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Estate Dallas home buyers who want a great deal in real estate invariably think about buying a foreclosure home. Buyers always seem to have a picture in their mind of a nice little house, with a white picket fence that has been owned by a little old lady who has fallen on hard times, but this usually is far from the reality of it all.

Why Do Dallas Homeowners End Up in Foreclosure?
Home owners stop making their payments for a many reasons. Some to go into foreclosure voluntarily which is often caused by one of the following:

• 
  Not being able o work due to medical conditions


• 
  Laid-off, fired or quit job


• 
  Uncontrollable excessive debt and mounting bill obligations


• 
  Divorce or death of owners of DFW homes.


• 
  Job transfer relocation to another state

Negotiating Directly with Sellers in Foreclosure
 
People who buy foreclosure homes many times prefer to purchase these homes before the foreclosure auction is final. Before approaching a seller in distress, consider this:

1. 
   Almost every state allows for some period of redemption after a Dallas foreclosure. This means that the seller has a right during a certain prescribed period of time to cure the default, including paying all foreclosure costs, all of the back interest and principal payments, to regain ownership of the home. 


2. 
   Foreclosure proceedings vary in different states. In the states where mortgages are used, home owners can end up staying in the property for almost a year; whereas, in states where deeds of trust are used, a seller generally has less than three months before the trustee's sale.


3. 
   Many states also require that DFW real estatebuyers give sellers certain disclosures regarding the purchase. Failure to provide such notices can result in fines, lawsuits or even revocation of sale.


4. 
   Determine whether you're the type of person who can take advantage of a homeowners misfortune under these types of circumstances and possible put a family out on the street. Others will feel compassion and make themselves into believing they are helping the home owners avoid further embarrassment.

Buying a Home at the Trustee's / Foreclosures Sale
Check with your local county government office to find out how foreclosure sales in your area are handled, but common among many of these types of auctions are:

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  Sealed/Closed bids


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  No loan contingencies


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  Proof of financial qualifications, Approved mortgage letter or proof of funds.


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  Sizeable earnest money deposits at the time of the auction.


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  Purchase property "as is", no repairs to be made by the seller.

Many times buyers are not allowed to inspect the house before they make an offer. The challenge with buying a house sight unseen is you can't determine how much it will cost to make repairs t0 bring it up to living standards. You also don’t know if the occupants will retaliate and destroy the property.  You may find yourself in the position of evicting the tenant or owner from the property after you get the title, and eviction processes can be timely and costly.

Dallas foreclosures, short sales and REOs are all dangerous animals but they are different from each other. However, they are also similar because without knowledge about how each of them work you could find yourself in dangerous territory and in trouble. As an example, while most short sales are foreclosures, not all foreclosures are short sales. To further complicate things, REOs are not short sales either, but some intended DFW Real Estateshort sales can end up as an REO property.  Retain the services of a professional Dallas Realtorswith experience in these areas to advise you.

 What is a Foreclosure Home?
A foreclosure home is when a notice of default has been filed in the public records by the mortgage company. It means the owner has stopped making their mortgage payments and the lender has given notice that unless the payments are brought up to date, it will sell the home at auction to the highest bidder. Lenders can foreclose for other reasons, but the most common reason lenders file a notice of default is when a borrower is two or more payments in arrears.  If the home owner does not bring the mortgage current, the lender will file to take the property away from them. 

Not all homes that fall into foreclosure go to public auction because owners have the right to make up back payments up to a certain point; this time varies from state to state. Real estate investors and home buyers see profit in buying foreclosed homes because they can often buy the property for the amount owed on the mortgage, picking up the home owner's equity for free.  Even high end areas like Highland Park homesare not exempt from foreclosures, short sales and REO’s.

What is a Dallas Short Sale Property?
A short sale generally occurs when a home owner is in foreclosure but before the property goes to public auction. With a short sale, a lender must agree to accept less than the amount that is owed on the mortgage balance.  Unlike with a foreclosure, investors generally buy the home for even less because investors are not paying off the existing mortgage and they aren’t making up the back payments. Investors attempting to make a deal with the existing mortgage company to take less than what the lender was originally due in order to avoid dealing with the time and expense of a foreclosure.

It's a myth that mortgage companies are not going to accept an offer from an investor unless the seller has fallen behind on their obligation to make timely mortgage payments. Sellers don't need to be in default for a short sale to occur. For a buyer who wants to live in the home, buying a short sale makes financial sense but the short sale time line may pose a challenge for some.

What are REO Propertied - Real Estate Owned?

• 
  Buying an REO is similar to buying a short sale except the property is already owned by the mortgage company.


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  The property was acquired by the lender through a foreclosure action where no one bid higher than the amount owed on the mortgage.


• 
  Many time lenders will sell repossessed homes for less than the past mortgage balance to get them off their books.


• 
  Bank-owned properties are called REOs, meaning “real estate owned” by the lender.

Mortgage companies end up owning the property when no one at the foreclosure auction bid high enough to cover the amount owed against the property. REO homes are often considered one of the best ways to buy a distressed property.  This is because the seller is already out of the home and of the picture. It's just the investor or person wanting to live in the home, the real estate agent, the bank and the bank's asset manager who are negotiating the transaction.  

 Plano home price reductions, price adjustments, price improvements, it doesn't matter what you call it, sellers don’t wants to hear that they may need to lower their price. In slow markets it's not unusual for sellers to put the blame on the real estate agent for their home not selling.  They real culprit is that the seller has unrealistic expectations for the price of their Plano real estate. Many times sellers will say, "Why don't do you do more to sell my house?"  
Before Reducing Your Listing Price

• 
  Review Your Marketing and Answer The Following Questions
  
  1. 
     How many ads have been are running for your home in the Collin County real estatesection?
  
  
  2. 
     What kind of direct mail campaign has been launched, if any?
  
  
  3. 
     How many open houses have there been?
  
  
  4. 
     Does the house show well online, are there a lots of pictures?
  
  
  5. 
     Is your for sale signage in a good visible location?
  
  
  6. 
     Do you have a virtual tour?
  
  
  7. 
     What kind of feedback have you received from DFW Realtorsand prospective buyers?
  
  
  8. 
     Are you offering enough commission to selling agent to make showing your home worth their while?
  
  
  9. 
     How many showings have you had so far?
  
  


• 
  Are You Selling in a Buyer’s Market?
  
  1. 
     When the market is slow, inventory is high and demand falls. If that's the case, and you don’t have to move, maybe you can take your home off the market.
  
