National Market Data From NAR

March 4, 2018 By
EXISTING-HOME SALES SLIP 3.2 PERCENT in January 2018
Existing-home sales slumped for the second consecutive month in January and experienced their largest decline on an annual basis in over three years, according to the National Association of Realtors. All major regions saw an annual sales declines last month. The Buyer Traffic Index came in at 69 in January, up from 63 in January 2017.
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Filed Under: Corpus Christ Real Estate Data, corpus christi, New Homes Padre Island, Padre Island Business Association, selling a home

THE “TAX CUTS AND JOBS ACT”

February 24, 2018 By

Just before the New Year, President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. You’ve probably read a bit on the topic, but what does it mean for all you valued homeowners out there?

The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) worked throughout the tax reform process, on behalf of all of us, to preserve the existing tax benefits of homeowners and investors. Although many areas of the old law were retained, there were also many changes. Let’s take a look at what is different – spark notes style.

Provisions Affecting Current and Prospective Homeowners:

Tax Rate Reductions – The new law, in general, provides lower tax rates for those filing individually. Although many will pay lower taxes, it is not a blanket rule. The tax rate schedule retains seven brackets with slightly lower marginal rates of 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%. However, the current maximum rates on net capital gains remains the same. Over the next decade, the total size of the tax cut from the rate reductions equals more than $1.2 trillion.

Mortgage Interest Deduction – Now, for loans taken out, the new limit on deductible mortgage debt has been reduced from $1 million to $750,000. Current loans of up to $1 million are grandfathered. The final bill repealed the deduction for interest paid on home equity debt through the end of the year 2025. And if the proceeds are used to improve your property, interest is still deductible on home equity loans or second mortgages. Second homes? Interest remains deductable, but is still subject to the aforementioned limits.

Standard Deduction – The new standard deduction for single filers is $12,000 and $24,000 for joint returns (indexed for inflation). This significant increase will reduce the value of the mortgage interest and property tax deductions as tax incentives for homeownership.

Repeal of Personal Exemptions – Before, filers could deduct $4,150 in 2018 for the filer and their spouse and each dependent (if any). These exemptions have been repealed in the new law. This change alone mitigates (may even eliminate) the positive aspects of the higher standard deduction, as it would more than make up for the loss of not receiving personal exemptions.

Deduction for State and Local Taxes – Although Texas doesn’t have state taxes, the new bill allows an itemized deduction of up to $10,000 for the total of state and local property taxes and income or sales taxes.

Deduction for Casualty Losses – Now there is a deduction only if a loss is attributable to a presidentially-declared disaster.

Moving Expenses – The final bill repeals moving expense deduction and exclusion, except for members of the Armed Forces.

It sounds as though home ownership will continue to be a strong and stable driver for our economy. And NAR will continue to work hard for us. They said it best: “Home ownership is not a special interest, it is our common interest.”

Filed Under: Corpus Christ Real Estate Data, corpus christi, North Padre Island, padre island events, property taxes, realtors, Retail Tax, selling a home Tagged With: , ,

Padre Island Housing Report – January 2018

February 13, 2018 By
THE HOUSING MARKET IS SLOWLY BUT SHOWING SOME SIGNS OF IMPROVEMENT. WE ARE SEEING A LULL IN PRICING COMPARED TO LAST YEAR. THE DIFFERENCE IS THE SUPPLY AND DAYS ON MARKET ARE LOWER THAN PREVIOUS HIGHS, SHOWING AN UPWARD TREND IN BUYER DEMAND. LOTS OF NEW BUYER ACTIVITY IN THE THE 200-300K RANGE.  TAKE A LOOK AT THE STATISTICS ON WHAT’S HAPPENING HERE ON PADRE ISLAND.  CLICK ON THE PICTURE BELOW AND GET A FULL PDF TO PRINT OUT TO KEEP TRACK OF THIS DATA. LOOKING FORWARD TO HAPPY & HEALTHY 2018! GIVE US A CALL AND DISCUSS THE MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO OWN A PIECE OF COASTAL TEXAS! (361) 949-0101

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Filed Under: buying a home, Corpus Christ Real Estate Data, New Homes Padre Island, realtors, selling a home

