Texas Homes / Houses for Sale w/ Down Payment Assistance

Dallas Texas Homes--Plano TX Houses for Sale are available with Down Payment Assistance, for Middle Income Families! This includes First Time Home Buyers wanting to buy their own home. Often, this is the least costly way to buy a New or Existing house with minimum cash.

Dallas, TX (PRWEB) February 15, 2005 -- Smart Home Buyers DFW.Com now offers Down Payment Assistance (DPA) to those buying Texas Homes--TX Houses for Sale in: Dallas, Plano, North Dallas, Richardson, Allen, Garland, Frisco, McKinney, Mesquite, Carrollton, Lewisville, Irving, Rowlett, Wylie, Flower Mound, Rockwall, and Sachse.

Owning your own house is a national goal made easier for families with down payment assistance program gifts.

First time home buyers (or repeat buyers) often don't believe they qualify for DPA gifts, but usually that isn't true! Or, people hear about $0.00 down loans for New or Existing houses, thinking that's the solution.

The challenge with $0.00 down mortgages by themselves is typical closing costs still left to be paid are about $8,000. Ouch!

Those buying Texas Homes--TX Houses for Sale in Dallas, Plano, McKinney, Carrollton, Richardson, Garland, Frisco, and Mesquite should focus on move-in costs (including closing costs), not on terms like "$0.00 down home loan", "No down payment loan", or "100% mortgage".

FHA loan programs allows qualified gift charities to make down payments, including for first time home buyers. FHA requires a minimum 3% "investment", preventing many real estate buyers from benefiting using FHA to buy.

Typically, Carrollton Texas Homes--McKinney TX Houses for Sale bought with FHA loans have LOWER interest rates than 100% financing and LOWER closing costs.

When down payments are paid through DPA gift programs, FHA loans become more accessible. Buy with move-in costs usually $1,500 or LESS!

However, there are relatively few Buyer Agent Realtors® and loan offices understanding how to structure the transaction, getting house sellers to accept these unique offers.

The skills and experience of the Buyer Agent Realtor® and the Loan Officer chosen will determine how much buyers pay for their house and if their offer is accepted by sellers.

Details are at: http://SmartHomeBuyersDFW.com/.

Texas Homes--TX Houses for Sale are available with Down Payment Assistance in: Dallas, Plano, North Dallas, Richardson, Allen, Garland, Frisco, McKinney, Mesquite, Carrollton, Lewisville, Irving, Rowlett, Wylie, Flower Mound, Rockwall, and Sachse.

Learn more about DPA and No Cost--No Obligation MLS house searches by clicking on: http://SmartHomeBuyersDFW.com/dallas_texas_houses_real_estate_for_sale.asp.

Located in North Dallas Texas, http://SmartHomeBuyersDFW.com/ serves the DFW Metroplex, including: Plano, Richardson, Allen, Garland, Frisco, McKinney, Mesquite, Carrollton, Lewisville, Irving, Rowlett, Wylie, Flower Mound, Rockwall, and Sachse.

About Smart Home Buyers DFW.Com--
The company was founded by first time buyer specialist Paul Marshall, frightened by commonly seen sales practices which took advantage of uninformed buyers when buying homes for sale and getting mortgages.

His vision was the convenience of "one-stop shopping" buying homes and getting mortgages, minus high costs typical of one-stop shopping offices. Paul felt convenience shouldn't have such a high price!

Atmos to give a downtown complex to city

By Bill Miller
Star-Telegram Dallas Bureau

DALLAS - The city of Dallas will soon enter the real estate business, but only long enough to turn five historic buildings into multifamily housing units considered vital to the city's downtown economic development strategy.

Atmos Energy Corp., which recently acquired TXU Gas distribution, announced Wednesday that it is giving the city its Harwood Complex, which is on a 2.6-acre block bound by Harwood, Jackson, Wood and St. Paul streets.

The buildings, with a small vacant plot and a parking lot, were previously owned by TXU Gas Company and before that, TXU's predecessor, Lone Star Gas. The complex is worth $6 million, according to the city's tax rolls.

"This is a 'wow' moment for Dallas," said Councilwoman Veletta Forsythe Lill, whose district includes a portion of downtown. "This takes us so much farther down the road of revitalization."

Mayor Laura Miller added that the gift "raises the bar" for other property owners to support the city's downtown plans, which call for 10,000 housing units with appropriate doses of office space, retail shops and restaurants.

Alice Murray, president of the Central Dallas Association, said the city has steadily increased downtown housing since 1999 when there were only about 200 units on the books. Since then, she said, 1,600 units were added and another 1,400 are under construction.

Miller said the city intends to transfer ownership of the buildings to developers who will convert them into multifamily housing units, although the process of doing so won't be determined before a City Council briefing on the subject March 2.

But, she noted, "The city is not going to be a landlord."

Lill also stated that the complex's North Building at 301 S. Harwood St. is an architectural gem. The building, built in 1930, features 13 stories and a lobby/cafeteria appointed with ornate marble from Italy and Belgium.

"Here you basically have a lot of the features that are original to the building," Lill said. "In terms of the craftsmanship in this building, it is a rare jewel."

Bob Best, chairman and chief executive officer of Atmos, said that when the company acquired TXU Gas last year, it planned to move its new employees to existing offices in north Dallas by this summer. News of the pending vacancies prompted Miller to ask Best to donate the block.

The company's board of directors agreed that the city's downtown efforts were worthy of the substantial gift, he said.

Best added, however, that the company could have received as much as $8 million selling the complex on the open market.

"People sometimes just don't believe you're doing something because you want to and it's the right thing to do," Best said. "I can assure you the only thing behind this gift is to help the mayor of Dallas and the City Council revitalize downtown."

Dallas Highrise Offers Options To Uptown Homeowners

Newest Addition, Azure, To Rise To 31 Stories

POSTED: 9:35 am CST January 26, 2005

FORT WORTH, Texas -- The median price for a home in the Dallas/Fort Worth area is just over $200,000. If you want to move into a new condo in uptown Dallas or Fort Worth, you will need to double that price.

The newest addition to the Dallas skyline, Azure, will rise to 375 feet above uptown and offer more than 200 high-end luxury condominiums.

Prices for the condos in the 31-story building start at around $400,000 for a one-bedroom, two-bath home. The 900-square foot unit costs an additional $4,800 a year in association fees.

"We call it Azure because it's going to be reflective of the sky. It's a new urban lifestyle that we see a need for here in Dallas," said Gabriel Barbier-Mueller with Harwood Living.

Buyers will have a lot of choices. The same $400,000 would buy a two-bedroom, two-bath condo in downtown Fort Worth's former Bank One building. The 2,000-square foot unit in The Tower comes with a hefty yearly fee of $7,200.

The Tower in Fort Worth has nearly sold all of its available condominiums.

Buyers who prefer the suburbs could move into a 4,400-square foot home in Allen for about the same cost as the downtown condos. The $400,000 home includes four bedrooms and four bathrooms as well as both a game room and a media room.

The neighborhood association fee for the suburb is just $492 a year.

Developers say it's all a matter of choice, each offering a different lifestyle.

"Azure is a new style of living. You're not just buying a condo, you're buying a landmark, you're buying a lifestyle," said Julie Morris with Harwood Living.

Construction starts on the $100 million building later this spring and new condo owners can expect to move into their new home in just two years.