  
  2. 
     It doesn’t make sense to put an overpriced home on the market that is not going to receive any showings.
  
  
  3. 
     If you're not motivated to sell, you may be better off renting your house or staying put until the market corrects.
  
  

Choose the Right Price from the Start
If you're price is too high, you'll need to continually reduce it until your price hits the magic number, and by then buyers will begin wondering:

1. 
   What is wrong with your house?


2. 
   Are you hard to deal with?


3. 
   Are you in a distress situation?


4. 
   How much lower will you go?

The reality of it is that you will end up with less money than you would have if you priced the home properly from the beginning. Ideally, you want one price reduction. Here are guidelines to consider:

• 
  Realize your agent is not your adversary but is on your side; enlist his help.


• 
  Review the pending sales and examine the market history. How many days on market were the homes before the price was reduced and how much of a price reduction was made? You won't know the sold price, but you can determine average price reduction percentages.


• 
  Compare the sold prices with active listings. Are sold prices higher or lower?


• 
  Compare the history on the active listings to determine how many days on market before they were before the prices were reduced.


• 
  Run a side-by-side comparison with active listings near the price point you are considering. Price yours so it falls in the bottom two to five listings or, if you're really motivated, price it less than anything else on the market.

Is Your Plano Home Price Too Low?

• 
  Even in distressed markets, as home prices are declining, homes that are priced below the average sold prices will receive multiple offers and sell quickly.


• 
  With multiple offers it's common to have price wars among competing buyers, which will generally result in an accepted offer for more than list price.

The Final Word - Every House Will Sell if the Price is Right!

With more and more information bring readily available online, clients sometimes ask "Why should I hire a real estate agent?  We can look for a home ourselves online" They wonder if they could buy or sell a DFW real estateon the internet or through regular, old school, marketing and advertising means without using a DFW Realtor. It’s possible, a very few do okay but most don’t.  If you've wondered the same thing, here are good reasons why you should want to consider hiring a professional real estate agent.

1. Experience & Education
You don't need to know everything there is to know about buying and selling a DFW home if you hire a professional Dallas Realtor who does. The trick is to find the right Realtor. In most cases, the seller pays your Realtor for you.  Why not hire a Realtor with more education and experience than you, than most other Realtors?
2. Agents are Your Defense
Realtors take much of the stress out of your property showings and visits. If you're buying a new home, your Realtor will keep the builder's agents at bay, preventing them from over aggressive sales tactics.  If you're a seller, your Realtor will filter all the phone calls that lead to nowhere and try to induce serious buyers to write an offer.  If you are buying Dallas foreclosuresyour Realtor will act as you liaison between you and the bank.
3. Community Knowledge
Realtors possess intimate knowledge about your community. They can identify comparable sales and provide this information to you, in addition to pointing you in the direction where you can find more data on schools, crime or demographics. You may know that a home down the street was on the market for $235,000, but an agent will know it had upgrades and sold at $217,500 after 57 days on the market.
4. Value Guidance
Contrary to what many people believe, Realtors do not set the listing prices for sellers or buyers. A Realtor, however, will help to advise clients to make wise decisions. If a listing is at 6%, for example, a Realtor has 6% vested in the sale, but the client has a 94% interest. Selling agents will ask buyers to weigh all the data supplied to them and to choose the listing price. Then based on market supply and demand and the conditions and upgrades, the agent will devise a negotiation strategy.
5. Market Conditions
Realtors can determine market conditions, which will dictate your selling or buying process. There are many factors that determine how you should proceed. Data such as the average price per square foot of similar homes, median and average sales prices, average days on market (DOM) and ratios of list-to-sold prices, among other criteria.  These things will have a huge impact on how you ultimately decide to proceed. 
6. Professional Networking
Realtors network with other real estate professionals, many of whom provide services that you will need to buy or sell. Due to legal liability, many Realtors will not directly recommend a certain individual or company, but they do know which service companies have a good reputation for efficiency, competency and competitive pricing. Realtors many times, however, provide you a list of vendors with whom they have confidence in.
7. Negotiation Skills
High producing Realtors negotiate effectively because, unlike most buyers and sellers, they can remove themselves from the emotional aspects of the transaction.  Because they are skilled it's part of their job. They are professionals who are trained to represent their client's as best as possible and hold client information confidential.
8. Handling Paperwork
Today's contract packages run 20 pages or more. Most real estate files average thicknesses of one to three inches of paper. One little error or omission could land you in court or in or cost you thousands of dollars.

 Two of the biggest mistakes Plano real estatesellers make when choosing a listing agent are: selecting an agent solely based on how high they will list their home for or how low of a commission they will charge.  Of course sellers want the highest possible price and to pay the least amount of commission but these two things have very little to do with hiring a competent listing agent and, in most cases, are completely irrelevant.
 
The Highest List Price
Agents can't tell you how much your home will sell for but they can show you comparable sales, found in the Plano MLS, and what your current competition is. But you are the one who ultimately choose the listing price and a buyer will tell you if that price is the right price.
Choosing an Agent based on Commission
Plano Realtorsare all not equal. Remember about 10% of the agents do 90% of the business in any market. Each of them has their own marketing techniques and advertising means. By choosing an agent with a large advertising budget you will gain greater exposure to the largest number of home buyers. Reaching these greater numbers of buyers means you will have a better chances of a good offer sooner rather than later.

• 
  Why would an agent willingly work for less than competitors?

There is a reason why a real estate agent will discount their commission. Sometimes it's the only way the agent feels it's possible to compete in this highly competitive business.  Maybe they think this because the agent can't seem to stand apart from the competition on service, knowledge or skill. If the sole benefit an agent brings to a table is a cheap inexpensive fee, ask yourself why. Is the agent desperate for business or unqualified?
Sometimes a full service agent will negotiate a lower commission with you under special conditions such as if:

• 
  You are buying a home and selling a home at the same time with the same agent.


• 
  You are willing to do the legwork, marketing. advertising, and pay the cost for expenses related to the sale.


• 
  You are selling more than one house.


• 
  You don't have enough equity to pay the full commission.


• 
  The agent will lose the listing unless he matches a competitor's fee.

When you are interviewing real estate agents who offer similar services and you can't decide which one to higher, ask to see their track record of the each agent's original list price and final sale price. More likely than not, the agent with the lowest fee will show more price reductions and longer days on market. The difference between an agent who charges 5% and 6% is only 1%. Ask yourself how you come out ahead if your price ends up being reduced 2% because you chose a lower fee agent who could not afford to effectively market your home.
Importance of Agent Marketing
A good listing agent grows their business by marketing. Because marketing sells homes. Ask to review an agent's marketing plan. Find out what they are going to do to sell your home? Here is the bare-bones minimum you should expect:

• 
  Professional signage.


