Plano Texas Real Estate Blog - Local Plano Real Estate.

May Flowers

Photo by: SKWomack

All the rain is giving us an awesome spring, despite the rough weather.


Photo by: SKWomack

[where:75093, Plano, May flowers]

How Much Will Plano ISD Bond Program Cost?

Texas has some of the highest property taxes in the nation mainly
because we have no state or city income tax. So big brother collects
it in property taxes, you pay either way....

Last year the Texas Legislature lowered our property taxes considerably.
In Plano rates went for 2.25% to 2.06%, that's a nice chuck of change
for everyone.

Most of you know that a large portion of your taxes go toward schools.
If you read between the lines last year, when taxes were lowered all
school districts were going to hold bond elections to make up for the
difference.

Plano ISD Bond Package

So without fail came the Plano Proud bulletin to ask district voters to
consider a $490 million bond proposal on May 10th.
See the complete package here.

How it Affects Plano Real Estate Taxes

Will it raise my property taxes? How Much?

Yes, it will raise your property taxes, according to the brochure no
more than eight cents over the life of the bonds.  Sounds reasonable,
Right?

If you take the average current home value in Plano of $257,900 that would
increase your average tax bill between $33 to $45 annually for 5 years than
decline.  By that time there will be another bond election to vote on, after
all there was one in 2000,2003, 2004 and now 2008.

The Take Away...

Plano schools are fantastic and they are a major relocation factor in
a family move, thus increasing the value of your property.

Plano tax rates right now are some of the lowest in the metroplex,
because Plano is managed well. Dallas is 2.5% and Frisco is 2.36%
There are a few cities over 3%. Ouch!

So, property taxes will go up and you will pay either way -
at least you know your money in Plano is spent wisely.

[where:75093, Plano Property taxes, bond election]

Coming Home and New Listings

Photo by SKWomack

Last week I was out of town and my sister took this photo on the way back home.
Clear blue skies above all the nasty weather Texans have had this month.  It's
always a good feeling to come home, especially when your back is sore from not
being in a familiar bed.

Looking out the window there's a certain peace knowing you're going home.
Of course, Southwest is like home too because of their service, seems like
everyone is always happy!  That's a good thing and so is the $39. online fare.

So whether your coming back to your old diggs or looking for a new place to call
home, here are the new listings for 75093.  There are 26 brand new listings hot off
the MLS in a favorite neighborhood near you. Check it out here.

New listings are posted for various Plano zip codes on Mondays so check back
often for up to date real estate info and data.

[where:75093, new listings]

Open Houses in 75093 - 4-27

Open houses for this week are in Hills at Prestonwood, Creeks of Willow Bend,
Meadows of Willow Bend, Willow Bend West, Willow Bend Estates, Glenhollow
Estates and Windhaven.  Times and location are available from the link with a
brief description and photo.  All these properties are in excellent locations.
Enjoy the tour!

[where:75093, open houses]

Here's an Amaryllis that started out as 1 bulb, if the ground doesn't freeze
in winter it can stay in the ground and the bulb multiplies - this one is two
years old, must like it's home...it's had a lot of babies. Pretty picture for
Saturday.

Foreclosures in Plano - 75023 and 75025

This week went fast..this weeks foreclosure list is for
zip codes - 75025 and 75023.

Subdivisions include:

• Independence Village
• Chase Oaks Village
• Cross Creek
• Estates of Forest Creek
• Whiffletree
• Ridgeview Ranch

Many foreclosures are sold AS-IS, what this means is no
repairs will be made to the property, make sure you include
this into your budget and have an inspection to reveal other
issues that could effect your purchase price.

[where:75025,75023, foreclosures]

More Plano Data

Needless to say we get a lot of  blast emails on real estate marketing and truth be known
I don't open that many, sound familiar?  Anyway, a couple days ago I received a great report
on 1st quarter results for all of North Texas from Shannon at Chicago Title. Thanks, Shannon.

Despite the double digit sale decreases all over the metro area, Plano stands out as one of the communities that is doing better than the rest. Take a look.




Sales are down 11% and average sales price down just $4K, Days on market is reasonable
(under 100 days) for $300K and under and that's what is selling in Plano.  Not unusual to only
see good properties on the market less than 7 days. Congrats to those sellers!

As you can see the inventory is lower or not that much greater than last year except for over
$750K. With the inventories tighter seller's will see properties move quicker in prime locations.

