What will 2010 bring to El Paso

I guess all Realtors in El Paso, TX are wondering that. I know that is a pretty loaded question.

The real estate market in El Paso,Texas is not as bad as people think.

I had an offer presented on one of my listings last night and it was about $30,000 short. Needless to say the seller was not happy with the offer so they countered back. The other agent told me that the buyer said "its a buyers market" so they should be happy with the offer. They offered low becasue they wanted the sellers to replace carpet with hardwood floors! While it is a buyers market in El Paso that does not mean that all sellers are giving away their homes.

A buyers market in El Paso usually means that there are alot to choose from but if the homes are priced correctly they usually sell very close to list price and in alot of cases sellers are helping with closing costs.

I don't know if this one will work or not but some buyers have to make a few offers before they realize that El Paso is not like the rest of the country as far as real estate is concerned.

I guess the best analogy is that real estate is sort of like the weather and is very regional. If it is zero in New York and snowing that does not mean that it will be the same in El Paso and in fact it would probably be sunny and around 60!

Hope all the real estate in El Paso, Texas will be great next year.

almost the end of the year

Well, 2009 is almost over and I am thankful for that and I am looking forward to 2010being much better for El Paso real estate. I guess I really don't have too many complaints other than I want to see lenders lending more and not making it so hard for buyers to qualify.

I do understand that there needs to be some balance, but now alot of buyers are having a hard time and in order for the economy to get back on its feet buyers need to be able to buy homes.

We had a quiet Christmas, I was not feeling very well so Dan went to the shelter and served lunch and then we had some neighbors over for Christmas dinner.

Talked to all of our children (that is the best part) and they were all doing well and the grand kids were happy as can be that Santa had made it to thier homes.

Let me hear from you all about your thoughts on the new year and what your plans are.

Light snow in El Paso today

Maybe Santa is on his way becasue there is a light snow today in El Paso!!! The temp is only 36 and for a desert rat that is pretty cold.

We looked up weather in Reno (one of our Daughters -Samantha lives there) and it was 18 with a high of 35 so our temp does not sound that bad.

Even though it is cold real estate in El Paso, Tx goes on as I was showing homes this morning.

This Christmas we are going to serve lunch at the shelter here in El Paso and then go home and have the neighbors over for a dinner later that afternoon.

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and all the best in 2010- I know it will get better and we will have have a great year next year.

What is new in El Paso

As the year draws to an end, I am grateful that our market has not been as terrible as other areas of the country. Our unemployment rate is at about 9.5% and that is just a little bit higher than the state of Texas.

Home sales are not bad, considering what is happening across the country. November stats were even better than Octobers' with sales being almost 150 more in November than the same time in 2008!! How about that, way to go El Paso.

I think that 2010 will be a good year for Real Estate in El Paso, TX because I feel that interest rates will remain low and after talking to one of the lenders that I like to use, even investor loans are decent. You can get a great rate with only 20% down and with rates low your cash flow possibilities are even better.

For home purchases the extended tax credit is great and even better it now included repeat buyers. Please be sure to read up on the qualifications so you have the correct information.

If you are thinking of buying a home soon, don't wait for rates to go back up. DO it NOW!!!!



Call me today for more information.

Patti Olivas

Great Housing Stats for El Paso

I am Vice President of our Multiple Listing Service for our Association of Realtors and we had our last meeting this morning and our stats for November were great!!!

In November of 2008 there were a total of 375 homes sold (not great but better than some other areas) and in November of 2009 there were 546 homes sold. Now that is impressive.

Texas has been pretty lucky in the real estate market and El Paso,TX real estate market has fared even better.

We do not have an abundance of foreclosures, our prices have gone down some but not like other areas of the country, and days on market are starting to drop.

What a great Christmas present that is for our economy.

Now is a great time to buy a home in El Paso, TX.

Email me for more information.