• 
  Electronic Lock Box.


• 
  Follow-up reports on buyer and agent feedback.


• 
  Incentives for broker / office previews.


• 
  Staging advice.


• 
  MLS exposure with many photographs.


• 
  Virtual tour.


• 
  Listed on major Web sites.


• 
  Updated CMAs after 30 days.


• 
  E-mail feeds of new listings that compete.


• 
  Updates on neighborhood facts, trends and recent sales.

Remember, no single marketing item sells homes. It's a combination of all those methods that sell homes.
Characteristics of a Good Listing Agent                                                                          
Here are some of the characteristics sellers say they want in agent:

• 
  Education. Ask about designations and certifications.


• 
  Experience.  Honesty. Trust your intuition. 


• 
  Networking. This is a people business. Some homes sell because agents have contacted other agents.


• 
  Negotiation skills. You want an aggressive negotiator, not somebody out to make a quick sale at your expense.


• 
  Good communicator. Sellers say communication and availability are key.

Dallas short-sale vs. foreclosure:  Many sellers wonder if a short sale will affect their credit less a foreclosure will and what the other advantages and disadvantages between the two. A homeowner in foreclosure, depending on state laws, could possibly stay in their property, rent free, for three to four months and sometimes up to a year before they are forced forced to vacate. But this fact alone does not mean a Dallas foreclosureis better for them than a short-sale.   A short-sale involves offering the property for sale, generally listed through the Dallas MLS. Potential home buyers will take a look at the property, some of them will make lowball offers.   

Basics of a Short Sale
A Dallas short sale  happen when a bank agrees to accept less than the amount owed on the mortgage because there is not enough equity to sell and pay the costs of sale. Not all lenders will agree to a short sale, and that is why a Dallas Realtor can be a tremendous help by contacting the lender's loss mitigation department to find out.  You can't just unilaterally decide that you are going to sell your home at a loss and list it as a short sale. It used to be that lenders wouldn't even consider a short sale if your payments are not behind on your payments, but that has changed. However, lenders will be more agreeable to negotiating if your payments are in arrears.
How is a Seller's Credit Affected?

• 
  Dallas Foreclosures or Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure:  Both of these choices affect credit ratings poorly.   A foreclosure can lower your credit score by 200 points and take up to seven years to recover.


• 
  Short Sale:  A short sale can lower your credit score by as little as 50 points and only take two years to recover from.

Waiting Period Before Buying Another Home

• 
  Foreclosure or Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure
  A seller who wants to buy another home after foreclosure will need to wait about up to 72 months before they can qualify for another mortgage.


• 
  Short Sale
  The good news is a short sale will allow you to obtain a mortgage in about two years.  Unlike with a foreclosure, always negotiate with your lender a release of liability when doing a short sale.  This means that the lender will take the money it receives from the short sale as payment in full.  This means they won’t be able to come after you for a deficiency judgment and lien you bank accounts and salary.   

FHA adopted guidelines in 2010 that say a seller who is current and does a short sale may qualify to immediately buy another home. Lenders aren't so quick to follow those guidelines. Fannie Mae guidelines allow a seller to immediately apply for a new loan to buy another home if that seller kept the payments current, had no delinquencies exceeding 30 days and did not agree to repay the debt relief. Moreover, it's the late payments that dramatically affect your credit report, not the short sale.
Foreclosure or Short Sale – The Decision
If you are trying to decide whether to let your home go through foreclosure or selling it via short sale due your due diligence, speak with a professional Realtor how specializes and seek legal and account advice.  There are other advantages to a Dallas short sale over a foreclosure.

 What Does Counter Offer mean?
Counter offers on Collin County real estatecome into play by a home seller after a buyer has submitted an offer to purchase their home. Generally, a counter offer will state that the seller is interested in the buyers offer subject to the following changes. Some examples:

• 
  Price (generally a higher price)


• 
  Increasing the amount of the earnest money deposit


• 
  Changing service providers


• 
  Refusals to pay for certain fees


• 
  Altering closing or possession date


• 
  Excluding personal property from the contract


• 
  Modifying contingency time frames

How many Counters Should You Expect?
Just the same as a seller submitting a counter Tarrant County real estateoffer to a buyer, a buyer can counter the seller's counter, which will then become counter offer #2. There is no limit to the number of counter offers that can be submitted back and forth.  The offer and all subsequent counter offers are handled through you’re your DFW Realtors office.
How are Counter Offers Rejected and Should you Reject it?
The seller is not required to respond to any offer. That may come to a surprise to you? Here are some of the most common ways to reject an offer:

• 
  Most Denton County real estatecontracts provide at the bottom of the page for the seller to initial that the offer has been rejected.


• 
  Most offers specify a date of expiration, a “deadline clause” in the event the seller elects not to respond.


• 
  Sellers can also write "rejected" across the face of the contract, initial and date it.

Can There Be Multiple Counter Offers?
Depending on your specific state laws, sellers may or may not be able to issue multiple counter offers at one time. In many states sellers can counter more than one offer and each counter can be different. Even if one of the buyers accepts the seller's counter under these circumstances, the seller does not have to accept the buyer's acceptance. When Dallas foreclosures are involved many banks and mortgage companies will use this method in order to get then highest offer for one of their properties.  
How are Counter Offers Accepted?
If the counter offer is issued by the seller, the buyer can simply accept the counter and deliver it back to the party designated to receive it. Time is always of the essence, meaning, counter offers contain expirations just like purchase offers, which means the seller can accept another offer while the buyer is deciding whether to sign the counter offer.  When I've called Realtors to find out the availability of a home and whether any offers have been received, it's very common to hear, "We have a counter out." Some Realtors become discouraged at this news. But this is a great time to get your clients offer in.  You may be pleasantly surprised when the offer is accepted by the sellers. What commonly happens in these situations is the seller accepts the second buyer's offer and then simply withdraws her counter offer from consideration, kicking out the first buyer.

There are a hand full of serious DFW home selling mistakes that I see time and time again.

We Want to List it High, They Can Always Offer Less

 When many DFW home sellers interview Realtors it is easy for them to get caught up in the excitement of choosing a listing price. The higher their sell their DFW homesfor the more money they make the more financial opportunities they will have. With all this maybe the seller can afford to buy a more expensive home, pay for a child’s college education or take that much overdue vacation. Unfortunately, many uninformed sellers often choose the listing agent who suggests the highest list price, which is the absolute worst mistake a seller can make.  If they do this they will ultimately pay for it in money, time and frustration.

