Dallas Real Estate and Short Sale Blog

Consider Winterizing Your Vacant House

While many people think that Texas is hot and dry, we do get a couple of hard freezes a year. For most people it simply means that the heat runs a bit more. However, if your house is vacant and the utilities have been turned off it could result in thousands of dollars in freeze damage.

Snowfall in Texas

I received an email from a client with a vacant house last week worrying about this issue because of a blast of cold arctic air that is supposed to drop temperatures into the teens and stay near freezing for a few days.

Rather than having him turn on the utilities, we suggested he have the property winterized. Locally, we often use Mark Kissee of Kissee Inspections to handle this process for our clients. Winterization usually costs less than $150 (a bit more if there is a pool or a really large house) in our market. This is far less than the time and expense of having the utilities turned back on.

Worried about your vacant house? Winterize it!

Tom Branch, Broker, CDPE, SFR

ActiveRain Challenge: Never Answer the Same Question Twice | Photo Copyright 2011 - Imaged2Sell

Source: http://www.thebranchteam.com/wordpress/2011/01/11/consider-winterizing-your-vacant-house/

 

Tom Branch and Gina Branch, The Branch Team with RE/MAX Dallas Suburbs, service the greater North Dallas suburbs including Dallas, Plano, Allen, McKinney, Frisco, Lewisville, and Carrollton.  While Gina concentrates on traditional listings and buyer/tenant representation, Tom specializes in assisting distressed homeowners to avoid foreclosure.  Tom and Gina have published two books (Achieving Rock Star Status and The Field Guide to Short Sales) and are available for speaking engagements in the greater Dallas - Fort Worth Metroplex. Subscribe to The Branch Team Blog.

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Copyright 2009-2012 - The Branch Team
The Branch Team - Texas Real Estate Broker 547597 | Team Members are Texas Licensed Real Estate Professionals
Tom Branch - National Mortgage Licensing System 341963 

Important Notice: The Branch Team with RE/MAX Dallas Suburbs is not associated with the government, and our service is not approved by the government or your lender. Even if you accept this offer and use our service, your lender may not agree to change your loan. If you stop paying your mortgage, you could lose your home and damage your credit rating.

All information provided is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified. Properties subject to prior sale or rental.

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4 comments • Tom Branch | Broker, CDPE, SFR, ACRE | Plano TX Ambassador | 214-227-6626 • January 11 2011 10:05AM

Summer Showing Activity Finally Picks Up

I was interviewed by CBS 11 last week as part of a story on the recent decline in the real estate market.  While part of it is cyclical, I believe that some of it is a rebound effect from the Federal Tax Credit which ended in April 2010.  The tax credit created a lot of activity but I argue most of it was accelerated buying rather than new buyers entering the market.  I dubbed it, "Cash for Clunkers Comes to the Housing Market." 

For the past couple of weeks, there has been an increase in website hits and inquiries, but it had yet to translate into showings.  After several weeks of little showing activity and despite temperatures over 100 degrees, we finally started to see some life come back into the local real estate market.

With interest rates at historical lows this may be the best time to purchase a home as either a primary residence or as an income producing investment. The "perfect storm" of low prices and low interest rates will not last forever any more than the crazy run-up in prices and lax mortgage lending practices that took us here.

Photo Credit - Tom Branch

 

 

Tom Branch and Gina Branch, The Branch Team with RE/MAX Dallas Suburbs, service the greater North Dallas suburbs including Dallas, Plano, Allen, McKinney, Frisco, Lewisville, and Carrollton.  While Gina concentrates on traditional listings and buyer/tenant representation, Tom specializes in assisting distressed homeowners to avoid foreclosure.  Tom and Gina have published two books (Achieving Rock Star Status and The Field Guide to Short Sales) and are available for speaking engagements in the greater Dallas - Fort Worth Metroplex. Subscribe to The Branch Team Blog.

Follwo Us on Facebook          View Our LinkedIn Profile         

Copyright 2009-2012 - The Branch Team
The Branch Team - Texas Real Estate Broker 547597 | Team Members are Texas Licensed Real Estate Professionals
Tom Branch - National Mortgage Licensing System 341963 

Important Notice: The Branch Team with RE/MAX Dallas Suburbs is not associated with the government, and our service is not approved by the government or your lender. Even if you accept this offer and use our service, your lender may not agree to change your loan. If you stop paying your mortgage, you could lose your home and damage your credit rating.

All information provided is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified. Properties subject to prior sale or rental.

Protected by Copyscape Web Plagiarism Tool

3 comments • Tom Branch | Broker, CDPE, SFR, ACRE | Plano TX Ambassador | 214-227-6626 • August 01 2010 03:29PM