Dallas home prices drop slightly, but hold their own

The average price of existing single-family homes in Dallas dropped 3.2 percent in June when compared to a year earlier, according to Standard & Poor’s latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index.

Despite the yearly drop in average price, the Dallas and Charlotte, N.C., home markets are considered to be among the strongest metropolitan areas in the S&P’s index of 20 key cities, S&P says.

“On the plus side, Denver and Boston were the best-performing markets for the month (of June), returning +1.5 percent and +1.2 percent, respectively,” S&P said. The report goes on to say both Denver and Boston are outdone by Dallas and Charlotte, which “have recorded four consecutive months of positive returns.”

Nationally, home prices declined 15.9 percent in the 20 cities for the year ending in June. Las Vegas and Miami were the weakest markets in the index, with Las Vegas seeing a 28.6 percent drop in prices, and Miami experiencing a 28.3 percent decline.

Two Dallas companies named in patent infringement case

A Chicago company has filed a lawsuit claiming a consortium of homebuilders and home product manufacturers violated antitrust and patent laws and confidentiality agreements when they formed a Web site identical to a site established by the plaintiff.

The federal lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Marshall names several nationally recognized homebuilders and home product manufacturers, including Dallas-based Centex Corp. and Lewisville-based Overhead Door Corp.

Other defendants include Builder Homesite Inc., a consortium of homebuilders and home product manufacturers; New Home Technologies; Beazer Homes USA Inc.; Capital Pacific Holdings Inc.; Capital Pacific Homes; Centex Real Estate Corp; Weekley Homes; KB Home; Lennar Corp.; Pulte Homes Inc.; Standard Pacific Corp.; Toll Brothers Inc.; Georgia-Pacific Corp.; Hearth & Home Technologies Inc.; Honeywell Inc.; Kohler Co.; Masco Corp.; Owens Corning; Progress Lighting Inc.; Square D Co.; Therma-Tru Corp.; Weyerhaeuser Co.; Whirlpool Corp.; and New York International Corp.

The suit filed by Chicago-based OLA Inc. alleges that its subsidiary, HomeBuilderShowroom.com, built a Web site called Builder’s On-Line Assistant back in 1999 to offer the home building and product manufacturing communities a place to showcase home upgrades and standard products online. It also was created, so homebuyers could make selections for their homes while participating in a virtual home tour online.

An attorney for OLA says the company applied for a patent in January 2000, but because of the length of the process, OLA did not receive official patents until 2006 and 2007.
OLA says early in the process, the company engaged interested homebuilders and home product manufacturers, who were part of a consortium that agreed to sign confidentiality agreements so they could try out and learn more about OLA’s Builder’s On-Line Assistant Web site.

OLA says despite some of the consortium’s main members signing confidentiality agreements, companies in the consortium later decided to build a comparable Web site called “Envision.” All of the manufacturers and homebuilders involved in the joint venture ended up associated with the business entity, Builder Homesite Inc., which also operates through subsidiary New Home Technologies Inc. Builder Homesite announced its formation in March 2000.

In a statement, OLA’s attorney Scott Clearman says, “The defendants obviously saw the benefit in OLA’s idea, but they apparently didn’t think they needed the company’s permission to use its patents or to honor their confidentiality agreements.”

Dallas-based Centex Homes and Lewisville-based Overhead Door Corp. said, as a matter of policy, the companies do not comment on pending litigation.

Private investor buys Greyhound Building in Dallas

The Greyhound Office Building at 15110 North Dallas Pkwy. in Dallas has been sold for the second time in four years.
The previous owner, a doctor living in Anaheim, Calif., sold the property to a local private investor this month who did not want to be identified.

Greyhound, the single tenant, has a lease with the 93,087-square-foot office building extending through 2012, but has already moved out of the property, leaving only its data center behind, according to Marcus & Millichap’s Ron Hebert, a senior associate and director of the firm's national office who handled the deal.

Hebert says the building has been on the market since December of last year. He sold the same building in June 2004.

The six-story office building is located at the northeast corner of Belt Line Road and the North Dallas Tollway.

The final sale price was not disclosed, but the property was listed for $10 million.
Greyhound previously moved its headquarters to the Patriot Tower, formerly Dallas One Center, on St. Paul Street in downtown Dallas. A spokesperson for Greyhound says the company already had operations in the Patriot Tower and decided to consolidate by moving the entire headquarters into one location.

Nexregen Firewheel REIT aims to let small investors get in via the Internet

Real estate veteran Ray Wirta has put a new spin on property investing in Texas.
His Nexregen Firewheel Real Estate Investment Trust is selling shares of Firewheel Village shopping center in Garland to investors.
Mr. Wirta wants to make it easier and less expensive for small investors to buy real estate on the Internet instead of going through a financial adviser.
Nexregen, which stands for the next real estate generation, is offering 275,000 shares at $10 apiece, or $2.75 million.