Establishing a Homes Value

The cold hard truth is that it doesn't matter how much you think your home is worth. For that matter, it doesn’t matter what your Realtor “thinks” it worth (assuming your home is in Plano). The person whose opinion matters is the buyer who makes an offer. Determining the value of a DFW home is part art and part science. It involves comparing similar properties in the Plano MLS, making adjustments for the differences between them, tracking market changes and accounting for the stock of present inventory.  This will help to determine a range of value. This is the same method an appraiser evaluates a home. And no two appraisals ever exactly the same.  In most cases however, they are generally close to each other. There is no hard and fast price tag to put on your home. It's only an educated guess; the market will dictate the price.

Is There a Price That is to Low?

All homes sell at the price a buyer is willing to pay and a seller is willing to accept. If a home is priced too low, priced under the competition, the seller should receive multiple offers to drive up the price to fair market value. Because of this there is little danger in pricing a home too low. The danger lies in pricing it too high and selecting your Realtor solely on opinion of value.

How Things Start To Go Wrong

The seller of a DFW Home didn't even interview her Realtors. She picked the first one off the Internet because, "She looked smart." She priced her home at $275,000. This Realtor never heard the local Realtors laughing behind his back because he worked in a different area of the city. After 90 days, the listing expired.

Continues To Go Wrong

The next Realtor, also from another part of the city, listed the home at $265,000.  A few more months passed. Eventually the price dropped to just under $250,000. Still no sale.  Remember this Realtor was chosen by the seller on a whim.

More Than a Year Later

By the time the last Realtor was hired to list the home, the seller had grown frustrated and exhausted. Together, the seller and her agent priced the home at $225,000. It immediately sold.  The sad part is the comparable sales in the neighborhood fully justified a price of $250,000, but the home had been on the market for too long at the wrong price, and now her listing was stale.

Agents Specialize in Expired Listings

I know a Realtors whose real estate business is totally based on contacting sellers of expired listings and relisting them at the correct.  Don’t end up in a position where these specialist are contacting you.  Worse yet, take action quickly so that you do not become one of those many Dallas foreclosures.

How much money does an expired listings cost a seller? The financial loss often exceeds the extra mortgage payments paid and goes beyond the uncompensated hassle factor of trying to keep a home spotless during showings. It affects the value that a buyer ultimately chooses to pay because it's a stale, dated, a market-worn home that was overpriced for too long. Don't let this happen to you. Higher the right Realtor and list at the right price from the beginning and your house will sell.

Dallas real estatebuyers who are in a position to invest in a home in this buyers market are in the advantageous position of being more likely to get there low ball offer accepted. But whether the market is a buyer’s market, a seller market or some in between, lowball offers can result in big savings to a buyer if they are presented and negotiated properly. Let's take look at what NOT do when making a lowball offer:
Common Mistakes Made by Lowball Buyers

• Unqualified to Pay More.Don't tell the seller your price is fair because that's how much the lender has qualified you to buy. Sellers don't care what you can or cannot afford to buy. If you can't afford to buy the house, that's not the seller's problem; it's yours.
• I’m Paying Cash so my Offer is Better.It's all cash to the seller in the end. Most buyers don't seem to realize that. If a property will appraise at selling price and the buyer's credit is acceptable, a conventional loan transaction will close just the same as a cash deal. Consider it a wash.  One of the main advantage to offering cash for a home though, is that it removes the financing contingency, the right for a buyer to walk away if a loan isn't approved. But most loan contingencies follow the same number of days as other contingencies. It's not really a big selling point.
• Walking Away.Some buyers get all bent out of shape and walk away from their Dallas real estatetransaction when the seller counters their offer at more than the buyer was prepared to pay. Maybe the counter was the list price. Maybe less. It really doesn't matter that much. The point is the doors of negotiations have opened up.

Strategies for Getting the Lowball Offer Submitted

• Find out the Seller's Motivation.If you don't know why the property is being sold, you will need to find out what the seller’s needs are or won’t close the deal.
• Write a Straight Forward Offer.Dot T's and cross I's. Shorten inspection and option periods, waive reduce or some contingencies and submit proof of funds of a pre-approval letter from a lender. Don't give the listing agent a reason to question your ability to close. Appear decisive, qualified and ready to close.
• Always Counter the Counter Offer. It goes without saying that the first counter is only an invitation for the buyer to offer a second counter offer.
• Take Attention Away From Price.There are many other considerations than the sales price. It's a good move to change tactics and ask for other concessions such as seller paid closing cost, repair credits, longer escrow periods, etc.
• Give a Logical Reason Why Your Lowball Offer is Fair. Don't insult the Realtor by handing over a list of comparable sales from the DFW MLS. Show them that you have done your due diligence. Make notes on each sale that compares it to the property that you are making an offer on. Maybe the higher priced homes had remodeled kitchens or bathrooms. If the home you want to buy is not updated, then knock off a reasonable figure reflecting the remodeling work from the seller's list price.

When Your Lowball Offer is Rejected
Don't pack up and go home with your tail between your legs. Just be patient and wait. Sellers have their reasons for rejecting offers. Maybe you made an offer on a new listing, when the seller thinks that a really great offer is just around the corner. Let them sit out on the market for awhile. After a month or two has gone by, resubmit your same offer. Just cross off the date, but leave enough of it so the seller can see how long it's been since you last made an offer. Then write in the new date and resubmit.  Will a low ball tactic work for you?  In most cases no but if you have the time and patience you can find a great value in a Dallas home that meets all your needs.

