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Monday, June 29, 2009
Restaurant Reviews~
I am a huge fan of trying out different restaurants and bars. The latest restaurant that I tried out was a Sushi restaurant in Plano called RA Sushi. It is located across from the Shops of Legacy right behind the William Sanoma. The atmosphere is amazing with the outside patio area to sit at and listen the mixture of music genre they provide. The sushi and service there are both great. My favorite roll was the Crazy Monkey Roll. It was to die for! Go and try this amazing place and once you are done with dinner, walk over to a place called Fusion Home Fashion in the Shops of Legacy and tell them Sarah sent you!
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This Month In Real Estate June 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lnrH0WhCNo
This is a great clip educating us on the Real Estate market around the world. It's some very valuable information.
This is a great clip educating us on the Real Estate market around the world. It's some very valuable information.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
First Time Homebuyer? Don't miss out on the $8,000 Tax Credit!
A NAR practitioner survey in May showed first-time buyers accounted for 29 percent of transactions, and that the number of buyers looking at homes is nearly 10 percentage points higher than a year ago. “This is the time of year when we see large increases in the number of repeat buyers, who are benefiting from sales to entry-level buyers,” Yun said. “Investors appear less active, but are more prevalent in areas with large price corrections.”
"First Time Home buyers are taking advantage of the $8,000 Tax Credit the Government is giving away. I am working with several different clients who are looking for their first home. I make it a point to go through everything they need to know and what to expect during the transaction. It is not only important for me to find them the perfect first home but also to make sure they leave more knowledgeable about Real Estate and how the process works. I've built my business up on Customer Service and pride myself in taking the best care of my clients."
Realtor.org
Vegetable lover
I love eating vegetables especially when they have either been grilled or sauteed. I have learned the best vegetables are the ones that you get fresh...instead of the frozen veggies. Yesterday I was in a hurry to eat lunch and get back out to Grapevine to show a house, so I did not have time to saute or grill my veggies. I had fresh peppers, sugar snap peas, zucchini, tomatoes, lett
uce, and mushrooms. I cut them all up quickly, after washing of course, and put the veggies in a big bowl. Once I had them in a bowl, I grabbed my light Italian dressing out of the fridge, and I poured a little dressing into the bowl of mixed veggies and then shook the bowl (put a lid on it). I spooned out the veggies and put them in a bowl full of lettuce and ate my quick and very healthy lunch. It did not take long at all to make, and it was so filling that it lasted me all through the day. You could also make this at dinner time and add mozzarella cheese into the mixture, and your choice of meat (chicken, turkey, steak, ect.)
uce, and mushrooms. I cut them all up quickly, after washing of course, and put the veggies in a big bowl. Once I had them in a bowl, I grabbed my light Italian dressing out of the fridge, and I poured a little dressing into the bowl of mixed veggies and then shook the bowl (put a lid on it). I spooned out the veggies and put them in a bowl full of lettuce and ate my quick and very healthy lunch. It did not take long at all to make, and it was so filling that it lasted me all through the day. You could also make this at dinner time and add mozzarella cheese into the mixture, and your choice of meat (chicken, turkey, steak, ect.)Weekend in Tenneessee
I went home this past weekend for Father's Day this past weekend and was able to make a baby shower and a wedding too. It was a very busy weekend with family and friends but I still could not tear myself away from work. I found a few hours during the weekend to do a few searches for friends who are First Time Homebuyers and are looking to buy before the $8,000 Tax Credit is gone on Dec. 1st. I found a couple of my clients a few homes that meet their criteria and were able to send them their way to weed out and see if they are something they want to go and see this week. These are two of their favorites: 
It's always nice to go home for a weekend but I've been playing catch up all day on e-mails and searches for my clients. Got to get back to it! :)
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Yummy Sweet Potato Fries~
I had a friend over the other night, and we made some amazing sweet potato fries. I have always loved eating them out at restaurants, and we thought it would be a good idea to make some ourselves. I wanted to share the recipe with you because they turned out really well!
