Recently in Keller Category

The 2009 school ratings have just been released.  I have prepared a report showing district and campus results for the districts in the area.  You can download the pdf report at cindyruppert.com/Accountability2009.pdf.

The only major change in the area was the Keller ISD dropping from Recognized to Academically Acceptable.  The district is challenging this rating, which was caused by just barely missing the required completion rate for economically disadvantaged students.  The district claims that two students were misclassified as drop-outs.  If the TEA changes the status of either of those students, the district will be Recognized.

For those new to the area, Southlake is mostly in the Carroll ISD,  Flower Mound is in the Lewisville ISD, and Trophy Club is in the Northwest ISD.  A big piece of far north Fort Worth is in the Keller ISD.

Call if you have any questions!

Fort Worth City Magazine has a great piece in the July edition about real estate.  It gives a very accurate (I believe) evaluation of our current local real estate market.   It has also selected this year's "Great 8" Places to live in Tarrant County.  Both Southlake and Keller made it to the list!

I think you will enjoy reading the whole piece.  Find it here:  http://tiny.cc/DJCzC 

Keller is #7 on Money's 2009 list of best places to live!  Affordable homes, low crime, great schools were important factors.  This is a well earned distinction, Keller is indeed a great place to live!

Here's a link to the Money Magazine article.

I received this question via email and thought I would share some of the
response I wrote.

As I've mentioned before, real estate is very local, right down to the subdivision.  So instead of looking at all homes in the city of Keller, I concentrated on Hidden Lakes, the community in which this person's home was located.  In the last six months there were six homes sold in that price range and nine active listings.  That is a nine month supply.  Considering that a six month supply is considered normal, nine months is definitely indicative of a "Buyers Market".

As far as time to sell, those nine actives have been on the market for an
average of 121 days and the six solds averaged 108 days.  That time range does
include some of our slowest selling period.  November and December are very
quiet when it comes to real estate activity.

The determinants of time on market are price, preparation, and presentation with
price relative to value being dominant.  We can help you determine a  value
range for your home.  Where it is priced in that range directly and forcefully
impacts how long it is on the market.  It has to be priced right, right from the
start.  Why?

Every new listing has an initial burst of buyers looking at it.  These buyers
have been looking for a while, and check out every new listing that meets their
needs.  As a result, they are extremely well educated about their micro-market
of interest.  As soon as they walk into a home they can tell if it is overpriced
or if it is a good deal.  And appealing to these crucial first-lookers is what
will sell your home quickly.  Once they are gone, they don't come back, and all
you get is the slow trickle of new entrants to the market.  This is why listing
high and then reducing is a mistake - you miss those first lookers.  Did I
mention they don't come back?

The result of this is that if you graph time on market, you see a strong "bar
bell" effect.  Maybe thirty percent of the homes sell in a month, dropping off
to a trickle of a few percent a month, until you finally chop off the chart and
see the other end of the barbell with a big jump at "120+ days."

And, there are signs that prices are softening.  We're eagerly awaiting February
numbers for some solid sign, as mentioned in an earlier post.  If we are in a
down market, you must get ahead of the curve - buyers are demanding deals, and
every month you are in the market can cost you a lot more than carrying costs.

While secondary to pricing, preparation and presentation reveals to the buyer
the true value of your home, removing obstacles and objections and reasons not
to fall in love with a home.  This is a very emotional business.  A pre-listing inspection
and professional staging are the starting points there.  They can help push
your price up in your value range.

The pre-listing inspection helps you catch any big problems and many of the
small problems.  Having a clean inspection report to show buyers is a huge plus.  
They won't see many of them at other listings, and seeing that you went to the
extra expense and effort is impressive and reassuring.

Presenting your home in a way that appeals best to buyers is also important, and
a professional stager is often needed.  Your home strongly reflects your
preferences and your tastes.  That's a big part of why you own a home!  However,
once you decide to sell, your home turns into a house, and you must make it into
"product" with broad appeal.  And unfortunately this means bare, bland, and
beige.  This can be a painful step, and you just have to look forward to the fun
of decorating your new home!

So, the average time to sell might be 108 days.  But the minimum time was nine
days, and I bet that that home was well priced, well prepared, and well
presented.

Here is the sales activity for cities that I specialize in.  These are the final year to date numbers for 2008.  Activity was down, prices were steady, and days on the market were up.  Mortgage rates are very low and the new year has started with good buyer activity, giving us some optimism about this year.  There may be downward pressure on prices as some sellers who have held back must take action.  And of course, no one knows what's going to happen with the economy.  Southlake and Colleyville have 7-8 months inventory, the city of Keller is at about six months, and Grapevine only has four months.

