6037 MEADOW RD DALLAS, TX 75230   view all photos (2) Beautiful French Estates D. Michael Custom Home scheduled for completion summer of '08. Handscraped wood floors throughout much of the downstairs. Kitchen features stainless steel appliances, 2 dishwashers, lrg walk-in pantry. Kitchen is open to lrg breakfast area. Family room overlooks wonderful outdoor living area w-fireplace. Stainless steel grill & sink in a stone surround. Lrg His & Her master bath. Private guest room & bath also downstairs. 5 Bedrooms 5 Full | 2 Partial Bathrooms 6,363 Est. Sq. Ft. Listing # 10924104 $2,500,000 Dallas Homes for Sale 10/21/2008

Oct. 17, 2008  By ANDREA JARES Tarrant County foreclosure postings for the first 11 months of the year are 20 percent ahead of the same period a year ago, according to figures released Thursday by Foreclosure Listing Service. Lenders posted 1,348 Tarrant County homes for the November foreclosure auction, 7 percent more than a year ago, to bring the yearly total to 14,613, according to figures released Thursday by the Addison-based service. The increase in postings is not expected to subside anytime soon, said George Roddy, president of the Foreclosure Listing Service. However North Texas is still doing better than most areas. Full Story Dallas Homes for Sale     10/21/2008

October 17, 2008 By STEVE BROWN And now for some good news about the local housing market: There are fewer properties for sale. The number of single-family homes on the market in Dallas-area multiple listing services is down about 15 percent from a year ago. Also Online Interactive map: Dallas-area home sales In some areas, the decline is even steeper. At the end of September, the number of homes listed for sale with Realtors was off more than 30 percent from a year earlier in neighborhoods in DeSoto, Lancaster, southeast Dallas, southern Dallas and Wylie, according to statistics from the North Texas Real Estate Information System and Texas A&M University's Real Estate Center. Full Story   Dallas Real Estate 10/21/2008

What Is The Real Cost Of A Dallas Home Mortgage? Understanding the true costs of your new Dallas home mortgage is very important in getting a firm grasp of your financial future. Sometimes the information can be overwhelming but once you understand the basics, everything else will fall in place. The total cost of a mortgage is comprised of four main elements: 1. P - Principal2. I - Interest3. T - Taxes4. I - Insurance PITI is part of the formula that mortgage lenders use when calculating your affordability ratios. Many times home buyers ignore these additional costs when figuring how much of a home they can afford. PrincipalPrincipal represents the amount you borrow, which has to be repaid over time. InterestInterest is the cost that mortgage lenders charge for the use of their money du... 10/18/2008

Modern design gaining popularity 06:35 PM CDT on Friday, June 27, 2008 By KATE GOODLOE / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News When it comes to architecture, many new homes in Dallas look the same: brick exterior, peaked roof and a sprawling garage in front. But buyers are increasingly open to straying from that standard, local architects said, and embracing modern design. Modern homes have been built in Dallas for decades, but the number of buyers interested in them has grown significantly in recent years.   Click Here To See The Full Article!     www.NickGood.com  <--- View all Homes on the Market!         10/15/2008

I'm so upset, I just had my last Frosty at Wendy's tonight.  I have loved Wendy's Frosties for years.  I was even annoyed when they recently came out with the vanilla Frosty because everyone knows Frosties are CHOCOLATE! Anyway, I was on my way home this evening and Alyssa had fallen asleep in the car, so I knew I didn't need to rush home. I pulled off the tollway to stop by Wendy's to get a Frosty as I felt I deserved one.  I had not had one in a couple of months. I went through the drive thru.  I ordered my small Frosty.  I got to the second window and held out my $1.07 and the girl looks at me and says, "It's $1.29."  I said, "No it's not.  It's $0.99 and with tax it's $1.07."  She looks at me like I'm crazy and says again, "No, it's $1.29."  I looked at her and said, "A small Frost... 10/15/2008

I keep hearing how bad home sales are in Dallas and how no one can get a loan right now. Well I just wanted to put some facts out there and give some people a better perspective on what's going on in Dallas compared to the rest of the nation. Let's start with our market first. As most of the nation has declined at a great percent, Dallas has only decreased by 2.5% in the last year. This was after a couple of year's steady increase creating record highs between 2005 and 2007. In the last month, home sales were up 2% and the home inventory in Dallas has shrunk by 15% in the last year. Dallas Fort Worth does have one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. However, most of these are in lower income outlying areas of Dallas and not actually in Dallas proper. Here is what the housin... 10/15/2008