Merry Christmas to all

Great Restaurant

I had a great meal at Queretaro's Restaurant on North Mesa yesterday. It was cold outside but warm and delicious inside.

I had a bowl of posole that was to die for. Great pork (you can cut it with a fork) and it served with lettuce and radishes cut up in a bowl and you dump it in the soup bowl and then you are ready to dive in. All this for $6.50 plus a basket of home made tortillas , Yum Yum,Yum.

Parking is at a premium because it is always packed but I highly suggest you go there. The Caldo de Res is great too and in fact I have never had a bad meal there.

When relaxing from the El Paso Real Estate Market this is where I want to be.

Low Low interest rates

By now I am sure everyone knows that the interest rates dropped below 5% and in the El Paso Real Estate Market,investors, as of Friday Dec 5th, were able to get 5 3/8 with 20% down and good credit. That will help with cash flow for sure.

I think with the tax credits that are available and the low interest rates, now is the time to get off the fence and take action. Rates will start to rise again and home sales are already picking up in El Paso according to the stats from our Board of Realtors.

Call me today or email me and let me tell you about the El Paso market.

915-584-5430

Great news in the El Paso Real Estate Market

We just got our figures from our Multiple Listing Service for the month of October and we were up close to 100 sales from the same time last year. YEAH!!!!

Who said that real estate was bad? It is always regional not national.

I just got back from the National Association of Realtors convention in San Diego and it was very informative and lots of back to the basics classes.

The weather for this desert rat was beautiful and any time I am close to water, I am in 7th heaven for sure. I grew up on the ocean so El Paso is a far cry from there.

We had lots of great seafood(almost every meal) and enjoyed walking on the boardwalk between the hotel and the convention center.

"Oh What a Night"

Last night Dan and I went to see "Oh what a night" a musical tribute to Frankie Valle and the Four Seasons at Sunland Park Casino.

It was one of the best shows I have seen in a long time. If you get the chance to see this, or the Jersey Boys, I would highly recommend it to anyone over the age of 40!

Smart Growth Communities

How would you like to live in a community where you actually saw your neighbors every day? Doesn't that sound nice to you? How would you like to be able to get out and walk to the store, library, ride on bike paths, have shopping and restaurants within walking distance to your home?

I think that sounds like a wonderful idea and it is happening all over the country and I think it is time to happen in El Paso, Texas too.

My sister lives in Portland, Oregon and those type of communities are very popular there and it sounds like the wave of the future. There are alot of mixed use sites within the neighborhood. There are town homes/condos above commercial sites, single family homes, duplexes and all sorts of homes and all built around schools, post offices, stores for shopping,restaurants, play grounds for children, walking paths and bike paths and where people actually get out at the end of the day and get to know the neighbors instead of driving in the garage at night and never coming out again.

The El Paso real estate market could be a place to get this started and with help from the city planners I feel that it would be a definite plus to the city of El Paso

2 new Foundations I want to brag about

Dan ( my husband) sits on the board of 2 great organizations that I want to talk about.

The first one is Avance and that organization's goal is to help young families break through the cycle of poverty through childhood development, parenting , adult literacy and healthy marriage. I have personally met some of the families that have been through this program and it is amazing what a difference this program has made in their families lives. Take a look at the web site.

The second one is the Rio Grande Cancer Foundation and they are a home grown cancer foundation started in 1996 and they do numerous events in El Paso to raise money for the foundation and even have an extensive cancer library called" The Green House" Please check out this web site too.

I also wanted to give an El Paso Real Estate update too.

Our market is actually good right now. We have lots of homes on the market but list price to sales price is still pretty close as sellers are helping alot with closing costs so buyers are paying closer to list price in return.

We are starting to see quite a few military buyers in the market now and I personally have not had many problems getting any of my buyers that I am working with approved or any appraisal problems either. It may take a few days more to get homes closed but we have started to factor that into closing dates now so that the frustration level goes down.

