I am back in El Paso

After trying to catch up from almost 5 days in DC, I am back to normal now. I am still waking up at 4:30 AM in El Paso thinking it is 6:30 in DC but oh well, I guess I am ok with that, just starts my day a little earlier!

If you are ever in a town that had Duck Tours, I would suggest that you take the time to go on one.

We were picked up at Union Station in Washington on a World War 2 amphibious vehicle that goes on land and water. We started from Union Station and then went all around the downtown and saw all the sights from the US Capitol to the Washington Monument(do you know why it is called a monument instead of a memorial?-we learned all sorts of neat historical facts). We drove past the White House, Japanese Memorial, Justice Bldg, Lincoln Memorial and eventually into the Potomac River and we got to go by the Pentagon and ended up just by the Regan Airport where we got to see a plane land just literally over our head, that was amazing.

Once back on land we drove past the Jefferson Memorial and then back to Union Station. It takes about 1 1/2 hours for the tour and is well worth the money $32.00.

Next we went to the National Cathedral and the Bishops Gardens. What an amazing building our Cathedral is. If you have never been I would suggest that too. The gardens were the highlight- as soon as you step into the garden you feel like the you have been immersed into a magical place, it was soooo relaxing and peaceful. What a great way to end the day.

Real Estate in El Paso, TX is starting to really pick back up again and we are seeing more and more buyers moving to the area and alot of 1st time buyers want to take advantage of the tax credit that they will get for purchasing a home. Now is a great time to buy a home in El Paso. Contact your El Paso Realtor for more information.

I am in Washington DC

I have been in Washington DC all this week at the National Association of Realtors Mid Year Conference. The weather has been wonderful a nice cool 70 most of the time and that felt really good compared the the 99 in El Paso.

We got to visit with our State Senators Kay Bailey Hutchinson and John Cornyn at the US Capital on Wednesday to discuss our concerns about what is going on in our country and how hopefully they will try and get the lenders to open up a little bit and get the housing market back on track.

I believe that if the housing can get turned around then the rest will follow in place. If more qualified buyers can get lenders to lend a little easier, and I know they are pretty tight right now, then I think that the nation will start to heal.

The El Paso market is still very steady and buyers are buying and you can feel the change. The summer ought to be great so now is the time to make a difference and to find your Realtor in El Paso Texas and make an offer on one of the homes that we have on the market

$8000 tax credit

Did you know that you may qualify for the $8000 tax credit if you are a first time home buyer or if you have not owned a primary residence in the past three years?


Once you have done that then you need to call your Realtor in El Paso, TXand set up an appointment to start looking at homes.

Remember that you need to close and be living in your new home by Dec 1, 2009. Call your Realtor in El Paso, TX today.

For the correct information on the tax credit click on the words Tax Credit

Our sales are up !!!

I just got our market report for March 09 for our Multiple Listing Service for homes in El Paso, TX and we were up over Feb 09. In Feb 332 homes were sold and in March 435! And that is for a down economy.

The average sales price for March of 08 was $154,446 and March of 09 was $153,181. Not bad for a tough real estate year. Average days on market is about 114 days and homes are selling at about 96% of list price.

Seller are making more concessions for sure but we are not seeing drastic reductions in price.

Now is the time to buy real estate in El Paso, TX so now is also the time to call a Realtor in El Paso, TX. Please feel free to call me at Dan Olivas and Associates at 915-584-5430 and ask for Patti Olivas and I can help you buy or sell a home in El Paso.

Ft Bliss Housing Seminar

I attended the Ft Bliss Housing Seminar last week and while it was scary to see how many units we are short in housing the soldiers right now, it is optimistic to think that we will get all the units built before the soldiers arrive in mass.

The city of El Paso is offering incentives to builders and developers to help defray the cost in permits and the bigger the number of units built, then the bigger the incentive.

There were numbers speakers there from our Congressman Sylvestre Reyes to some people from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac speaking about what is available in help to get these units built.

During the lunch networking session you could talk to the out of towners about the El Paso real estate market and let them know that being a Realtor in El Paso, TXis an exciting thing right now.

Ft Bliss is just another plus for El Paso's real estate market. Everyday you read in the paper that new doctors are being hired by TX Tech Med School and the University Medical Center of El Paso.

Foxconn is up and running in the Santa Teresa/Juarez area and is expected to hire about 30,000 workers in Juarez at the plant and will have approx. 2500 upper management living in the El Paso/ Santa Teresa area.

Rates are great and sellers are still helping with closing costs so don't wait for things to start going up, now is the time to buy

No April Fool's Joke Here

Well all is well in the El Paso, TX real estate market.

El Paso is humming along and luckily we are not with the rest of the country in how sales are going.

Our average price is holding steady-much as it was last year- and we are not going down in prices.

What we are seeing in the real estate market in El Pasois that homes are taking a little longer to sell and sellers are helping more with closing costs.

Now is the time to buy a home because we feel that prices will start going back up in El Paso because the military is bringing about 90,000 troops and family members here by 2013 and we know that we are short on homes for those soldiers and their families.

It is a great time to invest in El Paso, whether you are a big investor (like apts-the city is giving incentives to those that start building now) or if you want to buy a rental home it should not last long on the market.

We are seeing the rental market increase too. I know that everyone is reading about the violence in Juarez, Mexico but it IS NOT SPILLING OVER INTO EL PASO!
I have lived here for over 30 years and we are still one of the safest cities in the nation for cities over 500,000 even with what is going on over there. What is happening is that we are seeing alot more Mexican National buying and renting homes in El Paso.

Why wait for prices and interest rates to go up-you know they will so give me a call and let's get going.

Dan Olivas and Associates

We just opened our new real estate company called Dan Olivas and Associates. We are very excited about being on our own even though change is hard.

Our real estate market in El Paso, TX is still doing well and most agents that I talk to say that they are much busier than they were last month.

El Paso market is not a seasonal market as our weather is great all the time. Last week we were already at 85! but we are having a cool snap tomorrow and it will only be 60. I guess it is all relative. My daughter Samantha is in real estate in Reno, NV and her market is very slow and definitely has some weather problems that could effect selling this time of year. It is a great time to buy wherever you are as I don't feel that prices will get any lower and in all areas buyers are taking advantage of the low interest rates and the low prices on homes.