23Jul
If you haven’t seen it yet there is a new Tex Mex place right next to Fuzzy’s on University. Old Rip has been open for about a week now, taking up the building that used to house the Gunsmoke Grill. Their food is fairly good, the menu is succinct, the porch is pretty killer.
Cy Barcus and his son purchased the property which had gone unused for about four years. The restaurant property came with a neighboring home, and plans are in the works for a zoning change to allow for the parking lot to be extended into that residential lot (we all know how tight parking can get around Fuzzy’s). Amidst other restaurant ventures Cy made a living building homes in Highland Park; I’d say he had some pretty good timing on diversifying further. Mr. Barcus and his son picked up some really great pieces of art in Dallas, and they truly are eye catching throughout the restaurant. I would certainly stop by and give it a shot if you get a chance.
For those who may wonder about the name, there is a legend in Cisco about Old Rip the horned frog. When the Eastland County Courthouse was built in 1897 the County Clerk put a horny toad inside the cornerstone. 31 years later the building was demolished and the horned critter was still inside; he was given the name Old Rip and his remains can still be found on display at the Eastland County Courthouse.
22Jul
If you have a standing loan with an interest rate over 6% you really should think about refinancing. Times simply haven’t been better for adjusting a loan in about the past four decades. But refinancing is something that most people know they should do and simply don’t put in the effort to actually follow up on. I would highly encourage you to do this while rates are still low.
Here are the top six things you should consider when refinancing your home:
- Don’t start with the national companies you see on TV (think LendingTree).
- Do start with someone that has a local or regional office. Call a trusted real estate broker, and ask for a list of people they deal with. That will always be your best bet.
- Consider whether or not you are going to be in your home for another three years at least. It is preferable if you know you will be there longer.
- Try to avoid any company that wants to charge you any points up front. It is generally an unnecessary cost, which you can avoid.
- Take your credit rating into consideration. Times have changed.
- Know ahead of time that you will be negating some equity you have built up over the years.
In any case, if you can do this now you absolutely should. Take advantage of it now and you may really be thanking yourself later. Furthermore, you are generally helping the national economy, and saving yourself some money at the same time.
I am not a real estate agent, and I don’t work in the mortgage industry. I have absolutely no dog in this fight, and I am not trying to sell you anything. I just know that some people simply lack the momentum to just get the process rolling. See the Star-Telegram article I linked above.
21Jul
I am going to have to stop writing about Dallas - Fort Worth area commercial foreclosures. The bottom line is that there is simply to much news and chatter going on about area defaults. Frankly, it is relatively depressing. Not only for the local and national economy, but also for aesthetic reasons. We could potentially have a very ugly problem on our hands if large numbers of commercial properties are suddenly rendered vacant. I suppose the golden lining to this would be outside capital ultimately swooping in to purchase all of these defunct properties. But a market which is top heavy in high end foreclosures rarely sees redevelopment in existing areas.
The most recent news comes from The Dallas Morning News (our friend Mr. Brown, who has made a living in redundancy). Their newest forecasts suggest that the local market could top out at a $1 Billion in foreclosures. Now we are already past the halfway mark in the year, and the market is currently bearing about half a billion in commercial defaults, so a rise to the one billion mark would suggest an impending upswing in foreclosure rates.
Mind you, the only people really making money off of this are the bankruptcy attorneys.
20Jul
I gotta give Kevin props for this one. Scouring the interwebs for cool photos of Fort Worth. Could be a cool weekly feature.
It’s funny how you can really altogether miss something until someone points it out from a different perspective.
Recent Comments