Dallas Relocation – Dallas Real Estate Market

The Dallas / Ft. Worth Metropolitan area, commonly referred to as the DFW Metroplex and has a population of more than 4 million, making the DFW Metroplex the 4th largest metropolitan area in the country. Dallas is centrally located and is within a four-hour flight from most North American destinations. DFW International Airport is the world’s third busiest airport. Throughout Dallas one will enjoy the best shopping in the southwest, four-and five star hotels and restaurants, the largest urban arts district in the nation, 13 entertainment districts and much, much more.

Dallas is also known for moderate weather, year-round sports and true Southern hospitality. Dallas is also a leading business and meeting city. In 2008, 24 area businesses were named Fortune 500 companies. During the most recent economic crisis while real estate markets in many other areas of the country have crumbled, the Dallas real estate market has proven to be resilient. Strong job growth and affordable housing are attracting more and more people to the DFW area from around the nation keeping the values of Dallas real estate strong. Planning to move to the Dallas area? Our website will be of much benefit to you. Search the “Real” MLS for a home that is just right for you. You will surely be pleasantly surprised to learn how much home you can get for your money in the Dallas home market. Take your first step toward your Dallas relocation and your first step towards a whole new lifestyle.

We have a team of knowledgeable, professional Dallas Realtors that can assist you with your relocation needs. Go to VIP Realty Platinum.com and get started Now!

DFW Real Estate - Searching

Doing a DFW real estate search means doing some homework yourself. You can find out a wealth of information about any DFW home for sale. A search can turn up valuable information that you can use when looking for a DFW area home. You shouldn't even consider writing an offer for a home without digging into the history of the home by conducting a variety of searches. The MLS can be you main search tool as the MLS usually will usually give you access to the public tax records.

Property Searches Show Public Records

What types of information can you find from a search? Maybe you would like to know how many times the home has been withdrawn from the market and relisted appearing to be a new listing? You can also find out how long the seller has owned the home, approximately how much they owe on their mortgage, whether or not improvements have been made to the home without a proper permit and whether the home is in foreclosure, among many other important facts.

Property Search in Public Records

Every US city has a place where anyone in the general public can go to search for information on any home. Property records are maintained and housed at either the county courthouse, city hall, county recorder, or some other city or county department. Many of these public offices are staffed by knowledgeable people that are able to help you find property deeds and any other recorded document that affects the property. Once you find the owner of the home, if you don't have an address or the person has moved, you can order different types of reports online to find that missing person. Many or these companies charge a nominal fee.

Property Search on the Internet

Many cities and counties maintain their records online. Search for property tax records, where you can find out:

•• Name of the owner

•• Tax ID number or parcel number

•• Amount of present taxes and whether the taxes are paid.

Dozens of other Web sites offer consumer information for free. Many Web sites let you search for property by area, and some even give data on unlisted homes not for sale.

Title Company Property Search

Call a local title company and ask for their customer service department. Some of the better title companies will give you a free property profile. Ask for copies of property deeds and mortgages. Some of these title companies will also do a name search for the seller's name to find out if there are judgments or liens against the seller.

Property Data Real Estate Agents Can Find

If you are working with a DFW Realtor, you can ask you them to find out as much information about a property as they can. Most Realtors are members to different services that provide property search data in different types of formats.

•• MLS Information. It's not enough just to get a customer's copy of an mls listing. Ask your Realtor to search the homes history in the MLS by looking up the address without time parameters such as active, pending, sold or date range. You can find out if the property has been withdrawn from the market and relisted once, or even several times, or if it has recently sold and is now being flipped. Your agent can also find out exactly how long the property has been on the market for sale because the Days on Market (DOM) can affect the selling price of the home.

•• Tax Assessor's Data. Many Realtors subscribe to a tax record search program that discloses the full and complete records on file at the assessor's office. This information can include the age of the home, square footage, number of rooms, among other data.

If you notice that the tax assessor records show a different size or square footage of a home than what is noted in the listing this could be a red flag that the property has improvements, such as an addition or porch, for which a permit was not obtained. Buyers can check with their city planning department to find out if a permit was in fact obtained.

