By Tom Branch, on April 7th, 2012 
The Dallas Business Journal released the 2011 Top Residential Real Estate Brokerage List on March 23, 2012. RE/MAX Dallas Suburbs ranked number 15 in 2011 with 1134 closed sides and over $270 million in sales.
RE/MAX Dallas Suburbs agents averaged 14.9 sides and $3.55 million in sales volume per agent. Among the national brands in the Metroplex, RE/MAX agents outproduce all other brands by a 3 to 1 margin.
Tom and Gina Branch, The Branch Team, closed 112 sides with a total sales volume of over $17 million.
Source: Dallas Business Journal, March 23-29, 2012, Page 14
By Tom Branch, on April 6th, 2012 
4 Bedrooms | 2 Baths | 2 Car Garage | 2073 SF/Tax
Sold in 11 Days! – Immaculate single-level Centex home with brick-stone exterior is ready for new owners. Stacked formals lead to open kitchen with black appliances and walk-in pantry. Family room with wood-burning fireplace overlooks the private backyard and patio. Master suite is split away and includes a garden tub, separate shower, and a walk-in closet. Large secondary bedrooms and main bath. 4th bedroom can be used as a study. Enjoy the community amenities.
Have a home to sell? Contact us and we can set up a time for a no-hassle consultation.
Photo licensed from Shoot2Sell
By Tom Branch, on March 31st, 2012 
We closed three sales yesterday. That’s the good news. The bad news is two of them did not fund and there are two very unhappy buyers. I represent the sellers on both of them and while they did not fund on time, I had prepared my sellers that this could happen.
What’s the moral of the story? Not all lenders are created equal!
I’ve originated mortgages as a mortgage loan officer with a mortgage brokerage, as a mortgage banker, and at an FDIC insured bank so I’ve seen all three sides of the mortgage business. Locally I know a number of good lenders who know how to get mortgages completed and can get them done on-time. Lenders like Joe Boggs with Integrity First Home Loans always deliver. Sadly Joe is the exception in the business rather than the rule.
The two sales that did not fund were the fault of the lenders not managing the process or simply over-promising on what they could deliver.
Buyers need to carefully screen any lender before they decide to use them for a mortgage. Many brokers, bankers, and even large regional/national banks cannot deliver on-time. Personally, I only recommend lenders who deliver time and time again.
As agents, we want our clients to be happy with their home selling or buying experience and we surround ourselves with vendors who help us deliver that level of service.
Looking for a good lender? Talk to your agent.
Click here for our list of good lenders in the north Dallas area.
Photo licensed from iStockPhoto
By Tom Branch, on March 27th, 2012 Now that I have your attention, let’s talk about getting that home sold.
Many homes built prior to the early 1990’s have wallpaper in many of the rooms. While it was trendy at the time, it’s not in-style today. Many buyers simply cannot see beyond the wallpaper.
Below are pictures (click the photos for larger views) of a kitchen being remodeled. The white-washed cabinets have been refinished, the wallpaper has been removed, and the walls have been retextured and painted.
 
The good news is that the cost of removing the wallpaper, retexturing, and painting is relatively inexpensive. The owners of this property paid less than $2500 to refinish the existing cabinets, remove the wall paper, retexture, and paint the walls. What a difference it makes!
Selling in today’s market can be challenging. Homes that are in good condition, show well, and are priced right still move quickly. While spending several thousand dollars to remove the wallpaper from a home seems like a large expense, I submit to you that it will be far less than your first price reduction!
Photos: Copyright Tom Branch
By Tom Branch, on March 19th, 2012 
The past couple of months has seen the housing market in Allen Texas come alive. Homes that are properly prepared, show-ready, and priced right are going under contract in days.
We were out working with a first-time home buyer this weekend. We found a great home that had been on the market for a couple of days. By the time we scheduled a second-showing, the property was under contract. We’ve seen this time and time again.