I'm posting a lot of data lately because that's what our clients and customers are asking for
whether they are relocating or residents, If you want your area, shoot me an email.

[where: 75093,75024,75025,75023,75075, plano, first quarter real estate results]

New Real Estate Listings in West Plano

Every week Plano Homes and Land posts brand new listings for
the past 7 days.

There a 22 new properties this week in 75093.  Prices are from $169.5K
to over 1 million.

Neighborhoods include:

Preston Ridge, Hills at Prestonwood, Glenhollow Estates, Glen Meadows,
Stone Lake Estates, Parkbrooke, Castlemere, Windhaven, Lakeside on
Preston and Willow Bend Polo.

[where: 75093, plano, new listings]

Open Houses for Sunday 4-20

Excuse me, I'm a little late in posting the open houses for
Sunday.  I usually post early Sat. morning but it was a busy
real estate day today!  So without further delay here's the
open house customer report for 75093.

Info is deemed reliable but not guaranteed and if the weather
is as pretty Sunday as it was today - it's perfect to start the
hunt!  Enjoy.

[where: 75093, plano, open houses]

Latest Real Estate Activity

Belonging to the Collin County Association of Realtors
does have its benefits.  Each month around the 18th we
receive info on month and year to date activity for each
Dallas Area.  The side bar on the right has just been
updated with the latest reports for areas we cover under
Monthly Real Estate Indicators. Links are a PDF file.

Reports include: closed sales, new listings, days on market
and an RE overview.  Good Stuff!

If you're buying or selling this will give you an excellent place
to start for market data.

[where: 75093, plano, dallas, real estate data]

Foreclosures in 75093 and 75024

There are 22 properties to review this week.
Neighborhoods include:

• Kings Ridge
• Stone Lake Estates
• Indian Creek
• Windhaven
• Cypress Creek
• Shoal Creek
• Greens of Gleneagles
  

I post this list each week to hopefully help out the banks and lenders
with properties they don't know what to do with.  With that being said,
In this market foreclosures are frightening, it's difficult to make a deal
and takes a long time. Always have a pre approval letter and know your
comps, some are over priced - institutions trying to get more money than
what the market will bear. (no pun intended)

There is one property I've been watching on the Gleneagles golf course
that's taken quite a price reduction and is close to being priced right...
to be a good investment.

As always, info deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

[where: 75093,75024,foreclosures]

 

No Problem in Plano Pricing

If you read or visit this blog you know I'm a freak about analytics.  This Altos chart
shows West Plano real estate prices for the past year compared to the city of Plano
as a whole. You can see all lines are pretty steady with a slight downward trend
when all the financial markets went bear.  Take a look at each zip code:

• 75093 is on an upward trend, orange line.
  
• 75024 is steady, 2nd black line
• 75025, bottom blue line is following an upward trend as well.

All of Plano, the third line that's black has been very consistent since last May.
So, No fear, if you're ready to sell - this is a green light - prices are good to go in Plano.

[where: 75093,75024,75025]

New Listings and Lots!

Every Monday new listings are posted for various West Plano neighborhoods.
This week 75093 and 75024 are targeted:
these 42 properties are brand new on the market.

As a side note, Normandy Estates is a new sub division just North of Shoal Creek.
Two lots have popped up on the MLS this past week.  The roads aren't in yet, but
these primo lots are for sale by Peckham builders. It's Plano Schools and the two
lots are waterfront views. Check the first two listings...

The development will be one of last new home sites with coveted West Plano Schools.
Normandy Estates is 75 acres of rolling terrain, lake views and spacious greenbelt.
A luxury home development with all the amenities and privacy expected by you.

It's gotten off to a slow start but it's the new premier development in West Plano.

[where: 75093]

Open Houses for 75093

Time for Sunday's Open House Tour!
Link is a customer open house report from the MLS.
All homes will be open this Sunday 4-13-08.

Tour includes homes in:

Indian Creek, Lakeside on Preston, Creeks of Willow Bend, Willow Bend Estates,Meadows at Willow Bend, Pebble Brook at Willow Bend and more...

Brief home info with photo and times are on report.
Enjoy the Tour!
All info deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

[where: 75093]

More Damage in West Plano

News media that sirens didn't go off in Plano because there were no tornadoes,
just straight line winds - there was more damage than trees snapping into - take a look...