1 - 1 1/2 lb sweet potatoes 1/4 cup olive oil 1/2 tsp kosher salt 1/2 tsp paprika 1/4 tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil
Peal the sweet potatoes. Cut into strips that are about 1/2 inch wide on each side.
Place the sweet potatoes into a seal able plastic bag. Add oil, salt, paprika and cinnamon. Seal the bag and shake well to thoroughly coat the fries. Spread the potatoes out onto the baking sheet in a single layer.
Cook for 30 minutes, turning every 10 minutes. Transfer immediately to a paper towel lined plate and serve warm.
Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries
serves 4-6
1 - 1 1/2 lb sweet potatoes 1/4 cup olive oil 1/2 tsp kosher salt 1/2 tsp paprika 1/4 tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil
(preferably the easy release kind).
Peal the sweet potatoes. Cut into strips that are about 1/2 inch wide on each side.
Place the sweet potatoes into a seal able plastic bag. Add oil, salt, paprika and cinnamon. Seal the bag and shake well to thoroughly coat the fries. Spread the potatoes out onto the baking sheet in a single layer.
Cook for 30 minutes, turning every 10 minutes. Transfer immediately to a paper towel lined plate and serve warm.
Not only are they yummy but they are also very healthy and good for you! :)
~Positive news about Texas~
TEXAS QUICK TO BOUNCE BACK FROM RECESSION, FORBES SAYS
WASHINGTON (Forbes) - Several Texas cities are poised for a quick recovery from the national recession, according to Forbes.
Austin-Round Rock ranked first on the magazine's recent list of ten cities most likely to bounce back quickly.
Meanwhile, San Antonio ranked fifth, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington seventh and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission ninth.
To compile its list, Forbes looked at estimates from Moody's Economy.com of the projected gross domestic product of metropolitan areas across the United States, as well as unemployment figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and home prices, incomes and affordability data from the National Association of Home Builders.
Forbes also put together a list of ten worst cities for recession recovery. No Texas cities made that list.
TEXAS STILL BUYER'S MARKET
TEXAS (Real Estate Center, The Herald-Zeitung) -
Despite rising foreclosure rates in the United States (now nearly 32 percent), the rate in Texas is down 14 percent since last year.
Jim Gaines, research economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, said the Texas housing market is doing very well compared with the rest of the nation.
"We're being compared to large, high-growth states like Florida, New York, California and Illinois, and our housing market is in much better shape. This is partly because about four or five years ago, we didn't have the big run-up in prices that many of those states had," Gaines said.
Texas also benefits from a lack of overbuilding, which often creates an excess of inventory to drive down home prices.
Affordable homes, low mortgage and interest rates, and first-time homebuyer tax credits also make this an ideal time to buy a home, according to Gaines.
RECON
Real Estate CenterOnline News
June 16, 2009
"I enjoyed this article because it proved to me what I already knew...that Texas really hasn't been hit like the rest of the country has. Texas is a good place to be right now. When you hear your friends and family talking about how bad the economy is remind them that Texas is a much better place to be living compared to everywhere else! If you or you know of anyone who have any questions regarding Real Estate, please let me know. I am happy to help in anyway I can!"
WASHINGTON (Forbes) - Several Texas cities are poised for a quick recovery from the national recession, according to Forbes.
Austin-Round Rock ranked first on the magazine's recent list of ten cities most likely to bounce back quickly.
Meanwhile, San Antonio ranked fifth, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington seventh and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission ninth.
To compile its list, Forbes looked at estimates from Moody's Economy.com of the projected gross domestic product of metropolitan areas across the United States, as well as unemployment figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and home prices, incomes and affordability data from the National Association of Home Builders.
Forbes also put together a list of ten worst cities for recession recovery. No Texas cities made that list.
TEXAS STILL BUYER'S MARKET
TEXAS (Real Estate Center, The Herald-Zeitung) -
Despite rising foreclosure rates in the United States (now nearly 32 percent), the rate in Texas is down 14 percent since last year.
