“The greatest minds are capable of the greatest vices as well as of greatest virtues.”  ---Rene Descartes

OWNERS NEWSLETTER – NOVEMBER 2007                       

4^TH INFANTRY DIVISION DEPLOYING – No big surprise here. The Defense Department has made it official that the division’s 4^th Brigade Combat team will deploy to Iraq in 2008. The division’s headquarters and 1^st Brigade Combat Team have orders to return to Iraq this month and next month as well. This is the division’s third deployment to Iraq.  

DID YOU KNOW? –

a.      It is illegal in Texas to cut off a renter’s electricity for non-payment of rent or other sums.

b.      Renters cannot be charged a late fee unless rent remains unpaid for more than two days.

c.      SB 618 has increased the jurisdiction of Justice of the Peace courts to include matters up to $10,000 from the current limit of $5,000.

d.      Property owners that do not enforce renter’s insurance as a condition of residency pay 79% more on repairs, replacement costs, and other expenses according to SatisFacts Research, LLC.  

DIRECT DEPOSITS – Reminder! December’s direct deposits will be in the bank on the 11^th due to the 8^th and 9^th falling over a weekend.  

INTEREST RATES – The VA/FHA rate is presently 6.5% on a thirty-year fixed rate note and 6.5% on a conventional loan. Refinancing is recommended if you can reduce your current rate by at least 2% and do not plan to sell for at least two years.  

AREA SALES – Many of the top producing real estate agents with whom I’ve spoken tell me that the resale market for single-family homes has slowed significantly and nearly everything I read and hear seems to confirm this. Certainly the sub-prime lending meltdown and the tightening of borrower qualifications by lenders are contributing to this. However, the economics of the Ft. Hood area are often driven by factors unrelated to what’s happening elsewhere in the US. Our supply and demand is nearly always tied into troop gains and losses at Ft. Hood, the state’s largest single site employer. Any slowing of the sales market is a good plus for owners of rental property. A quick glance at MLS statistics reflects that there were 364 fewer sales of listed single-family homes in the first three quarters of 2007 than in the same period last year. This trend will likely continue. 

OCTOBER TRAFFIC – Steady. We leased close to sixty properties last month of which half were single-family houses and half multi-family. We ended the month with an overall occupancy rate of 96%. Some of this activity is due to the return of about 1,000 3^rd Armored Cavalry Regiment soldiers from Iraq last month. I am optimistic that we’ll see even more properties renting as the 1^st Cavalry Division returns from Iraq over the next 90 days.

David Gerke

CO-Owner/Broker