Subprime Woes Not Felt in Dallas Like Rest of Country

Could this actually be a positive report about real estate in the Dallas area? Why yes it is. Although everyone is still scared of what the future holds it's still nice to show that we are insulated from the doom and gloom of the Florida and California real estate markets. Dallas was 1 of 5 real estate markets in the country in the second quarter to see a gain in sales prices. I like these two takeaway quotes from the story.

"In a lot of places in Dallas, home prices are still going up by double
digits. "In other neighborhoods, they are actually falling. But across the board, the gainers outweigh the losers,"

And,

"The mortgage shakeout is affecting other parts of the country a lot more than it is Texas. We didn't have anywhere near the level or magnitude of subprime loans that other markets did. But that doesn't mean that Dallas-Fort Worth homeowners aren't going to be hammered with a steady diet of bad news about the U.S. housing market. Those negative reports weigh on consumer psychology."

But then this isn't news to me.

Tax Appraisal, Shmax Appraisal

While many of us fight our tax appraisals every year because we don't want to pay more taxes than we have to, some people are enjoying more than a $4 million gap in their favor when it comes to how much the city of Dallas thinks their home is worth.

Check out this story that gives some nice examples of this serious oversight by the city of Dallas. I could go down the list of D-Magazine's 100 Most Expensive Homes list and come up with enough tax dollars that'll make your head spin. But honestly, the people I would be tattling on have a lot more money than me and I am scared of them and the people they could hire to shut me up.

Paris Hilton's Home Up For Sale

So I’m a little behind the times on this one but apparently (I had heard) Paris was cut off financially from her Grandfather due to her “bad behavior” and almost immediately she put her home on the market for $4.25 million. The house boasts 4 bedrooms, 3 1/2 bathrooms and a separate guest quarter and office. One bedroom was converted into the “ultimate closet.”

Looking at the pictures of all the white and grays and black I guess I expected, oh, I don’t know…a little more pink!