Pending Home Sales in Texas Seem on the Rise

With the news from the March, National Association of Realtors housing market index report and sales of homes rising for the second straight month, I think everyone's hopes are on the rise as well.

That is the case with my brother, Cecil who owns a home in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex. He has been trying to sell this home for about two years now. When the market tanked, he resigned himself to just holding on to it and hoping for the best. He knew that selling it at a total loss would be the worst thing he could do. He decided to wait out the market if he possibly could.

Cecil's home is a nice two story,Ranch style, 3 2 1/2 bath, 2,200 sq. ft., and is very well taken care of. It is located approximately 12 miles outside of the City of Ft. Worth. It is actually closer to Arlington, TX rather than Ft. Worth in the Meadowbrook Community. The Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex encompasses a number of smaller yet viable cities. Arlington is one of those smaller cities in between.

He has owned the home for 3 yrs and is selling it to get something smaller. His asking price started at $194,00. This was 2 years ago. He has since lowered it twice. The original price really doesn't give him a great return on his improvements or added features, such as the nice Gazebo in the back with landscaping and the garage improvements and more. The price he has hopefully bottomed out at is $175,00. This doesn't give him any return, but after this long, I am not sure he cares much.

He has added some extra curb appeal around the front of the house. Installed extra cabinets in the kitchen and master bath, as well as refurbished all of the paint, inside and out with more pastel, basic colors. He is anticipating with the recent news boosting things even more, his house will soon be on the "Sold" list with other fortunate, stressed out people.

It has been a harried couple of years with all of the financial problems our country has experienced. Now, he feels as though there may be a break in the bad news and renewed hope in someone actually buying his house. He had one Open House in late April. That produced several prospective buyers. He has had one return prospect and is just waiting now to see what will happen.

It seems the added curb appeal and the Gazebo proved to be "Ah" points on the tour. Cecil feels as though things are beginning to turn around in the Real Estate Market. He told me that even though he hasn't advertised as much, it seems he is getting more response to what he has done.

He is keeping his fingers crossed and utilizing all his sales ability when he does get a bite. He says he believes the markets are on an uphill climb and its just a matter of time.