to one of several parks in the neighborhood and is surrounded by grassy hill making this the perfect place for you and your children to have a family soccer game or to take your dog for frisbee.

The Legends Median Home Sales Price 2011-2014


The homes in this neighborhood all have two or three car garages and range from 1500 sq ft up to 4600. They were built between 1999 and 2006 and association fees run right about $400 a year. During the holiday season you can see the elaborate entranceways to the neighborhood adorned with holiday lights and during the spring the plants in the very same entranceways are in full bloom creating a lasting impression on you and your guests. This is easily one of the most popular neighborhoods in The Colony, and many homes do not last on the market for more than a week! Home values have steadily increased sense 2011 and are predicted to continue rising so the time to buy has never been better!

With the newly added Nebraska Furniture Mart and all the business it is bringing to the city, as well as the beautiful almost finished Grandscape, and being just minutes from state highway 121, the Sam Rayburn Tollway, Interstate 35, the Dalls North Tollway, and even 380, this is the perfect location for you and your family to relocate to! I am your neighborhood expert, as my mother has lived here since the subdivision was built, and our home was one of the first homes on the block! This is truly a family oriented community and the perfect place to find a starter home.