Happy Halloween!!

We hope all of you have a wonderful and safe Halloween and don't forget to set your clocks back an hour!

Register on our web site!!

Don't forget to register on our web site monthly at www.marshacrawford.com for your chance to win a $100.00 gift card! Good Luck!

Update on Flower Mound Woods

There has been a delay in starting "Flower Mound Woods". Originally, the model was to start in October but they have now pushed that to November and they are expecting a Christmas Grand Opening! They should have pricing finalized in a couple of weeks and the sales rep is already meeting perspective buyers to show them the lots, floor plans, options, etc. If you are interested in more information or know of someone who is please let us know and I can email you what we have so far.

Make it a great day!

Market Update!

The week ended with the terrific news that existing home sales shot up 9.4% in September to a 5.57 million annual rate. This was almost twice the increase the consensus expected and a nice boost coming off the slight drop we saw in August. Best of all, the inventory is now down to a 7.8 month supply, getting us closer and closer to the 6 month level of a normal housing market. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that for 30 year fixed rate mortgages, the average contract interest rate was 5.07% with 1.13 points (including the origination fee) for 80% loan to value ratio loans to borrowers with good credit. First time home buyers have just 5 weeks to get in on these still great rates AND the $8000.00 credit set to go away at the end of November.

Termites: The Silent Destroyers

Termites cause an estimated $5 billion in property damage a year in the United States, according to the National Pest Management Foundation, making these pesky insects even more of a threat to wood-based structures than fire, flood, or wind. Yet, many home owners know very little about the danger that termites pose to their property.

"You don't usually notice them until the damage is extensive" says entomologist Ron Harrison, technical director for Orkin Inc. Harrison knows of situations in which home owners have leaned against a wall and suddenly fallen through and toilets have plummeted through chewed-up floorboards. Termites can slip through a crack in the foundation or enter through window vents and roof joints. If termite pretreatments during construction aren't done correctly by the builder, termite swarms can take hold even after five years.

So how can you keep these insects from biting into your investment....

Keep moisture out. Use downspouts and gutters to divert water away from your home's foundation.

Store mulch, firewood, and wood chips away from the home.

Ensure shrubs, vines, and other plants aren't planted too close to the home and aren't covering vents.

Ventilate crawl spaces to reduce humidity.

Eliminate gaps and cracks in areas such as attic vents, window joints, and roof eaves.

Remove old tree stumps and roots near the home.

Your very BEST defense is to schedule regular inspections with a termite specialist. To find a list of certified professionals go to http://www.pestworld.org/ or contact us for some local names that we use.

1630 Meadows ~ $238,500.

Gorgeous home with trendy paint colors and loaded with upgrades. Extended ceramic tile floor through entry, kitchen, breakfast, & family room. Huge kitchen has corian countertops and opens to the family room. Formal dining off entry has wood floors and could be used as a study. Pool size backyard with oversized patio that is great for entertaining. Wonderful community of Lantana that offers pool, parks, tennis, fitness, etc.

1427 Swallow Circle ~ $198,500.

Hard to find one story on a heavily treed manicured lot within minutes of Lake Lewisville. Large living room opens to dining. Study with double doors and built-ins. Kitchen has breakfast area and bar. Casual living off the kitchen could be used as a large dining room. Double sided fireplace in between living room and casual living. Wonderful sunroom across the back of the home. Oversized flagstone patio. Professionally decorated with trendy paint colors and updated fixtures.

Home price index suggests Dallas-Fort Worth has already hit bottom.

Dallas-Ft. Worth home prices fell by the smallest percentage in almost two years in the latest housing market snapshot. DFW prices were down only 1.6 percent in July from a year earlier in the closely watched S&P/Case-Shiller home price index. Local home prices were up from June to July, the fifth consecutive month of increases. The July figure is also the highest point in the home price index since last September. This just released data is more proof that home price declines bottomed in North Texas in early 2009. The rate of annual decline in home price values continues to decelerate, and we now seem to be witnessing some sustained monthly increases across many markets. These figures continue to support an indication of stabilization in national real estate values.

Analysts are keeping an eye on how the housing market reacts later this year when a popular federal home buying tax credit expires. Nationwide home prices in July were still 13.3 percent below where they were a year earlier. But the index has been higher for three consecutive months, a strong indication that home prices have bottomed out. U.S. home prices are still almost 30 percent below their peak in mid-2006.

So far in 2009 the median home sales prices have dropped only about 2 percent in the residential sales industry's MLS. The Case-Shiller decline estimate is even less. "That's really saying prices are flat" said David Brown, who heads housing analyst Metrostudy Inc.'s Dallas office. "That's a very small number".

Case Shiller tracks the prices of typical single family homes in each metropolitan area. The index does not include condos, town homes, or new construction ONLY pre-owned homes.

** This was published in the Dallas Morning News by Steve Brown 9-30-09**