Why do so many Texans look to the Decker Group for their mortgage financing needs? Kelly Decker and his dedicated team of professionals. Together, they offer some of the state’s best mortgage programs at highly competitive rates. The Decker Group has helped over 1,000 families and counting achieve their dreams of home ownership. What makes the Decker Group different? It’s a long list! But it includes… In-house underwriting. Lots of lenders outsource their underwriting. That can mean delays and extra costs for the borrower. The Decker Group keeps all the processing, funding, and closing under o ..read more

Have you thought about building your own home? It’s not just something other people do. You can construct your dream home from the ground up with a little know-how and the right financing. Steps to Building a Home First, find a builder. Browsing your local homebuilders’ association is a good place to start. Area real estate agents can help and the real estate sections of local papers usually feature builders. The right builder can often help you with selecting a site, a home design, and more. It’s best to get a lawyer who specializes in construction contracts to go over the paperwork. The cons ..read more

The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex is home to some of America’s hardest-working towns. That’s according to WalletHub’s analysis of metrics including employment rate, workweek hours, worker engagement, and others. Let’s look at the top spots. Irving Coming in at number two out of 116 metropolitan areas, Irving has been dubbed the “Headquarters of Headquarters.” It’s home to ten Fortune 500 companies, 60 Fortune 1,000 companies, and around 150 international businesses. Dallas In the seventh spot, Dallas has one of America’s highest job growth rates. DFW has added about 600,000 new positions in the ..read more

There’s no law that says you need to. Realistically, you could enter an open house and buy the place on the spot. However, you may miss out on the benefits an agent provides. Let’s look at the pros and cons of using a real estate agent. The No-Agent Route About 11% of all home buyers in the U.S. purchase a home without the help of a real estate agent; usually to save money on fees. In most cases, home sellers pay the commissions of both the buyer’s agent and the seller’s agent. However, hypothetically, a buyer could convince a seller to lower the home’s price if the seller doesn’t have to pay ..read more

If you’re in the market for a new home, prices are likely front of mind. Let’s look at where Texas home prices stand, what you get for the price, and where experts think prices are headed. Reliable Median Home Prices According to Texas A&M’s November 2023 Texas Housing Insight report, median home prices in Texas had an overall decline of 0.1% from the previous month. Of all the home sales in Texas, 26% were in the $200,000 to $300,000 price range, and 24% were in the $300,000 to $400,000 range. In the North Texas housing market, the median home sale price at the close of 2023 was $389,945 ..read more

The weather’s just right, your tax refund is in hand, and there are many more homes on the market compared to a few months ago. Spring may be the best time of the year to buy a home, getting a jump on the horde of summer bidders. Here are a few things to keep in mind. Begin With Mortgage Pre-Approval Beating the summer rush won’t mean much if you can’t make an offer on your dream home. So your home shopping should start with your lender. In today’s fast-moving real estate market, sellers often expect buyers to have their financing pre-approved. Most negotiations don’t begin until a seller has ..read more

It sure is! The DFW housing market, rental market, and economic conditions have come together to make this an excellent time to buy an investment property. A Huge Demand for Rentals Anyone searching for an apartment can tell you what the statistics show: about 94% of the rental units in Dallas are occupied. A real estate analysis by RentCafe found that, on average, eight would-be renters compete for every vacant unit in Dallas. With a high retention rate. About 60% of renters renew their leases every year. More Renters Arrive Each Day How many more? The most recent Census Bureau data shows tha ..read more

If you’re considering a move to the DFW area, there are a few things to keep in mind. No Personal Income Tax Texas is one of a handful of states in the U.S. with no state income tax. That means paychecks are higher. By how much? Texas residents pay an average of 7.6% of their incomes to local and state taxes, below the national average of 10.3% and nearly half of New York’s 14.1%*. It’s a Car-Friendly Town They’re not kidding when they say, “everything’s bigger in Texas.” The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex occupies over 9,000 square miles. While there’s some great public transportation, including ..read more

A new year offers new possibilities, with a strong chance of home ownership. Here’s how. DFW is the place to buy in 2024 The Dallas-Fort Worth area will be one of America’s hottest real estate markets in 2024. That’s according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), which predicts that housing inventory will increase by about 30% over the coming year. With lower prices. In North Texas, sales prices for existing single-family homes are on track to remain between 1% and 2% lower than last year. This follows a national trend. Realtor.com predicts a 1.7% drop in median home prices across th ..read more

Let’s break out our crystal ball and see where the real estate market is headed over the coming year. Expect Some Relief with Rates Nobody is predicting the eye-poppingly low-interest rates of a few years ago (that was an anomaly). But forecasters do see a slight ebb in mortgage rates in 2024. Realtor.com’s 2024 Housing Market Forecast pronounces “housing affordability finally begins to turn around.” Their report predicts an average rate of 6.8% for 2024, falling to 6.5% by the end of the year. For some historical perspective, 30-year fixed mortgage rates climbed from the 7% range to nearly 13 ..read more