HUD HOMES FOR $100 DOWN - DALLAS / FORT WORTH REAL ESTATE HUD has extended their $100 down program for buyers purchasing HUD homes with FHA financing.  This is great news for buyers in the D/FW area!  This offer was originally scheduled to end in September of 2008, but has been extended indefinitely according to the people I spoke with today at Southwest Alliance.  Nobody knows for sure how long this program will last, and updates will be posted on Southwest Alliance's website when they decide to change or discontinue the program.  So how does the HUD $100 DOWN program work? QUALIFICATIONS (IMPORTANT!): Borrower must qualify for an FHA loan (203B, 203B with escrow or 203K) in order to qualify for the program.  This is NOT for investors, it's only for owner occupants. To qualify for the ... 10/15/2008

Between hosting a party for 800 at National Night Out and trying to celebrate a birthday, I'm running a little late getting this month's update posted! The frightening economic meltdown happened after October 1 so the number's in this report do not reflect any impact to the market from that. We may see some impact in October's report. October should be a double whammy: not only the economic turmoil, but the fair is in town which every year puts a muzzle on real estate activity. Days on Market continues to be high in all parts of town and Lower Greenville is no exception, averaging about 150 days. Original Homes:  Not much change this month. The $/sqft has remained about the same, inching up about 0.5%. The inventory is up about 10% over last month which has pushed us to 7.4 months of in... 10/14/2008

One of the first questions most buyers ask me is "How Much Are Closing Costs?".  And I've heard many real estate and mortgage professionals make general statements that closing costs are "X percent of the sales price".   Quite often, borrowers plan to ask the seller to pay closing costs without even knowing how much they will cost.  Or they make assumptions of how much they will be based on these misguided and oversimplistic generalizations.    The truth is that the dollar amount of closing costs as well as their percentage relative to the sales price of a property depends entirely on two things: The sales price of the property, and How the borrower chooses to structure their loan.  I know.  That last one is a bit confusing so i'm going to address the sales price/loan amount issue first... 10/13/2008

It seems the majority of buyers these days want to scoop up a foreclosure for a bargain price.  And many buyers are finding some great bargains in this market.   But buyers and agents need to know that in certain situations, they may have a problem qualifying for a loan on a foreclosure if the sales price is far below the tax appraised value.  This is true for any house that's selling below tax appraised value as well, but this seems to be a more common problem with foreclosures since they are often sold at far below tax appraised value.  Since debt to income ratios are based on the total PAYMENT and not just the sales price, the DTI can fluctuate depending on how much the taxes are on any given house.  Here's an example of a loan I had recently that ran into a problem: A buyer came to ... 10/13/2008

Renting a truck and moving yourself can make sense for many people. The amount and type of household goods, distance of the move and costs are all factors in that decision process. Here are some guidelines for additional help. Setting a Move DateOnce you have decided to move it is important to plan your move. The amount of notice you will need to reserve a rental truck will vary depending on the time year and the time of the month you plan to move. Rental trucks companies tend to rent more trucks on weekends rather than during the week. The end of the month is always a busy time. Not to mention that summer months tend to be more demanding than winter months. Pricing can also be affected by the volume of trucks in need. For example, it would be less expensive to move mid-month during the... 10/13/2008

When I was living in New York for a few years, Tex-Mex Food and BBQ were parts of my diet that were lacking.  Fortunately, I have been back in Dallas for nearly 5 years, REAL New York pizza is not lacking. Sal's Pizza at 2525 Wycliff in Dallas (they also have a Legacy Drive location in Plano) is the best New York style pizza in Dallas, hands down.  I have always heard that the secret to NY style pizza crust is in the water and that is why it is so difficult to find it here in Dallas.  Well either Sal is importing his water from NYC or he's figured out a way around the water issue because his pizza and Italian entrees are not only great... they are authentic! Sal's pizza is a NY style thing crust with a robust red sauce and mozzarella cheese.  The crust has a softness to it so that you c... 10/11/2008

One thing that I have always liked about living in Dallas is that, unlike some smaller cities that I have lived in, Dallas continually attracts top artists in concert.  The following upcoming concerts speak to the caliber of performers that add to the exceptional quality of life in North Texas: Performer                                           Date                      Venue New Kids on the Block                   October 19          American Airlines Center Janet Jackson w/ LL Cool J            October 22          American Airlines Center Tina Turner                                    October 26          American Airlines Center Part of what makes life in North Texas so rich is the opportunity to take advantage of the cultural activities that are available here.  See a theatrical per... 10/11/2008