MLS Activity Report for Selected Areas

City	# of Sales	% Change vs. Prior Year	Avg Sales Price	% Change vs. Prior Year	Median Price	% Change vs. Prior Year	Avg Days on Market	% Change vs. Prior Year
Bedford	533	-7%	$165,986	0%	$156,950	1%	59	18%
Colleyville	373	-19%	$515,652	-3%	$417,000	-7%	73	18%
Denton County Southeast	3,521	-21%	$239,322	-4%	$194,000	-3%	70	19%
Euless	434	-18%	$156,820	2%	$151,500	1%	56	2%
North Central Tarrant	1,963	-12%	$161,649	1%	$150,000	0%	74	4%
Grapevine	486	-16%	$247,593	3%	$230,000	5%	51	13%
Hurst	550	-10%	$150,725	-2%	$139,900	0%	82	39%
Keller	750	-19%	$339,281	5%	$287,250	1%	81	27%
N Richland Hills / Richland Hills	765	-16%	$167,451	0%	$133,250	-2%	68	5%
Roanoke	171	-20%	$160,480	3%	$150,000	5%	79	34%
Southlake	485	-19%	$634,944	3%	$545,000	4%	78	10%
Trophy Club / Westlake	164	-15%	$472,345	3%	$260,000	1%	85	25%
Watauga	304	-28%	$102,044	-2%	$99,900	-1%	65	-2%

Note: All Information is from North Texas Real Estate Information System (NTREIS) and is believed but not guaranteed to be accurate.

When I was a lot younger and a lot braver, I owned a horse and loved riding.  At that time I was in the corporate world.  I found that getting away from the office and riding that wonderful horse was a terrific way to relieve stress and get things back in perspective. 

I was very interested when I read this piece about a horse-riding group forming in Keller.  If you or your children have any interest, you might want to check this out at:

www.kellersaddleclub.com

This is information that REALTORS(r) check out every month.  It allows us to get a feel for what is going on in our marketplace.  This is Year to Date information for the areas that I specialize in; it includes only single family residences.  As I have mentioned in previous posts, "all real estate is local".  While some of the numbers are off from last year, especially the number of units sold,  please note that most prices are holding steady or even increasing.  It may take a little longer, but homes that are priced right and are in good condition still sell.  Also a word of caution, this chart is comparing the price of homes sold this year with the price of homes sold last year.  For instance, an increase in the average sales price means that the average price of the homes sold this year was higher than those that sold last year.  It does not mean that all of the homes in that specific area increased in value by the percentage change shown.

Anyway, I hope you find this information helpful.  I hope to update it at least every couple of months so stay posted.

MLS Activity Report for Selected Areas

City	# of Sales	% Change vs. Prior Year	Avg Sale $ Price	% Change vs. Prior Year	Median Price $	% Change vs. Prior Year	Avg Days on Market	% Change vs. Prior Year
Bedford	504	-6%	166,543	0%	156,900	1%	60	22%
Colleyville	353	-20%	519,379	-3%	419,000	-7%	74	25%
Denton County Southeast	3,335	-20%	238,848	-4%	193,000	-3%	69	19%
Euless	415	-17%	157,569	3%	151,750	2%	55	0%
FW-North Central Tarrant	1,831	-12%	161,561	2%	150,000	0%	75	7%
Grapevine	459	-15%	247,890	3%	230,000	5%	49	11%
Hurst	516	-11%	151,123	-1%	140,000	1%	83	41%
Keller	693	-21%	340,363	5%	287,500	1%	81	29%
N Richland Hills / Richland Hills	713	-16%	167,822	0%	132,480	-3%	67	5%
Roanoke	160	-20%	161,769	5%	150,000	6%	77	26%
Southlake	461	-20%	633,301	3%	545,000	4%	76	9%
Trophy Club / Westlake	157	-13%	482,291	6%	264,750	2%	85	31%
Watauga	295	-26%	101,780	-3%	99,900	-1%	66	3%

Single Family Residences - November 2008 Year to Date.

All Information is from North Texas Real Estate Information System (NTREIS) and is believed but not guaranteed to be accurate.

Star-Telegram article about Keller...  Well, again, they pulled it down.  I'll have to stop linking to these disappearing articles.

"Joey Grisham wants to turn Keller into a shopping destination with a hotel and conference center, major retailers and chain restaurants."

More info at the Economic Development page at City of Keller site:
http://www.cityofkeller.com/index.aspx?page=31