Category Archives: national news stories affecting second homes

Why Is TMZ Reporting that Terrell Owens Took a Bath on a 2600 Square Foot Condo? Let’s Get Our Dallas Real Estate News Straight, Please!

Written by Candy Evans on November 13, 2011

TMZ is reporting that Terrell Owens took a bath on his Azure condo:

According to public documents, Owens paid $340,000 for the 2,600 square foot place back in 2006, right after he signed a $25 million contract with the Cowboys.

Posted in Celebrity Homes, national news stories affecting second homes, On the Market, Second Shelters | Tagged Dallas real estate news, Dallas Skyline, Gas Cooktop, Outdoor Terraces, Price Per Square Foot, Square Foot Townhome, Subzero Fridge, Terrell Owens, The Azure, TMZ | Comments Off

Former Texas Ranger Rafael Palmeiro Selling Second Home in Pebble Beach, CA to Cover Bankruptcy Debt

Written by Candy Evans on October 17, 2011

The Texas Rangers are going to be world champs for the second year in a row, I feel it in my bones! But Rafael Palmeiro, the Rangers former slugger turned real estate developer, might be wishing he could get back into the game and out of real estate. Palmeiro is now asking creditors in his bankruptcy case (says the Fort Worth Star Telegram) to give him five years to sell the 200 acres of undeveloped land near Grapevine Mills mall he had planned for a mixed-used development called Gardens of Grapevine.

Posted in Beach Homes, Celebrity Homes, financing a second home, national news stories affecting second homes, Second Shelters | Tagged Bankruptcy Court Filings, Fort Worth Star Telegram, Grapevine Mills, Grapevine Mills Mall, Rafael Palmeira real estate, Rafael Palmeiro, Texas Rangers, Worth Star Telegram | Comments Off

How To Finance a Second Home: Tricky, Little Complicated, But Not Imposible

Written by Candy Evans on October 3, 2011

Cinnamon Shore

This may be a great time to BUY a second home, but are banks, who make it hard enough to finance your primary residence, cooperating? The answer is yes, if you have good credit and a hefty down payment. But I have heard so many conflicting stories on the nuances of getting a second home loan, I decided to consult broker extraordinaire Marcus McCue of Guardian Mortgage. Is it true, for example, that the home has to be a certain distance away, and that some banks would rather eat a Listeria-laced cantaloupe than make a second home loan. Raw land? Impossible, Wells Fargo told me — too many underwater mortgages. So I needed to bring in the big gun, aka Marcus. He tells us the biggest challenge is defining just what a second home is. Here’s a secret: even Real Estate agents get confused:

Posted in financing a second home, national news stories affecting second homes, Second Shelters | Tagged Big Gun, Buying A Second Home, financving a second home, Home In Mckinney, Occupancy Requirements, Principal Residence, Raw Land | 4 Comments

Guest Post: Austin Real Estate Is Kicking Major Butt: What Are They Doing Right? THEY’VE GOT JOBS!

Written by Candy Evans on October 3, 2011

Get this: Austin has an unemployment rate of only 6.7%. That could be why, except for South Padre Island, Austin now has the highest priced median homes in Texas: $194,600, according to the Real Estate center at Texas A&M University. Sales of existing single-family Texas homes in August were up 24 percent from a year ago, according to the most recent Multiple Listing Services (MLS) data compiled by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. More than 21,200 existing single-family homes were sold, data showed. The median home price was $153,200, about the same as a year ago, and the state’s overall inventory was at 7.4 months.

Posted in Economy, emerging real estate markets, national news stories affecting second homes, neighborhoods, Second Shelters | Tagged Aampm, Latest Financial News, Median Home Price, Multiple Listing Services, South Padre Island, Unemployment Rate | 1 Comment

Second Home Shocker: Fabulous Phoenix Paradise Valley REO With D Box Movie Chairs, 21-Car Garage, and Owner Went to West Point

Written by Candy Evans on September 21, 2011

Paradise Valley is like the Highland Park — no wait, make that Vaquero — of Phoenix. Paradise Valley is in Maricopa County, home to twelve resorts, and one of Arizona’s top tourist destinations. Very pricey dirt: the median home price is about $2.74, many homes exceeding $10 million, some over $40 million. So when there is a foreclosure, people drop their fingernail files.