I was invited to spend an evening with my older brother-Abel.  The company he works for had a night out for their employees.  It was spent at Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament.  This was my first visit and I was pleasantly surprised.  Guests are separated into 6 categories so they can cheer for their own knight.  There is the yellow knight, blue knight-which was our knight for the evening, black and white knight, yellow and red knight, red knight and green knight.  Throughout the evening we were entertained and served dinner.  The employees were all dressed in Medieval attire and spoke with a Medieval accent.  If you have not been, you are missing out on some great entertainment.  Visit medievaltimes.com for more info.  They have locations in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, M... 10/11/2008

A couple of weeks ago, the Dallas Business Journal ran an article (in which I was quoted) titled, "North Texas Realtor tally decreases slightly".  Notice that the word "slightly" is featured in the title.  The subtitle of the article also said a lot... "But housing market still better than most".  I have had the opportunity to speak with Katherine Cromer Brock at the Dallas Business Journal a few times since she took on the Real Estate reporting for that publication this summer and I have to say, I am very impressed with her.  She clearly understands that you can present the facts about the current market in an honest and truthful way without making it sound like people should run as fast as they can away from real estate... because they shouldn't!  A drop in the number of REALTORS® say... 10/11/2008

Click Here to view thousands of properties in the Great Dallas and surrounding areas!! Click Here if you would like to receive unlimited new listings by email!!     Map of Dallas Arts District      This photo is courtesy of the Dallas Centerof the Performing Arts.  Photo courtesy of the Dallas Center of Performing Arts Winspear Opera House Annette Strauss Square Performance Park Wyly Theatre City Performance Hall Meyerson Symphony Center 7.Cathedral Guadalupe Belo Mansion Crow Collection of Asian Art Dallas Museum of Art Nasher Sculpture Center Museum Tower Woodall Rodgers Park  Booker T Washington Arts Magnet St. Paul United Methodist Church Fellowship Church  One Arts Plaza Dallas Black Dance Theater One Arts Plaza high-rise project that is contemporary luxury at its very finest.    ... 10/10/2008

Thank goodness that National Night Out in Texas has been permanently changed from the first Tuesday in August (hotter than Hell!) to the first Tuesday in October (actually bearable most years).  I was in charge of The Lake Highlands Estates Neighborhood Association National Night Out and we had a fantastic evening with close to 300 neighbors in attendance!  There was a slight chill in the air and some neighbors actually stayed the entire length of the event...because they were not melting.  We had two huge bounce houses/slides, a petting zoo, choo choo, snow cones, hot dogs, & the Wallace Elementary Dad's band providing music.  I have to say that it was one of the best events the area has ever seen. Thanks again to the National Night Out people for catering to us Texans and our sometime... 10/10/2008

The Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns Red River Rivalry is on! Dallas, TX is once again painted with Red and White of the Oklahoma Sooners and Burnt Orange of the Texas Longhorns Co-incidentally, Dallas TX is the middle point between Norman, OK and Austin, TX where both schools are located. Both schools, the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas have rich football traditions. Oklahoma Sooners have won seven national champsionships. The Oklahoma Sooners hold an NCAA record of 47-game winning streak and currently ranks No. 1 on the AP poll. The Texas Longhorns won four national champsionships. The most important record to know is that the Oklahoma Sooners WON the 6 out of the 8 games since 2000. Both teams will come into this game UN-defeated as of yet and it has been thi... 10/10/2008

Hehe, I said "bull". Located in Lakewood (East Dallas) on Gaston just west of Abrams, this little hole-in-the-wall pub (and I say that with the utmost affection) is truly a book different than it's cover. It's smokey, very dark, and serves it's beer very English-style (warmer than in America). But where the magic happens is in the kitchen, where the former chef from Jeroboam now hangs his/her hat. The hummus is pretty darn good - get an appetizer because the food takes awhile - but wait until you view and taste the beef tenderloin. OH MY FREAKIN' GOODNESS!! I'll hold it next to Bob's Steak and Chop house any day! Served on a bed of whipped potatoes with perfectly cooked asparagus, it literally falls apart in your mouth. I believe it costs $22 - a bargain in this overpriced town - and is... 10/10/2008