San Antonio Housing Blog » Investment

Dave Ramsey’s Town Hall For Hope

Rex Blackburn — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:20:00 +0000

My wife Barbara and I have been big Dave Ramsey fans for a long time. The response to his Town Hall meeting was phenomenal! Those of you who did not get a chance to view it should visit his site, www.townhallforhope.com . It is well worth a few minutes of your time. When asked how long this depressed economy would last, Dave stated that the economy will turn back around when the housing market rebounds. And, he empahsized that it was a great time to buy, as long as you can afford to. Interest rates are extremely attractive right now, hovering around 5% and of course, there is a large inventory of homes to choose from. He quoted numerous statistics during his talk, many focused on foreclosures. It should be noted that one half of all foreclusures are located in twelve states. The stats are available to review on the site mentioned above. The doom and gloom reported by much of the media is misleading. Not all areas are experiencing the severe real estate conditions that you keep hearing about on the news. San Antonio and Texas in general has a very strong economy. While we are affected by national economic factors, which has put our real estate market into more of a buyer’s market, it is not a “fire sale” market. Sellers’ are realizing that homes are taking slightly longer to sale than in the last few years and they have to be more aggressive in their pricing, but seller’s in most cases are not “giving their homes away”. On the other hand, buyers’ are in a position to take advantage of the aggressive pricing and usually can negotiate a very attractive price; advantage buyers’. As a Realtor, I firmly believe that as Dave stated, real estate is a sound investment and now is agreat time to buy, if you can afford to. I also believe in Dave’s message last night.

At the end of the town hall meeting, Dave said there were 3 things we can do: GET UP AND TAKE ACTION; STOP LISTENING TO LOSER TALK; and START GIVING.

I think that too often we have the mindset that we cannot change or control what happens; we simply accept the decisions of others, whether it be the government of people around us. Nothing could be further from the truth. We as individuals can control what happens to us. We can make smarter choices, take smarter actions, and produce better results in our lives. The question is whether we are willing to make the effort or accept the status quo. It is time for each of us to look “within ourselves” and ask ourselves some hard questions. Are we willing to get out of our comfort zone, start making smarter choices, and taking action to get the results we want? We can, we just have to make the commitment, have the conviction in our hearts, and the courage to make it happen. Again, take a little time and visit www.townhallforhope.com . You won’t be disappointed.

How is the San Antonio Housing Market?

Rex Blackburn — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 22:37:45 +0000

It’s interesting how everyone has a different opinion of the market. People that rely soley on the news from various media sources talk only of doom and gloom. If you talk to realtors, the answer typically depends on their individual situation. Those that are busy, working with buyers and sellers, writing offers, and having those offers accepted, of course, think the market is good and getting better. Those sitting around with nothing to do and no sales think we are in another “Great Depression.” If as a typical consumer, you are laid off, then the economy is terrible. If you’re working and nothing has changed, it seems to be okay.
A good example of that is the relocation of one of Caterpillar’s main manufacturing facilities to Seguin, Tx. (just 30 miles east of San Antonio). This will bring 1400 jobs to our area and obviouly have a major economic impact. Those people employed will believe the economy is great; those people laid off by Caterpillar in Illinois and South Carolina will not.
The reality is that San Antonio has been affected by the economic situation. Our real estate market was down over 15% from the previous year. Inventory levels are up about 20% over last year. We are now in a buyer’s market, but we are in an active market. Since the first of the year, we are seeing greater activity and more offers being made. Many sellers’ are gradually lowering their pricing to find the market value, More buyers’ are seeing the prices come down and realize that the value is now there. Interest rates are hovering around 5%, a great opportunity for buyers’.
While the San Antonio real estate market is not what we have been used to, it is still a good place to be in this business, especially when you look at other areas of the country. And it’s a great opportunity to invest in a home in San Antonio, Texas!

San Antonio Employers and Real Estate Prices

Barbara Blackburn — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 06:49:30 +0000

In the last couple of weeks, several San Antonio employers have received national recognition for being a top 100 place to work in Fortune’s annual employer rankings. Among those are Rackspace, #32, and Valero, #67. Rackspace, who reported in their last quarter that their sales were up 67%, has created a hotspot hiring location for hi-tech Cisco engineers. Combine this with Boeing announcing today that they will up local production of 787 airliners from 11 to 20, which required Boeing adding 500 jobs to San Antonio for just the 11 it announced in summer 2007, and the continuing overall job growth in San Antonio, and San Antonio Housing prices should be one of the benefactors.

As San Antonio was one of only 10 major metro areas that had positive home appreciation in 2007, this recent news about San Antonio employers and San Antonio’s job growth, should give us reassurance about the local market. In the simplest terms, positive job growth coupled with low interest rates means continuing demand for homes. Therefore if you decide to buy a home today in San Antonio it appears to continue to be a safe investment, because positive home appreciation, interest rates at 2 1/2 year lows and continued demand, and you will have a home in which you can build equity.

So I say to Rackspace…thanks for being a great employer…

San Antonio Cost of Living Lower Than Other Texas Cities

Barbara Blackburn — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 22:37:16 +0000

The San Antonio housing market remains strong in part to San Antonio’s attractive cost of living compared to other major metro areas. As people continue to move to Texas more than any other state, I believe that our lower cost of living has be to a major factor. So how much less expensive is to live in San Antonio? Well lets take a look at the numbers from Salary.com:

Austin, TX -10.1%
Tampa, FL -10.4%
Houston, TX – 11.0%
Las Vegas, NV -14.8%
Phoeniz, AZ -16.2%
Dallas, TX -19.2%
Denver, CO -20.1%
Atlanta, GA – 23.2%
Philadelphia, PA -28.6%
Seattle, WA – 29.1%
San Diego, CA -41.6%
New York, NY -62.9%

As long as the cost of living in San Antonio remains so attractive, I believe that will cushion San Antonio against any major housing price decline, because San Antonio will remain attractive to employers looking to relocate, retirees looking for a winter home, and investors looking for stable rental properties.