Posted in Celebrity Homes, national news stories affecting second homes, Second Shelters | Tagged Billiard Room, Colored Floor Tiles, Doozey, Gas Pumps, Jay Lenos, Mockingbird Lane, Phoenix Foreclosure, West Point man foreclosure | 2 Comments

76% of Vacation Home Owners Say Now is a Great Time To Buy, But Where? Second Home Hot Spots (Get Ready to be Shocked)

Written by Candy Evans on September 21, 2011

This is a good way to gauge where you should buy your second home if you plan on leasing it to supplement income. As you probably know, the sluggish, morose economy continues to drag down the travel industry: one publication I know ceased their entire travel section due to lack of ads. But there is one segment of the industry that is still showing a heartbeat: vacation home rentals.

Posted in Beach Homes, national news stories affecting second homes, Second Shelters | Tagged Chief Executive Officer, HomeAway, Rental Marketplace, Same Time Period, second home hot spots, Travel Period, Vacation Homeowners | 7 Comments

Best Home Squatter Story Ever: The Man Who Paid $16 Bucks for a $330,000 Texas House

Written by Candy Evans on September 1, 2011

I’ve got this over on CandysDirt.com, but will serve it up for you right here, too. This is just too important a story for anyone who’s obsessed with real estate. The Flower Mound house is great, don’t get me wrong, but when I squat, it’s going to be Pebble Beach Continue reading →

Posted in Celebrity Homes, Dallas real estate news, national news stories affecting second homes, Second Shelters | Tagged Affadavit, Blue Flight, Dallas Observer, house squatter, Indepth Story, Ken Robinson, Living The American Dream, Texas house squatter | Comments Off

Time to Go Shopping For a Second Home In Chi-Town — King of Foreclosure City!

Written by Candy Evans on July 8, 2011

Boarded up brownstones in Cicero

I never thought I’d see the city of my birth blow out Miami and Phoenix when it comes to having the most foreclosures in the nation right now, but Chicago takes the cake. Almost 119,000 homes in foreclosure. The problem: those stubborn banks are not letting go. This, of course, in President Obama’s home town, too.

Posted in emerging real estate markets, national news stories affecting second homes, Second home trends | Tagged Banks, Blow Out, Brownstones, Chicago king of foreclosures, Cicero, Foreclosure, Foreclosures | 2 Comments

It’s the (Texas) Economy, Stupid: Why Rick Perry Is Mulling a White House Run

Written by Candy Evans on July 5, 2011

I found this piece in the LA Times over the holiday weekend – it takes a brutally honest look at the Texas economy. One of every four jobs in the U.S. has been created in Texas post-recession — something I know you’ve heard here before, but the sound is now resonating loud and clear across the nation all the way to L.A. Which is why, of course, Rick Perry is exploring a presidential run. Never mind that he has not had all that much to do with those jobs (not all CEO’s that’s for sure) as well as keeping our economy afloat and one of the high spots in the U.S.A. But as the writer, Rick Wartzman, points out, Texas has some quirks that can not be replicated elsewhere. For one, when the price at the pumps go up, so do we:

Posted in Celebrity Homes, Dallas real estate news, national news stories affecting second homes, Realtor news, Second Shelters | Tagged Agricultural Commodities, Budget Pressures, Fort Worth Startelegram, Glenn Beck, Glenn Close, High Incidence Of Poverty, Right To Work State, Texas Economy | 1 Comment

Will Baby Boomers Stay Put in the Suburbs or Flee to Retirement Communities?

Written by Candy Evans on July 1, 2011

This article in the Washington Post says that Baby Boomers are changing the face of suburbia and staying put, rather than retiring to the likes of Florida and Arizona, as their parents did, once they retire. The U.S. Census showed how rapidly America’s suburbs are growing — despite efforts to squeeze us into greener, urban multi-family residential cells and one family car — the Baby Boomers are staying put and, in some cases, buying vacation homes on the equity they’ve built in those suburban homes.