Real Estate Information

Ashton Gustafson of the Bishop Realtor Group presents:

The Greater Wichita Falls Real Estate Podcast

Midwestern State remained at No. 3 in the latest National Fast-Pitch Coaches’ Association Division II Top 25 poll and is ranked No. 2 in the initial South Central Region rankings released Wednesday. The Mustangs are off to the best start in school history at 30-3 and have won eight of their past nine games heading into the Lone Star Conference Crossover Tournament this weekend in San Angelo.  For schedule, stats and all the latest in MSU softball, click on msumustangs.com/softball. 

Hello!

MSU Back @ Elite 8

Hopefully, by now you know that your MSU Mustangs will be making a back-to back appearance at the NCAA Division II Elite Eight Basketball Tournament.  The tournament is in Springfield, Massachusetts - which is a long way from Wichita Falls!  However, for all you Mustangs fans, the first game will be played on Wednesday (today), March 23 at 11:00 a.m. Central Daylight Time and the game will be available via live stream by going to the MSU athletic web site.  Don’t miss a single play of the game, catch live stats or listen to the game by clicking on the following link, www.msumustangs.com.  It will also be available today at http://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule. Tax Credit Extension

Remember that if you or anyone you know was serving over seas during the Federal Tax Credit for 1st Time and Repeat Buyers, you must be in contract by April 30, 2011 and close by June 30, 2011. Fore details see, http://www.texomahomesource.com/Blog/Military-8000-Credit-Soon-to-Expire.

The Market

Our market continues to move well with the attractive interest rates we have at this time. With over 1500 homes on the market, there is quite a bit of inventory for buyers at this time. Aggressive pricing for sellers and acting fast for buyers has been the formula for success we have seen thus far in 2011.

If we can answer anything for you this week, please let us know.

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit." Aristotle

Hopefully, by now you know that your MSU Mustangs will be making a back-to back appearance at the NCAA Division II Elite Eight Basketball Tournament.  The tournament is in Springfield, Massachusetts - which is a long way from Wichita Falls!  However, for all you Mustangs fans, the first game will be played on Wednesday, March 23 at 11:00 a.m. Central Daylight Time and the game will be available via live stream by going to the MSU athletic web site.  Don’t miss a single play of the game, catch live stats or listen to the game by clicking on the following link, www.msumustangs.com.  It will also be available the day of the game at http://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule.   The Mustangs will play at 5:00 p.m. Central on Thursday, March 24 and again at 12 noon Central on Saturday, March 26 if they continue to win.  The championship game will be nationally televised on CBS so start getting your friends together now for your very own MSU watch party!  
 
For those MSU fans that live in the area, or for those die-hard fans that want to attend the games, please click on the following link for ticket information, http://www.aic.edu/aic3/elite/tickets.html.  For questions, please call
940-397-4779. 

Good Monday morning to you!

February Market Report

Below you will find the residential SOLD results for the month of February in the Greater Wichita Falls MLS. If you have any questions about these stats, please let me know.

• Average Sales Price was $110,725.00
• Average Days on Market was 104

Military Tax-Credit Still Available

If you or anyone you know was stationed overseas while the 1st Time Tax Credit and Repeat Buyer Tax Credit was going on, you did not miss out. You must be in contract by April 30, 2011 and close by June 30, 2011. For all of the details in regards to this, see http://www.texomahomesource.com/Blog/Military-8000-Credit-Soon-to-Expire.

Web-Sites to Remember

www.TheFallsHomeFinder.com - The #1 Site for Buyers in North Texas.

www.TexomaHomeValue.com - What's my home value look like today?

www.TheFallsPodCast.com - March Pod Cast Market Update

www.TexomaHomeSource.com - Featured listings, answers to questions, etc!

Make it a great week, and please let me know how I may serve you.

"Faith needs a story to sustain it - a meaningful story that inspires belief in you and renews hope that your ideas do indeed offer what you promise."  Annette Simmons

American National Bank of Wichita Falls, TX has officially released what it calls the "Easy Fix" Mortgage.