San Antonio Ranked Most Affordable City

Barbara Blackburn — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 07:18:57 +0000

San Antonio does it again. According to a poll by Travel and Leisure, San Antonio was deemed as the most affordable city among the country’s largest metro areas in 2007. San Antonio was also ranked last as far as stylish city goes, but what the heck does that mean?

What else did San Antonio rank high in? Well, we ranked in the top ten for barbecue, historical sites, cheap eats, ethnic food, relaxing and romantic atmosphere, and of course, friendly people.

So when someone asks why move to San Antonio, the answer is simple. Housing is affordable and the market is not crashing, the cost of living is lower than most, we have great food, the world’s best basketball team, and of course, the friendliest people.

San Antonio a Top Market for Rental Home Investment

admin — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 20:34:32 +0000

NuWire Investor, a company that provides news and information about real estate investment, has named San Antonio a Top 10 Cash Flow Property Market. According to Nuwire:

4. San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio ranked number one on our list of the Top 10 Places to Invest for 2007 and second on our list of the Top 10 Foreclosure Markets for 2007. Home to 1,273,374 people as of 2006, San Antonio retains affordable home prices, with a median of $96,300, in spite of its growing population. Median monthly upkeep is only $374 per month, with an estimated mortgage costing $486.95 per month. The rental vacancy rate for the city is 10.3 percent—on the lower side of this list—and the median gross rent is $678 per month.

Cah flow in it’s simplest definition is the amount of money the property brings in (rent) versus the amount going out (mortgage, taxes, maintaince, etc.). If you have a property that you have thought would make a great investment and here is a great online calculator.

While many parts of the country are suffering from a housing decline, San Antonio remains a “steady wins the race” market.

What $1 Million Buys In Homes In San Antonio

Barbara Blackburn — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 21:29:04 +0000

Forbes has a new feature article in their online Real Estate section comparing million dollar properties worlwide, so I thought it would be neat to compare those homes to a million dollar property in the San Antonio market. As you will see a million dollars buys you much more in San Antonio than elsewhere. I found all these homes using Google search by the way…

Million Dollar in San Francisco…

Million Dollar Home in Chicago…

Million Dollars in San Antonio…

WOW! What a difference…As you can see your housing dollars go a lot further in San Antonio than in other parts of the country. If this is the difference in a million dollar home, imagine the difference in a $100,000 home. Go ahead, kill some of your day and do a Google comparision of homes you can afford and compare other cities to San Antonio.

S.A. Homebuilders Have 3rd Best Year on Record

Rex Blackburn — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 15:56:18 +0000

As the housing market continues to contract, the builders seem to be taking the worst of it. KB Home, one of the country’s largest homebuilders, announced last week that it was shutting down operations in the Rio Grande Valley. According to an article in the Valley’s The Monitor, “Builders and real estate experts blame the decline on the nationwide foreclosure crisis sparked by subprime lending. Amid the subprime problems, lenders are tightening mortgage requirements and loans have gotten more expensive, resulting in lower demand for new homes. ”

So how is the new home market in San Antonio. The answer: still good, just not great anymore. Read this article in the San Antonio Express News, and you will learn that while new home sales were down over 25% in 2007 from 2006, that 2007 was still the 3rd best year for San Antonio homebuilders.

And what did that mean for new home buyers: BIG INCENTIVES. Builders offered to pay buyer’s closing cost’s, free upgrades, and huge discounts. So the question is what is in store for 2008? We have no crystal ball, but all indications are a little more of the same until the market corrects itself. Builders still have excess inventory, which they should be able to bring down by summer.

So if you have been thinking about purchasing a new home in San Antonio, you still have a few months where the builders want to really earn your business with still historically low interest rates.

Study: Home prices increase in Texas markets

sanantoniorealtor — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 21:42:30 +0000

From the San Antonio Business Journal:

“Home prices in Texas have defied the overall downward trend seen in other U.S. housing markets, according to a study by First American Loan Performance.

In the San Antonio area, home prices increased 7.89 percent over the 12 months ending in October. Other Texas markets included in the study’s top 30 statistical areas include Austin-Round Rock, which increased 8.62 percent; Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, up 3.92 percent; and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, with a 4.52 percent increase.”

That means that the San Antonio Area ranked 4th nationwide in appreciation. In all, only 10 of the nation’s largest metro area’s had increases in home prices, with 4 of those in Texas.

S.A. keeps head above ‘ugly’ home-sale slump

sanantoniorealtor — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 15:05:09 +0000

That was this mornings headline in the San Antonio Express News. It seems that San Antonio will avoid the housing downturn that the rest of the country is experiencing for now…but it will be interesting to see how 2008 plays out for us.

According to the Express News:

“San Antonio, however, seems to be escaping the brunt of the housing downturn because a strong job market and affordable prices have kept the city, as well as the rest of Texas, relatively insulated from the most distressing problems facing other parts of the country.In September, the annual new-home sales rate was 16,371 in the San Antonio area, down just 1.8 percent from the annual rate for September 2006, according to the most recent data available from the housing research firm Metrostudy. Builders this year, however, have increased incentives to buyers to unload their excess inventory.

While there were fewer new home sales and housing starts, 2007 is likely to be the third-best year on record for new-home construction in San Antonio, with builders starting 14,328 homes between September 2006 and September 2007, according to Metrostudy.

That’s a 27 percent drop from the record set between the same period in 2005 and 2006, when there were 19,600 home-starts.”