Kings Ridge roof damage - seems like if you were really low or really high you got hit.



Even EDS...

[where: 75093,75024]

Foreclosures in 75093 and 75024

There are 21 foreclosures properties on this weeks list.
These properties are actually listed as foreclosures on the MLS
by the seller type being identified a such - make no doubt
about it.  These aren't all the foreclosures, but properties that are
active as of today.  Some of these properties are in good
shape, but always get an inspection to know for sure.
All info is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Open houses for Sunday will be posted on Saturday.

[where: 75093,75024]

West Plano Neighborhoods Hit

Don't know exactly if it was a tornado, because luckily not any houses were
damaged that I could see.  Sadly, many 100 year old trees were taken in two
West Plano neighborhoods, Wolfe Creek and Shoal Creek. Above is Jeff and
Lisa's tree that's going to be missed, no house damage but a mess to clean
up, it took the root, concrete and all - looks like 100 mph winds to me. The
storm hit around 3:00 A.M. this morning and woke up to no electricity, no
wireless anywhere and no noise....so on to QT for coffee and this is what we
found plus lots of comforting neighborhoods.  We're going to miss our trees!





[where: 75093]

Real Estate Realities

Yesterday the data came out for March as reported by Steve Brown, the journalist
for the Dallas Morning News.

He only reports the overall picture:

Sales down 25% from a year ago.  When you think of what happened in March,
the financial market meltdown and sub prime mortgage mess you would expect
a decrease in sales. The market will reposition yet again.

Now, all real estate really is local and Plano Sales are actually much better than
many of our neighbors south.

Here's a breakdown by MLS Area:

Area                      Sales            Pending       Months Supply

Plano                      -9%             -37%            4.6
Park Cities              -38%           -35%             9.7
Uptown                   -64%           -55%             9.7
Far North Dallas      -27%            -58%           10.4
North Dallas            -56%            -47%            5.2

This is for single family - Plano only down 9% from last year, not so bad.
Inventory is low, in fact, this is some of the lowest inventory levels I've seen in
years.  You will be seeing multiple offers on properties that are priced well, in
good condition and updated.

You can check the chart above for inventory levels for West Plano zip codes:
75093, 75024 and 75025 compared to Plano as a whole.  That could favor the seller
even though it's a buyers market - it really is location!

Pending sales are way off, but activity has picked up last 6 weeks and you'll see
those numbers decrease dramatically as the selling season gets fired up!
Especially with rates coming down again....how low will it go? - Somewhat lower
is my guess.

So if your looking for real estate in Plano, it is one of the better areas in the metroplex.

If you'd like to know about the condo conundrum in Uptown and Oak Lawn, that's
the real hurt, check out Dallas Homes Center.

As always, all info deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

[where: 75093]

What's New on the Market?

Glad you asked... Here's your weekly list of new listings in 75093 that were
entered the last 7 days on the MLS.  Only includes brand new listings,
no re-lists here, that's when a home has been on the market too long and is
given a new MLS number so it looks like a new listing but it's really not.
Sometimes a price reduction has been taken.  It's a good thing for sellers and
buyers need to be aware of it - affects days on market.

These are all neighborhoods in 75093 from condos to mansions and all price
ranges.

The market has picked up so the lists are getting longer.
And it's the time of year to move...

All info is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

[where: 75093, new listings]

Open Houses on Sunday 4-6

Well, the market is heating up, being that it's two
months behind and that's a good sign for everyone.

Lots of open houses on Sunday in 75093...

Willow Bend, Pebble Brook, Hills of Indian Creek, Prestonwood
Village, Glenhollow, Lakeside, Preston Lakes and more..

Take a look at the customer open house report from the MLS.
for times and locations and enjoy the nice weekend!

All info deemed reliable but never guaranteed, you know the drill.

[where: 75093]

Current Foreclosures for 75025

It's that time again, Friday Foreclosures.
Every week we take a different zip code in Plano and
list the most current foreclosures on the MLS.

Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Here's list for 75025 Foreclosures as of 4-4-08.

If you want to know Dallas foreclosures we post that list
on DallasHomesCenter.

[where: 75025]

Plano,  TX  75093 Community Info

If you're moving to West Plano or already live here in
75093 then these are a few interesting stats to know.

West Plano also includes 75024 which combined
population is around 91,000.  It's a great community
and almost totally built out.

[where: 75093,75024]