At Encompass Lending Group we love to support our local Katy, Texas community—and what better way to share the love than to highlight this story:

On Tuesday, February 1^st, Katy High School’s KTTV student news anchor, Ashley Childs, had the incredible opportunity to appear on CNN’s Headline News (HLN) Morning Express with Robin Meade.

Childs, who currently is a senior at Katy High, was selected to appear on the show as a result of an essay she had written for the Backpack Journalist project; which is described as “an educational support community that aims at helping military youth find their voice through writing”. Childs was invited to attend a two-day writing and broadcast workshop in Atlanta, as well as make her public appearance on HLN.

The high school writer’s moving tribute honored her mother, Lt. Laura Childs of the Army National Guard. Childs now joins the ranks of celebrities like Kim Kardashian and singer Angie Stone whom have participated in CNN’s “Salute the Troops” initiative.

All of us at Encompass Lending Group want to congratulate our fellow Katy, TX native, Ashley Childs for her remarkable accomplishment and major television appearance! To view her moment of fame, check out the great video below—

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Press release from Gadberry Group 

Southwest dominates U.S. growth:Location Intelligence Firm Announces the ‘10 from 2010’

Gadberry Group names the ten most notable high-growth areas in the nation from 2010

LITTLE ROCK, AR – January 5, 2011 – Gadberry Grouptoday announced its list of the ten most notable high-growth areas in the U.S. last year – Gadberry Group’s 10 from 2010.

• Katy, Texas (Houston suburb)
• Haslet, Texas (Fort Worth suburb)
• Keller, Texas (Fort Worth suburb)
• Queen Creek, Arizona (Phoenix suburb)
• Lehigh Acres, Florida (Fort Myers suburb)
• Frisco, Texas (Dallas suburb)
• Casa Grande, Arizona (Phoenix suburb)
• South Jordan, Utah (Salt Lake City suburb)
• Lincoln, California (Sacramento suburb)
• Cary, North Carolina (Raleigh suburb)

“Compiling the 2010 list was especially interesting as we anticipate the release of the 2010 Census household counts, which we are confident will confirm our household counts,” said Gadberry Group principal Larry Martin. Headquartered in Little Rock, Gadberry Group provides location intelligence services and data for the world’s top retail brands.

The ten selected places in this year’s list had average household growth of 150% from 2000 to 2010, compared to last year’s list average of 170% from 2000 to 2009. Martin noted that, in spite of the economic challenges of the past few years, there continue to be pockets of growth in the most resilient areas of the country.

Texas appears to once again be bucking national economic trends by capturing four of this year’s slots. The Lone Star State claimed four spots on the 2009 list, as well. Industry research indicates that 1.8% job growth over the last year is likely a contributing factor.

According to Martin, most researchers agree that Census data has been the standard for understanding the distribution and demographic makeup of the U.S. population. But with the changes in how the Census data is collected under the new ACS (American Community Survey), retailers and others that rely on Census data and products which utilize Census data will have to make adjustments.

“Smaller samples and the resulting increased sampling error, along with less small-area data and less frequent collection of that data for less populated areas, means big changes in the data landscape, ” Martin said.

Gadberry Group uses its own proprietary products and a statistical ranking system that evaluates over 17,000 Census Places. The firm’s selection criteria and ranking methodology include variables such as percent change, absolute change and emerging Census blocks (those growing from less than 10 households in Census 2000 to over 100 in 2010). The analysis considers total growth from 2000 to 2010, as well as change from 2009 to 2010. Gadberry also weights the analysis using key demographic variables such as ethnicity, household income, net worth, economic stability, length of residence and age.

“This year the number-one spot went to Katy, Texas, where household growth seems unaffected by the economic conditions that challenge many parts of the nation,” Martin said. “Katy topped the list with an 8.71% increase in households from 2009 to 2010.”

Many of this year’s finalists repeatedly make the top 25, including: Helotes, TX; McKinney, TX; Summerlin, NV and Wentzville, MO.

By the Numbers – 10 from 2010

Katy, Texas

Katy was one of the top 25 candidates in 2008, took the number-five position on the 9 from 2009 list, and occupies the number-one position on the 2010 list. This suburb of Houston added 17,641 households since 2000, increasing 8.7% from 2009 to 2010. Overall, Katy was the fourth fastest growing area of the ten since 2000, with a 267.0% growth rate. The Cinco Ranch development continues to contribute new households to Katy’s growth.