So far, it has raised about $2 million from about 60 investors, said Mr. Wirta, vice chairman and former chief executive of real estate giant CB Richard Ellis.
Nexregen may face investor hesitancy given the credit crisis and a weak national economy. For the same reasons, REITs have performed poorly.
Equity REITs returned 1 percent this year through Monday. In 2007, they posted a negative 16 percent return.

"I believe that real estate is a great savings vehicle," said Mr. Wirta, who lives in Laguna Beach, Calif.

Nexregen's prospectus says his net worth exceeds $25 million.
His partner, Harold Hofer, a Southern California real estate lawyer, has been involved in shopping centers for 25 years.

REITs 101
Nexregen doesn't appear to differ much from how REITs started in the 1960s – as a way for small investors to own real estate, said Ron Kuykendall, a spokesman for the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts.
He notes that as a private REIT, Nexregen doesn't have to follow disclosure or corporate governance polices or provide performance data, as the nation's 150 publicly traded REITs do. It also offers limited liquidity options.

Nexregen is registered with Texas securities regulators but is exempt from federal registration because it's selling shares in one state.
Its sole property – Firewheel Village – is fully occupied. Mr. Wirta and Mr. Hofer bought it last spring for $13.5 million. The plan is to sell the property after five or six years, letting investors cash out.

A prospectus describes the investment, costs and details about Firewheel, such as its $10.4 million interest-only mortgage at 5.7 percent. It also says that Mr. Wirta and Mr. Hofer as advisers will receive 4.3 percent in acquisition and other fees, compared with around 10 percent in commissions and fees charged by private advisers for private REITs.
Investors can buy shares in publicly traded REITs through Internet-based brokerage accounts for $10 or less per trade.

Diversifying portfolios
Maria Scott, a spokeswoman for the American Association of Individual Investors, said REITs play a role in diversifying investment portfolios.

However, consumers should understand REITs and make sure they fit into a long-term strategy, said Barbara Roper, director of investor protection for the Consumer Federation of America.

A newspaper advertisement for Nexregen intrigued Randy Hood of Bedford and Craig Capehart of North Dallas, but they asked many questions before becoming shareholders. Mr. Hood wanted to know more about a Firewheel tenant in bankruptcy before making a six-figure investment for his parents and a family trust.

He and Mr. Capehart said they'd been looking for ways to diversify into local retail property and Nexregen provided an affordable way to do that.

Mr. Capehart suggested that Nexregen use simpler language on its Web site to appeal more to small investors. He has invested about $20,000 since November.
Mr. Wirta and Mr. Hofer have taken steps to address potential investor concerns. They plan to keep at least a 10 percent equity stake in the REIT and are offering a one-year money-back guarantee.

Texas is a test. If it works well, Nexregen will add other REITs in Texas and other states, Mr. Wirta said. Nexregen Firewheel Real Estate Investment Trust is hoping to raise $2.75 million by selling shares of Firewheel Village shopping center in Garland to investors. ">Nexregen Firewheel Real Estate Investment Trust Nexregen Firewheel Real Estate Investment Trust is hoping to raise $2.75 million by selling shares of Firewheel Village shopping center in Garland to investors.

First Pics of my Munchkin!

Above you will notice a large black sack of fluid. The 9 millimeter peanut in the middle of it is my baby.

I pretty much know that it is a boy for obvious reasons, and the fact that he was already bobbin and weavin' from the sonogram machine tool.

Only time will tell.

At the bottom I had the Doc sign it. Sweet huh!

DALLAS STARS TO BUILD NEW DR PEPPER STARCENTER McKINNEY IN CRAIG RANCH

Attention all hockey fans . . . McKinney is getting a StarCenter!!!

The Dallas Stars and Hicks Sports Marketing Group (HSMG) announced today that they will build a new Dr Pepper StarCenter ice arena in Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas. The Dr Pepper StarCenter McKinney will be built on 7.3 acres of land in Craig Ranch in far southwest McKinney. It is scheduled to open in August, 2009.
This new ice facility will mark the ninth Dr Pepper StarCenter in the Metroplex, utilized for youth and adult hockey, and general ice skating for the public. The city of McKinney will own the center and the Dallas Stars Hockey Club will operate it.

Hicks Sports Marketing Group is the exclusive sponsorship and marketing representative of the expansive Craig Ranch development. Just as the Dallas Stars, Texas Rangers, Liverpool Football Club and Mesquite Championship Rodeo are part of the Hicks Sports family, so now is Craig Ranch.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to be partnering with Craig Ranch,” said Jim Lites, president of HSMG. “This is a perfect location for a Dr Pepper StarCenter. The Dallas Stars have grown the sport of ice hockey to new levels in North Texas and we will continue to expose it to more kids and families and get them out there skating. More and more kids are playing hockey and this newest facility will only continue that trend.

