This is yet another reason why FSBO’s are getting harder to pull off, and why agents tell homeowners to clear everything out of the house prior to showings: jewelry, knicknacks, and even your medicine! Just take a zip-lock to the medicine cabinet, throw everything in there,  and take it with you wherever you are hiding out the open house.

It’s also another reason why some agents representing the very high end market are pre-screening lookers and buyers — asking not just for a Texas drivers licenses, but their financial statements!

Have you ever had personal items stolen from an open house?

— Daily Local Real Estate Dish By Dallas Real Estate Insider — Candy Evans at CandysDirt.com

Want to get a taste of opulent living? Tour 4835 Lindhurst in Preston Hollow today at 2 p.m.

If you are dying to see what Preston Hollow luxury looks like, today’s your day. Two gorgeous Preston Hollow estates are open for tours today, and they are not to be missed!

The two homes — 4835 Lindhurst and 4346 Park Lane — will be open from 2 to 4 p.m. today thanks to Dave Perry-Miller, Christine McKenny, and Molly Malone.

With four bedrooms and eight magnificent bathrooms, 4835 Lindhurst is top-tier at $5.75 million. However, 4346 Park Lane is nothing to scoff at. Priced at $5 million, this four-bedroom, six-bath mansion has 11,076 square feet full of all the bells and whistles you could want (and a 9-foot television!).

Seriously, folks. Get in your car and head to Preston Hollow as these are two gawk-worthy homes!

Of course, if you’re looking to score scrips, I’m sure they have the medicine cabinets locked down!

— Daily Local Real Estate Dish By Dallas Real Estate Insider — Candy Evans at CandysDirt.com

Investments in Dallas’ road infrastructure might provide some explanation for the situation. An astonishing seven grade-separated highways extend radially out from the city center in all directions.* This is a city designed for the automobile.

At least some of the city’s residents apparently have not had enough of those roads. Early this month, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlins announced his support for a new toll road along the Trinity River whose alignment would not only parallel existing highways and the Orange Line, but it would significantly reduce the value of a new park proposed for the area. If public funds can be found to cover at least part of its $1.4 to $1.8 billion cost, the project appears likely to be built over the next decade.

Read more at A Tollway in Dallas and the Absurdity of Building Duplicative Infrastructure « The Transport Politic.

There can be no doubt that density has its advantages. In general, denser cities are more productive, more innovative, and more energy efficient. But only up to a point.

Read more at The Limits of Density – Neighborhoods – The Atlantic Cities.

Why are the giants of the building industry, the creators for decades of massive communities of cookie-cutter homes, cul-de-sacs and McMansions in far-flung suburbs, doing an about-face? Why are they suddenly building smaller neighborhoods in and close to cities on land more likely to be near a train station than a pig farm?

A housing industry slowly shaking off the worst economic conditions in decades is rethinking what type of housing to build and where to build it. It’s a response to a new wave of home buyers who have no desire to live in traditional subdivisions far from urban amenities.

Read more at Subdivisions go urban as housing market changes – USATODAY.com.

Lochwood Love Snapped Up Fast

Not only am I hearing of multiple offers on choice listings in Dallas and as far north as Frisco, but now I know of several homes selling that never even made it into MLS. I am starting to become concerned that with so many homes by-passing MLS, we will not be getting a clear handle on true sales figures. According to the experts, there are pockets of healthy markets around the country: Orange County, D.C. and Dallas/Houston/Austin.  But Calculated Risk blog, which I became obsessed with during the housing meltdown, says today’s dynamics are very different.

“This is only happening in a few parts of the country, the buyers are usually making substantial down payments, and I suspect any clear increase in prices would be met with more supply (“sellers waiting for a better market”).”

— Daily Local Real Estate Dish By Dallas Real Estate Insider — Candy Evans at CandysDirt.com

Will Bank of America's Principal Forgiveness Program bring borrowers back from the brink of foreclosure?