Katy’s average household income grew over 21% since 2000 to end the decade at $85,810. Average household net worth for 2010 was $250,498, while average length of residence was 4.7 years. Katy continues to be very diverse ethnically. Asians increased over 3,000% to 1,935 households, representing 8% of the total current households. The two largest Asian groups are Chinese with 2.89% of all households and Indian with 2.59%.

The oil industry draws some of the area’s largest employers, including companies such as Exxon, BP & Conoco. The rebound in oil prices has undoubtedly helped the growth of this community and Texas as a whole.

Haslet, Texas

This north Dallas/Fort Worth area continues to dominate the nation’s fastest growing places. Although the city’s website lists the population at a modest 1,500 people, don’t let that number fool you. The area around the city of Haslet is booming. Located north of Fort Worth, the Haslet area added 9,152 households since 2000, and increased 6.8% from 2009 to 2010. Overall, Haslet was the fastest growing area of the ten since 2000 with a 735% growth rate.

Haslet’s average household income ended the decade at $87,140. Based on Gadberry’s household net worth data, over 300 millionaires call the Haslet area home. Average household net worth for all households in 2010 was $222,833. Average length of residence was 3.9 years, the shortest average length of residence of the ten. Haslet has the second-lowest average age of the ten at 31.9 years. Only 275 households have lived in the area 15 years or longer. Notably, the Hispanic community grew almost twentyfold to 1,376 households.

Keller, Texas

Located just east of Haslet, the Keller area added 25,028 households since 2000, and increased 6.4% from 2009 to 2010, taking third place in household growth. Overall, Keller grew at 226.0% for the decade. Keller ranked third on this year’s list for the most new households during 2010 with 2,171.

Keller’s average household income was third highest of the ten at $100,607, with over 3,200 households having an average income greater than $200K. The Keller area ended the decade with 3,339 households with net worth of one million dollars or greater. Average household net worth for 2010 was $304,888, while average length of residence was 5.3 years. Haslet has the fourth lowest median age of the ten at 32.9 years. The Asian community grew 635% over the decade, with Vietnamese representing the largest Asian minority at 389 households.

Queen Creek, Arizona

Queen Creek took the number-one position on the 8 from 2008 list, and is fourth this year. “This East Valley oasis has been a high-profile growth area for years,” Martin said, “so, despite the economic downturn, it’s not surprising to see it in the top 10 again this year.”

Like many other places in the southwest, the Queen Creek area continues to experience tremendous growth, expanding from 4,011 households in 2000 to 32,429 in 2010, or an increase of 708%. The area added 1,788 net new households in 2010.

Over 1,700 households with net worth in excess of a million dollars call this East Valley community home. With the second-lowest average length of residence – 4 years – the majority of the households have lived at their current residence for less than six years. Despite the Phoenix area’s reputation for attracting retirees, the average age for the area was 32.3 years, the third lowest of the ten.

Leigh Acres, Florida

Located just east of Fort Myers, the Leigh Acres area added 16,274 households since 2000, and increased 5.4% from 2009 to 2010, taking fifth place overall. The area added 1,497 new households during 2010.

Leigh Acres’ average household income and net worth were the lowest of the ten at $49,652 and $103,021, respectively. Those households with average income of $200K or more actually declined from 102 to 11 households. The $50-60K average income household represented the largest segment at 17%.

The largest Acxiom PersonicX® lifestage group was “Leisure Buffs” at 13% of all households. The Leisure Buffs households have a mean age of 70-83, are fiscally conservative and tend to have high equity-to-home-values.

Average length of residence was fourth highest of the ten at 5.8 years, with over 4,000 households having lived in the area 15 years or longer. Leigh Acres has the third-highest median age of the ten at 37.3 years. In addition, the Hispanic community grew the fastest of any ethnic group at 584% for the decade.

Frisco, Texas

The north Dallas suburb of Frisco took the number-one position on the 7 from 2007 list, and returns to take the number-six position on this year’s list with a 5% growth in households since 2009. The area added the second most households at 2,323 for a total of 48,374. The City of Frisco’s Master Plan says that when the City fully develops into its 69 square miles, it may be home to a population of as many as 350,000 people.