“David Craig has hit a home run with Craig Ranch. We are impressed with his vision and we share his commitment to youth sports and top-notch facilities.”

The Dr Pepper StarCenter McKinney will have two sheets of ice, eight locker rooms, and a pro’s room where professional hockey players can teach classes. This StarCenter will also sport a girls’ exclusive locker room, as girls hockey is becoming more and more popular. It is expected that the facility will bring in 600,000 to 700,000 visitors annually.

The McKinney Community Development Corp.’s board of directors approved the funding of the new StarCenter last week.

“A lot of kids in McKinney are playing hockey and skating and having a StarCenter here makes good sense,” said McKinney City Councilman Brian Loughmiller. “It’s another opportunity to get ancillary development around Craig Ranch with it ultimately paying for itself. I, for one, am very excited about it.”

Added David Craig, founder and master developer of Craig Ranch, “There was an automatic attraction to the Hicks Sports Marketing Group for us and it’s a perfect relationship. I’m thrilled and honored to partner with Tom Hicks and the Hicks Sports Marketing Group. He’s a winner and we’re winners, and I think if you want to be the best, you have to partner with the best. Certainly, there’s no one better to do that than HSMG.”

Craig Ranch is a 2,500-acre master-planned, mixed-use development located in one of the most exciting growth centers of the Southwest - McKinney, Texas. A virtual city within a city, Craig Ranch allows business, entertainment, athletic and residential life to converge under the concept of “new urbanism,” which combines the feel of a traditional hometown.

The centerpiece of the community is the PGA TOUR Tournament Players Club at Craig Ranch, which is consistently ranked as one of the top golf courses in the United States by the USGA. The venue will be the site of the Nationwide Tour Championship in November 2008, and will be hosted by the prestigious Salesmanship Club of Dallas.

Currently under construction, the Town Center at Craig Ranch will be the heart of the development, featuring residences and loft offices above street bistros, fine dining, shops, boutiques and corner stores. A five-star luxury hotel will be adjacent to the Town Center, as will an amphitheater and a Veteran’s Memorial Wall, commemorating the 321 fallen American soldiers who hailed from Collin County.

The Cooper Aerobics Center at Craig Ranch was established in 2006 and offers an array of medical, fitness and wellness amenities to meet the needs of individuals, families and corporate clients.

The Michael Johnson Performance Center opened at Craig Ranch in June 2007 and is a 24,000-square-foot indoor training facility personally run by five-time Olympic gold medalist, nine-time world champion sprinter Michael Johnson.

There are 13 soccer fields and 14 baseball and softball diamonds at the Ballfields at Craig Ranch, which is home to the McKinney Marshals of the Texas Collegiate League, a wood-bat summer league on par with the prestigious Cape Cod summer baseball league. The facility runs tournaments nearly year-round, and is among the largest sanctioning bodies of Little League Baseball in the nation.

“This is an exciting time for Craig Ranch and the city of McKinney,” said Lites. “Hicks Sports Marketing Group is excited to be a part of it.”

Today's Texas Real Estate tops Hot on Homes for #1 Spot

August 7th, 2008

Today's Texas Real Estate(TTRE) tops Hot on Homes for #1 Spot in the DFW Metroplex on only their 2nd episode.

Neilsen Ratings for last Sunday show that as an average, TTRE rated .05 when Hot on Homes came in behind at a rate of .03.

The negative media about the housing market has placed a bad taste in buyers mouths all over the nation. Eventhough our market here in DFW is steady, the national media seems to daily find something wrong.

HotonHomes.com goal is to highlight the communities of new home builders for buyers to have many purchase options within the states of Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. On the main page of the web site there is a big map where you can search for homes in Dallas and Fort Worth, Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Baton Rouge, and Oklahoma City. Within this latter there are builder specials, community videos, library, realtors, markets, and othe info relating to real estate in each market. At the markets section there are links for Baton Rouge, Houston, Orlando and Daytona Beach, and San Antonio, among others. Each segment highlights the communities and what a property can have or be added to a property for an additional cost.

Today's Texas Real Estate is a 30 minute show highlighting each individual property with accurate details and a, "what you see is what you get" mentality. It allows not only builders, but individual realtors like myself, to highlight our actual listings and on top of that, have many leads from each show that is aired.

I strongly am asking all realtors that are looking for that advantage to watch one show and see how the concept makes sense for Builders, Buyers, Sellers, and Realtors.

The show airs on Channel 21 in the DFW Metroplex. For Time Warner Cable channel is KTXA 12 and dish is channel 21.

I will be showcasing the beautiful "Bellavista" in King's Lake in McKinney, Texas on the August 10th show.

http://www.todaystexasrealestate.com/