Thousands of homeowners underwater on their Bank of America mortgages could receive one of the 200,000 letters the bank is sending out offering partial loan forgiveness. According to Bankrate.com, BofA borrowers have to clear a pretty significant series of hurdles in order to qualify for the “principal reduction program”:

To be eligible for this principal reduction program, a borrower must:

• Owe more on the mortgage than the home is worth.
• Have been at least 60 days behind on the mortgage payments, as of Jan. 31. (I don’t get it either but that’s the rule.)
• Have monthly housing expenses of more than 25 percent of gross household income. The expenses include mortgage principal payments, interest, property taxes, homeowners insurance and homeowner association fees.
• Have a loan that is owned and serviced by Bank of America, or serviced for an investor who has given the bank the authority to do this type of modification.

We already know that major lenders are being pretty tight-fisted when it comes to new mortgages, so this program probably won’t have any real impact on the bank’s bottom line. It’s likely just a way for Bank of America to improve its tarnished image.

Still, what kind of message does the “principal forgiveness program” send out to borrowers? And do you think it’ll keep people at risk of foreclosure in their home?

— Daily Local Real Estate Dish By Dallas Real Estate Insider — Candy Evans at CandysDirt.com

When you buy a home, consider it a voyage. There is real joy in the journey as much as the destination. In real estate, that couldn’t be more true! But as with any trip, you’d better be prepared before you hit the road. Just as you wouldn’t set off on any important trip without a map and itinerary and some hard cold cash, it’s best to make absolutely certain that you make the trip to a new residence as smooth as possible, by setting up a similar game plan.

This is a quasi-guest post by Lee B. “Doc” Compton, also known as the Credit Doctor. From personal experience, I know how hard it is to get a loan when you are self employed even if you have wads of equity. And if your credit isn’t ship shape, its going to be a tough road. I compare it to preparing to get pregnant, when you shape up, eat healthy, and make sure your body is ready for the stress of pregnancy, or so another Doc tells me. Getting a mortgage is actually similar. I asked Doc Compton for some tips:

With the recent sizzle in the DFW real estate market, and summer just around the corner, people are beginning to peruse the internet, and take Sunday drives through their desired neighborhoods in search of the perfect home. And whether they’re wide eyed first-timers, seasoned vets looking to upgrade or downsize, or investors capitalizing on current inventories and rate environment, they each need the same thing: good credit.

Dang good credit.

The first step is to ascertain exactly where you are. That’s as simple as looking at your own  map, your credit report. Tons of websites offer consumer credit reports that are relatively inexpensive, and many offer a host of additional benefits, like credit monitoring and identity theft protection. The most important thing is the report itself, and that almighty credit score. These days, the minimum score necessary to qualify for the best loan products available is about a 640 (out 0f a MORTGAGE top tier of 850), but as is always the case, the higher the better.

Even if your scores are above that minimum threshold, you need to inspect your report for mistakes, and anything you don’t recognize. Studies show that millions of consumers have inaccuracies on their credit reports, many bad enough to prevent them from getting home loans. Candy, for example, tells me she had other people’s accounts on her near-perfect credit report. Inaccuracies can keep you from the best possible rates and terms. The good news is, there are federal laws in place designed to protect consumers from this type of misinformation. It can take four to six weeks to clear a credit report, so start early.Whether you take the necessary steps to correct your reports on your own, or hire a credit repair company to do it for you, you’ll see a long-term benefit when it comes to that final monthly payment.

Effective management of your credit is vital, too. Keep revolving (credit card) balances low, as the ratio of balances to available credit limits significantly impacts your score. Try to pay off in full each month, if possible. It’s also important to remember that most credit scoring models reward a good mix of credit use. For example, many loans actually require that you have some revolving history to be approved.

Taking a few steps to adequately prepare beforehand will make the journey to your next home mortgage clean and easy. If you have any credit repair questions, we are here to help: email questions to  Candace@CandysDirt.com. and all credit repair questions will be forwarded for me to answer.