Our advice for buyers is to watch the market daily for new listings. Sites like this one are updated daily. If you find a property, call your agent right away to schedule a showing. If you wait a couple of days the home will likely be under contract.
Click here to see all Allen Texas Homes For Sale.
If you are thinking about selling your Allen Texas home, now may be the perfect time to do so and get top-dollar for it.
Looking for an experienced local real estate team to help you buy or sell your home? Contact us at 214-227-6626.
Photo Copyright 2011 Imaged2Sell
By Tom Branch, on March 18th, 2012  “I had lots of showings but no offers.” I hear those words time and time again as I talk to sellers with recently expired listings. Most of the time they blame their agent for not generating an offer.
One of the primary roles of a listing agent is to market the property and drive traffic into the home. In my opinion it starts with great photography and getting all the details of the property into the marketing machine.
When I look at many expired listings I see poor or no photos and incomplete or minimal details available online. Most of the time the sellers of those properties are not complaining about a lack of an offer but a lack of showings as well.
Show me a home with lots of showings but no offers and I’ll argue its simply overpriced or not properly prepared. Lowering the price is one way to overcome this issue but it may not be the only way.
Purchasing a home is an emotional decision. While the marketing may be driving traffic in the door, the home may not create the emotion needed to generate an offer. Creating emotion means appealing to the senses–sight, smell, and sound. New home builders model homes are a great example of the ability to create emotion. They appeal to all the senses.
While many sellers may be able to recreate the look of a new home model, many people should consider professional staging. In the Dallas market, the cost is often under $300 for a few hours of a stager’s time. $300 is nothing compared to your first price reduction and can make the difference in getting the property sold.
Locally, the first part of 2012 has seen a return to a seller’s market with less than 3.5 months of inventory of homes under $500k. Homes that are properly prepared, show-ready, and priced correctly are flying off the market.
If you’re on the market and getting lots of showings but no offers, it’s not marketing…
Photo Copyright 2009 The Branch Team
By Tom Branch, on March 12th, 2012 
I was out finalizing a lease for one of my clients yesterday. The listing agent was not available so I met with the owner of the property. My clients got stuck in traffic so we had some time to chat. The conversation turned to investment homes.
Many investors confuse rental rates with cash flow assuming that getting the maximum amount of rent equals maximum cash flow. I’ll argue the opposite is usually true.
There are at least two hidden costs that need to be factored into the cash flow equation. The first is vacancy rate and the second is the cost to lease. Both subtract from long-term cash flow.
Any time a property is vacant it’s not producing revenue. Limiting vacancies should be a factor in rental pricing. Let’s assume I have a property rented for $1500 a month on a single year lease. If the tenant vacates the property after the lease ends, I incur the loss of revenue while the property is vacant and I have the cost to lease it. The other “cost” is realizing that most damage to a home happens during turnover. If I can get a good tenant to renew, I avoid all three losses.
While you may need to raise the rent on a renewal to cover increased expenses, this increase may cause our tenant not to renew. If I raise the rent on my $1500 property to $1600, I hope to generate another $1200 a year in cash flow. If the tenant moves out and the property takes 30 days to lease, I’ve lost $1500 plus I have the cost of leasing the property. The best time to consider raising rental rates is in between tenants.
The other place to consider this concept is when a tenant is asking for a reduced rental rate on a multi-year lease. On my $1500 rental, I will often reduce the rent to $1450 for a two-year lease. Why? Long-term cash flow. I know I will not have any downtime after a year and I will not have the cost to lease it again. The $50 a month reduction is $1200 over the two-year lease. If I have 30 days of vacancy and I have to lease it, my loss of revenue and expense to lease it can reach $2400 in my market. Additionally, I have to pay for utilities and lawn maintenance while I’m leasing it.
Maximum rent does not alway equal maximum cash flow.
Want to work with an experienced team of agents on your next investment property? Contact us at 214-227-6626.
Photo licensed from iStockPhoto
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