Padre Island Housing Report – Dec. 2017

January 24, 2018 By
THE HOUSING MARKET IS SLOWLY BUT SURELY STARTING TO PICK UP IN THE NEW YEAR. WE ARE SEEING A LULL IN PRICING COMPARED TO LAST YEAR. THE DIFFERENCE IS THE SUPPLY AND DAYS ON MARKET ARE LOWER THAN PREVIOUS HIGHS, SHOWING AN UPWARD TREND IN BUYER DEMAND. LOTS OF NEW BUYER ACTIVITY IN THE THE 300K RANGE.  TAKE A LOOK AT THE STATISTICS ON WHAT’S HAPPENING HERE ON PADRE ISLAND.  CLICK ON THE PICTURE BELOW AND GET A FULL PDF TO PRINT OUT TO KEEP TRACK OF THIS DATA. LOOKING FORWARD TO HAPPY & HEALTHY 2018! GIVE US A CALL AND DISCUSS THE MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO OWN A PIECE OF COASTAL TEXAS! (361) 949-0101

north-padre-housing-report-oct-2017

Filed Under: buying a home, Corpus Christ Real Estate Data, New Homes Padre Island, North Padre Island, realtors, selling a home, Upper Padre Island

Padre Island Housing Report – November 2017

December 8, 2017 By
THE HOUSING MARKET CONTINUES TO BE A BIT SLUGGISH AS WE CLOSE OUT THE YEAR WITH A SNOW DAY. WE ARE STILL SEEING LOTS OF NEW BUYER ACTIVITY IN THE THE 300K RANGE.  TAKE A LOOK AT THE STATISTICS ON WHAT’S HAPPENING HERE ON PADRE ISLAND,PORT ARANSAS & IN CORPUS CHRISTI, TX.  CLICK ON THE PICTURE BELOW AND GET A FULL PDF TO PRINT OUT TO KEEP TRACK OF THIS DATA. LOOKING FORWARD TO CLOSING OUT 2017, WISHING EVERYONE A VERY HAPPY & HEALTHY HOLIDAY! GIVE US A CALL AND DISCUSS THE MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO OWN A PIECE OF COASTAL TEXAS! (361) 949-0101

north-padre-housing-report-oct-2017

Filed Under: Corpus Christ Real Estate Data, North Padre Island, Real Time MLS, realtors, selling a home

FEMA Deadline Extended for Disaster Relief

November 22, 2017 By

Texans affected by Hurricane Harvey now have until November 30 to register for federal assistance.

The deadline was November 24, however, an additional six days now gives survivors more time through the Thanksgiving holiday.

Federal assistance includes help for temporary housing, rental assistance and repair or replacement of damaged homes for eligible individuals and families who have suffered losses as a result of the storm. Additionally, grants may be available to help with other expenses such as medical and dental care, child care, funeral and burial costs, replacing essential household items, moving and storage, vehicle repairs and some clean-up items.

Renters and homeowners must be in a designated county to qualify for assistance.

Those counties include: Aransas, Austin, Bastrop, Bee, Brazoria, Caldwell, Calhoun, Chambers, Colorado, DeWitt, Fayette, Fort Bend, Galveston, Goliad, Gonzales, Grimes, Hardin, Harris, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Karnes, Kleberg, Lavaca, Lee, Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery, Newton, Nueces, Orange, Polk, Refugio, Sabine, San Jacinto, San Patricio, Tyler, Victoria, Waller, Walker and Wharton.

Survivors may register in many ways:

  • Online at DisasterAssistance.gov.
  • Calling the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362 (voice, 711/VRS-Video Relay Service) (TTY: 800-462-7585). Multilingual operators are available (press 2 for Spanish).
  • Via the FEMA app, available for Apple and Android mobile devices. To download visit: fema.gov/mobile-app
  • Visiting a Disaster Recovery Center (DRC). Find the location of nearby DRCs online at www.fema.gov/DRC.

