“While tricks of the trade abound to give buyers and sellers a leg up on the competition, there are also a number of basic pitfalls buyers and sellers should be sure to avoid lest they commence their real estate venture on shaky ground,” notes Robert Jenson, CEO of luxury Las Vegas real estate purveyor The Jenson Group.  With this in mind, Jenson offers these New Year’s Real Estate Resolutions to help buyers and sellers avoid common blunders and get the deal done:  Click here to read more...

The President has signed into law legislation that will allow HUD's Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to continue providing targeted mortgage assistance to homeowners. The Hope for Homeowners program will continue FHA's existing and successful efforts to provide aid to struggling families trapped in mortgages they currently cannot afford. Under the program, certain borrowers facing difficulty with their mortgage will be eligible to refinance into FHA-insured mortgages they can afford. The program will last from October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2011. Click here for more information

The First-time Home Buyer Tax Credit was passed this year as part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (H.R. 3221) on July 30 and targets any individual or household that hasn’t owned a home for at least three years. Taxpayers can take the credit on their 2008 tax return if they bought their house this year after April 9. It’s worth up to $7,500 and can be taken in a single tax year. Authorization for the credit ends July 1, 2009, so if your customers wait to buy in the first half of 2009 they can take the credit on their 2009 tax return.
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If you will be moving in the near future (or just want some information on moving), lots of neat information is available at this National Association of Realtors (NAR) site.  Click her for more information.

Smart home sellers realize they need the expertise of a REALTOR® in the sales process. And only REALTORS®, who are members of the National Association of REALTORS®, follow a time-tested Code of Ethics, where other real estate licensees may not.  Click here for more information

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston announced the new Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage loan limits for single-family homes as prescribed by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.

Beginning January 1, 2009, FHA will insure single-family home mortgages up to $271,050 in low cost areas and up to a maximum of $625,500 in high cost areas. The February 2008 Stimulus Package temporarily raised the FHA maximum to $729,750 through December 31, 2008. The new $625,500 maximum, however, represents a significant increase over the $362,790 limit that was in effect prior to the Stimulus Package.  Click here for more information

A residential service company offers home warranty contracts to maintain, repair or replace all or any part of the appliances, structural components, electrical, plumbing, heating, or air conditioning systems of residential property. A residential service contract traditionally offers a home warranty to the buyer or seller of an existing home in conjunction with the sale or purchase of the property (usually for a term of one-year). The real estate broker or salesperson acts as an agent of the residential service company in presenting the warranty to the buyer or seller.  Click here for more information.

The results indicate general market conditions but do not represent prices for any particular farm or ranch. Prices shown in tables and graphs are the medians of sales reported to the Center by land market participants.   This link (from Texas A&M's Real Estate Center) includes information for Fannin County.  Click here for the chart.

The following are brochures (require Adobe Reader) about dealing with lenders:

• Tips for Buying: Questions buyers should ask a mortgage lender.

• Tips for Buying: How to secure home financing the smart way.

• Tips for Buying: Four ways to fix bad credit.

• Avoiding foreclosure: What every homeowner should know.

Wondering what style of house you're selling or buying?  Here's a guide to architectural styles from Realtor^® Magazine.