The Bains

Smith County has the 54th most congested roadway in TX. It is
Loop 323 from Hwy 69 east to Spur (SH) 248. You are going from
the Mall area in Tyler east passing a large high school, then a smaller
school & moving to UTTyler, Tyler Jr. College & the hospital area &
passing lots of small businesses & a few homes as you go. There are NO mitigation plans at the present time. This delay is causing 234,308
hour of delay annually. This is the only area of 100 listed in East TX.

than in 2009, but median price of homes sold is UP about $8,000 from
a year ago to $158,800. That is great, but the lack of sales is disappointing, particularly in July. The strong price trends in TX are because we didn’t have aprice bubble in the previous decade, according to Dr. Mark Dotzour, TX A&M Real Estate Center. Several
years ago Texans were asked why our prices only increased by 3-5% &
Arizona was 30%. Also the credit crisis has shut off new home construction, so NO overbuilding. Our area is about a 5% price increase compared 1.43% for much of TX & 1.6% nationally. Of course
there were more spring sales, due in part to the tax credit + just spring
of the year.

While figures show a deteriorating housing market, this is NOT the whole story, according to Dr. Mark Dotzur, at the Real Estate Center
TX A&M. You have to compare months with NO tax credit. The $8,000
tax credit was a spur from January 2009 – November 2009, then extended to April 30, 2010 & closed by June 30. Some of these months
sales were up 18-28%. Then the process reversed itself. July 2010
sales were down 25% from July 2009. A true reading of the housing
market will not be possible until June or July 2011.

13% of the mortgages for homes in Dallas were fraudulent. Usually
occurs when buyers lied about their income or identity when purchasing
pricey condos, or when investors claimed they would live in the units
when they had no plans to do so, according to a CoreLogic study.
This amounts to 0.25% of home loans made during the last 5 years
that were fraudlent or 22 cents for evey $100 in loans. National
average is 0.55% with Orlando, Miami, Atlanta & Detroit the highest.
NO Texas city made CoreLogic’s list of the top 20 U.S. locations for home loan fraud.

The value of a home is dropped 27%, on an average, and accounts for a
much steeper price drop than other forced sales, according to a study by
a Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist & 2 Harvard University
students. A home drops in value after the death of an owner by 5-7%.
If an owner declares bankruptcy, the value sinks 3%. The study included
1.8 million home sales in Massachusetts from 1987 through March 2009.
No matter what the economic times, the disparate value drops remain
predictable, depending on the reason to have to sell.

Even in the middle of the Great Recession, Texas is faring well compared
with the rest of the nation, racking up an ever-growing list of accomplishments. 4th in nation on least debt, 4 among Forbes list of top
10 “Cities Where the Recession is Easing. Texas claims 64 Fortune 500
companies & dubbed Top State for Business by CNBC. The more tax
incentives & less regulations a state has + less likely for businesses to be
sued, the more likely it is companies will want to come & prosper in TX,
says Brooke Rollins, president of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Also
The Atlantic says the above accomplishments are because Texas’ major
cities have chosen comparatively stable industries – Houston as the
nation’s energy hub, Austin in education & technology & San Antonio in
health care, education & military spending.

Building & modifying homes to accommodate multiple generations is
increasingly popular as more Americans struggle to take care of both
older parents & their grown children under the same roof. The National
Assoc. of Home Builders’ International Builders Show this year featured a one level residence with a master suite at each end. The grandparents’ suite included universal design elements + a small
kitchenette. Both generations could help each other with chores &
meals. A growing number of ethnic groups will probably continue this
even when the economy gets better.

185.5 million members are the folks in the U. S. that use Credit Unions
for their banking, mortgages & other services. Credit Unions are strictly
NOT-FOR- PROFIT financial insitutions , unlike banks, who’s sole purpose it to make a profit. Credit Unions help members save more, earn more & do more. Tyler & vicinity have about 14 different Credit
Unions, several with multiple locations. Just look in the yellow pages of
the phone book for a list. EXPERIENCE THE CREDIT UNION DIFFERENCE.

There are signs the economy is turning around. Most important positive indicator is the corporate profits have rebounded, according to
Dr. Mark Dotzur, chief economist Real Estate Center. In a free-market,
capitalistic system like America, profit growth is a key indicator. Companies are NOT hiring as uncertainity of capital gains & income tax
rates, cost of health care & possible increase in energy costs due to
“cap & trade”. Companies cannot project the future. Cash in businesses is $3 trillion – more than capital in Federal Reserve, FDIC,
Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac combined. To “insure” against uncertainity is
to HOARD CASH.

Freddie Mac reports that its Primary Mortgage Rate for a 30 year fixed
rate averaged 4.58% with an overage 0.7 point for week just ending.
A year ago it was 5.32%. The 15 year is 4.04%. It has been years since interest rates were this low. The 5 year Treasury-indexed hybrid
adjustable-rate mortgage is 3.79%. Frank Nothaft, Freddic Mac VP &
chief economist says this is due to the economy struggling to gain
momentum & inflationl remains very low. Annual inflation meansured at
0.9% for April and May, slowest pace in 44 years. The homebuyer tax
credit did spur home sales, but that is about over.