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Your Guide to the Best Christmas Light Displays in DFW

Monday, December 4, 2017
by Christie Cannon

The DFW area literally lights up and twinkles as the holidays draw near.  Everywhere from Dallas to Frisco to the Ft. Worth Stockyards light up in spectacular displays.  With looks of excitement on children's faces, the sound of carolers singing familiar tunes, the taste of sweet holiday favorites and the smell of Christmas pine flooding the area, you can't help but get into the holiday spirit.  We have compiled a list of our favorite spots to view holiday lights in the DFW area.  Make the rounds and find your family's next holiday tradition!

  •         Frisco Square - Drawing over 750,000 visitors annually, Frisco Square offers North TX largest choreographed light display!  Boasting snow flurries every 15 minutes, ice skating, inner tubing snow slide, horse drawn carriage rides, light & music shows, trackless train rides & even a parachuting Santa - this place has it all!  Going on now through Dec 31st!
  •         Deerfield, Plano - Running from December 1st - 30th, this quintessential Plano neighborhood is jammed packed with gorgeous homes competing for the best, funniest & most traditional displays.  Check out their website for best routes & carriage ride info!
  •        Vitruvian Lights in Addison - Wander through Vitruvian Park’s 12 Acres and view over 550 illuminated trees wrapped in 1.5 million sparkling LED lights.  Enjoy free live music in the park, food trucks & free pictures with Santa!     
  •         Highland Park & Highland Park Village - What can I say?  Gorgeous architecture complemented by professional Christmas lighting.  Spanning about 20 blocks, this is the perfect time to splurge on a horse drawn carriage ride.
  •         Enchant Christmas - A world of Christmas wonder awaits you in Arlington at Globe Life Park! Surrounded by millions of dazzling lights, experience the world’s largest Christmas light maze, ice skating, Santa’s palace, live entertainment & a Christmas marketplace.
  •         12 Days of Christmas - The Dallas Arboretum plays host to this elaborate exhibition featuring 25ft Victorian style gazebos filled with costumed characters, whimsical animals & music made famous the beloved Christmas carol.
  •         Prairie Lights - Growing larger each year, this Grand Prairie display is located in Lynn Creek Park and has become a destination in its own right.  Offering a 2-mile path of lights, a snow maze, holiday lighted walk-through forest, holiday village, & more.  Be sure to check out their website as there are costs for this one!
  •        Interlochen in Arlington - This year marks the 42nd Anniversary of one of the largest drive-thru Christmas light displays in North TX.
  •        Tour of Lights in Farmers Branch - A drive thru animated display of over 500,000 twinkling lights. Located in the Farmers Branch Historical park with a variety of different scenes & themes.
  •        Texas Motor Speedway - Supporting Toys for Tots, this huge display boasts a drive-thru display & Santa's Village.  Be sure to check out the website for pricing!
  •        ICE & the Gaylord Texan Resort - Ice skating, gingerbread house building, sled riding, Santa photos, Holiday village, light displays, 2+ million pounds of ice, what do they not have?

Have some ideas & comments that will help our list?  We would love to hear from you! 

Thank you & we wish you a very Merry Christmas & Happy Holiday Season!

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Every North TX Home Must Be Sold TWICE!

Monday, November 27, 2017
by Christie Cannon

Every Home must be Sold Twice!

Homeowners: Your House Must Be Sold TWICE | MyKCM

In today’s housing market, where supply has been low and demand high, home values have increased rapidly. Many experts are projecting that home values could appreciate by another 5%+ over the next twelve months. One major challenge in such a market is the bank appraisal.  This is a topic that you may have seen us discuss previously - Appraisals & Why Every Home Must be Sold Twice.

If prices are surging, it is difficult for appraisers to find adequate, comparable sales (similar houses in the neighborhood that recently closed) to defend the selling price when performing the appraisal for the bank.