Average household income for the area grew to $94,802 for the decade, while average net worth was $308,928. Over 20% of all households had an average household income of $100K or greater. The average length of residence was only 4.8 years. Having lived in Frisco for the past 18 years, Frisco Mayor Maher Maso represents a small minority of long time residents. Only 4% of households have lived in the area over 15 years. The majority of all households in the area have been there for 5 years or less.

At 32.8 years, the average age was identical to Keller’s. Among the ethnic groups who live in Frisco, Asian households grew more than all others but those from India make up the largest ethnic group at over 1,000 households.

Casa Grande, Arizona

Casa Grande is seventh on this year’s list with 4.33% growth in households since 2009. The area added 765 households for a total of 18,415 for the area. The area ranked third highest of the ten with average household income growing 31.19% over the decade to $56,122. Average net worth ended the decade at $175,964, which was second lowest of the ten.

Households in Casa Grande were the least mobile, with the highest average length of residence of the group of 6.8 years and the second highest average age at 38.9 years. Like Leigh Acres, The largest PersonicX® lifestage group was “Leisure Buffs” at 1,721 households. These seniors are less travel prone and tend to own one luxury car.

South Jordan, Utah

A Salt Lake City suburb, South Jordan ranked eighth on this year’s list of fast growing predominant places. The area’s households grew at 4.08% since 2009 for a total of 14,186, nearly doubling in size since 2000. The Daybreak Community development continued to drive growth. This 31.22% growth was the second fastest of the ten cities.

Average income for the area was the highest on the 2010 list at $107,908. Over 1,100 households had average income of $200K or greater. In addition, average net worth for the area was the second highest at $407,697.

These households tended to be much younger than the other nine cities. The area had the lowest median age at 27.9 years. Although ethnic diversity has increased in this area, 92% of all households are white. The largest PersonicX® lifestage cluster was “Raising Grandkids” at 743 households. These 75+ year old households are notable for their presence of children.

Lincoln, California

Lincoln, a suburb of Sacramento, took the number-four position on the 9 from 2009 list and places ninth on this year’s list. The area added 879 households in 2010 for a year-over-year growth of 4%. For the decade, total households grew at 263.86% . Research indicates that new office buildings, shopping centers, housing developments and custom home properties have sprung up in recent years as a part of the local development plan.

The area placed first for average household income growth at 43.17%, ending the decade at $95,899. In addition, Lincoln had the highest net worth at $498,009, and represented the most financially stable area with an economic stability indicator average of 8 on a scale of 1-30. The area had 3,390 households with net worth of $1 million dollars or greater.

Lincoln’s average length of residence was the same as Keller, Texas, at 5.3 years. The households for this area are older than any of the other nine, with an average median age of 44.8 years. This represents a ten year shift from the median age of 34.5 years in 2000.

Lincoln’s Asian households increased more than any other group, growing from 113 in 2000 to 864 in 2010. Among the 16 different Asian groups represented in Lincoln, Indian households were the largest group at 22%.

Cary, North Carolina

Rounding out this year’s list is Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, where households grew at 3.25% in 2010 to end the decade at 90,600. In 2010, Cary placed first in net new households with an increase of 2,850. The area had the second-highest average household income at $101,804 and the third-highest net worth at $376,996. A whopping 27.5% of all households make $100K or more per year, and 10% of all households have a net worth of $1 million or more.

The average length of residence was second highest at 6.6 years. Asian households grew 250% over the decade, with India and China representing 78% of Asian households. The largest PersonicX® lifestage cluster was “Established Elite” at 5.8% of all households. These households are notable for their absence of children and enormous disposable income. The Cary area boasts almost 9,000 millionaires.
 

About The Gadberry Group

The Gadberry Group provides location-based services and information data products for clients who demand the most current, accurate, and precise household and population data for their site location analysis. MicroBuild®, Gadberry’s patent-pending product, is unique because only MicroBuild uses consumer data at the rooftop level to deliver quarterly household and population counts beginning at the Census block level. For more information about Gadberry Group, visit www.gadberry.net .

Encompass Lending Group headquartered in Katy, Texas operates in 5 of the 10 High Growth areas on the list. If you are living in or moving to one of these high growth areas contact Encompass Lending Group today for all of your mortgage needs.

www.elgloans.com

Our local partner in Katy, Texas, Frontier Title Company, was founded in 2006 when Doug Watson and Casey Lambright, two real estate law executives, found that there was a gap in the industry.