Exercept via @Kris6news 

Filed Under: Charities, corpus christi, home maintenance, New Homes Padre Island, North Padre Island, port aransas, windstorm insurance

Padre Island Housing Report October 2017

November 4, 2017 By
THE HOUSING MARKET CONTINUES TO BE A BIT SLUGGISH AS WE MOVE INTO THE HOLIDAYS. WE ARE SEEING LOTS OF NEW BUYER ACTIVITY IN THE THE 300K RANGE.  TAKE A LOOK AT THE STATISTICS ON WHAT’S HAPPENING HERE ON PADRE ISLAND IN CORPUS CHRISTI, TX.  CLICK ON THE PICTURE BELOW AND GET A FULL PDF TO PRINT OUT TO KEEP TRACK OF THIS DATA. LOOKING FORWARD TO A GREAT 4th QUARTER OF THE YEAR, GIVE US A CALL AND DISCUSS THE MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO OWN A PIECE OF COASTAL TEXAS! (361) 949-0101

north-padre-housing-report-oct-2017

Filed Under: Corpus Christ Real Estate Data, New Homes Padre Island, North Padre Island Tagged With: , ,

Safety 101

October 24, 2017 By

safety-101I just had the pleasure of taking a safety course with our own city Sheriff Jim Kaelin, in lieu of Realtor® safety month. Although the course was geared toward real estate agents learning safety tips, it occurred to me that these tips and tricks apply to far more scenarios than just being cornered in a vacant home. So I thought I’d share some of the valuable and potentially life-saving techniques that we should all keep in our back pocket – alongside our tactical keychain.

Have a Plan

The most important key to escaping your attacker is to have a plan. The whole goal is to buy yourself time to get away. Sheriff Kaelin told a story that resonated with me. He’ll get groups together, put a series of tinker toys in front of them, and give them 15 seconds to use the toys to create a horse. After 15 seconds, none of the groups had anything that even sort of resembled a horse. They were then told to try again, but they now were given 15 minutes. At the end of 15 minutes, the toys were organized by length, size, etc. and each group had a horse – a head, a body, four legs, a tail. For the third time, they were asked to build a horse, and again given only 15 seconds. The groups were silent, and after 15 seconds, they all had horses. The only difference between the first 15 seconds they were given and the second 15 seconds was that they had a plan.

In the case of an attack: Breathe. Think. Talk. Distract. Escape.

If You’re Grabbed From Behind

Do not immediately reach for your weapon. Talk. Ask them what they want. First, using your right hand, tell your attacker you’re going to grab your wallet or money clip to give to them. Then tell them you’re going to hand over your keys (or whatever it is you may have that they’re likely to want). Again, using your right hand, pass over something else. This is what they call verbal judo, where now your attacker isn’t on such high alert. Now it’s escape time. Using your left hand now, your attacker will only assume you’re reaching for more valuables (as most people are right handed and they will not expect you to reach for a self-defense tool using your non-dominant hand). Instead, pull out your mace, taser, knife, gun, pen, comb, etc. reach across your right shoulder and quickly spray, shoot, stab, etc. Your goal is not to kill – it’s okay if you do not even hit them. Your goal is to stun them enough to let you lose. Escape.

Hands as Tools

If you do not have a weapon, use your second most valuable tool – your hands. In an effort to trouble your attacker so that you have time to break away, start from the top. With your pointer and middle finger, go for the eyes. This will affect their vision and allow you to run. Nose, next. Use the palm of your hand and go straight for the nose and then their ears. Nose will cause tears and ears will cause ringing. Throat punch to knock their airway, knee to the groin (no explanation needed), and finally a kick to the shins. They should be down and you should be out!

Make Noise

DISTRACTION should play a major role in your plan. Once they think you may not be a threat as you’ve proven that you just want to cooperate, pump up the volume! All you need is for your attacker to be startled as they’ll lose their grip or look away just long enough for you to make your exit.

  • Gun shot – a clearly loud and scary noise sure to make anyone jump!
  • Keychain alarm – if you happen to still have your keys on you or in reach, hit your alarm button.
  • Personal alarms – these look like little remotes that can be set up as either motion-detector devices or as a manual activation. They emit an extremely loud sound when activated.

There are also several cell phone apps that can be helpful in a dire situation. One such app to consider downloading for your whole family is called Life360. It is a family locator, messaging tool and communication app all in one.

Chances are, you’ll never need to use these tactics. But, perhaps you and your loved ones should have the conversation – how are you going to build your horse?