Now is still a great time to buy a home in El Paso, TX so let me know how we can help you

What is Happening in El Paso

I guess it has been awhile since I have blogged so here goes.

The real estate market in El Paso, TX is going along pretty smoothly right now. With that said, there are still many homes on the market but they are selling and for usually at 98% list price to sales price ratio. The main reason that they are selling that high is that sellers are now helping quite a bit with closing costs.

The military is starting to send alot of soldiers into El Paso and my last 3 sales have been to military and I even sold one sight unseen to a couple coming from Hawaii.

I have only done that one time before but it is much easier now with web sites and digital cameras.

There is a newer restaurant that we visited the other day that was absolutely wonderful. It is hidden downtown at 504 South Mesa Street at Third Ave and it is called El Paso City Grill and you must go there .

The food is all freshly made and is some of the best I have had in awhile. There is an outdoor covered patio that even in the heat of the day is a great place to eat.

Be sure to take cash as they don't take any credit cards yet.

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.

State of the Economy in El Paso

The El Paso Chamber of Commerce hosted an event this morning at the Univ of Texas at El Paso called State of the El Paso Economy.

It was a two hour session and a question and answer period followed. The speakers were from the local sector and spoke on everything from working in Juarez to the local real estate news.

The speakers were: Allan Russel with the Maquila Industry in Juarez and he spoke about how important it is to keep that industry strong and he also spoke about the violence in Juarez, Mexico.

Dana Vogelmeier-with State Farm and how call centers worked and how they were hiring ( showing that jobs are still available in El Paso).

Dan Olivas(my husband) spoke about the local real estate market and why it is the best time to buy in El Paso and why our home prices are not falling but remaining stable.

Harold Hann from Rocky Mountain Mortgage spoke about local lending and how although it takes a more qualified buyer than in the past and that his company services most of their loans that their foreclosure rate was less than 3%.

Bob Ayoub and Adam Frank spoke about the commercial real estate market and how they have been fairly busy and renting up some of the commercial business spaces that have become vacant.

Larry Patton with Bank of the West spoke about local banking and what is going on there.

The questions were answered by various professor from UTEP and even included a person from the Federal Reserve.

I think that everyone who attended went away with a positive note on the El Paso Economy.

Look what is happening in El Paso Now

This is an article that was in the El Paso Times on Feb. 13, 2009


El Paso city bucks national trend
By Vic Kolenc / El Paso Times
Posted: 02/13/2009 12:00:00 AM MST


EL PASO -- Home prices continued to rise in El Paso last year -- something most areas of the country didn't see.

El Paso had the nation's sixth-highest gain in sales prices for existing homes in the fourth quarter among 153 metro areas, shows a National Association of Realtors report released Thursday. El Paso was one of only 18 metro areas in the country showing price gains in the October through December quarter.

"The reason (home) prices are growing more rapidly here than the nation as a whole is because the local economy is performing better at this point" than the national economy, said Tom Fullerton, an economics professor at the University of Texas at El Paso. "In 2009, the (El Paso) housing market should continue to do well, but there are a few more storm clouds on the El Paso economic horizon than in 2008."

The median, or market midpoint, price of existing El Paso homes was $140,700 in the fourth quarter -- an increase of $7,100, or 5.3 percent, from the same quarter in 2007.

For all of 2008, the El Paso median home price increased $6,000, or 4.5 percent, to an annual average median price of $137,900, the report shows. That increase is higher than the 3.4 percent increase for 2007.

Suzy Shewmaker Hicks, president of the Greater El Paso Association of Realtors and a Realtor for Keller Williams Realty, said even though El Paso's inventory of new and existing homes is large, homes continue to sell, and that helps prevent home prices from falling. More than 4,400 homes are now on the market.
"We're not immune to what has happened (in other markets), but we're not affected to the extent of other markets," Shewmaker Hicks said. "We've had fewer foreclosures here (than other markets) and that's keeping the market stronger."

