Residents Repairing Storm Damage May Need to Have a Windstorm Inspection Done
from The Texas Department of Insurance
The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) is reminding all homeowners along the Gulf Coast that damage to their homes by Hurricane Ike must be repaired in accordance with the Texas Windstorm Building Code (TWBC) if the homeowner plans to obtain or maintain insurance from the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA). It is critical that these inspections be done during the construction process and not after the work is completed. More

New Home Sales Perk On Gains In West
from Corpus Christie Caller Times
U.S. home builders took a big step in September toward reducing the gigantic oversupply of homes, boosting sales slightly, slashing prices and reducing the number of unsold homes at a record pace. Sales of new homes rose an estimated 2.7 percent in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 464,000 in September, the Commerce Department reported Monday, close to the 460,000 pace expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. Sales surged 23 percent in the West, bouncing back from a similar decline in August. Meanwhile, sales in the Northeast fell to lowest level recorded in the past 35 years, and sales in the Midwest fell to a 17-year low. More

Bailout Views: Real Estate Leaders Voice Their Opinions
from RISMedia
The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, also known as ‘the bailout bill’ that has been dominating headlines in recent weeks, has real estate leaders talking about its impact on the industry, real estate markets around the country and the overall effect on consumer confidence when it comes to buying and selling. Here, Michael Levitin, 2008 Chairman of the Houston Association of Realtors in Houston, Texas offers his thoughts about the bailout, what it means to consumers and the government’s new role in real estate. More

Governor Discusses Texas Economy
from The Dallas Business Journal
The current state of the national economy has left its fiscal and political scars on people and places across the United States. But in Texas, Gov. Rick Perry says the Lone Star State has managed to absorb the one-two punch of a national economic crisis and a devastating hurricane — Ike, which rolled through Texas in early September. Perry was sworn in as the 47th governor in December 2000. Achieving economic success, he says, has not been easy. More

Texas Officials Say FEMA ‘Insensitive’ After Ike
from The Houston Chronicle
Texas officials are angry with FEMA's response Hurricane Ike victims in southeast Texas, accusing the agency Monday of insensitivity and foot-dragging in providing trailers and money. "It's a tragedy, what's going on down there," Jack Colley, the state's director of emergency management, told the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee during a hearing on hurricane recovery. Colley said he believes FEMA should be removed from the federal Department of Homeland Security and placed under the president. More

Family Waits in Tent, Damaged Home for FEMA Trailer
from The Dallas Morning News
Monique Williams made a choice. Instead of taking a FEMA offer for a hotel almost three hours away from her house, she decided to stay and save her property. She and her three sons aren't sleeping in the small red-and-gray tent anymore. They now are under a roof, but no one could call their one room a home. It has a bare concrete floor. Studs show 4 ½ feet off the floor where she has ripped out the wallboard and insulation. An inflatable mattress is in the middle of the floor. The boys sleep on the concrete in sleeping bags. "Every day I go through here with cleaning supplies and spray the walls" to keep mold away, she said. More

Early Voters Out In Force in Dallas, Fort Worth
from The Dallas Morning News
Early voting in North Texas continued at a record pace this past weekend. Dallas, Tarrant and Collin counties all saw larger crowds than during the same early voting period for last presidential election. This year, early voting began last Monday and ends Friday. In Dallas County, 231,850 residents had voted through Sunday, said elections administrator Bruce Sherbet. That far surpassed the previous record of 145,452 early voters through the same weekend in 2004. Through the same weekend in 2000, there were 99,501 people in Dallas County who voted early. More

$4 Billion in Federal Grants for Foreclosed, Abandoned Homes
from NuWire
Nearly $4 billion in federal grants will be distributed to state and local governments in an effort to help them buy foreclosed and abandoned homes. The Neighborhood Stabilization Program was created by Congress in July, and last month, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development allocated $3.92 billion to the program in the form of 300 grants. "States receiving the largest allocations include California ($530 million), Florida ($541 million), Michigan ($264 million), Ohio ($258 million) and Texas ($178 million)," according to Inman News. More

$19 Million in Unclaimed Texas Stimulus Checks
from The Brownsville Herald
In Texas, taxpayers have yet to claim more than $19 million worth of economic stimulus checks, according to the Internal Revenue Service. In addition, the U.S. Postal Service due to mailing address errors returned $8 million of regular refund checks. Nationwide, economic stimulus checks totaling about $163 million remain unclaimed and regular refund checks totaling about $103 million were returned to the IRS. More

North Texas Candidates for U.S. House Focus on Bailout, Energy, Health Care
from WFAA
Spending, accountability and energy are top of mind for candidates in three contested congressional races. Twelve-term incumbent Joe Barton, R-Arlington, faces political newcomer and Democrat Ludwig Otto and first-time congressional candidate Libertarian Max W. Koch III for the District 6 seat. Kenny Marchant, ending his second term in Congress after 18 years in the Texas Legislature, faces two first-time political candidates, Democrat Tom Love of Grand Prairie and Libertarian David Casey of Bedford, for the District 24 seat. And incumbent Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville, faces off against Democrat Ken Leach and Libertarian Stephanie Weiss for the District 26 seat he has held for three terms. More

New Home Sales Show Surprising Turnaround
from The Associated Press via The Houston Chronicle
Sales of new homes unexpectedly rose last month, as many home buyers seized on builder discounts and rushed to take advantage of expiring down payment assistance programs and other incentives. Economists had expected sales of new, single-family homes to drop from August levels, but instead they rose 2.7 percent in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 464,000 homes, the Commerce Department reported Monday. More

Homeowners Left with Unbuilt Houses
from KTRK
Now a big builder with money troubles is also causing problems for people in Houston. "There were signs of new building after the hurricane," said neighbor Franklin Rodriguez. "I don't know what happened, haven't seen any construction." A sign Rodriguez, who was the first to move into Portrait Homes Fall Creek subdivision in Humble, says is disconcerting especially since he's noticed all the "sold" posting on the vacant lots are gone. More

Panel Set to Oversee Builders' Impact Fees
from The El Paso Times
The structure of a nine-member committee that will decide how to calculate impact fees for home builders will be decided Tuesday by the City Council. Members of the committee will also be named Tuesday. City representatives voted to create the Capital Improvements Advisory Committee at the Oct. 14 meeting. The committee will look at how much impact fees will be for home builders to bring water and sewage service to new homes, which should ease the costs to homeowners. More

Sales of Pre-Owned Homes in West Soared in September
from The El Paso Times
Heavy discounting on foreclosed homes and low interest rates continued to power a home-buying spree across the West in September, sending sales of existing homes in the region soaring at an annual pace reminiscent of the days of the housing boom, according to two reports Friday. About 100,000 existing homes and condos were sold last month in the 13-state region. Without adjusting for seasonal factors, sales were up nearly 43 percent from the same month last year, but declined 9.6 percent versus August's total, according to the National Association of Realtors. More

Texas Economy Expected to Fare Well Despite Global Recession
from The Houston Chronicle
Stocks continue to plummet on Wall Street and whispers of the worst financial crisis in history since the Great Depression are on the lips of many Americans.But Texas might not have too much to worry about.Because The Lone Star State has worked to diversify its economy, the economy remains among the strongest in the country. More

Check Out One of the Latest Home Trends: Libraries
from The Fort Worth Star Telegram
A home library is to the brain what a kitchen is to the body.It’s a place for nourishing the mind, for feasting on the comfort food of the written word. For an avid reader, it is perhaps the ultimate escape. More