 When pending DFW real estatesales go back on the market as an active listing, it arouses many people’s suspicions in the area. Everyone wonders what went wrong with the closing? Why did the transaction fall apart? It’s possible it was canceled Because of seller’s remorse, but that's very unlikely.  Many DFW home owners keep an eye on the for sale signs in their neighborhoods. It's common to see a pending sign pop up after two or three months on the market if the home is priced properly from the beginning. 
Why Pending DFW Home Sales Go Bad

• Buyer's Remorse
  Buyers sometimes get cold feet. In many states, standard contracts give buyers 7-10 days to do inspections and their due diligence. During this time, buyers can cancel their contract for any reason, but the most common reason is fear of buying a home. During this period, buyers have a right to get their deposit back for any reason if they decide to cancel.  It is the job of the DFW Realtorto manage their buyers fears.
• Home Inspections
  To the non-professional home buyer, homes generally look the same: four walls, a floor and a roof. But to a professional home inspector, every crack in the wall and every spot on the ceiling could be the beginning trouble.  Damp basements, leaking roofs and malfunctioning HVAC systems are three significant problems that an average buyer can't reasonably inspect without professional assistance. Once a home inspector points out problems in a home, buyers tend to immediately start panicking. All houses have problems, even newly constructed homes. Sometimes buyers demand that sellers replace older appliances or fix pre-existing conditions that make them uncomfortable. Buyers may ask for a credit from the seller as compensation for needed repairs. If the seller refuses to do either of those options, then the pending sale may cancel and the house goes back on the market.  If you are buying a DFW foreclosurehome it is that much more important that you utilize the service of a professional home inspector.
• Low Appraisals
  Most home buyers need to obtain a mortgage to buy a home. To protect the lender's position, the lender will ask a buyer to pay for an appraisal to determine the value of the home. If the appraisal comes in less than the sales price, here are the options:
  1. Pay the difference in cash.
  2. Order another appraisal from a new appraiser at an additional cost.
  3. Supply the underwriter with comparable sales supporting the sales price, hoping to change the appraised value.
  4. Ask the seller to reduce the price.

If the parties cannot agree to work out one of these options, the closing will fall apart.

• Mortgage Loan Rejection
  Until the public records are searched by a title company or lawyer, buyers might not have knowledge of liens or judgments filed against them. Unless these liens are removed, a lender will not lend, and the buyer's loan can be denied. Buyers who don't know any better sometimes increase their debt ratios by financing large purchases while waiting for their mortgage loan to close. Taking out a loan for a new car or financing the purchase of furniture, taking a vacation can make a buyer ineligible for a mortgage loan. If the loan is rejected because of a buyer's impulse financing, the pending sale will go back to active status.
• Contingent on Buyer's Home Sale
  Buyers can lose a home sale if the contract is contingent upon the sale of the buyer's home first and that home has not sold in the time specified. Few buyers can afford to carry two mortgages at the same time. Depending on the contingency agreement clause, sellers might also retain the right to kick out a contingent buyer and cancel the contract if another buyer wants to buy the home without a contingency.

Home ownership rates have increased from 25% in the early 1900s to 67% in 1999. During all these years, many home buyers struggled to come up with a down payment. Years ago, in some cases, the banks required as much as a 50% down payment before they would give them a mortgage.  Today, generally, the down payment is 20%; however, few people have that much cash available to them.  With the popular FHA loans they require only 3.5% down. But the fact remains that the more a buyer puts down, the lower the mortgage. Low mortgage balances will carry low mortgage payments.

Here are nine ways to find that down payment.
1) Save Your Tax Refund
If you are having a challenge saving money, you can change your withholding exemptions to zero. This will force your employer to pay more to the IRS which will reduce your paycheck by that amount. This method assures a larger income tax refund.

2) Borrow From Your Parents
Many first time homebuyers ask their parents for funds to put towards a down payment on a home. Favorable tax laws allow for parent to gift a certain amount of money without tax consequences (check with your CPA). 

3) Save Money on Schedule
The way to make your savings account grow is to make scheduled deposits at the same time every month. Example, if you get paid every two weeks and you save $300 from every paycheck, at the end of 12 months, you will have saved more than $3,600.

4) Sell Stuff on eBay
Like everybody else you probably have too much stuff.  Some people spend a ton of money each year on storage units where this stuff is stashed. Look all around your home, in your attic, your basement, under your bed and in your closets. If you haven't used it in a year, sell it! 

5) Ask Seller
In this buyers market if you pay the seller's asking price, you should ask the seller to pay money towards your closing cost/down payment.  Make sure you check with your lender before asking for the credit because they have strict requirements as to if and how much money you can receive from the seller.

6) Government Programs
If you have ever been in the military, you may qualify for a Veterans Administration (VA) loan. The government also has a slew of down payment assistance programs for first-time home buyers. You can also check with your county or city to see if they offer special programs to induce home ownership in certain neighborhoods.

7) Take a Second Job
Some would be homeowners will sacrifice their evenings and weekends to work part-time at a second job. If it's a short-term situation, it might not be that hard to do. It could also be seasonal work such as from Thanksgiving to Christmas or specialty work around tax time in the spring.

8) Tap Your Retirement Funds
Certain types of retirement accounts will allow you borrow from them in order to purchase a home. Check with your CPA or Retirement Plan Administrator for current regulations. Some types of requirement accounts will even allow you take out some of the principal without a penalty.

9) 100% Financing
If you have excellent credit, you may qualify for a 100% financing. This could be a single mortgage with mortgage insurance, or you may qualify for a second mortgage commonly referred to as am 80/20 loan. Talk to your mortgage broker to see which programs may be available for you. The bottom line is that owning DFW real estateis obtainable if you work hard, save money and work with a professional DFW Realtor and Lender.  Tip: Get you Realtor to search the DFW MLSfor a great deal on a Dallas foreclosure homegenerally this is where you will find the best values.

Doing a Plano real estate search means doing some homework, but you can find out much about a property this way. A property search can turn up valuable data that you can use when writing an offer to buy. Example, I will not write a purchase contract without looking into the history of the property by conducting a variety of searches. I do not rely on the Plano MLS information alone, and you shouldn’t either, because it could affect how much you will pay for the home.

Matters of Public Record
What kinds of information can you find from a property search? Example, if you knew the sellers were getting a divorce, you may decide not offer full price.  Generally, in a divorce situation is a red flag that the sellers might take less because they want to get the property sold so they can get apart from each other.  You can find out how long the seller has owned the home, how much they still owe on their mortgage, whether improvements or additions have been made without a permit among other important facts.
Every city has a place where its’ citizens can go to search for information on any given property. Property records, sometimes referred to as Land Records, are maintained at either the county courthouse, city hall or another city or county department.  You can also check the federal court records to find out if a seller has filed for bankruptcy or go through county court records to see if a seller is involved in a law suit.
These days there are easier ways to find this information.  Once you find the owner of record, if you don't have an address or the person has moved, you can order reports online that can find a missing person. These companies charge a nominal fee.

Property Search on the Internet
Many counties and cities maintain records online. Search for property tax records to find:
Name of the owner Tax ID number or parcel number Amount of present taxes and whether the taxes are paid. There are dozens of web sites that offer consumer information for free. Many Web sites let you search for property by area or sip code.  Here are a few:

Title Company Property Search
Call a local title company. Many title companies will give you a free property profile in hope that you will use them when you close on your home.  Some title companies will do a search for the seller's name to find out if there are liens or judgments filed against the seller. 