Every month in their Home Price Perception Index (HPPI), Quicken Loans measures the disparity between what a homeowner who is seeking to refinance their home believes their house is worth, and an appraiser’s evaluation of that same home.

Bill Banfield, Executive VP of Capital Markets at Quicken Loans urges anyone looking to buy or sell in today’s market to remember the impact of this challenge:

“Based on the HPPI, it appears homeowners in the markets where prices are rising faster than the national average – like Denver, Seattle and San Francisco – are continuing to underestimate just how quickly home values are rising, so the average appraisal is higher than homeowner estimate.

On the inverse of that, homeowners in areas where the values aren’t rising as fast may think they are rising faster than they are, leading to the appraisal lagging the estimate.”

The chart below illustrates the changes in home price estimates over the last 12 months.

Homeowners: Your House Must Be Sold TWICE | MyKCM

Every house on the market must be sold twice; once to a prospective buyer and then to the bank (through the bank’s appraisal). With escalating prices, the second sale might be even more difficult than the first. If you are planning on entering the housing market this year, let’s get together to discuss this and any other obstacles that may arise.

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Looking for Things to do in Dallas?

Sunday, May 29, 2016
by Christie Cannon

So the weekend is upon you & you have no plans!  Fear not & check out this cool list from TheCoolestStuffinTexas.com. 

From Dallas staples like the Dallas World Aquarium to classics like Keller's Drive-in, this list is great!

You can find the entire list by clicking here!

 

CHRISTIE CANNON  REALTOR

The Christie Cannon Team

Keller Williams Frisco

469-951-9588: Mobile

 

Voted as one of the BEST Realtors in D Magazine for 2010-2016

Voted as a Five Star Professional 2012-2016 Texas Monthly Magazine

Name among America's Best Real Estate Agents by Real Trends Magazine

Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist

#1 Keller Williams Agent 2011-2015

Top 100 Agents in the Nation / KW


 

 

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DFW growth brought almost 80,000 to the area last year

Monday, April 18, 2016
by Christie Cannon

In one of Steve Brown's most recent articles with the Dallas Morning News, Mr Brown does an excellent job of boiling down some of last year's census numbers into easy to digest numbers.  Between mid 2014 & mid 2015, the DFW area saw in increase of approx 78,000 people to the area.  Collin, Denton, & Tarrant counties led the way with 20K, 19K, & 18K people new to the area!  This equates to approx 6,500 people per month coming in the area! 

This influx of new folks to the DFW area continues to highlight a growing struggle between rising housing costs, a lag in new construction, & low pre-owned home inventory. 

Have questions of how this & other real estate news may affect your home in the market, please feel free to give me a call!

Christie Cannon - 469-951-9588

 

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Storm & High Winds Take Down Frisco TX Silo!

Tuesday, March 8, 2016
by Christie Cannon

I have talked about the Frisco TX;s unique silos previously.  Unfortunately, in a storm today, one silo fell to the wind!  It appears that high winds took the silo off its foundation! 
Here is to hoping that Frisco is able to move forward on a project with the existing space that will continue to bring value to our great city!
Best of luck & prayers to any one affected by the storm. 

- Christie Cannon, Keller Williams Frisco TX
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New Frisco Community - Edgestone at Legacy

Saturday, August 29, 2015
by Christie Cannon

New Master-Planned community announced west of the Dallas North Tollway & just north of Legacy!  This new Hines development is situated in the heart of West Frisco & is expected to boast some of the area's top builders - Huntington Homes, Shaddock Homes, Darling Homes, Coventry Homes & Village Builders. With approimately 311 acres, Edgestone at Legacy is currently planned for single-family residences. 

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Nationwide releases Health of Housing Report

Friday, August 28, 2015
by Christie Cannon

Nationwide just released their 2015 Q2 report on the Health of US Housing & incase the conflict of numbers is not great enough.... they rank TX negatively in affordability! Several years of strong housing has started to reflect a drop in housing affordability in Dallas & North Texas.  While overall Dallas-Irving-Plano continue to rank in the top 10 best performing markets, this is largely due to our otherwise strong economic indicators.  The entire Q2 2015 report can be viewed here!

