My Lubbock TX Real Estate Blog

The Lubbock Chamber of Commerce is proud that Lubbock has once again been named a “5 Star Quality of Life Metro” by Penton Media’s Expansion Management™, a business magazine for executives of companies actively looking to expand or relocate their facilities.  The publication recently released its 2007 “Quality of Life” rankings. The distinction of “Five-Star Quality of Life Metro,” is awarded to the top 20 percent of metro areas in the study. A list of this year’s “Five-Star Quality of Life Metros,” as well as various top 10 listings for each of major quality of life category, is available in the June 2007 issue of Expansion Management and on the Web at www.expansionmanagement.com.

The rankings evaluated housing affordability, crime rates and public schools, as well as the standard of living, traffic and commuting, commercial air access, continuing education opportunities and adult education levels. In all, a total of 362 Metropolitan Statistical Areas were evaluated based on nearly 50 statistical criteria.   Lubbock placed among the top 10 of U.S. metros for Traffic & Commuting.

“We all have expectations of owning a comfortable home in a safe neighborhood with excellent schools,” said Bill King, chief editor of Expansion Management. “We view it as part of our birthright as Americans and, quite frankly, can enjoy that lifestyle in most cities in the U.S. The real issue has become the income level required to afford the American Dream and that’s a question of vital interest to employers looking to expand or relocate business facilities.”

I finally had a chance to compile the June numbers.  To my surprise, June saw a noticeable drop in activity compared to June 2006.  Overall year-to-date, 4 of the 6 months have been down compared to the corresponding months in 2006.  While the overall Lubbock market is down for the year, it is certainly not a "sky is falling" scenario.

Overall the the Lubbock market is down 4.8% YTD for total units.  It is down 6.7% for single family units.  June saw a drop of 10.2% in total units from June 2006, while single family units were down 14.0% for the same time period.  The overall dollar volume for both categories is virtually unchanged.

When buying a home, there are many decisions to make through the process.  Decisions like:  what price range, what area, what size, how many bedrooms, how many bathrooms, overall condition, etc. are just a part of that decision list.  Aside from choosing the perfect home, the 2nd most important decision you make is what lender to use.

It is my personal practice to encourage home buyers to use local lenders, who have roots in our community.  That philosophy has been validated 3 times in the past week.  I sat down at the closing table twice in the last week with home buyers who used a "household name" national lender for their home loan.  In one instance, the lender set my client up on an entirely different loan program than they told the client they were going to get.  The 2nd situation, the lender set up an escrow account for my client when the client had clearly instructed them in advance not to do that.  In the 3rd instance, the lender set the buyer up with a minmum down payment when the buyer wanted to put down much more.

To further add to the frustration when we called the respective lenders to address the problem, we were at the mercy of voicemail (since the loan officers worked hundreds to thousands of miles away).  The result?  Delayed closings causing 2 of my clients additional expense.

While some national lenders make big promises on service and rates, it is my personal experience that there is a trade-off in problematic and/or delayed closings.  While local lenders occassionaly have problems too, it has been my experience that they cause problems in a lower percentage of instances and are more readily available when there is a problem to get it resolved quickly.

Before you decide which lender you are going to use, be sure to do your homework!