This loan program features:

• Combination purchase, refinance and repair loan for repairs or improvements up to $35,000.00.
• One-time closings.
• Allows purchase of a home in "as-is" condition based on "as improved value"

If you have questions about this loan program of looking to buy a "fixer-upper" in Wichita Falls, contact Ashton Gustafson at 940.691.7355.

For every home available for sale in Wichita Falls, see www.TheFallsHomeFinder.com.

Military Home Buyer Tax Extension - Soon to Expire

You must be in contract by April 30,2011 and close by June 30, 2011.

To see all of the Wichita Falls homes for sale at this time, see www.TheFallsHomeFinder.com.

Here is how they define service-person:

Definitions

• “Qualified service member” means a member of the uniformed services of the U.S military, a member of the Foreign Service of the U.S., or an employee of the intelligence community.
• “Official extended duty” means any period of extended duty outside of the United States for at least 90 days during the period beginning after December 31, 2008 and ending before May 1, 2010.

This came from http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/service_mem.php

We look forward to serving you at this time.

Ashton Gustafson - Bishop Realtor Group

Good Monday morning to you!

When the discussion of Real Estate comes up, everyone wants to point the finger a hundred different ways to explain why the market is or is not performing.

In all reality, there are just a few places to look for answers:
- Jobs
- Recent Sales Activity
- Inventory
- Mortgage Availability

Let's look at these on a local level...

Jobs - I attended the Wichita Falls Economic Forum this week, and found that Wichita Falls had actually created quite a few new jobs this year. Those new jobs and, of course, the jobs provided by Sheppard Air Force Base
give me great hope for the rest of 2011. A huge THANK YOU goes to our local business owners and Board of Commerce and Industry to keeping jobs in North Texas.

Recent Sales Activity - We have put a home in contract nearly every day this year, and we are up 40% YTD (last year was our firm's best year ever). The market is moving indeed, but PRICE is calling the shots. Which leads me to...

Inventory - We are at record levels of inventory at all price levels. Some of our market price ranges have over 12 months of inventory. See, www.TheFallsHomeFinder.com.

Mortgage Availability - I often hear that it is difficult to get a loan. This puzzles me. My personal stats show that I am qualifying over 90% of the clients that come my way looking to buy. Mortgage rates have never been this low, and we have plenty of happy buyers getting loans. See, www.ImAhappyBuyer.com.

If I can answer any further questions or serve anyone you may know this week, please let me know.

"What would our world look like if more people started projects, made a ruckus, and took risks?" Seth Godin

http://www.talkrealty.com/ashtongustafson

March 2011:

This month's edition covers Greater Wichita Falls real estate market activity and then we promote the value of a CMA.

Features special guest Terri Murphy of US Learning.

Good Monday morning to you!

The Real Estate industry is a very traditional business. People will always be looking for a new place to sleep, work, recreate, and live...and, people will always be looking to sell places to sleep, work recreate, and live. From now until "doomsday", the business of buying and selling Real Estate will be a significant part of our human experience.

However, this traditional business has taken on many non-traditional practices in the last 10 years. We used to only have the newspaper, now the news is sent to our phones. We used to only have open houses to freely preview homes, but now we swim in a sea of on-line virtual tours and information. The game has changed.

Therefore, I have made it my passion to pursue this traditional business in a non-traditional way...and it is working.

To see my non-traditional ways of selling real estate and helping buyers find their places of interest, see the information below...

www.TheFallsHomeFinder.com - The ONLY site made just for buyers in North Texas and the Greater Wichita Falls area.

www.TexomaHomeValue.com - Wondering what homes have sold for in your neighborhood?

www.LuxuryHomesWF.com - A daily list of new listings within the local luxury market.

www.TheFallsPodCast.com - A monthly Wichita Falls market update on the Real Estate market.

www.AshtonGustafson.com - One stop to find everything you need in the Greater Wichita Falls Real Estate market.

www.TexasBankOwned.com - Weekly list of foreclosed property available for sale.

www.TexomaListings.com - A daily list of new listings within your criteria.

www.ThePrairieWF.com - Looking to build in North Texas' 1st Green/Renewable community.

www.SeeWhatTheyAreSaying.com - See what our clients are saying.

If I can serve you this week or discuss with you my non-traditional ways of business, please let me know.

"If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten." Tony Robbins