Jim Gaines, research economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, said the Texas housing market is doing very well compared with the rest of the nation.
"We're being compared to large, high-growth states like Florida, New York, California and Illinois, and our housing market is in much better shape. This is partly because about four or five years ago, we didn't have the big run-up in prices that many of those states had," Gaines said.
Texas also benefits from a lack of overbuilding, which often creates an excess of inventory to drive down home prices.
Affordable homes, low mortgage and interest rates, and first-time homebuyer tax credits also make this an ideal time to buy a home, according to Gaines.
RECON
Real Estate CenterOnline News
June 16, 2009
"I enjoyed this article because it proved to me what I already knew...that Texas really hasn't been hit like the rest of the country has. Texas is a good place to be right now. When you hear your friends and family talking about how bad the economy is remind them that Texas is a much better place to be living compared to everywhere else! If you or you know of anyone who have any questions regarding Real Estate, please let me know. I am happy to help in anyway I can!"
First-time Home Buyers Grabbing Houses and Tax Credit~
By Kevin Collison RISMEDIA, June 4, 2009-(MCT)-Generation Y is getting jazzed about a new $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time home buyers-jumping at the opportunity to move up and out of their rentals.
Abbey, bar manager at Avenue Bistro in Kansas City, and Barnett, a hospital administrative assistant, had been saving to buy a house the past couple of years but weren't quite there yet. Until Congress approved the expanded tax credit in February.
Now they're leaving their rented home in the city for their own place in Roeland Park.
"We were saving money and waiting for the right time, and that definitely helped give us a push," Abbey said. "We were able to buy a little bit earlier because of the government tax credit."
The tax credit was part of President Barack Obama's $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It's available to people buying their first home in 2009 as long as the purchase is completed by Dec. 1.
Because of the one- to two-month lag between a contract and a done deal, many home buyers are making offers on homes now.
As opposed to a $7,500 tax credit available in 2008, the latest incentive doesn't have to be repaid if the taxpayer remains in the home for at least three years.
At the national level, a report Tuesday said pending home sales in April were up 6.7% from March, the biggest monthly increase since October 2001, according to a seasonally adjusted index of sales contracts kept by the National Association of Realtors®.
"I have been working with several different First Time Homebuyer's who are taking advantage of the $8,000 Tax Credit. Being first time buyers, there are a lot of things to know when buying a house, and it is my job to educate my clients on everthing they need to know in order for them to have a good experience in moving into their dream home. If you know of anyone who is tired of renting and ready to take advantage of the $8,000 the government is giving away, contact me, and I will be happy to help them get into a home!"
Abbey, bar manager at Avenue Bistro in Kansas City, and Barnett, a hospital administrative assistant, had been saving to buy a house the past couple of years but weren't quite there yet. Until Congress approved the expanded tax credit in February.
Now they're leaving their rented home in the city for their own place in Roeland Park.
"We were saving money and waiting for the right time, and that definitely helped give us a push," Abbey said. "We were able to buy a little bit earlier because of the government tax credit."
The tax credit was part of President Barack Obama's $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It's available to people buying their first home in 2009 as long as the purchase is completed by Dec. 1.
Because of the one- to two-month lag between a contract and a done deal, many home buyers are making offers on homes now.
As opposed to a $7,500 tax credit available in 2008, the latest incentive doesn't have to be repaid if the taxpayer remains in the home for at least three years.
At the national level, a report Tuesday said pending home sales in April were up 6.7% from March, the biggest monthly increase since October 2001, according to a seasonally adjusted index of sales contracts kept by the National Association of Realtors®.
"I have been working with several different First Time Homebuyer's who are taking advantage of the $8,000 Tax Credit. Being first time buyers, there are a lot of things to know when buying a house, and it is my job to educate my clients on everthing they need to know in order for them to have a good experience in moving into their dream home. If you know of anyone who is tired of renting and ready to take advantage of the $8,000 the government is giving away, contact me, and I will be happy to help them get into a home!"
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