El Paso has escaped the foreclosure storm felt in some markets. But foreclosure filings began increasing in the second half of 2008. And this January's 208 foreclosure filings were more than triple the 60 filings in January 2008, according to data released this week by RealtyTrac, a California company that tracks foreclosures nationwide.

Gary Wondrash, an El Pasoan who buys and sells homes as an investor, said, "El Paso is one of the strongest markets in the nation. We see some (out-of-town) investors coming back into our market that were here (about) three years ago when our prices were so cheap."

Charles de Wetter, president of Coldwell Banker de Wetter Hovious, one of El Paso's largest real estate companies, said home prices could be hurt if the inventory of homes begins to increase again.

Fullerton, at UTEP, said median home prices "will probably grow by more than 3 percent in 2009. It will be surprising if it grows as rapidly as it did in the fourth quarter."

Vic Kolenc may be reached at vkolenc@elpasotimes.com;546-6421.

For more information: www.realtor.org.



Top markets
Only 18 U.S. metro areas showed home price gains in the fourth quarter of 2008. Here are the top 10 price gainers, with median home price, and percentage change from a year ago:
Rank, Median Percentage
metro area home price change
1. Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas $132,600 up 16.7 percent
2. Bloomington, Ill. $159,300 up 9.6 percent
3. Dover, Del. $212,500 up 6.5 percent
4. Bismarck, N.D. $164,300 up 6.0 percent
5. Decatur, Ill. $79,300 up 5.9 percent
6. El Paso $140,700 up 5.3 percent
7. Jackson, Miss. $126,600 up 4.7 percent
8. Wichita, Kan. $118,200 up 3.9 percent
9. Shreveport-Bossier City, La. $139,200 up 2.8 percent
10. Amarillo, Texas $122,600 up 2.0 percent
Source: National Association of Realtors

Extreme Home Makeover -2nd blog

Wow, what an experience that was! Arriving on the location for the makeover was really neat-you were bused from a church parking lot to the location so there would not be so many cars in the way. Everywhere there were security guards to keep the traffic moving and spectators in one direction and volunteers in the other direction.

Being a volunteer to serve food for the people that were actually doing all the work was one of the hardest things that I have done in awhile. I have a new found respect for all the people that work in restaurants or anywhere serving the public. I got on site around 3PM even though my shift did not start till 6PM. I was very anxious to see what was going on.

I went up to the house to peek( I had a hard hat so I could go into the home) and as soon as my group and I got there they put us to work sweeping and mopping the new tile floors to keep dust to a minimum. It was amazing to see how so many workers could all work together and get the project done in 4 days.

My husband was a team leader for Sat the 17th and our job was to find restaurants that would donate enough food to feed approx. 700 people from 6PM-6AM. I was amazed at the generosity of the restaurants and they really did not get much in return other than knowing that they were willing to help to get a new home built for a family that really deserved the award.

Be sure to watch ABC on March 15, 2009 for the El Paso Extreme Home Makeover Show.

Slumdog Millionaire (the movie)

This is a must see for anyone. It was one of the best movies that I have seen in a long time and just made you feel good when it was over. It today's real estate economy anything that makes you feel good is an improvement!

Extreme Home Makeover is in El Paso

All this week ABC's Extreme Home Makeover is in our hometown of El Paso, TX and it is really excited to be involved with the show.

The makeover went to a very deserving family that helps out with the orphanage in Juarez, Mexico and other families in need.

According to what I have seen on TV and read in the papers her home was in dire need of repair and will be the nicest ones in the area(as are all the homes that they fix up).

Seeing the outpouring of donations of workers, volunteers, and supplies has really made me even more proud of El Paso. I still can't believe that you can build a home in 4 days but it really is being done and the show should air on March 15, 2009 on ABC.

I am going to the site tomorrow with fellow Realtors in El Paso to serve meals to the volunteer workers and I am really looking forward to giving back to the community and especially the family that won.