— Daily Local Real Estate Dish By Dallas Real Estate Insider — Candy Evans at CandysDirt.com

Deep Throat house

Did Jo and I enjoy our Mother’s Day? You betcha! I got so caught up with brunch and Mimosas I completely forgot to post the Deep Throat house,  where the then-quite-controversial X-rated film took place about a doctor’s home and home medical office (now that’s antiquated!) where he “treated” this woman, played by actress Linda Lovelace, who ah, shall we say, was anatomically challenged. Looks like rooms such as the wine cellar and doctor’s “office” — featured prominently in “Deep Throat” — actually haven’t changed too much despite renovations. It’s in one of my fave sections of Miami, Coconut Grove, and totally mid-century mod. Talk about House Porn!

Babe Danoff

But Mothers Day should be about rainbows and sunshine, right? So go buy mom this  lovely creature down in Kessler at 600 Rainbow Drive. Totally un-Dallas, in fact, you will feel like you are in Napa or the hills above San Francisco. (Or Bel-Air.) This is the estate of a Dr. Yakimo, built in 1941, a sturdy stone structure that sat on 10 acres and had water pumped from the creek to irrigate it from 1941 onward. There were walkways all over the property, and two bridges that led to the house. The acres were subdivided in the 1980′s, leaving the home’s present lot size of approximately .68 of an acre. Babe Danoff lived in this house after the Yakimos, she being one of 13 founding members of the Ladies Professional Golf Association, or L.P.G.A. as we call it. It began as a hardy, poorly paid band of women who traveled the country for the chance to play golf. Remember a League of Their Own? Babe died in McKinney, Tex. last December at the age of 88. The L.P.G.A. was founded by 13 women in 1950, including Danoff, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Patty Berg and Alice Bauer. Danoff may not have been as well known as the others because she cut short her touring in the early 1960s, after her husband’s death left her with children to care for at home, this home.

Also: a street in the re-platted ‘hood is named Yakimo, presumably after the good doctor, who I definitely want to know more about. We are filming this house Wednesday, by the way, for Daybreak. Talk about privacy, from the street you will never know it’s there. Not even kidding: probably 100 trees on this lot!

The home itself is 3228 square feet, consisting of three bedrooms, two and a half baths, a European style kitchen with commercial stove, island, open shelving, slate floors & those coveted must-have stainless steel appliances. The first floor  master suite has a spacious sitting room & spa bath with a sculptural aluminum steeping tub that probably cost more than a car, separate shower & walk-in closet with a built-in dressing table. There is also a 3-car garage & guest quarters. The main living area is 33 feet long and accommodates entertaining like the Meyerson with hardwood flooring, a striking steel finished fireplace surround, museum-finish walls, and excellent art lighting. Picture windows oversee the gorgeous setting. I’m told the light-filled family room was designed for the original owner for dances! Extensive renovations in 2004 under the skilled guidance of that wonderful Lloyd Taylor, supervised by Aztec Construction. The great price will also make mom jubilant! Only $895,000, reduced from $950,000. What a great nest-egg!

— Daily Local Real Estate Dish By Dallas Real Estate Insider — Candy Evans at CandysDirt.com

I first wrote about this penthouse-to-end-all-penthouses last summer, when Greg Brady, former president of i-2 Technology once (and probably still) the Mark Zuckerberg of supply-chain management, was offering not just a BMW Z8 in at closing but a week on his yacht, the Noble House, to whoever would hand over eight million dolla — actually, $7,999,000 big ones. Then listing agent Babs Holder reduced the price to $6,490,000, kept the cruise. Unfortunately, no bites, even for a big fish. Now it’s listed with Marilyn Hoffman as I may have mentioned a couple weeks ago, the list price has scooted up to $6,800,000. And I wonder if that STILL includes the cruise or car.  No mention of that on the Forbes slideshow, but sure am glad to see a Dallas condo up there on the bigscreen.

And yes, we think this is a perfect fit for Eric Nicholson over at the Dallas Observer and UnFair Park.

— Daily Local Real Estate Dish By Dallas Real Estate Insider — Candy Evans at CandysDirt.com