 

Filed Under: Padre Island Business Association, padre island events, realtors Tagged With: ,

Padre Island Housing Report – September 2017

October 9, 2017 By
THE HOUSING MARKET HAD A BIT OF SLOWING DOWN DOWN DUE TO HURRICANE HARVEY. AS WE MOVE PAST THE HURRICANE SEASON IN SUMMER 2017, WE ARE SEEING LOTS OF NEW BUYER ACTIVITY AS WE GET CLOSER TO HALLOWEEN.  TAKE A LOOK AT THE STATISTICS ON WHAT’S HAPPENING HERE ON PADRE ISLAND IN CORPUS CHRISTI, TX.  CLICK ON THE PICTURE BELOW AND GET A FULL PDF TO PRINT OUT TO KEEP TRACK OF THIS DATA. LOOKING FORWARD TO A GREAT 4th QUARTER OF THE YEAR, GIVE US A CALL AND DISCUSS THE MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO OWN A PIECE OF COASTAL TEXAS! (361) 949-0101

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Filed Under: mustang island, New Homes Padre Island, North Padre Island, realtors, selling a home

Schlitterbahn in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Giving Partners Time

September 21, 2017 By

Schlitterbahn Riverpark and Resort Padre Island is in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Judge Craig Gargotta in the Western District of Texas ruled Tuesday morning in San Antonio to place the troubled park into reorganization and is set to appoint a trustee to oversee a reorganization plan which must be in place by December 4. If not, according to Gargotta’s ruling Axys Capital Credit which holds a lean against 270 acres surrounding the park will be allowed to foreclose on the property and sell it at auction on December 5. Axys had requested that the land be separated from an Involuntary Bankruptcy filing by companies owned by the Henry family, owners of Schlitterbahn waterparks so it could be sold immediately, that request was denied, but his decision to appoint a trustee was a move to push the partners, who have been at loggerheads for over a year, toward a resolution that will put the park on stable financial footing going forward.

Testimony at the four-day trial in San Antonio was that if Axys was allowed to foreclose on the land then the primary lender in the project IBC Bank could call a separate note for $28 million on the waterpark likely forcing it to close while new owners were sought. To avoid that outcome Gargotta gave the partners until the December 4 date to come up with a reorganization plan.

 At one point in the hearing in San Antonio, Gargotta asked Deborah Williamson, a lawyer for Gary Henry, if selling property would be the solution.

“At the end of the day, the only way this is going to work is if something is sold,” she answered. “And the park may be the one that is easier to sell. It may be easier to attract capital because it is an operating entity.”

The problems began when the builders of the park, Henry Brothers Construction, added on to the size of the building at the park from an original plan calling for less than thirty separate “treehouse” rooms to the current 92-room facility which increased the cost of the development from the original $28 million to over $58 million forcing the owners, Upper Padre Partners to raise an additional capital leading to the borrowing of $18 million from Axys using the land as collateral.

According to court filings from Axys attorneys, “Cash flow from the Debter (UPP) operations is insufficient to repay obligations on any reasonable, confirmable basis. The Henrys control the management of the Debtor’s general partner and, as a result, the Debtor. For all practical purposes, the Debtor has a dysfunctional management and is incapable of effective operations.”

Garotta’s solution was to appoint a trustee to work with the partners and find a long-term solution.

The trustee, yet to be named, along with the Henry family who own two-thirds of the park, and developer Paul Schexnailder whose company owns one-third, must now decide whether to sell some or all of the interest in the park and surrounding land or find an investor or lender to provide about an estimated $10 million to bring the park up to the original design specifications.

Schexnailder said after the hearing that while the park is an integral part of a 500 acre, 552 acre development it is not the main focus of the project.

“This is a project much bigger than just a waterpark,” he said. “The park is part of something much bigger and that project is continuing.”

He was referring to a planned 3600 foot Beach Walk development with retail and commercial elements which would connect the current canal system to Lake Padre and the Gulf of Mexico through the planned Water Exchange Bridge under SPID. The canals to each side of the bridge site are dug and bulkheads in place on the Lake Padre side. However, work to excavate the canal to connect with the existing canal near Cruiser Street near Whitecap was halted Wednesday by order of the City of Corpus Christi over permitting issues.

The Chapter 11 ruling is not expected to have an impact on park operations as plans call for the waterpark to close during the winter season, as it has in previous years, and re-open in the spring.

“The judge understood that this park is important to the future of The Island,” Schexnailder said, “and this ruling allows us to keep it operating as we look for a long term solution.”

Article from Dale Rankin – IslandMoon

Filed Under: BeachWalk Development, North Padre Island, North Padre Island Marina, padre island events, Park Road 22 Proposed Bridge, Schlitterbahn Corpus Christi, Upper Padre, Upper Padre Island Tagged With: ,
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