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Low Inventory Create Slowdown in Sales

Saturday, June 6, 2015
by Christie Cannon

“Lagging Supply” Leads to Slowdown in Sales | Keeping Current Matters

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently released the results of theirExisting Home Sales Report. Despite the fact that properties are selling faster than they have at any other time since July of 2013, existing home sales declined 3.3% from March.

NAR’s Chief Economist Lawrence Yun explained the main reason for the slow:

"April's setback is the result of lagging supply relative to demand and the upward pressure it's putting on prices.”

One major news organization actually used this headline about the decline:

Existing home sales fall 3.3%

They certainly haven’t cratered! April marked the second month in a row that the annual sales pace remained above the five million mark (5.04 million). Year-over-year sales have increased for seven consecutive months and are still 6.1% above a year ago.

Every month, SentriLock, LLC provides NAR Research with data on the number of homes shown to potential buyers. This data is referred to as ‘Foot Traffic’ and is a great predictor of future sales and buyer demand. In April, buyer demand remained at the same level experienced in March.

Why did sales go down?

Buyers who are ready and willing to make a purchase are entering a market where their dream house may not have been listed yet. They can’t find it! Or if they find it, it happens to catch the eye of other buyers and an ‘auction like environment’ begins.

"Housing inventory declined from last year and supply in many markets is very tight, which in turn is leading to bidding wars, faster price growth and properties selling at a quicker pace," says Yun. "To put it in perspective, roughly 40 percent of properties sold last month went at or above asking price, the highest since NAR began tracking this monthly data in December 2012." (emphasis added)

The median home price of existing homes sold in April was $219,400, which is 8.9% higher than last year, and marks the 38th consecutive month of year-over-year price gains.

Bottom Line

So how do you make sense of everything that’s going on in the housing market when there are so many conflicting headlines on the same report?

John Burns, real estate expert and CEO of John Burns Real Estate Consulting gives this advice:

“The bottom line is this: don't make decisions based on newspaper articles. Read the actual press release, including the methodology, and make sure the results jive with other data points and qualitative feedback you receive.”

If you are one of the many homeowners out there realizing that now may be the time to list your home for sale, or one of the many renters debating a purchase, sitting with a local real estate professional who takes the time to find out what’s really going on in the market, should be your first step!

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Existing Home Sales Stats for May 2015!

Friday, June 5, 2015
by Christie Cannon

Buyer Demand Exceeds Housing Supply [INFOGRAPHIC] | Keeping Current Matters

Highlights:

  • Inventory Levels remain less than a six month supply - indicated an unbalanced / seller's market
  • For the last 38 straight months the market has seen gain in home prices
  • The average time on market is the lowest since June 2013
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The Best Suburbs in Texas - according to Niche Rankings

Wednesday, May 27, 2015
by Christie Cannon

Niche.com just released their Best Places list for 2015.  Included in these ranks is the Best Suburbs List for Texas.  Not surprisingly North Texas secured 6 of the top 10 spots!  Collin County alone has 4 of the top 10 spots!

  1. Rollingwood  (Travis Co)
  2. University Park  (Dallas Co)
  3. Murphy  (Collin Co)
  4. Allen  (Collin Co)
  5. Lakeway  (Travis Co)
  6. Alamo Heights  (Bexar Co)
  7. Highland Park  (Dallas Co)
  8. Frisco  (Collin Co)
  9. Terrell Hills  (Bexar Co)
  10. McKinney  (Collin Co)
The full list can be found here.  Their methodology & assessment criteria can be found here!

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Photo of Christie Cannon Real Estate
Christie Cannon
Keller Williams Realty
5933 Preston Road #300
Frisco TX 75034
972-215-7747
Fax: 972-215-7748
Send an Email
Keller Williams Frisco - The Christie Cannon Team - http://www.christiecannon.com

 

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