Property Search Data Realtors Can Find
If you are working with a Realtor, you can ask them to find out more information about a property. Almost all Plano Realtors subscribe to services that provide property search information in variable formats.
Plano MLSdata.It's not enough to just get a copy of a listing for the home you are interested in. Get your Realtor to search the history of the property in the MLS. You can find out if the property has been withdrawn from the market and relisted or if it has recently sold and may be a home being flipped. Your Plano Realtor can find out how long the property has been on the market.  The amount of days on the market has an effect on pricing.  Generally, if the home has been on the market for a long time you can get the home for less. Online Title Company Database.I have an access code for my favorite title company's Web site. I can download deeds and search the sales and mortgage history of a property going back 20 years. Tax Assessor's Data.Many Realtors have access to a tax record data base search that sjows the complete records on file at the tax assessor's office for any given property. This information can include the age of the home, square feet, type of roof, number of rooms, among other data. If the tax assessor records show different square footage than noted in the listing, either the tax assessor is wrong, the seller is wrong or the property has improvements for which a permit was not obtained. Buyers should then check with their city planning department to find out if a permit was obtained for the addition. Buying Plano real estatecan be challenging but if you do your due diligence and check all the information available, you should do just fine.  Next time around you will learn about Dallas foreclosures.  See you then.

Do you really need to consider selling a home even before you buy it?  Well, what if you decide to move or have to move? Wouldn’t you want a house that has increased in value and will sell quickly? Of course you do. Most of us won't live in the same house for the rest of our lives.  So then, it makes sense to analyzing a home’s resale values before you buy it.  Buying a home with good resale value may take a bit longer, and it may take more work on your part, but it will be well worth it when it comes time to sell and your home sells quickly and you put extra money in your pocket. Take a look at these tips to help you find a home with good resale value:
Location is the Number One Factor                                                               
Are there areas in town that are increasing in desirability? Why are these neighborhoods in demands? Does new growth in town seem to be headed towards a certain area? Will there be plenty of services (shopping, schools) in that area? Is the community changing for the better-with residence being rehabbed and additions added? Buying Tip:Always choose a home that meets your needs, but generally it is better to buy less house in a better area vs the other way around.
Who's Buying?       
Who are the primary home buyers in your area, professional singles, young families, seniors?  Example: In a senior area your best resale potential might be a one level home, because seniors don't like to do steps.  If the majority of buyers in your area are young families with children, consider buying a home with a nice yard that's not near by a busy street. 
Buying Tip:Browse the internet for DFW real estate ads. A feature that's mentioned in numerous ads is likely one that's in demand.
Avoid Outdated Features
Electric baseboard heat is not as desirable as central heating systems. One bathroom homes sell for much less than homes with at least two baths. Tubs and showers in outdated colors, or scratched from years of improper cleaning, will deter many potential buyers. Popcorn ceilings date a house back to the 70's. Buying Tip:Outdated features are usually a negative, but you can turn them into a positive if you buy a home at a great price and make updates. Before you make a decision to buy a home, analyze the update costs and determine how much value they will add to the home.
Don't Sweat Cosmetic Updates
New appliances and cabinet hardware will freshen up a kitchen and make it look more modern. Fresh paint inside and out is a quick and relatively inexpensive fix.. Skylights will brighten a dark home. Be sure to buy top-quality products and have a professional install them. New light fixtures go far to lighten rooms and enhance a home's character. New switch plates and electric plugs are an inexpensive way to make a room look nicer. Buying Tip:Watch for homes in need of cosmetic updates, because they're often priced under market value.
What Are Home Buyers Looking For?
Split bedroom plans, with bedrooms on each end of the home, are becoming more and more popular. Closets--lots of closets, preferably walk-in, and with as much additional storage space as possible. Homes with lots of natural lighting are very popular. Buying Tip:Popular features differ from region to region.  Do your best to determine what's in demand in your area. Ask your DFW real estateagent which features are always on their buyers want lists.
The Bottom Line
Your first objective should be to buy a DFW home, even a DFW foreclosurehome, that's right for you.  You also need to consider its resale value before you make your final decision.  You will be happy you did so when it comes time to sell.   Have your Realtor show you a few Dallas foreclosures.  You never know, you may find the proverbial “diamond in the rough”.
 

Here are some ways to tell if renting or buying may be best for you.

Bad Credit – Good Credit
How does your credit score look? If your FICO score is below 620, you're not going to get the best interest rates for a mortgage, in fact, a low score could put you into the hands of a sub-prime lender with higher rates and fees.

• You can order your free credit report from all three major credit bureaus.
• If you want to buy a home and you have bad credit, you should work on repairing it before applying for a mortgage.
• Four late payments may be enough to disqualify you from obtaining a home mortgage.

High Debt Ratios
Lenders consider two types of ratios: front end and back end ratios. Your front end ratio is your mortgage payment, plus taxes and insurance divided by your monthly salary. Your back end ratios add your monthly debt payments to your PITI payment before dividing that total figure by your salary. A 50% debt ratio is a high ratio. A high debt ratio means you may not qualify for a mortgage.

Relocation - Job Instability
Is your job secure, how secure?

• Is Your Job in Jeopardy?
  Is your company laying people off? Could you be let go and, if so, how hard would it be for you to get another job, making the same money, quickly? 
• Relocation.
  Are you likely to be transferred to another area within the next couple of years? If you had to sell your home due to a job transfer will your home appreciate at least 10% to cover the cost of selling; if not, you would lose money on the sale.

Maintenance
Homes require maintenance and upkeep. Not everybody has the where-with-all, much less the desire, to tackle home repair projects. In addition, many first-time home buyers cannot afford to hire a professional to fix things that break. Experts suggest you set aside 5% of the purchase price to cover maintenance and repairs when you buy a home.

When Renting Costs Considerably Less
Does it make sense to buy Plano rea1 estateor rent? If your mortgage payment would be three times the amount than you would pay for rent, it may not make financial sense for you to buy a home right now. Example, if it would cost you $2,500 a month to rent what would cost you $7,500 per month to own, does it make sense to pay than much more each year more to home?  If you are in a 35% tax bracket, you might not be able to recouping the difference you pay towards your home. If your deductible expenses are $4,000 a month; 35% of that is only $1,400, which would be your true tax savings per month. Would you spend $4,000 to save $1,400?  Retain the services of a professional DFW Realtorto guide you through the process.  It may be a good idea to look at some Dallas foreclosurehomes to find a great value in a home.

