Overall occupancy in commercial market is down 8% & 4 large vacant spaces remain.  Offices & multi-family are holding steady with XTO Energy adding 20,000 sf additional space.  Restaurant sales are high per capita with new buildings & absorption of leased space – Chuy’s, Chipotle, Panera Bread, Corner Bakery, BJ’s Brewhouse + fast food places of business.  Goodyear plant just sold to a company out of California, who will break it up into smaller spaces for lease or sale.  Industrial is still experiencing major under-utilization, economic obsolescence & outsourcing contracts for raw & semi-finished goods.  Foreclosures totaled 5 in 2010 & 8 in 2011 for a combined value of $5,220,000.  Loggins Meat Plant and S. Broadway Commons have both been re-sold.  Texas Joint & Spine Hospital/Clinic are experiencing a major expansion.

to help those with heavy debt loads to avoid losing their homes.  The HOME AFFORDABLE MODIFICATION PROGRAM will be extended through 2013.  The govt will triple financial incentives for private lenders to reduce principal amounts of mortgages for homeowners at risk of losing their homes.  For the 1st time, the govt will offer incentives for  principal reductions if loans through Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.   The 3 yr old program has had successes, but can be a bureaucratic nightmare.  The Obama administration is unveiling new legislating in coming days to allow more homeowners to refinance their mortgages in a separate program, the HOME AFFORDABLE REFINANCE PROGRAM.  Both lenders and homeowners have complained of lost documents and paperwork moving through the system.

The government-sponsored housing finance companies plans to allow such borrowers to defer part or all of their mortgage payments for up to 12 months while out of work.   Beginning March 1, Fannie Mae will require mortgage servicers to install a new program providing forbearance relief to unemployed borrowers.  Can provide up to 6 months of relief without approva from a government-sponsored enterprise.  Special consideration can be given to borrowers who require up to 12 months of forbearance.  Freddie Mac will begin offering 12-month forbearance plans Feb. 1.  Delinquent borrowers & others on the verge of default are eligible.  NO investment or 2nd home properties.   Forbearance plans must show borrower has less than 12 months worth of mortgage payments in reserve and has monthly  housing expenses above 31% of their income.

Programs to help professional educators & related jobs OR  a Texas hero such as full-time fire fighter, EMS, peace officer, corrections officer, county jailer or public security officer working in TX OR an individual at or below 80% of the Area Median Family Income.  Also must be a resident of the State of Texas, will be your primary residence, prove credit worthiness, no home ownership in past 3 years AND complete a HUD approved homebuyer education course prior to closing on the home loan.  When you are on HUD’s website you can narrow your search by entering your city and by selecting “Homebuyer Education Programs”.

MUST BE SURE TO FOLLOW IRS & LENDERS’ GIFT-GIVING RULES.  (1)  homeowners still need to come up with at least some of the down payment on their own.  Fannie & Freddie have different rules & you do not know which one the loan will be sold to.  (2)  you may need to document where down payment money is coming from.  Must be signed, dated, contact info & relation of donor to borrower.  (3)  if you have had the gift a long time, you likely won’t need to document it.  If the gift has been in your bank account 3 months or longer it is considered “seasoned” and will not require a gift letter.  Source of this information is from “Rules for Gifts to Home Buyers”, Newsweek, Dec. 2011.  AGAIN MUST GET WITH A COMPETENT LENDER – ONE THAT IS LOCALLY BASED.

according to the Milken Institute report on “Best Performing Cities” in 2011 and the National Association of Home Builders/First American’s list of improving house markets.   In the smaller metros of Texas, Tyler was 20th  in the nation with 4 other smaller metros in the top 25.  The Home Builders Association showed 41 markets as IMPROVING and 8 are in Texas and TYLER is one of these.  While markets were added, 9 were dropped.  This shows improvement in housing permits, employment and house prices for at least 6 consecutive months.  While Texas’ growth rate & advancement isn’t all that wonderful, we have managed to stay flat with a few small positives, but everyone else has more negatives, according to Dr. Jim Gaines, Real Estate Center Research Economist.

A good way to create positive self talk is through affirmations.  An affirmation is a positive statement that represents your desired condition or outcome.  Interesting enough, your subconscious mind does’t know the difference between a real experience & a vividly imagined  “mental” experience.   World-class athletes understand the value of affirmation & recognize the impact of their mental preparation on their physical performance.  They use the power of positive affirmation to reduce anxiety & increase their expectation of achievement.  To be of maximum benefit an affirmation must be simple, encouraging & stated in the present tense.  By repeating an affirmation over & over again it becomes embedded in the subconscious mind.  A positive affirmation might be “I take good care of my clients & they show their appreciation by referring their friends to me”.  Say in the present tense & say each morning & evening before falling asleep.  Feel the emotions associated with the affirmation.

In 1957 Earl Nightingale, speaker, author & co-founder of the Nightingale-Conant Corporation, recorded his classic motivational record THE STRANGEST SECRET.  It sold over one million copies and make history in the recording industry by being honored as the first Cold Record for the spoken word.   Nightingale, known as the “dean of personal development”, concluded that life’s “strangest secret” is the WE BECOME WHAT WE THINK ABOUT ALL DAY LONG.  Your belief system, like your computer, doesn’t judge or even question what you imput; it merely accept your thoughts as the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  Think thoughts of defeat or failure and you’re bound to feel discouraged.  Continous thoughts of worry, anxiety and fear are unhealthy and often manifest in the body as stress, panic attacks and depression.  At the core of Earl’s message, he reveals the incredible power of positive self-talk, belief and expectation.  What you vividly imagine and hold in your subconscious mind begins to out picture as your realty.  Your belief system not only defines your realty, but it also shapes your characted and determines your potential.

Ultra-low interest rates mixed with stabilizing home prices continued to push housing affordability in the 3rd quarter near its highest levels in more than 2 decades, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index.  For the 3rd quarter, 72.9% of all homes sold were affordable to families earning the national median income of $64,200.  Prior to the past 11 quarters the Index rarely was above 60%.  With interest rates at historically low levels & markets across the country are now within the reach of more households than it has been for nearly decades,  according to Bob Neilson, chairman of the National Assoc. of Home Builders.

Looking ahead, it will be important to maintain the affordability, access to natural resources & quality of life that have drawn so many homebuyers to Texas, which is a continued focus of the Texas Association of Realtors.  Sales this quarter are comparable to levels in 2002 & 2003, indicating the market is returning to a more normal sales pace, according to Dr. Jim Gaines, an economist with the Real Estate Center at TX A&M University.  Texas has a 7.4 month inventory in the 3rd quarter of 2011, but a higher inventory in our area.  There is still a backlog of foreclosures, but less in TX, but they will cause our inventory to fluctuate in the coming months.  It is better if the inventory is down to 6 or less months for a balanced market.  18% more sales in 3rd quarter 2011, then same period in 2010, partly due the tax credit off.