The professionals at Frontier Title are committed to providing the highest level of security and satisfaction in the title insurance industry. They pride themselves in customer service and paying specific attention to each account.

Previously in-house legal counsel for a mortgage bank operating in twenty-six states, Doug Watson lent industry expertise to operating a sound practice. Casey Lambright brought his years as a real estate attorney representing builders, developers and lending institutions, and Frontier Title expanded rapidly. Their headquarters is located at La Centerra, in Katy, in 2008, and they are in the final stages of opening their new location at the Houston Galleria.

Frontier Title is social as well having a Facebook account, twitter handle, and LinkedIn company page. Encompass Lending group is proud to be partnering with their title insurance experts in our mission to provide Texas Home Loans.

Unfortunately, divorce is something that occurs to many marriages and usually there is a home being sold in the process. Buyers beware! Sometimes when house hunting you may come across a home that a soon-to-split couple may be selling. It can seem great because many of times they just want to sell and move on, often allowing you to negotiate a deal under market value. But even with a great offering price, closing the deal can be difficult.

CNN Money quotes Seattle based realtor Scott Weeda as saying “Most of my divorcing clients dislike each other very much so navigating the transaction can be tricky…In many cases, the joint ownership is the only remaining tie that connects couple selling.”

Photo Credit: bestdivorceattorneys.net

This can cause issues in closing the deal. Many times you will find that one of the divorcees will delay signing the house away. From reasons such as holding on to the marriage and not wanting it to end to trying to get more money from the deal.

If both parties have not signed off on the selling agreement then buyers should most likely look elsewhere. Massachusetts agent Charles Vallis says he remembers a deal that was suppose to close, but the day of the closing, the wife of the divorced couple made herself unreachable.

Before making an offer, buying a home, or looking for rates on mortgages and home loans, be sure to dig a little deeper into the background of the sellers. If they are in the middle of a divorce you should proceed with caution.

The last post went over the advantages of paying off your Mortgage Loans TX.  Now for the disadvantages.

1)      Missing out on tax deductions for interest. The interest paid on your mortgage is usually tax deductible. If you no longer have payments, then you no longer have tax advantages for that reason.

2)      Other assets could suffer. If all of your income is committed towards paying your mortgage then you could suffer financially if anything came along where you needed to access ample funds.

3)      Carrying debts that have higher interest rates. The rates on credit card debt and auto loans is most of the time significantly larger than the one on your mortgage. Paying those off first might allow for some more leeway later on.

4)      Diversification is threatened.  Paying off a home loan may not make sense if it means putting all of your eggs in one basket.  If you are on the fifth year of a 30-year note, it may make more sense to invest additional funds elsewhere so you can establish financial savings in other portfolios.

5)      Other financial goals may get derailed. It may be a long time before free and clear home ownership is possible. Consider alternating months of paying an extra mortgage payment and adding to your retirement fund versus only paying down your home loan.

• Knowing you have no mortgage debt. You can rest easy knowing you do not owe any more payments to your lender.
• Increased financial flexibility. You can use your income towards other large purchases due to you’re a greater sense of financial independence.
• Security. With no balance left to pay on your Texas Mortgage than you no longer have to worry about your home if a family job loss or illness occurs.
• You no longer have to pay interest. If you pay your mortgage off completely then you no longer have interest fees either. Money that adds on each month from having a mortgage now stays in your pocket.
• The housing market will no longer affect you. If there are fluctuations in the market the equity of your home could change. Once your mortgage is paid off you no longer have to worry about your value decreasing.
• Save even more. It’s possible that refinancing your home at five or six percent in order to put extra money in a savings account may only yield a less-than-one-percent return.

Check back next week for the disadvantages of paying off your mortgage.

According to the Dallas, Texas News, a seniors housing community is planning to be built and Turtle Creek seems to be the site of interest for developers. The development would consist of a reconstruction of the old Republic Insurance buildings next door to the Mansion on Turtle Creek hotel and condo tower.

The architect hired for the job is Rees Associates Inc. They are tasked with designing the senior home, planning to be 16 stories.

“It’s a great project,” said Gary Pitts from Rees Associates, who describes the proposed project as “a really big deal.”

The new senior care center is planning to include apartments for seniors, assisted living area, along with nursing and memory care units. The building will contain about 260 units for live-in purposes. According to Rees Associates, the developers are in negotiations to buy the property.