Step 6, Searching for your Home
Your DFW Realtor will give you a MLS printout of home listings to review. You will probably also find yourself picking up home sales magazines and reading classified ads in your local newspapers. And you know you will be spending a lot of time surfing the Internet for homes. You might even find yourself driving around preview neighborhoods. Those are all excellent ways to see what's available for you to choose from. Here are some great tools to help you narrow your home buying search.

Step 7, Take Care of Pre-Offer Tasks
Deciding whether or not you want to buy a home involves looking at its floor plan and features, but there are many other items that are every bit as important to your home purchase. Here are a few topics you should explore before you make your offer.

Step 8, Make the Offer
There's no one set of instructions or rules that can cover all the differences in real estate laws and customs that exist throughout the country, so they depend greatly on your market place. However, there are some home buying tips that can help you make a clean, straight forward offer.

Step 9, Inspections
In some states, home inspections are completed before the final purchase contract is executed. In other states, inspections don’t take place until after an offer is finalized. No matter when you do them, make sure you do them.  This will ensure you are purchasing a sound, safe home.   

Step 10, Handling the Last Minute Problems
As your closing date approaches, make sure your Realtor checks with everyone involved in your real estate transaction to check its progress, because staying on top of things means you'll know immediately if there's a challenge that needs to be handled.  

Step 11, Closing
With most of your home buying problems behind you you're on your way to the closing table.  At closing ownership or the property will transfers from the old owners to you. Congratulations!
The DFW real estatebuying steps outlined in this article are general home buying tips. You will encounter issues specific to your Dallas Real Estatetransaction.  These issues can best be explained by your local real estate agent, your lender, your attorney, and your closing agent.  If you are buying a Dallas foreclosure homethe steps to closing are substantially the same.  Don’t hesitate to ask a lot of questions. Ask as many questions as necessary to help you understand the entire home buying process.

A Step By Step Guide at buying a DFW Home
Progressing through a DFW home buying transaction can be a challenge but there are many home buying steps that once understood will get you to meeting your goal of owning a DFW home. You'll feel more confident about your home buying journey when you understand what is required of you and everyone else who is involved in your home buying transaction. This guide will take you through the steps and show you that you are only 11 steps away from buying the home that is just right for you.

Step 1, Get Your Finances in Order
Your credit report is a mirror as to how you manage your finances. You need to know exactly what is on your credit report and what it says about your financial history.  Do this before you apply for a mortgage because your credit report will play an important role in your mortgage approval process and will determine the interest rate and terms that a lender offers you.  If you haven't looked at your credit report recently, or at all, you may be surprised at what’s in it and because mistakes are common.

Step 2, Learn About the Mortgage Industry
Finding the right mortgage and mortgage company is paramount to your home buying success. It's up to you to determine which lender is best suited for your needs, and it's always a good idea to have some background information about the loan process before you talk to a lender.

Step 3, Get Pre-Approved for a Mortgage
If you haven’t talked to a lender you probably don’t know how much home you can afford.  A mortgage pre-approval helps you in other ways.  In this day and age most sellers won’t take your offer to buy their home seriously if you don’t provide them with a mortgage pre-approval letter showing them that you are actually qualified to buy their home.   

Step 4, Determine Your Wants and Needs
Before going out to look at homes take a little time to determine your needs, wants and even your dream items.  If having the master bedroom on the first level is a need or want, or, if you want to be is a certain school district there is no sense in wasting time looking at homes that don’t meet these criteria.  Take some time to learn the DFW real estate market to save you time and frustration.

Step 5, Work with a DFW Realtor
DFW Realtors represent buyers, sellers and sometimes both.  It's imperative to understand Realtors duties and loyalties before you make that first phone call.  Having a professional Realtor on your side who has experience, knowledge of your local market and access to the MLS is imperative to your goal of buying a home.

Step 6-11 to follow:
It’s always a great time to buy DFW real estate.  This is true in most all cases when you know you will be staying in your DFW home for three years or more.  It is generally better to buy less home in a nicer area than the other way around.  Homes in the nicer areas tend to hole their value and appreciate more.   Stay away from areas that have a lot of Dallas foreclosurehomes.  This will surely have a negative impact on the value of your home.  Use a professorial DFW Realtorwho has access to the powerful DFW MLS to find you the best values in your chose area. 
 

It is time to sell your DFW home and you know you have a better chance of selling your home faster and at a higher price when it is staged but you don’t want to spend the money.  Staging your DFW home is a bit more than just cleaning the carpet, making minor repairs, cleaning and decorating. It is about creating an illusion of a home space that involves all the five senses. It is about making a potential buyer fall in love with and want to buy your home.  Here is how you can make your home more attractive to the buyer.

Furniture – Remove most of it.
You will want to remove all the excess furniture from a furnished home. In a vacant home add only enough furniture to let buyers visualize the space for themselves. Arrange the furniture in groups.  For example; in the living room, break up the space by adding a vignette as a reading area, plus a sofa and coffee table; and in the dining room set the stage with a set table and chairs.

Using Soft Fabrics Where Possible
Use soft fabrics such as silk, lamb's wool or satin around the house. Drape windows with simple lines.

Decorate The Home With Subtle Decoration
If you have some knickknacks, arrange them in groupings of 1, 3 or 5 pieces. Add things that will warm up the space. A large flower arrangement adds beautiful colors to the area. Add canned goods to the panty and arrange cookbooks on kitchen shelves and counters.

Create a Luxury Feeling in the Bathrooms
Spruce up your bathroom with a spa feel by arranging lotions, scented soaps and moisturizing jars in basket and by hanging towels on all towel bars.

Arrange a Few Decorative Pieces Throughout
Add decorative elements to your shelving, mantel and bookcases in small group scattered throughout. Add a few large decorative pieces: rugs, floor and table lamps, silk flowers, and a few plants.

Staging a DFW homes for sale is more of an art form than anything else. If you have prepare your home properly, it will invite warm feelings from many potential buyers which may turn into offers.   The Dallas real estate market remains strong but that doesn’t mean you should look past this very important marking technique of home staging.  Even DFW foreclosure properties would benefit from these same staging tips.