All of these comprehensive online tools make homework much easier for a Dallas Relocation home buyer or any buyer that is interested in purchasing any home including a Dallas foreclosure or even a home from one of those we buy houses Dallas companies. You have aces to the tools. Use them!:)

Dallas Relocation – Buying a Dallas REO Home

Are you relocating to Dallas Texas and you want to find a great value on a Dallas REO Home? A REO home is a home that was foreclosed on by the bank and now the bank owns the home, REO = Real Estate Owned. Lots of savvy home buyers want to hit the "jackpot" and find that Dallas REO home many of which are often under priced. When banks price these REO homes under the prices of other homes in the community it often results on multiple offers on that home. This means you could be up against some strong competition for that home.

It's not that unusual for some of these REO homes to receive 5 or 10 offers. Sometimes the bank will disregard all but two offers and then request that the selected buyers resubmit their Highest, Best and Final offer. Sometimes the bank will simply accept the best offer at inception. If you want to know how you can make your offer rise above all the rest and become the winning offer, here are a few tips to help you do so:

1) Property History - Get it

Ask your Dallas Realtor to find out how much the bank's purchase price on the foreclosure. Compare that price to the price the bank is asking.

Look at the amount of loans that were once secured to the property. Somewhere between the original mortgage balance(s) and the foreclosure sale price is the amount the bank will accept, if the home is priced under the comparable homes.

2) Determine Comparable Sales

In most cases, the listing price has very little bearing on the value of the home. The market value of the home carries the most weight. If you are up against other competing offers, other buyers may offer more than list price.

•• Take a look at the last three months of comparable sales (CMA) for that neighborhood to determine how much this REO home is worth. Try to use only those homes that most closely match the REO home regarding square footage, number of bedrooms, baths, condition and amenities.

•• Look at the current pending sales. Ask your Realtor to contact the other listing agents of those pending home sales to try to find out the accepted contract price. Some will share that information and others will not.

•• Look at the active listings as well. Those are most likely the listings other buyers will use to formulate a price because they are the only homes those buyers will actually tour.

3) Analyze Listing Agent's REO Sold Comparables

Most REO agents work for only one or two banks. Some of these listing agents are exclusive listing agents for REOs, and they do not list any other type of homes. Since these REO agents deal in volume, they typically apply the same pricing principles on all their REO listings.

•• Ask your Realtor to look up the listing for theses REO agents in the MLS.

•• Have them run a search using that listing agent's name to find the last three to six months of that agent's listings.

•• Have them pull the history of those listings to determine the list-price to sales-price ratio. If many of those listings are selling for, 5% over list price, then you may need to offer 6% over list price, and vice versa.

4) Ask About Number of Offers on the REO Home

If there are no offers on the REO home, you can offer less than listed price and still get your offer accepted. However, if there are more than two offers, you will most likely need to offer above the asking price. If there are 10 offers, keep in mind that some of those offers might be all cash. Banks like all cash offers. If you are obtaining financing, then you may need to increase the price on your offer to be considered.

5) Submit Your Preapproval Letter

It goes without saying that you do not want a prequalification letter. You want a preapproval. Get preapproved from your lender in advance. Furthermore, get preapproved by the lender who owns the property. Do not expect to use this lender for your loan, but submit the preapproval letter from this lender, along with the letter from your own lender. Banks don't trust other lender preapprovals but they will trust their own.

6) Don't Ask for the Bank to make Repairs / Inspections

Occasionally, banks will pay for repairs, but generally they will not agree to do so. If there are problems found during your home inspection, renegotiate your offer.

7) Shorten the Inspection Period

If other buyers ask for 15 days, for example, to conduct inspections, and you ask for 7, you will be deemed the more serious buyer.

8) Offer to Split Cost

Some REO banks will not pay transfer and other fees. If the buyer offers to split those fees with the bank then the bank will be more likely to accepting the offer. Many banks negotiate discount fees for title insurance. If the bank will pay for the owner's policy, the title policy may cost a little more. But it's still a good idea to let the bank choose title if you want your offer accepted.

Consider the Appraisal Consequences

If you offer over list price, keep in mind that the appraisal will need to confirm the agreed upon sale price. If you find yourself with a low appraisal, you have options, so don't stress out. Remember, the bank will most likely run into this problem with the next buyer who obtains financing. If your REO home purchase is a result of a Dallas Relocation make sure you use a professional Dallas Realtor to represent your interest in the transaction. Dallas REO's and Dallas Foreclosures, the terms represent the same thing when it come to buying DFW real estate.