The project is still in the early stages as a final projection date ranges sometime in 2013. Developers have been working with the old Republic Insurance site for years. Previous plans for a condo tower, and luxury apartments were in speculation, but never got past that point.

Find a senior living center in Katy, Texas!

The Obama Administration has made the details of the stimulus plan public, part of it made to help those who are incapable of repaying their loans. The plan does not call for home refinancing but for loan modification. The program is said to benefit around 9 million homeowners. According to the payment plans enacted by the program, the homeowner will not be paying more than 31% of their income. The program is not offered to homeowners regularly paying off their monthly payments, and the inability to pay future payments must be proved. According to Mortgage11.com certain characteristics of the plan include:

• The rates of interest on the mortgage also identified as refinance mortgage rates become fixed rather than be adjustable or variable
• Reduce in the principal amount of the loan.
• Reduce in the refinance mortgage rates is applicable on the loan.
• Give up of extra charges and late fee
• Extension of the period of paying off the loan so that the monthly payment is decreased.
• The appropriate refinance mortgage rates in Obama’s Stimulus Plan sometimes go as low as 2%.

If you are in the market for a TX Home Loan talk to a lender you can trust at Encompass Lending of Katy, Texas. If you are currently a homeowner who has the inability to pay back home loans, check to see if you are eligible for Obama’s Low Rate Home Refinance Program.

Douglas B. Foster, Commissioner of the Texas Department of Savings & Mortgage Lending released a notice with valuable tips for local consumers applying for a Texas mortgage loan:

Before Applying for a Loan—

Verify: Foster urges consumers to constantly check the State of Texas website to determine whether the lending company or broker/loan officer are legitimately authorized to do business in Texas. It’s pertinent that homeowners and homebuyers research the company and each principal before actually doing business with them. For any additional clarification, Foster listed the Department of Savings & Mortgage Lending’s phone number: (512) 475-1530. Foster also insists that consumers should visit the mortgage broker’s office and look for their displayed State of Texas license.

Shop Around: Get a written estimate of the total cost for securing the loan, typically known as “Good Faith Estimate of Costs”. Shop with other brokers, mortgage bankers and sources for Texas home loans; Foster and his department encourage consumers to make sure that they are getting the best possible deal under the best possible terms—which will inevitably require some hard work and research. The department suggests “engaging in face to face comparison shopping for a general idea of nationally prevailing terms for some of the more common mortgage loan products”. The better educated you are, the better loan you should be able to achieve.

Don’t Respond to Just Anything: Don’t be fooled by any ads offering loans too good to be true; watch carefully for “bait and switch” tactics.

Don’t Pre-Pay: Don’t be tricked into pre-paying for any service without “closely” reading, acknowledging and fully understanding the disclosure documents. Make certain that the broker/banker/loan officer also acknowledges these same documents.

Report: If you notice any suspicious, unethical or illegal activity related to mortgage loan transaction, you feel pressured in any way, or are asked to sign documents without a chance to review them to ask questions and receive satisfactory answers, contact Foster and the Texas Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending.

Real Estate Expert and Blogger Barbra Corcoran offers tips and advice on how to sell your home in today’s economy via MSNBC.

1. Time it Right. If your house has been on the market for a while, take it off for two months and then relist it as new. Few houses sell around the holidays up until the end of January.
2. Get Your Home Inspected Before You List. Make sure everything is working, and if something needs work, fix it. If potential buyers come in and see something is wrong with the house they will have reasons to want price cuts.
3. Offer Financial Incentives Upfront. Offer to pre-pay the first year of property taxes, pay closing costs, and include free cleaning, lawn care or snow-removal services for a year. Offering these up front will cause for less negotiation down the line.
4. Spend Money on the Front of Your Home, the Kitchen, and the Living Room. These are the three places that make the biggest impression on potential home buyers. The front of the house is the first thing they see when they drive up. The living room and kitchen is where most families spend their time, so remove the clutter, and fix small things that may make the room look cheap.
5. Get Listed Online. About 89% of potential homebuyers start their search online. Make sure your home is listed on Yahoo Real Estate, Realtor.com, Zillow.com, Trulia.com, and Zip Reality, the five most searched sites for homes. Rent a wide-angle lens and make sure there is good lighting. How a picture looks online could make all the difference whether they come to look at your home or not.