 
It is possible that the price per square foot of a Dallas home could be falling while the total price of the home can go up.  This can happen because the per-square-foot costs that you read about are based on one of two computations. To figure the price per-square-foot of the home, simply take the sales price and divide it by the total square footage of the finished, livable space.   Example: take a 1,500-square-foot home that is listed for $150,000. The price per-square-foot is $100. Maybe the home across the street is 2,000 square feet, and it is listed at $185,000. The price per-square-foot of the larger home is $92.50. Which is a better buy? Let’s take a look.
Average Per Square Foot vs Median Price

• Average (mean) price per square foot

To arrive at the average per-square-foot cost of any home add the square foot cost of each home that has sold in any given neighborhood and dividing by the number of homes that sold.   This will get you the average price per square foot.

• Median price per square foot

The median price is known as the halfway point. It is the exact middle price point. It means that half the homes in any given community have sold above the median price and half have sold below the median price. It is many times used as a more accurate measure of a home’s value.  It is better than a mean price, especially when there are extremes highs and lows in pricing in that community. It too is not a clear picture on its own merits.   



Per square-foot costs are often used in new construction projects. The square foot cost to rebuild your home should it burn down, if it is an older home, is going to usually be higher than the cost to buy it already built. It is generally not a good idea to base the purchase price of a home you are going to buy on either the median or the average per-square-foot costs. Each property is unique, it is not a one price fits all calculation.  Home prices per-square-foot can vary greatly based on, condition, location, improvements and upgrades, among many other factors.  The powerful DFW MLS system that Realtors use will list the price-per-square-foot right in the listing so that you can avoid these calculations.

So is it better to buy a smaller home at a higher per-square-foot or a larger home at a smaller per-square-foot cost?  Well, it depends on the typical average square footage of homes in that particular community. I know that many buyers want to buy the largest home possible but it's not always the best financial choice.
How Can You Use the Price Per-Square-Foot Help to Determine a Dallas Homes Values?
The short answer when it come to Dallas real estate for sale: You really can’t. You can't take the average price per-square-foot and multiply it times the square footage of the home you are thinking about buying. It doesn't work that way. The pricing per-square-foot simply gives you average or median ranges which shows you trends.  Each value is different especially when you compare a recently renovated and upgraded home against a Dallas we buy houses type property.    

Is your private information safe? Before a Plano home goes on the market and home buyers begin to come through the door, smart sellers will put away confidential and sensitive information. You might be astonished to learn what “home buyers” can learn about you as they are looking at your home.



Your Private Documents

• Some potential home buyers will open your drawers and cabinets.
  Buyers can innocently, or on purpose, pull open a drawer or cabinet to inspect its construction, or size and come across important personal documents that you might not intend for anyone to see. 
• Don't leave mail sitting out where a potential buyer can find it.
  Many sellers leave piles of opened mail stacked on their kitchen counter.  A potential buyer could find out how much you owe on your mortgage or how much money you have in the bank and other information you may not want them to know.  These sellers must believe that buyers, and their agent, will not read their personal mail, even when that mail is taped to the front of the refrigerator door.

Remove Photos and Diplomas from your Walls
Notwithstanding that all personal items should be removed before the home is shown in the first place, sometimes sellers leave diplomas on the wall. People may form biases and can carry a bias a little too far. As an example, the seller might be a lawyer, and there are buyers who might not feel comfortable buying a home from a lawyer. For whatever reason.  Wedding photos may give away the seller's religion or the fact that it is a mixed race marriage, as will certain religious artifacts left in the home. Sometime buyers can be prejudiced. Don't give buyers a way to form any opinion about you at all. It serves no purpose to let buyers form ideas, opinions and prejudice about you from the type of music you like or the type of books that you read.

The Contents of your Closets
Many time sellers who are separating or getting divorced feel pressure to sell their home quickly, especially if the partner who remains in the home cannot afford to stay in it. But that is not information sellers will want to share with potential buyers. Yet they do so by making simple mistakes like these. They may as well toss their wallet out the car window going down the highway for just anyone to find.  Don't leave any telltale clues around that could give away your motivation to sell. Before you put your Plano homes for sale on the market, get the home ready to show making it safe and secure by empting out your drawers, cabinets and closets and pack up all of your personal items away. If your house speaks to a buyer about you, it's probably saying the wrong thing.  I have seen Dallas foreclosures properties for sale that had many embarrassing items in the property that had once belonged to the owner.  So before your home shows as a DFW MLS Listing make sure your safety and privacy are protected.

It doesn’t matter what you call it; Price reductions, price adjustments, price improvements, no DFW home owner wants to hear about lowering the price of their Home. In slower markets, buyer's markets, it is not unusual for sellers to have unrealistic expectations for the price of their home. 



Before Reducing Your DFW Home Price

• Answer These Questions
  1. Does you MLS listing show a lot of pictures of your home?

   

• Is your signage in a prominent visible location, contain a phone numbers and a Web site?
• What feedback have you received from looking agents and buyers?
• Are you offering a high enough commission to the selling agents?
• Have you had many, or any, any showings?
• Are You Selling a Slow, Buyers Market
  1. Maybe you don't have to sell your DFW home now? When the market is slow inventory is high. Maybe you should take your home off the market for a while.
  2. It doesn’t make sense to put an overpriced home on the market that is not going to get any showings, let alone receive an offer.
  3. If you don’t have to move, you may want to consider renting out your house or staying put until the market recovers.

Starting at the Right Listing Price
If you price is too high, you'll need to continually reduce the price until you hit the "magic number”, and by then the buyers will be wondering why the home has been on the market so long and you will ultimately end up with less money than if you listed the home at the “right price” from the beginning:  Here are some things to consider:

• Realize that your professional DFW Realtor is on your side; enlist their help.
• Have your Realtor pull up pending home sales and examine their history. How many days on market before the price was reduced and how much of a price reduction was made? 
• Compare sold prices with active listings.  Are sold prices higher or lower?
• Pull the history on active listings to determine how many days on market before the prices were reduced. 
• Run side-by-side comparisons with active listings. Price yours so it falls in the bottom two to five listings or, if you're really determined, price it a little less (3-5%) than all of your competition.

Is Your List Price Too Low?

• Even in distressed markets, as home prices continue to trend lower, properties that are priced below what buyers are readily willing and without prodding to pay will usually receive multiple offers.
• It's common to have price wars among buyers who are competing, which will then result in an accepted offer for more than list price.

Every House Will Sell if the Price is Right, No Exceptions!
Every single piece of Dallas real estate for sale will sell at it’s true value.  It can be a new home, a renovated home or even a Dallas foreclosure home it will sell if it is priced right.  No exceptions!