All Blog Entries by Brandon Stewart

source: Candy's Dirt

Artist Wassily Kandinsky once said, “Color is a power which directly influences the soul.” If that’s the case, it’s going to be a beautiful year in 2017 with these colors of the year.

Every year, different paint companies come up with color predictions based on what they’re seeing in the marketplace and our culture. The colors of the year are symbolic, “a color snapshot of what we see taking place in our global culture that serves as an expression of a mood and an attitude,” according to Pantone.

Let’s take a look at five colors of the year for 2017 and see what we can learn.

Pantone: Greenery

The grandaddy of color predictions come from Pantone, which announced “Greenery” to much fanfare recently. Pictured…

Source: Forbes

The proliferation of services that help homebuyers and sellers complete their own real estate transactions is relatively recent, and it may have you wondering whether using a real estate agent is becoming a relic of a bygone era. While doing the work yourself can save you the significant commission rates many real estate agents command, for many, flying solo may not be the way to go–and could end up being more costly than a realtor’s commission in the long run. Buying or selling a home is a major financial (and emotional) undertaking. Find out why you shouldn’t discard the notion of hiring an agent just yet.

1. Better Access/More Convenience

A real estate agent’s full-time job is to act as a liaison between buyers and sellers.…

Source: Candy's Dirt

Renting is often considered to be more affordable than homeownership, but the gap between affordable rentals and affordable homes for sale is widening. According to SmartAsset’s 2016 rental affordability survey, there’s a massive income gap for renters. This year’s survey shows that, in Dallas, renters need to make $62,700 to meet HUD guidelines for affordable rentals. That’s an increase of $5,829 from a year ago, and equates to about $1,463 a month on rent alone.

With more would-be Millennial homebuyers being forced to rent thanks to low inventory, skyrocketing market rents are adding insult to injury. Still, according to MetroStudy, builders are shifting into overdrive to bring new housing online in the Dallas-Fort Worth…

From the Washington Post

The overall U.S. housing market has recovered from the crisis that plunged the country into recession. But a new analysis by The Washington Post shows that the recovery has been deeply uneven, creating winners and losers along lines of race, income and geography.

The Post analysis, based on data from Black Knight Financial Services spanning 2004 through 2015, shows how the nation’s housing recovery has exacerbated inequality, leaving behind many Americans of moderate means. It also helps explain why the economic recovery feels incomplete, especially in neighborhoods where the value of housing — often the biggest family asset — has recovered little, if at all.

While a typical single-family home has gained less than 14…

by Texas Association of Realtors

A small number is making big news for Texas real estate. In the first quarter of 2016, the inventory of homes statewide hit an all-time low at 2.8 months. That means if no more houses were listed for sale in Texas, it would take less than three months to deplete the supply of homes on the market now. Why does this matter? Historically low inventory means homes are in demand now more than ever. For comparison, the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University estimates that a monthly housing inventory between 6.0 and 6.5 months is balanced between supply and demand … and Texas was at less than half that number in the first quarter of 2016. For more first-quarter stats, including median home prices and days on…